The County Commandant Musters His Troops

Feng Buxing carefully affixed the Spirit Concealment Talisman and hid on a treetop outside Linghe Market, a look of impatience on his face.

Because of the reopening of Chongming Market and the turbulent times in the past two years, his business as Evil Cultivator has been bad. He rarely encounters any decent traveling merchants, let alone the foolish old man. He's been watching for almost an entire afternoon and hasn't even seen a single person wearing a religious robe.

"Damn it, they're all poor bastards! Being poor is bad enough, but they're also arrogant. There are fewer and fewer people like them who know how to pay a toll."

Thinking of this, he sighed inwardly, "This kind of life on the edge isn't so easy!"

Living outdoors in the open and covered in wounds are common occurrences. These days, there are more and more villains who play the fool to prey on others. If you make even the slightest mistake or take one wrong step, it's not impossible for you to fall into their hands.

Even if they win, their Law Artifact and talismans will be damaged to some extent. After completing a deal, they still have to split the profits with their two partners according to their contribution. Before the profits are split, it's hard to say whether they will make a profit or a loss.

After a year, the amount of Spirit Stone I actually earned was not much.

Fortunately, there are no powerful sects or martial arts practitioners in Pingrong County who are too busy to venture out and gain experience. As long as they are careful and adhere to the principle of bullying the weak and fearing the strong, they can usually escape unscathed.

He and his two accomplices had been doing this business without any initial investment for over ten years. In their spare time, they would take some pills and spend their leisure time in a small mortal town. They lived a fairly comfortable life and made do.

Just as I was thinking this, Feng Buxing suddenly saw a dense net descending upon us.

"What a fast magical Law Artifact!" Feng Buxing exclaimed inwardly, realizing that even though he was on guard, he hadn't had time to notice it at all.

He had no time to dodge. He put his right hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist. With a "clang", several sharp white blades slashed at the net. The net covered the net as usual, the blades scattered, but the net was unharmed.

Four Demon Correction Office soldiers, each holding one end of the treetop, easily covered Feng Buxing completely, binding his magical Law Power as well.

"The Demon Correction Office? What have I done wrong? Why are they bothering me? What trouble have those other two gotten into?" Before he could even protest, two more guards came out, each holding an iron ruler. Without asking any questions, they raised their hands and struck Feng Buxing on the head.

"Pfft." With just a few strikes of the iron ruler, a huge blood blister swelled up on the bandit's head, and he felt nauseous, vomiting a pool of muddy water.

"Sir, spare me! Spare me! Please don't hit me! I have some savings that I'd like to offer to you gentlemen as money for a drink." Feng Buxing curled up and begged for mercy, truly unable to believe what he had done to warrant the Demon Correction Office. He didn't dare to ask, feeling utterly wronged.

"Keep fighting!"

Upon hearing this, the soldier increased his strength, and before long he had beaten the Feng Buxing breathe, his bones were broken, and he was covered in blood.

After another quarter of an hour of beating, the soldiers put down the blood-stained iron ruler.

Feng Buxing remained curled up and motionless for a long time before finally mustering the courage to peek out a little, opening his swollen eyes. When he saw the familiar person in official robes in front of him, his wide eyes suddenly narrowed, and his face showed shame, indignation, and anger.

"Kang-Da-Bao! I love you!"

Feng Buxing's cursing words were only half-finished when he was startled by the raised iron ruler and swallowed them back.

He instinctively shrank his head, but the iron ruler slammed hard into his back, drawing blood from his already bruised back. One, two, three blows.

Feng Buxing stuffed the blood-soaked robe into his mouth and bit down, letting out several muffled groans, almost fainting from the pain.

"Sect Leader Kang Da, County Magistrate Kang, I was blind in the past! Please have mercy on me and spare my life. I will serve you like a slave, I will serve you like a slave." Feng Buxing dared not lose his temper anymore. He gathered his strength, moved his body little by little, and knelt on the ground, begging for mercy.

"Pfft!" Kang Dabao, with a stern face, slammed an iron Feng Buxing down on the face, then spat out a mouthful of broken teeth.

Left cheek, right cheek, left cheek, right cheek.

Dozens of blows with the iron ruler followed, leaving Feng Buxing's face raw and bleeding. Yet he still begged for mercy, crawling close to Kang Dabao's trouser leg, tilting his head back. He barely had the strength to open his mouth, a thin line of bloody saliva escaping from his gaping mouth. "Kang... Kang County... Kang... County... Lieutenant, please spare me."

With a "bang," a headless body crashed heavily to the ground.

Two people nearby, seeing this scene, also knelt down, bowed their heads to the ground, and dared not say another word.

Kang Dabao expressionlessly picked up the Storage Bag from the ground, glanced at it briefly, and then handed it to the soldier beside him, instructing his men to distribute it among themselves.

"You Three Sha of the Feng Household, what a prestigious title! How can you show no loyalty at a time like this?" Kang Dabao poked the two men's hair buns with a red-stained iron ruler, leaving several bloody marks on their scalps. Blood streamed down their foreheads, staining most of their faces.

"It's all rumors, County Magistrate. My brother and I have only a casual acquaintance with this villain. This thief might not even be surnamed Feng. He just likes to shamelessly stick around us and take advantage of us. He's only tarnished our reputation. It's just that the villagers spread these rumors and he got this bad name." The Eldest Feng Household Brother said in a low voice with his head down.

"You guys have been quite in sync when you've been cleaning up the village all these years," Kang Dabao said, his tone turning harsh.

"I am willing to serve the county magistrate with utmost loyalty." After hearing Kang Dabao's words, the two scoundrels stopped arguing.

They've been too lazy to cover up their evil deeds over the years; a fabricated story to show Kang Dabao their stance is enough.

This guy surnamed Kang killed all the chickens, so he should at least keep the monkey, right? Otherwise, what's the point of putting on this show?

Damn it, I received plenty of tributes from this scoundrel in the past few years, and now I've finally met my match! Oh well, I guess I'll just consider it a father helping his son out!

"Hmm." Kang Dabao nodded. These two brothers were already considered good people on his list, so he shouldn't be too harsh on them.

Carrying his head, Feng Buxing, he went to the Mandarin Duck Hall and captured Han Lu wife, only to find that they were each doing their own thing there.

Such behavior would be astonishing in any small world.

The arrest took place at night, when the Mandarin Duck Hall was doing brisk business, which frightened all the patrons of the pleasure quarters.

The deputy head of the Mandarin Duck Hall, wearing a green turban, approached in a soft voice to try and establish a rapport, but was intimidated by the Sect Leader Kang Da's question, "Want to serve the emperor and the country together?"

The capture of Han Lu wife went much more smoothly than Kang Dabao had imagined. It should be noted that this couple were no pushovers; years ago, they had broken through the encirclement of over a dozen Iron Sword Sect, even defeating four or five of them, greatly angering Ren Qiong at the time.

The Sect Leader Kang Da was much more cautious with the couple, still beating them half to death, but this time a squad of soldiers guarded them, allowing the Two Sha of the Feng Household to do the work.

Finally, they kidnapped the Shao siblings from an ordinary person's residence and subdued them using the same methods.

Feng Buxing was killed like a chicken. Counting the ten people, there were still two short. Kang Dabao counted on his fingers, thinking about his enemies, such as Gui Xiang, Hong Qin, etc., who were either not yet caught or had not been found yet.

So he considered whether to go to Linghe Market and just grab some old guys like Dai Yuanjiang to make up the numbers. That old guy was a well-known expert in the Qi Refining Realm, so grabbing him to fight would definitely not be just a perfunctory effort.

But ten soldiers from the Demon Correction Office Division might not be enough to subdue him. However, if they could truly drive him to desperation, could the Daoist priest send troops to bury the entire Linghe Market?

Sect Leader Kang Da quickly dismissed the idea. Linghe Market hadn't even been included in the county government's tax register, so the prefectural government was probably still considering the Yue Household's reputation.

Even the provincial government has its reservations; why should a nobody like me cause trouble?

Finally, after thinking for a long time, Sect Leader Kang Da went into the Pingrong County prison and went through the files. He found that two unlucky guys had offended Xie Fu and were imprisoned there. Their cultivation was not bad, already at the Qi Refinement Fourth Layer.

In the prison, all six were put in large spirit shackles, given only medicine for their wounds, and deprived of water and food, and were kept under strict guard.

After all the other cultivators serving in the military had gathered, Kang Dabao entered the prison. Led by the prison warden, he saw several bandits who had been abused beyond recognition.

"The Feng Household Brothers intercepted and killed merchants and slaughtered ordinary people. According to the Great Wei Cultivation Law, they should be beheaded."

"Han Lu and Dan Xia, for using dozens of living people to refine medicine, according to the 'Immortal and Mortal Code,' should have their cultivation revoked and be exiled to a desolate state."

"Shao Wei and Shao Meng colluded with bandits to raid the market. According to the Cloud Horn Prefecture Law, they shall be flogged three hundred times and sentenced to sixty years of hard labor."

Kang Dabao sat imposingly outside the cell bars, found a seasoned clerk, and casually flipped through several large volumes of laws, picking out only the most severe punishments to read aloud.

"Please, County Magistrate, spare me!" Shao Meng's body went limp. Wearing the shackles, she leaned against the fence, trying her best to accentuate her figure.

No one knows what methods she used, but even with all her spiritual power gone, she was able to restore most of her beautiful face.

At this moment, Shao Meng's large eyes, like stars reflected in a lake, looked captivating, and her pleading voice was as melodious as a nightingale's song, evoking feelings of pity.

"Don't pretend, Lady of the Shao Household. Shao. I had the pleasure of witnessing you tearing people apart for your own amusement outside Linghe Market last time, and I remember it vividly." Kang Dabao laughed out loud upon seeing this, exposing Shao Meng's true colors in one sentence. Even such an incident was not among the most despicable acts of this pretty lady.

The Sect Leader Kang Da himself had been swindled out of Spirit Stone by this seemingly delicate but wicked woman many times in the past, so why would he soften his heart because of her petty tricks?

"We are willing to die for you, sir." The Feng Household Brothers were still unharmed, felt rather out of place in the prison, so they had to rush to the front of the group to express their loyalty.

"My wife and I are willing to serve you with utmost loyalty and humility," Han Lu replied tactfully, helping his wife to her feet.

"I won't hide it from you all, I've been assigned a deadly task, and I need the help of you old acquaintances to go to Guo County. Dying won't be a loss, and if we live, we can be reborn. The choice is up to you."

After he finished speaking, the cell fell into a deathly silence. Everyone was thinking to themselves, "Why should we be blameless if we die?"

But no one has a second choice.

The team of skilled Demon Correction Office soldiers was handed back to the county. Both sides were somewhat reluctant to part, as these soldiers had made a small fortune following Kang Dabao these past few days.

Luo Heng was still injured and did not show up, and there was no news about Sun Bingdou at all.

Only Tie Xishan bid a rather formulaic farewell to Kang Dabao in the county government office, while the latter led forty-four local soldiers and six prisoners wearing shackles to the Guo County military station.

Thanks to two years of tax collection, Pingrong County finally had public funds available.

The small flying boat that Xie Fu had purchased at a low price from the state before the New Year had been hidden in Luo Heng's hands, but now it had fallen into the hands of Sect Leader Kang Da. It carried a team of fifty people from Pingrong County and arrived at the military camp in Guo County in half a day, which was very fast and convenient.

The tall and imposing Sima Fei stood outside the military camp, watching Kang Dabao lead his troops to pay their respects.

It was truly rare to see such a procession when I was in the capital.

These fifty elite soldiers, who were quite good in Kang Dabao's eyes, were, in Sima Fei's eyes, a weak army with uneven cultivation levels, strange magical Law Artifact, and low morale.

Sima Fei then sized up Kang Dabao. This leader was just like the one described in the news sent by the Demon Correction Office Division— Sixth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator, nothing special.

"Nearly half of the local militia from the thirteen counties have arrived, and County Magistrate Kang was the first to conscript prisoners." Sima Fei stroked his mustache, looking at Han Lu and his wife, who were in a rather disheveled state in the ranks, his words seemingly carrying a deeper meaning.

However, conscripting prisoners and sons-in-law into the army was a long-standing practice in the Immortal Dynasty, so he had no right to blame them too much.

"Don't worry, Sima. They're all freshly captured, hardened fugitives skilled in combat. The lowest level of their cultivation is at least the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. After the torture, their banditry will dissipate. With a little water and rice, they'll be ready to be used as knives again," Kang Dabao said neither humbly nor arrogantly.

"Oh? Interesting." Sima Fei glanced at the people wearing spirit shackles, and the displeasure on his face subsided somewhat.

The malevolent aura emanating from these people is not unfounded; if used properly, it is indeed far more effective than the benevolent cultivators recruited from other counties.

"A knife that's too sharp can bite." Sima Fei was too lazy to concern himself with the affairs of Qi Refinement cultivators. The fact that he took the time to personally meet with Kang Dabao was already a sign of the Immortal Dynasty's concern and a condescension.

Before leaving, he gave only a brief reminder, then turned around and returned to the commander's tent.

After Sima Fei left, Kang Dabao finally breathed a sigh of relief. His two experiences of answering questions in front of a stranger at the Foundation Establishment were truly unpleasant.

After finding Xiao Shi at the military post and arranging a place to set up camp, Kang Dabao put the six convicts, Qian Liu, and the two unfortunate innocent men together and removed their shackles one by one.

He wasn't worried that these people would conspire to escape. This was a military camp built by the Prefectural Magistrate, and there were more than one Foundation Establishment in charge here. If they had that kind of ability, would they have been caught by the Daoist Master?

However, just to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, Sect Leader Kang Da still had to offer a reminder: "If one person escapes, everyone will be implicated. You all need to keep a close eye on each other. Even if they are your own flesh and blood or your spouse, you should still consider how much they mean to others."

The men repeatedly said they dared not, but Kang Dabao didn't care whether they were telling the truth or not. He sent a servant to bring food, and after they had eaten quickly, he gathered the troops together and began practicing the formation of drums and bugles.

Chongming Sect Patriarch Zhang Chongming Sect came from a military background and participated in no fewer than a hundred battles, large and small, during the campaigns to quell the barbarians. His military wisdom has long been summarized and passed down to his descendants.

The reason why Chongming Sect was able to maintain its status as the number one sect in Kang Dabao Pingrong County even after several generations of decline was inseparable from the fact that the sect leaders of each generation studied the art of military strategy.

Even cultivators fight according to established methods.

Kang Dabao has picked up this skill again some time ago. Although he can't be said to be an expert in military strategy, he can be considered to have just begun to understand it.

Compared to cultivators with military lineages, Kang Dabao's skills are naturally insignificant. However, if it comes to dealing with unaffiliated cultivators without such lineages, Sect Leader Kang Da is still somewhat confident.

According to the Great Wei Army system, five men formed a squad, two men formed a fire, and five fires formed a company.

Kang Dabao took the position of team leader, while the deputy team leader was a bald-browed, grumpy-faced man who was also the head of the Jia Huo Huo team. This man came from Hemu Dao and was somewhat related to Tie Xishan, being the unofficial brother-in-law of Tie Liuyun.

Yi Huohuo was a mute old man at the Sixth Layer of Qi Refining. He was a steward outside the Luo Household and held a high position in the Luo Household. As a result, he was implicated by Luo Heng.

Bing Fire Huozhang was a Cai-surnamed deacon of the Grass Witch Cult. His cultivation level was not high, Qi Refining Fifth Layer. He had a sorrowful expression on his face, suggesting that he was chosen because he was ostracized.

Ding Huohuo was a disciple of the Fellow Cultivators Association, but he was very young and only had the Third Layer of Qi Refinement Refining cultivation; he was merely a figurehead. The real leader among this group was the six-fingered old man, the father-in-law of the former leader of the Green Bamboo Gang.

Since Qin Sufu focused on finding Foundation Establishment fortuitous opportunity and stopped interfering in other matters, the Fish Mountain Fellow Cultivators Association's behavior became rather unseemly.

His family's territory bordered that of the Green Bamboo Gang, and he must have used some means to force this old cultivator to come. Most of the people sent by the Fellow Cultivators Association were also disciples of the Green Bamboo Gang. This approach was mostly intended to hope that the current leader of the Green Bamboo Gang and this group of core members would all die here, so that the Fellow Cultivators Association easily wipe the Green Bamboo Gang out of existence.

The two unlucky guys rescued by Kang Dabao cried and screamed, but they couldn't escape. In the end, they could only be grouped with a group of desperados captured by Kang Dabao and made into the Wu Huo group.

Kang Dabao, the fire-man, was intended for a surprise attack; given their combined abilities, the chances of them surviving were slim.

After a month of rudimentary training, Kang Dabao's elite troops were able to use the combined training methods and understand the battle formations and positions. In his spare time, Kang Dabao secretly compared his troops with other local militia and felt that they were indeed elite, which gave him a little confidence.

Orders also came from the commander's tent: Swift Movement to Cloth Bag Mountain and capture Five Aspects Sect.

Thank you to Rogue Person and 20180525184557300 for the Extended Net Moon.

Thank you to the three gentlemen, Anonymous Mountain, Mischievous Panda, and Da Dianzi Extended Net Moon.

Thank you all for reading, subscribing, voting, and commenting. Thank you!

(I was slacking off at work and managed to write almost 5,000 words.)