Before the twelfth lunar month arrived, the Exorcising the Dragon Gang's new grand gathering was underway, and it worked unexpectedly well-far better than imagined. This astonished many who had approached the matter thinking, "The Dragonhead's already gone this far, so what's the harm?" or, "We've crossed the river anyway. You're the Dragonhead; you call the shots."
In fact, even Zhang Xing was shocked by the soldiers' enthusiasm. He simply did not show it.
After turning it over in his mind, he could only guess that the situation in Hebei over the previous two years had been so difficult that everyone felt repressed. One telling piece of evidence was that the newly joined Hebei Righteous Army were precisely the group most eager to take part in this military sports meet. They did not merely participate; they contributed many ideas, proposing numerous events with a distinctly Hebei flavor. These men soon had the effect of catfish stirring up a pond, arousing the interest and competitive spirit of the other groups.
And just as Zhang Xing formally added "pay attention to the soldiers' spiritual life" to his "Six Secret Teachings-proposed revisions," the appearance of certain people further confirmed his guess.
"Who are those people?"
Under the winter Sunlight, Zhang Xing had been watching a strange game from a makeshift platform in one of the outlying camps. It resembled football, but was played on plowed ridges and called "Seize the Ridge." Turning his head suddenly, he noticed some unusual people at the edge of the camp. "Local civilians? Or families of the Hebei rebels?"
"Local civilians, though there should be some local family members from Bohai and Pingyuan among them." Dou Lide explained hastily after a single glance. "They appeared several days ago, but only started coming closer these past few days, once we