Chapter 19: What Mischief Is This Again?

“Achoo!”

On the training ground of the Wei City main camp, Chen Yuanshan suddenly sneezed. The wind swept sand grains across the field as he rubbed his nose, his gaze settling back on the war bow in his hands.

Beside him, the hundred-household commander Pang Dabiao gripped the hilt of his waist sword, his eyes flickering slightly but remaining silent.

Chen Yuanshan pinched a feathered arrow, spinning it between his fingertips. The arrowhead’s three-pronged design was sharp and austere, gleaming with a cold, bluish-gray sheen under the sunlight. It was the newly crafted weapon that Hu Dayong had personally delivered the day before, claiming it was a new invention from General Lin’s banner.

“Killed six more…” he murmured softly, raising an eyebrow as he glanced toward the distant target.

As he drew the bow, the string hummed with a clear vibration, and the muscles around his shoulder blades tensed with force.

“Shoo—”

The arrow sliced through the air, striking the target a hundred paces away with a dull thud. The fletching trembled uncontrollably.

Without waiting for the target to settle, Chen Yuanshan released two more arrows in quick succession. The sharp whistle of their flight was like the long cry of an owl at night; the two arrows landed almost simultaneously on either side of the first.

“Go check.”

He waved his hand, and two bodyguards hurried toward the target. Moments later, they returned carrying it.

In the center was a piece of tanned leather armor, made from the hide of the Dada people.

The three-pronged arrowhead had pierced through the armor deeply, embedding itself into the pine wood core of the target, with only the fletching visible outside.

“General, it penetrated!” Pang Dabiao approached, his rough palm tracing the tear in the leather in astonishment. “This arrowhead is truly formidable!”

“Indeed.”

Chen Yuanshan nodded, a trace of surprise lighting his eyes.

As the commander, he had dealt with the Dada people for many years and naturally understood the significance of this uniquely shaped arrowhead.

Yet, the manner in which it had been presented was peculiar.

According to military protocol, if there was a new modification or innovation, Lin Chuan, the chief officer of Iron Forest Fort, should have personally reported it to the armory officer in Wei City. Instead, Hu Dayong had secretly slipped the arrowhead inside the battle report and sent it directly to the commander as a confidential message…

That was strange.

When questioned, Hu Dayong merely said that Lin Chuan had instructed him to do so.

“What is that scoundrel up to now?” Chen Yuanshan chuckled inwardly and asked, “What’s going on at Iron Forest Fort?”

Pang Dabiao clasped his fists respectfully. “General, there have been many recent activities at Iron Forest Fort. Twenty new combat soldiers recruited, fifty auxiliary troops…”

“Enough with the nonsense!” Chen Yuanshan cut him off. “What is Lin Chuan doing?”

Pang swallowed dryly. “Perhaps he’s busy training? I heard his training methods are strange — he makes the troops run in the mountains before dawn every day.”

“Running in the mountains?” Chen Yuanshan frowned. “Why run in the mountains?”

“I don’t know…” Pang shook his head. “Maybe to familiarize themselves with the terrain?”

“Familiarize with the terrain? Why before dawn?” Chen Yuanshan sneered. “Using these arrowheads… he’s throwing a tantrum.”

“A tantrum?” Pang looked puzzled. “Why would he be throwing a tantrum?”

“Think about it yourself…”

Chen Yuanshan smiled. “Iron Forest Fort has seventy more men than before, but the provisions are only allocated for twenty. If it were you, what would you do?”

Pang’s expression shifted slightly.

He was well aware of this matter.

The Ministry of Finance, controlled by Wang Hubu, held the purse strings, and the border troops often received only sixty to seventy percent of their allotted provisions.

Forts like Iron Forest, far from Wei City, were especially hard-hit by these cuts.

Had Lin Chuan tried to petition for more provisions through normal channels, Wang Hubu would have likely torn him apart by now.

Now, by secretly reporting the three-pronged arrows, it was clear that Hu Dayong, also under Wang Hubu’s influence, had informed Lin Chuan…

“General!” Pang Dabiao said anxiously, “Wang Hubu just accused Iron Forest Fort the day before yesterday of ‘false battle reports.’ Though reporting the arrowheads to you is irregular, it’s a desperate measure. I don’t believe Lin Chuan is throwing a tantrum at you…”

“Well, you’re speaking up for him!” Chen Yuanshan laughed and shook his head. “That bastard may not be good at much, but his mind is sharp… Prepare the horses!”

“Huh?” Pang was baffled. “Where is the general going?”

“Where else?”

Chen Yuanshan tossed his war bow into Pang’s arms.

“I’m heading to Iron Forest Fort myself to see what that bastard Lin Chuan is up to!”

…

Chen Yuanshan’s cavalry arrived at Iron Forest Fort.

The gates were wide open. Lin Chuan stepped out alone, followed by Ergou, who carried a quiver.

Chen Yuanshan reined in his horse, eyes fixed on Lin Chuan’s chest.

Pinned there was a wolf skull carving — no doubt a trophy taken from some Dada warrior.

“You really are different from the rest.”

Chen Yuanshan smiled faintly from his saddle, looking down at Lin Chuan.

“Others bring bodyguards to greet the commander; you bring a scruffy kid with a quiver.”

“General, Ergou’s archery is precise.”

Lin Chuan stood tall. Behind him, Ergou pushed his quiver forward, revealing the cold gleam of the three-pronged arrowheads inside.

“If an assassin appears, he can shoot through their throat a hundred paces away.”

Chen Yuanshan raised an eyebrow. “What if the assassin gets up close?”

“If he gets close…” Lin Chuan’s right hand hovered over his sword hilt. “That’s my job.”

“Oh?” Chen Yuanshan smiled. “You really have confidence in your own skill?”

“It’s not confidence,” Lin Chuan glanced at the bodyguards behind Chen Yuanshan.

They were broad-shouldered, their sword hilts twitching slightly with every breath — clearly seasoned fighters who had tasted blood.

“I simply believe that since my head is on my neck, I must learn to protect it myself. Relying on others’ swords is never as reliable as my own hands.”

Chen Yuanshan laughed heartily.

He swung off his horse and approached Lin Chuan. “One sword alone is never as safe as the swords of many brothers.”

“I understand, sir,” Lin Chuan clasped his fists.

“What have you understood?” Chen Yuanshan narrowed his eyes and jabbed the armor on Lin Chuan’s chest.

“No matter how fast one sword is, it cannot cut through thousands of troops. Only when brothers unite can we cleave through the iron curtain of this world. You’re teaching me how to lead soldiers…”

Lin Chuan met his gaze steadily. “United, we are a burning flame; scattered, we are stars in the sky.”

“A burning flame united, stars in the sky scattered?”

Chen Yuanshan repeated, his thick brows relaxing.

Suddenly, he patted Lin Chuan’s shoulder with such force that the younger man staggered half a step.

“Damn it, your words are more useful than all those flowery military treatises!”

“Thank you for your praise, General,” Lin Chuan replied.

“You’re clever.”

Chen Yuanshan squinted, scrutinizing him. “But I wonder if you’re using that cleverness in the right way?”

“I’m humbled…” Lin Chuan hurriedly bowed.

“Don’t be so damn humble!” Chen Yuanshan cursed. “Come on, show me what you’ve been doing these past few days.”

Lin Chuan looked up, catching a fleeting glimmer of approval in Chen Yuanshan’s eyes.

That look was much like the gaze of a special forces captain sizing up a new recruit—cold and hard, yet burning with something fierce.

“Where would you like to start, General?” Lin Chuan asked.

Chen Yuanshan snorted and stepped forward.

“Wherever you take me, I’ll follow.”

Lin Chuan led Chen Yuanshan through the gates, where twenty-six soldiers stood still under the scorching sun.

Their feet were shoulder-width apart, knees slightly bent.

Their torsos stood straight as pine trees, weapons held steady and balanced.

Sweat trickled down their necks into their collars, yet not a single one blinked or wavered.

“Why didn’t you come out to greet the General?”

Pang Dabiao was about to scold, but Hu Dayong at the front quickly explained,

“Hundred-household commander, please calm down! The general has decreed that during standing drills, soldiers must remain motionless, eyes fixed straight ahead, as if they were bricks in the fort’s walls. No one may move until dismissed, or they face punishment…”

Chen Yuanshan raised a hand to stop Pang and narrowed his eyes, studying the formation.

The one-eyed dragon held his steel blade aloft, a stone tied to the hilt trembling slightly with his breath, yet he stood more firmly than anyone else.

The others were the same; their lips cracked from the sun, but their gazes remained fixed forward.

“Lin Chuan, your method is unusual,” the General remarked with curiosity. “Which school of standing meditation is this?”