Chapter 124: Night

"Kill the bandits!"

Pang Yu had no time to pick a better position. He drew his Waist Saber, let out a great shout, and climbed up onto the river channel.

About two or three zhang away stood several people. They stared blankly at Pang Yu emerging from the darkness, seemingly not understanding what was happening.

Pang Yu aimed a slash at the man's head. The man cried out in alarm, barely managing to dodge his head aside. Pang Yu's Waist Saber cut into his shoulder and neck with a thud. The man screamed miserably, turned, and fled.

Pang Yu shouted at the top of his lungs, "The government troops are here! Run for your lives!"

Several women screamed and scattered in all directions. At that moment, the Guards surged out of the river channel. Pang Yu had no time to count them and yelled at them, "Charge inward! No retreat until you hear the gong!"

Pang Yu had no idea if the Guards heard him. The group of Guards was also extremely tense, all of them shouting as they stabbed and slashed wildly at the nearby Roving Bandits.

Screams of "The government troops are here!" filled the Bandit Camp. Countless figures rushed out of the nearby tents, scattering in chaos like headless flies.

The Guards, wielding Short Spears and Waist Sabers, killed everyone they saw. In the darkness, a wave of harrowing shrieks and cries rang out.

Pang Yu stood on the riverbank, directing the Guards coming up from behind to push forward. The two Guards responsible for throwing bombs stood not far from him, striking their Tinder Pouches with all their might, but no matter what they did, they could not ignite the tinder.

"Stop striking sparks! There's a fire beacon right ahead!" Pang Yu roared. "Use the fire beacon to light the fuses."

Hearing this, the two men quickly put away their Tinder Pouches, grabbed the Fire Thunder bombs from their back-baskets, and hurried forward.

Guards were still coming up sporadically from behind. Pang Yu gave each one he saw a direction to attack. After an unknown number had passed, by the faint lamplight, Pang Yu spotted Zhuang Chaozheng's figure. He immediately grabbed him and said, "You stay here and gather the men coming later. Send them forward in groups of five."

Without waiting for Zhuang Chaozheng to respond, Pang Yu hurried forward. The dim camp was in complete chaos. A loud explosion boomed ahead to the left, brightening his field of vision for an instant before everything returned to its original state.

A spot of light lingered before Pang Yu's eyes. He closed them and waited a moment before opening them again. Among the tents ahead, running figures were everywhere, and he could no longer tell Guards from Roving Bandits.

Pang Yu held his sword, unsure whom to strike. The shouting around him only grew louder. In the distance, the sound of horns blowing could be heard, likely coming from other camps.

He walked forward blankly, sword in hand, for a stretch. Suddenly, a battle cry erupted behind him. Several figures charged fiercely toward him. Unable to distinguish friend from foe, Pang Yu quickly ducked into a nearby tent to take cover.

It was pitch black inside. The men outside howled as they rushed past, running straight into two people emerging from somewhere. Without a word, the men hacked and slashed at them, cutting the two down to the ground without stopping, continuing to hack for a while longer until the two showed no sign of life whatsoever. Only then did the men run onward.

They looked like Guards to Pang Yu, but he could not be sure. Only now did he realize how disorganized his night raid was. He had simply led a hundred men into the enemy camp with no plan at all for what came next. The Teams had no assigned attack directions, no agreed-upon signals for identifying friend from foe. Even setting a password like "lightning flash, thunder roar" would have been better than this.

From the moment he entered the camp, the Zhuang Squad had been beyond command. Now the Roving Bandits were in chaos, and the Guards were in chaos. Pang Yu had no idea how many men had even entered the camp. It was easy to imagine that the retreat would be even more chaotic.

There was no time for regret now. Another wave of shouts came from behind. Pang Yu instinctively stepped backward, but his foot tripped on something, and his body fell backward to the ground. As he flung out both hands, his left hand actually touched a person.

That person had been utterly silent in the darkness but now suddenly flipped over and threw themselves onto Pang Yu, fingers clawing and striking wildly at his face. Unable to see in the dark and suddenly ambushed, Pang Yu suffered many scratches on his face. There seemed to be another person at his feet, hitting him wildly on the leg with something. His calf was in severe pain. Pang Yu had no idea what the weapon was or how serious the injury was. What he feared most in an ambush was losing his mobility. If that happened, he could only wait to be captured alive by the Roving Bandits, and by tomorrow morning, he would most likely be dragged beneath the city walls to have his head planted on a stake.

In a mix of terror and desperation, Pang Yu swung his sword wildly in the darkness. His second slash struck the person clawing his face. That person let out a miserable cry; it sounded like a woman. Pang Yu did not care whether it was a man or a woman. He found the direction and stabbed twice in quick succession. Blood sprayed everywhere in the darkness, and the person immediately collapsed to the left.

Pang Yu rolled over and stood up. By now, his eyes had adjusted to the darkness of the tent, and he could make out a small, dark shadow by his feet. He was about to cut down the person hitting his leg when a cry came from that spot: "Mother!"

The small shadow threw itself onto the person who had just collapsed, wailing loudly. The person on the ground only groaned.

Pang Yu froze for a moment. Two explosions sounded outside. The sword did not continue its downward arc. Pang Yu stepped back, slowly retreating out of the tent.

Compared to inside the tent, it was much brighter outside. The child's crying continued to come from within the tent. Pang Yu's mind was dazed. He walked forward about five zhang. The ground was littered with corpses. Crying and shouting were everywhere. The child's crying no longer stood out so distinctly.

Two more explosions sounded, already somewhat distant. Pang Yu urgently wanted to hurry over. Suddenly, he heard a great clamor ahead. The shouting was earth-shattering, assaulting Pang Yu's eardrums in wave after wave, as if a thousand people were roaring at once.

Pang Yu stood frozen in place, not daring to continue forward. He had never imagined hearing a sound like this.

A crashing, splintering noise came from ahead. Many tents suddenly collapsed, as if people were charging right through them. Countless figures screamed and ran wildly, crashing into each other. Some still held various weapons in their hands, hacking and slashing at one another with reckless abandon.

The crowd continued to crash and fight, and part of it was heading straight in Pang Yu's direction.

Pang Yu grabbed the brass gong at his waist and, while running toward the river, began beating it with all his might.

……

On Dongzuo Gate Street, some paper spirit money swirled in the air. Today, the Community Soldiers from the various wards of Dongzuo Gate had lost three men on the eastern wall. One of the deceased's families lived right on Dongzuo Gate Street. The household was keeping Night Watch for him, and from time to time, low, muffled sobs could be heard.

Many neighbors nearby were also helping out. Most had known the deceased for decades and were shedding tears as they burned the paper money.

Zhang Daiwen tossed a stack of paper money into the brazier and said indignantly, "If the County Magistrate hadn't insisted that we jailers guard the South Prison, I'd have gone up to the city wall to kill a few Roving Bandits myself. Maybe Uncle Yuan wouldn't have had to die."

An old man beside him looked up angrily and said, "You were clearly at home today. Why didn't you go to the wall? What use is it to spout this nonsense now? If you've got the guts, learn from Squad Leader Pang. We used to call him Fool Pang the Second, but look at what he's achieved now. Our whole Tongcheng relies on him."

"Second Uncle, it's true that Fool Two has made something of himself now, but you can't go spouting nonsense about the rest. I was only home in the afternoon. I'd been guarding the South Prison for three days straight; I deserved to come back and rest for half a day. Otherwise, where would I get the energy to watch over those prisoners? If a few of those prisoners escaped and became Inner Responders for the Roving Bandits, then our Tongcheng would truly be in great trouble."

Second Uncle shook his head and scolded, "As if no one knows what guarding that South Prison is like. There's a bed right in the gatehouse. So what if you guarded it for three days? You probably slept for two and a half of them. Could it really have tired you out? Every man of every family is on the wall. Your Uncle Yuan was several decades old. He came back last night and slept for just one shichen, then went back up the wall at dawn. A junior like you has the nerve to talk about resting."

The other neighbors said nothing, but their expressions made it clear that everyone was somewhat displeased with Zhang Daiwen, especially at a time when Uncle Yuan, nearly fifty, had gone to defend the city and lost his life.

Zhang Daiwen pursed his lips. "Second Uncle, you're not being fair. You make it sound like I'm the one who caused Uncle Yuan's death. Tomorrow, you go tell the County Magistrate. If His Honor permits it, I'll fight my way out of the city all by myself."

Second Uncle raised his cane to strike him. Zhang Daiwen quickly stood up and dodged. Just as he was about to continue defending himself, the sound of banging explosions suddenly came from outside the city. The people in the street rose one after another, looking around in all directions, all fearing that the Roving Bandits were using the night to launch another City Assault.

Two more flashes of light appeared on the southern horizon. Only after a moment did the sound arrive. It seemed somewhat distant, but no one could figure out exactly what was happening.

At that moment, several people came running from County Front Street, shouting as they ran, "Hurry to the City Wall and help! It might be the Roving Bandits attacking the city!"

A chorus of responses rose from the street. The neighbors all followed, heading toward Dongzuo Gate, preparing to reinforce the Community Soldiers on the eastern wall.

Zhang Daiwen hesitated for a moment. Seeing everyone looking at him, he had no choice but to follow toward Dongzuo Gate. He had only walked about ten paces when a door beside the street creaked open. Zhang Daiwen remembered whose place this was and immediately stopped.

The door leaf opened, and Zhou Yongtian came out, holding a stone mortar in his right hand and a torch in his left.

He stared blankly at the people in the street and said, "Need to haul stones again, or what?"

The people in the street all looked at him warily. Zhang Daiwen shouted harshly, "Haul what stones? If we need stones, we don't need them from a Westerner like you."

By now, because of the commotion about the fighting outside the city, more and more people were in the street. Many were heading toward Dongzuo Gate. Hearing the word "Westerner," they all gathered around.

"This man is a Westerner?"

"A Westerner. That Westerner has come out."

"Watch him. Those two who set the fire the night before last were outsiders. They hid in Tongcheng for three months just to set that fire. Who knows if this man is the same."

Zhou Yongtian took a step back and argued, "So what if I'm a Westerner? I hauled stones to smash the bandits too. The Village Elder approved it."

Zhang Daiwen bellowed, "The Village Elder also said you're not to leave your house at night. So what are you doing out now?"

Zhou Yongtian looked around at the ground and said, "My daughter is missing. I was afraid she'd come back tonight and not be able to get in. I was just looking."

"I'm afraid it's more than just looking." Zhang Daiwen eyed him suspiciously. "Tell me, what are you doing with that torch? Trying to start a fire?"

The eyes of the crowd in the street turned increasingly hostile toward Zhou Yongtian. Many Community Soldiers still held Short Spears, and the spearheads were gradually lowering, ready at any moment against Zhou Yongtian.

At that moment, one of the Yuan family's dependents came over and, weeping, cursed at Zhou Yongtian: "It's you Westerners! Can't we just each live our own lives? How did our Tongcheng ever provoke you, that you have to come and bring disaster to Tongcheng? My husband never did a bad deed his whole life. How could he just be shot dead by an arrow…"

As soon as she finished speaking, the woman fainted and collapsed. A commotion broke out in the street. The gathered Community Soldiers and neighbors all shouted and cursed at Zhou Yongtian. Terrified, Zhou Yongtian retreated until his back was against the door plank, his hands trembling uncontrollably.

Several more explosions sounded outside the city walls. Everyone's hearts tightened with tension. The hostility in their eyes as they looked at Zhou Yongtian grew thicker and thicker. Zhou Yongtian's hands, for a moment, stopped trembling. He turned his head, wanting to go back inside the house.

Zhang Daiwen stepped forward and cursed, "Throw that torch away! Are you trying to burn down your own house? Are you a Roving Bandit Inner Responder or not? Come back with me to South Prison and we'll get an Understanding."

"Burn my own house? I don't want to burn it, uh." Zhou Yongtian looked at Zhang Daiwen. They were very close now, Zhang Daiwen's face perfectly clear. Zhou Yongtian suddenly began to tremble all over, and from his Mouth he cursed loudly, "Burn you, so what! My daughter is gone — did you lock her up? Right there in South Prison, you... this Jailer, I'll burn you to death!"

With that, Zhou Yongtian let out a shriek and, torch in hand, Rushed straight at Zhang Daiwen. Zhang Daiwen cried out in alarm, Turned Around, and fled. But the hostility of the surrounding Community Soldiers had been thoroughly ignited by Zhou Yongtian's action. The crowd shouted and Scolded loudly. Two men struck Zhou Yongtian down, and countless fists, feet, clubs, and staves rained down upon Zhou Yongtian's Status.