Bandits

Meanwhile, the imperial court's triple tax had finally come down upon the Li Clan's head.

The Li Clan possessed quite a bit of farmland, but with this round of triple taxation, coupled with the clan elders selfishly concealing their private assets and refusing to pay from their own pockets, the entire tax burden was divided among the ordinary clansmen of every branch.

For a time, the entire Li Clan ancestral estate fell into panic and chaos.

As a borderlands Squad Leader with military merit, Li Xuancang could, by law, shelter his clan from taxes.

So long as he submitted a clan tax-exemption document to the authorities, the entire Li Clan could have been exempted from most of the harsh taxes and spared the suffering of tax collectors.

But back when the Li Family had fallen on hard times, the Li Clan had publicly expelled them from the family register and severed all clan ties. The elders had watched coldly as the Li Family endured every humiliation, leaving not a shred of affection behind.

From beginning to end, Li Xuancang had never submitted any document to the authorities offering protection to the Li Clan, nor had he informed the authorities of them in the slightest.

The officials of Azure County had long learned of Li Xuancang's relationship with the Li Clan through military dispatches and the comings and goings of yamen runners. Naturally, they would not take the initiative to grant the clan even the slightest preferential treatment.

The county's tax collectors and yamen runners marched grandly into the Li Clan ancestral hall.

Gone was any courtesy toward a family of military dependents. Their faces remained icy and their attitude forceful throughout, no different from how they treated ordinary commoners—if anything, even harsher.

"All members of the Li Clan, heed this order! Pay all taxes within three days. Short even one copper coin, and your clan's fields and clansmen will be taken as payment."

The leading tax collector stood in the ancestral hall courtyard and barked harshly.

Behind him, the yamen runners gripped clubs and began searching through the assets of every branch, showing no mercy whatsoever.

The clan elders' expressions changed drastically. They hurried forward, forcing smiles as they probed cautiously.

"Sir, we are Li Xuancang's clan. He is now a borderlands Squad Leader. Shouldn't our clan receive a tax exemption?"

The tax collector sneered, his gaze contemptuous and his tone utterly merciless.

"There are orders from above. Squad Leader Li's registered protection list includes only his parents in Azure Creek Village and his in-laws in Zhang Family Village. The Li Clan has never been mentioned."

"Besides, who doesn't know that you expelled Squad Leader Li from your family long ago and severed all relations? And now you want to cling to his military status for tax exemption? What wishful thinking."

Those words left the clan elders speechless. Their faces turned green, then white, ashamed and furious.

The clansmen of every branch instantly panicked. The ordinary members had never been well-off to begin with and simply could not produce such an enormous sum in tax silver.

When they saw the yamen runners forcibly plundering their property and preparing to chain people up and drag them off for corvée labor or military service, someone finally cried out in blind panic.

"We're Li Xuancang's clansmen! You can't arrest us! Li Xuancang is a borderlands officer! If you dare touch us, he won't let you off!"

"That's right, stop at once! We're Officer Li's kinsmen—hurry up and exempt us from taxes!"

"Do you think you can bear the consequences of laying hands on a Battle Soldier's clan?"

"..."

Everyone chimed in, believing that invoking Li Xuancang's name would intimidate the officials, exempt them from the taxes, and help them escape this calamity.

But unexpectedly, the moment those words were spoken, the tax collector became even more enraged.

"You brazen scoundrels! You dare falsely use the name of a borderlands officer's relatives to resist paying taxes? Your crime is all the more severe!"

"Squad Leader Li has never acknowledged you as his clan. Spout any more nonsense and slander a military officer's reputation, and you'll be arrested at once and punished for deceiving officials and defying the law."

The leader of the officials swept his cold gaze over them. Every member of the Li Clan lowered their heads, not daring to meet his eyes.

"Search them! Anyone who dares interfere, seize them all."

Upon receiving the order, the yamen runners became even rougher, turning over chests and cabinets and taking every valuable object.

Any able-bodied man unable to produce the tax silver was immediately shackled in iron chains and forcibly dragged away to perform corvée labor or fill the ranks.

Cries and wails rose everywhere, no different from those of the commoners in other villages.

"It's over. The clan is finished."

The clan elders collapsed inside the ancestral hall, their faces ashen. Though they were filled with regret, there was nothing they could do.

Back then, they had ruthlessly expelled the Li Family branch from the clan, heartless and devoid of all righteousness. Their present fate was entirely the bitter fruit of their own making.

Even if they were Li Xuancang's blood relatives, without his acknowledgement and without documentary proof, the authorities would not recognize their claims at all.

Invoking Li Xuancang's name not only failed to win them the slightest advantage, but instead brought ruthless suppression and all the misery of tax collection, driving them to the point of ruined homes and shattered families.

The entire Li Clan fell completely into despair. All of this was the evil fruit they had planted with their own hands.

Li Xuancang knew nothing of what had happened in Azure County. He was training troops in Jade Sun City, preparing for a new great battle.

Within Jade Sun City's military camp, the tense atmosphere of recent days was utterly ignited by a single piece of news.

A batch of military supplies loaded with grain, fodder, weapons, and healing pills had been transported from the rear toward Jade Sun City, intended exclusively for the remnants of the city garrison resisting the Barbarians.

Yet while passing through the Yellow Wind Mountains, it had all been seized by the Yellow Wind Bandits entrenched there.

The Yellow Wind Bandits' leader was named Lin Xuan. He had gathered more than a thousand desperate outlaws under his command, each one vicious and ruthless.

They normally robbed passing merchants and travelers and bullied the surrounding villages.

Now they had actually dared to rob the military supplies of a borderlands camp, thoroughly crossing the army's bottom line.

Bang!

Zhou Xingzhan smashed the desk beside him to pieces with one palm. His face was livid, Sha Qi surging around him like a towering wave. He immediately summoned all the army's commanders and issued a fierce order.

"Those Yellow Wind bandits have gall beyond measure! They dare rob our military supplies! Dispatch troops at once, sweep through the Yellow Wind Mountains, recover the supplies, and behead the bandit leader, Lin Xuan!"

The military situation was urgent. There was not a moment to lose.

Zhou Xingzhan immediately appointed Thousand-Man Commander Zhou Xiong as the commanding general, ordering him to lead five hundred elite border troops on an immediate expedition to wipe out the Yellow Wind Bandits.

Zhou Xiong was a Blood Condensation Realm expert with formidable combat power and decisive ruthlessness in battle. He was one of the camp's fiercest generals. With him leading the force, this rabble could be wiped out with ease.

The military order was swiftly issued, and the entire army began selecting elite soldiers, preparing weapons, and gathering the troops.

Li Xuancang, a hardened soldier who had fought his way out of the bloody battle at Azure Cloud Ridge, possessed outstanding combat strength and abundant battlefield experience. He too was on the list of those called to fight.

The Messenger hurried to the camp garrison and loudly announced, "Squad Leader Li Xuancang, immediately prepare the soldiers under your command. Follow the Thousand-Man Commander on an expedition to the Yellow Wind Mountains, eliminate the bandits, and recover the military supplies."

"Yes!"

Li Xuancang answered in a low voice, without the slightest hesitation.

Li Xuancang led the soldiers under his command swiftly toward the Drill Ground to assemble.

On the Drill Ground, five hundred elite border troops stood in neat ranks, their armor clanking. Every one of them held a sharp blade, their postures straight and proud.

Though they had suffered the disastrous defeat at Azure Cloud Ridge, they still retained the iron-blooded fighting spirit of the border army.

Thousand-Man Commander Zhou Xiong stood atop the platform in heavy armor, a long saber in hand. His sharp gaze swept across the entire army as he shouted sternly.

"Our target on this expedition is the Yellow Wind Mountains. Recover the military supplies and annihilate the bandits. Any who dare fear battle or retreat will be dealt with under military law."

"We obey the general's order!"

All five hundred soldiers answered in unison, their voices shaking the heavens, their momentum like a rainbow.

They might fear the Barbarians and Demonic Beasts, but dealing with a band of mountain bandits was using an ox cleaver to kill a chicken—easy as turning over one's hand.

A fierce light gleamed in their eyes. They wanted to charge into battle, exchange bandit heads for rewards, and prove their valor.

With the military order issued, the force quickly set out.