Late Ming Dynasty: From the Defeated Soldiers at Daling River to Ascending the Throne

Zhao Sheng walked at the front of the group. At first, he relied on the stars to determine the direction. In the latter half of the night, dark clouds covered the starry sky. Just before dawn, the first snow of the fourth year of Chongzhen's reign fell from the sky.

Zhao Sheng looked at the tiny snowflakes landing on his shoulders, and then the group behind him stopped for some reason.

"Commander Chen, why did you stop?" Zhao Sheng returned to the back of the line and found Chen Feng.

Chen Feng looked at the elderly defeated soldier who had been taking care of the two seriously wounded men, and said in a heavy tone, "Old Pu said that the two seriously wounded brothers are not in good condition."

Zhao Sheng also looked at Old Pu Tou. Old Pu Tou was a very thin old man, who looked to be about fifty or sixty years old. His wrinkled face always carried a worried expression.

He used to be a traveling doctor in Yizhou, but when the Jurchens occupied Yizhou, he lost his job and fled to Jinzhou. Later, he joined the army in a daze.

Zhao Sheng glanced at Old Pu Tou, then at the two half-dead, seriously wounded men on horseback, a hint of disgust flashing in his eyes. "No, we absolutely cannot stop now."

"State your reasons," Chen Feng said, a hint of displeasure in his voice.

"We've run about ten miles in the night, and we're probably in the area south of Dading Fort now." Zhao Sheng glanced at the dark silhouettes of the mountains in the morning light and continued, "If I'm not mistaken, this area is called Dachong Mountain, and there really are giant tigers here. We used to be the last to venture here at night."

Chen Feng frowned and turned to Old Pu. "Old Pu, what do you say?"

Old Pu shook his head, his voice calm, "Commander, the two children... the bleeding hasn't completely stopped, and they've been frozen all night. If they keep being jostled, they'll probably die on the road in less than half a day."

Chen Feng looked at the two seriously wounded men who were barely secured to the horse with leather straps. Their faces were ashen, their lips were bluish-purple, and they were already unconscious.

Zhao Sheng frowned. "Let's go! This place is in the middle of nowhere, and the Tartar scouts could come at any time! We can't let the two of them hold the whole team back!"

Chen Feng glanced at Zhao Sheng, his expression unreadable, then looked at the surrounding terrain. "Let's go up the mountain and find a place to rest for a day."

Zhao Sheng stared at Chen Feng, his eyes churning with confusion and anger, and the word "stupid" almost slipped out of his mouth.

His chest heaved a few times, and suddenly he grabbed the reins of his horse and stomped his foot into the stirrup.

"You're trying to escape again?!" Meng Changgeng said coldly from the side, his hand on the hilt of his knife.

Zhao Sheng froze, one foot on the stirrup, his back to the crowd so they couldn't see his expression.

After several breaths, he managed to squeeze out a sentence through gritted teeth: "...I'll go find a place to hide people."

Having said that, he mounted his horse and charged towards a grove of trees at the foot of the mountain without looking back.

The group breathed a sigh of relief and followed Zhao Sheng's hoofprints into the mountains.

A short while later, Zhao Sheng returned on horseback, saying he had found an abandoned hunter's hut.

It's called a hut, but it's actually a natural cave. Hunters who went up the mountain used pebbles and tree bark to block the entrance, creating a simple dwelling.

Under Old Pu's guidance, the group carefully carried the wounded down and settled them in the house.

Chen Feng ordered the collection of dry branches and lit a small bonfire inside the house to warm the wounded soldiers and the others.

Chen Feng, disregarding the need for rest, instructed Hao Dadao and Meng Changgeng to dig graves for their fallen comrades, while he himself tended to the most seriously wounded soldiers for Old Pu.

Old Pu's technique was astonishingly skilled; his movements—cleaning, applying herbal medicine, and bandaging—were steady and rapid.

As he worked, he reassured the wounded soldier in his characteristically calm tone: "Kid, bear with it, Grandpa Pu is here, it's alright, okay..."

Zhao Sheng leaned against the door, arms crossed, watching quietly. He watched Chen Feng press down on the wounded soldier's bleeding to stop the flow; he watched Chen Feng carefully unwrap the blood-soaked old cloth, following Old Pu's instructions…

He didn't understand what this fake Qian Zong was after.

Just then, Aji strode in from outside, a thin layer of snow on his leather hat and shoulders, his eyes sharp: "Boss, outside, footprints, big cat."

The atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

Zhao Sheng cursed from the doorway: "Damn it, I knew it!"

Chen Feng remained calm. "How far? Are there many footprints?"

After Aji gestured for a while, Chen Feng roughly understood what he meant. The footprints were about two miles away from the house, there weren't many footprints, and they didn't look like they were just left.

Chen Feng nodded. According to the animal world he had read in his previous life, the Siberian tiger's territory was extremely vast, possibly reaching hundreds of square kilometers. Since Siberian tigers had a habit of patrolling their territory, and there weren't many footprints, it was probably safe.

He pondered for a moment and came up with an idea. He looked at Zhao Sheng and said, "Go and have Hao Dadao and Meng Changgeng go with you to the surrounding area, especially under those big trees and rocks, and pee there. Pee a lot."

Zhao Sheng looked at him with a puzzled expression. "Is there... any particular reason for this?"

Chen Feng learned this from watching Bear Grylls' survival shows; it says that male urine contains testosterone, which can repel wild animals.

Of course, Zhao Sheng probably didn't understand this explanation, so he changed it to: "Tigers have a keen sense of smell. Men's urine has a strong odor. If a large amount of men's urine suddenly appears, the beasts will think they have encountered a powerful pack of wolves. Unless they are extremely hungry, they will choose to avoid it."

Chen Feng added, "This is a folk method I heard from an old hunter."

Zhao Sheng nodded thoughtfully, "I understand, I'll go right away."

After settling the wounded, Chen Feng walked out of the house and heard Hao Dadao's rough voice coming from the direction where the horse was tied.

Chen Feng went over to take a look and saw Hao Dadao touching the horses and weapons he had captured the night before, chuckling to himself.

Zhao Sheng, Meng Changgeng, and Aji watched from the side, all seemingly in good spirits.

Chen Feng saw this and felt that although the casualties were heavy, the morale was still good.

However, he didn't come to see Hao Dadao for this matter.

Hao Dadao saw Chen Feng and quickly came to greet him, "Boss, following you is really... hehe, so enjoyable!"

However, Chen Feng did not come over to share the joy of victory with them as Hao Dadao had expected. Instead, Chen Feng rushed forward a few steps with a stern face and kicked Hao Dadao in the chest.

Hao Dadao was caught off guard and was inexplicably kicked over, which made him a little angry.

He scrambled to his feet, yelling, "Boss! What are you doing?!"

"What were my orders when we crossed Nangou last night?!" Chen Feng's voice was filled with anger as he stared intently at Hao Dadao.

Hearing the commotion outside, Old Putou came out of the house.

"It's just about keeping quiet in Nangou, right?! I did exactly what you said!"

"I'm putting you two in pairs, looking out for each other." Chen Feng glanced around at everyone present, then looked at Hao Dadao: "Where were you when Liu Mancang got separated from the group?!"

Hao Dadao's face stiffened, and his voice stammered, "I... I was with him... but his shoes were broken, and he kept dawdling over and over again..."

"So, you abandoned him and returned to the team alone." Chen Feng's voice was fierce as he kicked Hao Dadao to the ground again.

Hao Dadao's face flushed red, and he jumped up abruptly. "Boss! I didn't abandon him! He just couldn't keep up! In that situation, the Tartars could have crept up at any moment. If I waited for him, I would have been waiting to die! Did you expect the whole team to go down with him?"

Hearing this, Chen Feng became even angrier and was about to rush forward again, but Zhao Sheng and Meng Changgeng stopped him together, saying, "Boss, let's talk this out."

"If it were you, Hao Dadao, who fell behind," Chen Feng shook off the two men and looked at Hao Dadao, who was stubbornly refusing to move, "would you rather the brothers in front stop and help you up, or would you rather they turn around and leave you behind, leaving you alone to have your head chopped off by the Tartars and hung on the saddle?!"

The people around fell silent and all looked at Hao Dadao.

Hao Dadao glanced at the five Mongol heads hanging on the saddle, opened his mouth, but couldn't make a sound.

Chen Feng's tone was stern. "I put you last because I knew you were capable, that you could lend a hand if any of the brothers got into trouble. But look what you've done! You're a coward, abandoning Liu Mancang and running away!"

Hao Dadao could accept being criticized in any way, but he couldn't stand being called a "coward who fears death." He felt ashamed and turned to leave.

Seeing this, Meng Changgeng quickly pulled him back, "Hey! What are you doing!"

"Don't stop him!" Chen Feng waved his hand. "Let him go if he wants to! He abandons his comrades and only cares about his own survival! I should have ridden away with Zhao Sheng last night, so that you bunch of burdens could become the Tartars' military achievements!"

Zhao Sheng was listening intently from the side. When he realized that he was also involved, he turned around awkwardly and gently kicked the withered tree next to him.

Hao Dadao clenched and unclenched his fists, finally letting out a heavy sigh, then turned back to Chen Feng and knelt down.

"Boss, I know I was wrong! Boss, you can kill me if you want, but..." Hao Dadao actually shed tears of grievance, "But I'm really not a coward... I... I'm not a coward!"

Chen Feng looked at Hao Dadao kneeling on the ground, but did not reach out to help him up. His tone softened, though: "You should not kneel before me, but before Liu Mancang before his death."

Then Chen Feng raised his eyes and swept his gaze across everyone, his words as firm as iron: "I'll say it right here: I won't abandon you, I won't give up on you! As long as you're still in my group, I won't abandon you! I don't ask much of you, just pick up those who can't walk when we're on the road! And if you're shameless enough to leave first! Understand?"

Zhao Sheng turned his head to look at Chen Feng's back, his gaze complex.

Meng Changgeng lowered his eyes and tugged at his earlobe;

Aji was still smiling憨憨地 as always;

Old Pu wiped the corner of his eye with his rough hands and turned back to continue taking care of the wounded.

Hao Dadao knelt on the ground, saying nothing.

The snow is getting heavier and heavier.