Chapter Fifty-Three Arrival

After a day of rest, Xu Kang noticed that both his own soldiers and the recently surrendered Yellow Turbans had greatly improved in spirit, energy, and morale. Witnessing this, even Peng Tuo was surprised, and immediately bowed to Xu Kang in admiration.

“Young General, your methods of leading troops are truly admirable. Peng Tuo has no regrets about losing to you!”

Though Xu Kang knew Peng Tuo was flattering him, he couldn’t help but smile slightly and waved his hand.

“All right, no need for compliments. As long as you carry out what I’ve entrusted to you, I won’t go back on my word. Rest assured!”

“Heh, of course… Young General is a man of extraordinary ability—how could I not trust you?”

Having flattered Xu Kang once more, Peng Tuo mounted his horse, and with Zhang Cheng and Zhao Hong “guarding” him, led the main force grandly toward Changshe.

By now, Xu Kang’s soldiers had all disguised themselves as Yellow Turbans. Their armor and weapons were stowed away in supply wagons, replaced by coarse linen clothes, hoes, and rakes, making them indistinguishable from the elderly, women, and children among the Yellow Turbans.

Thanks to yesterday’s rest and Xu Kang’s new military regulations, these newly surrendered Yellow Turban civilians were less fearful and hostile toward the Han soldiers. Unless one looked closely, no flaws could be found.

Though it wasn’t perfect, this was already the best that could be achieved in such a short time, so Xu Kang didn’t press further.

Once the troops set out, he climbed onto a supply wagon loaded with provisions, ordered Pig Ironheart to guard him, and closed his eyes to rest. In the past two days, he had handed out several magical loaves of bread to encourage his soldiers, nearly halving the stores in his spatial bag. To replenish his stock, he stayed up late last night, casting Create Food and Water the entire night.

It was worth mentioning that after a month of eating magical bread, the soldiers’ physical fitness had improved greatly, making them completely different from when they first left Luoyang.

The most notable changes were seen in Zhao Hong, Zhang Cheng, and Niu Sheng.

When Xu Kang first issued tokens, the three each received ten tokens and exchanged them for a hundred magical loaves. Thus, throughout the month, they ate magical bread daily, and their health underwent a dramatic transformation.

According to Zhang Cheng, after eating magical bread for just half a month, his old wounds were nearly healed, the persistent pain was gone, and even his strength had increased by about thirty percent.

Zhao Hong’s situation was similar, but Niu Sheng’s differed greatly—a fact evident from the change in his weapon.

When he was only a squad leader, he used a wooden-shafted spear like any other soldier. But upon leaving Chenliu, his weapon became a double-edged iron halberd weighing forty-two and a half jin!

Historically, Guan Yu’s Green Dragon Crescent Blade was said to weigh eighty-two jin, but the Han dynasty’s jin was only 222 grams—making it just thirty-six and a half jin by later standards!

By this reckoning, Niu Sheng’s double-edged halberd was six jin heavier than Guan Yu’s legendary blade!

Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean Niu Sheng was stronger than Guan Yu; after all, weapon weight doesn’t directly reflect combat ability, and true strength is proven in battle.

Regardless, Niu Sheng was now emerging as Xu Kang’s second foremost warrior.

As for the first—who else could it be but the “heavyweight” glutton, Pig Ironheart?

When Xu Kang first tamed this beast, it weighed over five hundred kilograms. Now, nourished by twenty magical loaves daily, it seemed on the verge of breaking six hundred jin!

According to Zhao Hong, the “authoritative” cavalry commander, an ordinary army of ten thousand, without siege engines like crossbows, could have its formation shattered by Pig Ironheart alone within half an hour.

One pig was worth two hundred cavalrymen, if not more!

Thus, Pig Ironheart was not only a formidable force, but also a spiritual symbol for Xu Kang’s troops.

Since leaving Chenliu, the army had gained a new banner—a wild boar flag of white with black markings!

Whenever Xu Kang saw this wild boar flag alongside the one bearing his own surname, he felt a pressing urge to find the flag maker and thrash him for three days straight!

Damn it, other banners feature tigers, bears, eagles, hawks, or even turtles and snakes, each with their own significance. What was the meaning behind his wild boar flag?

What would people think? Didn’t he care about his own dignity?

Though he felt a bit disgruntled, seeing Zhao Hong and Zhang Cheng voice no objections, Xu Kang could only let the matter rest—perhaps the wild boar flag really did have some hidden meaning?

He didn’t know, nor dared to ask. If he did, wouldn’t that just expose his ignorance?

To maintain his dignity as commander, Xu Kang kept a mysterious air, acting as though everything was under control, though his expression changed slightly whenever the wild boar flag appeared before him.

Now, however, that problem was gone.

Disguised as Yellow Turbans, Xu Kang’s original banners had been put away, and only Peng Tuo’s flags were displayed.

The reason for this soon became clear. That afternoon, as Xu Kang’s troops entered Changshe territory, the flag allowed them to pass without hindrance, and they entered the city smoothly.

Xu Kang had worried that, if checked, he might have to play a game of wits and courage like in the dramas, and if Peng Tuo slipped up, how would he respond or remedy the situation.

But once inside Changshe, he realized he’d been overthinking it.

There was no inspection, not even anyone to stop them. Bo Cai’s troops acted as if they hadn’t seen them, each going their own way.

At first, Xu Kang could scarcely believe it, but soon he was at ease—what was there to worry about? Those around him were Yellow Turbans by birth; how could they betray themselves?

With that, the tension that had risen upon entering Changshe vanished.

He knew that his mission was secure.

Indeed, as he expected, though they encountered increasingly many Yellow Turban soldiers along the way—some camps stretching for miles—none obstructed them.

Only when they approached the county town of Changshe, surrounded layer upon layer by Yellow Turbans, did a guard captain greet Peng Tuo. Upon hearing Peng Tuo claim he was following Zhang Jiao’s orders to attack Changshe, the captain immediately opened the gate and let them through.

By dusk, the towering walls of Changshe, several meters high, came into view for Xu Kang and his party.

Seeing this, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

“Phew… At last, we’re here!”