Otherworld Advance Team-Chapter 1783 - 1776: The Long Journey Home

Therefore, to some extent, it is not an exaggeration to say that Ichuan Fei is the current crown prince.

Now, Ichuan Fei extended an olive branch to them, and Huayu Xuan certainly wouldn’t miss such an opportunity.

Soon, the other officers also understood this matter. After exchanging glances, they all knelt on one knee and shouted in unison, "We are willing to follow the Young Lord!"

"Everyone need not perform such great courtesy, today we are colleagues, and we will continue to be colleagues. Mountains will not change, rivers will remain the same. If I prosper, I will not forget you all. If I fall into hard times, I will not burden you all," Ichuan Fei said, extending his hand.

Ichuan Fei’s initiative to win over these young officers at such a time was clearly part of his own considerations. He needed a group of trusted individuals as his future force to influence the Imperial Court.

The reason for choosing these officers, besides the fact that he himself was an officer, was primarily that through this defeat, he realized that the Wen Family seemed excessively weak and severely lacked martial virtue.

To diverge from the Wu Family, the Wen Family internally adopted many measures to suppress military power. These measures ultimately proved to be foolish actions without exception, like disagreeing for the sake of disagreement.

The Wen Family truly disliked the Wu Family, but that doesn’t mean the Wen Family can abandon the use of force and eschew employing cultivators.

The current Wen Family faces such a situation because of excessively emphasizing literature and repelling those with a fondness for literary gatherings or those cultivators seeking to ascend rapidly through the Wen Family, causing the Wen Family to be severely lacking in strength.

This defeat proved that the firearms that the Wen Family had high hopes for are still not practical. Most of the Dongsheng army’s firearm technology comes from West Outer Heaven, and even the Demon Clan faces recurrent defeats against the Dongsheng army. How could the Wen Family army rely on these firearms to hold powers comparable to the cultivators of the Wu Family?

In fact, Ichuan Fei becoming an officer was something his father, Yichuan Qing, always opposed. After the passing of the old Patriarch, Yichuan Qing focused on grooming his son as his successor.

Compared to his mediocrity, Ichuan Fei was far superior both in status and talent. His mother was the Princess, the Emperor Wu’s sister, so he was born with a royal mark.

Yichuan Qing’s marriage to the Princess owed to the arrangement by the previous patriarch of the Yichuan Clan. This elder, who led the Empire’s Cabinet for forty years, revived the Dongsheng Empire in the mid-national era, making it once again the indisputable hegemony of the East Continent.

Ichuan Fei became an officer mainly because he overly believed in the revolution brought by firearms, hoping that the Dongsheng army led by the Wen Family could avenge past humiliations and ultimately destroy the Beichang Pseudo-dynasty.

However, the reality harshly slapped the face of this young officer. Firearms had excessively high environmental requirements, and in this ambush amid heavy snow, the Dongsheng army faced a disastrous defeat, nearly wiped out, leaving only a few of them.

As the officers pledged allegiance to Ichuan Fei, it marked the birth of an organization. The Gongxin Association was formed by this group of young officers.

As part of the young faction, these officers had complex identities, including scholars and cultivators, but all were loyal to the Wen Family. They have always hoped to find a new power source that could completely replace cultivation power as the military source maintaining the Wen Family’s power.

Although they pledged allegiance, they could not relax now, as they were still on the battlefield. The Eastern Barbarians’ army was still nearby, and they could notice them at any moment.

Ichuan Fei pulled a set of clothes from a corpse to replace his own clothes, which were soaked. Apart from the cultivators Jiuyun Ying and Gaofeng Yang, the rest of the officers removed their armor to lighten their load.

They gathered some usable ranged weapons, with Jiuyun Ying and Gaofeng Yang taking bows and arrows, Huayu Xuan and Ichuan Fei picking up heavy flintlock guns, while Luzun Qian, who did not believe in the power of firearms and couldn’t handle the bow, opted for an infantry crossbow.

The Dongsheng army primarily used matchlock guns, which had a high failure rate in such conditions. Only the elite shooters and officers were equipped with the few flintlock guns.

Leaving the campfire, the officers determined their direction and began the long journey home. Along the way were fallen corpses and scattered supplies.

The originally snow-covered ground, trampled repeatedly by horses and people, mixed snowmelt with mud and bloodstains forming chaotic and long sequences extending southeast.

It was indeed a sunny day, but no sign indicated an increase in ground temperature; instead, it grew colder. The officers proceeded with their heads down along roads covered with a layer of snow, strained by the snow’s glare reflecting around them, forcing them to squint.

This was Ichuan Fei’s most arduous time. They traveled from morning to afternoon, with the trail stretching endlessly.

Of course, he knew that the army suffered a defeat outside the border, but the garrison within would certainly not stand idly by. Even if the Imperial Court’s army doesn’t mobilize, the Nine Thousand Camp of Yun State would surely be deployed to rescue their young master, Gaofeng Yang.

Thus, the long journey wasn’t the greatest challenge; the greatest challenge was encountering the guerrilla Eastern Barbarians’ army. For if they met these folks, relying only on the few of them, there was hardly any chance of escape.

At nightfall, they had to stop to rest with a fire. Although the visibility was extremely high due to the snow, the temperature would drop to unbearable levels. Traveling under such circumstances felt akin to reincarnation.

They couldn’t care whether the firelight would attract enemies and still built a campfire, for if not, they would have frozen half-dead before the Eastern Barbarians’ army could find them.

Fortunately, the night passed safely. Sharing some dry rations among themselves, they barely made it through the night and continued their journey the next day.

Continuing their journey until noon, clouds covered the sun, improving visibility on the snowy ground but also bringing trouble.

With the sound of galloping hooves approaching from afar, everyone was stunned to see a cavalry troop of Eastern Barbarians wading through knee-high snow, heading towards them.

Seeing the enemy approach, Jiuyun Ying didn’t panic. Waving his hand, he called to Gaofeng Yang beside him, "Gaofeng Yang, protect the Young Lord, I will handle them."

"Be careful yourself!" Gaofeng Yang didn’t act recklessly, promptly turned around and instructed the others to retreat.

Actually, Jiuyun Ying felt anxious because his magic reserves weren’t plentiful, as most were depleted in the previous battle with no opportunity for replenishment amid the icy environment.

But he knew well, unless he stepped forward, relying solely on those few individuals could not possibly fend off the Eastern Barbarians’ army. Though capture might remain fortunate, being decapitated for achievement would spell doom for the nobility’s children.

He took a deep breath, drew his bow, and began pulling the string; however, at this point, the enemy was still beyond shooting range. Once the enemy approached shooting distance, they too would shoot directly at Jiuyun Ying, so he had to ensure securing a hit.

Just when he was entirely focused, a sudden loud noise erupted from behind, causing a distant Eastern Barbarian soldier sprinting to fall off his horse.

He turned back surprised, seeing Ichuan Fei’s gun muzzle emitting plumes of smoke, evidently indicating this hit was from his firing.

Ichuan Fei possessed an innate talent for shooting. Giving him an adequate matchlock gun, he could effortlessly hit targets twenty paces away. Nonetheless, considering the randomness of smoothbore guns, he couldn’t achieve a hundred-step bullseye, relying considerably on luck.

But clearly, Ichuan Fei had a considerable streak of luck. After firing, without hesitation, he passed the empty gun to Huayu Xuan, then picked up the already loaded flintlock gun from his hand, aimed at the fleeing cavalry for another shot.

The enemy’s cavalry was impeded by the snow, making them easier targets. Before they entered the bow range, Ichuan Fei pulled the trigger once more.

This time, he unexpectedly hit another cavalry rider a hundred meters away. The bullet first struck the horse’s head, then rebounded, hitting the Eastern Barbarian rider’s eye socket, directly penetrating the brain, causing both rider and horse to stumble upon the snow.

"Good marksmanship!" Gaofeng Yang couldn’t help but exclaim.

Ichuan Fei’s actions made them see him in a new light, not expecting this seemingly weak scholar to be so proficient in shooting a gun.

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