Chapter 409: Troops Value Surprise

Chapter 409: The Virtue of War Lies in Surprise

Few were leaving; some departed, others stayed.

Among those present, whether seen as prey or aspiring hunters, those with true intent remained silent. Those who could not contain themselves and jumped about before the crowd were essentially spoiled wastrels, even if now heads of households, still wastrels at heart.

When Cui and Yang stood here, anyone clever, even if they had been jumping about earlier, would now thick-skinnedly stay on...

Those who could still leave under such circumstances, even if they became enemies later, were not worth fearing—too shallow.

Tang Buqi did not despise them, for he remembered his former self.

That moment on Wan Dongliu's tavern rooftop, when he thrust his sword like a flying immortal at Zhao Changhe—how was he any different from them? And Wan Dongliu, who had remained silent then, was precisely the old fox still lingering in the hall now.

All parties were present, and it seemed they too recalled those past events. The three exchanged glances and smiled.

Though not much time had passed, there was a sense of seas changing into mulberry fields—everything had changed, yet nothing seemed different.

Wan Dongliu remained inscrutable, Zhao Changhe still as defiant as ever, and Tang Buqi still a doting brother.

"I'll catch up with you later," Tang Buqi muttered, then strode toward the door: "Uncles, please take your seats..."

Cui Wenjing shook his head: "We wouldn't presume to play host... We came only to examine this monk soldier's corpse and make some judgments."

Tang Buqi hurriedly said, "How could seniors be considered guests..."

Yang Jingxiu waved a hand: "You are the commander; we are naturally guests."

Tang Buqi: "..."

Who was he to act as commander for these two?

Both had actually led troops before... Cui Wenjing was easier—he held no court office, merely a "retired gentleman," and his command dated back to the dragon-following days. Yang Jingxiu was different—what was the Grand Commandant? The highest military officer, theoretically overseeing all military affairs nationwide! The reinforcements and grain allocations his side had received in recent days were all signed by Yang Jingxiu, not Tang Wanzhuang.

Of course, Yang Jingxiu held no actual military power. In the current era of weakened court authority and increasingly separatist tendencies among the great clans, even the emperor's power amounted to little. What truly mattered were the family identities they represented and their peak personal martial prowess.

But both were now examining the corpse. Tang Buqi opened his mouth but ultimately refrained from idle words.

Zhao Changhe asked, "What are your judgments?"

Cui Wenjing said, "These Maitreya followers lack sufficient personal cultivation to bear too much blessing. They can only achieve ordinary invulnerability to blades and spears, which even a single strong blow can break—far inferior to Situ Xiao's. Moreover, the aftereffects are extremely severe. If my judgment is correct, this thousand monk soldiers are already crippled."

Tang Buqi realized: "No wonder only a thousand were deployed. I was wondering earlier—if ten thousand had been sent, the Luling forces would have been utterly annihilated, and I wouldn't even have dared to rescue them. Now it seems they didn't deploy more because of the cost; they couldn't transform all at once..."

He frowned as he spoke.

If this blessing required preparation time, allowing only a thousand to transform at a time, that was good news. But if they limited it to a thousand to conserve costs and could instantly bless all in a major battle, that would be truly troublesome.

Though the exact number of remnants in Kuaiji could not be determined, it could be estimated from the results of previous battles. The Maitreya remnants surely numbered no more than twenty thousand, at least half of them wounded.

Coupled with the earlier assumption of low morale in the city, Zhu Huan had believed ten thousand elite troops could easily take Kuaiji.

Now they knew morale was not an issue—only that nearly twenty thousand madmen were invulnerable to blades and spears.

They said that state lasted only about the time it takes an incense stick to burn—that was the duration in active combat. They couldn't trick them into "activating" and then flee, waiting for them to exhaust themselves. The enemy was not stupid; they could surely cancel the state. So they had to endure it head-on, which was no easy task.

Cui and Yang remained silent, continuing to examine the monk soldiers. They had come specifically to inspect the corpses, clearly not just to figure out how to counter the monk soldiers, but to glean from the energy traces the cultivation level and characteristics of the deity behind it.

After a moment, they both nodded, their expressions somewhat grave: "Very strong."

Zhao Changhe, on the contrary, breathed a sigh of relief.

There was a saying: as long as you show a health bar.

What was terrifying was if they could glean nothing from such marginal traces and uttered phrases like "unfathomable" or "immeasurable"—that would chill one's heart. To say with a grave expression that it was very strong actually meant the opponent's power did not exceed their understanding, was not beyond the syllabus.

Then it was fightable.

"We have some judgments..." Cui Wenjing thought for a moment, not stating the specifics publicly, but said to Tang Buqi, "As for the monk soldiers, there won't be any preparation time; they can be possessed at any moment. Don't harbor false hopes... But the good news is that such means of affecting others won't have too many varieties; it should be hard for them to have other changes."

Yang Jingxiu added, "Another good news is that they likely cannot endlessly sustain this blessing. The numbers cannot be infinite—at least, they cannot bless the entire city's populace."

With judgments from the Heaven and Earth Lists, Tang Buqi also breathed a sigh of relief and cupped his hands: "That gives us a clear picture."

Both smiled and left: "Alright, when to act, we await your command."

Tang Buqi felt immense pressure.

Speaking of which, was this battle truly so dangerous that even these two had to come out together, and even personally examine the corpse? And what about his aunt?

Tang Buqi finally lowered his voice and asked Zhao Changhe, "Hey, where's my aunt? Nothing happened to her, right?"

Zhao Changhe sighed helplessly: "No, she's resting, conserving her energy. Wanzhuang's sense of responsibility is too strong; she always thinks she's the main force and puts too much pressure on herself..."

Tang Buqi lowered his voice even more: "Damn it, with so many people here, can't you use a different term for her? Showing off your intimacy?"

Zhao Changhe: "...I'm used to it."

"Forget it." Tang Buqi sighed. "Has anyone from your side not arrived yet?"

"Actually, they've all arrived, but these people are all headstrong and unwilling to come for meetings..." Zhao Changhe asked in return, "If you're going to send troops, when do you plan to?"

Tang Buqi asked, "The Canal Guild and Blood God Sect comrades—have they traveled far and need rest?"

Xue Canghai said, "We weren't rushing; no special rest needed."

Wan Dongliu laughed: "We came by boat; we've already rested enough."

Tang Buqi hesitated a moment, then asked Zhao Changhe again: "How long does my aunt need to recuperate?"

Zhao Changhe smiled: "It seems Wanzhuang knows you well... From what you're implying, you want to send troops immediately?"

"We just suffered heavy losses and retreated. By common sense, we wouldn't counterattack so soon... But in reality, our troop composition means it doesn't matter..."

Such troop composition meant not only that timing didn't matter, but even fighting independently was normal. Likewise, the Blood God Sect and Canal Guild, newly arrived, didn't need to coordinate with others—they could fight their own battles.

Tang Buqi said, "Maitreya has never been much of a strategist. In his past battles, he relied on his generals to command. Now that his famous generals have fallen, he surely won't expect us to attack again so soon after retreating. We can definitely catch him off guard."

Zhao Changhe was extremely unaccustomed to Tang Buqi's current growth. With countless people in the hall, he held back a bellyful of crude remarks and only said seriously, "I know even less about military affairs than Maitreya. I'll follow your lead."

"Then..." Tang Buqi's gaze swept over the crowd, and he said word by word, "Everyone, we will launch the main assault. Please do not just watch... A place in history awaits us today!"

On the eighteenth day of the third month, Luling Prefect Zhu Huan had just died outside Kuaiji City in the early morning. Tang Buqi led the troops to rescue the remnants and return.

Inside the city, Maitreya had just breathed a sigh of relief and begun a three-day closed-door treatment. That evening, an overwhelming army descended upon Kuaiji once more.

Though the main combat force was not large—Tang family's Suzhou troops numbered just over ten thousand, and the Blood God Sect and Canal Guild forces together were not even ten thousand.

But outsiders did not know.

If all the allied gentry forces were counted, they numbered over a hundred thousand. With a thick face, they could claim "eight hundred thousand troops." Looking out, they blotted out the sun and sky, dark clouds pressing down on the city, surrounding Kuaiji in an impenetrable siege.

The temporary defense commander, Buddha Fazhen, was dumbfounded; the token in his hand fell.

The Upper Buddha thought they had just won a battle and wouldn't return so soon, so he had settled down to begin his seclusion only an hour ago...

Could war be fought like this? Had the deaths here at dawn been nothing but a bitter play staged by them?

Fazhen hastily arranged city defenses and sent someone to notify Maitreya in the secret realm. But just as the orders were issued, a sword light like water above covered the setting sun.

Tang Wanzhuang.

Kuaiji was originally Wu territory. Tang Wanzhuang's familiarity with this place was no less than that of the Maitreva Sect, which had only occupied it for a year. Long before the army arrived, she and her people had already secretly entered the city.

Maitreya's fatal misjudgment—going into seclusion at such a time—meant even the divine will in the secret realm no longer watched over the city. This allowed the group to slip in silently, undetected. And the monk soldiers guarding the city were now completely unblessed. At this moment, Kuaiji was like a defenseless maiden.