Chapter 55: Chapter Fifty‑Six

Bai Lang's pounce was no different from a feline, curling into a ball then suddenly stretching, and while rolling and shifting he slipped in between the spears and guns from behind. Turning his palm into a blade—Bai Lang still couldn't habitually draw the Goose Feather Blade at his waist...... The palm‑blade slashed horizontally; naturally it wouldn't be like a real sword that decapitates or guts, but the heavy blunt strike could still break tendons and fracture bones, rendering the target combat‑ineffective—essentially as good as a quick death.

Bai Lang's martial skill hadn't yet reached the level where a palm‑blade equals a sword; for now he relied only on his own strength and the Internal Force of the Golden Bell Shield, chopping like the rim of a huge bell. A line of men fell like that, exposing those behind, among them the very target of Bai Lang's slaughter this time. "General Bai......" the commander of Zuo Liangyu's army began to speak, "Sorry, I've already forgotten your name!" Bai Lang had already leapt forward, extending his Tiger Claw technique.

The Tiger Claw tore and ripped; in the blink of an eye the general's armor was reduced to a heap of rags, and the man himself had been gutted, his entrails spilling onto the ground, his neck torn open, his head still attached to his body by a single spine. The surrounding bodyguards let out a shout and fled. Bai Lang, clutching the corpse and ignoring the blood on the ground, shook the body to fling off the mangled bits of the wolf‑skin cot, then rushed out of the camp with the corpse.

"Hang this up and shout...... what's it called again? Just call it 'rebellion against the throne, already sentenced to death'; you first hang this guy and shout, I'll deal with the next one!" Bai Lang tossed the severed head to the supervising officers of the camp, flipped onto his horse, gave the order and rode off, and as he galloped by he casually pulled the Green Dragon Crescent Blade stuck in the ground and lifted it again. By then the Junying was already in chaos; Bai Lang roared, "Governor Deng orders you all back to your own camp; do not act independently! Disobey and be killed!"

He slaughtered the soldiers running amok along the way until blood flowed like a river, finally forcing the troops he passed to flee back to their own tents. Seeing soldier kill soldier, general kill general, Bai Lang this whole way had chopped off the heads of many unlucky souls who hadn't made it back to their tents—anyone not in a tent but running around on the road got a single slash. At this moment Governor Deng, who had been waiting with his eyes closed, was told by several bodyguards and instantly displayed his own skill, beginning to have his bodyguards round up those soldiers.

In fact this was no different from a camp mutiny; Zuo Liangyu was killed, and his subordinate generals each had their own plans—some prepared to avenge Zuo Liangyu, but more wanted to reap personal benefits from his death, further unsettling the already chaotic troops. Frequent redeployments in the camp had the soldiers on edge, and Bai Lang's sudden assault broke through the formation, slashing enemy generals, then hanging their corpses as warnings; when he rushed to a second location he kept hacking and killing indiscriminately, causing the left army to finally erupt into a full‑blown mutiny.

Daytime mutinies were still rare, yet they caused serious consequences; the panicked soldiers hacked and killed wildly, keeping all the generals busy suppressing them, which oddly gave Bai Lang free movement. Freely moving, Bai Lang was pleased to reap a few more heads before stopping, as the mutiny gradually subsided and Governor Deng's bodyguards finally caught up to order him to cease, since the governor had already regained control of the scene.

When Bai Lang returned to Governor Deng, his overwhelming murderous aura made the bodyguards dare not even approach him—who would dare? They had personally witnessed Bai Lang ride alone as if in a realm with no opponents, with no opposing generals before his horse, cutting generals and seizing flags unimpeded; the so‑called overlord was perhaps nothing more than that. Moreover, his martial display was ferocious, like a raging tiger prowling the battlefield, slaughtering with claw and fang—the generals he killed met a terribly grim fate.

The left army ultimately lost twenty percent of its soldiers, but the remaining troops were finally brought under Governor Deng's control. The surviving commanders, when summoned before the governor, no longer dared any rebellious act, especially after seeing Bai Lang standing behind Governor Deng, holding the Green Dragon Crescent Blade; they dared not even look up, merely kneeling and pledging obedience. "Congratulations, Inspector. With a hundred thousand troops at your command, you can defeat Bandit Zhang and protect Xiangyang." Bai Lang also bowed and congratulated Governor Deng.

Governor Deng, now smug and satisfied, stroked his long whiskers and sighed, "All thanks to General Bai. This anti‑bandit effort still needs General Bai's continued effort!" Bai Lang smiled, "The junior will naturally obey!" He clasped his fists and said so.

This round of slaughter had no other benefit, but the murderous aura cultivated within him grew remarkably; the tiger‑like momentum of ruling the world became ever more soaring. "Is this the 'Qi that swallows ten thousand miles like a tiger' within the Tiger Form True Meaning?" Bai Lang contemplated his current state—Tiger Form True Meaning isn't mentioned in the fist manual, nor in the San Shi Er Lu Chang Quan, it's all something Bai Lang devised himself— the fist manual mentions Tiger Form, and Bai Lang derived it from there.

Because of Bai Lang's own knowledge structure, the fist manual contains introductions and studies of pictorial fists; within it he blended Tiger Form and Leopard Form, though he couldn't confirm whether the integration was complete—he now certainly possessed the domineering, fierce killing power of Tiger Form, but felt his Leopard Form's swift, agile striking still lacked a bit. The feeling of Leopard Form's lurking ambush was fading, whereas the sense of Tiger Form's forced charge grew ever clearer.

"Obviously the tiger is actually also an assassin......" Bai Lang found it hard to reconcile, but his martial wisdom could only reach this point now. He returned to the tent assigned to him; he now also had bodyguards—but these few were still trembling, hardly daring to enter his tent, and merely listening to orders a few steps outside was already their utmost effort. Bai Lang had no choice but to strip off his armor and toss it aside, "You few, take it to a craftsman for proper repair, and also fetch me a bucket of hot water; I need a good wash."

Bai Lang looked at himself, "Wait, one bucket isn't enough, bring more, prepare to change the water. Damn, my whole body is covered in blood." Soon the few bodyguards mustered courage to bring in a large wooden bucket, then lit a fire outside to boil water, ready to swap it for Bai Lang at any moment. "This thing is quite ingenious," Bai Lang said, looking at the bucket. Indeed, the bucket had a stopper and a protruding spout; the bodyguards attached a few wooden troughs to channel the outflow outward, keeping the interior of the tent dry and preventing the floor mat from getting dirty.

Yet a few maidservants were also assigned to bathe him—these were sent by Governor Deng—Zuo Liangyu's army had maidservants and dancers, and Governor Deng couldn't simply dismiss them at once—essentially their lives were at stake, so he sent a few to attend Bai Lang. These maidservants trembled visibly inside Bai Lang's tent; Bai Lang couldn't even look at them, because when he raised his eyes, the woman he glanced at fainted on the spot......