[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army":3,"chapter-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-599":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","A Little Soldier of the Late Ming Border Army",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1205888,1561,"Chapter 599: Extermination Squad (Part 2)","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-599",599,"\u003Cp>Just as everyone in the Li household was panicking, at that very moment, the main door leading to the rear hall suddenly swung open. Hurried footsteps sounded as a group of large men, weapons in hand, strode swiftly into the hall.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were all dressed like locals, yet from head to toe they exuded an indescribable ferocity and chilling coldness. Every one of them carried a blade or sword, and some even held crossbows and hand cannons.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The people inside the residence shrieked again. They knew that beyond the rear courtyard wall, just as many rioters had gathered, most of them able-bodied young idlers, completely blocking the escape route and dashing their hopes of breaking out from the rear courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And now these strangers had suddenly barged in — could it be...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li clan elder steeled his courage, stepped forward and shouted: \"You... who are you people? Why do you trespass into a private residence?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The leader of these large men removed the fur cap from his head, revealing a peculiarly featured face — one side large and the other small, with high-arching eyebrows and a pig-like nose. He was taciturn, though one could see he was ordinarily a mild-mannered and tenacious man.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wore a tattered robe, looking very much like a day laborer who sold his strength abroad. Silently, he drew from his bosom a bronze waist token, engraved with chain and sharp-sword motifs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He raised the token before the Li clan elder's eyes and said in a deep voice: \"Imperial Ming, Xuanfu Garrison, Eastern Route, Intelligence Division, Rescue Squad, Senior Swordsman Kong San. By order of the Grand General, we have come to rescue Elder Clan Leader Li. Time is of the essence — you must leave the residence with us at once, and you will be safely delivered to the Eastern Route.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder clan leader was both startled and overjoyed: \"You are under the Loyal and Valiant Count's command?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said in rapid succession: \"Quick, quick, quick! Steward Yang, pack up — we leave at once.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Steward Yang, who stood beside the former young madam, hastily acknowledged and was about to order the servants and household guards to pack, but Kong San dissuaded him: \"Time is short. Elder Clan Leader Li, we must leave immediately. The Grand General pledges that any losses suffered by righteous merchants on friendly terms with our Eastern Route shall be doubly compensated!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Zhenping's wife was quite reluctant and wept: \"Must we abandon everything? These are the family properties accumulated through years of bitter toil.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The young madam consoled her: \"Mother-in-law, wealth is but an external thing. As long as we return to Qingyuan, these riches can be earned again.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The elder clan leader's heart ached as well. His daughter-in-law was right — the wealth amassed by generations of ancestors, by himself and his clansmen, much of it kept within this residence, abandoned just like that. He too was extremely reluctant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Still, he hardened his heart: \"My grandson's wife speaks truly. Wealth is an external thing — as long as we live, it will come again. Aside from the ancestral tablets, nothing else needs packing! We leave at once!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kong San waved a hand: \"Huang Weijie, He Jian — you two go outside at once and check on our brothers providing cover.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From among the large men, a square-faced man with fair skin and a slightly plump man immediately answered with a shout and sprang forward with agile strides, heading toward the rear courtyard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li household assembled. Counting the clansmen, a few maids and serving women, plus the household guards and retainers, only a dozen or so remained — whereas in its heyday, the Li residence had housed over a hundred people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With no time for sighs and laments, Elder Li, the young madam, and their party, shielded by Kong San's men and the remaining household guards, took the ancestral tablets and hurried fearfully toward the rear courtyard. The moment the door opened, the womenfolk shrieked again, and even the young madam turned pale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Outside in the alley, near the courtyard gate, the ground was littered with corpses and groaning wounded. Waves of blood-stench assaulted the nostrils. Most of the fallen were the idlers who had gathered earlier, while a few others, faces ashen, peered furtively from the far end of the alley.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several large carts were parked outside, guarded by more large men on alert. Among them, one fellow was unhurriedly wiping the bloodstains from his saber on the clothing of a corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Get on the carts, get on... don't look...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The scene before him struck Elder Clan Leader Li deeply. He thought to himself that the Loyal and Valiant Count had risen through military merit, drenching the Tartar slaves in mountains of corpses and seas of blood — his subordinates were ruthless indeed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li household group, every heart trembling with fear, all boarded the carts. Only the household guards, along with Kong San's men, flanked the carts on all sides.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Don't let the traitors escape!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They had barely left the alley when they saw more people rushing from the northern street, every one of them clutching clubs and staves. Behind the carts, too, a large crowd was shouting and giving chase in hot pursuit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one knew which household's steward had received the report and hastily summoned retainers and idlers to intercept them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kong San's eyelids narrowed. With a wave of his hand, Huang Weijie, He Jian, and several other squad swordsmen immediately grinned savagely and drew their sabers. Amid the ringing clangor of steel, their bodies darted forward like swimming fish, faintly forming the Small Three-Talent Battle Formation used in the army for ease of attack and kill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a wet squelch, He Jian's saber pierced through the chest of the man before him! In that instant, the man did not even know what had happened before he toppled backward to the ground.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He Jian's saber then slashed and swept — a great spray of fresh blood arced up as the head of a nearby household guard went flying.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Weijie's long blade took off an idler's right arm, and following through with the momentum, it sliced across the throat of a retainer from some unknown household, then thrust forward again to pierce another man's belly — he even had the leisure to admire the agonized expression on the man's face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Huang Weijie's long blade pulled free once more and thrust backward with a reverse grip. The chilling sound of a weapon piercing human flesh rang out. Behind him, an idler had just lowered his raised club, staring dumbly at the blood gushing ceaselessly from his own body. Only after a long moment did he let out a harrowing howl.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In mere moments, over a dozen men had fallen before them. Huang Weijie, He Jian, and most of the others used the saber. While this saber could not stand against heavy armor, long spears, or spiked maces, against these cloth-clad idlers, retainers, and household guards, it was as easy as slaughtering chickens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>By now, the intercepting pursuers ahead collectively shuddered. Where had these godlike killers come from? Finally, they screamed and scattered in terror, fleeing chaotically in all directions, revealing behind them a group of government office runners holding iron rulers and chains, staring at each other in bewilderment.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing those godlike killers covered in bloodstains, each one fiendishly menacing, the runners too felt their hair stand on end. One runner mustered his courage and shouted: \"Where are you from? Do you know that committing murder in the streets is defying the king's law — it is rebellion and...\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before he could finish, a flash of blade-light passed before his eyes, and his head flew into the sky in disbelief...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The remaining runners let out a collective howl, each one throwing down his iron ruler and chains and fleeing for his own life.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the rear of the carts, watching the shouting mob giving chase, Kong San's eyelids narrowed once more. Abruptly, he took from the last cart a round, black object. Some of the Li household guards nearby saw that it seemed to have an iron outer shell, with a handle at one end and a long fuse cord at the other.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A flash of insight struck them, and they exclaimed in alarm: \"Is that... a Heaven-Shaking Thunder?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kong San said flatly: \"It is.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Holding the handle end, he gave his fire-pouch a shake and lit the fuse cord.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At once, sizzling sparks shot in all directions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Li household guards' hearts pounded with fear, and every one of them kept well away from Kong San.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kong San's expression remained calm. Watching the fuse burn down to just the right length, he hurled it suddenly — it landed squarely amid the pursuing crowd behind them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>With a thunderous boom, the Myriad-Men Vanquisher exploded. Amid the dense smoke, the countless iron caltrops, stone fragments, and iron shards within burst outward in all directions. Instantly, a great swath of the crowd behind collapsed, flesh and blood flying everywhere, as they fell writhing to the ground with harrowing howls.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Qing soldiers had been blasted out of their wits by the Border Pacification Army's Myriad-Men Vanquishers — how could these idlers and household guards, who only knew street brawling, possibly withstand it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kong San had thrown only a single Myriad-Men Vanquisher, and the pursuers behind were already screaming in terror and scattering in a rout.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elder Clan Leader Li saw it clearly from within the cart and let out a long sigh. The young madam's beautiful eyes were also dazed with melancholy, while her mother-in-law could only tremble and murmur prayers unceasingly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Very soon, the carts and horses left the city and, following the extraction route, sped continuously toward the Eastern Route. Not long after the Li household party departed the city, the residence was ransacked by an enraged mob and finally set ablaze, burned to nothing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Scenes like this unfolded continuously across Shanxi and the Xuan-Da region. In an unending stream, disaster-stricken merchants close to the Eastern Route were received one by one and brought to the Eastern Route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Late October. Datong Garrison, Lingqiu County.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lingqiu County was one of the key routes from the Taiyuan prefectures through Pingxing Pass to the Eastern Route. Heading northeast from Lingqiu, one reached Weizhou; heading southeast, Guangchang. Both cities fell under the peculiar arrangement of being civilly subordinate to Datong Garrison and militarily subordinate to Xuanfu Garrison.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lingqiu County had been established here as early as the Western Han, named for King Wuling of Zhao who was buried here. The land was everywhere loess plateau hills, long described as \"nine parts mountain and water, one part field.\" The common people lived in considerable poverty; because of many people and little land, commerce was relatively flourishing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was also one of the seventy-two fortresses of Datong Garrison. By regulation, the city wall was over four li in circumference and over three zhang high, garrisoned by one Garrison Commander and one County Magistrate, with an army of fewer than a thousand men. Being in the interior, military preparedness was rather lax, and especially, military households had scattered and fled in great numbers.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This dilapidated little city had only a single cross-shaped main street. The livelier spots were places like the City God Temple, the Confucian Temple, and the Wenchang Pavilion. Like Xuanfu Garrison, the military forts and cities within Datong Garrison also had numerous opera stages, and these places too were crowded with people.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At noon, the area around Wenchang Pavilion was thronged with people. Passersby came and went, constantly passing beneath the pavilion. In the cold wind, each one wrapped themselves tightly in their worn cotton-padded jackets or fur robes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>On Military Office Street, not far east of the pavilion, beside an opera stage, several large men were watching bangzi opera while eating and drinking with abandon, heartily devouring local sesame-oil fritters and thick rice porridge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Suddenly, one of the large men's eyes flickered. He stood up: \"I've eaten my fill.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He said to the stall owner: \"Boss, do you take grain tickets or silver?\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The owner sighed: \"I used to take grain tickets, but now I don't dare accept them anymore.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The big fellow pulled a handful of copper coins from his bosom and slapped them on the table: “Here you go.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The group swaggered off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The shopkeeper gleefully put them away and counted the coppers — at least thirty percent extra. He thought to himself, these out-of-town runners really are lavish. A pity he had too many ties holding him back; otherwise he’d go out running himself, maybe even venture the eastern route.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The several big fellows strutted along with fierce looks on their faces. Even though the local idlers found them unfamiliar, they didn’t dare come over and bully these outsiders.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing that no one was paying attention, they turned aside and slipped into the alley by Yuefu Temple. Two men dressed like locals and wearing strange expressions on their faces gave a nod. The group kept silent, winding this way and that, then turned into another small alley and entered a dilapidated courtyard house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They shut the gate tight, listened to make sure there was no movement outside, and then the seven sat in a circle. One big fellow said in a deep voice: “Ghost Fox, report the intelligence you’ve gathered.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This big fellow was nearly thirty, powerfully built but unremarkable in appearance. Word had it he was originally a warrior monk. When the eastern route held its grand recruitment of swordsmen, his outstanding skill and the Zhenfusi’s rigorous vetting earned him the rank of superior swordsman, and he became a member of the Elimination Squad, serving as the squad leader for the Lingqiu operation.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His name was Cui Qi, and he had a nickname: the Urging Judge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The man he was questioning was small and slight, but with a build like a spirit fox. His name was Gu Yue, and he had a nickname: Ghost Fox.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was from Jinzhong in Shanxi and could speak every local dialect of Shanxi. He was especially skilled at sleight of hand, could shrink his bones, disguise himself, do vocal mimicry, and pick locks. Within the Intelligence Division, he was an outstanding operative for gathering news, spying out intelligence, and stealing confidential documents. His martial ability, however, was only average — merely the level of a low-grade swordsman.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he spoke, he carried a thick local accent: “I’ve already scouted it out thoroughly. This place, Lingqiu, is one of the key locations where those treacherous merchants print counterfeit grain tickets. The county magistrate and the garrison commander here have deep ties with the various great families, so they turn a blind eye to their activities. That garrison commander in particular — he’s a clansman of the Cao family of Taigu, and he hates our eastern route to the marrow of his bones!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He pulled out a rough map, spread it on the table, and pointed to a guild hall on West Yamenkou Street: “This guild hall was built over a decade ago by the Fan, Liang, Tian, Cao, and other families to organize fellow provincials. I’ve already slipped inside to spy. Inside the hall, there are multiple printing plates for counterfeit grain tickets. By my estimate, the face value of the fake tickets they’ve already printed is no less than ten thousand dan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Damn them!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Everyone in the room was seething with rage. Cui Qi asked coolly: “How many guards are inside the hall?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ghost Fox answered: “About thirty or so, all retainers from the various families. But that’s not the crux — the crux is the garrison troops inside the city. They all count as Cao family men. If we alert them, we’ll be outnumbered!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cui Qi gave a cold laugh: “No need to worry. The brothers from the Assassination Squad will deal with the Lingqiu garrison commander. Our Elimination Squad’s mission is to destroy the counterfeit ticket den. We move tonight — kill them all, finish the fight within a quarter hour, and burn those counterfeit printing plates!” (To be continued. For the exciting novel, [web] remember our web address:)\u003C\u002Fp>",2704,"2026-06-03T14:05:53.320Z",1,"Novelzhen Translator","cda096015dd196399cd7a0ea7f05a1bb171503a8648af91563d2d2897ed65c2a","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-600","a-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-chapter-598",896,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fa-little-soldier-of-the-late-ming-border-army-cover.jpg"]