Aoyama

Chapter 450 Without Attachments, One Will Not Die

Ah Sheng saw Chen Ji dragging Zhuo Shengjiang through the woods like a dead dog. Zhuo Shengjiang's hands dragged weakly on the ground, his armor scraping against the earth with a rustling sound.

In an instant, Ah Sheng looked at Chen Ji, who was covered in blood, and subconsciously raised the bow and arrows in his hand. When he remembered that these were his own people, he quickly put away the arrows and hung the bow on his back.

He glanced down at the two officers at his feet, then at the one Chen Ji was dragging. Both men had long black pheasant feathers stuck in their helmets; they were two centurions, both skilled among the officers.

Ah Sheng tentatively asked, "Young Master, did you kill all of these people?"

Chen Ji hummed in agreement: "Just lucky."

Looking at Chen Ji's calm face, Ah Sheng suddenly remembered that when he took his ear out of his bag to show Chen Ji earlier, other sons of officials and nobles would dodge or even scream in horror, but Chen Ji did not.

He changed his previous attitude and cleverly took out the water pouch from his waist and handed it to Chen Ji: "Young master, have some water."

Chen Ji looked at him in surprise: "I'm not thirsty."

Ah Sheng's eyes darted around, and she pulled out two warm eggs from her pocket: "Young Master, these eggs were originally prepared for Master Hong, but he can't have any now."

Chen Ji hadn't eaten breakfast, but he took the egg and started peeling it.

Ah Sheng exclaimed, "Young master, you have excellent skills. In the Night Watch, there aren't many people who can kill two capture generals in one go."

As Chen Ji peeled the eggs, he asked, "Who's there?"

Ah Sheng replied with a smile, "Zhou Kuang from the Fifth Army Camp, but Brother Zhou Kuang returned to the capital after being promoted to commander of a thousand. There are also Gao Yuan and Gao Ye from the Wansui Army, Zhang Liang and Li Rang from the Shenji Camp, and Hong Zu'er and Zhang Baishi from Chongli Pass."

Chen Ji asked, "Where should the merit for capturing a live general be awarded?"

“How can you do such dirty work yourself? Let me help you. Usually, it’s Master Hong who kills the enemy, and I’m the one who collects the spoils,” Ah Sheng squatted down and began to search the body of the capture general. “Verifying the military merits of the capture general is quite complicated. Even if you’re from the capital, the merit officer will be more careful. First, you have to find the capture general’s waist tag. The waist tag records which army they belong to and is used to verify their identity when entering and leaving the Jing Dynasty’s military camp. However, the capture generals are cunning and treacherous. They like to deliberately hide their waist tags elsewhere so that the Night Scouts can’t verify their military merits after they die.”

Sure enough, neither of the two hunters had their waist tokens on them.

Ah Sheng continued, "If we don't find the waist tag, we'll need more evidence. The bows and swords of the captured generals are better than those of ordinary infantrymen. We need to take this back. After verifying the military merit, the merit officer will return it to you. You can use it yourself or sell it in the military market. It's worth quite a bit of silver."

"Then came their heads. The officers who captured the prisoners were all senior officers, and their teeth and hair were much better than those of ordinary foot soldiers, which was also evidence of their physical condition."

"Finally, there's their armor. The leather armor worn by the captured generals is made of raw cowhide soaked in tung oil and then air-dried, followed by repeated application of lacquer and air-drying. It takes three years to make a set of leather armor, and it's more expensive than a set of iron armor, but also much lighter. Only the most elite officers in the Jing Dynasty army can wear it. It's so tough that ordinary swords and axes can't cut through it, making it suitable for long-distance raids."

Ah Sheng tapped the black leather armor on Zhuo Sheng's body with the blade of his sword, producing a sound similar to the tapping of resin. He then tried to bend the armor plates, but they were too hard to bend.

He glanced furtively at the corpse that Chen Ji had dragged over. The man who had captured the living had three penetrating wounds on his body, two of which had pierced through his leather armor, yet he treated the armor as if it were nothing.

Ah Sheng was puzzled. Chen Ji was unarmed. What kind of official skills did he have to penetrate the leather armor and then pierce through the body of the capture general?
Chen Ji ate an egg and said calmly, "Will the leather armor be returned too?"

“No,” Ah Sheng continued to explain, “once these leather armors are handed over, the commemorative officer won’t return them. The intact ones are transported to the capital for safekeeping by the court, and are occasionally used as rewards; they cannot be kept for personal use except as rewards. The slightly damaged ones are handed over to craftsmen for repair and are directly issued to the elite troops of the three Imperial Guards. The severely damaged ones are simply repaired and issued to the border troops… Therefore, the scouts who capture leather armor will deliberately damage more of it and then ask the general to intercept it.”

As they spoke, Ah Sheng had already skillfully stripped the two hunters naked, then casually chopped off their heads, took out lime from his satchel and smeared it on them: "The merits of these two hunters are enough for you to be promoted to centurion. As for whether you can be promoted to commander of a thousand, that depends on how strong your background is."

Chen Ji asked in confusion, "The centurion told me earlier that two captured generals would be enough to be promoted to commander of a thousand."

Ah Sheng shook his head and patiently explained, "That's a chiliarch (commander of a thousand households). General Zhang Lanjin's decision doesn't count; it has to be reported to the Ministry of War. If you're promoted to chiliarch, you'll be a fifth-rank military officer, and you'll get a bear-patterned insignia. Once you return to the interior, you can immediately serve as a garrison commander in any region, or as a chiliarch in charge of transporting grain. These are all lucrative positions... Having the military merits of capturing two live-capture generals only means you have the prerequisites to make this happen, but whether it succeeds or not depends on you."

Chen Ji asked calmly, "Then why would the centurion say that?"

Ah Sheng grinned and said, "Those are just the excuses we use to fool the sons of officials and nobles. Those sons of officials and nobles are stupid and rich. They receive thousands of taels of silver from their families every month. If we sell a captured general to them for two thousand taels of silver, we can be rich for several years... But you are an expert, so I can't lie to you."

Ah Sheng hid the head, leather armor, sword, and bow under a pile of stones: "I have to weigh them down with stones, otherwise the head will be carried away by wild animals."

Chen Ji leaned against the tree trunk and ate the last egg. He watched as the young A Sheng finished doing all this and said meaningfully, "Why not just take him back to Chongli Pass? Why hide him?"

Ah Sheng rolled her eyes and said with a smile, "Young master, we still have other places to go, let's not go back to Chongli Pass yet."

Chen Ji said casually, "First you were so attentive, giving me the eggs you were reluctant to eat. Then you went to great lengths to help me with this matter, taking it upon yourself to hide everything, saying you were going somewhere else. So, what do you want from me?"

Ah Sheng, whose thoughts had been exposed, was not embarrassed. She simply said sincerely, "Young master is a smart man, so I won't beat around the bush. My Uncle Baizi and Xingxing are still trapped in Liutiaogou. Please lend a hand to them."

Chen Ji asked casually, "What benefit would I get?"

Ah Sheng, with her bright eyes and white teeth, looked exceptionally innocent: "Young master, aren't we all working for the imperial court?"

Chen Ji straightened up: "The generals who are capturing prisoners have all gone to Chongli Pass. I imagine the road to Liutiaogou is fraught with danger. I'm just a minor officer, I won't go."

Ah Sheng hurriedly asked, "When will you finally agree to go?"

“Two things,” Chen Ji pondered for a moment, “First, I don’t plan to get promoted. Help me sell these two captured generals, and I’ll keep all the silver.”

Ah Sheng was taken aback: "Young Master, you really don't want a promotion at all?"

Chen Ji smiled: "You don't need to capture live generals to be promoted to centurion. Don't you still have the ears of Jing Dynasty infantrymen? Give me ten." Asheng muttered softly, "You're quite shrewd in business... And the second thing?"

Chen Ji pondered: "Is there a secret passage that allows one to enter and exit the mountains of Malaysia in secret, the kind that few people know about?"

Ah Sheng became wary: "Why are you asking this?"

Chen Ji looked at him: "Do you still want to save your Uncle Baizi?"

Ah Sheng gritted her teeth: "There's one way: after leaving Chongli Pass, go through Yaozigou, Wangmagou, and Xiashancha..."

Chen Ji shook his head: "You will personally lead me away when the time comes."

Ah Sheng hesitated for a long time: "Young master, aren't you afraid I'll go back on my word?"

Chen Ji turned and walked north: "People who are willing to risk their lives to save others are people of their word. They are not afraid of you going back on your word. Let's go to Liutiaogou."

……

……

The two walked towards Huangtuzui, wanting to take a look to see if Chen Ji's comrades from this banner were still alive.

Ah Sheng knew the way like the back of her hand, as if she remembered the location of every single tree.

Chen Ji followed behind, traversing mountains and valleys, and asked curiously, "Since you were adopted by Master Hong when you were just over a year old, why do you still call him Master Hong? Why don't you change your form of address?"

Ah Sheng paused for a moment, then continued walking forward as if nothing had happened: "Master Hong won't allow it."

Chen Ji asked in confusion, "Why not?"

Ah Sheng explained without turning her head: "Master Hong said that night spies can't have any attachments. If they have attachments, they'll be afraid of dying. In this godforsaken place of Chongli Pass, being afraid of dying means you'll die. It's really weird."

Chen Ji remained silent.

Ah Sheng sighed, "Before leaving Ping An Gate, Master Hong would always gamble away all his money at the military market. He said that once he had spent all his money, he would have no more worries and would definitely be able to come back alive."

Chen Ji joked, "So you guys earned so much silver with your military merits, yet you're still living such a frugal life?"

Ah Sheng smiled and said, "That's right. I've sold at least a hundred ears, if not eighty, and I've also sold two heads of captured generals. Every time I tell Master Hong, once you've saved enough money, don't go out and risk your life. Go to the capital and live a prosperous life, or join the Wansui Army. Anyway, the Wansui Army's commander-in-chief, Lu Wuyai, also wants to recruit him."

"The results of it?"

Ah Sheng crossed a stream and casually said, "He always ends up giving me a good scolding. Master Hong has a bad temper and often yells at people. He just scolded me when I came back to support you."

Chen Ji asked curiously, "Aren't you afraid of death? You knew there were people capturing people alive, yet you still dared to come back?"

Ah Sheng lowered her head: "There's nothing we can do. Master Hong said this is the fate of the Night Scouts. Besides, Uncle Baizi and Xingxing's lives are saved. If the Night Scouts fall into the hands of the Life-Catching Generals, they'll be skinned alive, dismembered, and slowly tortured to death. We hate them, and they hate us too. Xingxing is about my age; we've played together since we were little. We can't just watch him die like this..."

Before she could finish speaking, Ah Sheng slowly stopped and stared blankly ahead.

Chen Ji looked up and was horrified to see hundreds of heads piled up in front of him, forming a mound of skulls. The dead had no peace, and the scene was terrifying.

Ah Sheng moved step by step toward the Jingguan: "Uncle Scarface, Sixth Brother..."

He identified each exposed head one by one, almost grinding his teeth as he spoke.

Ah Sheng walked to the Jingguan (a mound of skulls), wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, and, unperturbed by the blood and horror on the skulls, carefully picked them up one by one and placed them on the ground.

Chen Ji was watching from a short distance away when Ah Sheng turned around and said to him, "Your banner's men are all here, along with men from other banners. But Uncle Baizi and Xingxing aren't inside; they're still alive."

He pleaded earnestly, "Please, young master, help them."

Chen Ji asked in a deep voice, "Which direction is Willow Gully?"

Ah Sheng pointed northeast: "Over there."

Chen Ji turned and strode north: "Let's go now."

A mound of corpses is a way for the enemy to demonstrate their power; ordinary infantrymen would be filled with fear upon seeing one.

The capture of the living is deep into the mountains of Malaysia, with the aim of forcing the Ning Dynasty soldiers back to Chongli Pass so that they can focus on their work... But what are they planning to do?

Chen Ji was certain that the capture of the live generals was for the Jing Dynasty envoys, and that they intended to intercept and kill them.

(End of this chapter)