In early June, four or five days after the Exorcising the Dragon Gang's great resolution, a medium-sized force stretching over half a kilometer marched along the He River flowing out of Heze, near the border between Jiyin and Dongping Commanderies. It was still early morning, and they were pressing on before the sun appeared. Heavy dew and mist mingled with sweat, leaving everyone on the march irritable.
As a transmigrator, Zhang Xing had naturally not lost the traditional advantages of transmigrators. At the very least, he could still share his men's hardships. He personally carried a huge Zhangqiu iron wok on his back, with a vinegar-soaked cloth bundle and a collection of wooden ladles hanging from it, and marched on foot with the others. The yellow-brown horse following him also carried four or five suits of armor and two bags of salt.
Still, given his cultivation, that was about all his supposed hardship amounted to. At most, it was the yellow-brown horse that suffered a little.
By midmorning, the dew and mist had rapidly dispersed, leaving no clouds overhead. After some debate, the Hebei battalion led by Jia Yue, with which Zhang Xing was traveling, abandoned its planned rest. Instead, the men gritted their teeth and marched another four kilometers or so, reaching their destination within Jinxiang County before noon and entering a camp beside a stretch of woods to recuperate.
Jinxiang was the southeasternmost county in Jiyin Commandery. Continuing along the He River brought one to Fangyu County, at the northwestern tip of Pengcheng Commandery, the westernmost of Xuzhou's Three Commanderies. Fangyu County, along with Feng, Pei, and Xiao Counties behind it, would be their intended battlefield.
"How are you doing, White Bear?"
Zhang Xing had naturally not broken a sweat, but his first concern was for the warriors