The bandit gasped, looking like a damp leaf stuck to a rock.
"We… we're under Lang Si. He led us here to kill you. The one who escaped? That was Lang Si."
Bai Yuan frowned, elegant irritation all over his face.
"Lang Si? That man's name is literally 'Lang Si'? And since when did I ever offend him?"
The bandit swallowed. "Lang Si… is the captain of the Fourth Squad under Lord Wang Zuo-gua."
The bandit continued, sounding like he wished he'd chosen a different career path.
"He's the captain of Squad Four under Lord Wang Zuogua…"
Bai Yuan squinted. "Okay. And who is Wang Zuogua?"
Gao Yiye and Mister Wang both froze, then leaned in.
"Mister Bai… Wang Zuogua is that bandit lord squatting in Huanglong Mountain. The one who attacked Bai Fortress."
Lightbulb moment.
Bai Yuan slapped his forehead. "Oh THAT guy! The one with the chronic fortress-envy problem."
Everyone: "…"
Bai Yuan snorted. "Makes sense now. Couldn't take Bai Fortress fair and square, so he went for the classic: sneak attack and dirty tricks. Peak bandit energy."
The bandit weakly protested, "Y-you took our five hundred warhorses… Big Brother Zuogua got mad… so… revenge…"
Bai Yuan frowned.
Li Daoxuan also frowned, though his had more "boss analyzing raid mechanics" energy.
So Zuogua had figured out who stole the horses.
He just didn't know who the leader was — and assumed the tall scholarly one must be the boss.
Which somehow meant Bai Yuan was now the "final boss" in someone else's brain.
Li Daoxuan sighed. "Alright. Mystery solved. Give him a clean end."
One glance from Bai Yuan.
One chop from Zheng Gouzi.
One head less in the world.
Now they knew who to beat up next.
Li Daoxuan turned serious. "From this moment, Gaojia Village is officially at war with Wang Zuogua. We're burning his whole operation down. Bai Yuan — bribe whoever you need. Hire hunters. Track him. I want his exact coordinates on Huanglong Mountain."
Bai Yuan bowed. "Dao Xuan Tianzun… Huanglong Mountain is huge, messy, and full of bandits. Even government troops get lost. Are we really capable of wiping them out?"
Li Daoxuan deadpanned. "Government troops fail because they have two weaknesses: bad logistics and too many bosses breathing down their necks. We have unlimited logistics and zero bosses. If we decide to wipe them out, we wipe them out."
Bai Yuan instantly powered up. "Yes, sir!"
Li Daoxuan turned to Gao Yiye. "Yiye. Tomorrow you return to Gaojia Village and tell the Workshop: war mode ON. No more civilian tools. All smiths switch to muskets and grenades. All carpenters switch to crossbows and arrows."
Gao Yiye blinked. "Uh… nobody making kitchen knives and farm tools anymore? People might struggle a bit…"
"Civilian tools will be made in the county," Li Daoxuan said. "Liang Shixian loves livelihood projects. Let him have the time of his life. Then we send our buses to pick up the tools and bring them back to sell."
Gao Yiye swallowed. "Understood."
She'd heard the tone.
Dao Xuan Tianzun wasn't annoyed — he was raging.
He only put weapons above livelihood when someone had really poked his bottom line.
Li Daoxuan turned to Bai Yuan. "Since you're the one they're targeting now, you bring more guards. I'll assign a militia team to protect you in town. Don't play hero."
Bai Yuan cupped his fists. "Lesson learned. I'll be cautious."
Next morning, Gao Yiye and Zheng Gouzi carried the half-dead Flat-Rabbit back to Gaojia Village at top speed.
The Workshop?
Instant explosion.
Every craftsman entered Beast Mode.
Smiths yeeted aside cleavers and hoes, hammering muskets and grenade shells like their lives depended on it.
Carpenters carved crossbow limbs and arrows at speeds that would make modern factory inspectors cry.
The Firearms Bureau's apprentices sat in rows like overworked students during exam season, hand-packing gunpowder into paper casings.
The paper mill delivered mountains of sheets.
The gunpowder workers tied packet after packet.
Lamp-makers rushed to craft long-burn torches for night marches.
Gaojia's Workshop wasn't a tiny team anymore.
After months of Li Daoxuan's "craftsmen are the real MVPs" policy, half the village had become trained tradesmen.
Once they all got going…
Flintlocks came out like dumplings during New Year.
More, more, and more.
Time accelerated.
Chongzhen Year Two sprinted forward on a wave of weapons, sweat, and caffeine-level determination.
"Flat-Rabbit… Flat-Rabbit… hey, bro, wake up."
Flat-Rabbit cracked his eyes open — and found himself in some premium fantasy landscape, complete with god-tier mountain mist, HD waterfall, and ancient tree aesthetic.
A celestial-looking old man waved dramatically.
"You have dao-light bursting from your skull, young one. Such bones! Such talent! A once-in-a-century martial prodigy. If you open your meridians, you'll soar like a dragon. So — the mission to save the world? I'll hand it to you. Deal?"
Flat-Rabbit brightened. "Deal!"
"Excellent," the old sage said. "I shall now teach you my signature sword art: the Sky-Rabbit Tyrant-Severing Sword."
Flat-Rabbit froze.
"Okay hold up — that name is fake. I made that up. Are YOU stealing MY nonsense?!"
The old man burst out laughing.
The mist cracked.
The mountain shattered.
The world crumbled.
Flat-Rabbit jerked awake.
He was lying in a real bed this time.
Zheng Gouzi was snoring beside him.
"I… want water…" he whispered.
Zheng Gouzi shot awake like someone hit him with a drum.
Then he bolted outside screaming, "Flat-Rabbit's awake! He's alive! He's alive!"
A flood of people poured in — the Saintess, Shansier, Cheng Xu, Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu — everyone talking at once, poking him, shaking him, fussing over him.
Someone ruffled his hair.
Someone checked his eyes.
Someone poked his wound.
Someone grabbed his shoulders and shook him like a malfunctioning puppet. "Flat-Rabbit! You're alive!"
Boom.
Gao Chuwu flew across the room as Xing Honglang cracked him with a punch.
"Stop shaking the patient, you moron."
Ming Context Notes (still short & useful)
Mountain bandits in the Ming
Rugged mountain terrain often acted like a natural fortress. Even well-equipped government troops struggled to flush out entrenched bandits.
Workshop-scale weapons production
Some late-Ming rural areas did develop specialized craft hubs. A militarized workshop like Gaojia's is exaggerated for dramatic effect — but grounded in real-era manufacturing practices.