Chapter 257: Ying County is peaceful and secure

Overall about the size of a kite, entirely black, shaped somewhat like a certain kind of cross‑shaped frame, with thin, cicada‑wing‑like blades at the four ends.

This strange thing filled the entire small boat.

The officials' eyes widened, they couldn't figure it out, staring at the approaching small boat without blinking.

"Sir... what are those?"

Faced with the questioning of his subordinate officials, the county magistrate also looked bewildered.

However, he did not relax his guard just because he didn't recognize those strange things.

"Never be careless!" the county magistrate shouted loudly, "This might be a trick of the water bandits! Listen to my orders, prepare to shoot arrows!"

No matter what the strange things on the boat are, firing a volley of arrows to test them is never wrong.

Ten official ships were arranged in a semi‑arc, bows facing this strange small boat; the officials raised their bows, nocked arrows, and focused intently on aiming.

The county magistrate stood at the bow of the lead ship, raising his hand high, ready to give a signal to order a simultaneous volley.

Just then, a buzzing sound came from the small boat.

The blades at the ends of the cross‑shaped strange objects suddenly spun, then shot upward at an unimaginable speed, taking off without warning.

In the blink of an eye, all of these strange objects inside the small boat flew up into the air, like a flock of birds, roughly estimated at thirty or forty.

Having never seen such a sight, the officials were all stunned.

Even the county magistrate forgot to give the signal.

Hearing the dense buzzing and seeing a group of black strange objects suddenly take off, forming a swarm as if conscious, this was utterly beyond their comprehension.

"A flying living thing? Could it be a bird?"

"There's no such bird in the world—no head, no tail, no feathers, and its flight doesn't look like one! I think… it looks like a flying insect we've never seen before!"

"That makes sense—strange appearance, swarming together; it must be a peculiar insect unique to this place!"

"Could it be poisonous? Could it be a new trick the water bandits are using against us?"

"..."

Listening to the discussion around him, the county magistrate finally came to his senses.

However, those strange insects had already flown above the official ships; he looked up and saw the insects had large bellies, emitting a metallic sheen.

At that moment, a sense of danger aroused by instinct welled up in the county magistrate's heart.

He hurriedly shouted: "Shoot arrows quickly! Shoot those strange insects down!"

At the same time, on a small boat in the dense forest, Ning Jinli held a drone swarm remote controller, while Hei Da and Hei Er sat beside her, watching together as the screen showed the county magistrate's terrified face.

"Bye-bye!"

Ning Jinli gave a cold smile and pressed the attack button on the remote.

Indeed, the things the officials took for strange insects were actually suicide‑attack drones that Ning Jinli had specially prepared.

Each one is not large, but each carries explosives.

There are more than thirty of them, enough to deal with ten official ships.

Hearing the county magistrate's shout, the officials hurriedly raised their bows and arrows high toward the sky, but before they could aim, the drone swarm poured down.

A dense buzzing pressed down from above their heads.

The speed was so great that they could not hit anything.

Boom!

As the first drone smashed onto the deck, the explosion began.

Then came continuous explosion sounds, flames shot up, and thick smoke rolled.

The decks of the official ships split apart, and the hulls shook violently.

Some officials were killed instantly on the spot, some were stunned by the blast's shockwave, and others were pierced by fragments of the shattered deck.

They could not comprehend what was happening; their minds went blank, they screamed in terror, and fell into chaos.

Even the official ships used by the Ying County Office, under the attack of suicide‑bomb drones, were no different from paper.

When the explosion sounds ended, the ten official ships were all reduced to wreckage.

Either they were completely torn apart and scattered, or half of the hull remained, slowly sinking.

Over two hundred officials suffered casualties exceeding half; those still able to move or lucky enough to be uninjured also fell into the water, desperately swimming away in all directions.

Hei Da and Hei Er, through the forest, watched the whole process from a distance.

The siblings were so shocked their expressions went blank.

Ten official ships, merely by Ning Jinli moving a finger, suffered a devastating blow.

That deafening roar, with destructive power like heaven‑and‑earth‑destroying…

Had it not been for their small boat hidden in the aquatic thicket, with those tall, dense trees blocking the surging waves, this small boat would likely have been overturned as well.

Is this something a person can actually do?

Hei Da's eyes trembled, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he stammered: "I… I have only once, many years ago, seen heavenly thunder strike the ground, which could produce such terror. Ning, Ning Miss… could you possibly be an immortal who can wield heavenly thunder?"

Even before this, Ning Jinli had roughly explained the drone attack to him.

Yet he still could not understand.

Moreover, he could not fathom how, on that peculiar square device in Ning Jinli's hand, he could see the officials from a high‑down view, even the county magistrate's expression in perfect clarity.

Adding what he had just witnessed, the only thing he could think of was that Ning Jinli is an immortal.

Therefore, the thing in Ning Jinli's hand must be a control‑type divine artifact that can remotely drive those attack‑type divine artifacts called drones, thereby unleashing destructive power like heavenly thunder.

Hearing Hei Da say that, Hei Er suddenly understood: "No wonder the lighting gear Ning Big Sister gave us is so miraculous; Ning Big Sister, you really are an immortal!"

These days, Ning Jinli being regarded as an immortal by people of this era is nothing surprising to her.

She did not waste words explaining, but reminded the siblings, saying: "My attack is over; it's time for your people to go beat the dogs in the water."

The siblings came to their senses and immediately whistled.

Since most of the Black Water Stronghold brothers had already taken those sturdy villagers to Luan Chuan Bao, only a dozen or so who were most skilled in water remained here.

Therefore, these two whistle signals were not meant to have those dozen-plus men directly go out and slaughter the officials who had fallen into the water and were fleeing; instead, they were ordered to swim to the officials' inevitable escape route to intercept them.

The main force used to eliminate the officials who had fallen into the water was the lame military strategist.

Specifically, it was the group of large crocodiles from Black Water Bay trained by the lame military strategist.

Thereafter, the conch horn sounded leisurely from not far away.

Countless crocodiles emerged from all directions, rushed to the side of the officials who had fallen into the water, opened their ferocious jaws with bared fangs, and savagely tore and bit.

The weather was freezing and the water was cold, so these crocodiles' movements were much slower than usual.

But they were absolutely not something an ordinary person could handle bare-handed.

Moreover, this was happening in the water.

Dozens of officials who had luckily escaped the blast attack quickly fell into despair.

Shrill cries and wails intertwined with the sounds of crocodiles tearing, biting, and thrashing.

The surging, splashing waves turned the water surface red with blood.

Moreover, about half of the officials who had fallen into the water, together with their comrades just killed or injured in the blast, were torn apart and eaten by the crocodile pack.

In the extreme chaos.

Only seven or eight officials who had twice escaped the Ghost Gate remained, relying on their excellent swimming ability, they held their breath and dove to a depth of two zhang, continuing to flee toward the distance.

They exerted all their strength until they could no longer hold their breath, then surfaced.

Looking back, the horrifying scene was deeply imprinted on their souls.

Of the roughly two hundred officials, not a single water bandit was killed, and they were almost completely wiped out, leaving only a handful of them.

Those few had no time to rejoice over their good fortune; they forced themselves to keep moving with the last bit of strength.

Not far ahead of them lay a dense reed thicket growing in the water; if they could hide inside, they were confident they could escape from Black Water Bay alive.

Ten meters, eight meters, five meters…

Three meters… one meter!

They could soon dive in!

Several officials' faces turned deathly pale; their bloodshot eyes burst with an unprecedented longing to live as they desperately paddled with both arms.

But at the moment their fingertips touched the reeds,

One after another, cold-glinting daggers probed out from the reed thicket and pressed against their faces.

What is despair?

Despair is not facing death when one knows death is certain.

Nor is it surviving a desperate situation by chance only to fall into another desperate situation.

Rather… it is this situation occurring three times in a row.

It puts them repeatedly on the edge of life and death, with despair and hope taking turns; when they truly believed they were blessed with great fortune and had survived two deadly situations in a row, sure they would live on.

Only then did true death come before them.

Puchi—

The dagger pierced their throats.

The last few officials, in utter despair and fear, had their lives taken by the Black Water Stronghold members who had been waiting here all along.

……

Finally, everything returned to calm.

The sated crocodiles left.

The blood was carried away by the current, leaving no trace on the water surface, as if nothing had happened.

Hei Da and Hei Er led a group in a careful inspection, confirming that not a single one of the Ze County officials who had come this time survived.

It's just a pity about those ten official ships.

Although they were merely the County Office's ships, they were still far superior to the best ships the Black Water Stronghold had previously used.

As night fell.

Luan Chuan Bao was brightly lit, and they held a victory feast.

And the roughly eight hundred sturdy villagers of Ze County had also fully understood the situation, realizing that these bandits described by the government as vicious and evil were not bad people at all but had rescued them, so they joined in the celebration.

Hei Da and Hei Er stood at the highest point of Luan Chuan Bao, overlooking the joyful, lively scene of over a thousand people, and couldn't help but feel moved to tears.

Although they hadn't yet reached a life of ease and peace, this situation was already beyond what the siblings dared to dream of.

They had killed the officials who had lost their humanity, saved so many civilians, and then could still enjoy abundant food.

It really… was wonderful…

That night, the Black Water Stronghold's people settled the villagers properly; both sides were originally impoverished civilians, also victims of government oppression, so their relationship quickly became close and they got along very harmoniously.

Ning Jinli went to Ze County via the spacetime portal.

Li He also gave her a great surprise.

She never expected this kid to be so awesome; not only did he avenge the schoolteacher, but he also killed the county magistrate.

What's more, he actually managed to subdue the whole bunch of constables and county officers, bringing them under control so thoroughly that they not only dared not oppress the civilians anymore, but also faithfully fulfilled the duties that county office personnel ought to perform.

In the short span of time, Ze County's prefectural city underwent a tremendous transformation.

Thus, Ning Jinli could also rest easy.

Previously she had been a bit worried, having wiped out the County Office's troops in the Black Water Stronghold battle and rescued all the civilians who had been conscripted as laborers, yet she hadn't figured out how to wrap things up.

Now, the County Office was under Li He's control, so there was no need to worry about alerting higher authorities, and the civilians temporarily staying in the Black Water Stronghold could go home.

No, not just that.

Moreover, everyone in the Black Water Stronghold could also regain their civilian status and live normal lives.

That night, Li He had the clerk write a letter of report in the handwriting and tone of the County Magistrate.

The content roughly informed the Prefect that, through the efforts of the County Gate, all the bandits of the Black Water Stronghold, regardless of age or gender, were completely wiped out, leaving no survivors.

Following procedure, they affixed the County Magistrate's seal, packaged it, and then sent someone express by horse to deliver the victory report.

Ning Jinli asked Li He what he planned to do next.

Li He said: "Xu County is remote and impoverished; if it weren't for this time the superior Prefect wanting to suppress bandits, the Prefectural City side would basically have no one coming over. Now the bandit suppression mission has been completed, giving an explanation to the Prefect, and Xu County is also under my control. Although I don't know when the matter of the County Magistrate being killed will be exposed, but at least this place will enjoy a period of unprecedented peace and stability. I think... during this period, I will try to let the people of Xu County live good lives."

Ning Jinli was waiting for exactly those words.

After these events, Ning Jinli believed that Li He, though still young, was already capable of standing on his own.

"There was once a place with a situation even worse than Xu County's," Ning Jinli recalled the various past events of Lin Xian Village and Xi Tun Guan in her mind, and then slowly said, "But now it has become a prosperous city beyond your imagination, called Lin Xian Cheng. If you have the time, I will take you to see it with your own eyes. I think, starting from now, we can also make Xu County into a second Lin Xian Cheng."

Li He smirked and asked, "Sister Ning Jinli, does this mean we are preparing for the future annexation of Ze Guo by Xuan Guo?"

Ning Jinli replied: "It is for the unification of all under heaven."

"Good," Li He's eyes lit up with anticipation, "I will await that day; if needed, I will lend my full support."

—

Half a month later.

The news that the two generals Qi Zhan and Mu Cheng had arrived at the borders of the Wasteland Nation's Royal City was transmitted back to Xuan Guo.

The king of the Wasteland Nation, on his deathbed, struggled, accepting the advice of a treacherous minister nearby; based on the characteristic of the Daxuan army that conquers cities without harming civilians, he seized tens of thousands of the Wasteland Nation's populace within the Royal City as hostages.

Therefore, Qi Zhan and Mu Cheng still needed some time before they could capture the Wasteland Nation's Royal City.

However, this already meant that the Wasteland Nation existed only in name.

At the same time, Lin Sui, who had been sent on a mission to You Guo, finally returned to Daxuan and came before his king, Xiao Qidi, to report the situation.

In the grand hall, the dust-and-travel-weary Lin Sui appeared before the eyes of the civil and military officials.

He had become much thinner and also looked exhausted.

But his eyes shone with joy and excitement.

"Subject, Lin Sui, I bow before—Your Majesty!"

Lin Sui dropped to his knees, kowtowing on the ground.

Xiao Qidi quickly stepped down from the throne, personally helped him up, and tightly grasped his hand, saying, "These days, you have worked hard."

Lin Sui said: "Subject, I have not failed Your Majesty's expectations, and have fully completed my mission! The king of You Guo promised that if An Guo sends troops against Daxuan, the You Guo army will certainly attack An Guo! This is a pledge letter personally written by the king of You Guo; please review it, Your Majesty!"