Early the next morning, Jiang Che woke and sat up. Looking beside him, he saw Zhang Erguo lying on his bed, his eyes wide open and his face haggard.
He frowned and asked, "Senior Brother Guo'er? Were you awake all night?"
"Not quite. I did sleep a little... but I kept waking up. I felt so restless I couldn't sleep soundly... Jiang Che, do you think we can really survive these three months?"
Jiang Che sighed without answering right away.
Yesterday's bloodshed had finally crushed the fat fellow who usually wore such a cheeky grin.
During the day, he had fought fiercely enough, swinging his hammer at the enemy. But in the silence of night, lingering fear had surged over him like a tide, leaving him unable to sleep.
But would today really be much easier than yesterday? With so little rest and in such terrible shape, wasn't he only hastening his own death?
At that thought, Jiang Che felt a surge of frustration at his failure to pull himself together.
Jiang Che still wanted to spare his friend some dignity and was searching for a tactful way to put it. Hu Yan, who shared their tent, had no such reservations. She launched straight into a scolding:
"No one held a knife to your throat and forced you to come, did they? Didn't you choose this path yourself? Why put on this act now? Who's supposed to watch you play the aggrieved wife?"
"If there's another big battle today, what good will you be in this state? You barely have any ability to begin with, and now you won't even manage a third of it. Are you expecting your Junior Brother Jiang to risk his life protecting you, or are you expecting me to do it?"
"If you can't hold on, hurry up and die! Don't drag everyone else down with you!"
Jiang Che agreed with Senior Sister Hu.
Anxiety and terror did nothing to help matters. They would only lead him-and his comrades alongside him-down the road to death.
But looking at the immediate situation, what mattered most now was getting Zhang Erguo back on his feet.
Seeing the little fatty's deathly pale face and helpless demeanor, Jiang Che couldn't bring himself to pile on any more abuse.
If they truly shattered his resolve with their scolding, things would only get worse.
He thought for a moment, then began laying things out. "Today should be much better, Senior Brother Guo'er. Don't frighten yourself."
"This assignment in Ailin isn't like this every day."
"For one thing, we won't always be storming a fortified position like that ruined temple. And even when we do, it won't always turn into a battle as fierce as yesterday's."
"If you ask me, that True Demon probably saw fresh reinforcements like us arrive and make rapid progress with our probing. It couldn't restrain itself, so it sent out every Demon Monster under its command. That's why things got so fierce. An ordinary day certainly wouldn't be so bloody."
"Once we weather this hardest stretch and force that True Demon out for the lords to slay, the threat from this ruined temple will be gone. Things will be much easier after that."
"Then all we need to do is stick to ordinary clearing missions, earn enough merit contribution, and return to Azure Mystic alive. That will be a complete success."
Zhang Erguo's breathing gradually steadied.
First came Senior Sister Hu's blistering scolding, then Jiang Che's reasoned analysis. Between the two, Zhang Erguo regained some measure of composure.
He knew he had made a mistake. Gritting his teeth, he got up and said, "I've made you both worry... I'll pull myself together today. If I really do slip up, help me if you can. But if you think it's dangerous, don't worry about me. Keeping yourselves safe comes first."
Hu Yan gave a cold snort and went out first.
Jiang Che patted his shoulder, pulled him to his feet, and followed her out.
They truly had good luck that day. Of course, it might also have been because yesterday's fighting had been so brutal. The orders from the three Qi Refining cultivators overseeing the camp allowed them another half day to rest and recover.
Not only that, pills were distributed as well.
Besides pills for internal and external injuries, there were Qi-Recovery Pills to regulate their internal breath and speed the recovery of their internal force. Everything they needed was provided.
The supply of medicine was reasonably generous. The main purpose was simply to get them back into fighting shape as quickly as possible.
There was at least a little humanity in that. They were Embryonic Breath cultivators, after all, and worth more than ordinary soldiers. They warranted a little more care when being put to use.
Zhang Erguo took the pills and said nothing more to dampen their spirits. He obediently returned to the tent, sat cross-legged, and seized the time to recover.
Jiang Che and Hu Yan did the same.
While recovering, the two of them could also attempt a little cultivation and accumulate some more internal force.
However, spiritual energy was scarce around Ailin Old City, while demonic energy was thick. Not only was cultivation inefficient, but they also had to take great care to filter out the demonic energy. Drawing in even a little too much could send their cultivation running wild. It really was no place to cultivate.
At noon, after lunch, the drums calling the troops together sounded through the camp.
Their half day of rest was over.
Once they assembled again, the units scattered in yesterday's fighting were reorganized.
The armored soldiers under Chen Mou were replenished to twenty, and they remained assigned to Jiang Che's three-person group.
For the other groups, those whose squad officers had died received replacements from the army. Those that had lost Azure Mystic disciples were reorganized by splitting up and reassigning the remaining disciples.
Two Azure Mystic disciples had fallen in yesterday's chaotic battle. After the reorganization, they could no longer maintain the original seven groups and were left with six. One group ended up with an extra person, so a local Ailin Outer Disciple was withdrawn from it.
After they set out, Zhang Erguo glanced around, then asked Jiang Che quietly, "There's something I can't figure out."
Jiang Che looked at him. "What is it?"
"The Ailin Outer Gate should have several dozen Outer Disciples, shouldn't it? More than those of us who came from the sect." Zhang Erguo lowered his voice. "But the groups probing this ruined temple rely mainly on Registered Disciples like us who came from the sect? Why do we barely see any of the Ailin Outer Gate's disciples?"
Before Jiang Che could answer, Hu Yan sneered beside them.
"What's so hard to understand?"
"It doesn't matter how many Registered Disciples like us die. Those who survive will leave after three months here anyway. Three months later, another batch will naturally arrive."
"But every Ailin Outer Disciple who dies means one fewer left. This isn't exactly a fine place, either. If they want to select talented locals and give them cultivation methods, it will still take years for them to enter the path. Replacing their losses isn't easy."
"Besides, the selection standards for Ailin's local Outer Disciples are low, and their strength varies wildly. Most have barely entered Embryonic Breath. How could their average strength compare with that of Registered Disciples like us from the sect?"
"If you were an Ailin steward, and you had one batch of capable fighters who would leave in three months and be replaced if they died, and another batch of your own people who weren't particularly useful and whose every death meant one fewer left, who would you send out to risk their lives?"
Zhang Erguo opened his mouth. Only after a long while did he say, "Then doesn't the sect do anything about it?"
Hu Yan scoffed. "Do what? As long as they don't go too far and get every last one of us killed in one fell swoop, that's enough."
With that, she strode ahead, saber in hand.
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