The more they feared the Grand Commander's Office, the safer it was to head straight toward it.
"Lord Chen, what you did today is something unseen in a thousand years," said Hundred-Household Han with emotion. "But… do you truly intend to march with all the civilians?"
"What's said is said—I can't take it back now."
Chen Sanshi calculated aloud. "The Xi River tribe just fled beyond the Great Wall. It'll take them at least a full day to realize what happened, and even longer for their reinforcements to catch up. By that time, we'll have already traveled for three days and nights."
"Not enough," Han Cheng replied, shaking his head. "Their cavalry can ride several hundred li a day. But we have the old, the weak, the sick, and the injured. How far can they walk in a day? We'll be caught before long."
"That's why I'm hoping Brother Han can contact the Grand Commander's Office as soon as possible. If they could spare some troops to meet us, that would be ideal."
In truth, Chen Sanshi had begun to doubt whether Hengkang Prefecture's two thousand soldiers could even come—and even if they could, how many would actually make it?
"I still suggest…" Han Cheng hesitated, clearly uneasy. "That the young master, the young lady, and your own family go first."
"Alright," Chen Sanshi said without argument. "I'll ask Sun Li. If she's willing, she can ride ahead with a few people."
"Good! My lord, then I'll take my leave."
Han Cheng coughed as he stood. "Officially, I'm already a dead man. If I travel with you and someone recognizes me, it'll cause trouble. If I get word, I'll call out with a cuckoo's cry. Follow the sound to find me."
He reached into his coat and handed over a small booklet.
"A tempering organs spear technique?!"
Chen Sanshi looked down at the title—Unified Spear Technique. "Where did you get this? Can I even practice it?"
"Before coming to Poyang, the Grand Commander gave it to me," said Han Cheng. "He said it was something he created himself—combining three military spear techniques into one. Originally, it wasn't meant for you."
He looked toward the city and sighed. "It was meant to be handed to the young master when the time was right. But now… I think it's better in your hands."
"Sun Buqi?"
Chen Sanshi instantly understood.
The Grand Commander had sent the Sun siblings here as training—to temper Buqi's arrogance and eventually reward him with this advanced technique. But as things stood now…
He hadn't once seen Sun Buqi practice the spear. Not even a bit. He hadn't reached even Minor Achievement in tempering bone.
The boy practiced Archery plenty—but made no progress at all.
"The technique's yours now," said Han Cheng, his voice weary. "Focus on reaching the tempering organs stage as soon as you can. From here on, you're on your own. Remember—if you hear the cuckoo's call, come find me."
With that, he clasped his hands in farewell and left.
"At least I've got something new to train."
Chen Sanshi couldn't help but smile. He was used to daily martial training; stopping for even a day made his whole body restless.
He returned to the city and found Sun Li and Gu Xinlan inside an abandoned house.
He didn't go into the bedroom.
Sun Li had suffered severe injuries while buying him time, deep enough to harm her bones. Gu Xinlan was tending to her wounds, wrapping them carefully.
Only when the treatment was done did he step inside.
"Shi ge'er!"
Gu Xinlan threw herself at him.
Her hands fluttered anxiously across his body, checking for injuries, until her fingers touched the gash on his forehead. The scar ran deep—almost a clean split down the middle.
"It barely grazed me. I'm fine," Chen Sanshi said with a reassuring grin. Then he looked toward the woman in red. "Senior Sister Sun, thank you for holding off those cavalrymen. At best, I could take on one tempering organs expert—but without you, Poyang would've fallen."
"You sure know how to talk pretty, Junior Brother," Sun Li said weakly, her pale face even paler from the pain. "You crushed the barbarian army, yet you make it sound like I took all the credit."
Her lips curved slightly. "Still, you've at least reached Bone-Tempering Perfection, haven't you? No wonder you're switching from spear to sword—must've run out of things to practice."
How fast he'd grown.
When she'd first arrived at Poyang, he had just entered tempering bone.
Now, he had slain a tempering organs general alone and led them to victory.
His progress was nothing short of terrifying.
"Senior Sister," Chen Sanshi said, "will you and Senior Brother Buqi go ahead first?"
"Go ahead?"
Leaning against the bed, Sun Li tilted her head and gave him a sidelong look. "Junior Brother, do you look down on me?"
"How could I?"
Her tone was faint but displeased, her voice weak from exhaustion. "You're all staying to protect the civilians, yet you tell me to go ahead? Is it because I'm a woman—or because I'm the Grand Commander's daughter?"
"That's not it."
Chen Sanshi hadn't meant to offend her—Han Cheng had simply told him to ask. He'd known she wouldn't agree to leave first, but seeing her in this state, it was clear she couldn't stay to fight either.
He thought for a moment, then said, "Senior Sister, you're badly injured. Staying behind will only slow us down."
"You're calling me a burden now?!"
Sun Li flared up, but the movement pulled at her wounds, and she hissed, collapsing back in pain.
"Please don't take it that way."
Chen Sanshi explained quickly, "Look—how about this? You don't have to go ahead, just travel with the civilians. That way you can look after Lan jie'er and help protect the people. I'd feel much better knowing someone reliable was with them.
"I can't just leave Lan jie'er in that crowd alone. And it's not just her—there's Madam Tong, Zhu Tong's mother, and plenty of other women who'll need help. I wouldn't trust anyone else with that."
After a long exchange, Sun Li finally nodded.
"Thank you, Senior Sister."
Chen Sanshi clasped his fists respectfully.
"Shi ge'er, come with me," said Gu Xinlan suddenly, tugging at his sleeve.
She led him outside, walking far from the house before whispering nervously, "Do you have any medicine that removes scars?"
"Scars?"
"Not for me—for Sister Li."
Gu Xinlan's eyes softened with concern. "She cried. She was cut several times—deep ones. You could see the bone. There's plenty of healing salve, but… I think she didn't bring any scar-removing medicine. She's a woman, after all. If her body ends up covered in scars… what will she do later?"
"I understand."
Chen Sanshi nodded. "I'll give it to you before we set out."
He was well-versed in Medicine (Mortal), not only skilled in concocting cultivation-enhancing elixirs but also in treating all sorts of mundane ailments. Scar removal was trivial for him. The Black Jade Body-Protection Salve and Condensed Dew Body-Refining Decoction both contained ingredients suitable for such use when properly combined.
Without wasting time, Chen Sanshi went straight to Yunyan Apothecary, where he "purchased" a batch of medicinal herbs without spending a single coin. Right there on the spot, he prepared scar-removal ointment, along with a large supply of the Ji Family's Secret Wound Salve and other temporary hemostatic medicines, distributing them among his subordinates.
Finally came the Tiger Blood Wine.
This was the same Red Tiger Blood Wine that Ji Guangxian had transported from the capital as a battlefield reward. But too much had accumulated—most had gone unused due to the chaos. He still had six jars strapped to Qianxun's saddle, which would suffice for now.
Not wanting to waste anything, Chen Sanshi took advantage of the remaining time, uncorked a jar, and downed half a jar of wine in one go. The fiery liquid coursed through his veins like molten metal as he sat cross-legged, recalling from his perfect memory the cultivation method he had memorized earlier.
Unified Spear Technique!
Flying Serpent Sweeps the Wind, Mad Python Breaks the Formation, Undying Golden Serpent—three spear techniques, their stances and movements fused seamlessly together. Even the Haoran Breathing Method within it had undergone subtle refinements.
Each complemented the others—offense and defense perfectly balanced, versatility complete.
The name sounded calm and steady, yet between the strokes of text and diagrams, Chen Sanshi sensed an undercurrent of wildness—an untamed energy that almost roared from the page.
'Rather than calling it the Unified Spear Technique,' he thought, 'it ought to be called the Frenzied Blood Spear.'
Of course, the difficulty of cultivation had also multiplied—tenfold, at least.
The stances and foundational drills were extraordinarily complex. For an ordinary man, even memorizing them would be a struggle.
No wonder it had been meant for Sun Buqi only after his temperament matured—otherwise, it would've been a waste.
The tempering organs realm was divided into four stages: 1. Moving Blood, 2. Purifying the Organs, 3. Igniting the Heart, and 4. Exploding Blood.
Moving Blood differed greatly from tempering blood. The former refined one's control—redirecting and harnessing qi and blood freely—while the latter merely transformed it.
Upon reaching Major Achievement in tempering organs, one could advance into Transforming Strength.
Now, Chen Sanshi understood why the word used was "refine" (炼) instead of "train" (练). Refining one's organs meant forcibly accelerating blood flow, burning the internal organs in a painful process akin to being tempered in fire itself.
Paired with the potent Tiger Blood Wine, the training's effects were brutal. His whole body felt as if thrown into a furnace—his blood seethed, his organs trembled, and his muscles and bones screamed as though they were melting.
Yet his hybrid physique endured. By noon, he was able to perform the entire sequence of movements smoothly from start to finish.
[...]
[Technique: Unified Spear Technique (Uninitiated)]
[Progress: 5/100]
[Effect: Blood of the Dragon and Elephant, Nine Dragons Temper the Tendons, Body of Vajra]
[...]
"What kind of spear technique is that? I've never seen it before!"
Sun Buqi had been secretly watching for a while, eyes wide. "I want to learn it too!"
"Go ahead."
Chen Sanshi didn't mind—it wasn't his technique to keep secret anyway.
"Wait, it's a tempering organs technique? Forget it, I'm not learning that!"
Sun Buqi flipped through a few pages before closing the book, but then froze. "Hold on… where did this come from? Don't tell me you made it yourself! No—that's impossible. My father… my father was here, wasn't he?!"
"No."
Chen Sanshi cut off the conversation and turned away, heading for the west gate.
"Lord."
Liu Jinkui, Zhao Kang, and the others—men equal to him in rank—addressed him with unconscious respect. They didn't even realize it themselves.
"Those able to fight and willing to stay behind number 1,500—of them, 1,200 are formation grunts and infantry, and 300 are cavalry who can form the Chariot Suspension Formation under your personal command.
"In addition, there are 500 strong laborers capable of combat.
"In total—2,000 men.
"As for civilians, rough estimates put the number at over 40,000 who wish to follow us.
"Also, from last night's battle, we've captured countless weapons and supplies, and nearly 1,000 horses. How many should we bring?"
"As many as possible—especially the horses."
Chen Sanshi issued orders calmly. "We don't have time to drill formations, but if everyone learns to ride, that alone will help us survive. Pass down my command—we depart in half an hour."
"Yes, my lord!"
The officers saluted and dispersed to carry out his orders.
Outside the west gate, soldiers tasked with leading the way stood at the front, guiding the endless flow of people that poured from the city—an immense human tide stretching into the boundless wilderness.
The greatest danger on this journey would be pursuit.
Food was the least of their worries.
Between Poyang's stores and the barbarian camp's plundered rations, there was enough grain to last for months.
It was ironic.
That winter, many of these people would've starved or frozen to death. But on the day they abandoned the city, they wore warm clothes and ate their fill for the first time in months.
"Move out!"
Chen Sanshi raised his spear from horseback and gave the command.
The 2,000 rearguard soldiers began to march.
He turned back once to look at the city of Poyang—then spurred his horse forward and rode to join the column.