Chapter 256 – Might of Friday
"A troublesome shield. But how long can you maintain that without lifespans I wonder?"
Friday muttered as she summoned the [Lust Soul] to return.
Lust Soul did not chase after Sun Fang and his clone, she returned to Friday and merged back into her body.
Friday glanced at the white smoke at the burnt granary direction. Xun Yu, who was standing beside her, groaned as he stared into the same direction.
"That's a lot of provision damage. We won't last two months with our current supplies," Xun Yu turned to Friday and asked, "How will you counter that immortal? We're at a disadvantage if he controls the sky."
Friday smiled, "He won't dare reappear in front of me again. He now knows that can't harm me, but I can harm him. That's the message I have sent him for today."
Xun Yu tilted his head in confusion, but he caught on in ten seconds.
"Are you saying, they are weaker than you?"
"[Weaker] is an incorrect term. I'll say they are not in my league. Besides, they have a lot of limitation because they rely too much on the [Skills]."
Friday did not keep a secret with Xun Yu as she understood this strategist personality. She explained the limitation of system skills, lifespans, and the administrator Lilim.
Xun Yu's face was solemn as this information was too new to him. As he listened on, he was enlightened as he could find answers about many events in the past.
'So that's the anomaly in the recent years! Liu Ping's ability is explained. Zhang Tong's power is explained. The Goddess of Death rumor is explained. Even the rumor about this girl is explained!'
'The Goddess of Heaven manipulated all immortal to kill each other. She wants to eliminate all immortals in the lower realm until the last faction remains!'
'Zhang Tong has formed the biggest faction with four immortals of the remaining 12. Sun Jian has two, but he can't even declare independent from Tao Qian!'
All pieces of puzzled were put together as a picture, which broadened Xun Yu's vision. His initial plans had been scrapped from his mind as new inspirations replaced the outdated information.
Xun Yu knelt down and bowed to Friday.
"I wish to apologize for my past naïve actions. Please forgive my crude manners from before!"
Friday grinned, "I don't mind. Are you willing to join my clan now?"
Xun Yu gulped. He could not decide it by himself as his position and placement were all decided by his clan head in Xuchang. Furthermore, there was another candidate that the Xun family wanted to test the water, Cao Cao.
"Go ahead and send the reports back to your clan in Xuchang. I'll tell the counter-intelligence guys to allow your messengers to pass. As for your answer, I can wait."
"Are you sure about this? Aren't you afraid that I'll use this intelligence against you?"
Friday laughed, "Fool! When you are ready to fight us, we would have already gotten stronger to the point that this info has already outdated! Against absolute power, what's there to fear?"
Xun Yu chuckled, "Right. By the time Cao Cao is ready, you would have conquered the northern plain and would have solidified your power. He doesn't even have support from an immortal. He can't be your match."
Xun Yu bowed again, "I'm willing to join your clan!"
…
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Jia Xu: Welcome, Xun brat!
Jia Xu: About time, eh?
Li Feihong: Welcome!
Ding Yuan: The famous Xun Family? What a surprise.
Xun Yu stared at the system menu and the clan chat, baffled by the new technology and the people's name in the clan.
Xun Yu had learned about Ding Yuan's stance in the previous war between Tong and Liu Ping, so he was not surprised. But seeing all of them exchanging information from different cities shocked him nonetheless.
This was a breakthrough in the communication between clan members. With this, they could relay the information faster than sending a fast horse, which took several days to reach the other cities.
"How do I answer this?" Xun Yu asked Friday.
"There's a keyboard on the screen. Tap it to arrange your words and press send."
"Oh? That simple?"
Xun Yu: Hello.
Jia Xu: You learn fast. Have you gotten the approval from your clan head yet?
Xun Yu: No.
Xun Yu: How do you know about my clan?
Jia Xu: Sixth sense!
Jia Xu: Well, our lady sure is good at persuading people.
Jia Xu: Unlike a certain brat who seduced me with food and gold.
Jia Xu: And now, he's working me like a slave.
Jia Xu: He's a demon, literally, I tell you.
Tong: …
Tong: Want a pay cut, Wenhe?
Jia Xu: Please forgive me.
The chat atmosphere was friendly and close as if they were friends instead of the relationship between the boss and the employees.
As Xun Yu read the chat logs, he noticed something odd. He looked up the names of the clan members, but he could not find Xiao Wu's name.
"My lady, please forgive me if I ask this."
"Yeah?"
"Is [Xiao Wu] your real name?"
"Oh? Nope! That's something my husband named me. I don't have a name actually." Friday grinned. She did not tell him that she was Dong Bai as she kept this a family secret.
Friday and Tong did not want anyone to know about the transformation secret or the demonic contract that Friday had. If the news leaked, other otherworlders might use this against them in the future.
Xun Yu frowned as he was still curious. Because Friday knew about the system menu and the clan chat, Xun Yu assumed that she was part of the clansmen. However, he could not find her name on this list, which was unusual.
Xun Yu scanned the list of the clan members and stopped at the name of Dong Bai. From the process of elimination, he knew everyone in the member list as he had learned about the personals in Tong's force. But, the existence of Dong Bai in the clan chat was suspicious.
'Dong Bai was about 6-year-old this year from the reports … Xiao Wu couldn't be Dong Bai, right? Nah, that's impossible. Dong Bai could be the ghost member, and Hua Shi could have taught Xiao Wu about the clan chat to teach me.'
Xun Yu disregarded his suspicion and followed Friday around like a proper strategist. They still had works to do after their provision was burnt.
…
…
February 21st.
Sun Jian and all his officers were still planning how they should attack Zhao County. Because they had received the new intelligence about Xiao Wu's skills, they were cautious with their plans.
Sun Jian briefed the situation, "Yesterday, Fang has gone out and burnt the enemy granaries. Also, he has confirmed the abilities of the immortal in their army."
Sun Jian wrote a few words on a scroll and hung them on a board behind him. It was written "Ghost" and "Strength" as they had taken notes of Xiao Wu's performance yesterday.
"Xiao Wu has abilities to summon a female ghost warrior, which is immune to all attacks but she can kill us. Another ability is her absurd strength. Fang believes that she is even stronger than all of us even if we have combined our forces."
No word of ridicule or disagreement appeared in the tent as all officers listened to Sun Jian in solemn. As Sun Fang and Li Jing's skills and their immortal stories had been proven, all of them believed in the info.
"It confirms that Xiao Wu is definitely the one behind the Emperor's death as the rumor since she has this strength and that ghost soldier. With this intel, I don't think we can defeat Ye Army with a direct confrontation. However, it doesn't mean that we don't have a chance at all."
Sun Jian continued, "After their granaries were burnt, I believe that their provision supplies won't be enough for the prolonged warfare. My guess is, they should have about three to four months left before they have to retreat back to Ye City. But, we will not go with my assumption. We will wait for our spies to get the correct info about their supply situation before we can act."
Sun Fang and Li Jing nodded in agreement, but Huang Gai and Cheng Pu did not like it. There were still Yellow Turban imposters on the loose. If they stayed idle, the bandits would continue to cause damages to villages and weak counties.
"Sir, what about the opportunist bandits?" Asked Huang Gai.
Sun Jian read their thought and nodded, "We will not stay idle either. While the main army is still stationing in Guanzong, you and Cheng Pu will be deployed to eradicate the bandits in this vicinity! Each of you will take 5,000 men and move according to my instruction later. I will give you the details in person."
"Understood, sir!"
Sun Jian turned to Sun Fang, "Fang, how is your status?"
Sun Fang checked his status and revealed a bitter smile. Because of the yesterday fight, he had 756,123 lifespans remaining. At best, he could withstand ten of Friday's strikes before he ran out of life force.
"I can withstand her attacks about 10 or 12 more times. After that, I'm dead."
Sun Jian listened with a grim expression. He nodded, "I want you to take flight and harass Zhao County. You don't have to drop your Qi Blast on an important building or military camps. I want you to throw it randomly at anywhere in the county and retreat immediately. Li Jing can also assist you like she did yesterday. Can both of you do that?"
"No problem," Li Jing bowed.
"It's risky, but I can do it."
…
…
That night, Sun Fang flew through the night sky, heading toward Zhao County again. However, this time, Li Jing stood behind in Sun Jain camp, standing by to pull Sun Fang back to the camp with her [Shadow Teleportation].
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[Shadow Teleportation] LV.3
- The host can teleport 20 people of your choice or 20 tons of material objects.
Skill Cost: 10 Lifespans peruse.
Skill Upkeep: 2,000 Lifespans per year.
Skill Restriction:
- Can be used once a day. Skill resets at midnight.
- Can only be used on allies. All hostile targets are invalid.
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The moment Sun Fang reached Zhao County airspace, he fired his [Qi Blast] randomly inside the city wall, hoping to damage or kill several people.
As soon as the [Qi Blast] was released from his palm, he pressed the "Send" button in the clan chat menu, which he had prepared the words "Send me back" beforehand.
Like yesterday, Li Jing immediately dragged naked Sun Fang back via her Shadow Teleportation.
As they confirmed that Sun Fang had completed his mission, everyone nodded in approval.
"Well done, Fang. Get some clothes and get some rest."
Sun Fang laughed, feeling good about the completed mission, "We're going to run out of clean clothes at this rate. Next time, I'll only wear a loincloth."
Li Jing retorted, "If that happens when I use my teleportation, I'll be grabbing your junk and yank it with all my strength."
"No, please! I still don't have a successor!"
…
Meanwhile, outside of Zhao County wall.
40,000 Soldiers of Friday, over 100,000 civilians, and all officers looked at the fire inside the county. The peasants cried when they saw the black smoke inside the wall as they were afraid that the fire would burn their houses.
Friday glanced at the direction of Guanzong County in anger.
"If that's how you're going to play, then I'll play along!"