Lord of the Desert

Chapter 555: Holding Jin and Yu

November 24th, Fengsui City.

The bare branches of the poplar tree were covered with frost.

Lead-colored clouds formed a long array that blocked out the sunlight, stretching unevenly from north to south, with only a few gaps revealing glimpses of bright golden rice noodles.

Strong winds sculpted the dry snow off the rooftops.

No return to camp.

"Captain, there are 417 men in the camp, of whom 12 are of the whole type, 51 are of the through type, and 293 are of the inner type."

Huan Chengji led the way, leaning on his newly made steel crutch, with Sun Li, Kong Hai, Xu Ting, and several other newly appointed commanders of the Wuhui Camp following him.

"The least serious crimes committed by these 417 people were robbery resulting in maiming. Not one of them was a good person, so they couldn't be controlled by ordinary systems. As you can see, the criminals in the camp have five tattoos on their faces, hands, and feet. They are not allowed to leave the camp without orders. If one person escapes, five people will be punished. Occasionally, corporal punishment will be used on the particularly unruly ones..."

Today was not a training day, and the camp's drill ground was almost deserted, with only the occasional soldier silently shoveling wood and snow.

Hong Fan observed carefully and found that many of them were indeed missing their little fingers and ears.

Are all convicted soldiers sentenced to life imprisonment?

he asked.

"Legally speaking, that's mostly true, but we don't calculate it that way here. Those who have actually killed someone are generally sentenced to around twenty years, while the rest are around ten years. In addition, a charge into battle can offset six months of sentence—after a battle, those who are highly motivated can get two or three years off."

Huan Chengji replied.

"After all, people live for something to strive for. If the sentence is indefinite, many lazy donkeys might not be willing to work hard. But then again, released convicts rarely return to their hometowns; most find a job locally to live out the rest of their lives."

He paused at this point.

"After all, tattoos are very difficult to remove."

Hong Fan nodded silently.

The group walked through the small drill ground and entered the barracks area.

There were quite a few painted-face men sitting in the icy wind, wearing thin shirts, "enjoying the cool." They all looked like burly men with unpleasant faces, but as soon as they saw Huan Chengji, who was leaning on his cane, they would all smile obsequiously and shrink back into their rooms like mice seeing a cat.

"How many convicted soldiers escaped?"

Hong Fan asked.

“It used to be common, so it was more strictly controlled back then; convicted soldiers were usually put in shackles and chains, and could only eat their fill when there was a war.”

Huan Chengji replied.

“A few years ago, a young star lord named ‘Qingwuzi’ appeared in Whiterun. Now, all the prisoners in the Northern Frontier have been poisoned by her. They will die if they do not take the antidote within six months. Therefore, their treatment has been greatly improved. Apart from not being able to leave the camp on weekdays, their food, drink and equipment are almost the same as those of ordinary soldiers.”

"So Xu Zhiyan is from the Northern Frontier? That's quite an achievement."

Hong Fan suddenly realized.

This "Qingwuzi" was a prodigy of Qu Luoyi's generation. They met when the group of heroes gathered, but their acquaintance was only nodding.

The barracks area, which accommodates over 400 people, is not large; you can walk to the end of it in no time.

Before leaving, Hong Fan opened the last barracks door and looked inside. He saw a fireplace burning in the room, which was about 30 or 40 square meters, and a dozen or so yellowed bedding sheets soaked in the stench of sweat and grime.

The creaking sound of the door opening drew everyone's attention.

At the innermost part of the house, two of the highest-ranking criminal soldiers from the Hunran Realm were lying on their backs with their feet up on their backs. They were glaring at him with the ferocity of beasts because the door opening was too loud.

The look in his eyes quickly turned to fear and docility after he saw the face at the door.

"Ok?"

Hong Fan had intended to leave, but then stopped.

"You recognize me?"

Hong Fan asked, carefully examining the tattoos on the two men's faces—the tattoos contained key information such as the type of crime, the place of imprisonment, the start and end of the sentence, and the number of times they had participated in combat.

At this moment, all the criminals lying in the room had gotten up, and the two at the innermost level were standing straight.

One was tall and thin, the other was short and stocky.

"I recognize the captain."

However, it was a distorted Liangzhou accent.

"I remember now, you are 'Grasshopper' and 'Wild Bear'!" Hong Fan suddenly realized.

"Does the captain recognize Zhu Woyu and Ma Chi? They are indeed from Liangzhou."

Huan Chengji entered the barracks using his cane.

"I not only recognize them, but I also personally captured these two when I was serving as a Red Ribbon Cavalryman."

Hong Fan shook his head and sighed, trying to match the image of the grass-covered fly who had surrendered without resistance with the tattooed face in front of him that was impossible to decipher, but he could not do it.

The two bandits merely smiled obsequiously.

"Zhu and Ma were sentenced to ten years in prison. They have served five years so far and have charged into battle six times. They have two years left."

Huan Chengji reads the message from their facial tattoos.

"You two charged six times, did you achieve anything?"

Hong Fan asked.

"The two of us have killed two giants, five wolf-spine warriors, and countless others."

Grasshopper, chest puffed out, answered immediately.

The patrol ended shortly afterward.

Hong Fan shuffled back to the Captain's Mansion through the light snow, then suddenly burst into laughter.

"What is the captain laughing at?"

Hongbo, who was standing to the side, asked curiously.

"I laughed at that guy's name."

Hong Fan replied.

"With such refined taste and elegant demeanor, one must have come from a scholarly family..."

He sighed softly and quickened his pace.

······
For the next two weeks, Fengsui City will enter the coldest period of the year.

A month has passed since the Chisha Army entered the city, and the city's military forces have completed a second integration, achieving initial stability.

During this time, Hong Fan, accompanied by He Ben, paid a visit to the other two Xiantian masters in his jurisdiction. As the saying goes, a person's reputation precedes them, especially since the story of Sha Kui easily defeating Yong Yu had already spread throughout the Left Guard. These two men dared not treat the dignified Chi Xing as perfunctorily as they had treated He Ben. During this time, they adopted a very humble attitude and were excessively courteous.

But as Su Chengzhou said at the time, Hong Fan's overly harsh treatment of Guo Han did not come without consequences.

While no individual or force within Fengsui City dared to openly oppose the Chisha Army, subtle and covert pressure was ever-present—the Zhenbeiwei military intelligence system no longer submitted reports to the court, local commercial alliances such as Rongtie Palace refused to engage in trade, and even soldiers from Liangzhou who wanted to send letters or spoils of war home could not find ice shops or escort agencies to accept their orders.

The tenth day of December.

In the conference room of the Captain's Mansion, the fireplace burned hard fruitwood, emitting a faint fragrance.

Hong Fan sat behind a wide table, facing several high-ranking generals of the Red Sand Army.

"Captain, the supplies we requested twice arrived yesterday..."

Hong Lie reported.

Logically, the arrival of supplies should be a good thing, but his expression was rather gloomy.

"I counted it three times myself, and it was only 70% of the full amount."

"The document was signed and noted that there was still 95% left when it passed through Congrui Pass."

Hong Fan took the list and quickly scanned it without expression.

"Seventy percent, ha, that's just the limit we're barely maintaining."

The northern frontier was poor in supplies, and the army could not purchase all its supplies locally. Therefore, a considerable portion of the Red Sand Army's logistics needed to be transferred from the south of Hezhou. After passing Congrui Pass, bulk goods had to go through Linghe River, and Linyuan City, built along the river and located in the rear, was an unavoidable hub for the Left Guard.

"The distance from Congrui Pass to Fengsui City is at most 800 li, so how could nearly 30% of the distance have been lost?"

Zhu Tiangang was immediately enraged.

He was born into the direct line of the Hongyi Zhu clan, and with the Heavenly Ancestor protecting him, he had never suffered such humiliation in his life except under Hong Fan.

"Why don't we go to Lin Yuan City and confront them face to face!"

(End of this chapter)