"Damn it!" Fang Wushang cursed under his breath. "That was deliberate."
Liang Shixian: "What? What was deliberate?"
Fang Wushang: "He deliberately rode out to take a shot at you. If it hit, the city's morale would collapse instantly, and he'd attack right then—the city would surely fall. Missing didn't matter to him. Even my return shot was within his expectations. He used that clean, flashy maneuver to dodge on purpose—to seize the initiative and crush the morale of our defenders."
Liang Shixian: "Huh? Huh? Huh?"
They were already clashing in that single moment? My mental revolving lantern didn't even have time to start spinning!
Only then did he realize these military men weren't stupid.
Their minds just worked on a different axis than his.
Sure enough, Commander Wolf's display had an excellent effect. The rebels outside cheered loudly, while the defenders inside the city paled, all thinking: So this is what border troops are like. They're terrifyingly good.
The Chengcheng militia and local volunteers had fought Buzhanni twice at Fengyuan Town and Fanyue at Quangou Village. Back then, they just had to draw their garish plastic bows and loose a volley of random arrows to throw the bandits into disarray and rout them.
Now, with greater numbers and defending a walled city, they had felt quite confident.
But after seeing Commander Wolf's display, the militia and volunteers remembered: This enemy isn't bandits. They're border troops!
The most elite troops of the Great Ming were the border armies, stationed year-round on the frontiers, constantly fighting northern ethnic groups. Their combat prowess wasn't just talk.
Li Daoxuan was also thinking: This guy's pretty sharp! His soldiers must all be elites too. Guys like Buzhanni's seventh squad leader, 'Night Ranger,' from last time—this Commander Wolf could probably field dozens of men like that without breaking a sweat.
Tsk tsk!
Starting to worry a bit about my militia.
He hurriedly placed the "Infinity Gauntlet" within easy reach beside the box, just in case he really needed it later.
Commander Wolf returned to his ranks and raised a hand. "Chop off Li Ying's head."
Li Ying: "Huh?"
Before he could even beg for mercy, a border soldier behind him swung a saber. Thump! A head flew. Blood spurted from the neck like a fountain. Li Ying's headless corpse tumbled from the horse, hitting the dust with a thud, sending up a cloud of sand.
The eight hundred rebels roared in unison: "HOO-RAH!"
The tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians inside the city all jumped, their morale taking another heavy blow.
This, too, was an attack on morale.
Killing Li Ying at this precise moment was killing the chicken to scare the monkey—a deliberate show to intimidate the city's defenders and weaken their will to fight.
Commander Wolf laughed heartily. "Open the gates and surrender immediately! Hand over all the official silver from the treasury, and your miserable lives might be spared. Otherwise, when the city falls, I'll slaughter every last one of you."
Liang Shixian trembled all over, too shaken even to give orders.
Fang Wushang bellowed, "Don't be afraid of him! Don't panic... Don't fall for the villain's tricks..."
His shouts were useless. Thousands of refugees shivered.
Some were already considering opening the gates. Just hand over the official silver. It's not our money anyway.
"Look! Look, look! Our reinforcements are here!"
Someone on the northeast watchtower suddenly shouted.
Everyone was on the south wall and couldn't see the northeast. Fang Wushang rushed to the east wall and looked north. Elated, he cried, "The Ghost Commander is here!"
Cheng Xu had arrived just in time!
But after a careful look at Cheng Xu's troops, Fang Wushang frowned and muttered, "Something's off."
Liang Shixian: "What's off?"
Fang Wushang: "Wasn't the Ghost Commander camped in the Huanglong Mountains? After receiving our plea for aid, he marched his fully armored troops over forty li in just a few hours... and not a single man looks tired. How is that possible?"
Liang Shixian: "!"
Right. How is that possible?
They had no idea that Cheng Xu had first taken the train to Bai Family Fort, then boarded the solar-powered passenger and cargo carts heading for the county seat.
The road between the county seat and Gao Village was under construction from both ends. One crew worked from the county towards the village, another from the village towards the county. So, starting from Gao Village, there were several li of road that, while not yet concrete, had been leveled and cleared. The solar carts could travel there, albeit a bit slower.
This transported them to a point not far from the county seat.
Cheng Xu and his men only had to walk a short final distance before hiding in the withered forest northeast of the county. They had arrived long ago, simply resting in the woods, waiting until the militia soldiers were fully recuperated before making their grand entrance.
This sudden appearance was guaranteed to shock Fang Wushang and Liang Shixian.
Cheng Xu also knew he couldn't possibly enter the city. Liang Shixian certainly didn't fully trust the "Ghost Commander" yet. Letting him inside now risked an inside-outside pincer attack with Commander Wolf, which would mean instant defeat.
So Cheng Xu generously skirted the city walls, soon arriving southward, facing Commander Wolf's border troops from a distance.
Commander Wolf was baffled!
Seeing this force of five hundred men, all in neat armor and with fine equipment, even he wouldn't believe they weren't border troops. But what unit was this in the Guyuan border army?
Commander Wolf roared, "Who in the blazes are you?"
Cheng Xu shouted back, "Old Ghosthead from Guyuan! You can call me Ghost Commander."
Commander Wolf raged, "Bullshit! 'Old Ghosthead' is an insult in Guyuan dialect! Who would use that as their name? Who are you really?"
Cheng Xu rolled his eyes. "Are you out of your damn mind? If I asked you right now who you really are, would you dare answer? I bet if you shouted your real name, your nine clans back home would all lose their heads."
Commander Wolf: "..."
Li Daoxuan was amused. Hahaha! This Cheng Xu is a master of trash talk. Commander Wolf is about to lose his mind.
Sure enough, Commander Wolf began to unravel. Dammit! I know every Guyuan commander who rebled with me! Even masked, I should recognize his build or voice! I have zero impression of this guy!
Cheng Xu announced loudly, "This Chengcheng County is under my protection. I'm still counting on this magistrate to help me petition the court for our back pay. Wolf, I suggest you scram. Don't be ungrateful."
Commander Wolf: "Dammit! We agreed to rebel together, to smash the court to pieces! And now you flip back to the court's side? I look down on you, you son of a bitch!"
Cheng Xu glanced up at the sky. The Tianzun's low-hanging cloud was right overhead. No need for fear. He laughed boldly. "Enough talk. Let's fight. Whoever wins is the boss."