Chapter Thirteen: Scouting and Looting

  At night, Gongsun Zan stayed in the military camp built by Qin Jian. The sky was overcast with dark clouds and a light rain fell. However, it couldn't block out the North Dipper starlight, which converged into a beam of light that shone on the barracks where Gongsun Zan was staying, passing through the roof and falling onto his body.

  In the starry sky, Gong Sun Ce's feet were already standing on a land of about five acres in circumference. Above his head, seven stars surrounded a flame that slowly rotated, with the shaking light being the most dazzling and suppressing the other six stars. The silver starlight and firelight illuminated the desolate land, and surprisingly, a tender green bud emerged from the water pool in the center of the land, leaving Gong Sun Ce puzzled.

  Daiji's statue had completely disintegrated into powder, scattering everywhere and seeping into the ground beneath Gong Sunce's feet. Daiji's figure reappeared once more, this time her face finally clear to Gong Sunce. Her oval face, willow-leaf eyebrows, watery eyes, and crimson thin lips were all perfectly defined. Her bright green hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall. Clad in a simple white robe, she looked as pure and untainted as a lotus flower rising out of the water. Gazing at her was enough to make one forget all worries and troubles, cleansing both body and mind.

  Gongsun Ce stared blankly, Dai Ji coughed lightly twice, and Gongsun Ce hastily pointed to the tender shoots around the water bank and asked, "Sister, what's going on here?" Dai Ji saw him change the subject, covered her mouth and smiled lightly, and Gongsun Ce pretended not to see. What Gongsun Ce asked was exactly what Dai Ji was about to tell him.

  Gongsun Ce had absorbed the faith of Yushi Tuo and his subordinates for thousands of years, and the people under their rule belonged to different virtues. The ancient town's worship of the General Temple has never been interrupted, so Yushi Tuo and his subordinates contained the power of five virtues' faith. This faith was then absorbed by Gongsun Ce in the starry sky of consciousness, naturally evolving into all things belonging to the five virtues.

  The earth element transforms into great mountains, but now there are very few, it is impossible to have mountains, not even a hill, just a plain. As much earth element power as there is, so much land can be transformed.

  The water attribute evolves into river water flow, because Gong Sun Ce has joined the Great Qin camp, the water attribute is endless, with his identity constantly improving, the territory governed by the Great Qin is constantly expanding, and the power of the water attribute that he can automatically obtain every day will also continue to grow.

  The Huo De that has evolved is the fireball in the sky, burning itself to provide the necessary light and heat for the growth of the grass and trees on the ground under Gong Sun Ce's feet. However, the power of Huo De will be constantly consumed, wanting the fireball transformed by Huo De to exist or expand all the time. Gong Sun Ce must constantly seek the power of Huo De, the simplest being to kill the military soul of Huo De, or General Huo De!

  The natural evolution of Jinde is various metal mines, but at this time it can be completely ignored. Can a five-acre land produce mineral veins? The acquisition of Jinde's power, except for killing Jinde attribute military souls, killing other military souls can also obtain very little Jinde's power.

  Mu De can transform the world's grass and trees, and the growth of grass and trees cannot be separated from the power of water, fire, earth, and gold. Therefore, the land under Gong Sun Ce's feet is still desolate, and only near the water pool does it have a little greenery.

  The power of the Five Virtues suddenly converged, causing Gong Sun Ce's consciousness to become unstable in the starry sky. That was when Dai Ji's divine image appeared, suppressing the Five Virtues' actions. From then on, she became deeply connected with the land beneath Gong Sun Ce's feet, sharing its fortunes and misfortunes. Her constant explanations made Gong Sun Ce feel a twinge of guilt in his heart. He was originally a self-centered person who disliked feeling guilty the most.

  The night was long or short, Gong Sun Ce had no feeling at all, and he was awakened by the sound of military drums. At the same time, inside and outside the Divine State, how many people could sleep peacefully? The evil spirits that were rampant for a while were eliminated by the various military souls, and the military souls, except for some chaotic military souls who slaughtered civilians, only controlled the civilians to serve them. These civilians were still lucky, at least their lives were not in danger. In some remote places, after tonight, they may have been ravaged by evil spirits, with bones scattered all over the place.

  Xianyang's Xuelin and the others, after having a full meal, each went to rest. Although they were not suffering from slavery, their lives were also safe. But people are like this, having what others don't have, they will still want to possess what they themselves have never had. Xuelin was only thinking about the safety of her family and Gong Sunce, while the other girls, apart from these thoughts, couldn't help but think of some other things.

  They have no relation with Gong Sun Ce, yet they are living off the salary he fought for with his life. After a day, they also know what kind of life their former classmates lived. So they cherish their current life even more and don't want to lose it. Being able to live this life now is still thanks to their friendship with Xue Ling. Can this last for a while? But can it last a lifetime?

  Can be admitted to Xianyang University, have you ever seen an IQ lower than 150? They each thought of a way, Gong Sun Ce is not around, thinking of finding a solution from Gong Sun Ce is also empty talk. Only Xue Ling is the one they can get in touch with, seducing Xue Ling is impossible, can only go to please her, maintaining this classmate relationship first is the most important thing.

  After the sky cleared, they seemed to have changed into different people, making Xue Ling very uncomfortable. The clever her could think of some things, but Li Qingxuan was still in that calm and gentle manner, which made her feel a little comforted. And there was lovely Miao Miao, who became her most intimate treasure.

  Although she knew that feelings would change, she didn't expect them to change so quickly. Fortunately, she knew that Gong Sun Ce was a stubborn person who wouldn't change no matter what. Unfortunately, the person Gong Sun Ce liked wasn't her, which was something even Gong Sun Ce couldn't explain clearly, let alone just her.

  The old town, Yu Shi received Li Si's military order early in the morning, asking him to lead his army to conquer the surrounding areas of the old town. He called his own successor, Guo Liang, and instructed him: "I have been grateful for your family's great kindness for nearly ten generations, and I can only teach you a skill to protect yourself in this chaotic world. The future of Qin depends on the strength of one's own hands. You follow Gong Sunzi, and when the time comes, it will not be difficult to divide the land and grant titles."

  Guo Liang nodded silently, knowing that this farewell would be for an unknown period of time. Although he had only met Yu Shi just two days ago, Yu Shi had taken care of him thoroughly, treating him like his own son or younger brother. He was very grateful to Yu Shi, who had saved the lives of his family and neighbors, and had also passed on his skills to him.

  After breakfast, Gongsun Zan and Yu Shi Di bid farewell to each other at the Three Forks. Yu Shi Di led 1,500 men under his command, advancing in a majestic manner along the highway leading northeast. Yu Shi Di grasped Guo Lian's hand and handed it over to Gongsun Zan, without saying a word, and turned around to leave under the protection of his personal guards.

  Yu Shi's words meant that Gong Sun Ce would not understand, he was entrusting Guo Liang to him completely. Looking at the somewhat melancholic Guo Liang, he said: "Perform well, your family is already a civilian household. Follow me and establish some military achievements, after being promoted to a noble title, you will have a house to live in, a large amount of arable land, and servants to serve your family!" After finishing speaking, he patted Guo Liang's shoulder, indicating that Liu Wei and Guo Liang should communicate more.

  He led the way with his troops, while Liu Wei and Guo Liang each pushed a horse-drawn cart behind. The two carts were loaded with nearly a week's worth of food for fifty people, although one cart would have been enough. However, the Qin army garrisoned in the ancient town believed they had to bring so much grain, otherwise it would not be in accordance with the law. There was another very important reason why they used horse-drawn carts: all the original cars, or rather all the cars, were scrapped!

  According to the map, the highway west of the county town is only 20 miles away, and there are three small villages along the way. Gong Sun Ce estimated that after a day of fighting, they would arrive at the county town by afternoon, and if they took it in one breath, they could occupy the county town before nightfall, and spend the night in the third village called Xiaohe. These Yu soldiers can also go without sleep all night, but it will cause double or even triple physical function loss. This is a loss that Gong Sun Ce cannot afford.

  An hour later, a small village appeared before them, empty and deserted. They planted the great Qin flag, summoning the sleeping souls of the Great Qin army from beneath the earth. After drinking some water, Gong Sun Ce and his men continued on their way. Two hours later, another desolate village appeared before them, leaving Gong Sun Ce somewhat disappointed.

  The people moved to a safe place on their own initiative, and the good thing is that Gong Sun Ce and his men occupied the village very conveniently. Compared with this advantage, the disadvantage is too great. The people will attract the enemy army, and the more people gather, the more enemy soldiers there will be! If the scale reaches four or five hundred people, he will be eaten away.

  Small battles may be tedious, but they are a necessary experience for newcomers to grow. Small fish eat more shrimp to become big fish, safe and effective. Small fish can also eat big fish, directly becoming big fish. The problem is that the risk in between grows exponentially! A snake swallowing an elephant will burst and die eight or nine times out of ten.

  One mile outside the Xiaohe Village, Gong Sun Ce and his men had to stop. A group of fleeing soldiers appeared before them. Guo Liang armed the horse that pulled the cart with a saddle, stirrups, and even a set of leather armor! The leather armor was embedded with iron plates on both sides. Guo Liang mounted the horse, patted its neck, and the restless warhorse quickly calmed down.

  Gongsun Ce knew that Guo Liang's family raised horses, but not draft horses, rather warhorses. In the chaotic world before, every year they would raise three warhorses and earn over a million. Because the horse-raising techniques couldn't be passed on to outsiders, the family's horse herd was never able to expand. Just those three warhorses per year made Guo Liang's family one of the richest in the ancient town, and he became the leader among the town's young men.

  Two chariots, four horses, all were the most outstanding warhorses of Guo Liang's family. The original ones had been confiscated by the Qin army and became the property of Daqin. The remaining three horses were also armed with new recruits from the Fu Bing, who mounted their horses and held spears. The Sui Tang Fu soldiers were known for their all-around abilities, not just in name only. They formed a cavalry team with Guo Liang. This cavalry team was possibly the only mobile force within a hundred miles around.

  Liu Wei was very envious, but he couldn't ride a horse! He had never learned it before, and Xia Houlan hadn't given him any inheritance related to riding skills. Unlike Guo Liang, who grew up in a stable from a young age and received the complete riding skills inheritance from Yu Shi Ji. The riding skills inheritance of a general was not just one technique for riding horses, but also included mounted combat! Gong Sun Ce was the same, he had a warhorse raised by himself at his home in the northwest, and he had also received Lu Bu's riding skills inheritance, only lacking the mounted combat part.

  Yu Shi's elite soldiers were transformed into silver-ranked symbol soldiers, who could also change jobs and had a simple consciousness. Adding that they understood riding skills, riding war horses, Gong Sun Ce ordered them to follow Guo Liang's actions, and they nodded in agreement, lining up behind Guo Liang.

  The opposing troops also began to form an array, only with their backs facing Gong Sun Ce's formation. A tall and thin hundred-man commander led a few scattered soldiers over, expressing his willingness to join forces with Gong Sun Ce and jointly resist the attack from the county town's Liang army.