Frontier Army Warrior

Chapter 1155 The Town with Smoke

Seeing that the number of cavalrymen had dwindled from 500 to 280 after several battles, with nearly half of them lost, he wondered when the next battle would come and whether he would survive it.

They all overlooked their own achievements. After all, no matter how glorious the achievements, one can only receive fame and fortune while alive. Once a person is dead, no matter how great the merit, they will not be able to see it, so what use is it?

The atmosphere in the camp was somber, devoid of the previous laughter and chatter.

They were all eating in silence, pondering whether it was better to become an elite war cavalryman, experience brutal battles, and gain unparalleled military achievements, or to continue hiding in the Taisho Imperial Guard and be an ordinary soldier.

If you want to make a name for yourself, you have to risk your life; if you want to live a few more days, you have to hide in the army and go with the flow.

Lin Feng felt that such emotions within the team were part of the growth process, but too much gloom would cause the soldiers to sink into despair and become unable to extricate themselves.

He stood up, walked to the middle of the soldiers, and glanced at their expressions.

"Brothers, what is the meaning of life?"

Lin Feng turned around in a circle: "Can anyone tell me?"

No one spoke; they were all frowning and deep in thought.

“I know that many people are considering backing down. Normally, I wouldn’t say much, but what is the situation now?”

"The pirates are rampant, encroaching on our vast territory, causing immense suffering and making life unbearable for the people. Look at these cities, nine out of ten houses are empty, and you can't even see a living person in broad daylight. They have either been killed or have already escaped this hellhole."

Lin Feng paused for a moment.

"Why are the pirates so brazen? Have you ever thought about that?"

Still no one spoke.

"It's because our army is too weak to withstand the pirates' attacks, or they are simply being passive. As long as the interests of the powerful and wealthy are not affected, they cannot understand the suffering of the people."

“Who doesn’t have parents, wives, and children? Who doesn’t have a home, country, and fellow villagers? As a man, how can I stand by and watch these brutal pirates run rampant on our land, burning, killing, and looting? If we hide in the city, afraid to fight, how can we face our hometown elders? We can’t even stand up straight in front of our wives and children.”

Listening to Lin Feng's impassioned words, the soldiers fell into deep thought.

Lin Feng felt that this was enough; the rest was up to each individual to figure out.

"We'll camp here tonight and continue our journey early tomorrow morning. If anyone feels they're not suited for Zhenfeng Camp, come talk to me privately tonight. I won't make things difficult for you; let's part amicably. But after tonight, you should be determined to serve your country and its people, and also earn your own fame and fortune."

After saying that, he turned around and went back to his warhorse, took the brush from Pei Qiyin, and began to clean the dust off the warhorse.

Pei Qiyin looked at Lin Feng's serious face, leaned closer and asked in a low voice.

"Boss, you let Chen Dongping and the others go?"

Lin Feng didn't even look at her, focusing only on his own work, and simply asked a question indifferently.

"if not?"

Pei Qiyin sighed, "Boss, I'm telling you, we absolutely cannot let them leave. Letting them return to the Imperial Guard would be very disadvantageous for us."

"Yes, tell Jushan and Liangcai to keep an eye out for anyone who insists on leaving..."

He stopped there and bent down to carefully brush the warhorse's coat.

Pei Qiyin smiled and said, "Don't worry, boss, I understand."

Lin Feng knew all too well that if any member of the Zhenfeng Battalion were allowed to leave, they would have already mastered his training methods and could inflict enormous casualties on the Zhenxi Army.

However, to Lin Feng's surprise, not a single soldier came to talk to him until the next morning when the whole team set off.

Lin Feng saw determination and calmness on the faces of every soldier, including Chen Dongping's two guards.

It seems that he has accepted this path from the bottom of his heart and is no longer confused or lost.

The procession exited the city through the south gate.

Further south from here lies a desolate wilderness, with villages and towns scattered far apart, a completely uninhabited place where even pirates wouldn't venture.

The Zhenfeng Battalion would not travel at night, but would instead travel by day and rest by night, heading straight for Fangxin, the capital of Fu Ning Prefecture.

Three days later, a town with blue smoke rising from it came into view in the distance.

In these three days, not a single living person was seen. The desolate land was only covered with weeds and shrubs, and occasionally a rabbit would fly by in a panic, and pheasants would be startled and fly away from time to time.

The fact that the scouts did not send any intelligence indicates that there was nothing unusual nearby, and no one was detected in the town ahead.

However, in the wilderness, wisps of smoke were visible from a distance, clearly indicating that they were not made by animals.

The appearance of these fireworks shouldn't have been long, probably within an hour; otherwise, the scouts wouldn't have let such an anomaly occur without reporting it.

Lin Feng became wary; the situation was rather strange.

He waved his hand, and the two riders behind him immediately spurred their horses and charged out, tasked with scouting the way ahead.

Everyone slowed their pace and waited for the results of the investigation.

After they had advanced another three miles or so, the two scouts sent no word back and disappeared into the town without sounding any alarm.

Lin Feng squinted and licked his lips.

It seems we've encountered a master. Without a doubt, those two scouts have met with certain death.

The people in the town were not afraid of revealing their whereabouts, and they were certain that Lin Feng would not leave just like that.

Those are two living, breathing people, elite soldiers who have been tested by blood and fire and are growing into true elite warriors.

Lin Feng certainly couldn't give up, nor did he dare send anyone else into the town.

Having made a general judgment, he realized that the enemy forces in the town were clearly not ordinary enemy troops, but rather martial arts masters, and possibly even cultivators who had come looking for them.

Because of the great distance, the broken sword on his back did not move at all.

"Everyone, stay where you are."

Lin Feng shouted something, then spurred his horse forward.

Pei Qiyin wanted to follow, but Lin Feng didn't turn around. He just waved his hand in the air, signaling her to stay where she was.

If it really is cultivators chasing after me, I'm afraid I won't be able to take care of them, and it would be dangerous for them to follow me.

When Lin Feng's warhorse was about two miles from the town, the broken sword began to tremble a few times.

However, judging from the degree to which the broken sword trembled, there must be cultivators in the town, but their level was not high enough to cause a significant emotional fluctuation in the broken sword.

Lin Feng felt a little relieved. As long as it wasn't a cultivator like Tsuruta Gen, he didn't need to worry too much. With his current level, he estimated that even a cultivator like Kuroda Shi wouldn't be a match for him.

The warhorse trotted closer to a gate in front of the town, its inscriptions blackened by fire and illegible.

Wild grass had spread to the streets of the town, and the houses were dilapidated and covered in dust.

Lin Feng had his warhorse trot slowly toward the place where blue smoke was rising.

With his right hand gripping the hilt, Lin Feng held the treasured sword that had been captured from the Tokugawa family. He felt that this sword was comparable to the steel sword he used in Zhenxi, and was much superior to the steel swords of the Taisho Imperial Guard.

As they drew closer, a fire was burning in a relatively intact courtyard, from which wisps of smoke rose.