Chapter 277: Assassination 2

Bai Lang's suppression within Xingyang Commandery also gave him fame and established his reputation — he had already achieved the feat of killing two of the four great bandits early on, and, just like this Xingyang battle, he almost always relied on his overbearing external sect divine skill to force his way in, kill the enemy, then leave triumphantly; such a person is truly an unparalleled fierce general, far more useful than any ordinary martial world person.

Those who wanted to befriend Bai Lang in order to gain advantage were endless in talking about him — but they could find no way in. This person almost appeared out of nowhere; his first appearance was in Yangzhou City. Yet within Yangzhou City he had, like a lone star of heavenly disaster, absolutely no connections whatsoever; even tracing his movements, the only ones related to him were the servant girl he had killed and taken, named Wei Zhenzhen, and two petty thugs who had latched onto him — now making a name for themselves in the martial world, calling themselves the Twin Dragons.

If they kept looking, all they could find out was that this person was probably most familiar with the Flying Horse Ranch — because his servant girl Wei Zhenzhen now lives there. This is troublesome; looking at it this way, there's really nothing to grasp — the Flying Horse Ranch is also that sort of slippery character, never having shown any sign of being completely won over by any side.

The so-called friendship between Li Xiuning of the Li clan and Shang Xiuxuan would probably be useless for winning over the Flying Horse Ranch. The key now is that Bai Lang seems intent on pacifying the turmoil under Zhang Xutuo's command; thus, from the ambitions of each household, the first is that Zhang Xutuo must die, the second is that Yang Guang must die.

If Zhang Xutuo died, there would be no one left in Henan able to suppress a faction, and the fortune of the Great Sui would truly be exhausted. Yang Guang's life or death in Yangzhou is no longer important; as long as we wait for Yang Guang to die once more in Yangzhou — the Great Sui can then be laid to rest, and everyone can freely contend for the world.

The life or death of a single person determines the fate of the world; Zhang Xutuo truly deserves the title of peerless national talent of the Great Sui at this time.

This day was a disaster for the Qihuo commander Wang Yiping; he took the name of the rebel army from over a hundred years ago that survived in the cracks between the Northern and Southern Dynasties. Wang Yiping had previously broken through prefectures and commanderies, greatly raising his reputation — his force was comparable to the iron cavalry of Jianghuai, and even the Wagang Fort had once recruited him, but before he could make a decision, the Wagang Fort withdrew from Xingyang Commandery.

Wang Yiping's troop strength was not fixed; at times he had three or four thousand followers eating with him, at other times he could have up to ten thousand joining him in looting and pillaging; now he has ten thousand under his command, but when he saw the banner fluttering ahead and the figure on horseback beneath it, Wang Yiping would rather have no one at his side — he remained just the constable in the county town he always was.

Flapping in the wind was a banner bearing the character "White" — this was the Xingyang Commandery commandant Bai Lang, White Jade Pillar, hailed as the White Tiger who shatters armies, a peerless fierce general of the present age. The rebel troops also watched Bai Lang go out to battle — at first they wanted to flee, but with the commandery troops so few, a few hundred men could finish forming ranks in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea; to run now would be to hand their lives over to heaven unless they were all farmers.

The commandery troops before them unusually had high morale; by contrast, the morale here kept falling — were it not for those soldiers still striving to maintain discipline, they would really have disbanded in utter chaos. Not only did the commandery troops have high morale, but their equipment was also considerably better than that of the Qihuo soldiers.

They wore a full set of cuirass, held large shields and spears, and more than ten cavalry likewise wore armor. But Bai Lang was different from them; he wore the bright armor taken from the Hulao armory — pure iron armor, its surface polished bright, reflecting a silvery-white gleam in the sunlight. The warhorse Bai Lang rode was also barded; this was the full set of heavy cavalry equipment only available during the Great Sui's heyday, which had not been seen in Henan Circuit for some time.

Bai Lang held a pu-character halberd in each hand — indeed, after picking it up he had someone regrind and sharpen its edge; this man, wielding two pu-character halberds, leisurely sized up the Qihuo army. Wang Yiping's legs had long been trembling with the urge to flee; he had personally seen what became of those who rebelled like him — several skull mounds — and he had no desire whatsoever to join their ranks, even if, given his status, his head would surely end up atop the highest such mound built by his own subordinates...

Bai Lang sized up the rebel troops before him; his warhorse snorted, tossed its head, and Bai Lang lightly squeezed his legs, whereupon the speckled-green warhorse began a light trot, charging toward the Qihuo army. As he charged, Bai Lang let out a roar like a tiger: "Who dares to fight me to the death?"

The Qihuo troops initially froze, then let out a great shout, realizing they would be pursued and left dead corpses for ten li by the commandery troops, yet they still kept discarding their burdens as they turned to flee — the officers led the flight, Wang Yiping also ran, though his horse was blocked by infantry and some tried to pull him down — once he mounted his horse he could escape.

Wang Yiping drew his blade and hacked wildly; the other soldiers similarly blocked did the same, and before Bai Lang could charge in, the Qihuo army had already erupted in chaos. Bai Lang began his assault, and the commandery troops behind him spontaneously followed — Bai Lang had never seriously directed them; his role was merely to lead the charge, and any postwar rewards were handed over to the commandery officials, but if anyone refused his orders, Bai Lang's only punishment was to behead them.

"Leading troops is like General Yang Chu, his bearing calm and self-possessed; his charge's ferocity even surpasses that of General Han Zhu." Said an old veteran and an old official in the commandery. As Bai Lang was the vanguard of the whole army, even without restraining or directing his subordinates, he could still earn the commandery troops' all‑out effort — after all, this age still venerates heroic and valiant men.

In just a few breaths, Bai Lang had already plunged into the midst of the franticly fleeing Qihuo troops; like waves surging, he charged straight at Wang Yiping, who was riding his horse, turning in circles and still desperately hacking at the soldiers blocking the road and those preparing to seize a mount. Seeing Bai Lang approach, the Qihuo commander, drenched in sweat, shouted outright, "I surrender! I surrender! I am Qihuo!"

Bai Lang looked at that man's twisted, distorted face and also laughed loudly. But he had no intention of sparing him; he swept his long halberd, cutting down everyone along the way, and Wang Yiping's head was even laid flat upon the blade of the pu‑character halberd. Bai Lang reined in his warhorse, while the commandery troops whizzed past him — they too were frantically hacking at the fleeing Qihuo.

Bai Lang hardly ever took prisoners, saying, "The world has long been corrupt; there are no honest, frugal farmers merely caught up in this — they are all just old bandits turned bandit." Hence his slaughter ranked first among the generals under Zhang Xutuo, who several times advised Bai Lang not to kill indiscriminately without showing benevolence, but Bai Lang merely gave vague assent.

Zhang Xutuo received no ennoblement, for although he had defeated the Wagang army, his own losses were also great, so there was neither reward nor punishment; Bai Lang, however, was appointed commandant of Xingyang and awarded the title of deputy commander.