Chapter 14: The Saber (IV)

Thieves had their own rules. Jiang Chui’er wasn’t worried at all that his men might be blinded by the grain in the county town and lose their heads, leading to fratricide.
In their line of work, two things were most valued: loyalty and faithfulness. Without them, trying to survive by scraping by was nothing but delusion.
“Charge in, brothers! Enjoy yourselves to the fullest!”
Jiang Chui’er drew his saber from his waist and laughed heartily. “Charge in, brothers! Follow the leader! There’s endless corn and silver in the city, as well as beautiful women with soft skin. Everyone, charge in—follow the leader!”
Scarface was the first to leap forward, raising his saber in response. Being a die-hard follower of Jiang Chui’er, he naturally obeyed him without question. In fact, although Jiang Chui’er was the leader of Heiyun Fort, he couldn’t fully control all the men there. The second-in-command, the Cold-Faced Lord, and the third-in-command, Qi San, each had their own followers and confidants, along with their own groups of men.
Heiyun Fort was thus a place composed of multiple factions, all maintaining a delicate balance under the leadership of Jiang Chui’er. No one wanted to break this balance—only by uniting could they survive in such chaotic times. This applied to the Tang army, the Yan army, and the thieves alike.
More than three thousand men from the three factions spurred their horses, brandishing their sabers as they rushed through the open city gates. They laughed lustfully, imagining the plunder they would gain, while teasing each other.
Qi San frowned slightly. Though he sensed something was amiss, he couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong, so he whipped his horse forward and followed…
“Seventh Brother, they’re here!”
Zhou Wucui lightly kicked himself off his horse, stepped through the threshold, and reported to Li Kuo, who was playing chess with Clerk Feng inside the county office.
Hearing this, Li Kuo raised his eyebrows and said, “Then proceed according to the plan. Order Xian Yu Cheng not to alert them prematurely. Wait until the thieves reach the county office before taking action.”
“Understood!”
Zhou Wucui nodded, bowed to Li Kuo, and left.
“Mr. Feng, it’s your turn to move!”
Li Kuo smiled slightly and gestured with one arm. …
“Come out, you bastards! Come out! Where are they? Are they all dead?”

Scarface spat out a thick clump of phlegm, waving his simple knife and cursing loudly. Since they entered Shangcai City, they hadn’t seen a single civilian on the streets. Could it be that their reputation was truly so terrible that it scared all those lowly people so much they stayed indoors, too afraid to go outside?
“Lao Ba, calm down for a moment!”
Jiang Chui glared at Scarface and said, “Send someone to investigate in front of the county yamen. Have that Clerk Feng come to see me, telling him that I, Jiang Chui, am fulfilling our agreement to collect food and women!”
“As you command, boss!”
One of the underlings bowed to Jiang Chui, whistled, and rode off on his horse.
Jiang Chui patted Scarface’s arm and sighed, “Lao Ba, think more carefully before acting in the future. Don’t resort to fighting every time. Understand?”
“Sigh, boss, I know. I got carried away for a moment…”
Scarface turned red and felt embarrassed, wishing he could burrow into a hole.
“Everyone, follow me! I want to see what tricks this Clerk Feng is up to! Go!”
A cloud of yellow dust rose as thousands of bandits rushed toward the county yamen at full speed…
“Qilang, they’re here!”
A glint appeared in Zhou Wucui’s eyes as he waved at Li Kuo. These bandits were truly arrogant, showing no fear even in the face of an empty city. If that was the case, they would be given a good lesson to see if they would still dare to fight among themselves and profiteer from national disasters.
“Have the archers get ready. Wait for my order.”
Li Kuo gave a calm command, his voice steady as a pool of clear water.
The sound of hooves grew louder and louder. When the vanguard of the bandits turned around the corner, Li Kuo could finally see their faces clearly.
Step forward, straighten up, draw the bow, place the arrow, tighten the string, build strength—release!
Li Kuo’s gaze sharpened as an arrow tipped with carved feathers shot out swiftly, aiming straight at the bald bandit’s face.
That was the signal!
At that moment, the archers hidden on the high walls on both sides of the county yamen, under Xian Yu’s command, drew their bows, nocked arrows, and released them in unison.
When tens of thousands of arrows were fired at once, it was like thunder striking.
Jiang Chui, who was riding fast, felt a cold wind blow toward his face. Instinctively, he tried to block it with his simple knife, but the arrow shot by Li Kuo still grazed his cheek before flying away.
Damn it, there’s an ambush!
“There’s an ambush! Everyone, be careful!”
Jiang Chui quickly jumped off his horse and rolled on the ground once, covering himself in dust and becoming disheveled.

As Jiang Chui finished speaking, thousands upon thousands of feathered arrows formed a dense net and were shot at them. Hearing their leader’s warning, the bandits instinctively tried to rein in their horses, but how could they stop their fast-moving mounts in an instant?

“Thwack!” “Thwack!”

The bandits at the front hadn’t even realized what was happening when they were riddled with arrows. Some died on the spot and tumbled to the ground, only to be trampled into pulp by the horses following behind. Some horses, hit by multiple arrows, neighed in pain and spun wildly in place. The bandits at the back, unable to slow down in time, rushed forward and collided head-on with the wounded horses ahead.

The dull thuds of arrows piercing flesh, the heavy sounds of people and horses falling, along with the desperate screams, created a terrifying scene.

“Enemy attack! Enemy attack! There’s an ambush! We’re in an ambush!”

Scarface pulled out a wooden shield to protect his face, chest, and other vital areas. Arrows kept hitting the shield, scaring him to death.

This Feng Buhu was really impatient. Their leader had only asked him to provide some food and women, yet he planned to ambush them. Today, he must capture this arrogant old man alive and burn him to death!

Though Scarface thought this, he still had to face the arrow rain. He couldn’t understand how a small county’s armory could have so many armor-piercing arrows. What was even more baffling was that even if Shangcai City had enough bows and arrows, where could Feng Buhu get so many archers?

After all, archery is a skillful craft. Even among these bandits who killed indiscriminately and lived by robbery, not everyone was an excellent archer. So they only provided each member with at most three pots of arrows, just to make a show.

Now, Shangcai City was left with only the old, young, sick, and weak—how could they find so many archers?

Before he could think further, Qi Laosan pulled him off his horse: “Lao Ba, do you want to die? With such a dense arrow rain, you keep charging forward—do you want to go to hell? Tell the others to get off their horses!”

Scarface was about to curse when he turned around and saw it was the third leader who had pulled him off. He immediately smiled cheerfully: “Oh, come on. Who would want to die?”

“Get off your horses, you bastards! Do you want to die? Get off now!”

Frustrated and unable to vent his anger elsewhere, Scarface resorted to intimidating the other bandits.

I just feel pity for those bandits who were unjustly kicked off their horses by Scarface.
“Raise your shields! Don’t hesitate—raise them now and hide behind the horses!”
Scarface swallowed his saliva and hid behind the horses, giving orders loudly.
These damn feather arrows keep coming!
“Second brother, what should we do now?”
Qi Laosan frowned deeply and instinctively turned to look at the second in command, the cold-faced Yan Jun. In Heiyun Fort, the second in command was the strategist who always came up with ingenious plans, so it was most appropriate to consult him in this situation.
The second in command smiled coldly and said, “Laosan, we’ve fallen into a trap. Look at these feather arrows—they must be from the imperial army.”
Qi Laosan was momentarily stunned before finally understanding what his second brother meant. The imperial army? How could such an army appear in Shangcai City?
Seeming to read Qi Laosan’s thoughts, the second in command continued, “It’s not just the imperial army—they’re well-trained. Judging from the synchronized firing of these arrows, there must be a thousand archers alone. I estimate their troop numbers are no less than ours.”
Boom!
Qi Laosan’s head felt like it was exploding. What? An imperial army with a comparable number of soldiers?
Although he wasn’t afraid of fighting against government troops, the idea of facing an equal number of imperial soldiers still filled him with unease.
Indeed, ordinary counties at most could muster some local militia. Their archery skills were poor, and the quality of their arrows was inferior. But the arrows shooting at them now were all armor-piercing arrows. From any angle, these people must be part of an imperial army.