Chapter 343: Every Citizen a Soldier
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Fang Zhengzhi was very brave. However, he wasn't the kind of blind idiot who asked for death. Hence, he felt that there was definitely some problem in this.
But…
What was the problem?
Fang Zhengzhi looked at Princess Shan Yu. He wanted to infer something from her expression. However, other than her delicate facial features, he couldn't derive anything from it.
Princess Shan Yu's expression was too calm, as if she was talking about something extremely normal. However, it was exactly because of this that Fang Zhengzhi felt that there was a plot hidden behind this.
"What is it? You aren't satisfied with five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry soldiers?" Princess Shan Yu once again demonstrated her domineering attitude when she saw that Fang Zhengzhi remained silent for some time.
"That's right, with five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry soldiers to protect you, your journey would definitely be very safe!"
"Shouldn't you quickly express your gratitude?"
When the surrounding generals heard Princess Shan Yu's words, they began to urge Fang Zhengzhi.
"Thank you princess, can… I ask another question?" Fang Zhengzhi didn't hesitate much. He first thanked Princess Shan Yu before immediately following it with a question.
"Ask."
"After I send the letter, do I have any other tasks?"
"Other tasks?" When Princess Shan Yu heard Fang Zhengzhi's words, a pondering look appeared on her face. "No other tasks. You can remain in the Sagely Mountain City."
"I understand." Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
"Prepare to leave now, the five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalries are ready." Princess Shan Yu saw Fang Zhengzhi nod, then finally gave her last order.
"Princess."
"What else?"
"There is one thing that I don't know if princess will reply me. But, I still wish to ask." Fang Zhengzhi's expression turned slightly serious.
"You can ask it and try."
"Is princess's motive in setting up a camp here to await an opportunity to launch an attack on the troops of the Great Xia that participated in the examination?"
"Preposterous! You think a small centurion can ask such a question?" When a general heard Fang Zhengzhi's words, he immediately stood out and bellowed coldly towards him without even waiting for Princess Shan Yu to reply.
"Princess, you can't answer this?"
"What identity are you using to ask me now?" Princess Shan Yu didn't reply Fang Zhengzhi's words immediately. Instead, she asked a question back at him.
"My own identity."
"Alright, I can reply this question. My answer is… no!"
"No?" Fang Zhengzhi's expression changed slightly. He could infer from Princess Shan Yu's eyes that she was speaking the truth.
However, he couldn't really accept this truth.
If Princess Shan Yu wasn't awaiting an opportunity to attack, why would she set up camp in this place?
"Alright, you have finished asking your question, and I've replied you. You can set off now!" The generals also began to urge at this moment.
"Yes." Fang Zhengzhi didn't ask any further questions.
Because, he already knew what he was supposed to know. As for what he wasn't supposed to know, he seemed to be still in the dark, hence, there was no need to continue asking.
On the other hand, Princess Shan Yu also didn't seem to intend to speak further. She took out a delicate animal skin and placed it in front of her, then took out a brush and began to write on it.
This caused Fang Zhengzhi to raise doubts again.
"The letter… is written on the spot?"
Initially, Fang Zhengzhi thought that it would be a letter that was already prepared beforehand, or, it would be something for him to send over. However, when he saw this, he had to cast away his previous thoughts.
Not too long later, Princess Shan Yu had finished writing.
She didn't spend much time on it, and seemed to be consist of only a few words.
When the twenty surrounding generals saw Princess Shan Yu finish the letter so quickly, they all looked towards Fang Zhengzhi with a cold smile on their faces.
Fang Zhengzhi didn't bother speaking further as well.
When Princess Shan Yu placed the letter she had written into a delicate leather, he immediately took a few steps forward, went in front of Princess Shan Yu and received the letter Princess Shan Yu passed to him with both hands.
He quickly swept his gaze across it. On the leather envelope wrote "Confidential for the King", while on the bottom was Princess Shan Yu's name.
Evidently, this envelope was addressed long ago.
Fang Zhengzhi kept the letter in his pocket, then turned around and left.
At the entrance of the tent, there was already a soldier wearing rattan armour with a piece of animal skin on his shoulder waiting for him. When he saw Fang Zhengzhi coming out, he quickly walked over.
"Guard Fang, I am the captain of the Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry. I am 'Teng Shisheng', mainly in charge of protecting Guard Fang along the way in your task to deliver the letter to the Sagely Mountain City!" Teng Shisheng gave Fang Zhengzhi a Southern Mountain Village military bow as he spoke.
"Yes, sorry for the trouble." Fang Zhengzhi nodded.
Teng Shisheng wasn't quite the same compared to the other warriors of the Southern Mountain Range. His arm wasn't considered too muscular. However, his muscles were extremely well-defined. It was evident that this Teng Shisheng's power wasn't average.
Furthermore, it was likely to be someone with an extremely explosive strength.
Such a person indeed shared certain commonalities with the Silver Horned Wolf.
The armour on Teng Shisheng's body was similarly rather different compared to that on other soldiers. Other than being more intricately designed, there was a silver illustration on the chest.
It looked just like the head of a wolf.
…
Under Teng Shisheng's guidance, Fang Zhengzhi quickly passed through the army camp and arrived at the entrance of the camp. Beside the entrance, there were currently a few hundred densely-packed soldiers riding Silver Horned Wolves and waiting on the spot.
When they saw Teng Shisheng making his way over.
The hundreds of Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry howled, as if they were undergoing some form of rite, or maybe welcoming their leader.
Fang Zhengzhi didn't really know what this rite represented.
However, he could faintly see that the hair of the Silver Horned Wolves who were quietly standing still on the ground slowly bristled up when they heard this sound.
Their stances changed from that of passiveness to that of activeness, as if they were about to begin their hunt.
"Shisheng, what kind of rite is this?" Fang Zhengzhi was somewhat curious.
"Guard Fang isn't a person of our Southern Mountain Range, hence might not be able to understand. Us, the people of the Southern Mountain Range, communicate with the beasts through sounds. This is wolf language." Teng Shisheng explained.
Wolf language?
Fang Zhengzhi somewhat understood.
Then, he recalled Shan Jia who he had met in The Vast World. When Shan Jia was commanding the Blue Fire Wolf in the battle, he didn't produce any sound from his mouth. Instead, he depended upon a green flute for command.
"Then, can things like flutes be used to communicate with the beasts?" Fang Zhengzhi asked again.
"Flutes?" Teng Shisheng's expression changed slightly when he heard Fang Zhengzhi's question, then he said softly. "Flutes indeed can. However, that is control… It is not communication. The Southern Mountain Range doesn't advocate control. People and beasts are actually equal, thus only under extremely special circumstances would such methods be used."
"I see." Fang Zhengzhi nodded again.
"Guard Fang, if you don't have any further questions, let's set off as soon as possible." Teng Shisheng gazed at the rising sun and said to Fang Zhengzhi.
"Alright."
…
With Teng Shisheng leading the way, Fang Zhengzhi didn't need a map. Furthermore, from Teng Shisheng, he had learnt quite a bit of the Southern Mountain Range's culture.
For example, the Southern Mountain Village forbade very strictly the casual destruction of rocks. They believed that rocks were Earth, providing them an environment to live in. Without the support of the rocks, they wouldn't be able to survive here.
As for trees…
They believed that trees were their own mothers. Chopping down trees to create rattan armour and weapons represented the protection and love of their mothers. They had to pray to the trees each day to repay their mothers' kindness.
And, every settlement had its own unique role model. Due to differing role models, their powers also differed. Furthermore, each main settlement would worship a powerful beast for protection.
The beast would ensure the safety of the settlement. The beast that each settlement worshiped was different, hence their names differed as well.
Fang Zhengzhi felt that these cultures were somewhat primitive. However, it was exactly these primitive cultures that represented the simple and pure nature of the Southern Mountain Range people.
As the sun gradually began to set, Fang Zhengzhi had officially left the boundaries of the army camp, entering into the forests and mountains of the Southern Mountain Range. As they passed through forests and climbed across mountains, their travelling speed remained fast.
"Do we have to set up camp tonight?" Fang Zhengzhi looked towards the slowly setting sun and then at the surrounding dense forests, then asked Teng Shisheng casually.
"Why would Guard Fang ask this question?" Teng Shisheng's body trembled slightly when he heard Fang Zhengzhi's words. However, he still decided to ask.
"I was only thinking whether you had to immediately start on your task after leaving the camp, or begin it only when nearing the Sagely Mountain City." Fang Zhengzhi didn't reply Teng Shisheng's question. Instead, he spoke softly as if talking to himself.
Teng Shisheng's expression changed at this moment. However, he quickly recovered, stretching out his hand to gently stroke the Silver Horned Wolf he sat on, as if thinking of something.
"Looks like tonight still isn't the opportune moment." Fang Zhengzhi nodded, then, felt the pang of hunger coming from his stomach as he listened to the surrounding sounds. "There is a river in front one mile away, let's cross the river first before setting up camp."
"Why don't you choose to set up camp beside the river?" Teng Shisheng broke out of his silence at this moment. However, when he heard Fang Zhengzhi speak about the location to set up camp, his expression turned somewhat strange again.
"It would indeed be more convenient to set up camp beside the river. However, water is the source of All Creation. Especially at night, the beasts would begin their hunt and congregate at the riverside."
"I had initially thought that you wouldn't know about such matters regarding wilderness survival since you were born in the Great Xia. I never thought that you would actually be so familiar with the beast." Teng Shisheng nodded lightly. The attitude with which he looked towards Fang Zhengzhi changed significantly.
"Actually, there are also beasts in the Great Xia. Furthermore, I was born within the mountains, hence, I have some understanding of them." Fang Zhengzhi laughed gently.
Then, he instantly urged his horse forwards.
As Teng Shisheng looked at Fang Zhengzhi's leaving figure, he bit his lips lightly with what seemed to be a tinge of regret in his eyes. "It isn't because of tonight not being an opportune moment, instead… sigh…"
…
To the soldiers of the Southern Mountain Range, setting up camp was simply as easy as whipping up a simple home-cooked meal. The five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry soldiers quickly set up an army camp, fencing up the perimeter around the camp.
Then, they lit up a bonfire in each of the four directions - North, South, East and West.
A hundred cavalry soldiers were in charge of patrol, while the other four hundred rested in camp.
Everything seemed to be very orderly.
Fang Zhengzhi was assigned to the military tent at the center of the camp. Around it, there were eight Silver Horned Wolf Cavalry soldiers guarding it. The protection seemed very thorough, but also seemed very forbidding.
In the tent, Fang Zhengzhi casually lay on the bed.
All along, his attitude towards life was that if he could live one day happily, he would definitely not wait in misery for his death. From his probing in the day, he was almost absolutely sure about one thing.
These five hundred Silver Horned Wolf Cavalries definitely had a special task.
Was it to kill himself?
Or, did they have another objective. Fang Zhengzhi was only eighty-percent sure about this point. He couldn't be absolutely sure.
However, there was one thing he could guess.
It definitely wasn't something good.
Turning his body around, Fang Zhengzhi assumed another more comfortable position. At the same time, he fished out the letter from his pocket.
"Confidential for the King?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at the words on the envelope. The edges of his mouth curved into a faint smile. He had never thought that he would actually have the opportunity to become a king.
He immediately tore open the letter. As for the seal on the letter, he tore it into half unceremoniously and casually threw it on the ground.
Let's see what Princess Shan Yu wanted to tell me now.
Looking at the letter.
Fang Zhengzhi's eyes narrowed slightly. What the, the first sentence of the letter and you are already scolding me. Is that even acceptable?
"You stupid shameless person, you dare to peek at my letter? Do you know that this is a crime? Wash your neck clean and wait for me to chop off your head!"
"..." Fang Zhengzhi disdainfully twitched his mouth.
Then, he continued reading.
He had initially thought that it would be important military affairs, however, he was clearly somewhat disappointed by the outcome. Because, after this sentence, it was completely blank.
Except for the small row of words at the bottom of the letter.
The words were rather tiny, and the quantity was just as little. There were only four words.
"Every citizen a soldier!"
"Every citizen a soldier? What is this about?" Fang Zhengzhi twitched his mouth and began to ponder what Princess Shan Yu was trying to convey with these four words.
As for why Fang Zhengzhi knew that this letter was for himself.
This was actually extremely simple.
When Fang Zhengzhi was asking Princess Shan Yu questions, he answered "With my own identity". What was his identity in front of Princess Shan Yu?
A spy!
Let's think, would a great princess pass a letter containing important military matters to a spy from another country? This was simply throwing a steamed bun at a… handsome lad!
It would be gone forever!
Fang Zhengzhi wasn't naive. Hence, he similarly didn't expect Princess Shan Yu to be as naive as to believe that he had truly betrayed his country for glory and unswervingly become a runner to deliver letters for the Southern Mountain Range.
Hence, it was impossible for this letter to be truly meant for the king.
Furthermore…
Most importantly, Princess Shan Yu wrote this letter on the spot.
Writing the letter on the spot, then passing it to him personally for it to be delivered. Then, the contents of this letter were naturally meant for him to see.
"Every citizen a soldier… does that mean every tree and bush is an enemy soldier?" Fang Zhengzhi looked at the roof of the military tent built with trees and grass, swiftly pondering over the relationship between this sentence and his current predicament.