Chapter 778: One Strike

Having rescued Song Gongming, everyone naturally returned to Liangshan; along the way Chao Gai and his group were still fairly close to Shi Yi and Bai Lang, while on Song Jiang's side, aside from Song Jiang himself, the others kept a respectful distance from the two. As for Li Kui, no one knows how Song Jiang persuaded Li Kui, and Li Kui spent the whole day hiding in the boat, unseen. Upon arriving at Liangshan they had to arrange seating: Song Jiang, long famous in the jianghu, took the second seat, while Shi Yi and Bai Lang sat in the elder leader's position on the left.

As for Chao Gai and Song Jiang's contest over the first seat, they merely treated it as a spectacle. Over thirty leaders sat down; at that moment the three demon stars had already returned to their positions, and there were three others in the hall who were not demon stars—Chao Tianwang sat at the head, while Bai Lang and Shi Yi occupied the fourth and fifth seats on the left. With the seating set, Song Jiang proposed that he would descend the mountain to fetch his old father and brothers, and everyone naturally agreed. Bai Lang and Shi Yi also said they wanted to go down the mountain to arrange matters for Shi Xiao and Shi Xiaomei, so several people on the mountain dispersed at once.

Shi Xiao and Shi Xiaomei left the arrangements to Shi Yi, while Bai Lang actually just wanted to ride his horse around. When Shi Dalang joined Liangshan, his paramour came along; Bai Lang had no paramour, but almost everyone on the mountain were people without families—women only slowed their fighting speed. Bai Lang recalled the world's famous beauties—wasn't the most famous Li Shishi? Moreover, although Emperor Huizong was eccentric, several of his daughters were very beautiful.

Of course there was also the dashing female demon star Hu San Niang; as for Lin the Head's wife? She had hanged herself. Precisely because of that, Bai Lang truly despised the "Leopard Head" Lin Chong—this person was neither upright nor pleasant, unable to be a good husband or a good brother; Lu Zhishen's loyalty to him was remarkable, yet this "Wild Boar Lin" turned around and sold out his secrets, causing Lu Zhishen to be unable to become a monk and forced to turn to banditry. Thus Bai Lang, upon arriving at Liangshan, never spoke a word privately with Lin Chong.

The Head of the 800,000 Forbidden Army, despite his martial skill, could not defeat Shi Yi in battle, let alone be unseated by Shi Yi within ten exchanges.

Several months passed without incident, and Bai Lang also went to Bianjing once; he had no opinion on the famed courtesan Li Shishi—because he truly had no money in his pocket to experience her, and after turning to a straight path he no longer committed robberies. At that time, women who matched his aesthetic were not many, so after touring Bianjing Bai Lang returned to Liangshan, just in time to meet Shi Yi's return. Song Jiang's whole family had already ascended the mountain a few days earlier, and it was said that Song Jiang had even been rescued by the Nine Heavens Mysterious Lady.

That day the two went up the mountain to seek help, and their words enraged the Tower‑Holding King Chao Gai, who shouted, "These two, push them out and behead them!" Bai Lang and Shi Yi were present, as were Shi Xiu and Yang Xiong, and it was no surprise that Shi Qian, who stayed out of the limelight, also angered Chao Gai. "The newcomers to Liangshan are really getting worse and worse; Dai Zong spends all day probing around, we have no idea what sort of characters he's befriending," Shi Yi said, his words rather harsh, while only a few under Chao Tianwang showed agreement.

Amid the clamor, Shi Yi and Bai Lang grew impatient and left the Hall of Unity to enjoy the lake and mountain scenery. Shortly after, a patrol shouted for the two to return to the Hall for discussion. "The might of Yangshan Stronghold should naturally be handled by its lord Chao Tianwang himself; why should Song Gongming overstep the kitchen?" Shi Yi replied, though Wu Yong added a few words, and in the end it was said that even though Song Gongming occupied the second seat, he still needed to earn merit, so this time he would lead troops into battle.

Shi Yi and Bai Lang both said they had no interest in going, and none of the two fierce generals would follow Song Jiang into battle. Those left to guard Liangshan were Chao Gai and the two of them, plus a few logistics leaders; the rest and most of the troops went to attack Zhu Jia Zhuang. However, ten days later, Dai Zong sprinted to Liangshan, charging straight into the Hall shouting for help. "Come, come, Director Dai, don't rush; have a drink of water, steady yourself, then we'll speak—there's still time," Shi Yi said.

At that moment Chao Tianwang, Gongsun Sheng, and Bai Lang also arrived, hearing Dai Zong's words: "What? We've already lost? And six or seven heads were taken?" Bai Lang chuckled, while Chao Gai, ever loyal, asked, "Brother Song Gongming, have you been injured?" Bai Lang and the others regarded Song Jiang fairly well; his temperament was at least mostly sincere. It turned out that after Song Jiang descended the mountain and attacked Zhu Jia Zhuang, he discovered a serious problem: his men were of uneven quality.

Their terrain‑scouting was poor; merely while scouting the terrain and the interior of the village, two leaders had already been captured, and the layout remained unclear. Afterwards, a hasty sortie resulted in being trapped inside Zhu Jia Zhuang, with conflicts on both sides unable to break out and outside reinforcements unable to break in; Dai Zong risked his life to flee back to Liangshan for aid. "The main army is trapped, supplies are insufficient." Moreover, five more leaders had been captured in the earlier battle.

Li Kui was no longer the vanguard; he remained on the mountain, apparently because Song Jiang had found a doctor for him. He didn't dare approach Bai Lang to ask for a release, likely having sensed Bai Lang's strong aversion to people like Li Kui. Had Song Jiang not intervened, Li Kui would have already been killed by Bai Lang.

Given that, Chao Gai decided to go personally; this time Shi Yi and Bai Lang were both willing to accompany Chao Gai, and their personal troops—over thirty men they had brought—were mustered along with the remaining horses and the leftover supplies from the mountain; Chao Gai immediately led the provisions toward Zhu Jia Zhuang.

"It all depends on the advantage of the terrain," Shi Yi said upon arrival, then immediately set out to open an inner‑outer passage so that the Song Jiang troops inside could emerge and regroup. Shi Yi leapt over Lin Chong's men, the first to lead a dozen or so men up the Lone Dragon Ridge. Zhu Biao of Zhu Jia Zhuang was already arrayed, leading several hundred soldiers to block Shi Yi. Bai Lang stood aside with his spear, watching the battle, and Shi Yi shouted, "I am the Little Bright King Shi Yi! Who dares to fight me to the death!"

Zhu Biao charged on a flying horse, while Shi Yi's heroic dragon‑like courage shone like countless silver rays under the sun and moon; a single spear thrust made Zhu Biao sweat profusely and falter, barely holding the blow with his life, and a second thrust would be impossible to block. Then Zhu Long and Zhu Hu rode out on flying horses, the three of them jointly blocking Shi Yi's second spear. "The head instructor taught well; at least there's a coordinated covering technique, otherwise Shi Yi would have taken all three down at once," they remarked.

Even so, the three were still no match for Shi Yi; in an instant they were slain and their horses fled. Yet the Iron Staff Head Luan Tingyu broke through and intercepted Shi Yi; after a few exchanges he feigned a move and fled, allowing Shi Yi to seize the chance, cut down the opposition and open the passage. Bai Lang followed Shi Yi, pursuing along the checkerboard road, and found Song Gongming's defeated troops. "Song Gongming! You lead the people out first! We'll cover your rear—Da Lang, you guide them, I'll stay behind," Bai Lang said.

The Iron Staff Head circled once and charged again with his men and horses; this time he would face Bai Lang.