Chapter 126: Ebb Tide

Under the fearsome reputation of Squad Leader Pang the Head-Chopper, the Medicine Crossbowman had no room left for hesitation. Without a moment's delay, he turned and loosed a bolt down at the city wall's base. The medicinal crossbow twanged as the bolt flew out, stabbing into the dirt just in front of the crowd.

The crowd outside was still kowtowing. Startled by the crossbow bolt, they let out a chorus of shrieks.

In an instant, dense beads of sweat the size of beans covered the Medicine Crossbowman's forehead. Unable to even turn his head, he shifted his body slightly and turned his terrified eyes toward Pang Yu.

Pang Yu still held his sword raised, watching him. "Aim higher and shoot."

The Medicine Crossbowman nearly dropped to his knees. They were originally mountain folk under the Yang Family Head, using medicinal crossbows in peacetime to hunt small game to sell in the city. This time the county office had paid them to help defend the city — how could they have known they'd run into such a god of slaughter?

He frantically drew the string and pulled out a crossbow bolt, but his hand trembled so violently as he tried to place it into the groove that the bolt rattled against the track with a clattering sound, refusing to seat properly.

He felt as though at any moment someone behind him would shout "Three!" and then his head would go flying down below the city wall. The Medicine Crossbowman's teeth chattered, and the people around him were equally terrified. A neighbor beside him hurried over to help steady the crossbow frame, and with great difficulty they finally managed to seat the bolt in the groove.

A cold voice came from behind. "Aim higher."

The crossbow bolt left the string, tracing a low, flat arc before stabbing into the crowd. The crowd instantly burst apart like a nest exploding, scattering and fleeing in all directions.

"He Xianya, take your sword and head west. Anyone on the way who doesn't shoot arrows — cut them down."

A voice suddenly spoke up from behind. "This humble one will go east."

Pang Yu turned to look. It was Guo Fengyou, the one who had been injured while catching beggars at the city gate, now standing behind him holding a short spear.

Pang Yu nodded approvingly. Guo Fengyou carried his spear and headed east, glaring fiercely at the crossbowmen and archers along the way, shouting loudly, "Those who do not shoot die! Those who obstruct die!"

He Xianya, meanwhile, walked west. The archers and crossbowmen along his path loosed their arrows one after another, and those who had been voicing objections no longer dared to speak.

Down below, arrows struck repeatedly, drawing a wave of panicked screams. The crowd fled outward like a receding tide. The Roving Bandits at the rear shouted curses, emerging from behind their door-planks and using blades and spears to block the commoners trying to turn back, forcing them to return toward the city wall.

The crowd paused for a moment before the line of door-planks. A few miserable screams rang out as several commoners at the front were cut down and fell to the ground. Shrieking, the crowd ran back toward the city wall again.

They had only run a few steps when the medicinal crossbows and bows on the city wall began shooting again. Over a thousand commoners were trapped in the middle, unable to advance or retreat. Wails and cries filled the air, and many knelt down again, kowtowing toward the city wall.

From behind the line of door-planks came a great shout, and many archers suddenly appeared, loosing arrows simultaneously at the top of the wall. The Medicine Crossbowmen on the wall had limited range and could not exchange fire with the archers; they all ducked behind the battlements.

From between each door-plank, two or three Red Turban Roving Bandits armed with blades and spears burst out and began hacking at the crowd.

Several bandits at the rear shouted, "Two bricks and you keep your lives!"

With the attack from the city wall now feeble, it seemed that prying bricks offered a path to survival. The crowd surged madly toward the city wall, soon pressing right up against it. The Roving Bandits driving them retreated behind the door-planks once more.

Pang Yu shouted, "Throw stones!"

"Squad Leader Pang, hold a moment!" Wang Wenyao, who had just arrived, grabbed Pang Yu's sleeve. "Let them stay by the wall. We shoot and drive off the bandits behind them, and we can save them."

Pang Yu shook off Wang Wenyao's hand with a jerk. "They're shielded by those door-planks. I can't shoot them off."

Wang Wenyao hastily grabbed an iron pot to shield himself, stuck his head out, and shouted down at the chaotic crowd below the wall, "Everyone stay put by the wall and don't move! Don't dig at the wall — the thieves don't dare come over!"

The words had barely faded when a volley of arrows suddenly shot out from the line of door-planks. Several commoners at the outer edge of the crowd collapsed at the sound. Below the city wall, weeping and wailing filled the sky as people pressed tightly together, each trying to burrow behind someone else's back. In the desperate scramble, the crowd actually began piling on top of one another.

A few shields were thrown down from the wall, but in the frantic scramble, they were of little use.

The archers on the wall began exchanging fire with those Roving Bandits. Both sides had cover, but the archers on the wall were too few and posed almost no threat to the bandits. Those bandit archers still shot arrows into the crowd from time to time, causing even greater panic among the commoners.

Several loud-voiced Roving Bandits continued shouting, "Two bricks and you keep your lives!"

Wang Wenyao stuck his head out and shouted, "Everyone, stop digging! Find those broken tables and desks to block the arrows! The Roving Bandits don't dare come over — we will find a way to save you!"

A voice called out from nearby, "Squad Leader, someone's prying bricks!"

Pang Yu peered out at an angle from beside the battlement and saw several commoners holding bricks high with both hands, already running toward the bandits' side.

He Xianya beside him grabbed an iron pot to shield himself and leaned out to look down at the wall. He saw that everyone pressed against the wall was prying at the city bricks. The crowd was packed and piled together; whenever a city brick fell loose, countless hands would fight over it. People on the outside were climbing over the heads of others, all trying to get in and scramble for the city bricks.

He Xianya shouted, "So many people are prying bricks!"

"Throw the Fire Thunder!"

Wang Wenyao grabbed Pang Yu's hand. "You mustn't! If you throw them down, they'll all die."

Pang Yu said angrily, "They dig out the city bricks, and next they'll dig into the rammed earth. If the city wall collapses and the Roving Bandits enter the city, then everyone dies."

Wang Wenyao was about to argue further, but Pang Yu kicked him away with one foot. Immediately after, he grabbed a Fire Thunder from the arrow crenel, lit its fuse in the brazier, and threw it directly down from the wall.

Amid the thunderous roar, several clouds of white smoke instantly swallowed the piled-up crowd. Miserable screams filled the air from within the dense mass of people. The surviving commoners shrieked as they burst out of the white smoke. Some were driven back by the Roving Bandits; a small portion broke through the barrier of the door-plank line and fled chaotically through the South Suburb.

"Tens of thousands of men couldn't take it, and he thinks he can rely on some villagers to dig the wall down? I wonder how that Sweeping King even came up with such an idea."

By the north wall of Wuyin Temple, Geli Yan narrowed his slit eyes and watched the scene below the wall with keen interest. "The Sweeping King has lost some more servants for nothing. Not worth it."

"Lost over a thousand last night — these few are nothing." Beside him, Zhang Xianzhong gave a dark grin.

Geli Yan continued, "I hear it's just a constable squad leader in charge of the city's defense. That Country Squire Fang in Shouzhou was formidable — we couldn't take it, fair enough. But now in Tongcheng we run into a constable. For a constable to be this ruthless, it's a bit strange."

"Constables are ruthless to begin with. That squad leader's surname is Pang." Zhang Xianzhong picked at his nostril with a finger. "A young man — got his squad leader post a few months ago by chopping heads."

"Old Eight, did you grab someone for questioning last night?"

"Grabbed two. The Sweeping King killed them all — I asked my questions first, then killed them." Zhang Xianzhong withdrew his finger from his nostril and flicked it lightly in the air; a tiny ball of snot shot off into the distance. "Got it clear: Squad Leader Pang brought two shifts of dog constables. There are no government troops in the city."

Geli Yan looked at Zhang Xianzhong oddly. "Yesterday they said there were men in armor on the South Wall. Those were dog constables too?"

Zhang Xianzhong chuckled twice. "That's the strange part — dog constables wearing armor."

Geli Yan shook his head and also laughed. "A bunch of runners defending a city, and they even dare to raid camps at night. This squad leader has some flair to him — making armor for constables. Don't tell me the registered households in Nanzhili all have blades and spears to resist taxes."

"The big firecrackers and millstones — those were his ideas too."

A look of sudden understanding dawned on Geli Yan's face.

At that moment, a group of cavalry galloped out from the Sweeping King's camp, rounding up and slaughtering the scattered Tongcheng commoners in the South Suburb.

Geli Yan watched the chaos in the South Suburb listlessly. "Whether there are government troops or not, we can't keep attacking this Tongcheng. There are so many fine destinations behind it — Susong, Taihu, Qianshan have no city walls, all easy pickings. Why waste more lives at Tongcheng? Today I'm moving my camp south."

Zhang Xianzhong thought for a moment. "Qianshan is yours, Taihu is mine, Susong goes to the Sweeping King."

"Why not just let him dash himself to death against this wall?"

Zhang Xianzhong closed his eyes. "He won't dash himself to death — he's just venting some steam. I invited you all to form a Combined Camp so no one goes away empty-handed."

At that moment, another cavalry unit was dispatched from the Sweeping King's camp, heading straight south along the Official Road.

"Old Eight, you may leave something for him, but he may not leave anything for us. Look, he's already sent men ahead to sweep Qianshan, Taihu, and Susong. Once they're swept clean, nothing will be left."

Zhang Xianzhong did not turn his head. "Those are going to sweep the four outskirts of Tongcheng. The Sweeping King said so earlier."

Geli Yan tugged his horse's head. "Even for the face of you, the Eight Great Kings, Susong is his. Old He takes his leave first."

With that, he spurred his horse and rode toward his own camp stockade, more than twenty red-clad riders following behind him. As they passed through the South Suburb, a roving bandit under the Sweeping King, who had been chasing commoners, happened to block the horse's path.

Geli Yan pulled his horse's head to the left. As the two horses brushed past each other, Geli Yan casually lashed out with his right hand — the whip cracked sharply. The rider was struck across the face, tumbled from his horse, and rolled on the ground shrieking in agony.

Geli Yan did not even glance at him. He spurred his horse and rode off without looking back.