Chapter 26 A Joke

  "What's going on?" Liu Wei stood at the village entrance, seeing Gong Sun Ce's defeated army returning, and Guo Liang had just entered the village entrance, shook his head on his war horse, and fell down. Liu Wei happened to catch him and asked urgently.

  Guo Liang's handsome face was slashed with a sharp blade, and the crimson blood stained his entire armor. Liu Wei took a closer look and saw that Guo Liang had seven or eight shining wounds on his body, which made him secretly shocked. Guo Liang was skilled in cavalry battles, and if he, Liu Wei, had also fought alongside the army earlier, he might not have even had the chance to return.

  Guo Liang's consciousness was blurry, he spat out a mouthful of blood, his voice weak and powerless: "The enemy is too numerous, Big Brother said it's even more than Zhu Lang's clicks. The iron armor is sharp and strong, can't fight... Where's Li Jing?" He still remembered Li Jing, how come he didn't see her, and involuntarily wanted to get up and look for her.

  In the village, Gong Sun Ce and others returned. Du Shi's heavenly soldiers were exhausted but complete, not one missing. Li Jing saw that Gong Sun Ce's troops had lost nearly half, his heart skipped a beat, his face turned pale, and he hurriedly looked for the young man holding the horse spear. He only saw Guo Liang's warhorse empty, and then saw Guo Liang lying in Liu Wei's arms, his mind suddenly went blank, and he felt like the sky and earth were spinning, dizzy and disoriented.

  Gongsun Zan dismounted his horse and only then felt a sharp pain in his left leg. He looked down to see that from the knee down, it was all blood, a dark red color. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he saw that there were over a hundred Qin soldiers who had revived in the village, enough to engage the enemy for a while.

  Not two steps had passed when the Hu Fu in his arms began to glow, and one by one, the wounded symbol soldiers began to recover. Symbol soldiers who had enough military merit were promoted one after another, and the Hu Fu began to consume the stored soul energy once again, manufacturing batch after batch of Gei soldiers. Each batch consisted of fifty people, and with each batch manufactured, a newly-promoted squad leader would come over to take charge.

  Every two batches of symbols and soldiers, one hundred people, plus two teams to form a Tu, will have a newly promoted Tu Jiang come over to take charge. In no time, in front of Gong Sun Ce, there were four large Qin Ge Bing Fang arrays of troops, each with a commander. Apart from the four Tu Jiang who had command of troops, there were also five other Tu Jiang and ten team leaders who were empty-handed commanders.

  It is worth mentioning that the original Yu Qi was promoted to nine Tu Jiang, eighteen teams outside, and the remaining less than 100 riders. The Hu Fu consumed the remaining symbols and horses, and once again replenished the symbol riders to full capacity. Moreover, the original Tu Jiang Cheng Shen also underwent changes, with an additional vertical groove on the top of the board crown. From the original fourth-level non-noble title, he was promoted to the fifth-level Daifu, his military position became a commander of 200 people, and he became a Qu Jiang.

  "Presenting Zhao Jia, Li Gui, Cao Teng and Bai Ta to General Gongsun!" The four deputy generals with troops knelt on one knee, behind them were five staff officers, and further back were eighteen newly promoted team leaders. At a glance, it seemed a bit crowded. Gongsun Ce had already cut off the fabric of his pants with a dagger to check the wound, and only after confirming that it was not serious did he begin to pay attention to these new military officers.

  He didn't expect to gain so much from this battle, and all the officers who were lacking in his army were fully supplemented. It seems that those iron-clad elite troops had a high status in the enemy's camp, otherwise they wouldn't have brought hundreds of men to charge forward. Although the number of soldiers has increased, the new recruits are all infantrymen, without any cavalry, so naturally there won't be any new cavalry born. To find some stables to supplement the cavalry would also need to be included in the military plan, having enjoyed the speed of the cavalry, he can no longer bear the slow pace of the infantry.

  "Get up, all four of you, and listen to Cheng Shen's command. Cooperate with the Qin army in the village to build defensive fortifications." Gong Sun Ce said, a group of officers stood up neatly, their iron armor and weapons clashing, making a loud noise. The four Tu Jiangs saluted with their fists, leading the way for the command department to find Cheng Shen. The remaining 15 officers had no troops and had not yet received Gong Sun Ce's instructions, standing quietly on one side, looking at Gong Sun Ce.

  "As for you, serve as my vanguard and follow me into battle." This war occurred when Gong Sun Ce was still young and hadn't grown up yet, so he indeed needed some elite guards by his side. These officers were all equipped with spears and swords, wearing armor inlaid with iron plates, and had the aura of seasoned veterans, making them look very impressive. Moreover, promoting them to officer positions would unlock part of their abilities, and it was also convenient to have them stay by his side for use.

  One hundred Qin soldiers, five hundred symbol soldiers and two hundred Du family heavenly soldiers were all strong and powerful, dismantling houses in the village to find materials and preparing to build earthworks at the village entrance. Gong Sun Ce limped into the center of the village and saw that Guo Liang had already been stripped of his armor, with the clothes inside stained with blood, and barely found a wound from the torn clothes.

  Several attendants with experience in treating knife wounds were shocked and amazed that Guo Liang had lost so much blood but was still alive. However, they quickly took turns to treat one wound after another. Seeing Gong Sun Ce limping over, one of them stood up to bandage Gong Sun Ce's leg, but Gong Sun Ce waved his hand and said solemnly: "Save him first, if he dies, you all won't need to live either."

  Li Jing pulled Guo Liang's hand, her face covered in tears, and said to Gong Sun Ce: "Don't put pressure on them anymore, he's dead, even if they die a hundred times, they can't save A Liang." Gong Sun Ce was also afraid that these people would not try their best, so he spoke to intimidate them. But he did not guarantee that if Guo Liang really did not pull through, he would not kill these people to vent his anger.

  Since he killed Li Jian, he felt the devil in his heart awakened, and he no longer valued human life as much. He equated human life with the military soul he had killed, and in a certain sense, human life was indeed not much different from the military soul. Gong Sun Ce took some alcohol and gauze, limping away to sit at the foot of a sunny staircase.

  "Hello, do you need water?" Just as Gong Sun Ce sat down, a woman with light yellow hair and an elegant face asked him with a slightly awkward tone, holding up a bottle of mineral water. Gong Sun Ce looked up at the woman, who was wearing jeans, had a curvy figure, and delicate features. Under a pair of eyebrows that were shaped like willow leaves, her eyes seemed to be avoiding something.

  "Thanks, I really needed that. Are you a classmate of Guo Liang?" Gong Sun Ce took out a bottle of water and drank two mouthfuls to quench his thirst.

  The girl with dyed hair nodded, she didn't know how the usually straightforward her had become so reserved, speaking in a low and hesitant tone, stuttering slightly as she replied: "Mm, Guo Liang is my classmate, and also a close friend! I...I'm An Meng, twenty years old, no boyfriend..." After saying that, realizing what she had just said, her face suddenly turned red, looking very cute.

  "An Meng? It's a good name, safe to have a dream, now it has also become a luxury." Gong Sun Ce could feel An Meng's heart, which was a very mysterious feeling. He liked the kind of purity she had, and he began to like this girl with light yellow hair and an abnormal personality. Although An Meng looked very good and had attractive external conditions, Gong Sun Ce's liking for her was only because of her personality, and as long as her appearance wasn't too bad, he wouldn't consider the issue of appearance.

  "From now on, just call me big brother, help me pour some water." Gong Sun Ce opened another bottle of water for An Meng. As soon as she took the water, An Meng suddenly shouted: "Big Brother!" Her throat seemed to be blocked by something, and her voice was a little hoarse and dry.

  Gongsun Ce looked at her and seemed to have remembered something sad, so he showed a smiling face and said: "I'm your big brother now, if you want to bully someone in the future, just tell me. Look at my five hundred brothers under my command, strong and powerful, absolutely reliable!" As he spoke, he swung his arms and flexed his muscles, making An Meng laugh so hard that tears streamed down her face.

  Gongsun Ce washed his hands and then used water to clean the bloodstains around the wound. Then, gritting his teeth, he cleaned the wound on his calf with alcohol. The wound stung intensely as it came into contact with the alcohol, causing a layer of fine sweat beads to form on his face. As he scrunched up his eyebrows, An Meng, who was squatting in front of him, suddenly thought that Gongsun Ce's scrunched-up expression looked really good, inexplicably so.

  After washing the wound with alcohol, apply Yunnan Baiyao and wrap it with three layers of gauze. His wound was considered treated. He got up and moved his arm a little, saw An Meng holding her knees and squatting, looking at him. He understood the look in An Meng's eyes, stretched out his hand, and An Meng involuntarily stretched out her own hand, which was grasped by Gong Sun Ce and pulled up.

  When Guo Liang's wound started to be disinfected, the intense stinging pain woke him up. He tightly grasped Li Jing's hand, his eyes wide open, enduring the pain of his wounds all over his body, not making a sound, with cold sweat on his face. Seeing Li Jing turn her head, he couldn't help but lift his head to take a look, and saw Gong Sun Ce pulling An Meng's hand as they limped over.

  Seeing Gong Sun Ce holding An Meng's hand, each of Guo Liang's classmates had their own thoughts, different from one another. They turned their eyes, lost in thought. As for these people, Gong Sun Ce immediately sensed the fluctuations in their hearts, and even discovered a short-haired woman's envy, hiding deep-seated resentment.

  "Hey kid, can you hold on?" Gong Sun Ce lit a cigarette and asked Guo Liang. Earlier, when Guo Liang had said that Gong Sun Ce was unscrupulous, Li Jing didn't think so, while the other classmates were dissatisfied but didn't dare to show it. Only one boy wearing glasses let out a cold snort and turned his head away. Gong Sun Ce also felt his palm being pinched hard by An Meng.

  Guo Liang had a bandage on his left cheek, and his face was pale as if he was in pain or had lost too much blood. He glanced at Li Jing, opened his mouth to reveal his white teeth, and smiled silently: "Brother Gong Sun once said that in the future, your son will marry my daughter. Since I haven't given birth to a daughter, how can I die? Even if I die, I must see my grandson born before I go. Heh heh~"

  Li Jing gave Guo Liang a cold stare, wanting to pinch his hand hard. But considering he was seriously injured, she magnanimously turned around him instead. However, her face was flushed red as she thought of things she had never thought of before.

  Gongsun Ce listened and smiled, ignoring the dust on the ground as he sat down. An Meng also sat beside him, feeling at ease staying next to this new big brother she had just acknowledged.

  "At first, I thought you looked good, so your daughter should be okay too, barely qualified to be my grandson's wife. But unexpectedly, your sister is even better-looking than you, how can one daughter be enough? Come on, I have as many sons as I do, and I'll make sure to have just as many daughters!"

  If Ma Cheng or Xue Ling were here, they would know that Gong Sun Ce's jokes are not all false. They knew that many of Gong Sun Ce's ideas were spoken in a joking tone, and often some boring things he would discuss with you in a serious face and serious tone, making it difficult for people who didn't know him to understand, but clever people could see through it.

  For example, Guo Liang, although his brain feels a bit empty, he knows that Gong Sun Ce is telling the truth. The reason is simple, he just saved Gong Sun Ce's life earlier. And Gong Sun Ce has confidence in making a name for himself in the future, this is to make a guarantee for him, and the guarantee is six words: "No matter how rich or noble, do not forget each other."

  As for how many sons are born, it depends on how many daughters the family has, this is purely a joke. If anyone takes this seriously, that's just being abnormal.

  "Alright, it's settled then." Guo Liang looked at Gong Sun Ce with a firm tone.

  "First, take care of your body. Although we have developed our physical potential, we are still mortal. I hope you won't regret it, there's still time to regret." Gong Sun Ce took a puff of smoke, his tone relaxed, he knew Guo Liang understood what he meant and was willing to follow him, he was truly happy.

  Guo Liang saved his life, and he was very grateful. If he didn't follow him, he thought that sooner or later they would end up fighting each other. To avoid the headache at that time, it's better to take precautions early on and nip any potential future conflicts in the bud.

  Kuo Liang nodded and couldn't withstand the wave of fatigue, falling asleep.