Chapter 38: The Cicada Sheds Its Shell

Lin Shize smiled and comforted her, "It's alright, didn't I come back safe and sound?"

Wanqing’s voice trembled. "But I'm scared. I saw over a hundred new stone tablets in the Village of Heroes."

"What if... what if..." Unable to suppress her emotions any longer, she buried her face in Lin Shize’s chest and sobbed uncontrollably.

Lin Shize held her, gently patting her back, and whispered soothing words.

After a long while, Wanqing stopped crying. Realizing the position they were in, her face turned bright red, and she sprang away from his embrace.

"You... you should rest well. I’ll head back first."

With that, she darted out of the military tent like a startled rabbit.

Lin Shize shook his head with a smile, then sighed softly. He was well aware of Wanqing’s feelings, but he was currently living a life balanced on a razor's edge. If something were to happen to him, what would become of a fragile woman like her?

Shaking off these thoughts, he slumped onto his bed and soon drifted into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, Lin Shize woke up on time and stretched vigorously. As soon as he stepped out of the tent, Dahu was already waiting for him.

After a simple warm-up, he noticed that the camp was eerily quiet.

"Why is it so quiet today?"

Zhao Dahu replied, "They were partying until midnight and haven’t even slept for two hours yet."

Lin Shize’s face darkened immediately. They were still in wartime, and to be so complacent after just one victory—it was clear he needed to remind them of the Sky Wolf Battalion’s discipline.

He turned and strode into Liu Wu's tent, only to find the scoundrel lying on his bed, grinning foolishly in the middle of a pleasant dream.

Lin Shize leaned down and shouted into his ear, "Enemy attack!"

Liu Wu sprang up, but as soon as he stepped off the bed, his legs gave way and he collapsed to the floor. He scrambled back up, bolted out of the tent, and roared, "Enemy attack! Form up! Quickly!"

At his words, the camp descended into chaos. Soldiers grabbed their sabers and rushed out of their tents, scanning for the enemy.

After searching for a long time without finding anyone, Zhao Tai glared at Liu Wu and snapped, "Old Liu, are you still dreaming? Where’s the enemy? Why are you going crazy at the crack of dawn? You scared the life out of me!"

Liu Wu was equally confused; he had clearly heard the shout. Turning back toward his tent, he muttered, "Whoever that son of a bitch is, reporting a false alarm..."

Lin Shize walked out of his tent with a grim expression, watching them.

"If the enemy had actually come, is this how you would face them?"

Liu Wu realized he was in trouble and immediately snapped to attention. "Reporting to the Battalion Commander, if the enemy were here, I would still be able to fight!"

"Bullshit! Would you fight the enemy in your underwear? Fine, since that’s the case—everyone except Liu Wu, you have three hundred breaths to get your gear on! Five-kilometer forced march! Move!"

At Lin Shize’s roar, the soldiers scrambled back into their tents to don their armor. Only Liu Wu stood outside, bare-chested and at a loss.

Ignoring Liu Wu’s pleas, Lin Shize silently counted the time. He had to teach them a lesson they wouldn't forget.

Once the time was up, he led them running along the hills of the Village of Heroes. Every time someone lagged behind, a whip would crack, and wails echoed throughout the mountains.

Wang Li stood at the entrance of the infirmary, slurping rice porridge mixed with shredded meat. He clicked his tongue and remarked, "Old Liu, for heaven's sake, tighten your belt! Your backside is about to show!"

While Lin Shize was drilling the troops, Dahu walked over and said, "Boss, Li Gui found over three hundred retreating soldiers from the Great Qi army just beyond the hill."

Lin Shize frowned. "Where did these stragglers come from?"

Zhao Dahu replied, "They say their formation was broken during the retreat at Mount Bate yesterday, and they ended up here in the confusion."

Lin Shize pondered for a moment. "Bring them in, confiscate their weapons, and guard them strictly. We must ensure this isn't a ploy by the Mengla people."

"I'm going to the main camp to take a look. If they truly are lost soldiers, I don't intend on returning them."

Zhang Jiawen looked at the military report in his hand, his face purple with rage. He couldn't comprehend how a simple mission to intercept the enemy and retreat had resulted in Wu Tian’s forces being scattered.

Last night, just as Wu Tian was about to retreat to the main camp, he was ambushed by the enemy. Over a thousand soldiers had yet to return.

The battle at Mount Qier had lasted the entire night. Just as the enemy retreated, Zhang Jiawen returned to the camp only to be met with this disastrous news.

Wu Tian shouted his grievances in the camp, "Commander, I requested help from Lin Shize yesterday, but he refused to save us and retreated instead. That is what led to this crushing defeat!"

No sooner had Wu Tian finished speaking than a soldier reported that Lin Shize was outside requesting an audience.

As soon as Lin Shize stepped into the tent, he was confronted by Zhang Jiawen about the retreat.

Lin Shize shrugged and said, "Commander, at the time, I saw that Battalion Commander Wu’s formation was orderly and not in retreat."

"We had just finished a major battle, and our wounded hadn't even been settled. To rush in blindly would not only have failed to help Battalion Commander Wu, but it would have cost us our own lives as well."

"Besides, Battalion Commander Wu has always looked down on our band of misfits. If we had gone up there, he might have blamed us for disrupting his formation and causing the defeat. That is a heavy burden I am not willing to shoulder."

His words left Wu Tian red-faced, wishing he could crawl into a hole in the ground.

Zhang Jiawen refocused his attention on Wu Tian. He, too, was baffled; he had only taken half the troops with him, and even if Wu Tian couldn't defeat the Mengla, he should have been able to escape.

Wu Tian was now trapped in a situation where he couldn't speak his grievances. Unlike Lin Shize or Sun Zheng, he had never led thousands of men in battle. When the enemy charged, he had no idea what to do, and the entire battlefield turned into a disaster.

Having barely made it back to camp, he had then been ambushed.

Seeing that it was too late to change what had happened, Zhang Jiawen knew there was no use in arguing; he could only try to salvage the situation.

"Lin Shize, you’re full of clever ideas. Tell me, do you have any good solutions?"

Lin Shize pondered for a moment. "I do have one. We still have the Third Prince of Mengla in our hands. I hear he’s quite the rising star lately."

"There are even rumors he’s set to replace the Mengla Crown Prince."

"If we take him to Mount Qier, even if the Mengla know it’s a trap, they will surely charge at us like madmen. That will be our chance to achieve great glory."

Inside the tent, Zhang Jiawen and the others nodded instinctively, finding the plan excellent.

Only Sun Zheng remained silent, his heart churning with turmoil. Wu Tian had truly offended Lin Shize this time.

Lin Shize continued, "It was my lack of foresight yesterday that implicated Battalion Commander Wu and all our brothers. How about this, Commander—when you report the military merits, credit the achievements that were originally ours to Battalion Commander Wu instead."

Hearing this, Sun Zheng couldn't help but look away, hiding the strange expression in his eyes.

He could imagine the chaos that would ensue once the Mengla discovered that the man who captured their Third Prince was Wu Tian, and that he was holding the prince at Mount Qier. It would be a fight to the death...