One week later Yun Qiang had reached his destination.
He was on a tree and could see the Shard in the distance. He looked at the blue sky.
Finally I have arrived.
He let out a long sigh of relief, after breaking through he had fantasized about a glorious return.
Normally a week of constant marching wouldn't bother a Foundation realm cultivator and wouldn't even bother a well trained mortal. However Yun Qiang's situation was a little different.
That's because he lacked food.
During his long march he had only eaten thrice. Furthermore his breakthrough had made him hungrier. When once he needed one ration of meat to feel satisfied now he needed two.
His stomach rumbled as he looked over the flat plain.
Now I understand why Voss could eat so much....
At the thought of Voss his mood fell, he still had to report his death to the officials.
The sound of soldiers approaching him snapped him out of his thoughts.
"Hey you! Surrender and come with us."
In a flash the group had already surrounded him, Yun Qiang briefly looked at them before coming down the tree.
He had expected this, the Shard had a powerful array that could scan the surroundings.
The moment he saw the Shard, he knew the Shard could also see him.
He repeated the words that he had prepared during his march.
"I'm Yun Qiang, a soldier from the 11th legion, lord Tang has died I'm coming back to the Shard to regroup with other survivors" as he spoke he pointed his identification token with his head.
The leader from the group didn't let his guard down.
Clearly someone from the Sacred Empire had already tried similar tricks in the past. Instead he put his spear up and ordered.
"Throw us your token. Don't try anything funny, the array can still kill you from here"
Yun Qiang knew that activating the array only to kill him would be a waste of resources but he didn't object, instead he slowly lowered his hand and threw the token to the closest soldier.
The verification process took only a few moments, once the soldiers got the token they scanned it with a strange stone then threw it at Yun Qiang.
"Good" the man sounded serious but not hostile "Follow me, you will have to report to the higher ups and explain what happened there"
He paused for a second
"Remember to not lie, you are not the first to come back here."
Even if it was just a few words Yun Qiang's malnourished face beamed with hope.
Maybe my teammates have already returned?
Main office of the Shard
Elder Wiang looked at the youth in front of him.
The youth had long black hair and had huge bags under his eyes. His face was slightly sunk showing the first signs of malnutrition. Beside this the man smelled of sweat, dirt and waste he probably never showered in weeks, in fact Wiang could still see some dead skin falling from the man's neck.
"Name and position."
As he asked for information Wiang used a secret technique to check the man's aura.
It looked unstable, he has recently broken through.
"Yun Qiang, soldier"
Wiang carefully compiled a small form, while secretly adding his observation to the paper.
"Who's your team leader?"
Wiang's voice sounded indifferent.
"Voss." Yun Qiang hesitated, sadness enveloped his tone "He died"
Wiang's pupil remained indifferent, however his voice sounded more gentle than before. He had known Voss personally for many years. It was impossible for him to remain completely indifferent to his death.
Still he followed protocol asking the usual questions. As he asked he simply marked down the answers while commenting on Yun Qiang's reaction. Usually telling a lie from the truth was difficult, however Wiang was experienced and had special techniques that helped him focus and notice the instinctive reactions that people had when lying.
Slowly filled papers piled up in front of him and Voss's death became clear to him. The man had sacrificed himself and gave his possessions to Yun Qiang telling him to go to the Shard and take up his mantle.
He couldn't help but gaze at the papers with regret.
Wiang let out a small sigh.
Like master like son...
In the end you died the same way as An Shin....
However this pause was extremely brief, now that his investigation had come to an end he decided to ask for Yun Qiang's intentions.
"Two members of your team are still alive. Do you want a new team or do you want to lead your old squad"
Yun Qiang didn't hesitate.
"I will lead my old team."
Wiang nodded "Good, if you don't have any questions you can leave. Don't worry we won't take anything that Voss left you, you only need to declare the items you have and sign some paperwork"
Yun Qiang did a small bow
"Thank you Senior. Actually I have a question."
"Speak" Wiang sounded confident and prepared to answer some easy questions that every team leader had, like pay, work, accommodation and stuff like that.
"I want to ask for a transfer for me and my team to the Rainy fort, I know that you are looking for teams that want to go there"
Wiang was stunned for a moment but quickly recovered.
"Why do you want to go there? It's a deadly place, even more dangerous than here."
Wiang continued "Do you want to try and escape the arm-"
Yun Qiang interrupted him.
"Revenge."
Wiang looked at him. He knew Yun Qiang was lying.
Normally he would have pushed further to try and discover the real reason for this transfer but he didn't do it this time. He did this for two reasons.
Firstly the higher ups were pressuring them for more men and they had to provide them, if these men wanted to run away it wasn't the Shard's problem.
Secondly this was Voss's old team. Wiang could easily let Yun Qiang's lie slide in the name of his old friendship with Voss.
He knew Voss deeply. Their old captain only wanted his team to survive the war, he didn't care about glory, the nation or anything else; he only wanted his people to survive.
For this reason he didn't comment on Yun Qiang's remarks and simply gave him a form to compile.
"Write your name down and sign it, in a few days someone will fetch you if your transfer was accepted."
In a few minutes Yun Qiang compiled all the information necessary then delivered back the form.
He let out a sigh of relief, the likelihood of being rejected for the transfer was close to 0. Now he only had to convince his team to follow him.
Liang Clan
It was a calm full moon night, inside his personal office Liang Wei looked over the entire clan. It was late at night and only a few houses still had their lanterns lighted.
Different from other times Liang Wei wasn't studying the most recent war reports or planning his next step of his plan. He smiled, while gently picking up a small cup of spiritual wine.
Everything is already in motion....
He drank the wine, briefly indulging in its sweet flavour, at his level he had become completely immune to spiritual wine and only the strongest of spiritual brews were able to bring him to drunkenness.
He summoned his go board, before him. He looked at it with a satisfied look, to outsiders the arrangement of the board would seem random almost chaotic, but to Liang Wei it was different. By looking at it he could see troop placement, the border, allied reinforcements and so much more.
In a way the board held within it all of Liang Wei's present and future plans.
Liang Wei gulped down what remained in his cup before putting the board away. Tonight he didn't need to calculate the enemy's movements or plans; tonight he only had to go to his room and cultivate till tomorrow. All of his plans were going swimmingly and the few pieces that needed to be sacrificed were destroyed. Now he only needed to wait and bide his time. It was almost time for him to make a move and personally take command of the border.
Most cultivators would be tense or even stressed about the entire ordeal but Liang Wei was different, he was a talented schemer and had plenty of experience. Besides he had spent the last three years planning and simulating his plan advancement.
He was confident in his success.
With a smile on his face, Liang Wei gave one last look at the moon then left.
It was almost time.