Several days later.
Deep into the night.
Just outside Hedong City, within the Hedong Circuit.
Across Xie Lake, there lay a desolate salt village.
Lao Nanfeng and Zao Ying led a small contingent of cavalry scouts and hid within this abandoned settlement. Once, it had been lively and prosperous. But after Gao Family Village extended its influence toward Puzhou and repeatedly siphoned away salt workers, every household here had relocated to work the salt fields at Xiao Lake.
Left behind was nothing but empty houses and silence.
A perfect hiding place.
From here, they had a clear vantage point over Hedong City on the opposite shore of Xie Lake.
Zao Ying lowered his voice.
"Lao Nanfeng, your force… it's only around six hundred men, right?"
He hesitated, then continued,
"With so few people, can you really take Hedong City?"
Lao Nanfeng chuckled softly.
"If this city were defended by elite troops and competent generals, then no—absolutely impossible."
He narrowed his eyes toward the dark outline of the city.
"But it's guarded by a bunch of useless salt-tax officials. With Chen Baihu handling this, it won't take much effort at all."
Zao Ying nodded.
"Alright. Then I'll be watching closely to see how he captures a city defended by a thousand garrison troops using just six hundred men."
He paused, then added,
"And don't forget—there are Jin merchants inside the city as well. They aren't easy opponents. They might even have Manchu soldiers with them."
At the mention of Manchu soldiers, Lao Nanfeng's expression grew slightly more serious.
"Manchu troops aren't much stronger than Mongolian cavalry," he said calmly.
"There's nothing to fear."
He gestured toward the city.
"This is the Central Plains. Even if the Jin merchants smuggled Manchu soldiers in, their numbers won't be large. We don't need to worry excessively."
Just then—
A voice sounded from Lao Nanfeng's chest.
"They're here."
It was the Dao Xuan Tianzun.
"Chen Baihu and his men have arrived," the Dao Xuan Tianzun continued.
"He's about to launch the attack."
Lao Nanfeng and Zao Ying's spirits lifted instantly.
They quickly raised their binoculars.
The distance across Xie Lake was considerable, and the night was dark, but the optics were clear enough. Soon, they spotted Chen Baihu and roughly two hundred men staggering toward the base of Hedong City's walls.
They looked miserable.
Armor was dented and smeared with mud. Formation was loose. Movements were sluggish, as though they had just stumbled out of a defeat.
Lao Nanfeng's eyes gleamed.
"I know what he's going to do."
Zao Ying smiled faintly.
"Trick open the city gates?"
Lao Nanfeng grinned.
"Exactly. They're already wearing official armor. Tricking the gates open will be effortless."
At that moment—
A sentry atop the city wall spotted them.
The sentry drew his heavy bow and shouted sharply,
"Who goes there?!"
Chen Baihu raised his head, waved one hand, and yelled back loudly,
"Don't shoot! Don't shoot! We're allies—allies!"
He straightened his posture and bellowed,
"This general serves under General Wang Guoliang of Shanxi! My surname is Wu—Commander Wu! We encountered bandits in Caochuan County to the east and fought a battle. We won and came here to rest and recuperate!"
"Won?" the sentry thought instantly.
Bullshit.
Anyone with eyes could see they had been routed.
Only two hundred men remained, armor battered, morale in shambles. Clearly, their force had been scattered by bandits.
But claiming victory after a defeat?
That was textbook official-army behavior.
Even bandits wouldn't lie with that much righteous confidence.
The sentry's grip on his bowstring loosened slightly.
"In the middle of the night," he called down, "I can't just let you in."
Chen Baihu immediately erupted.
"Damn it! You bastard! I only have two hundred men—what are you so afraid of?!"
He pointed at the wall, roaring,
"Go get someone who isn't a coward! This is Hedong City, right? Where's the salt-tax official? Tell him to come talk to me!"
The sentry hurriedly sent someone to fetch him.
Not long after, the salt-tax official arrived.
The two Jin merchants, however, did not come with him.
The official had clearly dressed in a hurry—his robes were crooked, and the buttons weren't even fastened properly. He leaned over the parapet, squinting down into the darkness.
What he saw confirmed his assumptions.
Chen Baihu wore standard government armor—worn, mud-caked, and ugly. The two hundred soldiers behind him looked even worse, their armor ragged, their expressions exhausted.
Low-tier garrison unit, the salt-tax official concluded instantly.
The absolute bottom of the barrel.
And judging by their condition—they had just suffered a crushing defeat.
Even so, he had no intention of letting them into the city.
Letting unknown troops into the city at night?
That's asking for disaster.
He wasn't stupid.
"Commander Wu, is it?" he called down.
"I can allow you to rest beneath the city walls. After resting, you may leave. I cannot let people into the city at this hour."
Chen Baihu glared up and roared,
"Damn it! Why are you so wary of me?!"
He spread his arms.
"Do I look like a bandit trying to trick open your city gates? I only have two hundred men! Do you really need to be this cautious?"
If he had been timid, the official might have suspected a trap.
But his blatant irritation, vulgar curses, and arrogant self-importance made him sound exactly like a real officer.
The salt-tax official tried to placate him.
"Commander Wu, please understand—"
Suddenly—
From the darkness far to the east, shouts of battle erupted.
Torches flared.
Hundreds—no, thousands—of flickering lights surged forward.
Standing atop the wall, the salt-tax official's heart nearly stopped. The torches stretched across a wide front, clearly numbering in the thousands.
Chen Baihu glanced back.
His face drained of color.
"Damn it!" he screamed.
"The bandit army is here!"
The salt-tax official nearly jumped off the wall.
"Oh no! They really are coming!"
Chen Baihu shrieked,
"Open the gates! Quickly! Hurry! Are you trying to get me killed?!"
The salt-tax official panicked.
Total panic.
He was nothing more than a minor salt official. He had never fought a real battle in his life. His garrison soldiers were no better—their entire careers consisted of guarding this broken city and occasionally arresting a few salt smugglers.
The last time bandits attacked, they had relied entirely on Huang Yunfa's Manchu cavalry to drive them off.
But this time—
Wait… there are Jin merchants in the city, he thought desperately.
Their guards should be strong… right?
The city wall descended into chaos.
Chen Baihu roared again,
"Let me in! I'll help you defend the city!"
The salt-tax official's mind went completely blank.
He waved his hand frantically.
"Open the gates! Quickly! Let Commander Wu and his men in!"
The capstan began to turn.
With a long, grinding creak, the massive city gates slowly opened outward.
Chen Baihu and his two hundred men surged inside.
The moment they crossed the threshold—
They broke formation and sprinted straight toward the city wall, charging for the capstan that controlled the gate.
The salt-tax official's heart skipped.
A terrible realization hit him.
"No—this is bad!" he screamed.
"They're seizing the gate! Stop them! Stop them!"
Too late.
Chen Baihu smoothly drew his saber.
A cold, savage smile spread across his face.
"Hahaha!"
"Hedong City—"
"—is mine!"
He lunged forward. His saber flashed once.
The soldier operating the capstan collapsed.
The mechanism was seized.
The two hundred men instantly formed a tight defensive ring around it, long spears leveled, shields interlocked.
The salt-tax official, jolted awake by sheer terror, shrieked hysterically,
"Kill them! Kill them all! Close the city gates—quickly—!"