Family Cultivation: My entire family are Villains

Chapter 367: Bloody Massacre (Part 1)_2

Sixty thousand men found it somewhat difficult to completely hide their tracks, but fortunately, this was the starting point of Wanglong Mountain, especially this section of the official road, which was right in the valley, flanked by high mountains with unique advantages. Soon, a large expanse of tents below was gathered up, and the traces of their encampment on the ground were also cleaned up one by one.

Afterward, the sixty thousand were divided into two groups, one climbed the southern slope while the other ascended the northern slope. All being cultivators, no matter how complicated the terrain, the soldiers leaped up and each found suitable cover to hide.

About an hour and a half later, from the mountaintop looking down, the army had disappeared without a trace, with no further vulnerabilities visible, and Hou Yuduan also called to the people beside him to return to their respective camps.

By the time Peng Yucheng had finished his business and flew to the mountaintop, darkness had already enveloped the earth.

"Commander Peng, let's go ahead and observe the situation!"

With the official road being so long, it wouldn't be possible to wait for reinforcements to come before reacting. Naturally, people must be sent to a position slightly forward. Peng Yucheng understood this reasoning, nodded, and followed Hou Yuduan, flying three miles ahead, hiding behind a thick tree at the edge of a mountain ridge.

August was the beginning of autumn, and as bouts of cool wind blew, the two hid behind the tree, watching the end of the official road, quietly waiting for the arrival of Longxiang County's reinforcements.

According to previous calculations, the reinforcements would arrive no sooner than the next morning. About an hour and a half later, possibly feeling the atmosphere somewhat stifling, Hou Yuduan spoke up to break the silence.

"Mr. Hou has something he does not understand, and wonders if Commandant Peng might dispel his confusion!"

"Speak."

"Whether it's Tongling's previous thirty thousand Mansion Army, or the current one hundred seventy thousand besieging Wanyang County, even the Wanyang County garrison troops I've seen, I've never seen a single warhorse among them. It seems that whether for marching or formation, or charging into battle, warhorses are a great asset. Why is it that I've never seen you deploy warhorses?"

Hou Yuduan had been holding onto this question for a long time, even from the first time he came to Tongling County and saw the Mansion Army, but he had never found the right person to ask. Now that Peng Yucheng was here, he naturally asked.

Peng Yucheng was slightly taken aback upon hearing this question but quickly realized something and asked with a light laugh, "Right, you are young, and before this you must have never seen two armies clashing, right?"

Hou Yuduan's gaze hardened, not because he felt belittled, but because he had seen it.

"I've seen it. During the chaos in Tongling, Xu's forty thousand strong army charged at Tongling City, and the garrison fought to the death. Even earlier, when demons attacked the city, I saw it all!"

Peng Yucheng countered, "What do you think, in that environment, if you were riding an ordinary warhorse, could you have made any difference?"

Hou Yuduan's expression became startled, and he suddenly had a great realization.

"In any clash between two armies, whether against demons or martial artists, the immense energy of thousands mixed together will significantly affect even a powerhouse at the frayed realm, let alone an ordinary warhorse..."

"So, does this mean that soldiers will never be able to be paired with warhorses?"

Peng Yucheng paused momentarily, then shook his head and said, "Not necessarily. It seems you haven't traveled much in the martial world. I'll explain to you the classifications of horses today!"

Hou Yuduan immediately perked up and listened attentively.

"Firstly, horse breeds, from inferior to superior, are divided into ordinary nags, good breed horses, and fine horses. Nags are what we see most commonly, priced around a hundred taels; good breed horses are somewhat more costly, depending on their origin and channel, the price starts at upwards of two thousand, and most expensive doesn't exceed twenty thousand; while fine horses, they are expensive, even in the place of origin, the price won't be below five thousand taels, and if sold across one or several provinces, the price can soar to nearly a hundred ten thousand!"

When Hou Yuduan heard the words 'fine horse', a faint glimmer of darkness flashed in his eyes, but he didn't speak and just continued to listen to Peng Yucheng.

"Actually, few people know that apart from this classification, there is another distinction between ordinary and warhorses. First, because warhorses are strategic materials for each province, only powers above the Earth Level have the right to purchase in bulk; secondly, ordinary people will never be involved in some major level of battle, and thus have no use for warhorses."

First of all, war horses that can enter the battlefield and withstand massive pressure from qi and blood have undergone specialized training. This kind of training technique is generally available in Holy Lands, and a few Earth-Level major forces also possess it; basically, the war horse trade is monopolized by these groups.

To qualify as a war horse, the animal itself has to be of a good breed or superior quality. Common nags, no matter how they're trained, can never become war horses.

Next is the price; since war horses are meant for battle, their appearance is relatively less important, and their price doesn't fluctuate as much as that of ordinary horses.

"An average good breed trained as a war horse usually costs five thousand taels, while a superior war horse's price is much higher—one would have to pay thirty thousand taels of silver to buy just one!"

Hearing this price, Hou Yuduan couldn't help but take a sharp breath of cold air...

Even five thousand taels for one horse was daunting; a superior war horse costing thirty thousand taels each was no surprise—only Earth-Level forces could afford to purchase them in large quantities, as ordinary First-Class forces couldn't even afford to buy them!

Take the Hou Clan, for instance. When their influence was only in Zhaoyang, after deducting various clan expenses for the year, what remained was just over one hundred thousand taels of silver—which would not even be enough to buy twenty horses.

A superior war horse, they could only afford three...

Seeing the shock on Hou Yuduan's face, Peng Yucheng seemed to guess what he was thinking and showed a slight smile, speaking softly, "And that's not all. After purchasing these war horses, they cannot be fed with just any fodder; they need a special feed called Blood Fiend Grass. Sustaining a good breed war horse costs about five hundred taels of silver per month just for purchasing Blood Fiend Grass, which amounts to six thousand taels a year; the consumption for a superior war horse, I don't even know, but it's certainly much higher!"

This frightening expense momentarily rendered Hou Yuduan speechless.

It wasn't enough just to buy them; maintaining a single good breed war horse would cost six thousand taels of silver a year—an expense that was even higher than the cost of maintaining a Martial Artist of the Open Body Realm...

"Now you see why only Earth-Level forces can purchase war horses in large quantities. In reality, the vast majority of Earth-Level forces are also unable to equip their troops with large numbers of war horses. Someone once calculated that maintaining a cavalry troop of over one thousand soldiers could cost upwards of ten million taels per year in expenses just for the horses. Earth-Level forces certainly have that kind of financial power, but they have other areas where they need to spend money. It's not possible to pour such vast resources into just one cavalry unit!"

Besides, these war horses have an intense and belligerent nature, making them hard to tame. Ordinary soldiers of five levels of body refinement could not even get close to them; at least a Warrior of the Tenth Level of Body Opening is needed to manage them.

"Our Xingnan Prefectural Army has a full strength of two hundred thousand men, but only one cavalry battle formation of five hundred men. Usually, they're stationed in the Prefectural City to deter the lawless."

This was understandable. Such fierce war horses needed skilled handlers to ride them on the battlefield and to work together with others to form an effective military formation. If they were to select soldiers according to the standard of five levels of body refinement like ordinary troops, it certainly wouldn't work.

Warriors of the Tenth Level of Body Opening, such a selection criterion...

The Hou Clan, to date, counting all the Martial Artists above the Tenth Level of Body Opening, probably didn't even total five hundred, tsk tsk...

Hou Yuduan sighed inwardly, then his brow furrowed as he saw Peng Yucheng about to speak and quickly patted his shoulder, giving him a signal to keep silent.

Peng Yucheng looked stunned and scanned the surroundings, immediately feeling somewhat puzzled.

With his cultivation of the Second Realm Grandmaster, his sense of perception was certainly above that of Hou Yuduan, who was at the Gang Qi Realm. He hadn't sensed anyone approaching. Why was Hou Yuduan gesturing for silence?

But only three or four breaths later, Peng Yucheng abruptly turned to look toward the end of the Official Road on the eastern side, his expression instantly changed.

Two figures were speeding along the Official Road, cutting through the night sky...

"Hold your breath and keep quiet; they are likely scouts. Let's wait and see what happens first!"

While Peng Yucheng was still puzzled about how Hou Yuduan knew before he did, he realized this was not the key issue. Quickly calming his mind and spirit, he leaned against a tree, quietly watching as the two figures drew nearer...