Banners unfurled, and whistles sounded.
More than a dozen bands of mountain bandits nearby gathered six or seven hundred men in short order. The biting night wind howled, and steel sabers gleamed or darkened beneath the moonlight. Before the men arrived, an air of murderous menace had already spread toward Ge Pao Township.
The dirt tracks and main road leading into the township were filled with riders in fitted fighting clothes. Hooves thundered deafeningly, and birds and beasts scattered through the woods on either side.
At the head of the column, an obliging chieftain beside Yan Bo waved a banner and shouted, "Main Headquarters has come to suppress the rebellion! Anyone who wants to live, drop your weapons and lie facedown on either side of the road!"
His cries echoed through the valley. The Galloping Horse Gang members who had joined Gang Leader Qin in his "rebellion" panicked instantly.
"Main Headquarters sent men! What do we do?"
"Damn it, we've already rebelled! Even if we lie down now, we're dead anyway! Fight them!" a very wise burly man roared fiercely through gritted teeth.
But when he turned to look around after shouting, he saw that seven or eight of his brothers had already dropped their weapons and prostrated themselves beside the road. "Please see the truth, lords of Main Headquarters! We never plotted rebellion! Gang Leader Qin threatened our lives, so we had no choice but to follow him...!"
The wise burly man froze. After hesitating briefly where he stood, he too started to kneel.
Squelch!
Riding past, Yan Bo controlled his Magic Treasure and chopped off the man's head.
Clop, clop!
The others listened to the deafening hoofbeats on the road, not daring to raise their heads for another look.
The mounted column swept past, churning up dust along