Chapter 106
Jiang Yuqing slept for a very long time before waking up. She seemed to have not slept such a long time for a very long time.
There was no one in the tent. She put on her clothes and habitually cast a cleaning spell on herself, only to find that it did not work at all.
Feeling the depleted spiritual power in her body, she couldn't help laughing bitterly. It looked like she had overdone it again this time.
Stepping out of the tent, the piercing cold wind carried snowflakes that slapped her face painfully. The swirling heavy snow once again shrouded this land.
She bent down to scoop up a handful of clean snow and rubbed it on her face twice, then put on the hood of her cloak. Then she took out a hot steamed bun from her spirit world and started gnawing on it while heading towards the camp for the wounded.
When everyone saw her, they cried out in pleasant surprise, "Little miracle doctor, you are awake. How wonderful!" Jiang Yuqing smiled and comforted everyone, "I'm fine now, thank you all for your concern!"
At the door, she swallowed the last bite of steamed bun, scooped up some snow again and wiped her hands clean, then started on her rounds.
Hearing that she had woken up, the generals also let out a sigh of relief. If something had happened to this little ancestor in the big camp, let alone what Marquis of Qingzhou would do to them, they themselves would not be able to get past it in their hearts.
The wounded soldier named He Yunfei had also woken up. Knowing that it was Jiang Yuqing who had saved him, he was very grateful. Struggling to get out of bed to bow to her in thanks, Jiang Yuqing pressed him back down.
"Focus on recovering well. In the future, win honors in battles and bring good news to your mother!"
He Yunfei held the things wrapped in white gauze, blushing with a smile.
Outside, the quartermaster brought over lunch from their camp. Still, it was a coarse grain steamed bun and pickled vegetables for everyone. The slightly better-recovered wounded only had a bit more millet porridge mixed with a little horse meat.
Wars were deadly activities. How could they have the strength without eating well? The recovery of the wounded also required nutrition. This would not do. She had to think of a way.
After Jiang Yuqing finished her rounds, she returned to her own tent and hung a "Do Not Disturb" sign outside, with Bai Xiaoshi guarding the door. Then she entered her spirit world.
After operating her techniques for thirty-six weeks to restore her spiritual power, Jiang Yuqing started ransacking her spirit world. Rice, flour, vegetables, fruits, etc. She removed all the packaging from the milk in the supermarket and poured it into large wooden barrels.
Honey was also a good ingredient. She packed it in ceramic jars.
She also ransacked the hospital kitchen, but did not find meat, only eggs, which were also extremely good items. She took them away. Cooking oil was also a good item. She poured several large tubs of it. And salt, that was indispensable.
It looked about enough.
Seeing it was late into the night and everyone was asleep, Jiang Yuqing attached an invisibility talisman on herself and secretly appeared at the door of the granary. She unloaded all her things in one go.
The loud noise here was soon discovered by the patrolling soldiers. Everyone was shocked to see piles of supplies appearing out of nowhere.
The matter was quickly reported to Qin Yijian. Hearing the news, Qin Yijian rolled out of bed in surprise - he had even forgotten to bring his cloak!
In the dim light, they could see from afar piles and piles of massive amounts of supplies at the granary door as tall as a small mountain . Going closer for a look, there were large baskets of eggs, oils poured into huge vats, and fresh fruits and vegetables that were hard to find this season, no matter how much money you had. And large tubs of milky white milk.
And in several dozen large pottery jars was sweet honey...
One subordinate said in a complex tone, "These things seem to have appeared out of thin air! The doctors have looked them over, they are non-toxic and safe to eat."
Qin Yijian weighed a bright red apple in his hand and said, "Given this eminent person's ability to come without a trace and leave without a shadow, if he wanted to poison us, he could have just sprinkle toxins into our big cooking pots directly. Why would he go through so much trouble?"
After that, facing the empty space around them, he held up one fist and said loudly, "Many thanks to the eminent person for their gifts. Qin will thank all the officers and soldiers of Da Xia!"
The others also folded their hands and gave thanks, "Many thanks to the eminent person!"
Qin Yijian put the apple back and instructed the quartermaster, "Let the wounded eat first. Give what's left to everyone." He added, "Also set aside more for the doctors. These days, things have been miserable without them, especially for little miracle doctor's place."
"Yes sir!"
Jiang Yuqing was unaware of this. With Bai Xiaojiu, she had long flown to other camps. The first one was Jinling Pass where her teacher was stationed.
Although Jinling Pass had to face fewer Tartars compared to Yumen Pass, its defending troops were also less. So the pressure they faced was similarly immense.
Jiang Yuqing relied on the same approach - unloading large batches of supplies and medicine.
In her teacher's tent, she found the old man lying asleep on a simple bed. He looked much thinner and extremely tired on his face. A young junior disciple also fell asleep not far from his desk.
Jiang Yuqing's heart ached badly. She didn't have the heart to wake him, only casting a Rejuvenation spell to relieve his weariness so that he could sleep more peacefully. She tucked the quilt for him too.
These days must have worn him out badly.
Jiang Yuqing also placed a few wild ginseng beside his bed and a pack of beef jerky that her teacher loved to eat, then quietly left.
There was a huge commotion at the granary, which soon woke up everyone in the whole camp, including Doctor Qiu. Waking up to find wild ginseng casually wrapped in cloth, and a big pack of his favorite beef jerky beside his bed, he knew his precious little disciple had just been there.
On one hand, he regretted, how could he have fallen asleep! If not for that, wouldn't he have been able to see his little disciple? He heard Yumen Pass had the most Tartars and frequent battles, there must be even more wounded and tiring days. He wondered if his little disciple had not grown too thin and weary.
Jiang Yuqing's third stop was Hangu Pass where her third senior brother Lu Yi was stationed. When she went to find him after delivering the supplies, Lu Yi had just come down from the operating table and was sitting sprawled out in his tent ferociously gnawing on a steamed bun.
Seeing her suddenly appear, he jumped in shock first. Realizing who she was, he howled and pounced over, "Little martial sister! Do you have anything to eat? I'm about to starve to death."
Jiang Yuqing hurriedly cast a mute spell, isolating the sound. Otherwise with this guy's loud roar, he would no doubt end up letting everyone in the whole camp know.
It had been half a month, and he had grown a messy beard and looked a little thinner. His hair was held up in a jade hairpin at the crown to make surgery easier.
Knowing his temperament, Jiang Yuqing gave him a pile of tasty food and drink, and even the leftover roasted duck from before.
He ate ravenously and spoke blurrily as he ate, "You don't know how bitter this place is. Apart from coarse grain buns and porridge every day, even white flour steamed buns are treasures. I nearly starved to death". After finishing, he realized something wasn't right. His little martial sister and their teacher doubtless also ate such meals. He couldn't continue speaking.
It had already grown noisy outside, Jiang Yuqing could not stay longer either. She still had two more places to go, she had to leave.
Although the other two camps did not have battles at the moment other than sending troops to support the nearby Jinling and Hangu passes, the rest remained armed to the teeth at all times.
The wars were ever-changing and unpredictable. No one knew when the Tartars might turn their horses and charge at them.
They were all armies of Da Xia, all guarding the country and homeland. Naturally Jiang Yuqing could not show bias.
Self-cultivation alone would not prevent one from being insular and authoritarian. But one could cultivate oneself well and at the same time care for and help others led to broadmindedness and selflessness. She was not some overly great person. She only wished within her own capability to help as many of her own people as she could.
On her way back, looking below at the densely packed tents of the Xiongnu camp, thinking of those sacrificed soldiers, Jiang Yuqing felt a gnawing hatred.
She asked Bai Xiaoshi, why couldn't she go down and use bombs to blow all of them up?
Bai Xiaoshi was aghast and shouted, "Are you crazy? Have you forgotten your identity as a cultivator? Using a cultivator's means to directly participate in the wars of common people, once any killings were committed, you would suffer the backlash of Heaven's Way. At its lightest, you may go berserk. At its worst your Dao would be destroyed and you yourself may perish. If it really comes down to it, I beg you to go back and read your introductory jade slip again little ancestor!"
Only then did Jiang Yuqing purse her lips and said, "Alright alright, I was just making a suggestion!" Otherwise she would have struck ruthlessly long ago.
Suddenly her eyes lit up, "What about using expl//osives? Those are mundane objects so there should be no backlash right?"
Bai Xiaoshi rolled his eyes, "Oh forget I said anything!" And so Jiang Yuqing had an idea ready.
She roughly knew the original explosive ingredients ratio, 75% potassium nitrate, also known as nitre, 10% sulphur, 15% wood charcoal. She decided to try it when she went back. (My treasures, just take a look, don't get desperate and try it on yourself. This stuff is not only illegal, if done badly, it can easily cost you your life.)
When returning to her tent in the barracks at Yumen Pass, Jiang Yuqing still had Bai Xiaoshi guarding the door. She turned around and entered the Spirit Realm.
These materials were not difficult to find, she easily found them in the storage area behind the Legacy Hall. She then went to the laboratory in the hospital to find several large precise measuring cups.
To be honest, the theoretical knowledge was enough, but this was the first time actually doing it. For safety reasons, Jiang Yuqing specifically chose the pill room.
Array glyphs were carved all over the place here, even if an accidental explosion occurred, it could withstand it. Before officially starting production, she added another protective shield to herself, giving herself sufficient safety guarantees.
She first grinded the raw materials into powder one by one, then measured them precisely with measuring cups, put them in the cauldron, and carefully mixed them together. She then twisted a thin cotton fuse as the ignition cord, lit it and quickly ran to the corner.
She had just stood still when there was a loud "bang", the entire cauldron was blasted into the air, flipped over twice before falling back to the ground with a “clang”, rolled over twice and stopped moving. Thick black smoke filled the entire pill room.
Damn it, the ratio was right, it was just that the amount seemed to be too much!
Jiang Yuqing coughed out a mouthful of black smoke, her ears buzzing for a moment, and for an instant, she almost doubted whether her eardrums had ruptured.
If she had known earlier she would have added a soundproofing barrier. It seemed that her protective shield was currently only able to defend against physical attacks, but unable to defend against magical attacks.
Hmmm, fix it when there is time later.
Jiang Yuqing opened the window in the Legacy Hall to ventilate, then flipped the cauldron over and put it back in its original place. She washed it clean with spiritual spring water, casted two cleaning spells, and perfectly fixed it.
After watching the whole process, Bai Xiaoshi’s heart almost stopped beating. He painstakingly criticized her, "Using such an amazing cauldron to test such inferior explosives, the coffin lids of your ancestral masters must be unable to contain them! This is simply wasteful of heavenly objects!"
Jiang Yuqing said, "This cauldron is very powerful?"
Bai Xiaoshi said, "Of course it’s powerful. This cauldron is called the Dragon Flame Cauldron, it is the most amazing cauldron in ancient cultivation world, second to none. It has inbuilt Dragon Flame strange fire."
Jiang Yuqing shrugged and said, "You also said it was ancient. In today's world, spiritual energy is scarce, even the lowest grade spiritual grass can’t be found. Although the Spirit Realm has many precious medicinal materials, there are still too many types of spiritual medicines that are lacking. I figured, in the future if I can gather the ingredients for some basic pill recipes and successfully refine them, that would not be bad."
After confirming feasibility, Jiang Yuqing quickly wrote down the explosive ratio, and then wrote down detailed precautions, she even drew the appearance of modern hand grenades and landmines, letting them give free rein to their imagination.
Do not underestimate the wisdom of the ancients, many of the glorious civilizations created by the ancestors with their bare hands could not be achieved by later generations even with advanced machinery.
Although such primitive gunpowder cannot be compared with modern thermal weapons, if it can be developed, it can also be considered crossing eras. At least it can be used to blast rocks when opening mountains.
Even if it cannot kill many people when used on the battlefield, at least the sound can startle them badly enough, shockingly earth-shaking.
So when Qin Yijian got up the next morning and found this gunpowder formula on his desk, he was extremely delighted. He immediately summoned several generals for a top secret meeting.
After that, one of his trusted aides took a small group of men, escorted several good weapon craftsmen from the engineering camp, and under the cover of the night they quietly left the barracks, disappearing into the vast Gobi desert north of Yumen county.