Dengzhou City, beneath a clear, crisp autumn sky.
The hundreds of young riders still sat on fine steeds, draped in red and festive ribbons, but every face had turned pale. They stood obediently on either side of the road, watching rank after rank of regular Exorcising the Dragon Gang soldiers enter Dengzhou City in iron lamellar armor, black overcoats, and Six Harmonies Boots, carrying long iron spears and marching in remarkably orderly formation.
They looked almost exactly like the Exorcising the Dragon Gang the riders had heard about upon returning home-the one that had swept through Dengzhou under arms years ago.
But these frightened young riders certainly could not have imagined that the vanguard battalion they saw had been among those swept aside a few years earlier... These were Gao Shitong's troops, mostly selected from the Hebei Righteous Army that had occupied Dengzhou back then.
Next came the battalions of Fan Bao, Jia Wugen, and others, all likewise men who had surrendered back then; they had simply been closer and arrived sooner. Meanwhile, the two cavalry battalions under Cao Chen and Liu Heihuang had also arrived, but passed through the towns outside Dengzhou City and headed straight for the old Dengzhou Garrison Camp farther east... As for the remaining battalions, they would probably need another two or three days.
Of course, this was already enough to shake Dengzhou, inside and out, from top to bottom.
What these people-or rather, everyone in Dengzhou except Cheng Dalang-did not know was that before these troops arrived, Purple-Faced Heavenly King Xiong Bonan and the Diamonds associated with several chiefs who had yet to arrive had already entered the city early that morning. They were now discussing certain matters with Chief Zhang in the rear hall of the commissioner's residence.
Also seated there were Dengzhou's