Quick Transmigration and Childbirth: The Target is Not Human

The following spring, the army finished its rest and recuperation and set off again for the southern expedition.

Lu Xize returned to the Lu residence again.

The crabapple blossoms in the yard are in bloom.

A tree covered in pink and white blossoms; when the wind blows, the petals fall softly.

Lu Shaohuai has recovered a lot, but his foundation is still weak, and his complexion always has a thin, translucent white like porcelain.

The two brothers, who rarely reunited, chatted all night, playing chess, debating, and discussing the development situation of the five southern provinces.

Back then, he impulsively argued with his elder brother.

They thought their elder brother was a cage that trapped them.

He boasted that once he conquered the South, he would grant Xia Yangyang her freedom.

Looking back now, I just think I was young and ridiculously stupid.

If his elder brother hadn't stopped him from acting rashly, he probably wouldn't have been able to calm the morale of the army, let alone fight in the south or provide his wife and daughters with stability and happiness.

His older brother never held a grudge against him from the beginning.

Perhaps in his eyes, he never thought of taking away what his younger brother liked.

He didn't even need to wait for him to conquer the south to "exchange" it; he had already delivered that thing to him quietly and discreetly.

He was just too stubborn, underestimating his brother's magnanimity and foresight, as well as his brother's love and care for him.

Before leaving.

Lu Xize looked at his brother's thin, pale face.

Those words of thanks that had been weighing on my heart for so long suddenly became impossible to utter.

The words "thank you" are too weak.

He raised his head, his usually somber eyes now gleaming with sunlight, so bright it was almost blinding.

"Brother, wait until I bring you the heads of the bandits Zhang and Li as a birthday gift next year!"

After saying that, he mounted his horse before Lu Shaohuai could reply.

With a tug on the reins, they disappeared outside the vermilion gate.

*

Surrounded by mountains in the southwest, it is easy to defend and difficult to attack.

This journey could take anywhere from a few months to a year.

Fire was the fastest method, but since having a wife and children, Lu Xize could no longer be as ruthless as before.

A fire attack would inevitably cause immense destruction; the houses and fields that ordinary people had guarded for generations might simply be gone.

Women and children who did not have time to escape were also among those who perished.

Lu Xize had made long-term plans for this battle.

Fortunately, this time he was able to receive a letter from Lincheng.

His reply was also very serious:

"I received Corning's painting. My neck isn't that long, but the little guy has a good talent."

"There are many bamboo shoots in the mountains. I dug them up and made soup. It reminded me of the vegetable porridge you made."

"Have you received the handwoven fabric from Sichuan? It was given to us as a gift when we helped the villagers with their farm work. I think it would look great on you."

"The scarf you knitted is so warm, I wear it every day."

"Wait for me to come back."

Everyone said that King Yama Lu had changed his surname.

But only the enemy knew this.

They used methods such as cutting off supply lines, guerrilla warfare, and besieging enemy strongholds to slowly gnaw their way into the mountains.

Slow but unyielding.

One victory after another was reported back to Lincheng and Beiping.

The more they celebrated here, the more anxious the enemy became.

Even a rabbit will bite when cornered, let alone a group of heartless people who have been driven to the brink of despair.

Sure enough, at the start of the next battle, each of them had an extra "human shield".

The sky was just beginning to lighten, and the mountain mist had not yet dissipated.

Their troops had already set up mortars, heavy machine guns, and were preparing for an infantry charge.

Every gully and every ridge in this mountain was taken into account.

Just as the signal flare for the attack was about to be fired.

A figure emerged first from the mountain mist.

She was an old lady.

His gray hair was loose, his back was hunched, and his wrists were tied with a hemp rope.

A gun was pressed against her lower back, pushing her forward: "Move! Move forward!"

The soldiers lying in ambush paused for a moment, but still frowned and set up all their equipment.

But unexpectedly, a second one emerged from the thick fog—a young woman holding a wailing baby in her arms.

Then came the third, the fourth...

They emerged from the fog, one after another, like a long, gray, bound worm.

All the soldiers were dumbfounded.

There were more than two hundred people in total.

They are all villagers who live in this area.

A soldier with a loud voice stood on a high place and shouted down the mountain with a tin megaphone.

"Lu Xize—listen carefully—! These two hundred and thirty-seven people in front of you are all ordinary people from the foot of the mountain!"

"If you dare take one step forward today, I'll shoot one of you! If you take another step, I'll shoot another one. If you attack, I'll kill them all, leave no one alive!"

"Those soldiers from Sichuan, quickly check if you have any children, parents, or wives left? Think carefully about why you joined the army! You can't even protect your own elderly mothers! Is this how you act as children?!"

"Young Marshal," the battalion commander gripped the walkie-talkie, his voice strained, "what do we do now? Continue fighting?"

Some of the men in the group started to tremble with their guns.

Among the crowd was a familiar face—the younger sister of a newly enlisted soldier who had just married into a village on the other side of the mountain.

Lu Xize put down his binoculars.

He closed his eyes.

"withdraw."

The battalion commander was taken aback: "Young Marshal—!"

If we launch a strong attack, this is a battle we are sure to win!

"Let's retreat first. Winning this battle will demoralize our troops." Lu Xize didn't turn around, his voice calm. "It would be better to withdraw the troops back to camp and send men up tonight to rescue them."

"But young marshal, it's not worth sacrificing our young soldiers! What if they exploit our weaknesses? Wouldn't all our efforts be in vain?"

"Morale." He repeated the word. "To win a war, morale is the most important thing."

The battalion commander gritted his teeth, raised his arm, and shouted, "Withdraw!"

This was what his elder brother instructed him to do, and it was also something his elder brother proved through repeated, bloody experiences.

He also wanted to try making different choices than before and see what would happen.

That evening, Lu Xize personally led the team and planned a route to climb up the cliff to carry out the rescue.

The squad had no fixed number of members; they were all volunteers.

Everyone knew in their hearts that what was called a rescue was actually no different from sending someone to their death.

The battalion commander was the most anxious: "No, young marshal, this is too dangerous, you can't go."

Lu Xize had already tied the rope around his waist, his tone casual:

"It's precisely because it's dangerous that I'm going."

"..."

"If I don't even dare to go myself, how can I shamelessly ask the soldiers to go and rescue them? I took them in, and I have to be responsible for them."

Once these words were spoken...

The entire camp was deathly silent.

Those Sichuan soldiers who had wavered during the day all had tears in their eyes.

On the first night, not a single soldier was lost, and 13 people were rescued.

As the last old woman landed, a soldier knelt on the ground, calling out "Mother" over and over again, and wailing loudly.

On the second night, the enemy discovered that the number of prisoners had decreased and immediately strengthened their defenses.

They only saved 6.

The third night, 7.

After realizing that their precautions were not very effective, the enemy began to detain the civilians in different locations, with guards using secret signals to communicate with each other.

On the fourth night, a soldier was discovered while trying to cover a child's descent down the mountain.

His face showed terror. He handed the child to Lu Xize and resolutely turned and ran in the opposite direction.

Three shots rang out, and he fell on the hillside, never to rise again.

This time, three of the five soldiers who went up were killed, but only two were saved.

Lu Xize carried the person back.

He placed the person on the stretcher, stood up straight, and gave a military salute.

Then, under everyone's gaze, everything went black, and he collapsed.

Only then did everyone notice.

His abdomen was tightly bound with layers of gauze, and blood was gushing out from a bullet hole.

It turned out that he himself had been shot, and he had endured the pain to carry the soldier down.

All the soldiers were in an uproar!

On one side are the sacrifices of teammates, and on the other side are family members being used as shields.

The culprit behind all this was not their lack of caution or prudence, but rather the malicious enemy forces!

They used their own relatives as bait, tricking them into going to the rescue, and then killed even more brothers.

The feeling now is no longer sadness, but something hotter, something stuck in my throat that I can't swallow.

Lu Xize was unconscious for three days. The first thing he asked when he woke up was, "How many people on the mountain have been rescued?"

The battalion commander remained silent.

With a resolute expression, he handed over a petition signed by a thousand people.

It was covered with handprints and names.

"Young Marshal! Please give the order to attack the mountain!"

*

headquarters.

In the new letter Wang Shu sent, Lu Xize described the rescue operation in just a few words.

Although the words are few, the danger between the lines is fully revealed.

"Since Miss Kang Ning came into his life, the young marshal has changed a lot."

"Many people say that," Xia Yangyang smiled at Wang Shu.

As usual, I took a sip of tea and read the letters.

Lu Xize didn't discriminate based on rank; even if someone saw a poisonous mushroom, he would mention it in his letter.

But she just wanted to finish watching it; she had excellent patience.

In the reply, it should also be mentioned that poisonous mushrooms must never be eaten.

"He wasn't like this before. Before, all he cared about was winning, territory, and scheming." Wang Shu recalled the past and sat down with emotion. "Do you still remember that trip you took south three years ago? To find a traitor, you risked seventy lives without even blinking an eye."

"Now... he's taking a bullet to save a child."

Xia Yangyang: "People change, and the wisdom of overcoming strength with gentleness is rare."

She beckoned to him: "Come help me grind the ink, I'm writing a reply to him."

Wang Shu smiled, rolled up his sleeves, and walked over.

He skillfully scooped some water into the inkstone, picked up the ink stick, and began grinding the ink in circles.

The soft rustling sound was like the fluttering of insect wings.

The ink produced is thick and even.

"Dr. Kang, I haven't told you this, have I? I also have a wife and children."

"Lieutenant Wang's wife must be a very gentle person."

Wang Shu's eyes softened as he recalled his wife's face: "Hmm... my son is four months old and we haven't had time to name him yet. Dr. Kang is well-versed in literature, so why don't you help my son choose a name?"

Xia Yangyang paused, pen in hand: "Is this appropriate?"

She was afraid that she didn't understand the taboos surrounding names and might choose one that was too grand or too common, after all, her daughter only had the character "Ning".

But he couldn't resist the adjutant's persistent requests.

Xia Yangyang put down her pen and thought about it carefully.

"When weeping at Changmen Palace, we were invited to the banquet at Bailiang Palace... How about calling it 'Chengbai'? The character 'Cheng' means to continue or inherit, and the character 'Bai' originally means cypress tree, which symbolizes eternal youth. Therefore, Chengbai implies a strong will, youth, and achievements."

"Wang Chengbo... Chengbo..." Wang Shu repeated the name to himself, then suddenly smiled, "What a good name. Dr. Kang truly deserves to come from a scholarly family."

"If Lieutenant Wang likes it, then—"

"It's a pity he'll never have such a good name again."

The sudden turn of events startled Xia Yangyang.

Wang Shu stopped grinding the ink.

His facial expression was numb, and his eyes were deep and cold.

"They died five years ago."

The moment he finished speaking, Xia Yangyang suddenly felt a headache. She tried to stand up, but her vision blurred and she couldn't muster any strength in her hands and feet.

Wang Shu pushed her, and she fell headfirst to the ground.

"Wang Shu..." She used all her strength, but could only utter two light, airy words.

Why?

Why did he drug her? Wasn't he the most trusted adjutant of the Lu brothers?

From the first time I met him, he always seemed so honest and capable.

Everything was about to end.

Wang Shu squatted down, his voice hollow and ethereal, as if it came from a very distant place.

"Five years ago, it was a similar battle. The other side had tied up civilians, old people, women and children, and threatened to withdraw their troops... The young marshal did not retreat, and the battle was fought for three days and three nights."

"Not a single civilian survived; my wife and four-month-old son were among them."

"Dr. Kang, have you ever heard the sounds of battle? Soldiers with tears in their eyes, and the cries of children are louder than the sounds of clashing weapons and swords piercing flesh."

"Everyone says even tigers don't eat their cubs, but his words, 'No one is invincible on the battlefield,' forced me to kill my own wife and children!"

"Why... five years later, he could change his mind so easily, but my wife and children can never come back!"

"If he had given me even a chance back then, if he had even the slightest bit of pity, I would have risked my life to save them!"

The wind blew in through the cracks in the window, staining the reply letter with ink, and it was blown to the ground.

"Dr. Kang..." Wang Shu bent down and picked up Xia Yangyang. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"I want those high and mighty people to know what it feels like to be blackmailed with what you value most..."