The Heavenly Wandering Sword

Chapter 48

The wagon ride was bumpy and uncomfortable for all of the students except for Shing Hai who seemed to have experience in these matters. Li Jian made a note of it in his head. “Shing Hai, you will be the squad leader. The rest of you, I don’t want to hear complaints about it. She clearly has more experience in these things than all of you combined.” Su Lan and Su Hao were probably the most uncomfortable while Han Tian just looked pensive. The two demon brothers were busy looking around at the scenery and complaining about who was taking their space.

After a solid day of travel, the wagon finally pulled aside for a longer break. Previously, the breaks were only for the occupants to stretch their legs and for the horses to have a quick rest. Now as the sun was going down, Li Jian quickly had Shing Hai get everyone to set up their camps. The carriage driver Qin Yong was a veteran soldier and had no problems setting up a tent for himself. The horses were tied to trees near places where they were able to graze, while a river running down beside the campground that Li Jian had chosen provided fresh water. They were all complaining and already taking off the new hard leather boots that had stifled their feet during the ride itself. It was quite evident that they were finally finding themselves way out of their element.

Qin Yong had his tent already pitched and was watching as he smoked a pipe and chuckled at the way the rookie soldiers behaved. The veteran soldier was just over 30 years old and was specifically requested for by Li Jian. He had asked for someone who had fought in battle already that was at least a Sergeant. Qin had been requested from the Royal Guard’s most combat proven unit, the 88 Swords. Composed of eighty eight powerful sword cultivators, they were often used in conflicts that did not require an entire military deployment but did require it to be known that the Royal Family wishes to make a point.

Li Jian watched with a smirk as the six of them finally managed to get a firepit dug and a fire going. Perhaps in their tired minds, they had forgotten that they were all cultivators who could summon flames, but it took them quite a while to just light the fire itself. “Here, have some wine. I got this from a tavern in the demon district.” He offered a flask of what the demons called Blood Brandy. It wasn’t brewed from blood but from a specific kind of spiritual berries which turned blood red after being fermented. The darker the red the strong the brew was, and he had gotten a decent strong brew. Qin sniffed at the open flask appreciatively and took a sip as he watched the new soldiers struggle to get adapted.

“Honoured master, you have good taste in wine. This humble soldier appreciates your gesture.” The veteran soldier tipped the flask at him and had another long drink before handing it back. Li Jian swigged from it and grinned at the students who now looked at him miserably. “Well it’s time for you all to prepare dinner. Student Shing, please make sure that everyone has something to eat. It will be a very long day tomorrow.” Han Tian was the first to raise his hand. “Master Li, what are we eating for dinner?”

Li Jian grinned over at Qin, the veteran soldier chuckling to himself as well. There was an obvious noble trait to all of the soldiers here, and Qin was more delighted than he should have been to introduce them to what the army ate as rations on the march. “Boil a pot of water and I will show you.” Li Jian said with a grin. To understand this of course, he had spent some time at the barracks of the Royal Guard to learn the habits of soldiers on this continent. He had been fortunate enough to watch as new recruits were trained in field craft as well as the expected standards for each soldier.

Water was fetched and from the wagon was a bucket that was then filled and set up over the fire. In a few minutes, the water was boiling and Li Jian walked over to the curious looks of his students. “There’s six of you, so two portions. Remember, one portion is enough food for the day. If you’re smart, you’ll cook it in the mornings when you have time. That way you can eat it cold later.” He then dumped in a mix of millet, rice and barley into the pot from two cloth wrapped balls the size of a pomelo and added in some pieces of salt for flavouring. “Let that cook for 20 minutes and you will see what dinner is.”

Li Jian in truth didn’t really need to eat food anymore. At a certain level of cultivation, food becomes unnecessary. If anything, they were more for the joy of eating than anything else. He then went into the pack of Shing Hai, pulling out a bundle of cloth wrapped dried meat and cut off a few portions of it to hand it out to the students. “All the rations you carry in your packs, that is shared between all of you. Shing Hai took some out of her pack today, so tomorrow it will be someone elses meat rations.”

The students chewed slightly on the dried meat and frowned. It was not the kind of food they were used to. The witch elves perhaps had the most adverse reaction to this food, while the demons seemed to just be bored by the blandness of the meal. After a while, the grain mixture was cooked and bowls of it was dowled out to the students. “Eat it all, it doesn’t taste the greatest but it will fill your stomach and give you energy.” Qin didn’t eat the grain mixture, those of the 88 Swords were definitely issued better food. He had instead a thickly floured baked bread about an inch thick that he broke apart and ate slowly with spring water. The students looked enviously at the veteran soldier who just grinned at them and enjoyed the much more flavourful taste of his bread.

When the morning came, it was Shing Hai who reacted the fastest. Li Jian didn’t bother sleeping, it was a bit pointless to him. He usually just relaxed at night and laid in his bed reading. If he felt like sleeping, he would just sleep. Shing Hai would quickly shake Wu Shenbao awake and sent him to fetch water. She quickly set the water boiling and then began waking up the other ones. Li Jian was actually quite pleased, she definitely had much more experience in soldierly matters than the others. Su Lan and Su Hao were told to watch the pot boil and add in the grain mixture. Han Tian was told to arrange everyone’s packs near the camp fire so rations could be distributed.

“That girls a fast learner.” Qin commented, stretching as he rose from his sleep. He took apart his personal tent quickly and packed it into his own pack before contemplating breakfast. Li Jian looked at the soldier and grinned at him. “Qin, do not worry about breakfast. I have a surprise for everyone.”

When the grain was cooked and distributed out in balls wrapped up by cloth and then placed in the individual packs, Li Jian held up a hand and from his storage ring removed out a metal grill that he would set up over the fire. Su Lan and Shing Hai both looked at each other, their eyes sparkling in the early morning. Everyone else including Qin stared at him rather confused.

He got to work quickly, mixing together flour and water, before adding in scallions and then began producing pancakes after pancakes on the hot grill. The savoury fruit sauce was added to each along with an egg to cook. All in all, he made eight pancake rolls and handed them out to everyone. The rest of them watched as Shing Hai and Su Lan dig into them with enthusiasm, the others began eating to. After the first bite, the ones that had not tasted the scallion pancake before devoured them quickly especially after a meek dinner of campaign rations.

“Master Li, you are a genius man with unbelievable talents.” The two demon students were staring at him again with that odd starstruck look in their eyes. For a moment, Li Jian contemplated murdering them both to prevent such a look being aimed at him ever again. Qin sighed with satisfaction and nodded. “You soldiers are lucky, this man is a true master. I have never tasted anything like that before.”

After a short while, Li Jian began urging them onto the wagon. In a large grumbling pile, the students got into the wagons while Qin chuckled. Li Jian sat on the wagon and snorted to himself. He was sure that the Principal and Department Head would have something to say about how he was treating the students now if they were here to see the scene.

After a long four-day journey, the wagon finally caught up to the vanguard of the Lancers. The Lancers camp was pitched in a standard military formation. The Generals tent was in the center while other ones surrounded it in a loose circle. Sentries stood on guard all around and there were plenty of bon fires set up for cooking rations and for warmth. They had gotten much closer to the northern border now although by covering themselves up with spiritual essence, the students did not need to put on their quilted winter jackets yet. General Shing summoned them once they arrived, having been informed of their trip by a message scroll from the Royal Family.

“The General wishes to see you.” The messenger bowed slightly as he walked up to where Li Jian and the others stood. They had already been assigned quarters, there was a separate tent for female soldiers and the others were for men. Li Jian had declined a military tent and instead had just summoned one for himself. Qin went to the separate tent that was set up specifically for members of the Royal Guard that accompanied General Shing. Li Jian nodded and looked over at Shing Hai. “The General wishes to see you all.”