Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 481 - 317: The Barbarian King Shall Come_2

Chapter 481: Chapter 317: The Barbarian King Shall Come_2

"Why bother thinking so much when Her Highness is right here?"

After exchanging a glance,

Bai Jiaqi cracked a smile and patted the other’s shoulder:

"Alright, Old Li, I’m off to our unit’s gathering point now."

Having said that,

just as Bai Jiaqi was about to take his leave, he caught sight of a young man in an official’s robe driving a horse-drawn carriage out from the gatehouse of the city wall, heading towards them.

The carriage was pulled by a tall, white demon horse, with a rear compartment over ten feet tall. Through the oiled paper cloth that wrapped the interior, one could faintly make out the stacked wooden crates inside. Iron-bound wooden wheels carved deep ruts into the snowy ground.

Seeing this scene, Bai Jiaqi subconsciously halted his steps.

According to military laws, this convoy of supplies should be seeking out Li Yongliang, the current duty commander.

And indeed, amid the faint "rumbling" sound of the ironwood wheels, the carriage came to a halt in front of Li Yongliang.

The youthful officer hopped off the carriage promptly and smilingly inquired:

"Li Qu?"

"....."

Li Yongliang returned the salute with his fists and respectfully presented the duty commander’s Tiger Talisman hanging at his waist for verification.

This was someone he knew, one of the few supervisors of grain and fodder in their Northern Border’s Third Division, a young man who was already a Fourth Grade powerhouse.

The will-spirit scanned the Tiger Talisman, identity confirmed.

The young officer shifted slightly to the side and, with a flip of his hand, gestured towards the carriage and cheerfully said:

"Colonel Tang has ordered, please distribute this load of supplies to the soldiers."

This was, after all, a duty commander’s responsibility. Li Yongliang therefore subconsciously asked:

"Steward Zhou, may I ask what kind of supplies these are?"

"Of course, you may."

The youth had no airs about him, but as he spoke, the smile faded from his face, and with a sigh, he said:

"Inside this carriage are twenty crates of Vigor Energy Pills."

"....."

Vigor Energy Pills...

Upon hearing this, Li Yongliang instinctively looked over at Bai Jiaqi, and saw that he was looking back at him.

In that momentary gaze, they both saw a trace of gravity in each other’s eyes.

Vigor Energy Pills, a type of Elixir Medicine stringently controlled by the military, only distributed among the various units by the logistics officers in the time leading up to a major battle.

It was a medicine that would damage meridians and vessels, granting greater strength for a brief period at a high cost.

Anyone who had been in the army long enough had taken these pills.

After all, despite the side effects of Vigor Energy Pills, they seemed less terrifying when compared to death or defeat.

The young grain officer said no more, bowed deeply to Li Yongliang, and respectfully:

"Colonel Li, if there’s nothing further, I shall take my leave."

Watching the figure disappear into the distance in silence, Li Yongliang took a deep breath, glanced at Bai Jiaqi, and with a somewhat heavy voice, said:

"Twenty crates of Vigor Energy Pills... divided among ten thousand men, how many does each man get?"

After a quiet few moments, Bai Jiaqi uttered two words:

"Four pills."

"...."

Upon hearing the number, Li Yongliang’s fingers trembled slightly.

The effects and side effects of Vigor Energy Pills intensified with dosage.

Take one pill, and one would be bedridden for half a month.

Take two pills, and the damage to the meridians was irreversible, affecting future cultivation.

Take three pills, and the meridians would be severed, with little chance of any further cultivation progress in this lifetime.

Take four pills, and one would be gravely injured.

Take five pills, and one would burn out their life and die.

Four pills...

The officers like themselves with more profound cultivation might be fine, but for the brothers under their command, four Vigor Energy Pills could already be lethal.

After a few silent breaths,

Li Yongliang’s voice was low and a bit hoarse:

"Old Bai, Her Highness loves the soldiers as if they were her children. She wouldn’t issue such an order unless necessary. What do you think... what is Her Highness preparing for?"

Bai Jiaqi instinctively glanced towards the dark southern sky and licked his dry lips:

"Preparing for what?

"Barbarian City may lack a Protective City Formation, and its walls are not yet solid; should an enemy attack, we ought to hold the city. But now we are deploying formations outside the city walls, in dense formation, it must be... it must be to deal with high-ranking Cultivators."

Long exposure to illness makes a man a doctor, and time spent in the army turns men astute; one need only observe the details to intuit the truth.

In just a few words, Bai Jiaqi had discerned the correct answer.

"High-ranking Cultivator..."

Li Yongliang murmured, also turning his gaze to the southern horizon:

"Old Bai, to handle the kind of high-ranking Cultivator that requires our Northern Border Army’s three battalions and over ten thousand elite troops to take four Vigor Energy Pills... how powerful must that be?"

"....."

Bai Jiaqi shivered slightly, gave a wry smile, and said:

"How powerful can it be? Mortal Transcendence, of course. I remember hearing from Colonel Tang at a previous victory feast that even the Barbarian King is but a Mortal Transcendence Cultivator."

Li Yongliang glanced at Bai Jiaqi and said gravely:

"Don’t deceive yourself. In our over twenty years of military service, we’ve seen Mortal Transcendence powerhouses, and it’s never come to this."

Bai Jiaqi clenched the hilt of his sword, his voice trembling slightly:

"Since she’s a Saint, why doesn’t Her Highness act first..."

"You think you can outrun a Saint? Or do you think our brothers can escape the probing of a Saint’s will-spirit?"

Li Yongliang looked up to the pitch-black firmament, let out a long sigh, and clenched his fist:

"If not for Her Highness, we’d break and die in battle. Since Her Highness, though a jewel beyond price, is willing to stay for us, what have we to fear?"

"....." Bai Jiaqi was silent and said nothing.

Li Yongliang climbed aboard the carriage, stood atop the vehicle’s frame, and looked at Bai Jiaqi with a smile:

"Why the daze? Get some of your idle brothers to give us a hand. If we make it back alive, remember to take me to Orchid Cassia Pavilion for a drink and treat me to the company of a courtesan."