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Chapter 250: Return My Hard-Earned Military Pay

Li Ying jumped a mile, kicking the chicken leg that had fallen to the ground so it flew into the air. "Why? How could the Guyuan rebels show up directly in Chengcheng County? Damn it! By all accounts, they shouldn't be here. At the very least, they should have made a detour through Jingyang and Fuping first."

The scout whispered, "They seem to have emerged from Huanglong Mountain."

Li Ying's face darkened. "Huanglong Mountain? That damned wretched place."

Huanglong Mountain, located at the junction of three counties, was a realm of tall mountains and dense forests, a long-standing stronghold for bandits and rebels. It wasn't impossible for the Guyuan rebels to slip into Huanglong Mountain from Yan'an Prefecture and then emerge near Fengyuan Town in Chengcheng County.

"Are you certain they are Guyuan rebels? It isn't just a band of ordinary bandits pretending to be rebels, parading their might?"

The scout whispered, "I saw them clearly, sir. There were about five hundred rebels, all armored. Their armor was identical to ours. The general leading them wore Mountain Pattern Armor... They all carried crossbows, waist knives, and long spears. They were well-equipped."

Li Ying exclaimed, "Good heavens! Five hundred border troops?"

He turned to look, and the deputies and centurions behind him all had faces etched with fear.

The local gentry who had been supplying him with food and drink chimed in, "We have Fengyuan Town to defend. We can also notify His Excellency the Magistrate and Inspector-General Fang to request reinforcements."

That was the border

Forget five hundred; even two hundred could send his thousand Wei-suo soldiers scrambling away in terror. What good would it do even if those two Donglin mad dogs came as reinforcements? The Donglin Party couldn't fight at all.

Li Ying reached out and shoved the gentry member, sending him sprawling. He declared loudly, "Out of the city! We will meet the Guyuan rebels in battle!"

He shouted this for the local gentry and militia of Fengyuan Town to hear.

After his loud declaration, he murmured to his deputy, "Once we're out of Fengyuan Town's sight, where the townsfolk can't see us, we'll flee immediately."

Cheng Xu led his troops towards Fengyuan Town.

As they marched, a militia scout reported from the front, "Instructor... sir—"

"Instructor, my foot!" Cheng Xu interrupted him sharply. "Call me Ghost Centurion, or Old Ghost of Guyuan." The scout faltered for a second, genuinely unaccustomed, then quickly corrected himself, "Ghost Centurion, Patrol General Li Ying has already led his troops out of Fengyuan Town and is advancing to meet us."

"Oh?" Cheng Xu felt a slight tremor of apprehension at the news.

Although the militia had been training diligently, they were well-fed, well-equipped, robust in body, and high in morale, but they were still, after all, a militia. They had yet to be tested against a truly formidable foe.

Dealing with ordinary bandits was fine, but taking on Li Ying's thousand government soldiers with only five hundred men... Cheng Xu did the math in his head. Their chances of victory were less than thirty percent, with a seventy percent chance of meeting his maker.

He had to find something to bolster his own spirits!

He looked up at the sky. Hey, a low cloud drifted sixty to seventy zhang, hundreds of feet, above. Excellent! The Heavenly Lord was watching him! Then there was nothing to fear. His chances of victory instantly soared back to a hundred percent.

"Don't be afraid!" Cheng Xu burst out laughing. "A mere Li Ying is nothing to us. The armies were still at least a li apart, both sides could only glimpse each other from a distance, making direct engagement impossible for now."

He continued to lead his troops forward. After another stretch, Li Ying's forces became visible in the distance. At this moment, Cheng Xu was about to offer more words to boost morale when he suddenly sensed something was amiss.

Li Ying's forces ahead suddenly began glancing nervously left and right. A valley to the east blocked their path, so Li Ying's forces turned their heads and bolted to the west...

Cheng Xu could only stare in bewilderment.

The militia behind him was equally perplexed.

Gao Chuwu exclaimed, "Wow, they're running away before the fight even started!"

Padi Tu chortled, "Haha, they were scared off by my mighty presence!"

Cheng Xu froze for a brief moment, then it dawned on him. "Damn it! Here I was, still afraid of them, and it turns out, they're afraid of us! We *are* the border army now. Hahahaha! Chase! Chase! Chase! Chase them down and fight them!"

With a roar, the militia pursued Li Ying's forces.

Li Ying, meanwhile, was cursing up a storm. After he had ridden out of Fengyuan Town, his original plan was to flee immediately once out of the townsfolk's sight. After all, he couldn't run in front of the entire town; being reported to the magistrate by the gentry, and having the magistrate impeach him, would be unbearable. So, he had to find a deserted place to flee.

But the militia instructor from Fengyuan Town lacked common sense. He insisted on bringing his militia out "to support," following him like a little tail.

This put him in a difficult spot!

He wanted to flee but couldn't openly. Gritting his teeth, he continued north for a while, and then collided head-on with the "Guyuan border army."

One glance was all it took for Li Ying to confirm. The troops ahead were definitely regular Ming soldiers. Their disciplined formation and equipment meant they couldn't possibly be mere bandits. They even unfurled two banners: one bore the character "Ghost," a nickname taken to avoid implicating their kin. The other banner read, "Return My Hard-Earned Military Pay." Wasn't this clearly a rebel army demanding its pay?

They couldn't win!

Wei-suo soldiers could absolutely never defeat border troops!

Li Ying made a snap decision: "Run!"

At this point, he no longer cared if the militia was following them. If they saw him flee, then so be it. If civilian officials impeached him, then so be it. For now, he had to escape; at least he'd live a few more days.

He glanced east: a valley, no escape. So, he'd run west.

A thousand Ming soldiers bolted and ran.

Their flight utterly bewildered the militia behind them. "A thousand men against five hundred, and we, the militia, were right behind them! Why did the government troops flee?"

The militia instructor gasped sharply, scrambling back frantically.

Then, they saw the "Guyuan rebels" furiously pursuing. The general leading them, clad in Mountain Pattern Armor, shouted at the general ahead of him, "Patrol General Li Ying, where do you think you're going? Return the military pay you owe us!"

Li Ying, terrified out of his wits, shouted back as he fled, "If you want your pay, go to Xi'an! Why are you chasing me?"

Cheng Xu yelled, "I'll demand it from anyone I see!"

Li Ying pleaded, "Don't come any closer!"

Cheng Xu called out, "Leave behind anything valuable you have!"

Li Ying actually did. He ripped off his heavy helmet and tossed it to the ground, abandoning the silver he had just extracted from the gentry in Fengyuan Town, running for his life.

Cheng Xu truly gave chase. With the Heavenly Lord still watching over him, Cheng Xu was fierce as a tiger when fighting a battle he was sure to win. He ignored the adage "do not pursue a cornered enemy." With the Heavenly Lord watching over him, how could he possibly fall into an ambush? Chase!

As he chased, he spotted Li Ying's helmet on the ground. "Not bad," he thought, picking it up and slinging it on his waist before continuing the pursuit.

Government troops in front, Guyuan rebels behind. In a flash, they all ran west.

Only the militia instructor of Fengyuan Town remained, with several hundred militiamen standing at attention. "What exactly are we doing here?"