Lord of the Desert

Chapter 551 No Return to Camp

Red ribbons fluttered atop the city walls, while laughter and cheers echoed below.

The nourishing soup, made with the finest ingredients, is served in a silver cup and has been simmering for at least a day.

The copper basin and wet wipes used for washing face and hands were kept perfectly hot by the fire element martial artist using his inner energy.

After entering the city, the garrison and barracks were all in place—or rather, they were always in place, only newly vacated after the battle with the giants at the beginning of the year.

In short, the Red Sand Army's entry ceremony into the city on the sixth day of the eleventh month went very smoothly.

That evening, the banquet was held at the garrison headquarters.

The banquet was set up on dozens of tables, and the standards were extremely high; the top-quality snow frog, hazel grouse, and wild matsutake mushrooms were all of exceptional quality, and even with Master Lü Yun's discerning eye, there was nothing to criticize.

After the banquet, everyone from Hong Fan down received a generous gift, including valuable medicinal herbs that were expensive and beneficial to martial arts, such as wild ginseng and immortality herbs.

After this meal, all sorts of troubles will begin.

The troops need to be settled, the environment needs to be familiarized, and key figures in the city need to be befriended.

For the next two days, the Red Sand Army was so busy that they didn't have a moment to spare. It wasn't until the third day that Hong Fan managed to squeeze out some free time.

The main hall of the Beacon Tower Commandant's Office.

"He Ben, the martial arts supervisor of Fengsui City Martial Arts Academy, greets Captain Hong."

The man was around forty years old, dressed as a scholar, with a smile on his face that couldn't hide his deep-seated melancholy.

The Martial Arts Academy is a top-tier, powerful department in other parts of Dahua. Even if a local martial arts supervisor is not on par with the chief administrative officer, it is still quite powerful.

But Zhenbeiwei is clearly not like that.

“Supervisor He and I are on the same side, so let’s skip these formalities.”

Hong Fan took the initiative to greet him and invited him in, arm in arm.

These words were not entirely polite.

Although Hong Fan was no longer a Purple Ribbon Imperial Guard, his friendship with the Zhangwu Academy remained, and there were no conflicts of interest between them in the Northern Frontier.

Seeing Hong Fan's enthusiastic attitude, He Ben felt relieved. After drinking a few cups of hot tea, he felt as if he had found a patron and poured out his grievances.

"The Zhenbei Guard has been independent for a long time and has not obeyed the emperor's orders. My meager cultivation is also insufficient, so these past two years have been quite difficult. The academy is in charge of the four routes of education and inspection, but the first three routes have not been effectively implemented in this Fengsui City. I'm not afraid of being laughed at by the captain, let alone important matters such as martial arts and law enforcement, I only learned about your arrival on the sixth day of the month on the morning of the fifth day."

Hong Fan was not surprised to hear this.

When the Chisha army entered the city three days ago, He Ben himself was present, but he was ranked quite low and didn't even get a chance to exchange a few pleasantries with Hong Fan.

"Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice. The Military Supervisor was ordered to come from afar to build this place from scratch, and it's already a feat to have even gained a foothold. I'm new here and completely clueless, so I need the Military Supervisor to analyze things for me..."

Hong Fan invited him here today to inquire about local culture and geography, martial arts masters, power dynamics, and so on.

"There are four Xiantian masters in the entire Fengsui region. The two in the city are Huan Chengji and Yong Yu, whom the captain has already met. The other two are Wan Zhao, who is stationed in Yuli Town on the upper reaches of the Ling River, and Xiong Lie, who commands Yongfu Village in the east."

He Ben answered carefully.

"To be honest, Captain, I have put in a lot of effort to befriend all four of them, but even Wan Xiong and the other two are quite cold towards me—the reputation of the Martial Arts Academy alone is not enough in the North."

He recalled the days when he was invincible in Shannan and sighed softly.

"Does the Martial Arts Supervisor know anything about the martial artists at the Strength Realm within the city?"

Hong Fan asked again.

"It is perfectly clear to me."

He rushed back without hesitation.

"Of the five who are in harmony with Heaven, two are from the Song family, one is from the Xiang family, and the remaining two are Yang Haorang and Guo Han, the two commanders of the city defense army."

Although he was not well-liked by the locals, he had clearly not been just wasting his time for the past two years.

"Both the Song and Xiang families are large clans with over three hundred members. The former mainly deals in furs and has three large hunting teams, while the latter controls the docks outside the city, the dry docks, and the two largest ice shops in Fengsui City. Yang Haorang is of mountain origin and has weak connections within the city, relying solely on his military achievements. Guo Han, on the other hand, is supported by Suo Chengzhou—two commanders died in successive battles at the beginning of the year, and Commandant Huan was crippled and dismissed from his post. Everyone in the city initially thought he would take over..."

With a population of 70,000, two innate beings and five heavenly beings interacted, a density nearly double that of the Liangzhou border region.

However, Hong Beom was not surprised.

Resources in Dahua accumulate layer by layer from the periphery to the center, and the same applies to those who have achieved mastery in martial arts; in contrast, Zhenbeiwei is isolated from the world, and most martial artists stay in their hometowns, so the accumulation of resources is not obvious.

"According to my statistics, there are 53 martial artists at the Hunran Realm in Fengsui City, and about 440 at the Guantong Realm. Most of them come from gangs—commanders. Although I dare not say that I am diligent, I have visited each of these 53 Hunran Realm experts."

He Ben took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, a hint of self-satisfaction in his voice.

"A gang?"

This term was quite new to Hong Fan.

"This is a folk saying in the northern border region. In the south, it would probably mean sworn brothers who are not related by blood."

He Ben pondered for a moment, trying to find a way to explain. "For example, several neighboring families who have been friends for generations, the young men in the same hunting team, soldiers who have fought together, and so on. Life and death are volatile and uncertain in the northern frontier, and the people value practical matters over abstract ones, sticking together to protect their own. There are no large and solid patriarchal clans like in the south."

Hong Fan understood immediately upon hearing this.

Complex organizations are based on illusory consensus and recognition, while the northern frontier is often rife with warfare, far removed from imperial rule, and lacks proper etiquette and morality, which is detrimental to it.

In addition, the climate north of Hezhou is extremely cold and the produce is scarce. The city of Fengsui only has a population of 70,000. Now, people have to go at least 20 miles away from the city to cut firewood, which has forced the population to disperse.

Of course, these are all good things for outsiders like Hong Fan who interfere.

"By the way, Captain, the number of martial artists I mentioned above does not include the No Return Camp."

He Ben added another sentence.

"They are under the extremely strict management of the military, and I simply couldn't get involved..."

The No-Return Camp is a unique suicide squad of martial artists and criminals in Zhenbeiwei.

A few days ago, while traveling, Hong Fan chatted with Yang Haorang and learned that he learned his martial arts from a prisoner from the Wuhui Camp who died in Fengsui City.

They chatted for about half an hour until Xu Yuntao and Yi Hong came to report, at which point He Ben got up to take his leave.

Hong Fan heated up new cups and poured tea, noticing that the two men looked rather uneasy.

"What's wrong? Is something not going well?"

His eyebrows were slightly furrowed.

Having just arrived, the Red Sand Army had few free days. The captains were mainly responsible for social interactions, while Xu Yuntao was in charge of the handover of specific matters such as the garrison, barracks, weaponry, warehouses, city walls, and watchtowers outside the city.

"The handed-over accounts and items are complete and there are no problems."

Xu Yuntao pushed the first cup of tea to Yi Hong.

"So the problem lies in the lack of handover?"

Hong Fan asked.

"Correct."

Xu Yuntao took the second cup of tea and gestured for Yi Hong to speak.

"Aside from the Red Sand Army, the current Beacon Tower City Defense Command still has three units. Two of them are reorganized city guards from the remnants of the army, with a total of about 1,400 men according to indirect information. The third unit is the No Return Camp."

Yi Hong swallowed a mouthful of boiling water, wiped his mouth, and reported.

"The two city guards are under the command of the Commander-in-Chief Yang. If they do not return to camp, they are in Guo Han's hands. In the past two days, we have not received any rosters or accounts for this group of people, and no officer has reported to us."

Hong Fan had actually anticipated what Yi Hong said.

Logically speaking, Yang Haorang should have been his direct subordinate from the moment they met, but after several days together, he didn't show any enthusiasm for his new boss. Instead, he seemed more like a distant colleague.

Hong Fan shook his head and poured the remaining tea into the three cups.

"I just heard He Wujian mention the situation of the no-return camp; most of the four hundred men are in the Inner Vision Realm, with more than forty having achieved penetrating insight and more than ten being completely attuned. The entire battalion is composed of convicts, so they neither require pay nor suffer any battle losses, and their combat strength is comparable to two elite thousand-man squads."

"The Beacon Tower Defense Command has a total of four thousand personnel. Are they planning to cut half of that number? The feast they brought when we entered the city really gave me the illusion that everything would go smoothly."

He laughed as he said this.

Hong Fan poured out the stale tea leaves from the pot, casually broke off a new piece of tea cake, and crushed it little by little between his fingertips.

"You've come from such a distant land, do you really think I'm just here to sit in an office and do nothing?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the cold water in the iron kettle on the corner of the table started to boil, making a sound as it was struck.

"Commander Xu, have someone send a formal invitation to the two commanders and the garrison commander to arrange a time for me to speak with them."

Hong Fan leaned back in his chair, his face devoid of any smile.

"Captain, isn't this too hasty...?"

Xu Yuntao hesitated slightly.

When they met again in July this year, he saw that Hong Fan was the same as before from head to toe, but as they spent more time together, he found that there were actually many differences.

The red sands were once calm, solid, and unhurried.

Today, the Blazing Stars are focused on their goals and are making vigorous and rapid progress.

"time does not wait."

Hong Fan sighed.

"Taking a leap like a tiger, he doesn't even care about the flowers and grass beneath his feet..."

(End of this chapter)