A Hero's Last Stand

Joan of Arc led him through several clusters of people to an open space bristling with torches. Around twenty stretchers lay on the ground, occupied by the wounded. They clutched their abdomens or chests, letting out weak groans, while the air reeked heavily of blood.

"Commander, please don't worry about us..."

"That's right, hurry and go. The enemy may catch up at any moment."

Seeing Joan approach, the wounded soldiers gritted their teeth and urged her to leave.

She clenched her fists without saying a word.

The situation truly was dire. Chen Xuan said decisively, "Pick out the seven most severely wounded."

The surrounding soldiers exchanged glances.

"Do as he says," Joan ordered.

With their commander's instruction, everyone began to move.

While they did, he finished reviewing the records of the Saint Maiden's life.

In less than fifteen minutes, seven critically wounded men were moved before Chen Xuan. Some had been pierced through the torso by spears, while others had their heads smashed open by iron hammers. Without immediate treatment, they likely would not survive the night.

Of course, given the medical standards of this era, even if they survived, they would never return to the battlefield. At present, they were burdens on the entire army. Most commanders would have abandoned them at once, yet Joan insisted on marching with these severely wounded soldiers. No wonder she had earned such immense prestige in the army so soon after rising to prominence.

Chen Xuan took out all the Blood Oranges, squeezed each one in half, and handed them to Joan. "Swallow one half and crush the other onto the wound. If any organs are exposed, stuff them back in first."

Joan still did not doubt him. She immediately began treating the soldiers as he instructed.

At first, the others looked skeptical, but their expressions soon turned to shock and disbelief.

"Heavens... the medicine works!"

"God bless us!"

There were also plenty of startled cries.

"The wounds are closing! How is that possible!?"

Chen Xuan stepped closer and bent down for a careful look—wherever the medicine had been applied, the injuries began sealing over at a visible rate, as if a layer of white frost had formed across the skin. The blood that had been flowing nonstop also stopped. Or rather... the spilled blood was precisely what formed the frost. It rapidly faded and solidified, like tap water left outdoors in the depths of winter, freezing into ice in no time.

This was undoubtedly far more effective than ordinary wound medicine!

As expected of a pill formula used by cultivators.

The soldiers' conditions improved dramatically in a short time. Their twisted, agonized expressions eased, and their groans gradually fell silent.

The way everyone looked at Chen Xuan now had clearly changed.

Some were grateful, some admiring, and some even reverent.

Joan was also deeply shocked. "What... medicine is this? I have never seen anything with such astonishing effects."

"It's an Immortal Pill," Chen Xuan deliberately exaggerated. "Something only those in heaven can use."

To his surprise, she immediately understood.

"...You mean Lord God? If it is something blessed by my Lord, then everything makes sense." Joan murmured, "May I ask how many more pills like this you have? I am willing to pay any price to buy them!"

To warriors, such miraculous medicine was no different from a second life. If they possessed it, it would be enough to influence the outcome of a battlefield.

Chen Xuan could naturally guess what she was thinking. But to him, the pills were merely a way to raise a customer's favorability. The real focus had to be on trading abilities.

His transaction with Liu Shuyue had taught him something: how many abilities a person was willing to reveal, and how many they were willing to trade, was entirely up to the trader. That was why a stranger's attitude and favorability before a transaction were so important. If they harbored reservations, they would definitely offer only their most inferior abilities. Raising customer satisfaction before sitting down to discuss business was the efficient approach.

It was the same principle as a contractor treating the client to dinner, karaoke, and a massage before signing a contract.

Chen Xuan had also noticed another detail.

This force had not set up camp.

Night had already fallen. Even with torches lighting the road, visibility remained poor, making mounted travel clearly high-risk. The surroundings were hardly open terrain either; trees two or three meters tall lined both sides of the narrow path. In the age of cold weapons, armies generally would not choose such a place to fight, because it was unsuitable for cavalry charges.

They would rather risk traveling through the night than stop to rest, and combined with the wounded soldiers' urging, this force was clearly in danger of being pursued.

After reading Joan's brief biography, Chen Xuan had already formed a vague suspicion.

"I only have this much medicine... I can't gather more anytime soon." He looked at Joan. Before she could show disappointment, he quickly added, "But defeating those enemies is not the only solution... By the way, have you been to Compiègne City? Or did you just escape from there?"

This time, Joan was truly startled. "How did you know—"

In that instant, her fists clenched tight. Her expression lost its previous calmness, and it seemed as though dark flames had appeared in her green eyes.

Just as he thought.

According to the records, a minor battle near Compiègne City had been Joan's final battle. If the Saint Maiden had not been defeated and captured, it would not have left even the slightest mark on history.

It should have been an inconsequential skirmish. Yet when Joan led her troops to attack the English, the pro-English Burgundians circled around and struck from behind. She immediately ordered a retreat to Compiègne City, but fearing that the Burgundians would follow them inside, Compiègne's defenders shut the gates before all the troops had returned. Joan, personally holding the rear, failed to make it back into the city and was eventually surrounded and captured alive.

There was little information about this battle online, usually just a single sentence. But seeing Joan's reaction, Chen Xuan suddenly realized that for those involved, that day could never have been brief or peaceful.

It took her several seconds to suppress the anger in her heart. "Our route was supposed to be confidential. Why do even you know our army's movements so well?"

Even me?

Chen Xuan caught the hidden implication. It did not matter much if a shopkeeper knew military intelligence, but what if the enemy knew it too?

"I can see far more than you imagine," he said evenly. "This operation had been going badly from the start, hadn't it? As if the enemy had received word long ago and were calmly waiting for you in the countryside. Though your soldiers fought bravely, the enemy outnumbered you and attacked from both front and rear, forcing you to order a retreat. You had already begun to suspect that there was a traitor in the city leaking military information... Until the gates were shut early, completely disregarding the fact that the army's supreme commander was still outside, and only then did you understand that this battle had been a trap..."

"I never said that!" Joan interrupted loudly.

Her unusual reaction drew sidelong glances from her subordinates.

"Of course you would not say it. There is no proof, and it would shake the army's morale."

When Chen Xuan saw that she did not refute his reasoning but only his conclusion, he understood. She had indeed escaped from the direction of Compiègne City. Even after defeat had become inevitable, Joan had not given up easily. She had attempted to break through, only to fail to escape the enemy's pursuit.

That also meant that at this very moment, the Burgundian forces were drawing closer by the second.

"What you fear most is not the traitor. It is following that line of thought further and asking who wants you to fail, or even disappear completely. You prayed amid doubt and disappointment, hoping someone would answer your questions or lend you a hand... Then, in this wilderness where no shop could possibly exist, you encountered a little store. The light spilling from within was gentler than anything you had ever seen, making the night of despair seem a little less dark. So even at such a dangerous moment, you stopped and wanted to take a look inside..."

Chen Xuan paused.

"Do you understand now who I am, and why I know all this?"

Joan stared at him blankly. "This... is impossible..."

"Whether it is possible does not matter. What matters is that I can help you defeat the enemy and turn the battle around." Chen Xuan took a barcode scanner from his pocket—wirelessly connected, it could work as long as he remained within Wi-Fi range—and pressed the scan button at the bewildered girl.

The remote desktop on his phone immediately responded.

He selected Spirit Sword Technique and dragged it into the transaction slot.

At the same time, Joan's eyes widened as though she had seen a monster!

"Lord God above... what are these things? Floating words... glowing?"

"Do you see this ability? It is the... method I mentioned for defeating the enemy." Chen Xuan coaxed her patiently. "But if you want to gain something, you must lose something too. Even if you are the Saint Maiden. Let me see just how high a price you are willing to pay for victory..."

Before he could finish speaking, all four boxes on the screen instantly lit up.