Chapter 273: Come Down and Fight
Liang Shixian was utterly bewildered.
Standing beside him, the Shaoxing Secretary was equally stunned.
Neither knew how long they remained in a daze. When they finally came to their senses, they realized the people outside had already disarmed and stripped the terrified hundreds of rebels of their weapons and armor.
Someone was managing the situation, but who, they couldn't tell.
As the county magistrate, he hadn't issued a single order, yet everyone was working in an orderly fashion, each attending to their tasks. Why?
How could the entire county town remain calm after witnessing such an enormous divine hand?
Shouldn't everyone be bewildered, pushing, trampling, fleeing, scurrying around like ants on a hot griddle?
Liang Shixian's mind was a chaotic mess, but he desperately tried to rally himself: "No, I must think this through..."
Liang Shixian, a man of vast erudition, immediately engaged his traumatic stress response emergency repair mode. White clouds from his hometown, his elderly mother's gentle whispers, old oxen in the countryside, the soft glow of a sunset, a cool evening breeze... images of everything that brought peace to his soul flashed through his mind like a carousel. Then, with a soft 'ding,' his thoughts locked onto a serene pastoral scene.
"No wonder I've always felt something was off. That small area around Li Family Fortress has rainfall, endless grain, vast quantities of weapons, and has never lost a single skirmish against the rebels... So, the patron deity of the Li family truly exists; he has been casting spells to protect the land of Gao Family Village."
Liang Shixian exclaimed, "So that's it... So that's what it is!"
The Shaoxing Secretary's spirits lifted. "My Lord Magistrate, the *Elementary Math* book you brought back for me to study last time—it was a Heavenly Book all along! I knew it was incredibly powerful; after learning it, my accounting speed doubled."
Just as they were speaking...
A furious roar erupted from outside the city walls. Fang Wushang, horse galloping and spear raised, charged towards the spot where the colossal hand had descended. He stood, horse and rider, directly in the center of the giant handprint, looking up at the low clouds in the sky, and bellowed, "What fiend dares to invade my Chengcheng County? Come down! This general will fight you to the death!"
Everyone: "..."
Liang Shixian gasped sharply. "Has this fellow not read *The Legend of Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan, Exorcist*?"
The Shaoxing Secretary awkwardly replied, "I hear General Fang isn't fond of reading."
Liang Shixian pressed, "Not even comic books?"
The Shaoxing Secretary stammered, "Well..."
Liang Shixian buried his face in his hands. "Even if he doesn't know the Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan's name, seeing a hand that enormous just now, why does he still have the audacity to challenge it?"
Cold sweat trickled down the Shaoxing Secretary's back. "I... I don't know."
Fang Wushang was, in fact, terrified. That single slap earlier had not only scared the rebels witless but had also rattled him to his core.
He had no idea about *The Legend of Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan, Exorcist*, nor did he know that the county residents highly revered the tales of Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan. He was, to put it mildly, unversed in such common knowledge.
The sudden sight of the colossal hand descending had truly scared the living daylights out of Fang Wushang.
But once he recovered his wits, a sense of responsibility to protect his territory welled up from deep within him. His profession, after all, was that of a military inspector.
A military inspector's duty was to ensure no villains existed within the entire county town, and no matter how powerful those villains might be, the inspector must step forward and challenge them.
If the 108 bandits from Mount Liang were currently ruling Chengcheng County, Fang Wushang would still challenge them, fighting his way through all 108, from the Earthly Fiends to the Heavenly Stars, never stopping until every single one was defeated and captured.
Now, a great fiend had appeared in the county town, and as a military inspector, he *had* to act.
It wasn't a question of whether he could win; it was a matter of duty, a fight he *had* to undertake.
Fang Wushang craned his neck, roaring, "Fiend, come down here...!"
Li Daoxuan looked down at him with amusement. *This guy!*
*Alright, let's play along.*
He extended a single finger, slowly poking it towards Fang Wushang.
Fang Wushang saw the enormous golden hand approaching again. His heart tightened, and he swung his spear, yelling, "Yaa-ya-ya!"
He thrust the spear with full force, striking the tip of Li Daoxuan's finger.
The Infinite Gauntlet was made of alloy, several millimeters thick—which, within the diorama box, translated to an alloy plate nearly a meter thick. Not only was Fang Wushang holding a spear, but he couldn't have even blasted through it with a rocket launcher.
His spear strike merely produced a crisp *clink*.
Fang Wushang felt his own futility, but he refused to surrender. He swung his spear, thrusting it again towards Li Daoxuan's finger...
Just then, a figure sprang up beside him, launching a flying kick in mid-air that sent Fang Wushang tumbling from his horse. The figure then swiftly moved, pinning Fang Wushang to the ground, restraining his limbs and rendering him immobile.
The grappling and restraint techniques from the Ghost-God Fist style were incredibly effective.
The newcomer was none other than Cheng Xu. "Military Inspector Fang, stop this madness! If the Heavenly Lord weren't so good-tempered and merely playing with you, that single finger would have crushed you instantly."
Fang Wushang gasped, "Heavenly Lord? You know that demon?"
"That's no demon, that's an immortal!" Cheng Xu retorted, clearly annoyed. "It's fortunate he's an immortal, which is why he allows a mere mortal like you to be so disrespectful. If he were truly a demon, you'd have been dead long ago."
Those words jolted Fang Wushang wide awake!
*That's right!*
His body instantly relaxed.
With him no longer struggling, Cheng Xu released his grip.
Fang Wushang stumbled to his feet, still dazed, and gazed up at the strange, low cloud in the sky. "This... which immortal is this, after all?"
A devout follower rushed over and pressed a comic book into his hand.
Fang Wushang, utterly perplexed, flipped through a few pages. As he read, sweat began to pour down his face. "So that's how it is... Ah? So that's how it is?"
Cheng Xu merely shrugged.
There was no reasoning with this unenlightened fellow; for now, he'd just ignore him.
Cheng Xu turned to address the Gao Family Village Militia.
In the recent battle, the Gao Family Village Militia had once again gained invaluable experience. However, this fight wasn't like previous ones where they suffered no casualties; even with the Heavenly Lord secretly assisting from above, dozens of militiamen had been injured, all with "gun wounds" and "arrow wounds."
Every militia soldier carried a small medical kit containing disinfectant and Yunnan Baiyao, which Li Daoxuan had distributed to them beforehand.
The wounded soldiers were currently tending to their injuries.
The uninjured soldiers, meanwhile, were gathering spoils of war and managing the captives.
In this battle, the enemy had consisted of eight hundred border troops. Over a hundred had been killed or wounded in the fighting, and Commander Lang had also been dispatched by Cheng Xu and Fang Wushang. The remaining six hundred-plus rebel soldiers were unharmed, but their morale had utterly collapsed, their souls scared out of them. Now, stripped of their gear, they shivered, utterly lost as to their fate.
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