Chapter 294: Quid Pro Quo
Chapter 294: Quid Pro Quo
Feishan Hu’s forces arrived.
Yet another mass of bandit army of chaotic equipment surged forward, their numbers indistinguishable in the pitch-black dusk—just a dark, swarming mass.
Cheng Xu remained fearless and laughed heartily, “Keep throwing bombs! Where are the firearms? Is the second round ready? Fire! Fire!”
The two simpletons Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu swung their arms once more, sending two more grenades hurtling forward. Simultaneously, the flintlock pistols, firearms, Three-Eyed Divine Firearms, and other chaotic equipment discharged again.
A chaotic barrage of bangs and booms erupted, the noise of firearms echoing through forests and mountains.
Feishan Hu’s troops immediately suffered humiliation upon arrival. Like Big Honglang’s forces, their morale dissolved almost instantly.
The collective morale of one bandit horde plus another doesn’t multiply by two—it merely compounds weakness. One bandit group collapsing or two collapsing happens just as fast.
Feishan Hu’s troops shrieked in panic, scrambling backward and scattering to the flanks.
Feishan Hu’s face darkened. “What in blazes is this?”
Big Honglang cried, “I have no idea either! Their firearms are deadly—strange weapons I’ve never seen before!”
“Damned idiots! We can’t hold! Retreat now!”
Feishan Hu and Big Honglang had no choice but to pull back together.
Their retreat exposed the main force of Wang Zuogua and the battalion commanded by Second Leader Miao Mei.
These two units were still battling Wu Zimian’s remnants.
Wu Zimian had already fled under the protection of his household guards, but his Yansui garrison troops continued fighting. Their morale had been low from the start, teetering near defeat… until Cheng Xu’s forces suddenly unleashed a relentless bombardment of booms and crashes.
To the bandit army, those sounds were terrifying. To the officials, they were deeply comforting.
A Commander roared amidst the ranks, “Our reinforcements are here! Fear nothing! Reinforcements with firearms—elite troops! Must be Provincial Governor Liu Guangsheng’s men from Shaanxi!”
“Reinforcements are here! We can win now! Stand firm!”
Hearing this, the officials’ morale soared.
The officials had always been stronger than bandit troops. Though Wang Zuogua’s forces included many border army soldiers and former officials, they still fell short compared to proper imperial troops. The bandits only held the upper hand after chasing off Wu Zimian and suppressing his garrison troops’ spirit.
Now, with the officials’ morale revitalized, the bandit troops stood no chance.
The officials’ Spear Formation regained its fearsome might, pressing forward and driving Wang Zuogua and Miao Mei’s forces steadily backward.
Wang Zuogua glanced back and saw Feishan Hu and Big Honglang retreating too. He knew disaster loomed.
“Quickly!” he bellowed. “Seize those captured warhorses! We pull out now!”
Big Honglang happened to be a skilled rider and vaulted swiftly onto a warhorse. Her fiercest bandits scrambled onto mounts as well.
A large herd of horses doesn’t need every animal ridden—just a few lead steeds spurred forward can draw the herd behind them. Thus these few riders sufficed.
Big Honglang and her trusted henchmen dug their heels into the horses’ flanks. “Hyah! Gallop!”
Their dash sent five hundred warhorses charging northeast in their wake.
Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang stared. “Damn it!”
Panic seized them both.
This was outrageous! The militia couldn’t outrun horses. If the bandits escaped, how could they fulfill the Deity’s command?
Damn it, the greatest crisis since the founding of the civilian corps had arrived.
Li Daoxuan clicked on the Infinity Gloves, turned on the switch, and the Infinity Gems began flashing colorful lights; he was ready to show off.
But just as he was about to act, he suddenly saw an amusing scene.
Zao Ying, who had just climbed the nearby small mountain to watch the show, suddenly swung her sabre, pointed in the direction where Big Honglang was fleeing, and shouted loudly, “Brothers, let’s go intercept those warhorses.”
A subordinate asked, “Huh? Why?”
Zao Ying replied, “The rebel band in Guyuan saved our lives, so we must return the kindness.”
The subordinates exclaimed, “Understood!”
Zao Ying charged ahead, leading the attack.
Behind her, one hundred and twenty bandits shouted together, brandishing their sabres, and chased after Big Honglang.
Now was the time to test their riding skills!
Big Honglang only knew how to ride a horse—she couldn’t be called skilled in riding—but the bandits had all grown up on horseback, with superb riding abilities; though not as good as northern minorities’, within the barrier, each was a top riding master.
Their charge was nothing like Big Honglang’s pace.
Big Honglang only heard the urgent sound of hooves from the side; turning to look, she saw Zao Ying fiercely attacking.
Big Honglang yelled, “Fuck this!”
She quickly raised her spear, thrusting directly at Zao Ying.
But Zao Ying had prepared; she leaned to one side on the saddle, easily dodging the spear. In an instant, as the horses drew close, Zao Ying flicked her wrist, swinging her sabre in a silver arc, sweeping toward Big Honglang’s waist.
Big Honglang was scared out of her wits; stuck on the horse, she didn’t know how to dodge. In the chaos, she thought of abandoning the horse, gave a strange cry, tumbled down the other side, landed heavily with a thud, rolling over several times.
Zao Ying didn’t bother with Big Honglang’s fate; she grabbed the reins, taking the horse Big Honglang had just ridden, and led it away. Her troops charged up too, hacking down Big Honglang’s few subordinates and dismounting them, seizing their reins to lead the horses aside.
Their actions had a leading effect; the hundreds of warhorses behind all followed them.
Li Daoxuan watched her with interest, thinking to himself, “If you’re taking these horses to flee the battle and profit from the chaos, I’ll have to intervene.”
But human nature seemed less evil than that.
Zao Ying didn’t lead the horses away; instead, she circled around with them and charged toward Cheng Xu and his group.
The civilian corps members tensed up, hesitating whether to attack the oncoming cavalry, but Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang both shouted at once, “Stop! Don’t strike!”
They could see that Zao Ying bore no hostile intent.
The large group of warhorses was brought before Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang and halted; she tossed the lead horse’s reins to Cheng Xu, saying, “Thanks for saving our lives. Here are five hundred horses back, now we’re even.”
Xing Honglang laughed heartily, “Yichuan Zao Ying is truly as reputed.”
Zao Ying stared at Xing Honglang for several seconds before suddenly saying, “Yongji Xing Honglang?”
Xing Honglang laughed, “That’s me.”
Zao Ying laughed, “No wonder, no wonder, hahaha.”
She pointed at the still-warring officials and Wang Zuogua, asking, “What about those over there?”
Xing Honglang replied, “Now that we have the warhorses, let’s ignore them and run away. How’s that?”
Cheng Xu said, “A fine plan! Let’s withdraw then.”
Zao Ying said, “Hmm, fighting more won’t help either; I’ll pull out too.”
She clasped her fists toward Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang, saying, “Mountains stand unchanged, rivers flow constant—we’ll meet again someday.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the sound of arrows slicing through the air came—a forceful arrow flew toward her from behind…