Chapter 196

When heading northwest, there was a major news: Hezuo rebelled, the Hezuo tribe at the foot of the Heavenly Mountain rebelled. Upon hearing this, Bai Lang pretended to be clueless, just casually said, "Barbarians really court death! The Northwest Five Guards are also incompetent." Then he glanced at Cuiyu Huangshan, could see she was struggling to control her expression, pretending to be surprised as well.

Bai Lang merely gave a dark smile, "Such splitting of the country... although our Ming Dynasty apparently hasn't controlled south and north of the Heavenly Mountain, the Tang Dynasty did have the Four Garrisons of Anxi! Thus this is our Ming territory!" Bai Lang touched the gun on the cart, "Such goods that split the country, better just kill them." He had no interest in helping the Tartars suppress the rebellion, but who let the Greater and Lesser Hezuo actually be engaged in splitting the country?

So it's not that Bai Lang, rare as it is, would slightly favor the Tartars, "If things go badly we might have to change the slave girl." This person looked at the before‑them Huo Qingtong and still felt a bit regretful. If this woman truly observed the doctrine and the steppe's rules, she shouldn't have to be replaced...... Bai Lang also didn't care; he had killed many people, although women were extremely few among them, but in his view they were merely living protein.

"Actually this slave girl is quite usable and plenty alluring; given some time we could try developing anything, but it depends on whether she can pass this hurdle, whether she has the fate." Bai Lang muttered to himself, dual cultivation was useless to him, and if he really wanted to go wild he should be heading to Yang Prefecture rather than the northwest. At this point Bai Lang's battle robe had taken shape, the patterned brocade fur from the Western Regions plus silk, Bai Lang managed to find a tailor to make a set of battle robe—though it offered hardly any protection.

This slave girl is actually unqualified; aside from being able to communicate externally, gather and analyze intelligence, and warm the bed, she basically can't do any of the things a woman ought to know, like sewing and cooking. Bai Lang draped himself in this robe and looked at his reflection in the water, "I feel like it's the style of a theater troupe...... or maybe I've seen it somewhere, ah yes, it's all those peerless ones." However the hat, or rather the crown, was also finished.

Since his attire wasn't a Ming Dynasty official robe, the hat on his head didn't need to be a Ming official cap either—plus Bai Lang had short hair, so he simply put on a crown with ties. This is a pheasant-feather crown, extremely rare in this day and age—perhaps not seen for several hundred to nearly a thousand years. Two pheasant feathers are long, inserted on the left and right sides, pointing upward to the sky and then hanging down at the back. "That's how Han Chinese warriors dress." Bai Lang said.

It must be said that this slave girl, though clever, is unlearned, and truly doesn't know that this is the crown used by Han Chinese warriors. Bai Lang also added two pieces of bear hide on either side of his waist as supports, making himself look somewhat like an actual ancient warrior in battle. As for the warhorse, this probably just means collecting more horses and rotating them. Given Bai Lang's build, riding the northwestern horses is passable—though he actually prefers those large cavalry horses from Europe.

In the northwest direction, Zhao Hui had already mobilized the garrison to suppress the rebellion. Meanwhile Bai Lang was bringing a cart, the slave girl, and the horses he had bought piecemeal, likewise following the slave girl's intentional or unintentional guidance toward that place.

Although in this story Huo Qingtong had been taken away by Bai Lang early on, nevertheless inertia continues to evolve—for instance, the chief altar master has now seen the princess again, even escaped from the Qing troops' hands, and furthermore picked the so‑called Heavenly Mountain snow lotus from the cliff for her, and finally met up with the leaders of the Red Flower Society rushing to the great desert within this Hezuo army. Bai Lang and his group are also day by day approaching the battlefield vicinity.

"Almost done, you slave girl can get up and help this lord change clothes." Bai Lang, gazing at the sky that day, sensed the White Tiger's aura indicating the army formation ahead, so he had Cuiyu Huangshan help him put on the battle robe. "The clothing is fine, though it's a shame it can probably only be worn once..." Bai Lang muttered, grabbed two iron spears from the cart, mounted his horse, and began gradually approaching the battlefield he sensed.

Cuiyu Huangshan hurriedly followed, and soon they saw the two armies' formations. "Father!" The slave girl was indeed inconsiderate; upon seeing one side's formation she immediately wanted to charge on horseback—probably too excited, she forgot Bai Lang's terrifying martial skill. In truth, how high Bai Lang's martial arts are, Huo Qingtong only has a rough understanding; she knows his internal force is extremely profound, and his martial arts can be called supreme, but just how strong? She lacks a complete concept.

Bai Lang gave a light laugh and didn't stop her—what's the point? If the slave girl wants to do that, let her; as for life or death, that's up to fate. Bai Lang halted his horse two or three li away, watching the two sides' lines gradually draw near, while within the Hezuo tribe swift horses rode out, quickly approaching their princess—Cuiyu Huangshan. Moreover, some of those people weren't dressed in Hezuo attire but in Tartar long robes and horse jackets.

Bai Lang merely laughed on horseback, "This Red Flower Society... overthrow the Qing, restore the Ming? Is this really overthrowing the Qing, restoring the Ming?" Thinking of how they in the book planned to restore Han Chinese rule, Bai Lang almost died laughing. Shortly after Cuiyu Huangshan was taken into the battle formation, the two sides had already begun exchanging long‑range strikes, though still only probing. Hundreds of light cavalry rode back and forth on the flanks; both sides probed with charges but did not actually commit to battle.

This was probing and observing the enemy line's weak points, attempting to maneuver the enemy formation, yet Bai Lang at this moment spurred his horse forward at a walking pace. He held an iron spear in each hand, spearheads pointing diagonally forward and drooping, and without reins he controlled the horse's speed with his legs, heading toward the battlefield—this already counts as a qualified cavalry commander.

Both sides in the battle saw Bai Lang approaching, yet they did not cease their mutual probing—after all, how would one describe Bai Lang's attire? It resembled stage costume. And it was just one person, though he held what looked like those double iron spears. Soon both sides stopped probing, battle was about to erupt, and at that very moment a white horse suddenly burst out from the other side, carrying two people.

The two were a man and a woman, the woman held in the man's arms; from Bai Lang's perspective he could likewise see their faces. "He's quite handsome... but isn't this Zhan the guard? When did he become...... wait, is this plot the chief altar master? This woman must be Princess Xiangxiang, right? Eh? I've never seen this face before, but she is indeed a rare Caucasian beauty."

Moreover, a strange occurrence happened: sunlight fell on these two people's bodies and faces, and the Qing soldiers who had managed to see their faces actually dropped their weapons outright, seeming a bit dazed—next came a clatter as an entire row of men dropped their spears. "Could they really be that beautiful? This truly isn't a fox spirit's bewitching art stealing souls?" Bai Lang was also astonished; he felt nothing unusual.

Just as the Qing commander Zhao Hui didn't know what to do, a voice, though not loud, resounded across the battlefield with extraordinary steadiness: "Do you intend to seize the Four Garrisons of Anxi in southern and northern Heavenly Mountain for yourselves?" Everyone, following the direction of the sound, turned toward the other side, and that man‑woman pair likewise lifted their heads to look at the man on horseback slowly approaching. Sunlight streamed from behind him, gilding him with a golden glow as if he were a celestial being.