Chapter 63 Anping Battle Site Inspection (2/2)
”Oh, I see it now. The moats weren't served as traps but a passage.”
”The water is just a diversion. The real tactic is hidden by the commander.”
”Haha, this is good.”
The scholar boy muttered to himself. Then he paid attention to a merchant.
”Come! Come! A new weapon that was used in the battle! I manage to get only one from a deserted soldier. It won't be sold anywhere else!”
The boy walked to the merchant and looked at the weapon. It was the repeating crossbow that Tong Army were using.
The boy narrowed his eyes as he inspected the structure details of the crossbow with attention. Then he asked the merchant.
”How much is that weapon?”
”Only 10 gold! No one is selling this anywhere!”
The crowd nearby looked at the merchant in disgust. Who would want to buy a strange toy like that? The real crossbow looked completely different from the thing that was displayed in front of that merchant.
However, the boy said out loud.
”I'll buy it!”
”You can't find this anywh- … wait, you are buying it?”
”Yes, I'll buy it.”
The tourists nearby looked at the boy with mocking eyes.
”What an idiot. He was ripped off! It's just a useless toy!”
”Well, he's a boy. It's normal that he was attracted to a toy.”
”But it was 10 gold you know? 10 fudging gold!”
”Ha! I bet he's a young master of a wealthy family or a noble!”
”Wow! I'm working all day to get 10 coins. A lucky boy born in the wealthy family spent 10 gold for a useless toy! Heaven sure is bias!”
”You will get struck by lightning if you keep saying that.”
Several mockeries and jeers came from the onlookers. To them, a single gold could be exchanged into over a thousand coins. Each coin could buy a person a meal, so 10,000 coins for a bow was too expensive.
The boy ignored the bad mouth tourists. The crossbow was worth more than 10 gold to him. Even a thousand gold was still worth it.
'Idiots. This crossbow alone can change the trending of the war in the future. None of them has the vision!'
The boy played around with the crossbow. After a few minutes, he understood how it worked. His eyes became sharper as he kept thinking about the fortress formation and this crossbow.
'I see! So that's why!'
'The commander of this fortress is a genius! What an amazing way to defend the base!'
'Then the moats … I see! So that's how he used it!'
'Unbelievable. This is a game changer!'
'But still … the fortress lacks something. I feel like it isn't completed yet.'
'Was it because the commander did not have enough time to prepare?'
The boy sighed. He wanted to meet the person who designed this crossbow. He thirsted for more knowledge and insight of the veteran talents. He also wanted to meet the commander of this fortress in the previous battle. He wanted to learn about his tactics and his strategies that he used to defeat his opponents.
”Excuse me, do you know the name of the commander of this fort?”
The boy couldn't resist his curiosity, so he asked around.
”The current captain or the commander of the previous battle?” A nearby scholar tourist asked back.
”The battle, of course.”
”Hmm? You don't know? He's famous around here.”
”Famous?”
”He is the Immortal Zhang Tong! How could you not know him?”
The boy frowned. He disliked superstitious things, but he respected Zhang Tong's skills. He had complicated feeling toward Tong.
'There is fire if there is smoke. Something has made everyone called him ”Immortal”.'
”Why is he called immortal?” The boy asked further.
”Well, I don't know myself. But I've heard he fought in the battle like a beast! He was stabbed by tens of spears, yet he didn't die! Then he also has thunder magic. Every times he cast it, a loud boom can be heard and someone will die without fail.”
The boy's frown deepened. His curiosity toward Tong increased, but he reminded himself that it was not the time for him to get entangled in the political warfare between noble families. Therefore, he chose not to approach Tong just yet.
The boy left the site and journeyed back to his hometown, Xu Chang, along with his scholar colleagues and his assistance master. He still needed to go back to attend classes with his teacher. For young scholars, being diligent and disciplined was a must, or they would be abandoned by their teachers.
If Tong were here and met this boy, he would never let him going back.
Because this boy had left prominent deeds in the history.
His courtesy name was Fengxiao, and his official name was ...
Guo Jia.