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Chapter 513: When Told to Strike the Face, He Struck the Hat

Tie Niaofei and Zhan Seng watched Wang Guozhong's performance with cool eyes, thinking: "Here it comes! What's bound to come always does. Fortunately, we've long been prepared; the people sent to seek pacification from Yang He should have arrived days ago."

And Yang He must be on his way here now!

As the Supreme Commander of Shaanxi's three border regions, Yang He wasn't one to move easily; he’d certainly be deliberately slow and ponderous on the road. It would take him some time to reach Yongji, and that time would be spent settling the score with Wang Guozhong.

The two didn't linger in Puzhou City and immediately rushed back to the dock.

At the dock, a scene of enthusiastic industry was unfolding. A large number of workers were constructing the bullet factory workshops. These workshops had to be made of cement and located far from residential areas to prevent accidental explosions that could harm civilians. Thus, the bullet factory was built on a desolate slope far outside the dock stronghold.

"Unauthorized reclamation and construction without local official permission"—this alone was enough to warrant arrest and fifty strokes of the cane, a truly lawless act. But the Puzhou prefect didn't intervene at all, so Xing Honglang and her people built with an air of legitimate purpose.

While the buildings were under construction, a team of technical specialists brought by Xu Dafu from Gao Family Village was in a temporarily occupied room, teaching newly recruited workers how to separate, grind, re-proportion, produce gunpowder, and roll cartridges from the materials bestowed by the Heavenly Lord.

Given Xu Dafu's temperament, these individuals would typically have to study diligently for at least ten days to half a month, especially concerning safety protocols, memorizing everything until they could recite it backward, before being allowed to start work.

As soon as Tie Niaofei and Zhan Seng returned to the stronghold, they immediately hurried to the meeting hall: "Wang Guozhong has already arrived in Puzhou."

Everyone listened quietly, showing no surprise. They had been preparing for this; if he was coming, then let him come.

That evening...

A swift horse galloped toward the stronghold.

The rider was an envoy sent by Wang Guozhong. Just days earlier, this envoy had been merely a glib, semi-literate minor rebel leader; now he had transformed into an envoy of the imperial court.

When a small person rises to power, they love to show off. The smaller the person, the more insignificant the wretch, the more they posture after finding success.

This envoy was precisely such a man.

Upon arriving at the stronghold, he coldly swept his gaze around. He saw few soldiers, only palisades made of wood, a few thousand common folk working and living, and a sparse handful of sentries on the watchtowers.

The envoy quickly assessed the salt smuggler's fighting strength, secretly scoffing: "This Xing Honglang is nothing special. Judging by the size of this stronghold, it has, at most, a few thousand people, and more than half are elderly, women, and children. Those truly capable of fighting probably number less than two thousand."

"In Wang Jiayin's hands, she'd be, at best, a minor chieftain, not even a major one."

However, the envoy wasn't entirely foolish. He had heard that Xing Honglang had defeated Old Zhang Fei, and from that, it seemed Xing Honglang did possess some combat ability; she wasn't an easy target.

The envoy stood at the stronghold gate, with an air of haughty arrogance, declaring loudly: "People of the stronghold, come out and speak."

Soon, Xing Honglang appeared on the palisade.

Previously, the stronghold's palisade had been merely a thin layer of wooden posts, too narrow for people to stand on. But after more than a year of expansion, horizontal frames and planks had been added to the top, allowing people to now stand upon the wall.

Xing Honglang stood there, watching the envoy with a strange expression, asking knowingly: "Who are you?"

The envoy, brimming with arrogance, replied: "I am from Deputy General Wang Guozhong's command in Puzhou! I have come to your dilapidated stronghold today to advise you: immediately lay down your weapons, disband your followers, and come to General Wang's tent to beg for forgiveness. General Wang might just be merciful enough to spare your life."

Xing Honglang secretly chuckled.

Logically, she only needed to say, "We have already sought pacification from Supreme Commander Yang He, and he is on his way here to negotiate terms of surrender." One sentence, and the trouble would immediately be resolved.

But Xing Honglang deliberately chose not to!

Because everyone didn't want Wang Guozhong stationed in Puzhou. This man would surely cause trouble for Gao Family Village's expansion in the future. Moreover, a fellow like Wang Guozhong, who betrayed his own kind, lacked loyalty, and harmed the common people, was universally despised by outlaws. Even if he wanted to join Gao Family Village, Gao Family Village wouldn't have him.

Under such circumstances, a confrontation was inevitable.

Xing Honglang glanced sideways at the Puppet Heavenly Lord sitting on Gao Chuwu's shoulder. The Heavenly Lord gave her a thumbs-up, an oddly unsettling gesture from a wooden hand, accompanied by a "click" sound.

Xing Honglang understood. She turned back to the stronghold gate and said, "You're quite arrogant, aren't you?"

The envoy was still immensely proud: "I am an official, and you are a bandit. How else should I speak to you? Do you expect me to kneel and kowtow?"

Xing Honglang: "You said it yourself."

The envoy detected hostility in her tone and felt a slight panic. He thought: "This is her camp, after all; I'm at a disadvantage here."

Thinking this, he pulled back himself and his horse, ready to flee at any moment, and with the most cowardly demeanor, he uttered the most boastful words: "What do you want? Do you dare touch me? General Wang's garrison is less than thirty li from here. Try laying a finger on me? Try it, and you'll die!"

"Bang!"

A crisp arquebus shot rang out, white smoke swirling on the palisade. The envoy felt his hat suddenly fly off, soaring far away. He turned his head in shock, only to find a large hole in his hat...

"Someone used an arquebus to shoot off my hat?"

This truly startled the envoy. The arquebus shot was incredibly accurate, wasn't it? Although he was very close to the stronghold, only a few zhang away, hitting a person at that distance with an arquebus wasn't difficult. But to accurately hit only the hat without hitting the head—that was truly challenging.

This level of difficulty was on par with blindfolded dart throwing, the chest-breaking rock stunt, or tightrope unicycling.

It was truly miraculous skill!

With such divine skill, they were truly formidable.

He was terrified, but the envoy, being a ruthless bandit by origin, still held his neck stiffly, roaring: "Fine, fine! Just you wait, you bastards! General Wang's army will arrive in a few days. You're all dead!"

The envoy spurred his horse toward Puzhou City.

After he had ridden far away, Lao Nanfeng's curses finally erupted from the palisade: "Damn it! I told you to shoot him right in the middle of his face, and you hit his hat instead? We couldn't even establish authority by killing him."

An arquebus soldier clutched his head in apology: "I clearly aimed for his face. I don't know why I hit his hat."

Lao Nanfeng stamped his feet and cursed: "It's all your fault for not training properly!"

The Puppet Heavenly Lord laughed with a "click-clack" sound: "Don't scold him! Even warring nations don't execute envoys, and this person wasn't meant to be killed anyway. It's alright, it's alright."