Xuanqing Guard

Chapter 356: Chapter 356: Fish Bones

The Bai River is rich in fish, with countless species of all sizes.

Shen Hao was lucky today; he caught a "Clear Wave," a species of fish with tender, delicious meat, perfect for braising or making soup.

The small boat was clearly rented from a fishing family; onboard, there was a simple charcoal stove along with some basic cookware and tableware.

The freshest river fish actually don’t need any complicated or skillful cooking methods. Draw water from the Bai River, boil it, then cut the cleaned fish into pieces and put them in the pot; a bit of salt is all it takes.

Pure Clear Wave soup—it was enough that Shen Hao helped himself to two bowls and felt quite satisfied.

Wu Kai ate as well, his face regaining a hearty smile, and his demeanor was completely different from before. Now he seemed just like a straightforward military man—no sign of petty calculation, and the playful look in his eyes had vanished.

"I didn’t expect Lord Shen to be such a good cook!"

"What cooking skill? Just a pot of fish soup—if you tried, you’d manage, too."

Shen Hao was already serving himself a third bowl, mainly because the bowls on the boat were small. Next to him, Wu Kai ate slowly and was just onto his second bowl. The pot looked big, but it was hardly enough once you started eating.

"The rules in Xuanqing Guard are simple—don’t ask questions. Do what you’re told, handle your part, and don’t meddle." Shen Hao chewed a piece of fish, picked the bones from his mouth, spit them out, and continued talking about business with Wu Kai.

"Rules—I get that. Don’t ask what you shouldn’t; don’t do what you shouldn’t. This isn’t much different from the military." Wu Kai barely bothered picking out fish bones. Except for the large ones, he chewed everything to mush and swallowed.

"Your current task is to find out what procedures those three strangers used to enter and exit the Military Transmission Array at Beach Stone in early December, and who handled it for them. Yes, those same people that Gan Lin showed you the portraits of before."

Wu Kai held his bowl, sipped his soup, and smacked his lips. "The Array at Beach Stone is run by the Military Camp and Supply Battalion over there. Usually, outside of wartime, there’s little overlap with the Border Army’s combat units. I don’t know the people there well. But I’ll figure out a way to investigate. What then?"

"When you finish what I just said, you’ll get your next assignment. Don’t rush. By the way, you have half a month for this task."

Wu Kai smiled and shook his head, saying nothing more.

After Shen Hao polished off his fifth bowl, he put down his chopsticks and continued, "Another reminder: once you start the mission, everything you do must be kept strictly confidential. Except for me as your superior, you cannot reveal a trace of this mission to anyone else. If you’re exposed, Xuanqing Guard will never acknowledge any connection to you."

"Understood."

When the two of them finished eating, no one bothered to wash up. They just sat for a couple more idle sentences, then poled the boat back to shore. Before parting, Shen Hao took out a Thousand-Mile Sound and handed it to Wu Kai for communication, along with two silver notes of ten thousand each as an advance payment.

Now that Black Banner Battalion has been piloting cultivation, Shen Hao finally had more Thousand-Mile Sounds at his disposal; he no longer had to keep "borrowing" from Flying Dragon.

Wu Kai put away the Thousand-Mile Sound, cupped his hands to Shen Hao, then poled the boat away. Shen Hao, meanwhile, found his horse tied by the trees, mounted up, and galloped off the way he came.

As Shen Hao’s figure gradually disappeared, Wu Kai stood on the boat, gazing into the distance, his face cold. He was never one who liked to smile. But his appearance looked harsh—if he didn’t smile, people instinctively braced against him, which made it hard to interact with others. So he always forced himself to smile. After enough years, few could tell if it was genuine or not.

"A cold man."

As he watched Shen Hao ride out of sight, Wu Kai muttered quietly. In his eyes, that ever-smiling Lord Shen was actually even colder than himself. And the smile—faker.

If it weren’t for needing elixirs and silver coins so desperately, Wu Kai would never wade into these muddy waters, not even with Jiang Cheng as a go-between.

Poling the boat down the current for about half an hour, Wu Kai reached a small wharf, returned the boat to a local fishing family, then retrieved his horse and rode off at speed.

Wu Kai waited an entire day before entering Yu City, then used the Teleportation Array to return to Hai Xia.

Hai Xia garrisons no less than a hundred thousand soldiers year-round, of which over seventy thousand need to rotate regularly with the Border Army at Beach Stone and Zhuo Huo Pass.

According to the Jingjiu Dynasty’s layout to the south, Zhuo Huo Pass is the first line of defense. Beyond Zhuo Huo Pass, though it’s an open plain, fortified camps were artificially erected, forming a second line of defense stretching across hundreds of miles with dense angled fortifications.

Hai Xia, as the last line of defense, is relatively more relaxed and even allows rest days. That’s why Wu Kai could find time to go out for a day or two.

But at Beach Stone and Zhuo Huo Pass, there are no rest days. Even on rotation, you can’t leave camp without orders.

A Vanguard Battalion and a Mixed Battalion—this is the full extent of Wu Kai’s command. These two thousand men are actually understaffed for a Deputy General; full strength would be an extra thousand Auxiliary Soldiers, and he wouldn’t have to let the Supply Battalion of the Garrison control all his logistics.

In fact, there aren’t many Deputy Generals with understrength units like Wu Kai in Hai Xia. It shows just how poor his situation is.

After returning to Hai Xia, Wu Kai went to his main tent, handled some routine matters with his Deputy, then turned to the Supply Battalion.

When Wu Kai emerged again, the two silver notes he’d gotten from Shen Hao yesterday were already in someone else’s hands, but in his arms there were a few Small Nourishing Pills.

Elixirs are a hot commodity in the army as well. Based on his position, Wu Kai is only allotted one Small Nourishing Pill a month—far too little for his current push to break through. He can only buy extra from the Supply Battalion’s Chief Officer under the table, still about ten percent cheaper than at outside auctions.

This kind of siphoning of military resources was already happening when Wu Kai first came to Hai Xia. Want extra cultivation resources now? Just bring silver—there’s always some available!

For over a year now, Wu Kai had already poured all his savings in, just for the chance at a breakthrough.

He rushed back to his tent, and immediately started cultivation until every one of the new elixirs was used up.

"Still not enough!"

He wasn’t exactly disappointed—more helpless. Normally, you might not be aware of your talent, but when it’s time to break through, that’s when you realize how powerless you are.

Many people give up in such situations, because the longer it goes on, the more you feel you’re just wasting time and resources. Why make all this effort? Is it really that tough to accept your fate?

Wu Kai didn’t want to resign himself. Right now, he was stuck at Gathering Spirit Realm Sixth Layer. If he could push through to Seventh Layer, he’d be eligible to compete for the soon-to-be-vacant Assistant General post.

But the bottleneck he could see and feel—yet simply couldn’t break through—was a bone in his throat, blocking his path.

Now, the two Great Nourishing Pills promised by Shen Hao had become Wu Kai’s only hope.