Chapter 60 – Dealing with the Aftermath
1 PM
The battlefield and the corpses were being cleaned up by the remaining survivors. Dead bodies of the alliance army were piled up like a mountain inside a dug pit. A dozen soldiers were pouring oil in there, after which they threw a torch in and burned everything inside.
Meanwhile, dead bodies of the garrison army soldiers were lined up inside the fort. They were being prepared to hold a funeral for these men. Tong also noted their names and surnames, so he could compensate their families later.
Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were busy reorganizing their men and the prisoners. The casualty result also came out which depressed everyone, including Tong. From 2,000 healthy men and 500 handicapped soldiers, only 1,200 men survived and 700 of them were crippled for life.
Furthermore, a few officers that Tong knew also became tragic heroes in this battle. They were Gao Sheng, Cheng Yuanzhi, Deng Mao, He Yi, and Pei Yuanshao. All of them were supposed to be generals of the Yellow Turban Army in the future, but their lives were ended here.
In other words, the future of the Yellow Turban force, which would be led by his father, was crippled. Even if the rebellion succeeded, they would not be as strong as in the history.
Seeing the injured men and the dead, Tong was reminded of something. He had not seen Hua Shi after the battle had ended. He rushed to the infirmary tents to see if she was there. And he found her.
She was sleeping on the VIP bed, which were made out of straws and clean clothes, with bandages covering her shoulder and her chest. After asking around, Tong found out that she was hit by arrows, one in her left shoulder and the other in her right chest.
The arrows hit her rib cages but did not harm any important organs. The physicians also managed to take out the arrowheads, so she was no longer in the critical condition. After a week of rest, she should recover.
Tong gritted his teeth and bit his lower lip in bitterness. It was a close call for both of them.
Tong sat beside Hua Shi bed to get a closer look at her. In coincident, she also woke up when she felt a familiar presence.
"Keep sleeping. You deserve to rest."
Tong consoled her as he noticed that she had woken up. Hua Shi smiled at him in return and shared her status to Tong.
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**Status**
Name: Hua Shi
Age: 16
Lifespan: 127,939 Years
Shopping Pass: 2
[Medical Gift] LV.5 EXP( 20/1,600 )
- Diagnosis a patient and automatically find a solution for the treatment, or create medicine for the sickness found.
- Can create 16 medicine tablets or 160 milligrams of liquid medicine per one use.
Skill Consumption: 10 years of the host lifespan.
Skill Usage Restriction: Can only be used when treating a patient.
[Homing Arrow] LV. 6 (550/3,200)
- Fire a magic homing arrow at a locked target.
- Convert an ordinary arrow into a magic homing arrow.
- Passive skill [Bow Mastery] will be applied to the host once the skill is equipped.
Skill Cost:
- 1 Lifespan for firing a homing magic arrow with an ordinary arrow.
- 10 Lifespan for firing a homing magic arrow without an arrow.
Skill Restriction:
- Homing effects only apply to a locked target in the range of 350 meters or lower.
- Range restriction depends on the level of the skill
[Sword Mastery] Cannot be leveled up
- Master all kinds of swords. Increase all attributes by 10 times if the host is using a sword.
- If the host kills an enemy, increase the host lifespan by the remaining lifespan of the dead enemy.
[Bow Mastery] – Bound to [Homing Arrow] Skill. Cannot be leveled up.
- Master any kind of bows.
- Host's dexterity multiplied by 10.
- Upkeep: 3 Lifespan per year.
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"I did well right?"
"Yeah, you do."
"Eheh-!! *COUGH*"
Hua Shi coughed as she couldn't breathe properly after the rough surgery by the local physicians. She did not pretend to be weak this time.
Tong held her hand after seeing her choking cough, which made Hua Shi happy.
"Don't talk, just sleep. I'll be sitting here with you."
Hua Shi smiled as she closed her eyes to rest.
"Can I have one more reward?"
"For now, just rest."
"Can I?"
Tong sighed and nodded.
"OK, what do you want?"
"Up to you. A beggar can't choose."
Tong chuckled. He thought that she would ask for more 1-day tickets or other absurd requests.
"Let me think about it. I'll tell you when you've recovered."
"Mhm."
Both of them stopped talking. Hua Shi slept peacefully while her hand still locked with Tong's hand. She liked the feeling when someone held her hand in her sleep.
One hour later, a messenger rushed in to see Tong.
"Report to the great immortal! Wen Chou and his men arrived at the north gate!"
Hua Shi snapped her eyes opened and glared at the messenger as if she was going to cut him into a million pieces, causing the messenger to shrink back in fear.
"I'll be there shortly. Tell the archers and the able men to get ready for another possible battle."
The messenger bowed and left them. However, Hua Shi still clung his hand tight. She wanted him to spoil her more.
Tong shook his head and sighed after seeing that she was getting spoiled. He leaned over and kissed her lips. Then he got up and walked toward the north gate.
"About time to finish this mess."
…
…
Wen Chou, Yan Liang, and their battered 300 elite horsemen arrived in front of the north gate of Tong's wooden fortress. They were not in a good mood after they went through a battle against a thousand light cavalries.
Wen Chou and Yan Liang managed to route them by sacrificed their 700 elite horsemen, which foiled their joyous mood.
After they had reached the battlefield, instead of seeing the fleeing routed army of Tong, they saw a trace of the defeated alliance army instead. Moreover, there were more survivors in this fort than they initially thought they had.
With their brains, they could figure it out that they were baited into the battle, and they unintentionally assisted Tong in this war, and something incredible happened.
After half an hour of waiting, the north gate was opened and the garrison guards allowed Wen Chou and his men inside. Once they stepped inside, the sight of the post-battle camp was revealed to them.
The dead bodies were lined up in order while the injured were being treated in the infirmary tents. Then they saw Tong walking out from one of the medic tents, and he was looking at them.
"Zhang Tong! What's the meaning of this!?"
Wen Chou did not waste any times. He questioned Tong right away.
"What's the meaning of … what?"
"Don't you play dumb! You sent me a letter and told me to help you. Why the hell did we run into an army!?"
"Err, I don't get you. What?"
Wen Chou got annoyed. He took out the scroll that Tong had sent to him earlier yesterday.
"Here! See this? This is your letter!"
"What?"
"And here is your family stamp!"
"What?"
"And in this letter …"
"What?"
"You wrote …"
"What?"
"…"
"What?"
The face of Wen Chou flushed red like tomatoes, and his veins under his face skin bulged and pulsed like they were about to explode. He tried to get an answer from Tong, but all he heard from him was 'What'.
"ARE YOU RETARDED!!!??"
"… Err, what?"
Wen Chou wanted to kill Tong right now. However, it was more important that Tong and his family were alive as they had to bring them back to Nan Pi.
Meanwhile, Tong grinned at Wen Chou as if he had done nothing wrong. He knew that Wen Chou would not dare to harm him.
Just a moment ago, Tong mimicked a signature catchphrase of a famous professional wrestler in his previous life to buy his men sometimes. Because he had ordered his men to prepare for a possible scenario that there might be a battle again, the men were still being prepared.
'I wish my men could chant "What" with me, too. It would be hilarious.' Tong thought.
Seeing that his men were in position, Tong stopped messing around with Wen Chou.
"Did you read my message carefully?" Tong asked.
"Yeah, I do."
"Are you sure?"
"Hell yes, I'm sure! You wrote in the scroll 'Help me at noon. North of the Fort'!"
"And … what's the problem with it?"
As Wen Chou was about to argue, he came to a halt and frowned. What was the problem with the message?
Tong told him to help him at the north of his fort, so he came. As a result, Guo Dian and Zou Jing forces mistook them as their enemies, so they sent a platoon to intercept Wen Chou midway. And Wen Chou helped Tong destroying the cavalry platoon. Then what was wrong with it?
There was nothing wrong. Every word in the scrolls meant exactly what it told him. There were no promises, and there were no extra messages. It was him that thought that Tong would make a breakthrough to the north and would escape to Nan Pi with him.
Wen Chou took a deep breath to calm down. He realized that he was tricked into this fight, but it did not matter. The Zhang family took serious damages from this battle, so he should be able to convince them to return to Nan Pi with him.
On the other side, Yan Liang frowned in annoyance. He did not like Tong's attitude.
"Forget formality. Just beat up the brat and return." Yan Liang whispered.
However, Wen Chou shook his head in disagreement. For the sake of their friendships and cooperation in the future, he was trying his best not to fight with Tong.
Before Wen Chou could open his mouth to convince Tong, the other party gave him a stunning proposal.
"I know why you are here, so I'll cut to the chase. You'll give me back my father and a million gold. And I'll give you my soap recipe."
Wen Chou was astonished. Tong had the balls to extort the Yuan family for a million gold! That was the same amount of annual tax income of the Capital. It would be impossible for Yuan Clan to amass that kind of amount within a short period of times.
Meanwhile, Yan Liang who was watching the show on the back stepped up and glared into the eyes of Tong.
"Don't waste times. You will come with us. That's an order."
Tong raised his eyebrows and grinned in amusement. He stared back at Yan Liang and spoke.
"And who might you be? Why do you think you can order me around?"
"I am Yan Liang. The first general of Yuan Shao! You should be honored that for you, someone like me has come to …"
Not allowing Yan Liang to finish his sentences, Tong drew his pistol and shot him on the foot.
*BANG*
"Hrrggghhh!"
Yan Liang groaned and knelt down on one knee as he felt unimaginable pain sensation came from his right foot.
*BANG*
"UGH!!"
The innocent Wen Chou also got shot at his left foot. He knelt down by the pain from his cracked bone.
"Now, it's my turn. I'm the Immortal Zhang Tong. You and Sir Wen Chou will stay here as guests until my father and the million gold has been sent here. THAT IS MY ORDER!"
Wen Chou and Yan Liang were flabbergasted as they understood Tong's intention. He wanted to imprison them as hostages to ransom them for his father and Yuan family's gold!
Before both of them could do anything, the horsemen of Wen Chou were surrounded and were pointed with crossbows by the garrison soldiers.
"If you value the lives of you and your men, behave yourself and follow me. As guests of my family, I won't treat you badly."