5 The Turkic Withdrawal

“Just one?”

Alpi’s anger deepened.

“Yes, General, I wouldn’t dare lie.” Buga quickly pointed to the other soldiers who had fled back with him. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask them—they all saw it.”

The rest of the soldiers nodded in agreement and began chattering excitedly about what they had witnessed.

“Yes, General. We saw it with our own eyes. Only one person came.”

“Was that person someone with three heads and six arms?” Alpi looked utterly incredulous.

“Uh… no, nothing like that.”

“That person’s face was filthy, so we couldn’t see it clearly, but he silently took down five or six of us. He even said himself: ‘What are you looking at? Want some peanuts?’”

“Right, right! And behind him was this huge strange box made of refined iron. We didn’t know how many peanuts were inside, so we just fled back to report.”

“That’s enough!”

Alpi’s disbelief grew into fury, and he had to cut them off sharply. “Did you manage to pick up any of those peanuts?”

“General, those peanuts were terrifying. They killed our men from a hundred paces away. We couldn’t get close at all.”

Buga was nearly in tears.

In that situation, he didn’t even understand how his own men had died, let alone where to find any peanuts.

They had only heard it from the reinforcements sent by the Carefree King.

Alpi paced back and forth, his murderous gaze sweeping harshly over the group of useless men, muttering, “Reinforcements? Peanuts?”

What on earth was going on?

Princess Yuga had sent spies into Ling’an City, bartering with a thousand heads of cattle and sheep to bribe two of the Carefree King’s personal guards, planning to ambush him.

If the Carefree King died, Ling’an City would descend into chaos, unable to support Yong’an City, allowing them to seize the opportunity to capture Yong’an City while it was cut off from supplies and reinforcements.

What a perfect chance!

But now, the ambush on the Carefree King had failed, and inexplicably, powerful reinforcements had appeared...

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Alpi suddenly seemed to realize something. Slapping his forehead, he shouted, “Quick! Send out my orders—retreat! Everyone retreat!”

“Yes!”

The messenger immediately turned and rushed out to deliver the command.

Everyone in the camp sprang into action, beginning preparations to withdraw.

Alpi hurried back to the table, took up his pen, and wrote a few lines on a slip of paper, watching as the falconer tied it to the leg of a hawk.

Moments later, under the evening glow, the hawk soared deep into the grasslands...

Because the road was rugged, narrow, and in poor condition, when Han Lei and Zhao Zun’s group arrived at Yong’an City’s north gate driving an ambulance, it was nearly midnight.

Inside and outside the city walls, everything was silent.

There were no shouts of battle, no clash of weapons—no sign of fighting at all.

The torches along the walls illuminated the entire camp.

Through the ambulance window, Xiao Zhengfei could only see soldiers dragging their gaunt bodies, carrying arrows, rolling logs, and other materials for the city’s defense below the walls.

“What’s going on here?”

Xiao Zhengfei was baffled and turned to report what he saw to Zhao Zun lying in the rear compartment.

“Go down and have a look,” Zhao Zun said, also surprised.

Han Lei found a suitable spot in front of the camp to stop the vehicle. Xiao Zhengfei unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and jumped out.

Along the way, under Han Lei’s instruction, Xiao Zhengfei had gained a basic understanding of some simple operations in the driver’s cabin.

The soldiers working there suddenly saw a big figure with two shining eyes charging into the camp with a howl. Everyone was startled and grabbed the weapons nearby, watching the “monster” with caution.

Ma Cheng, the commander guarding Yong’an City who was present at the scene, saw a person jump out from the big figure. He placed his hand on the sword at his waist and cautiously approached.

Before he got close, Xiao Zhengfei recognized him in the ambulance’s light.

“General Ma, what’s going on? Is the battle over?”

“Commander Xiao, you’re here!” Ma Cheng’s face lit up with joy, then he spread his hands and said, “We don’t know either! We were fighting hard when the Turks suddenly and inexplicably withdrew.”

“Withdrawn?”

Xiao Zhengfei raised his eyebrows, utterly confused.

Hearing that the Turks had suddenly retreated, Zhao Zun, who was lying on the stretcher, suddenly sat upright.

Han Lei glanced at Zhao Zun, both of them filled with questions.

“Hurry, help me down!” Zhao Zun urged anxiously.

In this freezing cold, if the Turks really retreated, it was undoubtedly great news for them.

Han Lei’s supplies on the vehicle weren’t plentiful; the soldiers would still be hungry, but at least they wouldn’t have to fight on an empty stomach.

“Oh!”

Han Lei obediently responded and quickly removed the needle from Zhao Zun’s hand, slowly helping him down from the rear of the ambulance.

“Wait, hold the door and stand steady.”

The rear compartment floor was quite high, and Zhao Zun was tall and muscular, so Han Lei struggled to support him.

Han Lei took a wheelchair from the wall mount inside the compartment and, after giving Zhao Zun a meaningful glance, helped him sit down.

When he got off just now, he had clearly pulled at the wound on his thigh, yet he didn’t show any change in expression.

A tough guy!

Han Lei secretly gave him a thumbs-up in her heart.

Zhao Zun sat in the wheelchair, curiously touching and looking around.

“Wait for me, my lord.”

Seeing everyone leaving the ambulance, Ping Chuan grew anxious. Mimicking Han Lei, he pulled out his own needle and pressed the needle hole on the back of his hand, then got down from the ambulance.

Just as Han Lei pushed Zhao Zun around the ambulance, Xiao Zhengfei led Ma Cheng over.

“Reporting to the Marshal,” Ma Cheng greeted respectfully upon seeing Zhao Zun.

Zhao Zun was the commander of the garrison forces for two cities. Usually, soldiers called him Marshal; only a few close to him addressed him as “my lord.”

Zhao Zun nodded. “I hear the Turks have withdrawn?”

“They suddenly sounded the retreat horn around dusk and fled in a panic.”

When Ma Cheng saw the bandages on Zhao Zun’s thigh, he was astonished. “My lord, how did you get wounded?”

Ma Cheng stepped forward and lifted Zhao Zun’s armor to check the wound.

Suddenly, Han Lei’s mind pinged with a chime—

“Ding! Congratulations, host, for assisting in the retreat. Reward: a map of the Dajing mines.”

Hmm?

The Turks’ retreat is connected to me?

Han Lei was completely baffled, but since the system said so, she accepted the map without hesitation.

“It’s thanks to Miss Han’s timely help!”

At that moment, Ma Cheng cupped his fist to Han Lei in salute. Han Lei immediately refocused.

It turned out that, while she had been momentarily distracted, Zhao Zun had already recounted the ambush incident to Ma Cheng.

“No need to mention it. I just happened to be there,” Han Lei smiled, exchanging pleasantries with Ma Cheng before suggesting that he send people to transport the supplies.

Hearing there was food, Ma Cheng was overjoyed and immediately called over a centurion to make arrangements.

Seeing Han Lei get back into the ambulance to fetch supplies, Ma Cheng accompanied Zhao Zun to the central command tent to report on the battle.

As they walked, Ma Cheng kept glancing back at the ambulance and asked Xiao Zhengfei, “Commander Xiao, what is that? How did you come out of that thing? And why does Miss Han’s face look all mottled?”

Xiao Zhengfei grinned proudly and looked at Ma Cheng with a condescending gaze, as if looking at a bumpkin.

“You mean that? That’s a horse carriage that runs without horses. I tell you, this thing moves fast and doesn’t need to be fed...”