Chapter 49 No Escape for the Bandit Chief
It was Zheng Daniu. Utterly devoid of martial arts skill, he barely had time to react when his opponent's blade came swinging down, striking him squarely in the chest. Fortunately, he was wearing the Two-Plate Armor Gao Yiyi had forged, a massive iron plate covering his entire front.
The result of the saber clanging against that thick iron plate was, of course...
“Whoa, that startled me!”
The strike had sent a jolt of fear through Zheng Daniu, but when he realized he was completely unharmed, his mouth split into a wide, foolish grin.
One Blade swung his saber again, aiming for Zheng Daniu's neck. "Surely your damn neck isn't protected by iron armor now, is it?" he thought.
But as his blade descended, he suddenly felt something was wrong. His saber, suspended mid-air, seemed to be caught by an unseen force, utterly unable to move.
“Huh?”
“What?”
“Why? There was clearly nothing in the air! What on earth had grabbed his saber?”
The Heavenly Lord, ever partial, considered the lives of his tiny people infinitely more precious than anyone else's. Besides, Zheng Daniu had contributed immensely to his diorama income; this particular little person absolutely could not be harmed by anyone.
Seeing One Blade slash at Zheng Daniu's neck, Li Daoxuan extended two fingers and, in mid-air, clamped down, pinning the saber.
One Blade strained with all his might, trying to pull his saber back, but it was utterly useless.
From a distance, Gao Yiye shouted, “Zheng Daniu, the Heavenly Lord has frozen the enemy's blade for you! What are you still grinning foolishly for?”
Zheng Daniu stammered, “Huh? Wh-what?”
He snapped out of his daze and swung his axe...
His axe-wielding skills were well-honed. These past days, he'd been felling trees on the hillside daily, hauling logs back for the two sculptors to carve various wooden figures. In return, he received the Heavenly Lord's bounty: a massive basin of Happy Fat Water. Under such excessive consumption, in just over ten days, the fellow had gained quite a bit of weight.
The power of his horizontal axe swing was such that even century-old trees would be terrified enough to rip their roots from the earth and flee.
The thick leather armor covering One Blade's body stood no chance against an axe.
“Thwack!”
With a muffled thud, One Blade felt a sharp agony erupt in his chest and abdomen. He looked down to see the axe blade had torn a gaping hole through his thick cowhide armor, and blood gushed forth.
He raised his head in disbelief, casting a glance at the sky, then toppled backward.
Zheng Daniu raised his axe and roared, “Heavenly Lord protect us!”
The nearby villagers, unable to restrain themselves, also roared, “Heavenly Lord protect us!”
...
The bandit leader, the Supreme Bright King, was now starting to feel that something was amiss.
As the leader, he naturally charged faster, leading his fiercest subordinates at the very front. Thus, when the massive stones flew, they all landed behind him.
If they didn't hit him, he wasn't afraid.
Once they reached the city wall, he didn't join in climbing it. Instead, he continuously waved his hand, urging his fiercest bandits to push forward.
So the stones and boiling oil never fell on his head.
Again, the same principle applied: if they didn't hit him, he wasn't afraid.
He continued to brandish the ghost-head saber in his hand, shouting orders, urging those around him to climb the ladders and storm the wall.
But as he continued to direct his men, he noticed fewer and fewer people around him.
“Huh? Where's my army of twelve hundred?”
The Supreme Bright King turned his head to look, only to find no grand army behind him at all, just a sparse few dozen men.
It turned out that the massive stones launched by the catapults had been continuously slamming into the bandit ranks behind him. The first wave alone had launched twenty huge stones. These stones, falling relentlessly, had utterly shattered the bandits' morale.
The bandits at the rear were completely unwilling to charge forward anymore. Instead, they retreated further and further from the city wall, until finally, they scattered and fled, disappearing from sight.
As a result, the first wave of bandits who had charged to the foot of the city wall were left isolated.
One less with each stone that knocked someone down, one less with each pour of scalding oil, one less with each bandit stabbed off a scaling ladder...
The Supreme Bright King's men dwindled continuously. But he stood at the front of the line, not the rear, with constant clamor, shouting, and chaos around him, so he had no idea.
It wasn't until this moment, when he suddenly turned his head, that he realized the gravity of the situation.
In that instant, the Supreme Bright King finally understood what "the defending side having a huge advantage" meant. After all, this was his first time besieging a city in his life. He had learned a little about siege warfare from storytelling and crosstalk — just stick a ladder up and climb — only to realize in real combat that it was nothing of the sort.
The morale of his subordinates was not something a mere bandit leader like him could control.
The Supreme Bright King let out a furious roar: “Retreat! Fall back! Retreat!”
Having said that, he turned tail and fled.
The few dozen fierce bandits still remaining by his side also turned and ran with him.
Master Bai extended his hand and loudly declared, “Bring me a bow!”
A nearby retainer immediately handed him a hunting bow, ready to loudly praise his archery and flatter his master.
Master Bai nocked an arrow to his bowstring, aiming for the Supreme Bright King's vital back, then released his right hand. With a twang of the bowstring, the arrow flew like a startled swan...
Whoosh!
It flew past just a few feet away from the Supreme Bright King.
The retainer, poised to shout "Good shot!" froze awkwardly.
Others nearby remained silent.
Master Bai gave a light cough, his old face flushing slightly. He quickly thrust the bow into the hands of the nearest retainer, clapped his hands, and pretended nothing had happened. "I shall just focus on commanding," he declared.
*The 'archery' aspect of a gentleman's six arts*, he mentally crossed off.
Of course, his small embarrassment didn't affect the overall situation. The bandit army began to retreat, and the pressure on the city walls instantly eased. The villagers began to cheer: “We won!”
“We stopped the bandits!”
“Gao Family Village is safe!”
“We're safe!”
“Heavenly Lord protect us!”
“Heavenly Lord protect us!”
Master Bai looked around, front and back, and loudly announced, “What are you all celebrating for? The bandit chief escaped! That Supreme Bright King will surely bear a grudge against us. Who knows when in the future he'll sneak back and launch a surprise attack after a feigned retreat...”
The villagers all froze, startled.
Upon closer thought, they realized, “Huh? He's right!”
It's not the thief you fear, but the thief's lingering gaze.
The villagers of Gao Family Village were all good-natured, timid folk. They truly didn't like the idea of being targeted by bandits; that feeling was far from pleasant. Hiding inside the walls of Gao Family Village was one thing, but what if they went into the mountains to gather herbs, or to the county town to buy goods, or even to a neighboring village? If the Supreme Bright King ambushed them halfway, wouldn't they perish without a burial place?
Just then, they suddenly heard Gao Yiye's voice.
She stretched out a hand and pointed at the retreating figure of the Supreme Bright King, shouting loudly, “Everyone, look closely! The Heavenly Lord is about to unleash a divine spell to root out our future troubles!”
The villagers immediately rejoiced.
Master Bai blinked.
Suddenly, thunder rumbled and wind stirred in the sky, as if some colossal entity was parting the clouds, descending rapidly. An invisible pressure whipped up a violent whirlwind on the open ground outside the city, sending dust scattering in a circular pattern.
Then...
“BOOM!”
With a colossal roar, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.
The Supreme Bright King, who had been fleeing into the distance, along with all his subordinates within thirty feet of him, were all flattened into meat patties.
The ground where they had stood caved in, forming a massive handprint.
The Supreme Bright King's flattened remains lay right in the center of the handprint...
.
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