Chapter 649: Gathering

Chapter 649: Chapter 649: Gathering

To say we feel at ease right now would be a lie—even the most fearless killers among us are actually feeling anxious at this moment.

Right now, our situation is more dangerous than ever: we’ve led our troops deep into enemy territory as a bridgehead outpost, and we could be surrounded and attacked from three sides at any time. More importantly, retreat isn’t an option—the secret tunnel leading through the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea is just behind us. If we pull back even one step, it would throw the entire advance off balance, and the hard-won gains from the great victory at Jianchuan might just be wiped out in an instant.

So even though we just broke out of the Bamboo Sea with our lives, we jumped right into building the military camp without a moment’s rest. Everyone is exhausted and tense, their faces drawn and pale, but not a single soldier grumbles or complains.

The sooner we finish the camp, the sooner we’ll have a secure foothold for the main army to push forward and ensure the safety of Shimen Military Camp.

Compared to open field battles, cultivators of the Human Race—who mostly practice magic—are also skilled at constructing fortifications, so progress is exceptionally fast.

According to Pan Shigui’s orders, the camp’s basic structure had to be completed in one go, strictly adhering to the size and strength designated by the Daoxing Chief’s Office, and besides ensuring strong defensive capability, it had to hold at least sixty thousand people.

The biggest time sink turned out to be the camp wall—not only did it have to be raised quickly, but a Defense Array had to be set firmly on top of it. For the Array Masters, this was an absolute nightmare; there were thirty of them on this job, yet all of them looked pale with exhaustion.

Still, the Reinforcement Army had its advantages. First, they lost very few people coming out of the Bamboo Sea; from the original strength of thirty thousand, they still had over twenty-eight thousand, so manpower was not an issue, and their only job was defense, which meant less pressure. Second, there were over five hundred Golden Sword Cultivators in the army. It’s hard to say how many of them are truly elite, but at least if the Barbarians come in full force, the Reinforcement Army won’t be outmatched at the cultivator level.

By the afternoon of Zhang Qian’s second day at Shimen, the main framework of the camp was finished—massive in scale, though aside from the camp walls, all internal buildings were still under hurried construction: watchtowers, water reservoirs, latrines, drainage ditches, deep wells, and so on. Since the camp would also serve as a supply node, plenty of stone houses for storing arriving supplies were being built, too.

Of course, building a fully functional large-scale camp can’t be done in just a few days, but getting the framework up meant Shimen now had the basic capacity to receive friendly troops and serve as a defensive stronghold.

Zhang Qian and Gan Lin finally joined forces again, per Pan Shigui’s arrangement. Back in their Border Army days, Zhang, Gan, and Jiang Cheng all served under Pan Shigui for quite some time—until Pan was forced into early retirement for some reason, Jiang Cheng was transferred to the Xuanqing Guard, and Zhang Qian and Gan Lin were exiled to garrison duty, biding their time in obscurity.

Zhang Qian wasn’t exaggerating when he said he and Gan Lin were Pan Shigui’s old subordinates. Although Pan Shigui hadn’t said anything sentimental, putting Zhang and Gan together was already a clear signal: it’s always safest for two people who trust and know each other to fight side by side.

There’s a saying: "Father and son should always fight together"—that’s the gist of it.

Conversely, by trusting them this much, Pan Shigui also entrusted Zhang Qian and Gan Lin with holding the front-right Advanced Scout Camp. In other words, Zhang Qian and Gan Lin had to leave the main camp and move to its right front.

The Advanced Scout Camp exists to expand the main camp’s attack and defense perimeter, to add tactical options, and provide early warning.

But... compared with the main camp, the Advanced Scout Camp is nowhere near as safe. In dire circumstances, it could be surrounded and whittled down piece by piece.

"Old Zhang, do you think General Pan is looking out for us, or warning us?"

"What, you scared?"

"Not really scared, just feel uneasy about setting up an Advanced Scout Camp in a place like this. What if..."

"What if my ass. If something’s wrong, it’s not like the enemy will rush us with their full force straight away. Besides, Jianchuan’s pressure is still on them—do you really think the Barbarians dare surround us en masse? Hmph, keep your eyes up: if they really do come, they might end up getting pincered themselves."

Gan Lin nodded, accepting Zhang Qian’s explanation. It had always been this way between them—Zhang Qian handled the thinking, Gan Lin the action; nothing had changed.

Compared to the main camp, the Advanced Scout Camp went up even faster. Now, not only were all the camp walls up and arrayed, they’d already begun erecting the watchtower’s supporting buildings inside.

"Report! Sir! Scouts bring word: a large force of our own has been sighted in the west, advancing along the edge of the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea—they’re now less than five miles away!"

Zhang Qian and Gan Lin happened to be together; as soon as they heard this, they climbed up the west camp wall to get a look. After waiting a bit, sure enough, a force was coming their way.

"That flag—it’s the Jingnan Army. That main force stationed at Jianchuan Upper Military Camp comes from them; these must be the troops General Pan talked about!"

"Yeah, report to the main camp. Say the first batch from Jianchuan Upper Military Camp is here, looks to be about a battalion in size."

The word was sent back to the main camp. As the new force drew closer, Zhang Qian and Gan Lin squinted at the cavalry at the front, and were both startled to see a familiar face leading the way.

"Is that Shen Hao? How’d he end up here?!"

Gan Lin couldn’t believe that his old acquaintance Shen Hao was here in the very first group. Wasn’t that guy supposed to be with Zuo Yuliang’s central army? Even if he’d left Zhuo Huo Pass, he should be at Wu Lake, shouldn’t he?

After checking their documents and Waist Tokens, it was confirmed that they were indeed from the Jianchuan Upper Military Camp’s Vanguard Battalion. The commanding officer was an old colleague—Wu Kai—and Shen Hao, who now bore the ranks of Inspector and Chief of Miscellaneous Affairs.

"What are you doing here?" Gan Lin couldn’t hold back any longer. As soon as the authentication was complete, he pulled the grinning Shen Hao aside and blurted out his question—he really did not want to see someone with zero military experience like Shen Hao at the front.

"It’s a long story. You’re holding the Advanced Scout Camp out here? Let me meet with General Pan and hand over my orders—then I’ll come talk to you guys in detail." Shen Hao, too, was curious what Zhang Qian and Gan Lin had been through recently, but he was still on duty; he had to see Pan Shigui and finish official business before catching up.

"Alright, official business first. When you’re done, be sure to come find us."

Zhang Qian and Gan Lin’s enthusiasm for Shen Hao surprised Wu Kai, who was standing nearby. He knew the two were acquainted with Shen Hao—he himself had been introduced by them—but he didn’t realize they seemed to have such a close personal friendship.

Leaving the Advanced Scout Camp behind and pressing forward, Shen Hao soon saw an even larger, massive military camp up ahead; just looking at the camp walls, it was already on par with the Jianchuan Upper Military Camp he’d just left.