The Army Enters the City!

Lin Wenhai's first reaction was disdain.

True, he was somewhat wary of the other man's identity, but one thing was certain: the other man possessed no Inner Force. Like himself, he was an external martial artist.

And this guy dared to make a move?

The sects of the martial world were getting bolder and bolder these days. Or were there simply too many rebel kings in recent years, making people forget the strength of the imperial court?

With that thought, Lin Wenhai immediately moved to draw his saber and teach this wandering hero a lesson. He had even begun sketching out his moves in his mind—how to beat the mountain and shake the tiger, what he ought to say afterward—then his thoughts stopped.

Thud!

A round head fell to the ground alongside the rainwater. A pillar of blood shot into the sky, dyeing the curtain of rain red as a pungent bloody stench spread through the air.

In an instant, the surrounding civilians recoiled in horror.

On the other side of the prisoner cart, Liu Fuguan, another constable responsible for escorting it, was utterly frozen. Only when several drops of blood landed on his face did he come back to his senses.

One slash!?

He had not even seen how the man drew his blade. In the blink of an eye, Lin Wenhai, who had been evenly matched with him, had become a headless corpse.

An Inner Force Martial Master?

No, impossible. If the man had been an Inner Force Martial Master, there would have been no need to draw his blade. Rather than Inner Force, it had been pure brute strength of the flesh.

"Mad... mad..."

In that flash of lightning and spark of flint, Liu Fuguan had already sorted out his thoughts. "This madman must be here to rob the prisoner cart. He wants to save someone. I can't stop him..."

With that thought, he swiftly jumped down from the prisoner cart and stepped aside. He came from a wealthy household in the city, a family of good citizens for generations. His life was precious. How could he die for no reason at the hands of some hotheaded fool over a mere condemned prisoner? First, he would preserve his life; afterward, he could report this man to the county office and have him wanted.

Yet at that moment.

Beneath the dark mass of clouds, a cloud-piercing arrow flew upward against the rain, trailing firelight, before exploding in midair into a burst of brilliant colors.

What had happened?

Only moments later, inside and outside Longxing County, whether Blackheads or registered good citizens, everyone could clearly feel the earth trembling as it drew nearer from afar.

All of them, guided by some indistinct instinct, subconsciously looked around, sensing an indescribable oppression permeating the air.

Soon, they saw the source of that oppression.

At the far end of the horizon, beneath the hazy curtain of rain, a thin line suddenly appeared—then, as time passed, it gradually became a band.

Immediately afterward, the band split apart, turning into countless densely packed figures.

They surged forward like a breached flood, covering more than half the plain. Their footsteps were perfectly synchronized, and their black armor shared the same color as heaven and earth.

Rumble!

The tremors grew ever more violent. Even the dark clouds above flashed with lightning at the perfect moment, sounding thunder as though they too were beating war drums for the marching army.

"...Run!"

At last, one civilian came to his senses. Like a monkey whose backside had been set on fire, he abandoned the crowd and fled in frantic haste.

That single flight instantly stirred waves a thousand layers high.

All the civilians began running. The Blackheads who had gathered to watch the excitement scattered like birds and beasts, and the scene descended entirely into chaos.

Yet the army advancing from afar did not waver in the slightest. Instead, it continued methodically deploying its formation. Every soldier was joined as branches from the same tree, and beneath the vast rain curtain, they seemed to transform into a savage beast from the wilderness, opening its bloody maw toward Longxing County as though it meant to swallow it whole in a single bite.

"My lord, please give the order."

At that moment, another figure emerged from the crowd. It was Wu Xintai, clad in armor and armed to the teeth, fully prepared. His expression was so stern that he resembled a statue.

Liu Fuguan recognized him at once.

After all, as the commander of the [Black Armor Battalion], Wu Xintai was not merely well known in the current Longxing County office—he was practically a household name.

"People from the [Black Armor Battalion] dared to kill a county office constable!?" Perhaps because he had just witnessed his colleague die, Liu Fuguan's voice abruptly rose several octaves, turning shrill. "The military camp is interfering in county affairs and has even spilled blood. Are you trying to rebel!?"

The moment those words left his mouth, Liu Fuguan himself seemed to grow bolder.

Because reason was on the county office's side.

No matter what, Lin Wenhai, a county office constable, was dead. The killer was connected to the [Black Armor Battalion]. That was irrefutable evidence.

Under such circumstances, the [Black Armor Battalion] undoubtedly stood under suspicion of rebellion and risked losing control. It was perfectly reasonable for him to demand an explanation from them... Besides, he knew that the county magistrate had been troubled by the [Black Armor Battalion] for a long time and had been considering how to handle them.

Now that he had helped seize their weakness, it was undoubtedly a great merit.

As for offending the [Black Armor Battalion], or even the army... What a joke. They were not even part of the same system. So what if he offended them?

With that thought, Liu Fuguan's mind became completely active.

Looking at Wu Xintai, he swiftly deduced every excuse the other man might make and how he should refute it, standing on the moral high ground and pointing fingers at him.

Yet he had not expected this.

"...Rebellion?"

Not only did Wu Xintai fail to defend himself, he actually laughed aloud. Then he looked first at Liu Fuguan, then at Wang Ping standing beside him.

Boom!

The next second, Wu Xintai swept out a hand. Vast Inner Force howled forth and struck Liu Fuguan squarely in the chest, sending him flying.

Before, there was no military order. You called me a rebel, and I did not bother arguing with you. Now I am acting under military orders—what do you call me now?

Rebellion? This is suppressing rebellion!

Longxing County, county office compound.

Xu Bingzheng sat upright in the main hall, but he was not seated in the seat of honor. Instead, he respectfully served tea to another middle-aged scholar dressed in official student robes.

The middle-aged scholar accepted the teacup, but after taking a single sip, he deeply furrowed his brow. He then turned, fetched a bowl, spat the tea into it, and shook his head. "Though this tea uses excellent leaves and the tea set is barely passable, the brewer lacks skill. The heat was not controlled with sufficient precision."

"What a waste of such fine tea leaves."

By the end, the disgust on the middle-aged scholar's face was no longer concealed. "You have ruined a pot of good tea, Junior Brother. You cannot keep this tea master."

"Senior Brother Li is entirely correct."

Xu Bingzheng hurriedly nodded, then sighed. "In these poor mountains and foul waters, true masters are hard to come by. It is only normal that their skills are lacking. I have made Senior Brother laugh at me."

Only then did the middle-aged scholar nod. "Though you have the credentials of the Imperial Academy, you are still a scholar from Changle Commandery. This place lies in Shu Region, far from the Central Plains. Without the cultivation of Aristocratic Clans and great families, its foundations are still somewhat shallow. Take tea, for instance—nourishing the body and receiving guests are matters of utmost importance."

"How about this? Once you and I finish this matter."

"When we return to the Imperial Academy someday to report to our teacher, I will give you several tea-brewing masters to lend you some face, so you will not lose face again as you did today."

"Then many thanks to Senior Brother."

Xu Bingzheng wore a grateful expression, then said emotionally, "I never expected that Teacher would not only refrain from blaming me, but would even send Senior Brother here. Bingzheng shall never forget this kindness."

As he spoke, Xu Bingzheng looked again at the middle-aged scholar. His eyes narrowed slightly, and in the unseen darkness, he seemed to behold a white-haired brush painting rivers and mountains in sweeping strokes.

Ranked one hundred and fourth on the Weapon Ranking, [Landscape Brush] Li Yiran.

Though both were listed on the Weapon Ranking, three hundred and forty-second place and one hundred and fourth place were not remotely on the same level. Their strength was as far apart as heaven and earth.

The world had long reached a consensus on this.

The towering masters of every sect, and even Martial Grandmasters, had offered their judgments, dividing the three hundred and sixty experts on the Weapon Ranking into three further rankings.

The first one hundred and eight were the Human Ranking, the first thirty-six were the Earth Ranking, and the first five were the Heaven Ranking.

Every leap from one ranking to another represented explosive growth in a martial artist's strength. The five Heaven Ranking Martial Masters at the top were known as the Five Supremes Under Heaven.

One had to know that standing out among Martial Masters across the realm and earning a place on the Weapon Ranking already meant being a dragon and phoenix among men. To advance further from among hundreds of such dragons and phoenixes and enter one of the three rankings made one a favored child of heaven. Even the lowest-ranked among them was far beyond ordinary people.

There was not merely a difference in strength, but also in status and standing.

Take this Senior Brother Li, for example. His father was the current Vice Minister of Rites, a third-rank official. In their ancestral home of Changzhou, the Li Family even bore the reputation of "Half of Changzhou Belongs to the Lis."

He was far beyond Xu Bingzheng's comparison.

And even setting all that aside, speaking only of strength, a Human Ranking Martial Master could rival a regular army camp of the imperial court. He was truly an army unto himself.

With that thought, Xu Bingzheng grew even more respectful.

"Now the [Black Armor Battalion] is eyeing us like a tiger from outside the city, while I have suffered severe injuries. I truly cannot sleep through the night, fearing that I may ruin Teacher's grand plan."

"That is precisely why Teacher sent me."

Li Yiran calmly waved a hand. "More importantly, before I arrived, the county was in great turmoil. There was no problem with the grain and rice collected from the autumn taxes, was there?"

"Absolutely not!"

Xu Bingzheng solemnly declared, "These past days, I personally guarded the granary, ensuring that every grain of tax rice remained safe and sound, untouched by those troublesome commoners."

"Good."

Li Yiran nodded in satisfaction. "Tax grain is a matter of national importance. Since you understand that, Teacher will surely be pleased as well. There is no need to care about other matters."

"So what if a few Blackheads died? They will grow back eventually."

His words were light and casual, as though he did not care at all about the civil unrest, the rebels, or the corpses of the starved scattered outside the city. It was all no more than several small lines of text in a book.

Yet at that moment, a constable suddenly ran into the main hall from outside in a panic.

"My lord! This is bad, my lord!"

"What, something happened?"

Xu Bingzheng's brow creased slightly. With a turn of thought, he immediately understood. "Did something go wrong during the public parade? Has the [Black Armor Battalion] outside the city moved?"

When those words fell, it seemed he had anticipated this long ago.

Rather, the reason he had arranged this public parade in the first place was to lure the snake from its hole, using it to test the [Black Armor Battalion]'s attitude.

Now it seemed that the [Black Armor Battalion] had truly reacted.

The reporting constable hurriedly said, "The [Black Armor Battalion] has deployed in full! They may have already marched into the city by now!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Bingzheng and Li Yiran not only did not panic, but exchanged a surprised glance. Then both revealed smug smiles.

"Entered the city? They are courting death!"

"Since the [Black Armor Battalion] moved first, they cannot blame us."

Li Yiran immediately rose to his feet, took out a seal from his sleeve, then summoned a Golden-Eyed Eagle. After tying the seal to it, he released it to fly out of the county office.

"Rest assured, Junior Brother. The [White-Stepping Battalion] is very near this place. My Golden-Eyed Eagle will deliver the message, and if they force-march here, they will certainly arrive within one hour. Just in time to catch the [Black Armor Battalion] in the act, charge them with mobilizing troops without orders, and remove this nuisance outside the city."

"Senior Brother truly leaves nothing uncalculated."

Xu Bingzheng flattered him, then calmly glanced at the reporting constable. "Enough. Steady yourself. The ones who should be panicking are not you, but them."

A military camp entering the city? What a joke!

Under the Great Shun Code, military camps could not move without orders. In all the realm, the only military tally capable of mobilizing the [Black Armor Battalion] was held by the Changle Commandery Office and the capital.

He knew exactly where the one belonging to the Changle Commandery Office was.

As for the one in the capital, it lay thousands of miles away, making it even more impossible.

Therefore, without a doubt, the [Black Armor Battalion] had mobilized its troops without authorization.

With that thought, Xu Bingzheng became even more composed. He smiled lightly. "Come. Follow this official out and see whether the [Black Armor Battalion] truly has no regard for the law!"