Chapter 573: Daring to Fire the Cannons

Below, that band of bandits numbered no more than a hundred, yet they worked with feverish energy, as if determined to settle down and build something substantial here.

The problem was, their chosen mountain stronghold lay only twenty li from the famed pass of Hanyang Pass. This wasn't merely skirting the eyes of the imperial troops—it was dancing right on their faces.

Among the elders, a thought arose unbidden: In this age, even bandits have grown so brazen?

Yet upon reflection, it wasn't so surprising—hadn't there once been another audacious bandit gang, the Maofei Zhan Tian Gang? They had even taken Hanyang Pass.

Dozens of Law-Phase elders watched the hundred-odd bandits below, yet none dared move, none erupted in fury.

At that moment, a shadow fell over them. The elders turned to see Wei Wei Boyang's airship had returned, hovering above them. Wei Wei Boyang stood at the prow, watching the bandits below with keen interest.

A tense silence blanketed the heavens and earth, broken only by the raucous shouts of the bandits below.

One elder stepped forward and asked: "You're building your stronghold here—do you have official documents?"

This question was inherently absurd—bandits didn't need documents to establish a mountain fortress. The elder was simply grasping for words.

To his surprise, a bandit lieutenant replied: "Of course we do! We hold a document personally approved by the Prefect, granting us the right to choose any land within the prefecture for our stronghold! Our boss studied fengshui for forty-nine days with an old Daoist in the mountains, traveled the entire prefecture, and settled on this sacred peak. From now on, the twenty-li radius around this peak belongs to the Mietian Gang!"

The Xu family elders were stunned—even Wei Wei Boyang looked astonished, quietly descending from the airship to stand behind them.

The elder pressed: "Aren't you bandits? Why would bandits need official documents? And would the Prefect even issue land deeds to bandits?"

The lieutenant sneered at him: "With your age, your vision is stuck decades in the past—you're out of touch with the times. Let me tell you, bandits must grow strong and organized; we can't remain scattered rabble.

With official land deeds, we Mietian Gang become licensed bandits. We can develop gradually, and the imperial troops can't just come and crush us! Besides, today's soldiers are poorly paid—who in their right mind would join them? Only by joining us Mietian Gang can you realize your ambitions and fulfill your grand design.

As for how we got the deeds—do you really need to ask? Pay enough silver, and we fill in the documents however we like. Then we just get the Prefect to stamp them. Hey, don't you even know this basic truth? Have you never served in office? Even if you haven't, you must have heard of it!"

The elder turned pale with rage, unable to retort. Wei Wei Boyang and Xu Xu Lanshan, however, were mulling over the phrase "out of touch with the times"—though blunt, it carried a deeper meaning.

The elder steadied his heart and pressed on: "May I ask, brave sir, is the Mietian Gang only this hundred or so men?"

The lieutenant sneered again: "Old man, we aim to become the greatest bandit force in Great Tang! Do you think we'd settle for this pitiful handful? These few dozen won't even suffice to appoint county magistrates across the land."

The elder was stunned again—bandits were planning to establish prefectures and counties?

He couldn't hold back: "Brave sir, Great Tang is still the supreme ruler of the realm—this is outright rebellion!"

"Who said we're rebelling? You old fool! Our boss says the Maofei Zhan Tian Gang's principle is 'Respect the King, Repel the Barbarians!' The King refers to the Emperor of Great Tang."

The elder asked: "Then who are the barbarians?"

The lieutenant replied: "Whoever attacks us is the barbarian!"

This left the elder speechless. After a pause, he asked: "But what if no one attacks you?"

"Then it's simple," he said. "Our boss says: if no one attacks us, we just look around—and everything we see is barbarian!"

"What if the Tang court sends troops to crush you?"

"If they act so wickedly? Then we must purge the traitors at court."

The elder had no reply. These bandits clearly knew more than he did—they'd crafted their slogans with perfect clarity. With legitimacy secured, the only question remained: could they fight? After all, Hanyang Pass held a full five hundred thousand troops!

The elder's eyes flashed with malice. He feigned casualness: "Brave sir, since your forces are so strong, where are the rest of your troops?"

The lieutenant pointed into the distance: "Aren't they coming?"

In the distance, dust rose in thick clouds as thousands of bandits rolled forward, their momentum terrifying. Above the main force, dark mist coalesced into a cloud, within which soared a giant eagle with outstretched wings!

All the elders, including Xu Xu Lanshan, were stunned—bandits had military aura?

And not just any aura—this was a refined, manifest form of military aura, indicating this force was among the rarest elite troops, capable of fighting across enemy territory for thousands of li without resupply.

Though the Xu family had five hundred thousand men in Hanyang Pass, not a single unit could match these bandits. Throughout the entire Xu clan, only one unit possessed such aura—and it numbered no more than ten thousand, half guarding the ancestral lands, half stationed on the northern frontier.

As for the troops within Hanyang Pass, even ten of them combined would struggle to defeat these bandits, judging solely by their aura.

Soon, a strange force emerged from the dust: five hundred cavalrymen, each draped in cloaks. But beneath the folds, gleaming blue-green heavy armor was visible. This five-hundred-strong cavalry unit was entirely composed of rare heavy cavalry!

Each heavy cavalryman cost as much as ten light cavalry or a hundred infantry—only great clans could afford them. Behind them marched three thousand infantry, clad in medium armor, armed with firelocks and curved sabers; their synchronized steps revealed a blood-hardened army. At the rear came dozens of heavy cargo carts, some bearing oversized loads dragged on flatbeds. Most striking were two thick, hollow steel cylinders, glowing with a faint blue radiance.

Wei Wei Boyang was deeply startled, his eyes flashing with sharp light.

Most of the Xu elders didn't understand the purpose of these ten-foot-long tubes—until suddenly one elder realized it and cried out: "Cannons! Those two are cannon barrels!"

The bandit lieutenant sneered: "Clearly a bunch of ignorant country bumpkins! These are firelocks—just bigger and thicker. But no matter how big or thick, they're still firelocks."

An elder nearby corrected him: "Brave sir, you're mistaken! This is a cannon, not a firelock. Cannons require several men to operate; firelocks are single-handed."

The lieutenant snapped: "They're ours—we call them whatever we want! To us, they're firelocks. If you don't like it, go buy your own. Call them whatever you please—even call them 'Dad,' no one'll stop you."

The elder nearly choked on rage, but he'd extracted enough information. He forced calm: "May I ask, brave sir, where did these two… firelocks come from?"

"Easy. Slip some silver to the warehouse keeper. Take as many as you want."

The elder now knew the lieutenant was lying. Fury surged—but he dared not strike.

Then the lieutenant spoke up for the first time: "Old man, I'll ask you—any powerful factions nearby? Our boss heard there's a Military Governor here, said to be tough. Do you know who he is?"

No mistake. One shot. One inside. One content. One look!

The elder was already in a foul mood—he'd once fought Wei Yuan and been crushed by his Jade Mountain in a single blow, the wound still fresh in his memory.

Hearing the question, the elder sneered: "You mean Wei Yuan? His greatest fame isn't his martial skill—it's his bed skills!"

The lieutenant perked up: "Really? Tell me more!"

The elder continued: "He's lustful, yet nearly impotent. They say he can only bed a woman once every seven days—and each time, only three shots."

The face beneath the minor officer's mask twisted instantly, suffused with murderous intent; Wei Yuan kept silently reciting in his heart, "Little patience disrupts great plans, little patience disrupts great plans," only then suppressing the urge to strike.

The main problem was that Wei Wei Boyang was watching from above—if he discovered that Wei Yuan had tried to have others praise him, only to end up smashing his own foot with a stone, this Grand General would likely laugh so hard he'd fall from the heavens.

Beneath his mask, the lieutenant's face twisted with murderous intent. Wei Yuan silently chanted: "Patience, patience—small impatience ruins great plans." Only this kept him from striking.

Mostly because Wei Wei Boyang was watching from above—if he discovered Wei Yuan was using this fool's mouth to boast about himself, only to have it backfire, the Grand General would laugh himself out of the sky.

Wei Yuan gritted his teeth and shouted: "Work harder! Make the base bigger! The vanguard's coming soon!"

The elders above trembled again—the five thousand men were only the vanguard?

But considering the Mietian Gang's background, it made sense. In the Maofei Zhan Tian Gang days, Wei Yuan still pretended modesty; now, in the Mietian Gang era, he dropped all pretense—deploying heavy cavalry, cannons, and disciplined infantry openly.

Soon, the main force arrived. The mountain was low; the heavy cavalry dismounted, and several men lifted each cannon barrel, effortlessly carrying the ten-thousand-jin barrels to the summit. Then came the carriages, parts, and cannonballs.

In moments, two cannons stood atop the hill, their muzzles aimed directly at Hanyang Pass.

Throughout the entire process, the Xu elders watched in silence. Xu Xu Lanshan said nothing—they wouldn't rashly intervene. Wei Yuan was infamous for his cruelty; even at Foundation Establishment, he'd slain countless Law-Phase elders. Now that he'd reached Law Phase, he slaughtered peers like slaughtering dogs. He was always treacherous—likely hiding somewhere nearby.

Xu Xu Lanshan frowned slightly. Since leaving the pass, two faint, icy killing intents had locked onto her. Her intuition warned: if she moved carelessly instead of staying fully alert, the hidden assassins would strike instantly and cripple her. If she were wounded now, her breakthrough to Master Yu Jing might never come.

Even with Xu Xu Lanshan's spiritual sense, she couldn't detect the assassins' hiding places—they weren't just Master Yu Jing cultivators, but professional killers.

As the cannons were mounted, soldiers loaded the shells and began calibrating measurements. The lieutenant waved his hand: "Send men to mark our boundary!"

Several bandits cheered and marched toward Hanyang Pass.

They walked straight to the gate, and before the guards' eyes, drew a line one zhang outside the gate, planted a flag, and declared: "We warned you! From now on, beyond this line is Mietian Gang territory. Cross it, and you die!"

The bandits swaggered off. Only then did a garrison captain spit on the ground and curse: "What's so great about bandits? I'm crossing that line—what'll you do?"

He stepped over the line, walked another zhang, then jumped around, laughing: "See? Nothing happened! These bandits just bluster—"

His words cut short as a piercing shriek filled his ears. Before he could react, his body was swallowed by an explosion of fire.

【70】 The cannon blast was devastating, wiping out over a dozen guards at the gate.

【71】 (End of Chapter)