Chapter 78: Grand Historian Wen Gong
At Bowangpo, after daybreak, the captives were again ordered to clean up the battlefield.

A trench was dug in the ravine between Fengshan and Bowangpo according to the terrain, and the collected bodies of the fallen soldiers were thrown into it.

Many of the bodies had their heads cut off during the battle and now had to be buried together.

When it came to digging pits and burying their comrades, the prisoners worked very hard.

At the same time, more than 300 people from the Black Bear Army gathered to cremate the 37 people who died in the battle.

The cleaning and wound suturing were completed before dawn. The thirty-seven corpses were dressed in coarse cloth shorts and trousers sewn overnight, and they also wore the vests distributed to them before their death.

Before putting on clothes, the whole body surface was smeared with refined butter.

At this moment, the faces of the people lying on the firewood pile are shining and their appearances are lifelike.

There was a slight northwest wind in the morning. Black Bear flipped open the bamboo slips and read the information of thirty-seven people. He now only had twenty-nine points of black mana.

Since the troops set out from Bowangpo on May 18th, a total of thirteen days have passed. Including the eighteen points accumulated after strengthening Lu Bu, a total of forty-four points of black mana have been accumulated.

Fifteen points were consumed during the battle to refine the soldiers who were killed in battle or seriously injured.

Now eight people needed to be eliminated. Black Bear compared the fatal wounds of the fallen soldiers, pulled out five bamboo slips, and picked out three thin ones.

Then, as more than three hundred people watched, the black bear grabbed a handful of black magic power with his right hand and threw it out.

The bodies of the twenty-nine dead soldiers smeared with grease on the woodpile disappeared as if being devoured by the void.

Only twenty-nine sets of clothes were left, which immediately caused the surrounding officials to kneel down.

The morale was high and everyone was shouting "Long live the country".

They all knelt down on their knees, raised their arms to embrace the sky, looked up, shouted "Long live the sky", and then kowtowed with their hands clasped.

He then stood up straight, raised his arms as if embracing the sky, shouted "Long live the sky", and bowed again.

Soon twenty-nine sets of clothing were taken down from the fire and folded and packed one by one.

These cannot be wasted. When you have free time, you must use white mana to refine them and then put them on.

The back of the vest is embroidered with your serial number, affiliation and name during your lifetime. Put on the vest... There will also be opportunities to be strengthened and promoted to team officer or captain of a hundred in the future.

Each strengthening will tap into the other party's talents that were known to everyone during his lifetime, or perhaps unknown to anyone.

If you want to combine battle team cards, you need to command the Taoist soldiers with talent.

It is already the limit for Black Bear to command a dozen Taoist soldiers by himself. He can command more than that, but he cannot operate in detail, so the combat effectiveness of many Taoist soldiers is wasted.

In the future, card teams will be formed, with each team consisting of twelve Taoist soldiers. When it comes to executing orders, they will definitely not be as effective as Black Bear commanding personally.

The advantage is that he saves energy, as he can command more teams to carry out operations on a larger scale.

Some of the fallen soldiers could have been continuously strengthened even if they had just joined the army during their lifetime. If they had command talent, they would have been discovered.

As for the remaining eight bodies, they were ignited by throwing torches, and the three-foot-thick and eight-zhang-long pile of firewood instantly turned into a blazing flame that soared into the sky.

Gan Ning stood upwind and looked up at the fireworks. He pondered for a long time and asked, "Commander Qu, will it be the same for me in the future?"

"If Xingba has other ideas, I won't interfere."

"So this is the Hutian technique?"

Gan Ning had also guessed this, and further asked, "Did they dissolve into the Immortal Pot Cave Heaven?"

The story of Hu Gong of Runan has spread throughout the world, and some people believe that the Hu Gong who appeared in Runan was actually a native of Nanyang.

"Where do you think the other immortals who died in battle have gone?"

The black bear was neither anxious nor impatient. He had gotten over his initial confusion about how to get along with this world, and was afraid that he would be strangled by all parties.

But now I find that people around me always seek reasonable explanations for abnormal events.

He even understood the clue behind his previous unsuccessful attempt to refine the wild boar.

Your origin card is Peach Blossom Land, not the seventh level of the Pig Cave, nor the Wild Boar Forest.

In the pure land of Taoyuan, there is no room for ferocious beasts like wild boars.

Wait until you withdraw your troops and take the Wuguan Road, then try to refine tigers and leopards. If you fail, it means that Taoyuan Dika does not like these things.

If you can't purify the ferocious beasts, then get some big buffaloes.

Gan Ning was born in Yizhou and lacked sufficient respect for the Taishan pantheon of Qi.

However, the areas of Bashu and Jingchu have their own ancient legends about the underworld; over the past hundred years, through the exchange of various ideas, they have gradually formed their own views.

Yin Changsheng from Nanyang disliked power and preferred to practice Taoism. He served as a servant under Ma Mingsheng at Mount Taihe in Wudang.

Ma Mingsheng was from Linzi and attained enlightenment in Langya.

Yin Changsheng achieved success in practicing Taoism under Ma Mingsheng, traveled around Qingcheng Mountain, and later lived in seclusion in Fengdu to practice.

According to Yin Changsheng, there were forty-five people who became immortals by practicing and taking elixirs during the Han Dynasty, and he was the forty-sixth one.

In modern times, the two states of Jing and Yi have highly praised Yin Changsheng's method of practicing alchemy. Even Fengdu, where Yin Changsheng lived in seclusion, began to become mysterious.

Gan Ning thought about it for a moment and didn't think he could encounter any other "adventures", so he expanded the topic and said, "Zhang Lu's mother was good at ghost magic and served Liu Yan with flattery. When Liu Zhang ascended the throne, because Zhang Lu refused to obey, he killed Zhang Lu's mother and all his brothers. It can be seen that although Zhang Lu and his mother practiced, they were no match for him."

After a pause, Gan Ning said: "If you don't explain the truth, you won't understand it. If your virtue is better than Zhang Lu's, the 100,000 households in Hanzhong can become your foundation."

"No hurry, Zhang Lu can't escape. Even if he escapes, Hanzhong can't escape."

The black bear has a far-sighted gaze, and it never has a good ending when it swallows the bigger one with the smaller one.

This time, cooperating with Liu Bei in the battle at least proved that he was not a bad fighter.

When faced with bloody battles and losses, one should not let panic or compassion cloud one's judgment.

On the other side, Liu Bei also dug graves and buried the fallen soldiers in an orderly manner.

There were captives doing hard labor, and there were no combat missions at the moment, but it was still impossible to guarantee that everyone would have a separate grave. In order to prevent being disturbed in the future, the fallen officers and soldiers of Liu Bei's army were also buried together, but the graves were dug very deep.

While burying the body, Jian Yong slowly walked to Liu Bei's side and whispered, "Black Bear is good at treating wounded soldiers. It is said that the effect is as good as Zhang Jiao's magic water."

"Why does Xianhe say that? Zhang Jiao's talisman water is made from medicinal decoctions."

Liu Bei looked at Jian Yong in surprise, and Jian Yong explained in a low voice: "I also know the inside story of Zhang Jiao's magic water, but many officers and soldiers don't know. According to them, the black bear was able to walk in the camp yesterday after being injured. If it can heal injuries and illnesses, who cares about strange magic or sorcery?"

"It's just a rumor, don't be surprised."

Liu Bei waved his hand. He had traveled all over the country and seen all kinds of situations.

Probably some lightly wounded soldiers who looked bloody and scary yesterday, but in fact they were only slightly wounded and could move freely after a little bandaging.

Jian Yong was not responsible for any specific work, but his role was also very important. He often traveled around and told Liu Bei what he saw.

The two people have different identities, so when they see the same thing, they look at it from different perspectives.

Others might not dare to continue to persuade him, so Jian Yong approached and continued, "Talisman water is different from other talisman waters. Even if it's not talisman water, what if they have a better way to treat it?"

More than 200 people were killed on the spot, and most of the more than 500 wounded found it difficult to recover.

Ordinary knife wounds are not even considered minor injuries after being stopped and bandaged. Even if the 500 wounded soldiers in Liu Bei’s camp were treated effectively, half of them would be killed.

Seeing Liu Bei looking at him sideways without saying anything, Jian Yong said, "I will go talk to Captain Hei and ask him to heal all the wounded soldiers. If 200 men can survive, the rest will be given to him."

"Xianhe, I know you don't want to see the wounded soldiers die, but there has never been a good way to treat this kind of thing."

Liu Bei raised his hand and patted Jian Yong's back: "You can go and negotiate with him. How bad can this matter be?"

"Yes."

After receiving the authorization, Jian Yong left in a hurry.

When he arrived at the Henghai Army Camp, Black Bear had already dismissed most of the people, leaving only the wounded soldiers to guard the cremation site, waiting for the final burial.

Hei Xiong also wanted to go to Liu Bei to discuss the specific method of exchanging prisoners for horses. He captured more than 130 horses of various types, and some horses that were shot by arrows died in the middle of the night, so the number of horses continued to decline.

He rode side by side with Jian Yong and talked about rescuing the wounded soldiers.

After hearing the intention, Black Bear refused directly: "It is difficult to serve. My army is small and I am new to Jingzhou. The herbs I have collected and transported are not enough. Now I have the will but not the strength. However, we are about to withdraw. If Liu Yuzhou trusts me, you can give me the seriously injured soldiers and I will take them back to Xi County for treatment. But I have to make it clear that after these soldiers are saved, they will serve me for three years."

Jian Yong was not surprised, as the military's transport capacity was limited.

It cannot be said that Liu Bei was short of supplies, but that yesterday's battle was too intense.

According to common sense, when his ambush troops on both sides attacked and defeated Xiahou Dun's front troops, Xiahou Dun should have retreated.

As a result, Xiahou Dun did not retreat. Instead, he relied on Yu Jin to block the fleeing soldiers and gathered them together to fight Liu Bei repeatedly.

They did not stop until the midday sun was so scorching that no one could move. The main losses of Liu Bei's troops occurred in the morning.

Then Black Bear's eight hundred men entered the battlefield and directly cut off Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin's water routes.

If it weren't for the reinforcements from Li Dian's troops, there would have been a possibility of annihilating Xiahou Dun and Yu Jin yesterday, or at least one of them could have been saved.

As for the wounded soldiers serving Black Bear for three years after they recover, there is no need to ask Liu Bei for this, Jian Yong can agree to it himself.

The wounded soldiers who could be handed over to Black Bear for treatment were most likely those who had been sentenced to death by Liu Bei.

After confirming this matter, Jian Yong immediately arranged the transportation, sending the most seriously injured soldiers first, and then Liu Bei selected the second and third batches.

Black Bear led Lu Bu to see Liu Bei alone. Liu Bei hurried over to meet him, holding Black Bear's hand and asking, "What was the origin of the hero who broke through Xiahou Dun's camp yesterday?"

"This……"

Black Bear looked embarrassed, so Liu Bei comforted him: "If it is difficult, I will not ask. But for such a heroic person, if Liu Jingsheng sends an envoy to invite him, I will give him a high position and generous salary..."

Liu Bei coughed twice and continued, "Liu Jingsheng recommended Mi Zhu and Mi Zizhong as the governor of Nanyang County. Because my second brother was so brave as to kill Yan Liang, he sent an envoy to persuade him to befriend me. This strategy of division and disintegration was not my intention. I just hope that Hei Jun can respond as soon as possible."

"This Liu Jingsheng has failed to be an ally!"

Black Bear said as he leaned sideways and extended his arms to introduce Lü Bu: "His name is Abu, he is a wild man from Mount Tai, he cannot speak, and can only communicate with sign language."

"He had a fellow villager named Ding Shun, who was from the same clan as Ding Yuan and Ding Jianyang. Later, Ding Jianyang died, and Ding Shun returned home. He saw Abu living with tigers in the mountains, so he led Abu down the mountain to live."

Black Bear smiled and said, "Abu was raised by tigers since he was young. He can't speak human language and can only say 'no'. So the villagers call him Abu."

Liu Bei smiled as he listened. He raised his hand and patted the black bear's shoulder while walking with his head held high. He patted the black bear's shoulder with great force, making the leather armor crackle. "You, hahaha! Don't try to scare me with him! It's better not to say anything, it's better not to say anything!"

Black Bear stopped smiling and looked Liu Bei up and down: "Lord Xuande, are you really not afraid?"

"Does it mean that because you are afraid of him, you will ask him to show mercy?"

Liu Bei smiled and turned his head to examine Lu Bu. Through the strange bronze mask, he couldn't even see the changes in the other's pupils and eyes.

I just felt that the inside of the two eye holes of the mask were pitch black, without any change.

The god-level Lu Bu lowered his head slightly and looked at Liu Bei. They walked three or four steps together. Liu Bei turned his head to look at Black Bear: "Thinking over it over and over again, I still have some respect for this man."

Immediately, Liu Bei could no longer resist his curiosity and asked, "I have always loved making friends with heroes from all over the world. Captain Hei, please tell me the name of this hero."

"I'm afraid it will be leaked and harm my family and clan."

The black bear turned around to look at Lu Bu and gave secret instructions, and saw Lu Bu nodded slightly as if he agreed.

So he met Liu Bei's expectant eyes and said: "His surname is Taishi, his given name is Jin, and his courtesy name is Wengong. When he was in Hebei, Qian Zhao, the military supervisor of the general's office, also came to inquire about it. At that time, he only said that he was Langya Shi Tailong."

"Liu Xuande of Zhuo County greets the historian."

Liu Bei bowed in greeting, but Lu Bu just nodded without returning the greeting.

When Liu Bei saw him, he knew that the other party had no intention of interacting with him, so he asked Black Bear: "Qian Zhao...how are you doing lately?"

"He was highly regarded by Yuan Shang and regarded as his right-hand man."

(End of this chapter)