Chapter 21: The Heir of the Ancestral Spirit

  The rain stopped at 4 am, and Gong Sun Ce also woke up from the starry sky, directing the symbol soldiers to start cooking, feeding horses, and leaving the newly occupied town around 7 o'clock, marching along the highway towards the next county. The two hundred symbol cavalry were divided into two groups, with Gong Sun Ce leading the front group, followed by ten heavy carts led by Guo Liang, accompanied by twenty people recruited by him and Guo Liang's classmates, and the rear group was composed of one hundred symbol cavalry led by Cheng Shen.

  "If today's battle goes smoothly, we can take down another county by nightfall. With two counties behind us, we'll have nothing to worry about." Gong Sun Ce exhaled a mouthful of white air, though he spoke of the present battle, his mind was on what lay ahead. Winter was approaching soon, and the road to the northwest would become difficult to traverse.

  Every time he captures a county, the revived Qin army will not only defend the county but also expand its territory in all directions. As the occupied area increases, the number of Qin troops will also increase. Later, the Qin army will naturally divide and conquer key road segments, gather strength to attack other counties. At that time, he will no longer be fighting alone.

  Within two days, Liu Wei's horsemanship had improved rapidly. Now sitting steadily on the saddle, he rubbed his frozen red face: "Winter hasn't arrived yet, and when it does, we'll be in trouble. For now, the military souls we're dealing with are all weak-minded, as long as we don't do anything stupid, fighting them is like brushing through a copy, one after another. Once these military souls fully recover to normal, it's equivalent to switching to a higher-level copy and continuing to brush. Honestly, this kind of battle may be safe, but it lacks some excitement."

  Gongsun Zan retorted: "Thrill? If you like thrills, I'll give you ten Qiang cavalrymen. Take down the small village below for me!"

  Gongsun Ce said one sentence, Liu Wei rolled his eyes and said with a depressed expression: "You're not unaware of my riding skills. It's already difficult for me to ride on horseback during the march. Why don't I take some men to scout ahead?"

  "As long as you can command the Yu soldiers, I'll give you fifty riders!" Gongsun Zan's words made Liu Wei even more depressed. The Yu cavalry was something he coveted, but even if he could command them, it would only be within Gongsun Zan's line of sight. Once they went beyond a certain range, the Yu cavalry would not budge. So taking the Yu cavalry to attack small villages was something he dared not do, and even if he did, he wouldn't be able to.

  "Alright, this place is less than three kilometers away from the village ahead, go scout it out. Riding a horse is like driving a car, the more you ride, the more familiar you'll become." Gong Sun Ce had high expectations for Liu Wei and was generally satisfied with his performance so far, but he was disappointed in his horsemanship skills. If he didn't improve, he would be in danger when they clashed with the Liang army in a large-scale cavalry battle.

  Liu Wei reluctantly nodded, and seeing his appearance, Gong Sun Ce was also worried. He said, "I remember Zhao Zilong, the White Horse Silver Gun, who killed seven times in a row at Changban Slope, seemingly relying solely on horse power!"

  Liu Wei gritted his teeth, raised the whip and fiercely lashed the Symbol Horse. The horse let out a long whinny and galloped westward with Liu Wei almost falling off, dropping the whip to hug its neck as it disappeared from Gong Sun Ce's line of sight in the blink of an eye.

  Liu Wei's whip passed by, Gong Sun Ce tightly clamped his legs on the horseback and picked it up with a sideways motion. Looking at the road under his feet, he didn't know how much longer he had to walk. Fortunately, this road was supposed to lead directly to his home in the northwest according to plan, and all he needed to do was occupy the villages and towns along the way, and the revived Qin army would naturally expand left and right along the highway.

  The successors who attacked in eight directions were like eight torches, setting everything on fire wherever they went. The burning flames would spread and eventually connect into a piece, and the Great Qin Empire would rise from the vigorous flames.

  Du Village, the next village that Gong Sun Ce is going to attack. The whole village was in order, with soldiers and villagers working together under the morning sun to build defensive fortifications. Women were carrying steaming hot meals, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. Unlike other places, there was no estrangement or hatred between the military and civilians.

  A young man with red hair, wearing a beautiful crimson fish-scale armor, held his helmet in his right hand and pressed the hilt of the sword hanging from his waist with his left hand, looking around on the top of a two-story building near the village entrance. He didn't expect everything to come so suddenly, thinking that although Du Yuancheng was just a pseudo-rich second generation, he would never have to worry about food and drink for the rest of his life, and could live the life he wanted, which was such a wonderful thing.

  But on that night when the moon was full, a heaven-shaking change occurred. He invited his brothers and friends from the village to have a feast at home, after which he received all the inheritance from his ancestors in his dream. He thought it was just a dream, but when he woke up, he found that the whole village was in chaos, with various ghosts and monsters like ghouls and zombies killing indiscriminately, as if they were feeding on something.

  He saw the zombies crashing into his neighbor's simple wooden door, and he picked up the iron shovel in the yard to rush to save his neighbors. The iron shovel was used particularly smoothly, and with just three strokes, he cut off the heads of three zombies. Nourished by the scattered soul energy of the dead zombies, all his inherited memories awakened, and he finally knew that he was not dreaming, but really obtained the inheritance of his ancestors' souls! It's no exaggeration to say that his ancestors' souls merged with him as one.

  His ancestors were also military families, but they did not belong to any dynasty. During their lifetime, they only led the clan's army to defend their hometown and fought against bandits. Due to their outstanding military achievements, after death, later generations built a temple to worship them. However, since it was just a family temple, they could not rely on the revival of the military soul of various dynasties, and their actual strength during their lifetime was only minimal. After death, the incense offered to them was also limited, making it impossible for them to be revived.

  He chose to use the fusion inheritance method, burning his soul and spirit clean, leaving only the memories of battle, and passing them all on to Du Yuanzheng. The two hundred military souls under his command before his death also used this method to merge with the young people of Du Village, becoming Du Yuanzheng's heavenly soldiers.

  These soldiers possess the pre-battle memories of the Zongbing army and their own consciousness remains clear, so they have great development potential. The only thing affected is that they can only serve Du Yuanzheng, otherwise the military soul merged in their body will go berserk, making them worse off than dead.

  Du Yuanzheng was originally just an ordinary young man, who only wanted to stay in the village and eat his fill of vegetables and rice noodles, and then discuss the philosophy of life with the little sister from the neighboring family. Then he would spend the rest of his life in peace and contentment, and that would be enough for him. But in this chaotic era, the ability he had acquired was a kind of responsibility, not to mention anything else, at least he had to protect the safety of his own people like his ancestors did.

  At this time, Du Village was also said to be Du Town, and the surrounding villagers all gathered in Du Town. Under the command of the original village chief, Du Jianghuai, they began to fortify the outer perimeter of Du Village, aiming to build it into a small fortress. Originally, Du Jianghuai was the richest man in Du Village, with a group of men under his command, and being a clansman of Du Yuanzheng, so this new town chief took office very smoothly.

  Du village's intense labor was interrupted by Liu Wei, who were digging holes and laying foundations in the middle of the road. They saw Liu Wei riding his horse at full speed, thinking he was another fugitive from elsewhere, which they had seen a lot of in the past two days, so they didn't think much of it. Who would have thought that Liu Wei couldn't control his horse, and it rushed straight over. His horse galloped at full speed, with a speed of nearly sixty kilometers per hour, and arrived in front of them in the blink of an eye. A group of villagers barely avoided it.

  "Looking for death!" Du Yuanzheng saw the cavalryman, directly flipping over from the second floor rooftop, bringing the heavenly soldiers working nearby to block Liu Wei's path. Liu Wei hastily tightened the reins, and the horse suddenly felt pain, kicking its front legs high, almost throwing Liu Wei, this half-baked rider, off again.

  Liu Wei glanced at Du Yuanzheng as Fu Ma turned around, looking puzzled. He had already guessed that Du Yuanzheng was a successor, but he couldn't understand the soldier behind him who wore armor, carried a sword and gun, and had a bow and arrow on his back. An ordinary person would find it difficult to injure a military soul even with a weapon imbued with a military soul, let alone those ordinary weapons?

  Liu Wei also knew that ordinary weapons, whether swords or firearms, could harm the successor! Adding to his poor riding skills, he didn't even say a word of farewell, and kicked his horse's belly, galloping away in a cloud of dust.

  Du Yuanzheng finally met a modern man wearing armor, thinking that the other party might have the same identity as himself. Not wanting to break this lead, he gathered 100 heavenly soldiers and rode the village's horses to chase after him. Several Du clan members who were in charge saw their own pillar of support chasing out so hastily and hurriedly went to find Du Jianghuai.

  Fu Ma Sheng was good at endurance, but his weakness was that he had no explosive power. Even if Du Yuanzheng and his hundred cavalry took some time to find the horse, they relied on the horse's explosive power and chased after Liu Wei's tail, refusing to let go. Liu Wei was anxious for a while, Fu Ma could only reach 40 kilometers per hour, looking back at the dark pursuing soldiers behind him, hugging the horse's neck and kicking its belly fiercely. He hated himself, hated that he didn't have two whips!

  One hundred cavalrymen were galloping on the highway, making a huge noise. Gong Sun's troops were moving at the same speed as the horse-drawn carriage because they had to take care of it. The slow march naturally made less noise, so he was the first to discover that there was a large group of cavalry ahead. This winding road blocked the view and also obstructed the spread of sound by relying on the mountain, but it also increased the chances of a successful ambush!

  "Liang's army has cavalry so soon? If that's true, then we're in trouble." Gong Sun Ce discovered the enemy cavalry and first thought of his own cavalry advantage being offset by Liang's army. He gave orders with the tiger tally: "Cheng Shen, lead your troops to join me."

  The Hu Fu slightly shook, and the rear officer took out his waist card. The originally gray waist card now had a red "command" character in the middle. He held the command plate and said to the two team leaders on either side: "Gongsun Sima has an order, ordering my rear unit to merge with him!" The two team leaders nodded, and 100 cavalrymen divided into two groups, bypassing the horse carriage in the middle and rushing forward.

  More than 20 people who were in a hurry to catch the bus suddenly panicked, Guo Liang shouted loudly: "Don't be chaotic! Otherwise, military law will be enforced!" Several young men who wanted to turn around and escape saw Guo Liang riding his horse to their front, the sharp blade of his spear shining with cold light, sweeping past their noses one by one. The four leaders who were about to escape suddenly broke out in a cold sweat. They remembered this young master, who could single-handedly kill ghosts and monsters like cutting grass, let alone these ordinary people.

  "Brother Liang, considering the good relationship between our two families in the past, please spare my brother's life! I'm the only one left to take care of my old mother at home. If I leave, who will take care of her?" A stout middle-aged man immediately knelt down, and Guo Liang was also in a difficult position. He knew that this person in front of him was a well-known filial son in the neighborhood, not someone trying to make excuses to escape.

  "If you want to die with your mother, then go back! The swords of the Qin army will tell you what to do and what not to do!" Li Jing walked over and pointed at the middle-aged man kneeling on the ground: "Look at the other people in the town, the Qin army has arranged for them to work hard and distribute food according to their labor. But you were recruited by Gong Sun, although it's risky, but you don't have to suffer that punishment, and also earn a share of food for your family, without having to do heavy physical labor."

  "It's not that Master Gongsun has a great personality or charm, but rather they want you to have the treatment you have now!" Li Jing's words made the four men who were trying to escape feel ashamed, and also dispelled the idea of those who wanted to escape but had no good opportunity.

  Four people returned to their original carriage, Guo Liang asked Li Jing: "If Zhang Xiaozhi insisted on leaving just now, what should I do?" Zhang Xiaozhi was the middle-aged man who knelt down earlier, his original name didn't sound good, so people around called him Zhang Xiaozhi out of habit, and it became his real name.

  "If you let him go, I will have great doubts about the safety of my future women." Li Jing said lightly, as if discussing someone else, but Guo Liang just liked it. Li Jing's tone was a bit stern: "You follow Gong Sun brother, and you must stand on Gong Sun brother's standpoint to consider the problem. If he wants to run, I will let you kill him! Otherwise, not only Zhang Xiaozhi will die with her mother, but we will also be affected."

  Seeing Guo Liang's confused face, Li Jing said with a bit of helplessness: "The laws of Qin State are notoriously harsh. For now, they won't do anything to us, but once Qin State stabilizes its footing, it will eventually settle accounts with us! There are too many such precedents in history, and recent ones include the previous dynasty, and the one before that. Every dynasty is like this, no one can escape the convention."

  "From now on, come find me every night and I'll give you a supplement in history. I really don't know how you graduated from high school with such poor history grades..." Li Jing's teasing tone was directly ignored by Guo Liang, who valued the content and couldn't help but burst out laughing, riding his horse with a big smile on his face.

  But in Du Village, Du Jianghuai heard that Du Yuanzheng led people to chase a cavalry wearing armor, and he felt very bad. Although he thought Du Yuanzheng's existence was a huge obstacle for him to control Du Village, now without Du Yuanzheng, he couldn't even take charge of Du Village. Even whether Du Village could continue to exist was a question.

  He was able to leap from a standard poor villager to become the richest man in Du Village, and also had some reputation as a small rich man in the county. Apart from grasping the tail of opportunity, his strong judgment and decisive ruthlessness also played a huge role. So now Du Yuanzheng is absolutely important to him and cannot be lost.

  Du Jianghuai hastily assembled five hundred young and strong men, holding sharp knives and guns, and chased after them along the highway.