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Chapter 251 Gained a Bit of Experience

Li Daoxuan couldn't help but feel a mix of amusement and bewilderment at the scene unfolding below.

He had deliberately held back from dealing with Li Ying earlier, intending for him to serve as a training dummy for the Gao Family Village Militia to gain experience. Who would have thought that Li Ying wasn't even qualified for that role, abandoning his armor and fleeing before the fighting even began?

Seriously!

Was his grand plan for training the troops going to be ruined just like that?

His villagers were still a ragtag bunch who hadn't fought a proper battle yet.

"You all, come back!"

Li Daoxuan puffed out his cheeks, aimed at Li Ying's unit, and blew a mighty gust.

Li Ying was leading his troops in a wild sprint when, unexpectedly, a strong gust of wind roared in their faces. It was such a powerful wind that the leading soldiers lost their footing and tumbled backward, instantly tripping up a large number of those rushing behind them.

Their escape speed instantly plummeted.

As the front ranks descended into chaos, the rear ranks couldn't possibly keep up their escape. Seeing the "Guyuan mutineers" closing in from behind, several centurions in the rear ranks, without waiting for Li Ying's order, began shouting on their own: "Turn around, fire arrows!"

The few companies lagging behind immediately turned, nocking their arrows.

They weren't elite troops. They used small, soft bows that weren't particularly powerful. A volley of arrows flew, striking the militia's Cotton Armor, only to fall harmlessly.

Cheng Xu was also yelling at this moment: "What are you staring blankly for? Are your hand crossbows just for show?"

The militia members snapped out of their daze and quickly returned fire with their hand crossbows.

Every single one of them had a crossbow, but not everyone in Li Ying's unit did.

In this exchange of fire, the militia's volley of arrows was much more substantial. A torrent of arrows flew, thudding into the government soldiers.

Though the government soldiers also had cloth armor, not every one of them was equipped with it.

Furthermore, some of their cloth armor was merely for show, with very few armor plates. This wave of arrows proved painful for them, and many cried out in pain as arrows struck their unarmored spots.

Cheng Xu estimated the distance between the two sides. Seeing it was roughly twenty meters, he shouted loudly: "Three-Eyed Arquebus, light the fuses!"

The ten Three-Eyed Arquebuses, used more for intimidation by the militia, immediately had their fuses lit.

As soon as the fuses ignited, everyone nearby quickly scrambled away. The soldiers holding the Three-Eyed Arquebuses also gripped their wooden handles with both hands, extending the weapons as far forward as possible to avoid injuring their own men.

The militia, who had been chasing the enemy, slowed their pace, as no one dared to run in front of a Three-Eyed Arquebus...

Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly from the sky as he watched this comical scene. This was the shameful backwardness of the Three-Eyed Arquebus: it was so troublesome to use, had a short range, wasn't very powerful, easily injured one's own men, and the crucial thing was... the enemy could easily dodge them!

Lighting the fuses less than twenty meters from the enemy – how could they not see that?

The government soldiers in front, seeing sparks leaping behind them, started looking for a solution.

Several centurions roared: "Get down, get down! Three-Eyed Arquebus!"

The soldiers quickly rolled onto the ground, turning their heads to watch.

When the enemy was preparing to fire their arquebuses, they didn't need to rush their escape, because the enemy wouldn't close in at that moment either.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

The Three-Eyed Arquebuses opened fire. The ten weapons fired one after another, a volley of lead shot spraying haphazardly forward. These arquebuses had absolutely no accuracy to speak of, even less accurate than smoothbore muskets; it was purely a matter of luck.

But the government soldiers were already prone, so the shots hit only thin air.

The centurions of the government troops shouted again: "The Three-Eyed Arquebuses are done firing! Everyone up, keep running!"

In truth, even without their orders, the soldiers had already scrambled to their feet and resumed their frantic sprint westward.

The militia members, however, were a little bewildered. They looked down at the Three-Eyed Arquebus in their hands and murmured in confusion: "Such a powerful firearm, and after one round, not a single enemy was hit?"

Li Daoxuan was greatly amused. "Hahaha! Interesting, isn't it? The Three-Eyed Arquebus is just that worthless. You'll know once you try it yourselves. Historically, it never played much of a role; even minor bandit forces weren't afraid of this thing, let alone border armies or the Manchu."

This incident had served a small purpose in troop training.

At the very least, it showed his villagers the flaws of the Three-Eyed Arquebus in real combat.

The militia members couldn't possibly reload the Three-Eyed Arquebuses now. The ten men carrying them could only use them as hammers and continued their pursuit.

The government soldiers kept fleeing, while the militia chased, firing hand crossbows. The government soldiers bringing up the rear occasionally turned back to loose an arrow.

The two sides continued their lively chase and skirmish, a spectacle of pursuit and evasion.

Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, these two simpletons, ended up charging to the very front of the formation. Their armor was thick; arrows clanged off them, completely useless. The two hulking armored figures also looked terrifying.

The government soldiers, turning their heads, were scared senseless by these two iron giants. They dared not engage in battle, shouting as they fled: "Don't let those two monsters get close! They must be veteran warriors from the border armies!"

Zheng Daniu yelled: "Hey! Don't run! Come back and fight!"

Who the hell would want to fight him? Hearing his shouts only made them more terrified, and they ran even faster.

Li Daoxuan occasionally pressed the "West" button on the box, keeping his vision on their group, watching the unfolding spectacle.

As they ran.

They were nearing the edge of Li Daoxuan's field of view.

He hesitated, wondering if he should intervene.

If he didn't act soon, Li Ying and his gang would run out of his vision.

Just as he thought this, Li Ying's unit suddenly fragmented with a surge, splitting into several groups and scattering in a fan formation.

It turned out the government soldiers had finally realized that the "Guyuan mutineers" were few in number, only five hundred men, and certainly couldn't split up to pursue them all. In such a situation, it was better to disperse and flee.

Li Daoxuan looked left and right, but couldn't find Li Ying.

It turned out that the fellow had shed his armor and abandoned his weapons as he ran. His previously conspicuous armor was all stripped off, and he had blended into the crowd of soldiers, vanishing from sight.

Li Daoxuan's lips curved into a faint smile. Fleeing like that wouldn't help him. No matter how many groups he split his defeated army into, a single slap for each group would crush them all, not a single one escaping.

Still, forget it!

Why bother personally dealing with such a coward who flees at the mere sight of an enemy?

Could he pose the slightest threat to Gao Family Village? Absolutely none!

Li Daoxuan withdrew his hand, idly watching as Li Ying and his gang fled beyond the edge of the diorama's view, vanishing in a flash.

Cheng Xu also chased them out of the visible area...

However, Cheng Xu's peripheral vision had been constantly tracking the low-hanging cloud in the sky. As he chased, he suddenly noticed that the Dao Xuan Tian Zun's cloud had stopped in the sky behind them and was no longer following.

Instantly, four dancing grandmothers appeared before Cheng Xu's eyes, holding red pom-poms and performing a lively folk dance in mid-air. Their movements were perfectly synchronized and quite a sight.

Cheng Xu roared: "Stop! Everyone, cease pursuit!"

The militia members instantly halted, no longer chasing.

Gao Chuwu turned his head: "Instructor... Ghost Centurion... why aren't we pursuing them?"

Cheng Xu replied: "Never chase a cornered foe; it's written in military treatises. We've chased them far enough. Li Ying and his gang are bound to flee from Chengcheng County and never dare return. It's about time we stopped."

As he retreated back into Li Daoxuan's field of view, the dancing grandmothers vanished in a flash.

He quickly retreated. After a series of quick retreats, Cheng Xu's spirits lifted: "Heh, safe again."