Troops Combine

"Well done! A fine strike!" Seeing Lin Xuan take down one of the bandits, the other garrison soldiers on the city wall felt their spirits lift, cheering for him repeatedly.

There were only three bandits in total; with one dead, the remaining two were much easier to handle.

Lin Xuan kept firing, each arrow drawn fast and true, relentlessly pursuing the one Zhang Quan had failed to kill with his first shot.

Though that man was agile, he was unfortunately struck under such a fierce offensive; despite wearing iron armor, it proved useless.

The Armor-Piercing Arrow was lethally effective within fifty paces.

Zhang Quan watched Lin Xuan's technique with astonishment, as he himself had to aim for a long time to be accurate, and he had never seen anyone shoot with such speed and precision.

Soon, Lin Xuan ran out of arrows; the man had been hit four times but still retained his fighting strength, unlike the first one who had died after two shots.

Lin Xuan drew his sidearm and charged toward the man.

Seeing Lin Xuan engage in close-quarters combat, Zhang Quan abandoned his own bow, fearing he might accidentally hit his comrade.

Lin Xuan's strength was enough to crush these Bone Binding-stage martial artists, whose power typically hovered around three hundred to four hundred catties; his own strength could simply overwhelm them.

It reminded him of his fight against the bandit leader; if not for Lin An's sneak attack or the Sharp Eyes talent, he surely would have died at that bandit's hands.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Soon, Lin Xuan's blade clashed with the bandit several times, each impact making the bandit's web between his thumb and forefinger ache and even split open, bleeding.

The bandit could barely parry, yet he had no way to escape, as he had failed to retreat in time and had no one behind him.

Gritting his teeth, he shouted at Lin Xuan, "I see you are a man of talent, why throw your life away for the government! If you join our Righteous Army, it will be far better than this piece-of-shit government!"

Lin Xuan remained silent.

What a joke; his family was currently in the Garrison, and this guy was trying to incite him to defect to the Righteous Army?

Yet, he couldn't bring himself to hate these rebels; after all, it was merely a difference in stance, not a blood feud. He only hoped to cross paths with them less in the future.

Before long, the few bandits were cut down by Lin Xuan and Zhang Quan.

"I may have lost, but not entirely; that one bandit was wounded by me," Zhang Quan said with a grin.

"Fine, I'll split the bounty with you," Lin Xuan replied heartily.

Taking a closer look, one of the corpses had the words [Bad Luck] floating above its body.

Opening it to inspect, it read: [Bad Luck]: Fortune is unfavorable, and all things go against one's wishes.

Seeing these two words, Lin Xuan's spirit surged.

This Bad Luck... can also be considered a talent? If so, then good luck should also be a talent, and can be collected as well?

This talent came from the bandit he had shot twice; while inspecting the body, he realized those two arrows—one in the arm and one in the lung—had completely bypassed all the armor plates, threading through the gaps to pierce directly into the body.

This left Lin Xuan feeling both amused and frustrated; no wonder killing him had been so easy—the man simply had terrible luck.

The corpses and those of the wealthy families were brought into the Garrison.

Lin Xuan had killed two bandits and, over several trips, brought back four bodies, earning forty taels of silver.

Zhang Quan had killed one bandit and brought back five bodies, earning thirty-five taels of silver.

"That bandit had your arrow to thank for his death, so I'm splitting the bounty," Lin Xuan said, handing five taels to Zhang Quan.

Zhang Quan felt a bit embarrassed; as a protégé cultivated by Commander Zhang, he wasn't short on silver. He had only mentioned it to avoid admitting defeat.

"Don't joke around, whoever kills them gets the reward," Zhang Quan refused Lin Xuan's kindness.

"You won this time," Lin Xuan insisted, not being one to compete for petty gains.

Zhang Quan accepted it sheepishly, thinking to himself, This guy is truly interesting. Does he really not care about winning or losing?

Thousand-Household Commander Su held up several bandit heads, reassuring the wealthy families inside the city, "The bandit leaders are here; have no fear. The Garrison will surely protect your safety. They have already lost several men and dare not attack the city. In a few days, Commander-in-Chief Li's troops will arrive to support us, and we shall wipe this group of bandits out entirely!"

Thousand-Household Commander Su was so certain and confident because he had planted several spies among the able-bodied men the bandits had recruited—the very same ones he had placed when the wealthy families and commoners were driven away.

Although he couldn't control the enemy's movements, if they took action, he would likely be the first to know.

Liu Zuolong saw this scene but did not panic; instead, he encouraged his bandit subordinates:

"See that? The government troops only dare to kill our straggling brothers! They shrink inside the city like turtles, not daring to face our main force head-on! We've looted every wealthy household, and they didn't dare let out a peep! Follow me, and we'll eat well and drink well while they hide in the city and tremble! Tomorrow, we continue looting the wealthy!"

At these words, a roar of laughter erupted from the Righteous Army; the fear from losing three men vanished instantly, as if it were nothing at all.

Though he said this, he turned to his deputy and whispered, "When we set up camp tonight, increase the guard and send out more patrols to prevent a night raid by the Garrison!"

They still have a bit of backbone; they aren't provoking us anymore, Liu Zuolong thought, evaluating the Thousand-Household Office.

The next day, they followed their previous method, looting nearby wealthy households. This time, the efficiency was faster than before, but the searching was much cruder.

They entered Lin Xuan's home to investigate, but upon finding the house dilapidated and the utensils old, they merely took a cotton quilt and stopped searching further.

Lin Xuan had not changed his tableware or furniture during this period, which led them to identify this place as belonging to a poor peasant; they didn't even bother to search the cellar before leaving entirely.

Just one day later, reinforcements from the Wuqu Guard arrived. Sun Chengdong, the Regional Commander of the Wuqu Guard, personally led 100 personal guards and 3,000 troops from other garrisons in Wuqu Province, rushing over to intercept Liu Zuolong, a subordinate of King Cui.

Meanwhile, Commander-in-Chief Li's forces headed directly toward King Cui's main army.

The first task for the arriving Wuqu Guard reinforcements was to merge with the troops from the Thousand-Household Offices in Liang City, consolidating them into an effective fighting force in preparation for a counterattack against Liu Zuolong's unit.

Before dawn had even broken, a shrill military bugle pierced the sky.

Lin Xuan quickly donned his gear, the plates of his armor clattering, and stood in formation on the drill ground alongside the other Flag Commanders and Squad Leaders.

On the high platform, Regional Commander of the Wuqu Guard Sun Chengdong stood in gleaming armor, his voice booming like a bell:

"Thousand-Household Commander Su, lead the Liang City detachment as the right flank, form up and await orders!"

Although Lin Xuan was exceptionally skilled in archery, as a Flag Commander, he did not stand with the archers but instead took his place at the front of the right flank's vanguard.

His subordinates, Lin Jie, Qin Huai, and Liu Jiye, each led ten military households, forming a vanguard of thirty men with shields and blades in the front and long spears protecting the flanks, all under his direct command.