49 Bring It On! (4)
"Stop moving! Defend! Defend!!!" the frontline almost got crushed by their back due to the sudden halt. In exchange for this mess, only those from the rear managed to get into position.
Worst of all, due to the lack of officers in the militia, their two hundred rear army did not move to help at all. They became the spectators looking at how terrible is the performance of their own people.
"Get back to your li..." the cultivator was going to finish his words, but Ka-Ba sword beheaded him before he did. With this, the first cultivator finally fell in this Chang Emperor Prairie.
"Mister! We should retreat!" the vanguard and middle officers suggested their retreat, but with the death of one of the two cultivators, the one left had lost himself!
"AOU!"
"AOU!"
"AOU!!!"
The howl from the entire pack of scattered wolves represents the arrival of their leader. In this case, it was the person in their top hierarchy, Mu Qing Lang.
Equipped with five-piece complete Ashen Set, Mu Qing Lang appearance is like a wealthy baron into the battlefield of the poor. His grand arrival makes it look like he came from the light itself until Mu Qing Lang clawed the face of the remaining cultivator.
"NO!!!" the cultivator begs, but for Mu Qing Lang, that was nothing more than a buzzing from a mosquito.
"BAM!" Mu Qing Lang smashed his head right into the ground and took a glance on the battlefield.
"Surrender, you live. If you retaliate, I will paint your blood on this Chang Emperor Prairie!" his word delivered fear to everyone including his own people.
Against a cultivator of their settlement chief's level, they're nothing but a hindrance!
"We surrender!" everyone throws their weapon aside, hoping that Mu Qing Lang did not change his mind in between.
"Tied up all of them, and let us return to the Eastern Changzhou!" Mu Qing Lang had won big this time. Although the second fight ended with casualties of thirty-three people, they ended up capturing the remaining four hundred and fifty militias.
It was a profitable exchange in his eyes.
Still, the best thing about this victory is the fact his force doesn't even need to retreat and use the bamboo defensive traps for their third battle. This result itself explains how important it is to fight with a proper strategy.
Four hundred and fifty captives are transported first to the Relay and Storehouse. With a bag of stones and pebbles on them, they carried the building material all the way back to Eastern Changzhou to hasten the moving speed.
Meanwhile, in Eastern Changzhou, the temporary building foundation is done. Although there were six more days before the Yunxia Bamboo can be harvested, it was not a problem at all for the incomplete city to start housing more people.
Furthermore, it was not like the straws harvested two days earlier is useless. They can be made into temporary roofing to house the people on foundation at least until the bamboo has grown enough to be built into longhouses and other buildings.
...
...
"What did you say?" both Namu Mayue and Yelu-En speak the same sentence after hearing the report from a cultivator checking on their performance afar.
Their army of a thousand militiamen lost against two-hundred and twenty militiamen from the Mu's Settlement. Four hundred and fifty people captured. This means Mu's Settlement strength had increased, while the Yelu-Namu Village lost miserably.
"Chief Yelu, this loss, our Jinjiang Village will not bear with it! Please prepare to send half of your people to follow us back to the Jinjiang Village, or you'll face the wrath of our chief, Master Tian Wen himself!" the burly male from Jinjiang Village steps on them when the Yelu-Namu Village is on their worst situation.
"..."
Yelu-En can only remain silent on the entire meeting and discussion. As the loser in this battle, what can he do except quietly agree with their request?
Two days later, the two cultivators from Jinjiang Village withdrew from the Yelu-Namu Village, taking away 850 villagers with them. This ruthless act from them caused Yelu-En to restart everything once again, as his situation had returned to before the Jinjiang Village offered help to attack and take over the Tiezu-Orcs Village.
"What a pointless war... I've grown with outsider forces, sacrificed part of my warriors to take over a currently crippled village, increasing my burden and absorbs the people from Namu, and fought in a losing war..."
"At the end, all my effort is used to feed the Mu's Settlement and Jinjiang Village to get stronger... If I am not wrong, the Wuhan Settlement is going to take action soon. I'll have to be defensive in case of their..."
Yelu-En started to calculate his gain and loss in these unprofitable battles. Unfortunately, even heaven doesn't give him the chance to do so. A militia came inside his camp without approval, bringing the worst news that can happen at this time.
"Chief! The Wuhan is attacking us!" their attack is just that coincident those from Jinjiang Village left not more than half an hour ago. Even the most foolish individual living in this world can see that each action smells heavily concentrated with conspiracy.
"Hahaha... The Wuhan finally bare their fang at us. Namu has fallen, and now, us?" Yelu-En can only shake his head regretfully for his mistake to fall into the temptation brought by the cultivator from Jinjiang Village. At the same time, he suspects that their strength hidden inside their village is far more than what he'd seen.
If Namu has one and I have two... Wuhan is likely going to have two cultivators trying to orchestrated everything from behind. How strong they have to be to become a village with at least six cultivators?" Yelu-En cannot believe that he could not see their trump card earlier.
"Chief?" the militia came closer to Yelu-En and tried to see what is bothering his leader's mind.
"I'm fine... Don't worry... Tell everyone to be on the defensive, we will get through this difficult period together and... Ahak!" one again, before he finished, a dagger coated with poison stabs right into his chest.
"YOU!" Yelu-En's fall helps him to unveil the mysterious attacker he always believed to be a member of his militia. It was the middle-aged man that always meet with him along with the burly male.
"Today, Yelu and Namu will be absorbed into Wuhan," he added. But that wasn't heard by Yelu-En anymore, as he already breathes his last.
A storm was brewing.
And Mu Qing Lang will not be excluded from this, as one of the two remaining strength controlling a part of this prairie.
...
...
Day Thirty-Eight.
Because a part of them had moved to the new Eastern Changzhou, traveling back to the Eastern Changzhou becomes necessary. It was difficult for the first few deliveries, but along with the 450 captives, it made the transportation work becomes relaxed.
Mu Qing Lang had the intention to teach them the skills to made pull carts and other transportation devices but since they did not ask, Mu Qing Lang maintained his composure and held himself from doing so.
It was both good and bad especially on a sensitive stage like now.
Although supplying them with the technology will hasten the process in establishing Eastern Changzhou, it was just a short term benefit for his people. One after another, they will start to grow in dependancy towards him for all the technological tools.
Instead, he chose to let them feel about it, think and come out with the solution before he added a few hints to them for their own improvement. This act was similar to the idiom he learned before coming into this world.
"Giving one a fish feeds them for a day. Teaching them how to fish feeds them for life."
But based on their current situation, it might not happen that soon.
Seeing that they had started to walk on a proper growing path, Mu Qing Lang decides to let the situation remained like this and allowing the goblins, orcs, humans, and beasts to welcome a peaceful period.
At the same time, he wanted them to grow their strength further, all for the sake of their future. With Namu out of the picture and Yelu was injured by them seriously, the quiet Wuhan might making their move anytime from now.
As a person who views safety first before anything else, how can Mu Qing Lang be at ease with so many threats living just by his side? Nobody loves to sleep beside a lion, even if it was locked in a cage.
Furthermore, Mu Qing Lang has the intention to expand his power, and that will starts with the arrangement in planned agriculture. With only one plant left in the entire Chang Emperor Prairie's Collection, it was time for his to start arranging them in a way less troublesome for him.
"Where is master?" Han Xi asked Guan Yi who was busy checking on the captives as they work.
"Master? He left to the farm. Do you have anything urgent for him?" Guan Yi answered like how he was used to doing so.
"We found a new plant when we came here. I thought I can let the master know and see what to do with them." Han Xi replied, not knowing that his master's main plan is waiting for this plant's arrival.
