“Did the innkeeper mention anything about the army? Maybe where they’re located? Or where they are headed?” Yin Xue said, leaning forward. “We want to avoid them if possible.”
“No such luck. The men they sent were not very talkative,” Wu Ying said.
“Then we will have to play it by ear,” said Bao Cong.
Having said all they needed to, the group broke up, heading to their quarters for the night. In this case, it was a sparsely furnished bedroom for Li Yao and the main common room for the others. As Li Yao walked up the stairs, Wu Ying could not help but send a longing look after her. It had been many days since they had had a chance to talk, and he had to admit, he missed her company.
***
The next morning, the group left early, none of them particularly interested in the breakfast the shop owner would try to press upon them. They all had better and more filling foodstuff in their storage rings. Once they were sufficiently distant from the rest stop, they spoke more freely, though they kept a lookout for additional ambushes.
“How much farther, do you think?” Li Yao asked. “I’m quite sore from riding all day.”
“If it was a small raiding party, then ordinary military doctrine would have the main army within a few hours’ ride,” Tou Hei said confidently.
Wu Ying also recalled that lecture on the practicality of resupply for the raiding party and the return of acquired goods to the army. Small groups would travel in the close countryside, pulling whatever forage they could locate for the main army and adding to the army’s supplies. After all, a single cartload gained of the enemy’s provisions was worth twenty of their own. The larger groups, those that consisted of entire platoons with a large number of wagons and carts, would forage further. It was a dangerous job and often resulted in losses to the foraging groups if they were defeated by their opponents.
“So only a few days then?” Bao Cong said rhetorically.
With little else to speak of for now, Wu Ying rode ahead of the group slightly. He continued to scan the surrounding vegetation, hoping to acquire some additional herbs and resources. While the roadside was likely picked over, there was still hope of finding some better herbs and vegetation. Especially those that were more easily mistaken. Whenever he did locate a new item, Wu Ying dismounted and extracted the herb, storing it in his bag before returning and catching up with the team. At times, when a herb or vegetable was more valuable, he’d store it in his ring. Doing so would decrease the value of the item, since it would die and fail to regrow, but it was better than leaving them to be stolen or rot.
Traveling in a group as they were, Wu Ying was not as worried about demon beasts. After all, with most of his friends being unable or unwilling to suppress or hide their auras, most demon beasts would avoid their group. Really, only the injured or sapient races would chance attacking creatures more powerful than them.
In the meantime, Wu Ying watched for herbs and turned over their upcoming introduction to the state of Shen’s army. He dreaded it, to some extent, knowing they would have to tread a careful line. They had their own objectives, and one that they did not, could not, allow the army’s to conflict with. Yet at the same time, they did not have any real bargaining strength. Not as low-leveled as they were—relatively speaking.
***
A day and a half later, the group crested a barren hill, stripped of its timber in recent days, and were greeted by the picturesque sight of the riverside town of Guitong. Short, gently sloping hills rose up all around the town, bracketing in the town as it sat by the river, protected by its high walls and guard towers. On some of the farther hills, terraced rice fields had been cut into their surroundings, locations for farmers to feed the city. Now, they lay barren and untended by the farmers who hid behind the walls.
Around the city, the Shen army sat before the walls, siege engines being built from the wood that had been brought and the forests that had been cut down around the city. All along the front of the walls stood the beginnings of long trenches that were to encircle the town and ensure the defenders could not escape. With Body cultivators in play, the trenches were already a couple of feet deep and stretched toward the river’s edge. Of course, the sodden ground threatened to disrupt the work, making this particular siege tactic more difficult to complete.
The town of Guitong was laid out in the usual manner for a riverside town. A small dock allowed ships to land and deposit their goods, while a wall that reached the edges of the river and a little past it covered the rest of the town. In the center of the town itself, with roads leading from the docks and the three main gates, was the magistrate’s office. Wu Ying knew, from his studies in the second year, that the state of Wei had few large noble houses, most of those being relatives of their king. Instead, they used bureaucrats—magistrates—to oversee major cities and collect taxes for the government. Small noble houses, like Lord Wen’s, had been subsumed into the official kingdom lineage, leaving them related to the Emperor by marriage, however distantly. That was why the ancestral home of Lord Wen was left mostly empty in Guitong, and the main branch family now lived in the capital when they were not fighting and joining the imperial army or serving as magistrates.
As for the besieging army, Wu Ying noted the straight lines and orderly set up for the various units of the besieging force. He could now see, with his greater understanding and training, the order in the chaos that he had first experienced as a peasant arriving in the milling throng of the army. He saw how each unit was set up, read the unit flags that indicated the unit’s locations, and spotted where the generals and other commanding officers’ tents were.
Before the group could continue their journey, Bao Cong pointed out the incoming platoon of soldier scouts. Leading them was a familiar face, seated with casual ease on a horse that stood half a hand taller than the soldiers’ own. Wu Ying sighed and shook his head, wondering whether it was destiny or luck that saw him meeting those he knew. Sometimes, it seemed destiny placed too heavy a hand on his actions.
Chapter 13
On Wu Ying’s command, the group rode down to the approaching soldiers from the state of Shen. With friends and allies so close, Wu Ying’s group found themselves relaxing, some of the tension from the past few days draining away. Traveling behind enemy lines, even disguised as they had been, had been stressful. Thankfully, the army of the State of Wei was mostly deployed outside the country, leaving the Wei countryside bereft of their protection but for a few roving patrols of guards and cultivators.
“I thought you didn’t want anything to do with the war,” Liu Tsong called the moment they were close enough to speak. A flick of a gaze at his companions had her adding, “I’m also surprised to see the company you are keeping.”
“It’s a long story.” Wu Ying had to shrug a little at what probably was a strange sight. At least to those who knew him and his friends.
“Cultivator Li, do you know these people?” one of the soldiers, a red crest on his helmet flaring high to indicate his rank as a unit leader, said to Liu Tsong while he eyed the group before him.
“Yes. Even if they look the way they do, they are my Sect members. Though”—Liu Tsong swept her gaze over the group—“I’m sure they will be willing to show their Sect seals.”
After prompting, the group pulled their Sect seals from their storage rings and showed them to the suspicious guards. Liu Tsong crooked her finger and the seals flew to her hand, manipulated by her control of the flow of ambient chi. She touched them, one after the other, infusing a little chi into the seals to verify their authenticity. When she and the guard were satisfied, Liu Tsong sent the seals back to the group with a half smile.