Lu Bu, the Thunder General, is my adoptive father in Genshin Impact.

Chapter 56 I Will Lead the Charge

Under Xiao Yi's precise combination of kindness and severity, the soldiers, fearing for their lives while also anticipating the divine delicacy, saw their fighting spirit surge to an immeasurable level.

The trail that Sara found did indeed lead to the cave at the War Maniacs' base. Upon discovering that the punitive army was surging in this direction, the rabble of people panicked and ran around like headless flies.

Deep within the cave of the War Maniac lies a dark room that was originally used for the Ten Elders to hold meetings. Since the Ten Elders were slaughtered by the Strange Man, this place has become an empty, abandoned room. The door was smashed and no one repaired it. It sits in a remote location, as empty as an abyss.

whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

Breathing sounds could be heard from the dark room.

Upon hearing this sound, the chaotic war-crazed members felt as if they were infants hearing a lullaby sung by their mothers. Most of them immediately calmed down, and the remaining 1,600 members of the organization lined up and knelt strangely in front of the cave entrance.

"Sui, great Sui, save us!"

"Hope...hope all stems from evil..."

"Ah, give us strength, Lord Sumeru!"

A fat, dark-skinned man with a large machete hanging from his waist stood alone in the corner. He felt that ever since this guy joined the organization, the members' minds had become abnormal. They liked to pray randomly and mutter strange things to themselves, as if they had been brainwashed.

Perhaps for this reason, the organization's members have recently been launching suicidal attacks on the punitive expeditionary force, fleeing back immediately after each defeat, only to regroup and launch another frenzied offensive.

It was all this guy's doing.

Fortunately, the punitive expedition never pursued the remnants of the army, otherwise the war-mongering organization would have long since fallen apart.

The fat man looked at the crimson eye of the god at his waist. Perhaps the reason he was still able to maintain his mental state and not become as crazy and paranoid as the other members of the organization was all thanks to the blessing of the god.

The 1,500 members suddenly fell silent, as if they had anticipated that the person in the dark room was about to speak.

Immediately afterwards, a muffled sound came from the dark room.

"Your organization is called War Maniacs, you must crave battle... In that case, why seek my help? Fighting to the death is your destiny..."

whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

"Thank you for your kindness, sir!"

"Fight! Fight! Fight!"

"Die, die, die!"

The fat man couldn't stand it any longer. He walked through the kneeling members of the War Frenzy and ran to the door of the secret room.

Tadokoro Koji roared, "We are 1,500 men, without any formation or tactics. To attack 500 elite soldiers is nothing short of suicide! Running away is the only right thing to do!"

Despite his angry outburst towards the dark room, he didn't dare enter the pitch-black area.

The people around seemed not to hear anything and continued chanting strange prayers.

Suddenly, a piece of parchment floated out of the darkness and landed in front of the fat man, who bent down and picked it up.

A map marked in red ink.

The sounds from the dark room resumed.

"By following the path above, you can either escape alive or die a pleasant death."

whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—

……

Xiao Yi noticed two things.

First, they found the War Maniacs' base.

Second, either the War Maniacs were drunk, or he himself was drunk, and he actually saw the War Maniacs charging towards him head-on, numbering between a thousand and two thousand.

Swarms of war-crazed hordes covered the mountains and plains, howling like wild beasts as they charged toward the punitive army.

"All soldiers, follow me!!!" Xiao Yi drew his cheap sword and charged ahead.

The sky suddenly darkened, lightning flashed and illuminated everything, and a deafening sound was about to arrive.

Rumble!!!

The first clap of thunder signaled engagement!

Under the command of the young general, the twenty captains issued orders, and the four hundred and seventy-six soldiers charged forward in unison, with even the archers abandoning their guns and drawing their swords.

They could feel unparalleled confidence from Lord Xiao Yi's shouts and the thunder. There was no need for exhaustion or guerrilla tactics. Even if five hundred men were to clash with sixteen hundred, there was no need for fear. The gods would grant their subjects strength!

Xiao Yi, at the forefront, calmly assessed the distance. His white hair began to gradually turn purple, emitting a dazzling purple light, a state that only occurred when he was activating his power.

One hundred meters, fifty meters, ten meters!

Xiao Yi's eyes shone with brilliant light as he raised the cheap knife and infused it with lightning. The extremely ordinary weapon was extended by the lightning element, eventually reaching a length of forty meters.

He leaped high into the air and slashed his forty-meter-long thunder blade into the enemy ranks, instantly affecting more than a hundred people.

boom--

The lightning was beautiful and poignant, accompanied by a violent energy explosion, scattering the members of the War Frenzy across the sky.

The soldiers who followed closely behind arrived at the battlefield and began to fight the remnants of the War Maniac's army with their swords. Because Xiao Yi's forty-meter-long sword was extremely effective, it not only caused great damage to the War Maniac's formation, but also boosted the morale of his soldiers, who then swept through the enemy with unstoppable momentum.

At the same time, the first clap of thunder had just ended.

The lightning flashed again, landing precisely in the enemy's formation and completely shattering their rear ranks.

The thunderous roar boosted the morale of the punitive expeditionary force and also jolted the enemy troops, who seemed to be under hypnosis, causing the war-crazed soldiers to begin their escape.

The second thunderclap breaks the formation!

In the first battle, 500 men faced 1,600 men. 300 enemy soldiers were killed in battle, 1,300 escaped, and all 500 members of the expeditionary force survived and retained their fighting ability.

A light rain began to fall from the sky.

Rain and blood splashed onto Xiao Yi's face. He reached out to wipe them away, only to find his hands covered in cracks again, radiating a pale purple light symbolizing the element of lightning.

My body is overloaded...

He clenched his fists and muttered to himself, "If I order my soldiers to fight to the death, it would be a bit hypocritical of me to cherish my own life so much."

He chose to continue driving the elemental forces.

Rumble!!!

A third clap of thunder, and the pursuit begins!

Xiao Yi led the pursuit of the remaining troops, but strangely, Zhan Kuang ran in a particularly orderly fashion, retreating in an orderly manner that did not look like a defeat at all, as if there was an ambush.

An ambush is fine, let's chase!

For some reason, the fanatical members of the war-crazed group, as if they had rehearsed, managed to regain their footing after fleeing for several miles and then turned back to fight the punitive force again.

In the second battle, he killed two hundred people in the line of duty. The War Maniac fled again, and Xiao Yi led his troops in pursuit.

Upon arriving at a certain area, the War Maniac suddenly turned around and attacked, and Xiao Yi led the punitive expeditionary force to meet him in battle.

In the third battle, he killed 150 people in battle. The warrior fled, and Xiao Yi pursued him relentlessly.

……

The punitive expedition pursued the members of the War Maniacs, almost circling around Tasha. They fought from noon until midnight, engaging in fourteen battles of varying sizes, eliminating 1,500 bandits, capturing the War Maniacs' huge cave base, and seizing countless supplies and evidence.

The armor of the punitive troops was stained from dark to blood red, and even the rain could not wash away the filth. However, only a few dozen soldiers suffered minor injuries, while the remaining four hundred were almost unharmed.

An undeniable and resounding victory!

The rain stopped late at night.

While the soldiers were resting inside the cave, Xiao Yi stood at the entrance, holding a bloodstained parchment map in his hand, frowning as he examined it carefully.

Kujo Sara walked up behind him and silently draped her cloak over his shoulders.

"Lord Narukami, it's late. I know you won't catch a cold, but you should still go and rest."

“Saro, this map is something I found on the corpses of the Berserkers. It’s very strange.” Xiao Yi flipped the map over, examining it from various angles. “They seemed to be acting like madmen, following the paths marked on the map, sometimes fighting, sometimes fleeing…”

"Look, the red dots marked on the map are all the places where the War Maniacs choose to stop and fight, and the red dots surround the Stepping Sands, forming a ring-like shape."

"If you really don't know, go back and ask the General," Kujo Sara advised. "For now, you should go back to the cave and rest. You've been working so hard; even a god would be exhausted—excuse me, I'm not trying to disrespect the gods..."

Xiao Yi stuck his index finger to Sha Luo's mouth and put the map back into the inner pocket of his clothes.

"I understand what you mean. But you should rest too. Let's go to sleep."

He quietly pondered his future plans.

The entire army will rest and reorganize for the next two days. We will hold a victory celebration banquet the night after tomorrow, and return to Inazuma Castle the morning after that.

Just in time for the celebration banquet, we can reward everyone with the fruits of our godfather's labor. The plan works perfectly!

Chapter 57 The Training of Miss Shadow

On the third night after the great victory, in the military camp.

After more than a day of rest, the soldiers, who had fought valiantly, have regained their strength. Tonight they will celebrate their victory with a night of revelry before returning to Inazuma Castle at noon tomorrow.

Night fell over Tasha, a huge bonfire burned in the open, and the aroma of wine and food wafted into the distance, while the joyful cries of the warriors rose and fell.

Suddenly, a loud cheer erupted from the entire stadium.

Lord Narukami stood on the platform where he was giving a speech, with a luxurious cauldron containing food prepared by the general himself beside him. He drew his cheap knife and cut off the sealed metal lid.

"Lord Narukami's swordsmanship is superb!"

"Delicious, here I come!"

"Hehehe, enjoy this, General..."

Amid the soldiers' cheers, a rich aroma filled the air, making everyone's mouths water.

That's right, Xiao Yi tried to be clever.

Having no moral obligations, he met with Sara yesterday. After careful analysis and discussion, the two decided to switch the general's belongings to ensure the survival of the entire army.

They secretly found a distant river and poured all of the general's belongings into it. Soon the river water turned a deep purple, and the surrounding flowers, plants, and trees withered and died.

If Saro stood there for too long, he would even feel physically uncomfortable, which shows how dangerous he was.

Xiao Yi changed the cauldron and cooked the food himself behind his subordinates' backs. He collected a large number of fresh ingredients such as crabs, shrimps, matsutake mushrooms, cuttlefish, sea cucumbers, and abalone, and added cured ham, which was used as military rations, to cook a cauldron full of simple Buddha Jumps Over the Wall.

He thought to himself: If we can't eat the general's food, we'll make do with Narukami's dishes. If you knew the truth about the general's cooking skills, you'd be grateful to him!