Chapter 89: The Prefect

In this sudden battle, more than 150 constables and yamen runners died, along with over 100 crazed refugees. Meng Yifan had their heads cut off and arranged into a three-meter-high monument of heads at the main gate of the county office.

At the very top of the monument of heads was the head of County Magistrate Lv Dazhi, and beside it was the head of Zhang Butou. This bloody monument of heads made everyone in the entire Luolong County city look on in fear.

Many dissatisfied people who wanted to rebel felt a chill down their necks when they saw this bloody monument of heads, fearing that if they resisted, their own heads would also be placed upon it.

Meng Yifan used a monument of heads to declare his rule over Luolong County; it was a matter of necessity.

Their manpower was too scarce and their strength too weak, and since they had risen through rebellion, many in Luolong City were unconvinced and even hostile toward them. Battles could break out at any time, so they had no choice but to use the monument of heads to intimidate the masses.

Beneath Luolong City lay a dense network of drainage pipes, which, after many modifications, had become as complex as a labyrinth; this was the headquarters of the Wuyou Gang.

The people above ground could never imagine that beneath them lay a luxuriously decorated hall. The furniture inside was made of precious sandalwood carved by masters, the floor was covered with carpets made of white fox fur, sandalwood burned in incense burners in the corners, and whale-oil candles were lit all around, illuminating the hall brightly.

Sitting on a tiger-skin chair in the center of the hall was a burly man with a broad back and thick waist, who was blind in one eye.

A beauty in red was massaging the burly man's head, a beauty in green was pounding his legs, a beauty in pink was peeling melon seeds for him to eat, and a beauty in yellow stood in the middle holding a pipa, singing a melodious tune.

What was even more astonishing was that these four beauties looked exactly the same; they were a rare set of quadruplets.

"Boss, that group of hunters has already occupied the granary and the treasury, and they even used over two hundred heads to build a monument of heads. The people from the Axe Gang and the Crocodile Gang are all prepared to sit tight. What should we do?"

A minor leader kept his head low, not daring to look at the four flower-like beauties. Everyone in the Wuyou Gang knew that these four beauties were the gang leader's private property; anyone who dared to take an extra look would have their eyeballs gouged out.

"That kid surnamed Meng is truly a ruthless character, leaving a trail of severed heads in his wake. Forget it, we won't be the ones to stick our necks out; someone else will deal with him," the one-eyed Long Guxing laughed.

The minor leader withdrew, and not long after, seductive moans drifted through the hall.

…………

At the moment of Lv Dazhi's death, inside the Dongchuan Prefecture office, a civil official wearing green official robes with a silver pheasant embroidered on his chest was reviewing official documents. Suddenly, the Prefect Seal on his desk began to tremble, emitting a harsh, buzzing sound.

Prefect Zhang Yiqing was startled, and a blot of thick ink fell onto the document. He frowned, set down his brush, and grasped the Prefect Seal, circulating his Noble Spirit to sense the source of this ominous buzzing.

"Luolong County Magistrate Lv Dazhi is dead, and Zhang Butou is also dead. A group of Mountain Hunters has rebelled. They number thirty or forty, and their leader, Meng Yifan, is a Second Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist. The hunters possess a large quantity of over thirty cannons." This was the message transmitted through the Prefect Seal.

The official seals of the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty were a complete set of Dharma Treasures. From the Emperor's Jade Seal to the Prime Minister's Seal, to the seals of various prefectures, to the Prefect's official seal, and finally to the County Magistrate's official seal, each level of official seal could mobilize the Dynasty Luck within its corresponding jurisdiction.

For example, Dongchuan Prefect Zhang Yiqing could mobilize the Dynasty Luck of the entire Dongchuan Prefecture, but when he truly executed this maneuver, he needed to first transmit the mobilization order to the seals of the twelve subordinate County Magistrates, and then have the local County Magistrates mobilize the local Dynasty Luck and transmit it over.

The entire set of official seal Dharma Treasures was closely linked, so after Lv Dazhi died, the Luolong County Magistrate Seal transmitted the intelligence to Zhang Yiqing's Prefect Seal at the very last moment.

"Arrogant! Mountain Hunters dare to kill officials and rebel; this is truly lawless."

"Trash, this Lv Dazhi is truly trash. How could he fail to suppress a rebellion of thirty or forty hunters led by a Second Grade Lower Tier Martial Artist?"

Zhang Yiqing slammed the table and stood up, his face full of anger. Currently, the entire Dongchuan Prefecture was plagued by rampaging monsters, and a great war was imminent. Zhang Yiqing had many places to defend and not many troops he could mobilize.

However, Luolong County had been occupied by a group of Mountain Hunters. In such a case, the government had to wipe them out to serve as a warning to others and to intimidate the populace; otherwise, there was no telling how many people with ulterior motives would take advantage of the chaos to rebel.

"Order Thousand-Man Commander Zhang Chao to lead his Divine Machine Battalion to suppress the rebels in Luolong County." With Zhang Yiqing's order, a thousand-man army of the Divine Machine Battalion set out, fully armed and marching toward Luolong County.

The Divine Machine Battalion was different from cavalry; they needed to pull heavy Shenwu Great General Cannons and carry large amounts of gunpowder and projectiles when marching out of the city, so their speed was not fast. However, the distance from Dongchuan Prefecture to Luolong County was not far—only about three hundred kilometers—so the army led by Zhang Chao would be able to arrive in Luolong County in at most five days.

Meng Yifan did not know that Dongchuan Prefecture had already dispatched an army. After using the monument of heads to temporarily stabilize the situation in Luolong County, he immediately arranged for people to take inventory of the silver in the treasury, the grain in the granary, and the cultivation resources stored in the county office.

Having secured the silver, grain, and cultivation resources, Meng Yifan had the confidence to expand his troops.

There were not many hunters from Qinghe Village to begin with. In the recent battle, three had died, two were severely wounded, and four were lightly wounded. Now, only twelve able-bodied men remained, while the rest were old, weak, sick, or disabled.

Relying on only twelve able-bodied men to manage Luolong County, which had a population of over thirty thousand, was nothing but a pipe dream, so Meng Yifan had to expand his troops as quickly as possible.

Taking inventory was a tedious task. Fortunately, the three youths—Meng Qingshan, Meng Qinghe, and Meng Qingyu—were all literate and good with numbers. They led the other able-bodied men to count the inventory, while Meng Yifan watched the upgrade progress of his Game Panel.

"91%, 92%, 93%..."

"In seven more minutes, the Game Panel will finish upgrading. I wonder what new functions will appear?" Meng Yifan was incredibly excited. In the recent battle, he had harvested a total of 1332 Experience Value, and he was just waiting for the Game Panel to upgrade so he could add points and continue to improve his strength.

Seven minutes was not a long time, but Meng Yifan felt that every second passed so slowly that he was scratching his head and pacing around the room in anxiety.