268 On the verge of war

As Position 313 covered a very large area, those who were unfamiliar with the place might even get lost here.

Ren Xiaosu said to Adjutant Zhang, who was leading the way, "Um… can you bring us a map so we can choose where to establish our defensive position?"

Adjutant Zhang turned back around and looked at him. He said, "The commander has already chosen a spot for you all. All you need to do is to defend your position well. Soldiers on the battlefield only have to obey their orders and shouldn't be questioning them."

Ren Xiaosu curled his lips but did not say anything. In truth, it did not really matter to him. Since Tang Zhou had already informed Qing Zhen that he would be deployed to Position 313, the Qing Consortium would attack anyone but him now.

He had only made that remark as he wanted to see if he could choose a convenient spot to leave the camp from to get in contact with Tang Zhou.

It didn't matter even if he was not allowed to. That was not a big issue.

At this moment, Ren Xiaosu suddenly realized that Chen Wudi had been rather quiet. He asked, "What's the matter?"

Chen Wudi said, "Master, I heard a lot of people in the camp saying that they want to send us to our deaths."

"Oh, that?" Ren Xiaosu replied, "Don't worry, even if all of them get wiped out, we'll still be fine."

Chen Wudi had already awoken his super hearing. Ren Xiaosu tested it out with Chen Wudi before and discovered that he could hear what was being said even if he was just speaking in a whisper from a kilometer away.

But this power had its effects on Chen Wudi, because he could hear the "evilness" in this world.

The ancients were particular about being strait-laced. As the saying went, one should pay restrain themselves even while in private.

But most people couldn't conduct themselves that way. People were used to talking behind others' backs as dark sides got amplified when in private. The opinions they could not express openly intensified in the shadows.

And Chen Wudi could hear all of those things now.

If Ren Xiaosu had this power, he would definitely not be burdened by it. After all, he was not innocent himself.

But it was different for Chen Wudi.

Ren Xiaosu looked at Chen Wudi and asked, "Can you ignore it?"

"No." Chen Wudi shook his head and said, "They're saying the troops here have already chosen the most dangerous position for us to guard. As long as Qing Zhen's troops come attacking, we'll be the first to die."

"What else did they say?" Ren Xiaosu asked.

"They also said that we deserve to die as it would save them from getting roped in." Chen Wudi said dejectedly, "But it wasn't our decision to come here. We didn't even offend them."

"Mhm." Ren Xiaosu said, "They're the ones at fault."

"Master, what is our purpose in seeking scriptures from the Western Paradise?" Chen Wudi asked.

Ren Xiaosu pondered the question for a moment. "So that we can lead a comfortable life?"

Chen Wudi was stunned for a moment. "Master, are you being serious? Shouldn't it be for the deliverance of all living creatures?"

Ren Xiaosu patiently advised, "You must save yourself before you can save others. Isn't there a saying that goes 'don't judge others by your own metric'? In simple terms, that means you should get rich first before helping others get rich with you. Only by doing it first can you—"

Chen Wudi put his head in his hands and interrupted, "Master, can you stop explaining for a moment? Let me process this for a moment…"

…

On the same night Ren Xiaosu arrived at Position 313, Luo Lan secretly arrived at the Yang Consortium's Stronghold 88. Furthermore, Luo Lan was also being unusually low-key as he only brought two orderlies with him this time.

Although the Yang Consortium's higher-ups held secret talks with Luo Lan, no one in the outside world even knew he had gone there or what they discussed.

But at midnight that night, the Yang Consortium's armored brigade and two infantry brigades suddenly started pushing south and were expected to arrive at the Li Consortium's front line at Mt. Qingsheng within the next two days. They had actually taken the initiative to kick off the war.

The Yang Consortium's armored brigade moved out from the front line of Mt. Ping and led the advance. Meanwhile, the infantry division on the flank closed down on Mt. Qingsheng from the north with the intention of containing the enemy's firepower. As long as this defensive line was broken, the Li Consortium's defenses in the west would no longer be effective.

Meanwhile, the Qing Consortium also made a move on their side. It was as though they had discussed it beforehand. That night, a group of mechanized infantry suddenly rolled in from the north.

As the long stretch of mechanized infantry column meandered along on the mountain paths, the lights on the vehicles looked like torches shining in the night. Several engineering battalions were quickly building bridges and paving roads as they moved on the paths. Their speed was so fast it was unbelievable.

Meanwhile, special forces had already been deployed onto the battlefield to scout ahead for enemies.

Some of the Li Consortium's troops had still been holding at the FOBs to reorganize their forces, but all of them got deployed to the front lines by the evening.

The 13 defensive positions at Mt. Qingsheng were brightly lit as the entire camp was illuminated by huge spotlights. Meanwhile, the military camp was filled with the angry voices of the Li Consortium's officers shouting.

When a military truck drove in, the soldiers jumped out from the back of the vehicle and rushed to their assigned spots without stopping.

Ren Xiaosu was sitting on a hill and looking behind him. The spot their battalion was assigned to was at the northernmost area of Position 313. Just as Chen Wudi had heard, it was Colonel Ma Kai who had arranged for them to guard this position and send them to their deaths.

All they had were four machine guns. They were not even issued a rocket launcher, much less being given any mortars. It would be a miracle if they could defend their position with the weapons they had.

So when the soldiers at Position 313 met Ren Xiaosu and his men, they looked at them as though they were looking at the dead. No one believed they would survive.

When Chen Wudi sat down next to Ren Xiaosu, Ren Xiaosu said to him, "Immediately let me know if you hear anything unusual. We should also have our guards up against Qing Zhen in case he goes back on his word."

"OK." Chen Wudi nodded vigorously.

While sitting at this relatively elevated position, Ren Xiaosu could vaguely spot the soldiers at the camp running back and forth a kilometer or two behind them. There were people directing the vehicles with glowing red batons. People were also constantly walking in and out of the command center at the rear.

However, Ren Xiaosu suddenly felt that something was odd about the three huge tents that were standing quietly in the camp. While there were people busily going in and out of the other tents, those three tents remained idle, undisturbed by anyone. There weren't even any soldiers who went near it.

What was with this? Could it be the Li Consortium's classified zone?

At this moment, Li Qingzheng walked up with an automatic rifle slung over his shoulder. "Xiaosu, I'm feeling a little panicky…"

"Don't panic, there's nothing to panic about." Ren Xiaosu laughed and said, "At most, we'll just run away when the Qing Consortium's combat troops start attacking us."

"You're taking it so lightly. How can we run away just like that?" Li Qingzheng shrugged as he sat next to Ren Xiaosu and whispered, "A group of scouts have just been deployed from here. I heard them saying that it seemed like the Qing Consortium's troops are coming here to get their revenge."

Ren Xiaosu started frowning. Could there be a change of plans?

He turned around and looked at the camp behind him. Suddenly, he had an inkling that a lot of people there were subconsciously looking at them at this moment.

As the war was on the verge of breaking out, everyone at the camp bore a grudge against this "Heroes" Battalion. Even the rearguard troops who had just arrived at Position 313 were horrified when they heard the Heroes Battalion was here. Everyone had the feeling that the Qing Consortium would definitely attack this place first.

Although it was difficult to predict who would win the war, no one felt that the Heroes Battalion could survive this battle.