Chapter 66: Dark Cuisine

Leading five hundred elite soldiers was a mission that only centurions were qualified to complete. The centurions in the camp were not all killed, but at this moment, the only person Yan Congming could rely on was Yu Shaoqing.

Yu Shaoqing accepted the order and left.

After a while, the first Xiongnu sacrificial soldier’s corpse appeared in the camp. In the blink of an eye, the second corpse appeared, the third corpse appeared…

Yu Shaoqing had uncovered those strange sacrificial soldiers.

However, it was not that there were no casualties among the five hundred elite soldiers. On the contrary, these Xiongnu sacrificial soldiers were highly skilled and well-trained. The elite soldiers were no match for them in a one-on-one battle. Yan Congming was only concerned about the corpse of another sacrificial soldier, but he did not see the three elite soldiers who had fallen.

Yu Shaoqing’s eyes turned red from killing. He chopped off the head of a Xiongnu sacrificial soldier!

Blood splattered his face.

The heavily injured General Xiao was carried back by his subordinates.

None of the two thousand light cavalrymen who fought their way out of the encirclement with him survived.

It turned out that the Xiongnu army had more than fifty thousand soldiers. There were actually fifty thousand more soldiers behind after they broke through the encirclement!

Two thousand light cavalry were powerless in front of the hundred thousand-strong army.

When the Xiongnu army charged in, the Northwest Army Camp was utterly defeated. Out of the twenty thousand soldiers, less than a hundred of them managed to escape with General Xiao.

They fled into the snow mountain that was known as the Death Ridge. This was the only place that was not guarded by the Xiongnu. If they entered, they would die, so there was naturally no need to guard it.

Everyone got separated after entering the mountain.

Wu San had been following Yu Shaoqing closely, along with five new recruits who had been in the camp for more than a month.

The recruits were not Yu Shaoqing’s subordinates. Their centurion had already been sacrificed. They were originally ordered by General Xiao to carry the rations, but they had lost General Xiao and the rations along the way.

The five of them followed behind pitifully, afraid that Yu Shaoqing would chase them away.

Yu Shaoqing stopped in his tracks and said, “There’s a cave ahead. Let’s go in and hide first.”

Wu San took the lead and carried a large bag of things.

“Old Yu!” After Wu San finished checking the cave, he waved at Yu Shaoqing.

Yu Shaoqing walked over.

The recruits looked at each other and followed.

The cave was rather spacious.

Wu San opened the bag and took out the rations he had brought out. There were twenty white steamed buns, five pounds of noodles, five pounds of japonica rice, and the two jars that he had risked his life to rush into Yu Shaoqing’s tent to snatch it.

The moment he saw the jars, Yu Shaoqing’s eyes lit up.

Wu San chuckled. “I know you can’t bear to part with it so I’ve brought you the things that Sister-in-law and my niece sent over even if I die!”

“Thank you,” Yu Shaoqing said.

Wu San curled his lips. “After following you for so long, this is the first time you’re thanking me!”

The few of them were hungry. Yu Shaoqing gave each of them a steamed bun. The new recruits wolfed down the steamed buns, but before they could take two bites, Yan Congming and his ten subordinates escaped.

Yan Congming was in a sorry state. His hair was disheveled, and his shoes had fallen off. The moment he entered the cave, he fell to the ground.

“Where’s General Xiao?” Yu Shaoqing asked confidently.

Yan Congming said breathlessly, “This… I… I have to… ask you…”

“Why are you asking us?” Wu San snorted. “We’re in charge of covering the back. We’re not with General Xiao. You’re General Xiao’s personal guard!”

Yan Congming choked. Of course, he would not admit that he had only cared about escaping and left the injured General Xiao behind.

Yu Shaoqing’s gaze landed on the backs of the soldiers behind Yan Congming.

Wu San understood. “What are they carrying? It can’t be rations, right?”

Yan Congming coughed.

Wu San exploded. “You left General Xiao behind but took the rations away. Do you want to starve General Xiao to death?!”

“Don’t speak so harshly! What do you mean by I left the general behind and took the rations away?” Although this was the truth, he had survived many years of war not because he had the same iron bones as Yu Shaoqing, but because he had shameless survival skills. Where the rations were, he was there. He could give up on the general, but he could not let go of the rations!

“You, you, you, you…” Wu San was at a loss for words!

“Wu San, come here,” Yu Shaoqing said in a deep voice.

Wu San rolled his eyes and returned to Yu Shaoqing’s side.

“Aiyaya, you guys are also very capable. You said that I took the rations but I see that you guys took quite a few too!”

Wu San straightened his back and said, “I brought this myself!”

Yan Congming snorted. “I told you to kill the enemies, but you stole the rations. Your crime is even worse!”

The five new recruits were scared out of their wits. They did not even dare to swallow the steamed bun in their mouths.

In the end, Yan Congming did not use military rules to deal with Wu San. Instead, he used this to cause trouble. He confiscated all the rations that Wu San brought out and chased him and Yu Shaoqing out of the cave.

As for the two jars of food that Yu Wan made, Yan Congming returned them to Yu Shaoqing.

Then, Yan Congming looked at the five new recruits arrogantly and said, “Those who are willing to follow me, just come over. If there’s anything I can eat, I won’t let you starve. I won’t have any objections to those who are willing to leave with them! It’s just that you have to bear your own life and death!”

Among the five of them, only a new recruit called Da Niu did not stay. The remaining four entered Yan Congming’s camp.

It was not strange for them to make such a choice. Putting aside his official position, Yan Congming had rations in his hands.

Yu Shaoqing and the other two settled down in another cave five miles away.

Wu San said bitterly, “There’s no food. We can only eat snow to fill our stomachs.”

The pancakes, meatballs, and pickled vegetables that were listed as inedible: …

Yan Congming’s cave began to have a good life.

Since it was rations for General Xiao, it must be very sumptuous. Not only were there steamed buns, cornbread, rice, and noodles, but there were also pickled vegetables and dried meat. In addition, his military bag also contained a few boxes of bird’s nest, tea leaves, and snacks that Yan Ruyu had asked someone to bring.

After eating and drinking to his heart’s content, he brewed a pot of fragrant and mellow Longjing tea and ate a box of soft and crispy osmanthus crisps. He couldn’t have enjoyed it more!

On the other side, Wu San and Da Niu were starving. Yu Shaoqing was also a little hungry. Finally, he took out the pancake from the jar.

Wu San looked terrified!

Yu Shaoqing said calmly, “You’ve even eaten Guanyin clay, so how can you not eat this?”

Wu San: Why does this sound wrong?

In the end, the three of them braced themselves and ate.

It was strange. Although the pancake was hard, they were full after one bite. The taste of the meatballs was indescribable, but after eating one, they felt energetic all over. They cooked a large pot of soy sauce soup with a small piece of the pickled vegetables. The three of them were sweating profusely after a few mouthfuls of hot soup. Even their frozen toes instantly warmed up!