ATPnovel Chapter 1516 - 1511: Not One Less
Chapter 1516 - 1511: Not One Less
Lu Yuanfeng was still digging in the sand, shouting for that soldier brother as he dug.These people, he had only met two days ago, and many of them, he didn’t even know their names.
But just like that, the man disappeared from right under his nose, lost to this sea of sand.
"Why did this happen?" Lu Yuanfeng murmured, "Why does the desert devour people?"
Lu Yuanfeng didn’t know; he had been in Xing City for five years and had visited deserts before, yet no place was like Feeding Horse Slope.
Living people vanished without a trace in an instant.
And that sand, seemed like something was churning beneath it.
Just like a vortex in water, what on earth was it?
The doubts in Lu Yuanfeng’s mind grew, while those new soldiers became increasingly scared.
"I don’t want to die, I don’t want to die..."
"Me too, I want to live..."
"Dear heavens, why do this to us, what did we do wrong?"
The wails and cries echoed one after another.
Lu Yuanfeng was pulled back to his thoughts by these noisy voices.
He looked once again at this group of soldiers.
They had left with a hundred men.
When they encountered the Wei Army, just breaking through their lines cost nearly fifty lives.
In this desert earlier, they lost another man...
Looking at these less than half remaining new recruits, Lu Yuanfeng felt a deep, bitter pain in his heart.
What Lu Yuanfeng couldn’t understand more was, why the path he took led them into an ambush by the Wei Army.
Clearly, only he and the chief commander knew of that route!
Lu Yuanfeng didn’t want to harbor such malicious suspicion towards Wen Nantian; he could only repeatedly tell himself, it was just a stroke of bad luck.
But was it really just bad luck?
Steadying his mind, Lu Yuanfeng interrupted the continuously wailing soldiers, "If you want to live, if you want to get out, then buck up.
If you don’t want to die, don’t make a fuss; focus all your attention, carefully watch the road beneath your feet and your surroundings!
I am the Vanguard leader, and from now on, I order you all, no one is allowed to cry! Anyone who cries will be dealt with by military law, no exceptions!"
Lu Yuanfeng didn’t have the time to explain so much to these men.
He only knew, if he let them continue to weep and make a racket, none of them would leave Feeding Horse Slope.
He could not die, Shuangshuang was still waiting for him; he couldn’t die.
He had promised Shuangshuang, he would definitely live well!
He definitely would!
After Lu Yuanfeng shouted, those soldiers with mournful faces calmed down slightly.
They continued to move forward, with Lu Yuanfeng at the forefront.
They walked the entire day, and by nightfall, all they saw was still the yellow desert, yellow sand and mud.
At night, the cold wind howled, carrying sand with it.
It cut against the face, slicing the skin like a knife, feeling extremely uncomfortable.
That was nothing; the crucial issue was that the water had run out, the food was gone, and if they couldn’t leave this damned place soon, these people would simply starve to death.
With no firewood and nowhere to shield from the wind, at night, they huddled together for warmth.
But even that couldn’t withstand the piercing cold wind; Lu Yuanfeng decided to search nearby, hoping to find some firewood or perhaps a water source, which would make things easier.
Lu Yuanfeng called the only other veteran besides him, Pang Hu, over to the side and said to him, "Pang Hu, I’m going to see if there’s any firewood or water around here! If there is, I’ll come back immediately.
I don’t know how long this trip will take, so... you must help watch over these soldiers; not a single one can be missing!"
Lu Yuanfeng’s lips were a bit chapped, showing signs of dehydration.
Considering the day of the ambush, he probably hadn’t eaten for two days, and the last sip of water he had was given to a slightly older soldier earlier in the day.
Pang Hu looked at Lu Yuanfeng, with increasing admiration in his eyes.
It was fortunate that the moon was suspended high in the sky, illuminating the path ahead.
"Lu Vanguard, be careful. Even if it costs my life, I, Pang Hu, will take care of these new recruits!" Pang Hu raised his right hand to swear.
"Thank you!" Lu Yuanfeng said sincerely.
After speaking, Lu Yuanfeng walked towards the unknown ahead; he didn’t know what lay in store for him there.
He only knew he had to do it, he must find everything he needed.
Near daybreak, Lu Yuanfeng finally found it.
A small wooden house, with some useful firewood inside, and most importantly, a well.
There was water in the well, and if Lu Yuanfeng hadn’t heard the splash when he threw a stone in, he could have almost believed he was seeing things.
He drew a bucket of water from the well with the wooden bucket in the house, drank a few mouthfuls himself, filled a pot with water and ran back along the original path towards where the soldiers were resting.
...
Replenished with water, Lu Yuanfeng quickened his steps on the way back.
With the break of dawn, navigating was easier than during the night.
About an hour and a half later, Lu Yuanfeng found the place where the soldiers rested.
The pot of water was divided amongst the soldiers, though it wasn’t enough, it did soothe their throats.
Everyone rushed towards the direction Lu Yuanfeng indicated, and by afternoon, they finally found the small wooden house.
The soldiers rushed inside, drank water, collected firewood to make a fire and warm themselves.
Their morale instantly recovered quite a bit.
But the night’s cold still left more than half of the soldiers sick.
One by one, they coughed incessantly, their faces looking terribly sallow.
"Everyone rest around the wooden house, and don’t run or wander about!" Lu Yuanfeng shouted to the soldiers, who were still quite emotional.
Through this experience, the soldiers already had respect for Lu Yuanfeng.
And since Lu Yuanfeng was the leader, naturally what he said went!
After finding the water source, everyone’s expressions relaxed greatly.
Pang Hu sat down beside Lu Yuanfeng.
"Lu Vanguard~" Pang Hu called out.
Lu Yuanfeng nodded in response to him.
"Lu Vanguard, you’re the most commanding military leader I’ve ever met. In these days of hardship, it’s been you encouraging these soldiers all along.
Without you, not only them, even I wouldn’t know what to do!"
Pang Hu had been in the military camp for quite some years.
He had met countless leaders, but none was like Lu Yuanfeng, who genuinely cared for these soldiers.
He saw it; from the time water and food were about to run out, this Vanguard hadn’t drunk water or eaten dry food.
He left everything to these soldiers.
In the past, such a thing never happened.
Those leaders only cared for themselves; why would they concern themselves with the lives of these soldiers?
Praised, Lu Yuanfeng didn’t show a smug expression on his face.
Compared to before, his expression became even more solemn.
So many people were under his charge; he had to ensure every one of them got out safely.
"Keep going, and we’ll surely make it out! Just persist!" Lu Yuanfeng said.
Just as he finished speaking, a soldier suddenly shouted urgently—
"It’s the Wei Army, the Wei Army is coming..."