Cheng Xu finished mobilizing the troops, instructing all Militia Soldiers to conduct a final inventory of their gear and provisions.
He then took Gao Yiye, trekked over the small mountain, and arrived at a secluded spot with no one around. Only then did he lift his head toward the sky and say, “Deity, this humble servant has a question.”
Li Daoxuan, seeing him pull Gao Yiye away from the crowd, had already guessed he had sothing to ask. “Ask.”
Cheng Xu spoke respectfully, “Gaojia Village currently has just over four thousand people. Even adding a few hundred from Bai Family Fortress, the total barely reaches five thousand. Isn’t confronting the imperial court with such strength premature? Even with your divine assistance from the skies—we might win one battle, a hundred battles, remain undefeated—we lack enough capable people to govern this world. Conquering it would be easy for you, Deity, but governing it well? Relying on our re five thousand? That is far, far from sufficient.”
Li Daoxuan chuckled. “Do you think I intend for Gaojia Village to… rebelled right now?”
Cheng Xu: “Huh? Isn’t that so? A Guerrilla General is no minor official. Once we eliminate him, Gaojia Village will inevitably draw the court’s attention. Continuing to hide away like a paradise land? That won’t be possible.”
Li Daoxuan: “Who said it was done by Gaojia Village? You are clearly the… rebel band in Guyuan.”
As soon as these words were uttered, Cheng Xu froze.
A few seconds later, he suddenly slapped his forehead, eyes wide with realization. “Ah! Right! I’m wearing Mountain-patterned Armor. My five hundred Militia Soldiers are all armored, carrying crossbows, holding spears with iron heads, and wearing waist knives at their hips. Every last one looks more like an official’s soldier than a villager. Why do I insist on saying I’m from Gaojia Village? When we attack Li Ying, we just need to say we are the rebel band in Guyuan!”
Li Daoxuan: “Exactly. We in Gaojia Village are all law-abiding common folk. How could we possibly attack officials? That is utterly impossible. Defiantly attacking officials? Only fearless soldiers of the border army could do such a thing.”
Cheng Xu: “Hahaha! Deity! Deity, your venerable self—”
He forcefully bit back the second half of his thought: truly enjoys toying with people.
Voicing it would be disrespectful. Knowing it in his heart was enough.
Li Daoxuan guessed his unspoken words from his tone and couldn’t help but smile faintly. Mischievous? Yes, that’s the plan. He refused to be one of those stuffy, wooden, pretentious deities.
Cheng Xu, now without hesitation, dashed back to the Militia Soldiers.
“Everyone prepare a cloth mask. Cover your faces. Rember,” he announced, “I am no longer Instructor He. You call ‘Old Ghost from Guyuan’, or Captain Ghost works too. Hehehe…”
Saying this, a sense of smugness surged within him. Previously, he was just a ninth-rank inspector with barely a hundred n under him, no path for promotion, thinking that was all his life held. Never imagined that after pledging loyalty to Gaojia Village, his status kept growing. Now leading five hundred n, he could call himself Commander! Just the thought felt rather satisfying.
Losing a horse could be a blessing in disguise.
Life was sotis full of such twists!
He pointed at Gao Chuwu. “You! New na: Big Fool.”
Pointed at Zheng Daniu. “You! Reckless Bull.”
Pointed at Ground Rabbit. “You… Ah, forget it! Never mind! Next!”
Ground Rabbit: “Hey? Huh? Why am I ‘never mind’?”
Five hundred pairs of eyes collectively slanted toward him.
Cheng Xu pulled out a homade map, scrutinizing it left and right. After a mont’s thought, he declared, “If we directly head from Gaojia Village’s direction to ambush Li Ying, it could easily lead back to us after the fact. Therefore, we first detour through Huanglong Mountain! Then erge from Huanglong Mountain to take care of Li Ying. Let’s move! To… the train station!”
The five hundred soldiers arrived at the train station, awaiting the carriage running from Bai Family Fortress to Gaojia Village.
Now, several trains went back and forth daily between Bai Family Fortress and Gaojia Village, primarily to facilitate Bai Family Fortress residents coming to the Gaojia Business Circle to purchase supplies.
Although water access was restored at Bai Family Fortress and Horseshoe Lake revived, their material supplies still paled compared to Gaojia Village—especially handicrafts made by the artisans: kitchen knives, farming tools, wooden basins, bamboo basket, pottery jars, cotton cloth, and so on. Bai Family Fortress suffered significant shortages.
A few Bai Family Fortress artisans even “found jobs” in Gaojia Village, commuting by train in the morning and returning in the evening.
Cheng Xu and the militia waited quietly at the platform.
“Woo! Clunking sound! Clunking sound!”
A train chugged into the station. The villagers from Bai Family Fortress who disembarked took one look at the several hundred armored militia on the platform and jumped in fright. “Wa! What are you doing here? You scared us to death!”
Cheng Xu said sternly, “The Militia Soldiers are executing secret military orders from the Deity. You must imdiately forget seeing us here. Should you divulge our whereabouts, the Deity will punish you.”
The threat startled the Bai Family Fortress villagers. They quickly clapped hands over their mouths and slipped away unnoticed.
Cheng Xu and his n boarded the train, soon arriving at Bai Family Fortress.
Bai Yuan, seeing the militia arrive, was rather surprised. After a brief exchange with Cheng Xu, understanding the situation, he lowered his voice, “Wang Zuogua of Yichuan’s remnant forces are still active in Huanglong Mountain. Don’t venture too deep into the mountains, Instructor He. Go just inside, then imdiately head southwest to exit the mountains. That will put you on the official road to Fengyuan Town.”
Li Daoxuan watched from above as Cheng Xu’s group vanished into Huanglong Mountain…
His vision had only extended to the southern slopes of Huanglong Mountain. Once Cheng Xu’s group entered the mountains, they slipped beyond Li Daoxuan’s sight. A small twist of anxiety stirred within him. He truly worried they might bump into Wang Zuogua inside.
Fortunately, Cheng Xu didn’t penetrate deeply. They entered only briefly. He ordered everyone to mask up, rub mud and gri onto their armor and clothes, making themselves look travel-worn, as if they’d trekked a long distance. Then they erged from a small valley on the southwest side, returning to Li Daoxuan’s sight.
This ti erging, they were no longer the Militia Soldiers.
Cheng Xu raised a crudely made, tattered banner bearing a huge character “鬼” [Ghost]. Ground Rabbit hoisted another banner inscribed with “还我血汗军饷” [Return our Hard-earned Military Pay]. The group then swaggered ostentatiously toward Fengyuan Town.
The militia’s best scout, Shi Jian, led a few subordinates ahead as the main force’s eyes. They traveled two miles ahead as the vanguard scouts.
anwhile…
Li Ying, the Guerrilla General who had spent his journey pillaging civilians before holing up in Fengyuan Town, was lounging in the ho of the town’s wealthiest squire. He gnawed on a roast chicken leg, legs comfortably crossed—a picture of ease.
The squire stood to the side, a strained smile plastered onto his face while ntally cursing Li Ying’s ancestors eighteen generations back. The man had robbed him of a significant amount of wealth. The loss stung.
A scout ran in from outside, breathless and shocked. “Report, General! Bad news! The rebel band from Guyuan is marching toward Fengyuan Town!”
Li Ying’s chicken leg thudded to the ground. “What the hell? What did you say?”
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