Chapter 60

White Wolf looked at the half-dead man called Zhang Xianzhong, sighed, went over and straightened the man's head, "Damn, I struck too quickly and smoothly; if I'd known, breaking his limbs would have been enough! Or maybe I just killed too easily! This habit needs fixing!" White Wolf muttered, led over a horse from one side, tied Zhang Xianzhong to the saddle, preparing to take him back.

At this point Zhang Xianzhong's army had not yet collectively collapsed, and even whether Zhang Xianzhong was dead or alive was still unknown to most. However, as White Wolf gradually moved outward, Zhang Xianzhong's entire camp began to crumble...... and those who followed him to where the Ming army was slaughtering wildly saw several detachments of Zhang Xianzhong's troops surrender voluntarily.

White Wolf also captured several high-ranking officers on the road and asked whether the corpse on the horse's back, already breathless, was Zhang Xianzhong. These people, shocked and pale, quickly admitted it was Zhang Xianzhong, and some even voluntarily surrendered to the lone White Wolf...... Could the one who, under the protection of their dozens of personal guards, instantly broke through the guard circle, dragged them off their horses, and identified the corpse be an ordinary person?

Thus the number of people following Bai Lang grew, and they even actively attacked their former comrades, fighting more fiercely than the Ming army. Bai Lang, as an enemy, was truly terrifying, but behind him, watching Bai Lang occasionally charge forward on horseback and tear apart the stubborn opponents facing him, this greatly boosted the courage and morale of those who had surrendered.

At this moment Bai Lang regretted, "Damn, the scale armor broke; I was too busy enjoying the tear and didn't notice, now it's almost falling apart—this is troublesome, needs proper repair. The mail armor is also torn......" Bai Lang now wore the inner robe, still had a helmet on his head, but his armor had been placed on another horse. Even so, his displayed ferocity actually motivated them more—because they personally witnessed this Ming general's invulnerability to blades and spears.

Ordinary soldiers' weapons and strength were no match for Bai Lang's Golden Bell Shield, so they could only be easily cut down; Bai Lang's hands and feet, infused with true qi, struck them down effortlessly—yet Bai Lang eventually stopped the slaughter, realizing that even with his true qi circulating endlessly, his muscles were fatigued.

Those who had newly surrendered behind him, though they killed their former comrades with great ferocity, as if offering many loyalty proofs, Bai Lang still completely distrusted them, even more than he distrusted the troops that originally followed Zu Liangyu. Therefore Bai Lang could not slaughter to the point of exhaustion, and killing these miscellaneous troops now did little to perfect his martial art—perhaps it could only test some of his ideas on how to kill more efficiently, the main purpose being to gather the murderous killing energy.

"The aura of a proper battlefield slaughter is well suited to Tiger Form True Meaning, corresponding to the White Tiger Star Lord; it could be considered the orthodox path of cultivating Tiger Form." Bai Lang thought thus, and what appeared before him were the officers and soldiers of the original Left Army who had come with him for the surprise assault. Upon seeing Bai Lang, the mounted officers in that group all dismounted and bowed before his horse. The general bearing the Flying White Tiger Banner had already completely subdued those before him.

"You, together with these lackeys, will thoroughly clean this place—kill those who can be killed, accept the surrender of those who wish to yield; today we will utterly destroy Zhang Xianzhong's rebel army here! By the way, you have fought Zhang the bandit in several battles; come forward and identify whether this corpse is Zhang the bandit's."

Thus everyone gathered to examine closely—by the way, Bai Lang had stripped the corpse naked, so that certain trusted officers of Zhang Xianzhong could point out any hidden features on the rebel's body when identifying it. Those few Left Army officers, after careful inspection, said it was undoubtedly Zhang Xianzhong's corpse, "Could he have a double?" Everyone shook their heads.

"Then, starting from the end of the Tianqi era, a major rebel leader has been eliminated?" Bai Lang said, looking around—everywhere were soldiers kneeling in surrender or lying dead, and in the distance some were still fleeing. "Troops have also been sent out from Xiangyang City to pursue them." A commander said. "In that case, I leave it to you. I'm going to rest." Bai Lang then rode his horse to find a carriage to prepare for sleep.

He examined himself, undoubtedly covered in blood, "Well, well, I definitely can't sleep looking like this." So he merely found a horse crate to sit on, while Zhang Xianzhong's corpse was tossed to the side, and nobody dared suggest cleaning it up—"Just a rebel; who cares if his head ends up displayed nationwide, dignity doesn't matter."

This slaughter was utterly tragic; the defenders who had come out of Xiangyang City watched helplessly as Zhang Xianzhong's besieging army collapsed, and the army that rescued them was revered as divine—everyone knew that if Zhang Xianzhong had taken Xiangyang, all present would have met a grim fate...... They also went to view Zhang Xianzhong's corpse; the rebel who had poisoned the world lay dead beneath the city, and everyone present had earned merit, which needs no further mention.

Thus everyone was delighted, and Bai Lang was invited into the city. Given his office, he naturally took the seat of honor; moreover, he had slain Zhang Xianzhong, a great military achievement. By this time in the Ming Dynasty, civil officials' former aloof attitude toward generals had largely worn off—perhaps those top‑rank civil officials of supreme ability could still look down on generals, but ordinary local officials had long understood that holding troops makes one a warlord. And Bai Lang, this peerless general who commanded the three armies, especially after hearing the officers describe his single‑handed breach of enemy lines, was immediately exalted and treated as an incarnation of the White Tiger Star Lord.

Thus Bai Lang's days were fairly comfortable; a host of women seized from Zhang Xianzhong's camp, as well as sent by the city's wealthy merchants and the Xiang Prince's Manor, became his attendants. However, they merely glanced at him—at most they helped scrub his back when he bathed, and otherwise Bai Lang never bothered with them. Cultivating martial skill is the true path; for now these women are more than he can handle.

Several days later, Governor Deng, having finally managed to reorganize the original Left Army troops with great difficulty, arrived at Xiangyang. He had already known beforehand that Bai Lang had shattered Zhang Xianzhong's entire army and beheaded him in battle, and had prepared a victory report to be rushed to the capital. Now he came precisely to formally claim the fruits of victory—of course, the most important being the corpse of Zhang the bandit.

Bai Lang also knew exactly who the commanders under Zhang Xianzhong whom he had slain were: that dark fellow was called Zhang Wenxiu, originally surnamed Liu; the other, killed after emerging from Zhang Xianzhong's camp tent, was Zhang Ke wang, originally surnamed Sun—both were adopted sons of Zhang Xianzhong. The other two adopted sons, Li Dingguo and Ai Nengqi, had vanished without a trace, each fleeing with several thousand followers.