Chapter 995: Fleeing Through the Gate

Wen Tiejun immediately lowered his voice, but his face was still full of disdain as he said: "To hell with that damn Hierarch. If it weren't for Lord Xie treating us all so well, who'd give a rat's ass about him? I've never seen such a bumpkin. He treats this piss-ant Zou County like a treasure, puts on costumes and plays emperor. Hasn't done a damn thing except grab over a hundred women first — by now he's probably rotting away on top of their bellies!"

Before Xie Mingxuan on the other side could speak, Wen Tiejun continued: "Lord Xie, before we brothers crossed the sea, we all thought this Xu Hongru was some figure with heaven-reaching skills. Looking at him now, he can't even compare to those military officers in Liaodong. The brothers all know in their hearts — Lord Xie, you are our source of food and clothing, you are the one who has shown us great kindness. Lord Xie, just give the word, and we'll obey. Life or death, fire or water, we won't even blink!"

Xie Mingxuan narrowed his eyes. Wen Tiejun spoke with rough-hewn loyalty, but in truth he simply didn't want to risk his life defending the city for Xu Hongru. Xie Mingxuan understood the reason well enough. The followers who came from the Liaodong garrison troops had all been making fortunes and living it up since entering the city. For all Wen Tiejun's contempt for Xu Hongru's lechery, he himself kept three young women he'd snatched in his own residence, and had plundered his share of gold, silver, and valuables. These men were all thinking now of finding someplace to get rich and enjoy themselves — none of them wanted to fight to the death in a last stand.

"Lord Xie, the situation can't be dragged out any longer. We need to make some preparations, in case someone opens the city gates for the government troops. When that happens..." Wen Tiejun was growing anxious.

At those words, Xie Mingxuan couldn't help but shudder. He fixed his gaze on Wen Tiejun and said in a muffled voice: "I understand what you're saying. But how many eyes are watching us right now? If we make a rash move, I'm afraid before the government troops outside even get involved, we'll be purged by our own side inside the city first."

"Who would dare? A bunch of madmen burning incense and chanting sutras all day — they think they can fight us military veterans? They must be tired of living." Wen Tiejun's eyes bulged.

Xie Mingxuan let out a long breath, lowered his voice, and urged: "Go back first and give the brothers a heads-up. Let everyone get ready. Don't slack off on what needs to be done, or people will notice something's off. I'll handle things on my end."

Hearing Xie Mingxuan's tone soften, Wen Tiejun immediately stood up and said: "Lord Xie is looking out for everyone, and everyone trusts Lord Xie. This subordinate will go back and prepare right away. Lord Xie, you should pack up the things you need to take too, so you're not caught short."

After seeing Wen Tiejun off, Xie Mingxuan's expression immediately darkened. At that moment, two young men slipped out from the inner room, both with the look of tough, capable fighters. Yet before Xie Mingxuan, they were nowhere near as casual as Wen Tiejun had been — both stood with hands lowered and bodies slightly bowed. In front of them, Xie Mingxuan didn't keep up the front either. His face full of bitter worry, he sighed and said: "This is what it means to raise wolves. No matter how much effort you put in, no matter how much camaraderie you build day to day, once they've tasted blood, it all vanishes. Stand in their way, and they'll devour you!"

"Our lives were saved by you, Lord Xie. Please, just give your orders," the two young men said in deep voices.

"Right now, you're the only ones I can trust." Xie Mingxuan let out a long sigh.

Zou County's defenses collapsed on the third day. Defending a city is easy, assaulting one is hard. The Incense-Smelling Sect followers within Zou County had ample manpower and resolute enough will, and their defensive preparations were thorough. They had expected to make the government troops suffer, but they never imagined the government troops would show such ferocity this time. After several probing attacks failed, they directly drove captured refugees to assault the city walls. Once that wave was spent, the various government battalions charged forward themselves, with executioner squads right behind them — anyone who retreated was cut down on the spot. But the soldiers' morale was higher than ever; every man fought with reckless abandon, as if possessed. The government troops had already surged onto the city walls several times, only to be beaten back by sheer human sacrifice. Yet as the fighting dragged on, even the fanatical Incense-Smelling Sect followers were beginning to crack.

Under these circumstances, control within Zou County was slipping. The gentry, local strongmen, and native commoners who still remained in the city began conspiring together. As for those whose families had been destroyed and ruined by the Incense-Smelling Sect rebels, many could no longer contain themselves. Some even tried to charge into Xu Hongru's palace with blades in broad daylight, and others attempted to set fires. Though these were discovered and stopped in time, they further sapped the city's morale.

On the night of the fifteenth day of the sixth month, Xie Mingxuan was already being called to supervise the battle near the city walls. The situation was dire, and he needed to lead his men to plug any breaches at a moment's notice. He had barely endured until dark. When the government troops' assault finally halted, Xie Mingxuan had a chance to rest. Utterly exhausted, he began dozing off the moment he descended from the wall.

He didn't know how long he had slept when someone shook him awake. In his daze, he could already hear the erupting shouts and clamor, and within it, more than anything, the sound of hopeless wailing. A violent shudder ran through Xie Mingxuan's body as he instantly understood: "The government troops have entered the city!"

"Shen Zhi and his men opened the city gates. The brothers have all pulled back here. Lord Xie, we're leaving through the west gate!"

"Shen Zhi opened the gates?" Xie Mingxuan asked reflexively, then immediately shook his head hard, the last trace of disorientation vanishing. In a deep voice, he said: "We leave through the west gate!"

Several dozen men in fighting garb clustered around Xie Mingxuan. Anyone who blocked their path — whether Incense-Smelling Sect followers or city residents — was simply cut down. Xie Mingxuan also held a blade in his hand. His face grim, he kept moving without pause. After walking a ways, he stopped briefly, a bitter smile appearing on his face. In a muffled voice, he said: "I didn't expect the city to fall so fast."

A tidal roar filled his ears — some wept and wailed, some shouted, some yelled in combat, and even more people were crying out, "The city has fallen! The city has fallen!" The entire county seat of Zou County had plunged into chaos. Everyone was fleeing, everyone was hiding. Only a tiny handful still shouted slogans no one believed anymore — "Kingdom of God," "Maitreya" — charging desperately toward the government troops.

From the place where Xie Mingxuan had been defending the city to Zou County's west gate, there were people providing support the entire way. His contingent grew larger and larger, and by the time they arrived, it numbered over three hundred. At the gate itself, another two hundred or so were waiting. The moment they saw him, they immediately converged, while others moved to open the city gate.

Tens of thousands of government troops surrounded Zou County, but an army of that size could not form a watertight encirclement. To assault and breach the city, they had to concentrate their forces on one point. Thus, the western and eastern gates were relatively lightly defended. The west gate faced the Grand Canal, which in a sense made it a dead end, so even fewer men were stationed there. And when Xie Mingxuan had arranged the city's defenses, he had deliberately placed the men he trusted most at this very spot.

"Is everything arranged?"

"Everything's been taken care of, but in this chaos of war..."

"It's just an arrangement. Whether it works or not is up to Heaven's will." Xie Mingxuan was discussing quietly with the men beside him while watching the gate. Just then, they heard someone call out in eager excitement: "Lord Xie, you're here! This subordinate — no, this humble one — has finally found you!"

Hearing that voice, Xie Mingxuan frowned and looked over. He saw Wen Tiejun leading over a hundred men, hurrying toward them. Compared to the lightly equipped troops around Xie Mingxuan, Wen Tiejun and every man in his group had large and small bundles slung over their shoulders. The young man beside Xie Mingxuan was about to speak, but a glance from Xie Mingxuan silenced him immediately. Xie Mingxuan said in a deep voice: "I sent men to find you. Let's move out together, quickly."

Wen Tiejun laughed in his rough way and said: "I knew Lord Xie wouldn't abandon us who came with him from Liaodong. Rest assured, Lord Xie, as long as we're here, no one can touch a single hair on your head."

The city gate had already been forced open. Xie Mingxuan and his men now heard the clamor coming from behind them — they could see government troops charging down the street at the far end. Seeing this, Wen Tiejun said nothing. The man beside Xie Mingxuan spoke up: "Lord Xie, go first. I'll lead the brothers to hold the rear."

"We go together. They're here to close the gate — they won't pursue!" Xie Mingxuan barked, then raised his voice: "Brothers, right now the government troops are all in a rush to get into the city and get rich. No one's going to chase us relentlessly. Everyone follow me out of the city and stay together. We stick together and head toward the Grand Canal. I've arranged for people to receive us there. I led you out of Liaodong, and I can lead you out of here too. Move! Move fast!"

A unified shout rose from below as they clustered around Xie Mingxuan and charged out of the city. The squad at the very rear hesitated for a moment, then chose not to hold the rear guard — they merely pulled the city gate closed as much as they could.

Of course the government troops hadn't simply left the west gate unattended. A battalion had been assigned to watch and garrison this side. But when they heard the city had fallen, everyone here grew restless and agitated. Both brigade commanders had promised that after the battle, the city would be "cleansed" and the troops could do as they pleased for two days — otherwise, why would everyone have attacked the city like madmen? But now the other battalions were inside the city, while their own unit was still stuck outside. The women and gold and silver inside were all being ruined and plundered by others.

The moment they saw the city gate open, every man's eyes went red with greed. Without waiting for their officers to shout orders, they surged forward in a swarm. But Xie Mingxuan's contingent was no motley rabble like ordinary bandits or refugees. Moreover, this was a desperate flight for survival, so their combat strength was truly ferocious. They directly smashed through the battalion's interception. The government troops outside, once they realized they couldn't stop them, simply stopped trying. Seeing that no more bandits were pouring out of the gate, they ignored Xie Mingxuan's group entirely and charged straight for the gate instead. But no sooner had they drawn near than the gate slowly began to close. Some sharp-eyed men saw that it was government troops closing the gate from inside. Enraged, they cursed outside and even hacked wildly with their blades through the gap. In an instant, a dozen or more lives were laid down on either side of that slowly closing gate. Yet the gate still shut.

"Commander, should we pursue those several hundred bandits?"

"Pursue my ass! Didn't you see how murderous that bunch looked? If they won't even let us brothers go in and get rich, why the hell should we fight them?"

It was no wonder that cities everywhere feared government troops no less than they feared the bandits. After the government troops stormed into Zou County, several cavalry units, heedless of anything else, first raced to secure every city gate to ensure no one could escape. Only then did they divide the city into zones by battalion and begin "purging the rebels." During this phase, everyone within Zou County was deemed a bandit or cultist and could be freely slaughtered, raped, and plundered.

Even Shen Zhi's unit — the very men who had been the first to defect, who had communicated with the forces outside and opened the gates to let the government troops in — lost a third of their number to slaughter, to say nothing of everyone else. In those two days, Zou County truly suffered a great calamity. The devastation and destruction exceeded the bandits' depredations many times over. Every person endured unbearable misery, and countless families were broken and destroyed.

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