Chapter 327: A Nosebleed
Li Daoxuan was eating a bowl of dry-fried beef ho fun, slurping down the noodles while his attention was fixed on Bai Yuan, "accompanying" him on his business trip.
Dressed in white robes, Bai Yuan carried a large, elongated box on his back. Leading a group of his loyal retainers, he passed through Quangou Village and traveled eastward along the official road, soon entering Heyang County.
Li Daoxuan still had a clear view of this section.
Because Gao Family Village was located at the border between Chengcheng County and Heyang County, his field of view was actually expanding into both counties simultaneously.
He could already see large areas of Heyang County, even numerous villages and small towns, but with Chengcheng County not fully explored, Li Daoxuan hadn't been in a hurry to extend his influence into Heyang County. Now that Bai Yuan was on a "business trip" there, Li Daoxuan had an entry point. He decided to seize this opportunity to begin "reaching out" to Heyang County.
Not long after Bai Yuan entered Heyang County, a group of people approached him. It was Feng Jun, the Heyang County Magistrate. The magistrate was not old, appearing to be only in his thirties, even younger than Liang Shixian.
Upon seeing Bai Yuan, he cupped his hands in salute: "You must be Mr. Bai Yuan?"
Bai Yuan quickly returned the greeting: "Indeed, that's me. You are Magistrate Feng Jun of Heyang County, aren't you?"
Feng Jun nodded with a sigh: "Yes! I am Feng Jun, and alas, I've been terribly troubled by that scoundrel Fan Shan Yue lately, truly overwhelmed. I heard that Shaanxi Regional Commander Wang Cheng'en was coming to deal with him, but then the Manchu invasion occurred, and all five Regional Commanders had to rush to the capital to aid the emperor. Things are incredibly difficult here. Brother Liang mentioned that Mr. Bai has organized a formidable militia in Chengcheng County, achieving great success, and even repelled Fan Shan Yue's attack on Chengcheng County. Do you have a way to deal with Fan Shan Yue?"
Feng Jun was delighted: "Excellent, truly excellent!"
Bai Yuan: "Excuse me, Magistrate Feng, you're having a nosebleed."
Feng Jun exclaimed, "Ah!" and immediately felt the blood streaming from his nose. He wiped it with his hand, and the blood streaked across his face, leaving a horizontal red line. He chuckled, "It's nothing, I've had this problem since I was young. I get a nosebleed whenever I'm even slightly happy, sad, or excited. It's nothing, it'll pass in a moment."
Bai Yuan: "..."
Feng Jun: "Mr. Bai, how do you intend to deal with Fan Shan Yue? Do you plan to bring the Chengcheng County militia here?"
Bai Yuan chuckled: "That won't be necessary! Magistrate Feng, you only need to tell me Fan Shan Yue's whereabouts. When he's out plundering innocent commoners, I can, amidst a thousand troops, take his life."
Feng Jun was startled: "How can you do that?"
Bai Yuan smiled proudly but deliberately kept quiet. This was his one flaw; he loved to play coy and show off.
Feng Jun, needing his help, could only let him show off: "I must remind you, Mr. Bai, that although Fan Shan Yue is a bandit, he accepted the post of Heyang Defense Commander during the last amnesty. So, he is, to some extent, an imperial official now. You must ensure that no word of your killing him gets out, or it will bring trouble upon you as well."
Bai Yuan laughed: "Magistrate Feng, rest assured. If you are truly worried, you can even come and watch."
Feng Jun thought to himself: How could I possibly witness the killing of an imperial official? If I were present at an assassination, wouldn't everything fall into chaos afterward?
However....
He really wanted to see this with his own eyes!
If there was an opportunity, he definitely had to see it.
Villages had been plundered by him, and the common people suffered terribly. "I'll send someone to lead the way; Mr. Bai should find an opportunity near Xiniu Village."
Feng Jun whispered: "Understood. Fan Shan Yue is currently stationed at 'Xiniu Village,' north of Heyang County. Several nearby villages have been targeted by him." Bai Yuan nodded: "Alright! Then, Magistrate Feng, await my good news."
Feng Jun dispatched two trusted aides to lead Bai Yuan towards Xiniu Village.
He stood rooted to the spot, watching Bai Yuan and his group disappear into the distance, still feeling uneasy. He bit his lip and instructed a retainer: "Bring my spare clothes. I need to go in disguise and follow them. Fan Shan Yue still has two thousand fierce bandits under him; he's not so easily dealt with. Mr. Bai only brought fewer than thirty men. I'm worried whether he can succeed."
His retainer quickly handed him a change of clothes. As he changed, he imagined Heyang County finally finding peace after Fan Shan Yue was eliminated. Feeling pleased, his nose started bleeding again.
The retainer beside him cried out anxiously: "My lord, your nosebleed has stained your clothes red!"
Feng Jun wiped his nose, and the blood streaked across the other side of his face, creating another horizontal line, quite symmetrical, like a piece of body art: "Bring another change of clothes. Oh dear... I'm losing too much blood... feeling quite dizzy..."
Meanwhile, on Huanglong Mountain.
In the temporary camp of the Gao Family Village Militia...
Cheng Xu opened a bamboo tube, pulled out a piece of paper, and flattened it. His expression darkened. Gao Chuwu, standing nearby, couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
Cheng Xu: "News has come from Gao Family Village: the Manchu invasion has forced the five Regional Commanders to the capital to aid the emperor. Large numbers of government troops have been pulled away, meaning the bandit armies in Shaanxi and Yansui will become even more rampant. The Heavenly Lord says that before Shaanxi descends into complete chaos, we must intensify our efforts, eliminate Wang Zuogua as quickly as possible, and avenge our four fallen brothers."
Gao Chuwu: "Oh! I see! Then we definitely need to push ourselves. Right, Daniu?"
Zheng Daniu: "Ah, eight-treasure rice pudding is so sweet."
Everyone: "..."
Cheng Xu threw the paper into the torch fire and stood up, unfurling a map.
He had been roaming Huanglong Mountain for quite some time now, so he knew the surrounding terrain like the back of his hand, and had also largely pinpointed Wang Zuogua's hidden valley. He pointed his finger at the valley: "Prepare to attack Wang Zuogua's stronghold. We'll utterly crush him in a single battle, in accordance with the Heavenly Lord's command."
Everyone: "Oh!"
Cheng Xu suddenly felt something was amiss: "Why is one of the three idiots missing?"
Gao Chuwu: "I'm not missing!"
Zheng Daniu: "I'm not missing either!"
Cheng Xu rolled his eyes: "I know you two are here. I'm asking where the other one is?"
A personal guard stepped forward: "Padi Tu went out with Shi Jian's scout team early this morning to reconnaissance. He said he's the elite of the elite, and scouting is his calling—the best in the world, so good that even Shi Jian has to call him 'Grandpa'."
Cheng Xu couldn't help but smile wryly: "He made one successful scouting trip and now he's fallen in love with scouting? Truly... Never mind, let him be. Anyway, we need to get a clear picture of the surroundings before attacking Wang Zuogua. I'm a bit worried relying solely on Shi Jian, so having another 'long-eared rabbit' out front makes me feel more at ease."
(I have replaced'over the Mountain Moon' with'fan Shan Yue' as it appears to be a unique alias, like other glossy entries such as'chungNg Wang' or'zijing Liang'.
'xi Niuzhuang' (Xi Niu Zhuang) has been translated as'xiniu Village'.
'Quangou Village' (Quangou Village) has been translated as'Quangou Village'.
"San sha" (San sha) has been translated as "three idiots" as a direct interpretation of the characters and the context it is used in to describe the three simple-minded, yet strong, characters. )
I have adhered to all glossary terms, HTML structure, paragraph structure, and removed Chinese characters. The language aims for vividness, clarity, and a modern novelistic tone, with varied sentence structure and pacing.
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