Misty Rain of the Old Times

Ganning County was captured by Zhou Xing's army in a swift and decisive manner. The fierce battle did not take place. The difference in strength between the two armies was too great, and the equipment was far superior. Zhou Xing's side did not even suffer many casualties. Even though the statistics have not been compiled, the number of casualties is less than two hundred. A small portion of them were caused by the innate master who made a desperate gamble by leaving the city.

No war is without casualties, even in a one-sided victory. However, Zhou Xing's side had already achieved a great victory by taking Ganning County with only one or two hundred men. Most of them were just wounded, and only a few dozen actually died.

As expected, the routed troops of Ganning County fled from the other side of the city, abandoning their armor and weapons. That side was Rong Kingdom's territory, and Rong Kingdom would naturally not allow them to run around freely. It should be known that routed soldiers are more ruthless than bandits. With these routed soldiers delaying Rong Kingdom's attention, Zhou Xing had time to completely control the defenses of Ganning County.

Chen Xuan really didn't understand military affairs. To say he was all talk and no action was an understatement. Back when he was in school with Xiao Gao, he never had a chance to chime in when Xiao Gao and his classmates were discussing military matters. So he really couldn't understand what that innate master was thinking, risking his life to leave the city. Despite having innate cultivation, he was overwhelmed and killed by a group of soldiers.

Heavy armor soldiers, equipped with thick iron tower shields, can barely withstand attacks from innate masters, wounding them but not killing them. Even if that innate master is at the bottom of the hierarchy, this shows the importance of equipment. They can even overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers. No wonder any dynasty explicitly forbids civilians from wearing armor privately. Anyone caught doing so is committing a serious crime. Even lawless martial artists only dare to skirt the law and not actually cross it. At most, they might get some wrist guards, shoulder guards, breastplates, etc., but they dare not actually wear a full set of armor. Even if they have it, they dare not openly show it off.

With the death of that innate master, the garrison fled, the overall situation was settled, and Zhou Xing would take over Ganning County next.

He'd probably be quite busy next, and Chen Xuan hadn't witnessed the war scenes he'd imagined, so he wasn't disappointed. He'd come to say goodbye anyway, so Chen Xuan turned his gaze away and cupped his hands in a smile to Zhou Xing, who wasn't busy yet, saying, "Fifth Brother, Sister-in-law, you're both very busy, so I won't bother you any longer. Seeing the mighty Xiong Shi under your command, Fifth Brother, has truly been a worthwhile trip. I'll take my leave now. Qian Ning doesn't like fighting, so she won't be able to say goodbye in person. I'll convey her apologies; please forgive her."

Hearing this, Zhou Xing turned around in surprise and said, "Brother Xuan, are you leaving already? It's not easy to meet, why not stay a little longer? I'd like to enjoy some drinks with you."

“Yes, Xiao Xuan, you should stay. We haven’t properly entertained you yet. We’ll make up for it once we enter the city,” Gao Jingyu added, urging you to stay.

With a smile, Chen Xuan shook his head apologetically and said, "There are still a lot of things waiting for you to handle, Fifth Brother. If we stay, we'll only delay things, so we won't cause any trouble. There will be plenty of time for us to get together later."

“Well… alas, the timing is indeed not right now. Since that’s the case, I won’t try to keep you any longer. Once the situation stabilizes, you can come to see me anytime, Brother Xuan. I feel guilty and will definitely punish myself with three cups of wine to apologize then,” Zhou Xing said with a sigh, no longer trying to persuade him to stay.

Chen Xuan was not only his sister's husband and a relative, but also Gao Jingyu's brother. He genuinely wanted to entertain Chen Xuan and his family, but he really didn't have much free time. He had a lot of things to deal with while taking over Ganning County, and he also had to guard against the Rongguo army's invasion. He simply couldn't spare the time to accompany them.

Chen Xuan bowed again and said with a smile, "Fifth Brother, you flatter me. There will be plenty of time for us to meet again in the future."

Seeing his subordinates hesitate to speak and not wanting to interrupt, Zhou Xing knew he had something to attend to. He cupped his hands apologetically to Chen Xuan and said, "Then I'll take my leave. I won't see you off. I hope you'll be understanding and take good care of my younger sister. If you encounter Father and are unable to fulfill your filial duties, please convey my apologies."

Seeing that he had something to attend to, Chen Xuan nodded and said, "I'll definitely do it. Fifth Brother, please go ahead and take your leave."

"Please," Zhou Xing said, bowing as he watched Chen Xuan leave with Du Juan.

At this moment, Gao Jingyu spoke up: "Xiao Xuan, please go back and visit them more often when you have time. Help me take care of my parents, and please also tell them that I'm sorry for not being able to be filial to them. They are very grateful."

"Of course, Miss, don't worry. I grew up in your family, so that's my home too," Chen Xuan said with a smile as she turned around, then turned and left. The way she addressed her as "Miss" was from the perspective of the Gao family.

He neither liked nor disliked Gao Jingyu, and she didn't hold much weight in his heart. But Madam Gao was different from Xiao Gao. After all, they had been together for so many years. He had been taken care of by the Gao family since he was a child and had never suffered any hardship. He had grown up in a life of luxury and carefree living. He wasn't an ingrate, and he would remember the kindness the Gao family had shown him. But this kindness had nothing to do with Gao Jingyu, their married daughter.

Watching them leave, Zhou Xing instructed, "Send someone to escort them for a while... No, it's unnecessary. Otherwise, Xuan-di might think I'm questioning his cultivation. Instead, give them a token; it will make it easier for them to move around within our territory and prevent our subordinates from offending or provoking them."

"obey"

The person who received the order was about to leave to carry it out when Gao Jingyu smiled and said, "Wait a minute, His Majesty is a bit careless. My younger sister and Xiao Xuan are coming, and we, as their elder brother and sister-in-law, must show our appreciation. How can we let them leave empty-handed? They took their leave in a hurry and didn't prepare anything beforehand. So, let's give them ten thousand taels of gold for their travel expenses. They are His Majesty's close relatives, so we can't be stingy."

"Yes, the Empress is right. It was I who did not consider this carefully. Let's do it this way," Zhou Xing said, slapping his forehead as he realized what he meant.

In front of their ministers, they couldn't address each other as husband and wife. Only Empress Gao Jingyu dared to point out Zhou Xing's shortcomings to his face. If it were anyone else, would His Majesty have made a mistake?
On the way back to where the little princess and the others were, Chen Xuan looked at Du Juan, whose pretty face was still slightly tense, and smiled, "Sister Juan, were you shocked by the battle we fought on the battlefield earlier?"

With her expression softening slightly, Du Juan shook her head and said, "Master, I'm not so much shocked as I am. It's just that witnessing such a scene makes me realize that personal cultivation is of little use in large-scale warfare. A dignified innate master was actually surrounded and killed by a bunch of soldiers. If it were me, I'm afraid I could only struggle for a short while before dying under a hail of blades."

Chen Xuan nodded in deep agreement, saying, "The battlefield isn't a place for individual heroes; it's about equipment and teamwork. Individual strength certainly can't play a crucial role, but cultivation level still matters. If a Grandmaster-level expert intervenes, it's enough to decide the outcome of a small to medium-sized battle. As for large-scale wars, forget about it; there are ways to defend against Grandmaster-level experts, and even a slight oversight can lead to defeat. Of course, at that level, self-preservation on the battlefield is more than enough. Naturally, even on the battlefield, the higher the strength, the better. For example, some situations involving capturing generals and flags still require a small number of experts to accomplish."

Everyone understands these principles, but Du Juan had never seen such a scene before. She knew that those with innate cultivation could go anywhere in the world, but she never expected them to be so vulnerable on the battlefield, which somewhat overturned her previous preconceived notions.

After thinking for a moment, knowing that her husband disliked beating around the bush, she asked directly, "Master, if a Grandmaster were to intervene, could they decide the outcome of a large-scale battle? For example, if you were to personally take action?"

Faced with this question, Chen Xuan smiled and said, "It depends on the situation. Only wars involving more than 100,000 people can be called large-scale battles. If the enemy doesn't have any methods to counter Grandmasters, then of course the outcome can be determined. But if they have a countermeasure, then it's not so certain." This answer, which wasn't really an answer, made Du Juan pause for a moment. She thought to herself, even her master wasn't entirely confident? But then she thought of the scene in the underground cave city of Sun City, and she pondered, "But Master, you even repelled the overwhelming beast tide and killed several beasts comparable to Grandmasters. How could you not be able to determine the outcome of a large-scale battle?"

Having followed Chen Xuan for so long, traveling all over the country, in her heart, her master was as powerful as a god, as if there was nothing he couldn't do. Back then, that terrible beast tide was no less powerful than a thousand troops.
Chen Xuan shook his head and said, "It's not like you calculated it that way, Sister Juan. Beast tides and armies are different. Wild beasts mostly act on instinct, without any strategy or coordination, while armies wear equipment, coordinate, and use various tactics and methods. They specifically study how to target the strong, so you can't generalize."

"Is that so?" Du Juan murmured to herself, feeling that it shouldn't be like this.

Seeing this, Chen Xuan shook his head and laughed, "Sister Juan, why worry so much? Why would I go and provoke a thousand troops? Okay, if that really happens, I bet not many people won't be able to stand up after I slap them."

He had never experienced facing a massive army before, but he was confident in his ability to protect himself by keeping a low profile. As he said, why provoke an army for no reason? It's best to avoid such a situation. Wide-range attacks will disperse your strength. Even the most powerful group attacks can't compare to single-target attacks that concentrate power on one point.

The key is that certain special armies, when they form battle formations, can unleash the combat power of a grandmaster by pooling the strength of all their members into one. Such armies do exist, but Chen Xuan has never personally witnessed them. He has no doubt that Zhou Xing has such an army under his command, but he just hasn't revealed it yet. It would be a waste of talent to send out such an army to take over a county city.

There are battle formations in the military, and there are also multi-person coordinated attack formations in the martial arts world. These are common sense. In a world where extraordinary martial arts are added, these are not surprising.

Hearing Chen Xuan say that if he slapped a thousand troops, probably few would be able to stand up, Du Juan laughed. She thought that her master was a Grandmaster, so how could he be judged by ordinary standards? There was no need for a large-scale massacre; he only needed to deal with a few generals. Of course, anyone who wasn't brainless would provoke a Grandmaster or a Great Grandmaster.

They returned to the courtyard, where the little princess, with a bamboo basket on her lap and needle and thread in hand, looked up and asked curiously, "Husband, how is it?"

"What else could it be? Your fifth brother took Ganning County in a swift and decisive manner. The casualties were negligible. If you ask me, making such a big show of things was a bit unnecessary. Well, I don't understand war either. Being cautious is certainly the right thing to do, to minimize our own casualties as much as possible. What are you doing, my wife?" Chen Xuan shrugged and looked at the needle and thread in her hand with a slight speechlessness.

Smiling, the little princess said, "You won so easily! It seems Fifth Brother has a strong force under his command; no wonder he dared to start a rebellion." She paused, realizing that discussing this was somewhat inappropriate, and touched her slender, unprotruding waist, saying, "I'm making shoes for our future baby. I need to start preparing now."

"My wife has this skill?" Chen Xuan asked, genuinely surprised.

The little princess snorted, giving me a disapproving look, "I did learn needlework, you know? I'm just not very good at it. I embroidered my wedding dress myself."

Thinking of the gorgeous wedding dress the little princess would wear on her wedding day, Chen Xuan thought to herself, "Is this what you call not being good at needlework?" She blinked and said, "Isn't it a bit early to start preparing now? Besides, we can just buy it later; our family isn't short of money."

"Our baby will be born in ten months at most, shouldn't we prepare in advance? Besides, can something bought be the same as something made by hand?" the little princess said irritably.

Scratching his backside, Chen Xuan realized he was just asking for trouble, and promptly changed the subject, saying, "Wife, I've already said goodbye to Fifth Brother and the others. Since it's still early, why don't we set off now? We'll be leaving early and returning late, and it'll be dinnertime again soon."

"Well, Fifth Brother and the others must be quite busy, so I won't bother them any longer. Let's go now," the little princess said indifferently. Although she and Zhou Xing were siblings, they didn't have a deep relationship and were even strangers, so there was no need for her to stay here any longer.

They left without a second thought, and there wasn't much to pack. After Dujuan changed her clothes, they prepared to leave.

At this moment, the people arranged by Zhou Xing arrived quickly, bringing a box of gold and a black dragon-patterned token. After some polite refusals, Chen Xuan accepted it. Given their close kinship, it would seem rather cold to refuse. Their brief time together was quite pleasant, and there was no need to make things too awkward.

There is currently no conflict between the two sides, but who can say for sure what will happen in the future?

Afterwards, escorted by a group of guards, they left the mountain without intending to enter the city. They bid farewell to the guards on the official road and took a detour through the wilderness. When they were truly far away, Chen Xuan glanced in the direction of Ganning County. How far could Prince Qing, Zhou Xing, go, and what heights could he ultimately reach?
As they departed, Zhou Xing led his army into the city of Ganning County in a grand manner, and sat in the seat that had once belonged to the county governor. Below him, a large number of people knelt in fear, and most of the original Ganning County government was still there.

The officials waited anxiously for Zhou Xing's judgment. Gao Jingyu, as a personal guard, received the report and immediately stepped forward to whisper a few words in Zhou Xing's ear.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xing nodded. Then, he stopped hiding his power and his aura, which was originally at the middle level of the Innate Realm, rose steadily. An invisible pressure swept out, causing the already trembling officials to feel a chill in their hearts and crawl on the ground.

If Chen Xuan were here right now, he would discover that this Zhou Laowu actually has the cultivation of a Grandmaster!
At the same time, a faint black mark appeared between his eyebrows, a slightly twisted vertical line, as if a third eye had been opened, appearing extremely mysterious.

"Please invite Mr. Shui over. It's really not used to him not being around," Zhou Xing said calmly, glancing at the officials below.

...(End of this chapter)