Xuanqing Guard

Back when he was running errands in Jingxi Territory, Tan Bin always felt he was busy—either learning various trades and skills, not aiming for perfection but hoping to get by, spending no small amount of time. He had to practice his martial arts every day to keep from getting rusty, and unless it was the yearly Rest Day in January, he basically didn’t have any leisure at all.

But after coming to Beach Stone, Tan Bin realized that his former life hadn’t really been that busy; these days, not even having time to touch the ground with his feet, that was true busyness.

Before dawn he had to be on the carriage, then help with loading goods—all the way until nightfall, and aside from taking a leak, meals were just dry rations eaten on the carriage.

After half a month of this, Tan Bin’s appetite nearly doubled, and his whole body got oily and dark from the sun.

The food was decent, but the rest was terrible. With his martial arts, Tan Bin’s constitution was good, but after more than half a month he was barely holding on. After work, he didn’t even have time for a bath—he’d collapse on the bed and be asleep in moments.

"Just hang in there two more days. When the next batch of carriages arrives, you’ll get your turn to rest. Grit your teeth these few days. Look at those soldiers—they aren’t resting either, and they’re still getting their pay. Your money’s calculated by the number of trips. Isn’t what you’ve earned in this half month already more than half a year’s wages? If there’s good money to be made, you’ve got to keep up your spirits!"

The head of the convoy had been rallying everyone like this for five days. In the end, silver is the best motivator—if not for seeing the daily wages land in their pockets, at least half the people in the convoy wouldn’t have lasted this long. Even Tan Bin, with his trained physique, was struggling, let alone the others.

"Hey, boss, you keep talking about rotating shifts—when’s our turn? When will the Carriage and Horse Shop send backup? At this rate, even the horses will die before the men."

"Don’t worry—a batch of replacement horses has already arrived. Today, when you reach the transfer village at the mountain pass, you’ll switch horses."

"..."

What does it mean, "man’s not as good as a horse"? This is it.

But by afternoon, Tan Bin noticed something different. After they reached the transfer village and switched horses, they hit the road again—but this time the direction wasn’t toward Zhuo Huo Pass, but toward Xiaochuan, a place Tan Bin had visited once before.

"Why are we headed that way? That’s the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea—do they really need so much grain there?" Tan Bin was full of doubts.

This time, Tan Bin’s convoy was hauling nothing but grain—some for people, some for horses.

These days, this was what made up the bulk of Tan Bin’s convoy transport. Based on what he’d seen under Zhuo Huo Pass, those sprawling military camps stretched for dozens of miles and had exploded in size in just half a month. Every time he passed, he’d see new camps springing up, linked together with no end in sight.

Exactly how many soldiers were amassed under Zhuo Huo Pass, Tan Bin wasn’t sure, but judging from the flags atop the camps and Jingjiu Dynasty’s organizational rules, he guessed there were at least around 150,000.

With so many people camped at Zhuo Huo Pass, the amount consumed by men and horses must be huge. That’s why Tan Bin’s convoy had mostly transported grain these days.

But now, grain wasn’t going to Zhuo Huo Pass—it was headed for Xiaochuan?

Along the way, Tan Bin was hyper vigilant, secretly observing. He couldn’t help but wonder—was there still a rat in the Ministry of War who hadn’t been cleaned out, after Xu Hong? Someone at this critical moment was embezzling military supplies, trying to transfer them through the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea to the Barbarian Race? Of course, that was the worst possible suspicion, but given there were precedents of filth in the Ministry of War, no wonder Tan Bin was so cynical.

After the bumpy journey to Xiaochuan, Tan Bin discovered they’d stockpiled plenty of military supplies here and gathered a lot of troops too—the camp seemed big enough to house at least three thousand men.

Why such a large garrison at Xiaochuan? Tan Bin didn’t really understand, but felt a bit relieved. At least, with so many soldiers stationed here, his earlier suspicions eased. As for the reason for the buildup, that wasn’t something Tan Bin needed to look into.

But, Tan Bin passed this message back on his return to Beach Stone, finding an opportunity along the road. He didn’t know that, in the analysis divisions of the Four Divisions, this intelligence wouldn’t pass unnoticed.

Tan Bin also didn’t realize that, within the jurisdiction of the Southern Border Army, aside from him and the original handful of teamster scouts, as Hengshun Carriage and Horse Company sent more personnel, the number of Black Water Scouts lingering in the south had now topped a hundred. Every day, over a dozen pieces of intel were being compiled in the core Document Library of Black Water at Fengri City, then sifted through and built out by three analysis departments, piecing together the Border Army’s actual movements and strategic intentions from those scattered clues.

This was the task Shen Hao had assigned to Wang Jian when he arrived at Beach Stone. He wanted the Black Water Plan to use this war with the Barbarian Race as an opportunity to rapidly hone its intelligence capabilities. Not just collecting, but analyzing and organizing—those skills mattered too, and required experience.

To achieve this, Wang Jian secretly recruited some retired veterans into the Black Water Plan, mainly to provide insight on military affairs. He even tracked down some old Hundred Households and Deputy Thousand Households from the army, resorting to every trick and expending great effort.

Besides military men, Wang Jian also recruited plenty of scholars who had studied military texts in the academies, just to make sure no useful intelligence slipped through the cracks.

The "Xiaochuan garrison of over three thousand" intel Tan Bin sent back wasn’t unique—it was just the first to be reported, and later other scouts submitted similar reports.

At first, no one paid much attention, but when all three analysis departments ran it through their system, the intel quickly rose from Level C to Level A, and got stamped "Top Secret."

In the end, that report of barely three hundred characters ended up growing into fifteen pages of deductions, and was sent to Shen Hao at Beach Stone through the top-secret channels of Black Water Plan.

Before receiving the rubbings of that intelligence, Shen Hao had already exchanged updates with Wang Jian over the Thousand-Mile Sound. The rubbing was sealed with three layers of protection—requiring Shen Hao’s Waist Token, mana fluctuation, and soul fluctuation, all three in sync to unlock it. One slip and the text inside would be blurred out, impossible to recover.

This kind of array is hard to make and costly—usually it’s not used. But the good thing is, it’s immune to high-tier cultivators peeking, since it’s one of the rare methods that ignores the effects of cultivation level. It’s the best option for transmitting top-secret messages.

After reading the contents, Shen Hao put away the copper rod, and sat deep in thought.

According to the analysis on the copper rod, Xiaochuan’s garrison exceeds three thousand, and the supplies stockpiled have surpassed normal "garrison" requirements. That likely means the troops aren’t simply "stationed"—they’re "assembled and ready to move."

Where are they going? Why would they need so much grain, enough to sustain thirty thousand men for a month?

In Shen Hao’s mind appeared the map of Xiaochuan he’d once visited—southeast of Xiaochuan lies the Ten Thousand Miles Bamboo Sea, and beyond it, the Southern Barbarian Land...