Chapter 3: Qing Shan Has the Good Fortune of Burying Loyal Bones (Part 2)

  Everyone looked at Xiao Shouren, hoping he had a solution. After all, this method was his idea in the first place, so now that there's a problem, it's up to him to solve it.

  "I actually thought of this a long time ago, so everyone doesn't need to worry." Xiao Shouren smiled and responded.

  "Hmm? Is there a way to resolve this?" Mu Yi looked at Xiao Shouren with curiosity.

  "Think about it, Goguryeo is resisting our great Sui's two million strong army with all its might, every man is on the battlefield. Although Goguryeo is a small country, its territory is not as small as we imagine, and its population has tens of thousands of people. Many people fled to this place during the collapse of the Great Shu Kingdom to escape the war, which is also the foundation of Goguryeo's establishment. Since they are all refugees from the Central Plains, their language can be imagined, not much different from the Central Plains language. In recent years, Goguryeo has been learning Central Plains culture, even setting up schools, studying poetry and classics, and the Central Plains language is already its official language. This time, the soldiers they recruited must be everywhere, with countless dialects of their own, it's hard for them to communicate with each other, even if they do, they use the Central Plains language. So, we don't have anything to fear." Xiang Shouren smiled and replied.

  Seeing everyone nodding over there, Xiao Shouren continued to analyze for everyone to hear.

  "If we really encounter the pursuing troops of Goguryeo, we'll start using our local dialect to deal with them, they definitely won't understand, then we'll use Chinese to talk to them, they definitely won't suspect anything. However, everyone must pay attention, when someone asks questions, at that time we must be very arrogant, with an attitude of 'I'm the master and I'm not afraid of anyone', this way we won't appear guilty, got it?"

  Xiao Shouren's analysis finally made everyone feel at ease and walk back, everyone believed that under Xiao Shouren's leadership they would definitely be able to return to the Central Plains.

  At midnight, they finally arrived at Baishi Mountain. Mu Yi and others were preparing to light torches, but Xiao Shouren told everyone to be cautious, as lighting torches might attract the surrounding Goguryeo soldiers. So, under the moonlight, they searched for the armor of the Goguryeo soldiers on Baishi Mountain, which was piled with corpses, including those of both Sui and Goguryeo soldiers, with more Sui soldiers than Goguryeo ones. The Sui soldiers were surrounded, struggling to survive in a desperate bid, but it was inevitable that they would be defeated, having gone hungry for days and exhausted from fleeing.

  They soon found twelve sets of enemy armor, and in the process, they also rescued a 12-year-old Sui soldier. While searching for the armor, they also picked up those water bags and dry rations, and today they can finally have a full meal, it's been many days since they last had a full meal.

  After eating several steamed buns, Xiao Shouren felt slightly full. In order to have the energy to rush on the road tomorrow, he got up and told everyone to hurry up and rest, keep their physical strength good for rushing on the road tomorrow, and then fell asleep, a night without words.

  At about five watches, when the sky was not yet bright, Xiao Shouren was called up by Mu Yi. Everyone got up quietly and set off on the road while drinking water and eating steamed buns. Xiao Shouren was now dressed as a Goguryeo centurion and led five people on the way.

  The twelve-year-old boy who was rescued last night has also been dressed up as a little soldier of Goguryeo. It's common to see young soldiers like this in Goguryeo, because in this war, everyone is a soldier, and all males over the age of ten are enlisted. In ancient times, especially in the north, the skeletal structure of a ten-year-old child was already quite large, and they could be as tall as 1.5 meters, which adds to the credibility.

  Originally, no one was willing to bring this little burden, but Xiao Shouren insisted on bringing this little guy. Now that Xiao Shouren has said so, his words carry considerable weight, and everyone believes that under his leadership, they will all be able to return to the barracks of the Great Sui.

  Xiao Shouren couldn't help but think of his past life when he saw the little guy's eyes, what a pair of eyes they were, full of longing, pleading, sadness, stubbornness, and unyielding spirit, how similar they were to his own back then!

  Xiao Shouren was an orphan from a young age, for unknown reasons. He grew up in an orphanage and later escaped one midnight because he couldn't bear the bullying of the older kids. Alone and helpless, how could his weak body withstand the burden of survival? On a cold and hungry morning, he fortunately met an old man who was practicing Tai Chi in the park. The old man had retired from the military and had no children. He said this was because his two sons, both just over 20 years old, had died on the battlefield, and his daughter had cut her wrists after a failed romance and couldn't be saved. In the old man's words, this was retribution - he himself had blood on his hands when he was young, and now he was finally facing the consequences.

  Everything changed after meeting the old man, going to school, getting into university, studying medicine, graduating, and passing the medical licensing exam, everything went smoothly, and Xiao Shouren became a clinical doctor at the First Affiliated Hospital of Capital Medical University. Xiao Shouren asked the old man why he had adopted him back then, his biological parents didn't want him, they could have abandoned him without hesitation, why did the old man save someone who was unrelated to him? And treated him so well. The old man's answer was eyes, because of Xiao Shouren's eyes, when he saw Xiao Shouren that year, for a moment, he thought he saw his eldest son from childhood, with the same gaze, so unyielding, so strong-willed, no matter what lay ahead, unwavering. That's why he kept Xiao Shouren.

  Xiao Shouren followed the old man and learned a lot, learning to write brush calligraphy, learning to make tea. Xiao Shouren wanted to learn Tai Chi, but the old man wouldn't let him, saying that Tai Chi wasn't suitable for him. Although Tai Chi is soft yet strong, its yin-yang nature would subtly turn people into being without desires or aspirations, which isn't good. When he was 15 years old, the old man sent Xiao Shouren to a traditional courtyard house where he learned Cun Quan and Xingyiquan, as well as the big knife among the eighteen types of martial arts weapons. He only had time to learn the big knife because that same year, the old man passed away. From then on, Xiao Shouren walked his own path, one step at a time. Over the years, he didn't let any of the things the old man taught him fall by the wayside, but he did have much less free time.

  Xiao Shouren had no leisure time to rest, doctors are like that, but when it was his turn to take a break, Xiao Shouren would go mountain climbing and exploring, it was because of the mountain climbing and exploring that Xiao Shouren crossed over here.

  In a cave, Xiao Shouren found a bamboo slip, densely filled with words. Although it was an ancient script, Xiao Shouren could understand it perfectly because he had specifically studied it in college and wasn't just superficially familiar with it; he had truly mastered it, grasping its meaning and nuances.

  The bamboo slip records a knife method, called Knife Fire Sweeping Thirty-six Styles, as well as the corresponding internal skill heart method, called Blazing Flame. Xiao Shouren practiced according to the methods recorded here, but found that this was simply nonsense. The angles of drawing and sheathing the knife were not something humans could achieve, and the heart method was even more absurd, saying that one had to feel the energy of heaven and earth and then bring it into the body to transform it into internal strength. This was too ridiculous. After all these years, Xiao Shouren had been practicing martial arts for so many years, but had never felt any "heavenly energy". Nevertheless, Xiao Shouren still quietly memorized the contents of the bamboo slip and took it with him, intending to show it to the principal, who often collected antiques, to see what era this bamboo slip was from.

  But on the way home, a tragedy occurred. The continuous heavy rain triggered a mudslide, and thus, Xiao Shouren was buried under the green mountain. However, in the mysterious and wonderful way of fate, his soul did not disappear with his death. His soul attached itself to the bamboo slips, which then broke into pieces and transformed into a beam of light that pierced through the sky.

  Looking at the little guy is like seeing himself back then, so Xiao Shouren overruled everyone's objections and decided to bring this little guy along.

  It's mid-July and the sun in the sky is very poisonous, scorching hot.

  Yang Guang was not a bad commentator as a monarch, but he was absolutely a failure as a military commander.

  In the spring, the grass had not yet grown well, and it was still in the cold winter. He launched a military campaign on the second day of the first month, which was originally unwise. To conquer such a small Goguryeo, he actually mobilized the country's entire army, with over 1.3 million troops, continuous and uninterrupted. The road from Central Plains to Goguryeo is not easy to walk, bumpy and muddy, and after rain, it becomes impassable, making it difficult for people and horses to pass through. Therefore, this battle should have been a quick victory, but Yang Guang's army marched in a tourist-like manner, which did not conform to the characteristics of military operations at all, and it would be strange if they didn't lose.

  Although the sun is poisonous, everyone is still very happy. If it's a rainy day, it's really a tragedy. The road is hard to walk, and at night, there's no place to sleep. Getting rained on all night, it's not a human way of life, it's unbearable.

  That taste everyone has experienced, because they have encountered big rain days many times on this expedition. The continuous heavy rain in the past few days not only soaked their whole body but also wet their dry food. After getting rained and then drying out, the little food everyone brought became moldy. That's why someone secretly disobeyed military orders and buried the moldy food.

  They advanced towards the Yalu River at a speed of 80 miles per day, and on the way they encountered seven or eight small teams of Goguryeo pursuers, with about 40 people in each team. Three teams stopped to ask questions, but were cleverly dodged by Xiao Shouren.

  July 27th, cloudy sky, with just forty miles left to go before they could see the Yalu River, which meant that in half a day's journey they would be able to reach the Yalu River. As long as they crossed over Goguryeo's defense line and gained the trust of the Sui army, they would be able to return home safely. Everyone was feeling a bit relaxed.