Chapter 142: The Situation Shifts

A provincial governor is a high-ranking local official, serving as the head of both military and civil affairs while managing the economy and the people's livelihood; even Wang Ting treats them with considerable respect.

Throughout the various dynasties, offers of amnesty have been a common occurrence. Among the rebel armies that accepted amnesty, some met a good end, while others did not; there is truly no uniform pattern. Wu Wu Shaoyi said to He He Lingchuan, "This matter is of great importance; I must discuss it with my brothers."

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Ahead lies the Horse-Stopping Slope, which means Pei Pei Xinyong's pursuit can temporarily come to an end.

The seven hundred ambush troops Lu Yao had set at Scout Rock, after suffering over a hundred casualties, had already been driven by him in their flight past Horse-Stopping Slope.

This place is a natural bridge, easy to defend and difficult to attack. By pursuing them here, Pei Pei Xinyong can leave one or two hundred men to guard the bridge and take the main force back to County Magistrate Village to rendezvous with Wu Wu Shaoyi.

But Pei Pei Xinyong is currently somewhat indecisive.

The scouts he sent to County Magistrate Village sent back messages three times in succession. The first was that Wu Wu Shaoyi had successfully launched a surprise attack on County Magistrate Village; Lu Yao's men were unable to respond in time and many were beheaded, and Lu Yao himself was chased to the lakeshore, intending to escape by boat.

Pei Pei Xinyong does not like Lu Yao himself. In fact, this type of cannibalistic demon was never well-liked, and especially after the passing of the Holy Master, all of Lu Yao's strengths had turned into weaknesses.

But Pei Pei Xinyong has always believed that their side must stick together to avoid being wiped out one by one by the government troops, which is why he proposed that the three parties join forces to discuss the next steps together.

Who would have thought that Lu Yao harbored evil intentions and played them for fools.

Since that is the case, he will help Wu Wu Shaoyi eliminate this source of trouble, and must not leave any future complications.

The second piece of intelligence he received was that the government troops had abandoned County Magistrate Village and also entered the Xishan Road.

Seeing these words, Pei Pei Xinyong's gaze sharpened, thinking the government troops had seen through his plan with Wu Wu Shaoyi and were rushing to Scout Rock to lift the siege. But the scout immediately wrote that the government troops were traveling with over ten carriages, and accompanying them were over a hundred villagers from County Magistrate.

This doesn't feel right; since when does one drag their family along when suppressing bandits? It would be more accurate to call this a retreat than a pursuit. Did they realize they couldn't beat Wu Wu Shaoyi and are now running away with oil on their heels? Pei Pei Xinyong hasn't decided how to deal with this unit of government troops yet.

In fact, the appearance of this unit of government troops here is also quite suspicious in itself.

However, the third piece of news sent back by the scout was unexpectedly a dramatic turn of events.

The Crocodile God ambushed Wu Wu Shaoyi, and Lu Yao staged a desperate counter-kill, not only resolving the immediate crisis but also taking the opportunity to recruit Wu Wu Shaoyi's subordinates for his own use! This is truly terrible.

A veteran general like Pei Pei Xinyong, who has seen many storms, couldn't immediately decide what he should do next.

Leave just like this?

While he was hesitating, there was a fluttering sound of wings in the sky. A personal guard beside Pei Pei Xinyong raised his hand, and the mechanical bird landed on it.

The personal guard took a note from a hidden compartment and handed it to Pei Pei Xinyong. The latter took it and looked at it for a moment, his expression changing drastically! There were only a few words on it, but it reeked of a fishy smell, clearly written in blood:

"You have fallen for a scheme of alienation! Return east immediately to kill the government troops and rendezvous with me; I will let bygones be bygones!"

The signature was just one word:

Lu! Clearly, the scout he had placed in County Magistrate Village had been found and killed by Lu Yao, after which this person seized the mechanical bird and personally wrote the ultimatum to Pei Pei Xinyong.

Is this a trap? As he pondered indecisively, a trusted aide leaned over and said, "General, if Lu Yao wanted to hunt us down, he would just pursue us; there is no need to send this note."

That is also true.

Seeing that he had listened, the trusted aide added, "If what Lu Yao says is true, then if that unit of government troops is not eliminated, the news of the rebel army moving south will eventually leak out, leading to endless trouble."

After the defeat at Woling Pass, the scattered rebel armies have all been very careful to hide their tracks.

Why did these three rebel armies sneak to County Magistrate Lake to join forces? It was precisely because they coveted the quiet there, where they could properly discuss matters. If their whereabouts were leaked, and the local authorities repeatedly sent troops to suppress them, that would truly be a huge problem.

If Lu Yao is telling the truth, then they can join forces to wipe out the government troops;

If Lu Yao is trying to trick him into returning, the government troops only number two or three hundred, and with Lu Yao's four or five hundred men, that makes seven or eight hundred in total. Pei Pei Xinyong himself has over sixteen hundred soldiers, so in terms of personnel and quality, there is nothing to fear.

If they can't win, they can still leave. Besides, he recalled the second piece of intelligence he received earlier: when the government troops moved west, they were dragging the old and young along, not at all like they were fighting, but rather like they were fleeing for their lives!

Having thought this through, he looked up and gave the order: "Turn the vanguard and rearguard around, we are heading back to kill those corrupt officials!"

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The mountain bandits were holding a meeting, so He He Lingchuan had to stay away.

He was actually very anxious, not knowing the situation of the government troops and whether they had engaged the enemy. But now a very strange scene had appeared on the Xishan Road: 700 Lu bandits ← Pei Pei Xinyong's army ← government troops ← Lu Yao's 400 men.

There were so many factions on the Xishan Road, one chasing after the other. Even if He He Lingchuan's horse was fast enough, if he chased after them now, he would at most catch up to Lu Yao's men; a great battle would be inevitable, and he still wouldn't be able to contact his father.

What should he do? He had finally managed to persuade Wu Wu Shaoyi and this group of mountain bandits to be used for his own purposes; it would be a pity not to lead them to lift the siege on the government troops.

Worrying is one thing, but He He Lingchuan's stomach began to growl again.

After a night of fierce fighting without a drop of water or a grain of rice to chew on, it was time to replenish his strength. He slipped into the villagers' houses to search one by one, and soon found a few large flatbreads in someone's kitchen.

The fresh wheat in the warehouse was available for the thugs to eat and drink as they pleased; they had forced the village women to make plenty of food last night, but since there was a sudden feast of fresh fish in the night, many of the staple foods were left in these kitchens.

Fish is fishy when cold and doesn't taste good, but the flatbreads would suffice.

He He Lingchuan found a few flatbreads toasted to a golden brown and ate while walking; the slight sweetness of the staple food and the fragrance of the scallions were very soothing to his gut. He is actually not very picky about food.

He remembered those giant crocodiles again, so he returned to the village and found an animal pen.

He had wanted to catch a few chickens or ducks, but who knew that this pen was covered in chicken feathers, with only two chicks hiding behind a wooden fence, shivering.

It seemed this place had already been ransacked by the mountain bandits last night. Just as he was about to walk out, he saw spots of blood on the ground, several chicken heads thrown on the floor, and a few hollowed-out carcasses.

He He Lingchuan picked one up and took a look; this did not look like the work of humans. Whether they were mountain bandits or civilians, wouldn't they take the chickens to the kitchen to process them after killing them?

He shrugged his shoulders and went to find another chicken coop. This time he found a few fat chickens, so he caught them and threw them toward the lakeshore.

It was being generous at someone else's expense anyway.

These feathered birds clucked and squawked, very lively. The Crocodile God couldn't be bothered to move and was still sunning itself with its eyes half-closed, but the other small crocodile demons chased after the chickens and ducks, and in a short while, they were eating with their mouths full of feathers.

(End of chapter)