Admin Note: Chapters 104-105 are missing, check MTL: s/mtl-reader/1206969/104/
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Bai Yuan was an old friend of Gaojia Village. His request naturally couldn’t be refused. Thirty-Two promptly invited Bai Yuan’s wife, son, and several servants and maids into the fortress, instructing Clerk Tan Liwen to arrange rooms and daily necessities for them.
Bai Yuan cupped his hands in salute. “Thank you, Deity. Thank you, Manager Thirty-Two. With my wife and child safely settled here, I have no worries left. I shall return to Bai Family Fortress now to organize the militia and prepare to resist the bandit army at any mont.”
Thirty-Two frowned thoughtfully. “Thousands of bandits… even if Bai Family Fortress tried every trick possible, it couldn’t withstand them, could it? Ultimately, we must still rely on the authorities.”
Bai Yuan: “The authorities… ah… as you know, Chengcheng County has only Patrol Officer Cheng Xu himself, leading just over a hundred soldiers. Normally, dealing with small-ti thieves is manageable, but faced with thousands of bandit troops, he could only go see his ancestors.”
Thirty-Two: “…”
Bai Yuan said: “In any case, I shall head back first. If Bai Family Fortress proves unable to resist, I will flee to Gaojia Village. I hope Gaojia Village will save once more then.”
Thirty-Two returned the salute. “Take care. If the situation looks dire, co imdiately.”
Bai Yuan swung himself onto the carriage, drove the empty vehicle back the way he ca, and the servants who had accompanied him spurred their horses to follow. The group ca quickly and left just as fast, disappearing into the setting sun in the blink of an eye.
Li Daoxuan watched Bai Yuan leave, feeling a twinge of concern.
Bai Yuan was an amusing fellow. Having watched him from above for so long, Li Daoxuan had developed a certain affection for him, much like watching Song Xiaobao perform sketches repeatedly; inevitably, one day, upon hearing Song Xiaobao intended to single-handedly duel a hundred ard thugs, one would worry for him.
It seed it was ti to deploy—Solar Vehicle No. 3.
“Yiye, go summon Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu.”
Gao Yiye imdiately sprang into action, ready to relay the ssage.
Li Daoxuan slowly lowered the pre-modified Solar Vehicle No. 3 in front of Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu.
The massive solar vehicle, a full 14 centiters long (translating to 28 ters, or over nine zhang in the late Ming period), lood before the figures barely a centiter tall—the visual impact was simply explosive.
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu craned their necks, gazing up at the behemoth like modern n standing before a giant semi-truck, their jaws hanging open. “So big?”
Li Daoxuan: “If it weren’t this big, it couldn’t transport the catapults.”
The two idiots: “Huh? Transport catapults? For what?”
Thirty-Two delivered a thud thud—a knock on each of their heads: “Still don’t get it? The Deity wants the two of you to use this enormous vehicle to transport catapults to Bai Family Fortress and help Master Bai defend against the enemy.”
Only then did understanding dawn on them.
“After sunrise tomorrow, you two practice getting familiar with this vehicle first. The driving thod is the sa as with the previous sun chariots. It’s just that this one is larger, has greater inertia, and turns much less nimbly. You need to adapt well to it. Keep the speed very slow.”
Early the next morning, just as the sun rose, the two fools began practicing driving Solar Vehicle No. 3. Though they were slow-witted, they were agile and quick to react—quite suited for driving. They managed to master driving the large vehicle proficiently in just a single day.
Early on the third morning, Li Daoxuan took out the small catapults used previously against Supre Bright King and placed them on the vehicle. These little catapults were only 3 centiters long. Placed on the vehicle, they posed no problem at all. Several could even be stacked. Though once at Bai Family Fortress, it would likely require significant effort for Bai Yuan and his n to unload them.
But Li Daoxuan had confidence in the ingenuity of ancient laboring folk; they would surely find a way to utilize these catapults.
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu set off, transporting a vehicle fully loaded with catapults, advancing towards Bai Family Fortress over forty li away…
The vehicle was too large, making the official road seem sowhat narrow. Its tires often strayed onto the grass beyond the path.
Fortunately, the tires were sufficiently large. The two drivers only needed to proceed slowly, avoid major potholes and large stones, and maintain a steady forward course; it was manageable.
…
Simultaneously, Ninth-rank Patrol Officer Cheng Xu was leading his 100-odd soldiers towards Huanglong Mountain.
“Stone and mud!” Cheng Xu cursed incessantly. “I, your father, exerted considerable effort to finally wipe out the damn bandit troops in Chengcheng County, only to find bandits from other counties showing up in the blink of an eye! Damn, damn, I damn their mothers! Magistrates of Luochuan and Yichuan Counties, I damn your ancestors for eighteen generations!”
The deputy inspector whispered, “Boss, shouldn’t we be cursing the patrol officers of Luochuan and Yichuan? They failed to suppress the bandits properly, allowing them to cross borders. Why curse the magistrates?”
Cheng Xu: “Those two patrol officers are military officers like . I understand their predicant perfectly! The bandit force is huge. Like , they have only about a hundred subordinates. How could they resist? They can’t be blad for this. The fault lies entirely with the civil officials demanding harsh exactions, driving good people to banditry. We military officers bear no responsibility.”
His n: “…”
Sothing felt off, but upon reflection, it seed right enough.
The deputy inspector whispered, “Boss, once we reach Huanglong Mountain, do we attack imdiately?”
Cheng Xu: “Attack my ass! Haven’t you heard? Twenty to thirty hundred bandits ca from Luochuan, and the sa from Yichuan. Together, at least five thousand! Should we, just over a hundred n, fight five thousand? Are you fucking itching to die? When we get to Huanglong Mountain, I won’t go a single step up that hill. I’ll just go sip so tea at Bai Family Fortress and sponge off their prosperity. If the bandits retreat back to Luochuan and Yichuan, we return and claim credit, saying we routed a bandit army of five thousand with a re hundred n, driving them away. If the bandits attack… hmph…”
Deputy inspector: “…we run? Then report to the court that the bandit force was too strong, thus not a failure in battle?”
Cheng Xu patted the deputy inspector’s helt. “You’ve finally shown so sense, lad.”
As they spoke, Bai Family Fortress ca into view ahead.
Cheng Xu gazed towards the fortress in the distance. “Eh? Bai Family Fortress… they’ve thickened and heightened the fortress walls. Seems they’ve spent a lot of money lately.”
The fortress gates opened ahead, and Bai Yuan ca out to greet them, saluting Cheng Xu with clasped fists. “General Cheng’s esteed presence brings honor to our humble Bai Family Fortress.”
Cheng Xu laughed heartily. “Master Bai, you surely know why I’ve co.”
Bai Yuan: “Naturally, it is concerning Huanglong Mountain.”
As they said this, both n instinctively turned their gaze towards Huanglong Mountain. The imposing Huanglong Mountain soared north of Bai Family Fortress, its peaks towering hundreds of zhang high, winding and coiled, its scenery majestically formidable.
From where they stood, they could see only a corner of Huanglong Mountain; its full scale remained impossible to grasp.
Cheng Xu: “Master Bai, thousands of bandits are right there on the mountain beside you. Yet, you remain calm and stay here to guard it. Such courage is indeed rare.”
Bai Yuan gave a bitter smile. “The common people of these dozens of li all depend on to protect them. How could it be proper, once bandits arrive, for to flee first? This contravenes propriety. And propriety is one of the Six Arts of Gentlen; I am quite particular about such things.”
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