Gao Yiye said calmly, "With Tianzun watching over me, how could I possibly be unsafe?"
Bai Yuan replied, equally calmly, "Tianzun is also very busy."
They were speaking when Li Dao Xuan finally intervened.
"Yiye," he said, "tell Bai Yuan this: reinforcements from Gaojia Village are already on the way. Also, the Workshop has completed two cannons. I've brought them over and intend to hand them to him."
Gao Yiye's eyes lit up.
"Bai Yuan—Tianzun has arrived."
Bai Yuan was visibly relieved. "Reinforcements are excellent news. As for the cannons—those can't just be handed over here. The people of Heyang County don't yet know Tianzun's deeds. If a giant hand drops out of the sky in the middle of town, half the county will faint."
"Correct," Li Dao Xuan said. "We won't scare civilians. You'll need to leave the city. Once you reach an empty area outside the walls, I'll lower the cannons there."
"Understood."
Bai Yuan and Gao Yiye immediately led more than a hundred militia out of the city. Shansier—who had no combat value whatsoever—also tagged along to watch the excitement.
They reached a quiet stretch of land well beyond the walls. No people. No farms. No excuses for panic.
Only then did Li Dao Xuan lower the two stainless-steel cannons.
They landed heavily.
Each cannon was massive. Add to that a full basket of cannonballs and several bundles of powder, and the logistical headache became immediately obvious.
The militia sprang into action.
Dozens pushed and hauled the cannons.
Others carried cannonballs.
Several men treated the powder bundles like fragile ancestors.
The whole group turned back toward the city.
At the city gate, they ran straight into County Magistrate Feng Jun, who had just returned—along with yamen runners, household guards, and a large body of militia. He had mobilized every village and town under Heyang's authority.
From a distance, Feng Jun spotted the two cannons and nearly choked.
"Bai Yuan! Where in the world did you get those cannons?"
Bai Yuan grinned. "Didn't I say before? I'd handle the cannon problem."
Feng Jun remembered. Vaguely. At the time he'd assumed it was talk.
Apparently, it was not.
Still…
"These look strange," Feng Jun muttered. "The Western cannons I've seen were black, or green-black bronze. These are… shiny?"
Silver-bright. Almost arrogant.
"What metal is this?"
Bai Yuan waved him off. "Magistrate Feng, this is not the time to admire cannon craftsmanship. We need to move. Qiachuan Dock is the priority."
Feng Jun snapped back to reality. "Right. Move out!"
His militia was large, and he had oxen, horses, and mules. A few oxen were hitched to the cannons. The cannonballs and powder were loaded onto carts.
Manpower saved. Speed increased.
The column began moving southeast.
Before departure, Bai Yuan turned to Gao Yiye and Shansier.
"You two should remain in Heyang. There's no need to follow us into a battlefield."
They didn't argue. Gao Yiye simply said, "The hundred guards assigned to me must go. That's Tianzun's instruction."
At the mention of Tianzun, Bai Yuan nodded. "Then please take care, Saintess."
Bai Yuan departed with the Gaojia Militia, joined by Feng Jun's fifteen hundred men. The force surged toward Qiachuan Dock.
The distance was over thirty li. Even at speed, it would take half a day.
Feng Jun's heart was uneasy. His militia looked impressive on paper, but Wang Jiayin commanded fifty thousand men. This was not a comforting comparison.
Bai Yuan noticed his expression and smiled. "No need to worry, Magistrate Feng. We have cannons. Just do what the Shanxi general did—set them at the dock and fire into the enemy fleet. Sink a few boats, and the rest will scatter."
That helped. Slightly.
"Yes," Feng Jun said. "We do have cannons."
Then something occurred to him.
"Bai Yuan… these men around you—they're the Saintess's guards, aren't they?"
"Yes."
"Does anyone here know how to operate a cannon?"
"…."
"You brought cannons," Feng Jun said slowly, "but no artillerymen?"
"…."
Feng Jun felt his soul leave his body.
"This is bad. Very bad."
Bai Yuan waved his hand. "Relax. A cannon is just an oversized fire-arms. The principles are the same. I'm proficient with firearms—within a hundred paces, I can drop a man cleanly. There's no way I can't fire a cannon."
Feng Jun stared at him.
"Firearms and cannons are both 'shooting,'" Bai Yuan continued confidently. "Shooting is one of the Six Arts. I take it seriously. I'll personally operate the cannon and blast Wang Jiayin's fleet to pieces."
Feng Jun said nothing.
Two lines of blood slid quietly from his nose.
Bai Yuan frowned. "Why are you bleeding? Don't you only get nosebleeds when your emotions fluctuate?"
"My emotions," Feng Jun said weakly, "are currently doing acrobatics. Who wouldn't react like this after hearing what you just said?"
"…."
They marched while exchanging deeply unhelpful conversation. By the time the sun tilted west, Qiachuan Dock came into view.
The cement fortress was still under construction—far from finished.
A long wooden palisade had been erected instead. Thick logs were driven into the ground side by side, forming a single-layer wall in a broad semicircle that wrapped around the shoreline.
It looked less like a fort and more like something hastily built to keep disaster out.
Behind the wall stood Zhang Yuanwai with four hundred militia.
Nearby were Baishui Wang Er, Bai Mao, and a hundred villagers from Wangjia Village.
Beyond them swarmed over a thousand laborers—some paving roads, others pouring cement for the future fortress.
Noise. Movement. Dust.
When Feng Jun and Bai Yuan arrived, nearly four thousand people crowded the dock.
For a place this small, it was suddenly very crowded—and very alive.