At noon, the Exorcising the Dragon Army joined camps with the northern reinforcements. Having effectively run out of food, the Exorcising the Dragon Army began drawing on the reinforcements' supplies, redistributing equipment, and recounting its fighting men. The chiefs and the reinforcement commanders also began discussing the military situation.
As for the scout cavalry, their reports had never stopped.
That morning, scouts had reported finding no main body of government troops within twenty or thirty li. They confirmed that Xue Changxiong's force had headed east, Luo Shu's north, Feng Wuyi's and Wang Chenkuo's northwest, Han Yingong's west, and Bai Hengqiu's Taiyuan Army southeast.
This was good news, of course.
But at noon, bad news arrived as well... Li Ding had definitely returned to Wuan the day before, but not alone. He had actually brought back part of the Wuan Army and gathered it inside the Black Emperor Grand Temple in Wuan Commandery.
"The entire Wuan Army numbers over twenty thousand. Assuming Li Ding has over ten thousand now, that includes an expert second only to a grandmaster, and at least three who have reached Condensing the Core..." Ma Wei blurted out, about to recite the Wuan Army's possible strength and complement of cultivators.
"This won't be easy!" At the foot of Mud Mountain, Xu Shiying sat on a muddy hollow, leaning on his sword, and cut Ma Wei off. "However we calculate it, the Wuan Army's strength on paper is inferior to our combined forces here. But there are four crucial points in comparing the two sides... First, the Wuan Army isn't some irregular force. Its ranks are complete, its personnel properly assigned, and its men well trained. Second, most of its men come from Wuan and Xiangguo Commanderies or the mountain communities of Red Mountain, so they're fighting on