Chapter 42 Playing Dirty

As the previous chapter recounted, the vanguard of the Buye tribe arrived in force, plunging Song Xian’s troops into desperate peril.

Meanwhile, the Hu eagle-archer Jin Fangyan, taking advantage of Su Yao’s collapse and the temporary absence of guards, found himself trapped in a whirlpool of moral conflict, utterly uncertain of how to choose.

Time slipped away second by second. What consequences would his hesitation bring?

And what would his ultimate choice be?

The answer was that, once again, he did not need to make a choice.

By a stroke of sheer coincidence, the one who engineered this exact scenario happened to be Su Yao himself.

"What?"

Jin Fangyan’s eyes widened in blank astonishment, unable to process what had happened during the moments of his hesitation.

"How... how are they leaving?"

Jin Fangyan stared at the ten scout riders. After merely sending a single man to briefly inspect the roadblock, they spurred their horses and galloped away at full speed. They neither dismantled the obstruction nor searched the surrounding area—what manner of behavior was this?

"Are you certain the road is blocked?"

The deputy commander of the Buye vanguard, young Buye himself, turned pale with panic upon receiving confirmation.

"We are doomed, doomed, doomed! Where on earth did these Han imperial armies spring from?"

An imperial army, indeed.

Of course he had not missed the prominent "Su" banner fluttering atop the fortress. Furthermore, the scouts had returned with another crucial piece of intelligence:

There were no fewer than five hundred riderless warhorses down at the foot of the mountain!

What did this signify?

Without even pausing to ponder the mystery behind the fall of Yellow Reed Fort, those five hundred horses alone proved that there were at least two thousand Han soldiers in this vicinity!

This was not a wild figment of his imagination. Having dealt extensively with the Bingzhou army, young Buye was intimately familiar with the military system of the Han dynasty.

Horses were exceptionally precious to the Han, falling far short of the lavish configuration of the Hu cavalry, where virtually every man possessed a mount.

Even among the most elite Han border troops, achieving a three-to-one infantry-to-cavalry ratio was considered a rarity.

Therefore, the appearance of five hundred horses, coupled with the fall of Yellow Reed Fort, led him straight to a conclusion that was miles away from the truth.

A massive force of Han soldiers had gathered here! Run for your lives!

Thus, taking advantage of the moment before the Han troops—who had abandoned their horses to storm the fortress—could descend the mountain, he made off with the mounts and retreated in chaotic haste.

"Your Excellency’s diversionary tactic is truly worthy of my utmost admiration!"

"..."

Waking up from a deep, six-hour slumber, Su Yao blinked his drowsy eyes and stroked his chin as he listened to his subordinate officers explain and analyze the current situation.

Beneath his stern expression, however, there was only a single, lingering thought:

*My horses! Those are my horses!*

*Those damn NPCs have no sporting integrity whatsoever! How dare they steal my horses!*

A game where the previous NPC steals the player's horses is already dead in the domestic server, you know. Game designers, I strongly advise you to act like decent human beings.

Silently cursing the developers and consigning this shameless NPC to his must-kill blacklist, Su Yao finally turned his attention to reviewing the post-battle situation.

This skirmish had been eighty-five against two hundred. The enemy force of two hundred had been completely wiped out with zero survivors, and the fortress had been successfully captured. By all accounts, it could be called a resounding victory.

Moreover, the defensive condition of the captured Yellow Reed Fort was exceptionally intact. The only problem was that, owing to Su Yao’s roaring fires, they had reaped virtually no spoils.

Even the armor worn by the King's Tent Guards had been reduced to complete durability loss under his berserk assaults and was now unusable.

Yet, beyond the lack of material gains, the most severe blow was the loss of twenty-one men from their own ranks.

"What? We actually lost so many brave soldiers just for this empty fortress?!"

A devastating net loss!

Although he had always known that siege warfare was difficult, he had never expected that even with a limited-time, max-experience elite unit provided by the NPCs, he would still suffer such a casualty ratio.

"If only I hadn't collapsed..."

The most critical part was that sitting back in command meant missing out on personal experience points.

An absolute net loss.

"Tunchang!"

Cheng Lian dropped heavily onto one knee.

"I beg the Tunchang not to blame yourself. It is entirely due to our incompetence that we dragged you down."

With him kneeling, the men behind him found it awkward to remain standing. Thump, thump, thump—they all dropped to one knee, crying out in unison:

"We are deeply ashamed!"

This sudden display caught Su Yao somewhat off guard. Glancing at the NPCs who were abruptly stealing the spotlight, he noticed with a knowing look that the squad morale value was [Slightly Shaking] and still slowly ticking downward.

Su Yao understood. This was a post-battle camp event. Rising to his feet, he gave two light coughs and said:

"I am overwhelmingly strong, while you lot are utterly pathetic. Wasn't that already common knowledge?"

*Pathetic... utterly pathetic?!*

Cheng Lian and the others felt a violent shock in their hearts. Never had they imagined they would receive such an evaluation.

What warrior lacked pride in his heart? Veterans of a hundred battles who had walked through blades and fire, they could least of all endure such an assessment of themselves. Had these words come from anyone else, a duel would likely have been inevitable.

Yet at this moment, whether it was Cheng Lian, Hou Cheng, Song Xian, or even Jin Fangyan, none of them could muster a single thought of rebuttal against such harsh criticism. They could only lower their heads in shame.

"Since I serve as the commander leading you gentlemen, it naturally falls upon me to cut down enemy generals, seize their banners, pave the way for you, secure your glory, and lead you to victory.

Since you trust me, follow me, and entrust your lives to me,

I am all the more obligated to treat them with utmost caution and take responsibility for every single life."

" Tun... Tunchang?!"

Cheng Lian, still kneeling on one knee, was utterly stunned.

He had known beforehand that Su Yao cherished his soldiers like his own children, but hearing these words now made him truly realize just how profound was the awareness possessed by this youthful superior officer!

With Cheng Lian reacting thus, it went without saying for Song Xian, Hou Cheng, and the others.

Having their initial contact with Su Yao, they had originally never imagined that this temporary young officer would regard common soldiers as human beings.

Are you kidding me? Look at how this god of slaughter had massacred the enemy! He remained completely unfazed while flesh and blood flew everywhere around him.

And yet now, he actually spoke of taking responsibility for their lives? Ah, this...

This must be a joke, right?

"Therefore, you need not reproach yourselves.

Rather, I should take this as a warning and keep their sacrifice and contribution forever engraved in our hearts."

Having finished his speech, Su Yao calmly instructed Wang Ling to properly handle the compensation and pension for the fallen soldiers. He then glanced at the buff granting an increase to troop morale, confirming that the event had succeeded.

Immediately afterward, Su Yao executed a massive standing leap right over their heads, leaving the group of officers and soldiers tangled up in the wind.

They all turned their heads simultaneously to see Su Yao running and leaping, scaling the fortress wall and vaulting over the watchtower until he finally came to a halt at the highest vantage point atop the fortress. Gazing around to the left and right, he settled down like an ancient monk entering meditation, completely motionless.

This left the soldiers, witnessing Su Yao’s eccentric style for the first time, utterly at a loss as to how to respond.

Recalling that this was also the first time they had ever heard their customarily silent superior deliver such a lengthy speech, never mind their individual thoughts, they had all been on the verge of cheering in unison, shouting phrases like "Ten Thousand Victories!" to build up the momentum and save face for their commander.

Who would have thought that before they could even react, their commander would vanish like the wind?

"Could your commander perhaps be a shy young lad? Is he feeling embarrassed?" Jin Fangyan wondered aloud.

"Him? No, no, no, how could that be?" Song Xian waved his hands frantically.

Though Song Xian couldn't fathom it, the shocks he had received today were already far too many; his mind simply couldn't handle the jarring contrast of this god of slaughter being a shy young man.

Only Wang Ling, who was long accustomed to Su Yao's behavior, remarked with unbothered calm:

"Our benefactor is practicing mental concentration and meditation. Pay him no mind. When the next battle begins, he will naturally come find us."

"He'll only look for us when it's time for battle?"

Jin Fangyan looked left and right, utterly failing to see through what kind of style this fellow operated under.

All he could say was that it was bizarre and disjointed, both in his style of dealing with people and in the terrifying combat prowess he displayed.

Incomprehensible, truly incomprehensible.

Fortunately, compared to those who might spend a long time coexisting with Su Yao in the future, Jin Fangyan considered himself merely a transient traveler with no need to second-guess the man's intentions.

Right now, a profound sense of relief washed over him—the god of slaughter seemed to have forgotten about their wager, Jin Fangyan thought with a stroke of luck.

Just at that moment, a sudden gust of wind swept across the ground. Jin Fangyan felt the earth tremble slightly, and amidst a flurry of flying dust, Su Yao descended directly from the heavens...

"Quest completed. Where's my reward?"

"......" Jin Fangyan lowered his head and covered his face with his hands.

*Didn't you say you only come looking for us when it's time for battle?!*