His parents had never been a part of his life. He initially had expectations, but later stopped expecting them to help him in the slightest.
So in this life, he is already very content to have met parents like Wu Dongrong and Xu Nanzhi.
Looking at Wu Shuangren, Xu Nanzhi felt more and more guilty and heartbroken as her son spoke like this.
"My mother once made a solemn vow that she would never use martial arts again in her life, unless it was a matter of life and death!"
Xu Nanzhi looked at Wu Shuangren and said, word by word.
In the more than ten years since she married Wu Dongrong, she has only used her martial arts twice. Once was when two masters from Mist Hidden Temple came to kidnap her, but she defeated them.
And another time was today, when she intervened to save her son.
Wu Shuangren saw Xu Nanzhi's struggle and pain, and said softly, "Mother, everyone has their own secrets and hardships. You don't need to explain so much. I understand you, and I really don't blame you."
He paused, his smile widening, his tone becoming more relaxed. "Besides, Non-Self weren't such a troublemaker, you wouldn't have needed to resort to violence."
Xu Yu, who had been silent Xu Yu along, suddenly spoke up, saying to Xu Nanzhi, "I... I also think you're a very good mother... You don't need to blame yourself!"
Xu Nanzhi was taken aback and looked at Xu Yu.
When she arrived, she saw Xu Yu covered in injuries yet still fiercely guarding her son's side. She knew then that this young man was her son's confidant and trustworthy, so she didn't hide what she had just said from him.
Hearing Xu Yu say this and seeing his innocent eyes, Xu Nanzhi felt some relief from her pain.
Wu Shuangren smiled and ruffled Xu Yu's hair, "You're right!"
He introduced him to Xu Nanzhi, saying, "Mother, his name is Xu Yu, he's sixteen years old, and he's now my personal guard. These past few times when we were in danger, it was all thanks to him risking his life to protect me."
Xu Nanzhi looked at Xu Yu and smiled, "So you share the same surname as me."
She looked at Xu Yu with even more affection.
Thank you for protecting Shuangren for me.
Xu Nanzhi said softly.
Xu Yu hurriedly waved his hands, somewhat flustered. "No... no... he's my older brother, I..."
He was momentarily at a loss for words.
"Alright, thank you, Mom. Please accept it."
Wu Shuangren rubbed Xu Yu's head again.
After resting for a while and eating some dry rations, the three regained some strength and began to clean up the battlefield.
Pick up the scattered weapons, and most importantly, get the twenty sets of infantry armor off the corpses and take them all with you.
Although some of these armors were damaged or deformed, they could be used again after a simple repair.
Now there were twenty more sets of infantry armor. When Wu Shuangren removed the armor, it aggravated his wounds, causing him great pain, but he felt very happy.
Today's battle was indeed dangerous, but the gains were also considerable. Wu Shuangren looked at the Traits above his head; more than a third of them had turned sky blue!
"No guns, no cannons, the enemy made them for us..."
Wu Shuangren hummed a little tune as she packed up her spoils, truly experiencing a bittersweet joy.
Besides the twenty suits of armor, there were also thirty-seven intact warhorses in the forest. When the people from the Mist Hidden Temple fled, they did not bother to take these warhorses that had lost their masters with them.
Among them, the sixteen warhorses were not ordinary Huangzhou Horse, but fine steeds that Mist Hidden Temple had purchased at great expense. They were jet black, tall, and had excellent explosive power and stamina.
These horses were originally used by the martial monks who wore armor, and now they all bear the surname Wu!
Without these warhorses, Wu Shuangren and his two companions would have had no way to take away the twenty sets of infantry armor.
But with horses, things became much easier. The infantrymen were loaded onto the horses one by one and secured with leather straps. The weapons scattered on the ground were also packed up, tied up, and secured to the horses' backs.
In the woods, the three were each busy with their own tasks.
Xu Nanzhi was carrying a disassembled infantry armor set onto a horse when she suddenly stopped, let out a muffled groan, and two streams of blood flowed from her nose!
She quickly pointed her fingers like a sword and pressed several acupoints on her body, then wiped away the blood from her nose.
Turning her head to look, Xu Nanzhi saw that Wu Shuangren and Xu Yu were busy elsewhere and hadn't noticed her. She breathed a sigh of relief.
She stood there for a while to calm her breathing, then cleaned the blood off her hands and face before casually continuing to bind the foot soldier.
The three of them worked until sunset and darkness fell before finally securing everything they needed to take to the horses.
To avoid drawing attention, all the infantrymen carried on horseback were covered by clothing.
Next, the horse ropes were tied together, and the three men each led a group of warhorses, slowly walking onto the official road.
"I'll take you back to West River Market."
Xu Nanzhi said to Wu Shuangren.
This place is even closer to Bo County, but Xu Nanzhi knew that Wu Shuangren would be worried about what might have happened in West River Market, so she offered to escort the two of them back to West River Market herself.
Wu Shuangren nodded. "Okay."
He was indeed worried that Mist Hidden Temple and the Zhang Clan would take advantage of his absence to launch a checkmate against West River Market!
As for whether they would encounter another ambush on the way back, Wu Shuangren felt that those who escaped from Mist Hidden Temple would not have the courage to ambush them again.
As for other forces, if they really existed, they would have certainly made their move in today's ambush.
Therefore, the return journey should be safe.
The three men, leading their horse team and carrying their spoils, lit torches with tinder and hurried along the official road toward West River Market.
Because they were traveling at night, and the three of them were leading more than thirty warhorses, it was difficult to increase their speed.
They walked all night, and it wasn't until around 5 a. m. the next day that the three of them finally arrived at West River Market.
Wu Shuangren looked at the market ahead. There were few pedestrians on the street, and it looked very quiet, as if nothing had happened.
"I'll go take a look."
Wu Shuangren said.
Xu Nanzhi: "I'll go with you."
So Xu Yu stayed behind to watch the cavalry, while the two rode into West River Market and headed towards the city.
Only when he saw that the fortress was safe and sound did Wu Shuangren finally breathe a sigh of relief.
Upon seeing Wu Shuangren, the sentry at the gate immediately stood at attention and saluted. "Commander!"
Wu Shuangren nodded. "Go and inform Captain Bai to bring the First Brigade out immediately and come with me!"
The sentry obeyed and left.
A moment later, Bai Jinhuan donned full leather armor, grabbed a Guan Dao (a type of halberd), and led a hundred militiamen from the First Battalion, who were also fully armed, running out.
Seeing Wu Shuangren covered in blood and bandaged with multiple wounds, they were greatly surprised.
"Commander, what's going on?"
Wu Shuangren mounted his horse. "Come with me first, we'll talk about the rest later."
Bai Jinhuan nodded in agreement and led the first brigade of militiamen to run out of the city with Wu Shuangren.
Oh, right.
Wu Shuangren suddenly remembered something and turned back on horseback to give the order:
"Send someone to tell the kitchen to prepare a few more dishes; my mother is here."
Note 1: In the Wu Dynasty, the age of adulthood for men was sixteen.
110 troops are approaching West River County!
By the time the cavalry passed through the gates of the fortified village, it was already fully light.
Wu Shuangren instructed Bai Jinhuan to select a dozen veterans from the First Brigade. These were the veterans who had followed him the longest and were the most trustworthy.
"Have them secretly move the armored infantrymen on horseback into the inner treasury."
Wu Shuangren instructed, "Check everything before they go into storage, separating the intact from the damaged."
When Bai Jinhuan heard that Wu Shuangren had brought back twenty more sets of infantry armor, he was already full of surprise. He had a lot of questions to ask, but he could only follow orders and do his job first.
Wu Shuangren then arranged accommodations for Xu Nanzhi.
"Mother, you go and rest first. I still have a few things to take care of."
Xu Nanzhi nodded, not disturbing her son's work.
Wu Shuangren told Xu Yu to go and rest as well, and to take good care of his injuries.
After everything was arranged, he went to the council hall and asked someone to inform Mo Zhengxing, Luo Heng, and all the captains to come to the meeting.
A moment later, everyone had arrived.
Wu Shuangren sat in the main seat and got straight to the point. "I was attacked yesterday on my way back to Bo County."
He calmly recounted the battle of the previous day, omitting the part about Xu Nanzhi coming to his rescue.
He could tell that Xu Nanzhi didn't want others to know that she knew martial arts, so he respected her choice.
"..."
After hearing Wu Shuangren's description, the entire room fell silent.
Everyone looked at each other, completely shocked!
He faced an encirclement of over 150 riders with only one person, including 20 martial monks in infantry armor and a First Rate expert.
In the end, not only did he not die, but he also killed dozens of people, slaughtered a First Rate expert, and brought back twenty sets of infantry armor and dozens of warhorses?!
Everyone looked at Wu Shuangren as if he were a god.
Wu Shuangren knew that there was some misunderstanding among the people, but he did not intend to explain.
Even if a real god came, I could still win in a one-on-one situation!
Just worship.
"The Zhang Clan is definitely involved in the ambush orchestrated by the Mist Hidden Temple!"
Wu Shuangren's gaze swept over everyone present. "I originally planned to wait until this round of recruitment was over before taking action against the Zhang Clan, but now it seems the Zhang Clan is courting death, so there's no need to wait!"
Mo Zhengxing looked at him. "Does the commander-in-chief intend to take action against the Zhang Clan family now?"
Wu Shuangren nodded. "Yes."
Mo Zhengxing: "Does the regimental commander have direct evidence that the Zhang Clan was involved in the ambush? If there is conclusive evidence, we will have a legitimate reason to take action."
Wu Shuangren looked at Mo Zhengxing, a slight smile playing on his lips, "Once we take down the Zhang Clan, the evidence will naturally come."
Mo Zhengxing was stunned for a moment, then immediately shut up and said no more.
Luo Heng chuckled beside him, and the other captains also laughed.
"The leader is right!"
"The regimental commander is wise!"
"..."
The captains were already itching to get started.
Wu Shuangren, and everyone quickly fell silent:
"The first through tenth battalions will all be deployed, while the eleventh and twelfth battalions, along with their newly recruited soldiers, will remain to defend the fortress."
Upon hearing this, Luo Heng opened his mouth, as if to say something.
Many members of the eleventh and twelfth battalions were former members of the Flying Feather Gang, and the two battalion commanders were his confidants. He was keen to give the people of these two battalions a chance to earn merit.
But looking at Wu Shuangren, who was sitting upright in the main seat with bandages wrapped around his body, Luo Heng swallowed the words he wanted to say.
The two captains of the eleventh and twelfth detachments glanced at Luo Heng, but ultimately remained silent.
"Go and prepare. Assemble at the drill ground within half an hour!"
Wu Shuangren issued the order.
"Yes!"
Everyone stood up and bowed.