Supreme Emperor of Mist

Chapter 128: Aftermath (2)

"It seems I'll have to respect brother Qin's insight more and more after this. Without him, perhaps all of us will be either injured or dead from the concentrated explosion." Sun Wu Jian patted his clothes and took a step forward from the circle they're standing together.

Even the twelve elite guards are dumbfounded by the scene around them. The crater created by that concentrated explosion had turned the ground into a piece of barren land. Not a single blade of grass can be seen.

"Your highness." three half-step Bone experts came to his side.

"So, how's the result at your battlefield? How many soldiers are still around?" Sun Wu Jian asked. Deep inside his heart, he was a little nervous and worried. 

Why haven't Huang Ping and Wang Xun come to his side?

"Our casualties are around two hundred. About seven hundred soldiers are injured. As for the bandits, we've captured about three hundred of them. Out of the three hundred, there's five peak Flesh-Refining and two half-step Bone cultivators." one of Sun Wu Jian's experts replied.

"Good." Sun Wu Jian nodded as they continue to walk in a direction likely where Huang Ping and Wang Xun is.

"Regroup. When we found Huang Ping and Wang Xun, make sure we're ready to face another surprise from the Hushan Bandits."

"The two other convoys should be on their way over to the Ten Miles Plain. We'll depart after we get a final count of our total numbers. If there's nothing else, all of you may start preparing right now." said Sun Wu Jian.

Each word of his exudes a type of aura that made people obediently listen to his command. With all the experts are gone, only the twelve elite guards remained by Sun Wu Jian's side.

"Your highness..." one of the guards wanted to say something, but his colleague stopped him from doing so. Shaking his head, he gave him an expression for him to keep quiet.

After walking for a short distance, Sun Wu Jian finally found Huang Ping and Wang Xun, who's located not too far from where he came from.

But the atmosphere around them made him anxious.

"Go there and check out what happened." Sun Wu Jian said.

"Your highness, but..." a few of the elite soldiers hesitated. It will endanger their liege if the enemies are still lurking around.

"Just go. Don't you know how important is Huang Ping and Wang Xun's position in our subjugation force?" Sun Wu Jian added.

"Y - Yes, Your highness!"

...

...

...

"You guys will be transporting these people back to Fuyun City's Dungeon. The others shall follow me! Leave those carriages behind and collect only the usable supplies! We'll have to reach the middle convoy before morning!" Shan Xiong Xin ordered.

Ten out of the two hundred soldiers accompanying Shan Xiong Xin here volunteered to drag close to seven hundred detainees back to the city. Following them would be forty injured soldiers. As for the remaining two hundred and fifty people, they'll be moving forward to their next destination, the sixth milestone.

"Young warrior Shan, thank you for your help earlier." Expert Yi cupped his hand together as he thanked Shan Xiong Xin for his valiant entrance earlier. The sight of two hundred soldiers on the horse charging into two directions and thoroughly escaping the barrage of crossbow bolts was a sight to behold.

"It was my honor to provide assistance to Expert Yi. On behalf of his highness, please accept my appreciation for remain loyal and protective over his beloved soldiers. I will make sure to tell nothing but the truth to his highness when we met him together." Shan Xiong Xin said as he returned the gesture.

"Hahaha! No wonder all of you were selected to join the Cloud Plucking Sect. It was indeed a den of young tigers and lions growing up to become the pillar of our Great Country of Wu." Expert Yi laughed as he thoroughly respected Shan Xiong Xin's personality.

It was already getting late by the time the two hundred and fifty men reaches the middle convoy led by Expert Shun and Xie.

"Expert Yi, you're finally here." Expert Xie welcomed everyone from the supply convoy. But he did not show them an overly welcoming expression because even a fool could understand what had happened through looking at the number of soldiers that came.

It was indeed a group filled with fodders for the bandits to pick.

"Expert Shun, Expert Xie." Expert Yi cupped his hands together and greeted the two as he was invited to enter their tent.

"It must be difficult for Expert Yi. Please have a cup of tea to moisten your throat first. Young warrior Shan, it is nice to see you once again." they greeted Shan Xiong Xin as a soldier came in with a pot of tea. Everyone was given a cup on their hand after the liquid was poured to two-thirds full.

"Expert Shun, Expert Xie... Is my brother Qin not here?" Shan Xiong Xin asked. From what he was informed, Qin Lan and his faction should be here at the middle convoy. But as he came into the camp, he sees nobody carrying the marking belonged to Qin Faction.

"..."

The two experts hesitated as they looked at one another before answering Shan Xiong Xin's question.

"Alchemist Qin's people are indeed here, but there is some problem right now... If you insisted, we could bring you to meet his elder sister first for her to give you a brief explanation." expert Xie said.

"What's wrong?" Shan Xiong Xin's heart becomes anxious as he heard there was a problem in their ranks.

"It... It would be best if expert Qin were the one to explain it. Let's go. We'll bring you over to her first." Expert Shun finished the tea in his hand and placed the teaware on the tray in the soldier's hand.

Soon, the group consisted of three out of six Sun Wu Jian's half-step Bone experts with Shan Xiong Xin came to where Qin Chan was resting. There's also a person hiding inside a cloak following them not too far away.

"Big sister Qin." Shan Xiong Xin was the first one to greets Qin Chan the moment he saw her.

"Ah-Xin?" Qin Chan was shocked to see Shan Xiong Xin here.

"What happened to Brother Qin?" he asked.

"We were attacked by the people from Evil Infant Sect. From what one of our servants said, Qing Yun and Hu Jia are both heavily wounded when they were found lying on the ground."

"Right now... Qin Lan is busy rescuing them." Qin Chan said. Her face revealed a sadness that only a fellow female could understand. Knowing that he can do nothing here, Shan Xiong Xin waved his hand at the person with a black cloak following behind them.

"Sister Qin Chan..." the mysterious individual pulled the hood off from the cloak and revealed her identity.

"This smell... Someone from Fifth elder's Qin-Jia Dwelling?" Qin Chan turned her head at the mysterious individual.

"Yes... I'm Li Dan, one of the fifth elder's disciples." it turned out to be an acquaintance of Qin Lan and the others in their first expedition. After getting her chest ogled by Shan Xiong Xin when he was injured, the two ended up developing an intimate relationship.