Chapter 296: The Xi'an Eight Great Bowls
Zao Ying followed Cheng Xu, heading south.
The militia didn't move quickly; after all, they were all clad in heavy armor, so their marching speed couldn't be fast. By the time they emerged from Huanglong Mountain, night had completely fallen.
Once they reached the loess plateau outside the mountains, walking became much easier, and their steps quickened.
The salt smugglers who had ridden ahead were waiting there with five hundred warhorses.
Cheng Xu shouted, "Mount up, everyone, mount up! It's already dark; who knows when we'd trudge home otherwise. Get on the horses!"
Gao Chuwu said, "But we don't know how to ride."
"Those who can't ride, just cling to the horse's back and wrap your arms around its neck!"
Gao Chuwu had experience with this. When Zhong Guangdao and Zheng Yanfu launched their night raid on Gao Family Village, Gao Chuwu had clung to a horse's neck all the way back to seek aid from Bai Yuan.
Repeating the maneuver now, he was quite adept. He swung onto a horse's back, hugged its neck, and others followed his lead. Five hundred horses weren't quite enough, so some of the salt smugglers had to ride two to a horse, which finally made it work.
From afar, they could already see the lights of the Gao Family Commercial District, a vibrant scene of bustling activity.
Zao Ying couldn't help but let out a gasp of surprise. It was dark, yet there was a whole expanse of lights ahead? How could such a remote village, not a major city, possess such a prosperous place?
Cheng Xu chuckled, "That's our home base."
Zao Ying still thought Cheng Xu was part of the "Guyuan rebels." She mused: these rebels have actually built a town in the mountains, and it's even so brightly lit and bustling? No wonder they dared to openly invite me as a guest; they clearly have confidence. They aren't worried about the location of their stronghold being exposed, because with so many common folk living here, if news were to leak, it would have already spread through these people.
Since the common folk hadn't spread their news, it showed that these rebels enjoyed popular support. The villagers were unwilling to betray them for a paltry reward from the officials.
This aspect, Zao Ying quite admired.
She had always prided herself on being a righteous bandit, never harming a single hair on ordinary folk, only robbing corrupt officials and the wealthy. Since these Guyuan rebels had won the hearts of the people, it meant they weren't enemies of the common folk either. Therefore, she could confidently and boldly make friends with them.
Cheng Xu smiled, "We can't go to the commercial district right now. Going there in full armor wouldn't be appropriate. Let's head to our barracks first."
Zao Ying nodded. "That makes sense."
As she followed Cheng Xu to the barracks, she expected to see a dirty, chaotic, and ramshackle camp. To her surprise, what met her eyes was an enormous stone fortress-like building, grand and imposing, occupying an entire valley.
Even though it was night, lights illuminated the barracks area, brightening the entire valley.
It turned out...
After the militia's numbers expanded to five hundred, they could no longer comfortably reside within Gao Family Fortress. That fortress only had just over two hundred rooms, far too small for the militia. So, Li Daoxuan had long since established a new military base for them outside.
This base was not far from the Gao Family Village Ordnance Bureau and was also constructed using an "inverted giant stone cylinder." The walls of the stone cylinder were several centimeters thick, and once placed in the diorama box, that thickness became incredibly formidable—a nuclear bomb might not even blast through it.
It was truly perfect for barracks!
After the stone cylinders were inverted, Li Daoxuan left the internal details to the artisans. They partitioned it into many small rooms for the soldiers to live in, and also carved out warehouses to store weapons. Some provisions were even stocked inside, just in case, in the extremely unlikely event, the militia needed to hold out in these barracks; then they would have food.
Of course, such a possibility was very remote; those provisions would almost certainly never be used.
As soon as Cheng Xu returned to the barracks entrance, he shouted inside, "Where are the logistics soldiers on duty? Get the mess crew up and working immediately... Goodness, we've traveled dozens of miles today and we're all starving!"
Hearing "food," Zao Ying snapped out of her awe at the "giant barracks." She thought: this is a year of great disaster. Your food... I wonder if it's enough... Feeding these hundred and twenty horse bandits of ours would be no small expense.
Just as she was thinking this, the mess crew chief ran out of the barracks, a look of excitement on his face. "Instructor He, you're back!"
"Instructor He?" Zao Ying was baffled. *Isn't he the Ghost Centurion?*
Cheng Xu saw the mess chief's joyful expression and couldn't help but wonder, "What are you so gleeful about?"
The mess chief chuckled. "Just before you returned, the Heavenly Lord already bestowed food upon us! He said the militia performed a great service today, so you're to be given special delicacies."
Cheng Xu was overjoyed. "Oh? What delicious food?"
Zao Ying uttered, "Heavenly Lord?"
The mess chief turned around and yelled into the barracks, "Bring out the delicacies bestowed by the Heavenly Lord...!"
A large group of mess crew and logistics soldiers emerged from the barracks, each carrying a large basin. They were in groups of eight, meaning eight basins of dishes per group, and each basin contained a different dish.
Zao Ying looked closer, taking a sharp breath. "Braised Chicken with Mushrooms, Steamed Pork with Rice Flour, Steamed Pork with Jujubes, Braised Pork Hock, Air-Dried Chicken, Cured Pork, Eight-Treasure Rice Pudding... This is... how... luxurious?"
It turned out that while they were on their way back, Li Daoxuan's takeout order had arrived. He took out a small portion from each of the eight great bowls of takeout, placed them into the diorama box, and handed them over to the mess crew.
The mess crew then divided Li Daoxuan's "giant eight great bowls" into several portions, each placed in a basin. Eight basins made one set, and they prepared five such sets.
Behind Zao Ying, the hundred and twenty horse bandits once again emitted embarrassing gulps of saliva.
"Isn't this... isn't this the Xi'an Eight Great Bowls?"
"It certainly is the Eight Great Bowls! But here they're served in basins!"
"These are the Xi'an Eight Great Basins!"
"No, are we really in a year of disaster right now?"
"Famine is everywhere, so why can they make the Eight Great Bowls here?"
"What kind of family can afford this?"
Cheng Xu was actually just as stunned. He had initially intended to exclaim about the Heavenly Lord's generous gift, but hearing the shameful chatter from the horse bandits behind him, he realized he couldn't rush to thank the Heavenly Lord just yet.
The Heavenly Lord had arranged this display clearly to enhance the prestige of the militia and impress the outsiders. He couldn't let Gao Family Village's momentum falter; he had to give these country folk a tremendous shock.
So, Cheng Xu temporarily held back his thanks to the Heavenly Lord. He turned to Zao Ying, a calm smile on his face. "Just eight small dishes, that's how we often eat."
Zao Ying replied, "You often eat like this?"
The horse bandits exclaimed, "!!!"
Cheng Xu roared with laughter internally, but his expression remained serene. "Why are you all still standing there? You must be starving!"
"Grab your chopsticks, and dig in!"
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