The Wandering Samurai and his Beloved General (BL)

Mainu, the last remaining advisor, burst into the tent and froze in shock upon hearing the general's orders. For a moment, he hesitated, stunned into silence. But after considering the confidence Lanling exuded, he swallowed his protests and hurried to relay the commands to the army, urging them to pack and prepare for the march alongside Xuzhan.

A three-hour walk would take twice as long with an army of their size, so it was no surprise that Lanling wanted them to set out immediately.

They only had three days to execute his plan. One of those days would have to be used to relocate.

"Lanling, Lanling~ How are we supposed to live with the crocodiles? They seem smart, but I don't think we can negotiate peace with them," Haruki teased, laughing as he trailed behind Lanling.

Lanling was busy overseeing the packing and ensuring the army's marching formation would be optimized for the journey. Hearing Haruki's laugh, he couldn't help but smile, Haruki's amusement was infectious.

"Do you remember the bald cypress trees in that swamp?" Lanling asked, his tone calm yet playful.

Haruki nodded eagerly. "Of course. They could rival the giant sequoias around here."

"Exactly. Half the army will use those trees to set up an ambush."

Haruki's eyes sparkled as he envisioned the upcoming battle. Yet, his inexperience showed—his imagination could only conjure fragmented, mosaic-like images. "With that height, only the mages and archers would be able to act. And what about the other half of the army?"

Lanling shook his head with a light chuckle. "Let's discuss it during the march. Explaining it twice might spark some unconventional ideas, and we've only got time to try one." He laughed at the thought, his confidence unshaken.

The soldiers, disciplined from years of rigorous training and harsh lessons under their commanders, moved with a quiet efficiency. Though some silently questioned their destination, none dared to voice their doubts or act out of line. This was an army tempered by both experience and trust in their leaders after all.

Inside a carriage near the front of the procession, five figures huddled together, hanging on to every word of Lanling's plan. His calm, almost casual explanation made the strategy sound deceptively simple. For a moment, it felt as though they had overreacted to the challenge.

But as they mulled over the details, an undeniable fear crept back in—the chilling thought of truly living among crocodiles.

"General…" Mainu's face shifted between admiration and horror. "I don't think we have enough rope for your plan."

"It's fine. Whatever number we crafted and however many can execute the ambush during training—that's how many will be in the trees, alongside the mages and archers. The rest should break into groups and position themselves along the outskirts of the swamp."

Still carrying a slight smile, Lanling gestured toward their previous encampment's location. "They'll be coming from this direction since we didn't hide any of our tracks. Have the remaining army prepare a pincer maneuver and wait for a signal."

He paused for a moment, then added, "Keep an eye out for forest fires."

Mainu let out a long sigh of relief and nodded. "Since it's a swamp, the upper ground will be the most vulnerable to the fires but it shouldn't have the strength to spread too far unless they keep it up with magic."

Bailu's face also softened, his tension easing. "We'll have to worry about the crocodiles then, but by that time we'll have already taken out a third or maybe half of their forces with little-to-no casualties."

"Only if everything goes according to plan!" Xuzhan frowned, a hint of doubt in his voice. "General, will the birthrate of the crocodiles really increase if we let the mages disperse their mana over the swamp?"

"Yes." Lanling's response was immediate, his voice unwavering. The certainty in his tone left everyone, except Haruki, stunned.

Lanling's eyes narrowed for a brief moment, concealing whatever emotions had surfaced. "Curses require energy to sustain themselves. The source of energy here is actually the nearby town, who were helplessly forced to control the crocodile's population."

Haruki raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You mean, if the town is destroyed…"

Lanling nodded before he could finish. "Destroy the town. Stop the curse."

An eerie silence settled over the group. Whoever had placed the curse had such sinister motives that it sent shivers down their spines.

"But this information is a state secret, so you can treat it as if you never heard it," Lanling said with a shrug, the casual gesture contradicting the gravity of his words.

The discussion ended in heavy silence, and any further questions that arose during the march were patiently answered by Lanling.

Along the way, the army would harvest any wild hemp they encountered to create ropes and by the time they reached the swamps they switched to cattails, willows and nettles.

The ambush plan was announced to the army and it sounded simple.

—Use the rope as leverage, grab an enemy soldier that wandered the swamp, then kill them on top of the trees.

The crocodiles would serve as the enemies' natural predators, while the mages and archers would only intervene if the ambushers failed to remain undetected.

Really, it sounded so simple that many of the soldiers were eager to train—almost clamoring for the ropes, but reality soon slapped some of them on their faces as those that had no agility almost died from being tangled by the ropes.

Their screams would disturb the nearby predators but since their training was situated on the outskirts, accidental deaths were easily avoided.

The other daring soldiers had already ventured deep into the swamp in groups of four or five. And some used the crocodiles as motivation to avoid falling off the trees during their training.

It was certainly one of the wildest training experiences the soldiers had ever undergone.

Two days later, everyone had taken their positions and waited. A heavy silence blanketed the swamp, as if death itself had descended upon the mortal realm.

The crocodiles, with their beady eyes, seemed to sense the tension in the air. None of them emerged, instead instinctively waiting for a larger meal and ignoring any smaller creatures that happened to cross their path.

The intelligence in their gaze stirred a new layer of fear within the soldiers' hearts.