Simply Trading

This was not his fight. And he had no wish to give his life then, for a people that had nothing to do with him. No one, he was sure, would blame him from fleeing the battle.

But Li Changhai merely straightened his spine, and pulled his shoulders back. And his voice was steady, when he finally spoke again:

"It looks like the Barbarians have already been spotted, uncle. There can be no mistake regarding Qin Feng"s earlier report now. Not with what Sergeant Lei had seen out there. We need to get the rest of the camp, and the other troops, ready for an early invasion."

"But ... In the middle of Winter? How stupid can the Barbarians get?" grunted Logistics General Ling as soon as he heard that.

"They will have to trudge through all that snow and that will surely drain their soldiers of energy and warmth. They will be severely weakened by the time they get here!"

The Marquis, if he was fl.u.s.tered by the sound of the claxon, certainly did not show it in the slightest. He merely nodded at his nephew and his subordinate, as he gestured for them both to remain silent, before turning to pat Lei Kongwei on his shoulder. Then with just a quick word of thanks to the attending physician, he strode towards the exit of the tent.

It was only when he was outside the same that his face grew stern, and he quickly waved for the Logisitics General to prepare the camp"s defenses.

"If they are that close, we should be able to get some more of our people to man the walls. And to get the rest of the camp in order, if they should try to burn us out. Although I doubt that they would try something like that, in the middle of Winter."

Ling Yongjian, on the other hand, seemed far less cautious. "Are you sure we need to do that? It could be just an early probe, to check if we are properly defended."

"Are you so sure about that? You heard the scout"s report yourself. They may have already wiped out the other seven camps already, if they are turning their attention here. We shall have to take this seriously, as if they are attacking in earnest!"

Marquis Feng Laixue"s face was grim as he turned away from the General, and looked back towards the Healers" Tent. "We had best get the physicians and the new men ready for a fight as well. From what we can see so far, the Barbarians seem to be ..."

A horn blared then, interrupting him. It was a short, almost obscene sound that reminded Qin Feng of flatulence. But he certainly did not feel like laughing at the moment.

Not after watching both the Marquis and the General go pale at the sound.

The horn sounded as if it came from a distance away. The camp"s South Gate, Qin Feng thought, as soon as he heard the second wailing toot from the same. Was the enemy already here, he wondered, even as he saw the blood drain from Li Changhai"s face.

A camp orderly dashed towards them, with a face red from his mad run from what he could see. He seemed to be a sentry from the main Gate of the camp, judging from the uniform scarf around his neck. And his eyes seemed to fixed on the Marquis at once, as he quickly bowed to the same.

"Report!" came Feng Laixue"s stentorian voice at once.

The young man in the camp sentry"s uniform swallowed, and seemed to quail under the stern gaze of the Marquis. Not to mention the rest of the group.

Then he swallowed again, as if his throat was too dry to be moistened.

"Sir ... Sir, the enemy ... just been spotted! They are within three times crossbow range!"

For moment, Qin Feng stared at the young man, not quite understanding what he meant. But the Marquis, and his nephew beside him, did not suffer from the same inexperience with the military and their jargon as he did.

"To the walls!"

The Marquis took off at once, with Li Changhai at his heels. Leaving Qin Feng to sigh, as he patted the now drowsy Lei Kongwei on the arm. It was clear that they were in no mood to listen to whatever else the sergeant had to say.

Which was enough of an excuse for the physician to step in, and shoo Qin Feng from the Healers" Tent. He didn"t bother to refuse; it would be idiotic to offend those who would likely be trying to save your life if you got hurt.

So he started to move as well, and looked around for the pair that had gone before him. There was no missing the Marquis and General Ling. Especially when there was a long trail of soldiers running after them. They seemed to be rushing to the walls of the camp, with all the soldiers they came across falling in and following closely behind them.

Qin Feng sighed and used his Lightness-of-Body movement skills immediately, so that he could catch up with the pair. He would be able to find out more about what was going on, if he stayed close to the Marquis, he was certain.

Then he realized that Li Changhai had not moved. What was he doing? Could it be that he was afraid? After all, this was his first exposure to a real war, wasn"t it? Was he going to panic?

But the Second Ducal Prince"s next words put an end to that theory:

"They are headed to the front, to deal with the enemy that has shown themselves. We need to get to the reserves, and get them ready. That is, if you care to come with me? My uncle ... The Marquis had placed that duty in my hands, and I would appreciate your help."

For a moment, Qin Feng didn"t know what to say. That was a little too much, wasn"t it? After all, they had only known each other for no more than five days! Wasn"t this putting too much trust in him? Surely that was not the sort of thing that a Ducal Prince should be doing, was it?

Then he recovered, and quickly shook his head.

"You do that. I am headed back to the Healers" Tent, to see what else we can get out of Lei Kongwei. He might have seen something that we could use."

For a moment, the Second Ducal Prince looked blank. It was as if he had no idea who Qin Feng was talking about. Had he forgotten who Lei Kongwei was? Perhaps a sergeant was beneath his notice, the younger man wondered.

Then Li Changhai nodded, as if he had finally remembered the man. "The one who brought word of the attack. Yes, he might have seen something. But the physicians are treating him now, so you might not have a chance to talk to him."

Qin Feng knew that too. That was exactly the excuse that he was going to use, if he couldn"t get away as he hoped, and had to scurry back to rejoin the Second Ducal Prince. With the four Bodyguards that the Marquis had a.s.signed to Li Changhai, it should be safer to stick close to the Prince. That is, if he couldn"t run away from all this war nonsense!

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