Chapter 25: Section 25: Arriving at the Destination

Zhou Tong led him into the village as he spoke: "Only this inner room is still fairly tidy. Sir, make do for one night — tomorrow there should be a proper room for you."

Cao Chuan chuckled, picked a room that wasn't quite so rundown, and went in to rest. He eyed the crude bamboo bed and the bedding that didn't look too clean, fished a bedsheet out of his ring and spread it on, then finally lay down to loosen his muscles. Sitting on a sedan chair was actually not relaxing at all, especially after going forty li of mountain road in one stretch.

He rested on the bed for a full two double-hours and only stepped out at dusk. The courtyard and the area outside were already packed with people, chunks of meat rolling in several large cauldrons. Seeing Cao Chuan emerge, Zhou Tong hurriedly brought over a bowl of local brew: "Rule set down by the old-timers — three bowls before heading into battle. Those who make it back alive can drink freely after. Sir, down a bowl too."

Cao Chuan had never been much for the alcohol here; he usually drank tea. He always felt these local brews had a strange off-taste and weren't strong enough. But now he had no choice — with everyone watching, refusing would ruin his reputation.

Amid the cheering and shouting all around, a certain someone drained the bowl in one go.

In truth, these people knew far more about him than Cao Chuan imagined. Inside a closed group, any single matter spread at lightning speed — let alone someone like Daoist Cao, a figure straight out of a story.

As for the rumbling from the back mountain a few days ago, and even today's whole-crew descent, everyone knew perfectly well what it was about. They just couldn't discuss it openly, bound by the Great Boss's strict order.

Seeing Cao Chuan drink deep, Chen Erye's heroic spirit surged. After draining a bowl himself, he strode to the center of the yard and loudly declared that to repay the gift of the blade, he would certainly hack off the White brothers' dog heads tomorrow to go with the sir's wine.

Next, a certain Chen insisted on using his newly acquired treasure blade to demonstrate the Battle Eight Directions Blade Technique for everyone. Zhou Tong could only sigh. And so Chen Huoding, amid a chorus of cheers, bellowed and battled, ran through the full routine, and only then smugly sheathed his blade.

At last it was Great Boss Zhou's turn to speak. The big leader had some real ability: right now they had Mr. Cao — this was a blessing the crew had earned in past lives. Pingfeng Stronghold was about to see a great leap forward, so everyone must unite their will, stick close to the boss, seize the opportunity, and soar. He then ordered all to down another bowl.

After the oath-taking assembly ended, the whole crew dug in. No limits today — meat chunks, bone sticks, and coarse rice, eat your fill. Cao Chuan ate a few casual bites and went to sleep. The night passed; before dawn, the village dogs began barking. By the time he had washed up and come out for breakfast, most people were already readying their weapons.

As soon as the sky brightened, Fort Master Zhou leaped onto a table and bellowed: "The White Village curs and us brothers have been slaughtering each other for years — the hatred between us runs deep as the sea. Today we settle it once and for all. If anyone here doesn't fight desperately today, don't blame me, Zhou Tong, for turning hostile! Once we pull out this stake, the whole crew gets three days of pleasure in the 'Meat Shops' of Lin'an County Town — silver from the Public Storehouse! I'm done with living frugally!"

Over two hundred lean, wiry men roared at once, every blade, axe, and spear raised. Zhou Tong swept a glance around, waved a hand, and Chen Erye had already transformed into a special-forces operative — full stab-proof suit, butcher knife at his waist — taking the lead. Behind him came the mountain folk, morale blazing. And Grand Master Cao, off to the side, calmly sipped his meat congee. Only after he had gnawed another pork bone clean did he unhurriedly settle onto his sedan chair and follow at the rear.

The rear contingent was also sizable. Besides several dozen men from Pingfeng Stronghold, there was a gang of Hengtang villagers carrying shoulder poles, loaded with all sorts of odds and ends — this was the logistics unit.

Not long after they set out, word came from the front: they had already wiped out the White Family's forward sentries posted on this side. The other side would likely know soon that Pingfeng Stronghold's main force was bearing down. Zhou Tong wanted the rear contingent to move faster and catch up to the tail of the main body.

Cao Chuan didn't interject. After a few shouts from Chu Jianli, the rear contingent quickened its pace. Before long, they spotted several corpses by the roadside. Four or five bodies in homespun short jackets lay sprawled on their backs or faces, blood all over the ground. Weapons and the like had all been collected; the corpses were just left there by the road. No one gave them a second glance.

People are strange that way. The last time he saw corpses, he was still throwing up. Today, there was hardly any reaction.

Cao Chuan knew what he had to do next. From the moment he saw those two corpses all the way until going to Thailand, he knew this day would come sooner or later. He also knew that things like firing a gun wouldn't be rare in the future. Since he couldn't avoid it, he had to face it. It wasn't really that hard — just look at the environment these people of the Great Ming lived in, put yourself in their shoes, and there wasn't much left to agonize over.

A little past eleven in the morning, the column left the official road and followed a dirt track north. All around was lush, tangled forest and mountain. Before long, from his sedan chair, Cao Chuan spotted White Manor nestled in a mountain col in the distance.

White Manor faced south with its back to the north, built against the mountain, and was not small in scale. Its foundation sat on a stone platform, raised well above the ground. An outer stone wall four meters high ringed it; from the top of the wall to flat ground, by naked-eye estimate, it was about three and a half stories high.

Even more vicious was the path in and out of the manor. A stone trail ran east to west, gradually rising, and only at the manor gate did it bend in a turn to connect to the main entrance.

In other words, coming out of White Manor's main gate, after a few steps forward you had to turn left and follow a gradually descending stone path all the way down before reaching level ground.

After one sweep of the eye, Cao Chuan understood why Zhou Tong had never been able to reach an agreement with the Hu Family. With this kind of terrain, unless you filled the approach with bodies at any cost, it would be extremely difficult to take by storm.

The top of the fortified wall was now packed with figures. Below, Pingfeng Stronghold's men had already spread out into formation. The two sides were sixty or seventy meters apart, shouting curses at each other.

Seeing the logistics unit arrive, Zhou Tong and a few others hurried over to greet them. As soon as Chu Jianli arrived, he waved and directed the civilian laborers forward. Several laborers with shoulder poles began distributing bamboo tubes and dry rations to the main force.

Here, they sat down on the ground and began eating and drinking; the cursing paused for a moment. The figures on the stockade wall also thinned out considerably — it seemed the other side was also seizing the moment to go eat their boxed meals.

Zhou Tong led Cao Chuan forward, walking to the front row of the formation. Pointing at White Manor, he said: "Sir, take a look. This stone foundation plus the fortified wall is over three zhang high. A direct assault has no path to follow. To enter the manor, you can only attack up the stone path. The whole way, you'll be struck by stones and ash bottles from the walltop. The higher you go, the deadlier it gets. If you fall off, even if you survive, you're useless."

"I recall we have bows and arrows too, right? Can we trade shots with them?"

Zhou Tong gave a bitter laugh: "The humidity in these mountains is heavy. Strong bows simply can't be used, and we can't afford to maintain them either. We have a few bamboo-slat bows for shooting rabbits — they're no help here. White Manor has a huge advantage; they wound our men from the high ground on the walltop. Our brothers can only take the hits."

Cao Chuan nodded: "This manor would probably be tough even for the Official Army to take."

Zhou Tong let out a "Heh": "If not for you, sir, the Official Army would also come away with broken heads and bleeding faces. Sir, see that narrow bend in front of the manor gate? It's designed to stop large battering rams. In that tiny space, a man who doesn't turn well will fall off, let alone a large log."

"Mm. So it's all pointless — oh, right. Where's my position?"