Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 352: Chapter 352: Doubts

Earlier, when Hong Chou and Brocade and Silk mentioned the Wolf Race raiding people everywhere, Shen Hao thought it was just a few isolated incidents, probably some wolves sneaking around doing things on the sly.

But now, judging by the news coming from the front lines, the Wolf Race clearly isn’t sneaking around anymore—they’ve flat out classified the entire region from north of White Head Gorge to Wu Lake as targets for "raiding."

Just like the Slave Trade Association, the Wolf Race is also targeting the population. Doing it so brazenly, there’s no way it’ll be kept a secret for long.

Could it be that the Barbarian Race is ready to tear off the pretense of friendship?

This was the outcome Shen Hao least wanted to see.

Shen Hao had always thought that, even though traitors in the Dynasty had been helping the enemy for over five years, the Barbarian Race’s size is obvious, and after the slaughter they faced forty years ago, it should be hard for them to bounce back so quickly.

But now it looked like Shen Hao’s guess might be dead wrong, and not just by a little. The Barbarian Race wasn’t as crippled as he thought—and now it even seemed they were ready to rip off all disguises and openly confront the Jingjiu Dynasty.

Feeling uneasy, Shen Hao paced up and down for a while before finally saying, "Arrange for people to go to the Xiaochuan area right away, take the other half of the Thousand-Mile Sound that’s paired with Tan Bin and the others, shrink the communication distance, and then keep in regular contact with them. Then, pass news back in steps, get what I mean?"

Actually, it was a pretty simple method. It’s not that the Xuanqing Guard didn’t know about it, but nobody previously expected Tan Bin and his group would be stuck in Barbarian territory for so long.

Wang Jian suddenly understood and nodded his agreement.

"Same old rule—keep this a secret for now. Just keep it to yourself."

"Understood."

After addressing urgent matters, Wang Jian didn’t rush off. Instead, he put on a smile and said, "Sir, that pilot program has already started. When can we, the ’Four Divisions,’ get a piece of the action? Especially over at Zhang Liao’s place—seriously short on manpower and even more desperate for resources. We’re really hoping you’ll top us up over here."

Shen Hao hadn’t expected this guy to change his tune so fast—three sentences in and he started grinning like the madam from Hong’en Hall, coaxing money out of the customers’ pockets. It made Shen Hao want to throw a couple of punches.

"Go talk to Wang Yiming yourself. I’ve set aside a share for you ’Four Divisions,’ but you figure out what reason to put it under; don’t get caught. And don’t be extravagant with what you get. Follow the terms strictly—if you dare change a thing, I’ll skin you alive."

The plan Shen Hao handed over was something he’d put together specifically for the Black Banner Battalion’s "dark" operations. It currently applied to the ’Four Divisions’ under Wang Jian’s command. He’d meant to give it to Wang Jian tomorrow, but as it happened, today worked out just fine.

Wang Jian took it eagerly, opened it up for a careful look, and after a while, seemed like he wanted to say something but held back.

"If you’ve got something to say, spit it out. Don’t hold your farts in."

"Sir, is... is this really appropriate?" Wang Jian was clearly holding something back as he pointed to the plan and said, "Why not distribute Elixirs—why is it just that Peiyuan Pill? I’ve tried that stuff too—might help ordinary folks a bit, but for Cultivators, it’s useless. And why is it that in the Four Divisions, only Impermanence Department gets the allocation? The other three get only silver coins.Isn’t that... isn’t that unfair?"

Shen Hao curled his lip. This guy Wang Jian was pretty smart, but sometimes his brain just didn’t make the turn.

"It’s fine for you to be looking out for your people, but in your Four Divisions, other than those in the Impermanence Department who need to quickly boost their Cultivation, do the other divisions really have that urgent a need for more power?"

Also, with how few Elixirs we get handed down, you think you can cover everything in the entire Fengri City jurisdiction? Dream on.

If you really want to improve overall strength, don’t count on the Cultivators—instead, count on those who aren’t yet Cultivators, but are just a step away from breaking through. Turn those ordinary Soldiers into people entering the Cultivation Realm! That’s why Peiyuan Pill is the main resource being supplied.

Go tell Zhang Liao for me—my requirement for him is that by the end of the first quarter, at least sixty percent of his men, including new recruits, need to have generated True Qi and stepped into the Cultivation Realm! If not, tell him to go back to Li City."

Wang Jian: "..." What else could he say? He figured if he dared argue one more word, he’d get beaten up. So he hurriedly bowed, accepted his orders, and didn’t dare complain anymore.

After that, Shen Hao waved him off. What they’d just discussed had to be acted on immediately—especially the issue with Barbarian Scouts couldn’t be delayed.

Once Wang Jian was gone, Shen Hao returned to the main hall to finish dinner. By then, it was already early 9 p.m. Everyone else at home had already eaten in the back kitchen—only he hadn’t eaten yet.

But Hong Xiu, the Little Fox Girl, was always the biggest foodie—she never got enough to eat in a day. He’d often overhear Xia Nu lecturing Hong Xiu, saying if she kept eating like that, she’d turn into a pig and never want to be seen by others again.

Looking at her now, the formerly sharp chin was gone and her oily, shiny cheeks were rounding out. If not for the fox tail behind her and those pointy ears, you wouldn’t even know she was a Fox Woman—"little chubby girl" definitely suited her now.

"You want some?"

Shen Hao pointed at the bowl of braised pig’s trotters in front of him, grinning as he asked Hong Xiu.

"No, I already ate, a lot. Master, you just go ahead."

While she was shaking her head, pretending to be relaxed and uninterested, she was practically drooling all over the place. The look was as funny as it gets, making Shen Hao itch to tease this silly little servant.

"Come on, I can’t finish it all—help me out, or it’ll just go to waste. Tsk tsk, these braised trotters are so soft—melt-in-your-mouth tender, fatty but not greasy. You have to try it."

"Huh? You... you can’t finish? That... that’d be a real waste, um—such a shame!"

"Eat!"

While shoveling rice into his own mouth, Shen Hao snickered to himself. He was dying to see whether the Fox Race, famous for their svelte figures, would turn into chubsters because of pig’s trotters. He also thought about Hong Xiu being forced by Xia Nu to run laps after feasting—just thinking about it made him happy.

Master Shen had a mischievous streak—but hardly anyone knew about it.

Brocade and Silk, sitting to the side watching all this, saw Hong Chou gnawing away at the pig’s trotter with gusto and started to get anxious. She thought her bestie looked way too happy eating now, but would be in for a stomachful of scolding later. Still, she didn’t dare say a word with Shen Hao present.

In this house, the only one who dared talk back to Shen Hao was silly Xia Nu—no one else.

Unfortunately, Xia Nu was nowhere to be seen—rumor had it she was in the kitchen boiling water for Shen Hao’s bath. That’s the only reason Hong Chou fell into this trap today.

Of course, Shen Hao’s pranks only gave him a moment’s break. As soon as he finished eating, his nerves tightened all over again.

The main thing was still the situation with the Barbarians—it made him more uneasy than even investigating the Ministry of War.

Why were the Wolf Race so eager to burn all bridges? Even if they were ready, why go for direct confrontation? Wouldn’t it be better to keep deceiving the Jingjiu Dynasty and then mount a real Sudden Attack?

Also, Shen Hao kept crunching the numbers in his head—he just didn’t believe the Barbarian Race could recover from ruin to the point of waging total war this fast. He just didn’t buy it.

Of course, he’d have to see what further intel came through before jumping to conclusions.