Chapter 124: You Can?

Lu Yao roared furiously, "Release the signal arrows! Release the signal arrows!" He couldn't worry about anything else; he just needed to summon his hidden troops to the front line first.

Two signal arrows shot into the sky, one red and one green, conspicuously bright against the night.

Wu Shaoyi, however, chuckled, "Trying to call for reinforcements? Hahaha, General Pei has already taken care of that for you!"

Lu Yao was stunned.

Among the three generals who had met in Xianling Village, Pei Xinyong was the calmest and most steady. Had it not been for his unwavering efforts to bring about their meeting, Lu Yao and Wu Shaoyi would never have even acknowledged each other. At worst, they would have fought to the death upon meeting; at best, they would have remained estranged their entire lives.

How could Pei Xinyong have completely sided with Wu Shaoyi in just half a night?

It didn't make sense!

Or had the two of them planned this all along, to gang up on him?

If that were true, the nine hundred men he had brought into the mountains were not too many, but far too few!

The combined forces of Wu and Pei numbered between two thousand six hundred and two thousand seven hundred.

Cold sweat instantly broke out on Lu Yao's back. He urgently said, "I just wanted to stabilize that corrupt official, waiting for you all to come up so we could perform the flag-raising ceremony together. He's going to Xia Province to be promoted to administrator. If we seize his official documents and seal, we can freely operate in Xia Province and never have to hide again! I swear by my ancestors with a blood oath that all benefits will be equally shared from now on, and I harbor no ill intentions!"

Wu Shaoyi chuckled, "Kneel down and surrender to show your sincerity. Once we deal with that corrupt official, we will naturally be fair with you!"

Lu Yao was furious. "Bah! Don't push your luck!"

He had tolerated them repeatedly; when had he ever endured such humiliation? That Wu fellow clearly didn't know what was good for him! His eyes darted around, and he shouted again, "Lads, go untie the boats by the lake!"

***

As the two bandit factions began to fight among themselves, the government soldiers immediately retreated, fearing they would get caught in the crossfire.

Fortunately, once Wu Shaoyi spotted Lu Yao, he relentlessly attacked him, barely sparing a glance for the government soldiers. Clearly, in his eyes, an internal enemy was ten times more detestable than an external one.

Moreover, these two had a deep-seated enmity from before, and the more suppressed it was, the more explosively it would erupt.

He had also given the order to "kill the Lu bandits," so his subordinates focused on fighting Lu Yao's forces in pairs, scarcely pursuing the government soldiers.

Of course, this was also largely due to the government soldiers retreating without a fight.

He Chunhua had long ago ordered everyone to be ready for battle. Now, before dawn, all carts, horses, and luggage were packed and secured. Some items had never even been unpacked, while others were reinforced and repaired overnight. Even Madam Ying's recently used belongings were packed back into their boxes and securely tied onto the large carts.

Even the horses had been fed hay and fresh water, regaining their strength, and were harnessed to the large carts.

As soon as fighting broke out in the village, He Chunhua decisively ordered, "Retreat to the west!"

Over four hundred people, with their carts, immediately set off towards the mountain road west of the village.

The government soldiers certainly wouldn't announce their intentions, but the villagers were not blind or deaf. As soon as they saw the soldiers preparing to depart, they immediately gathered, weeping and pleading, "Officials, please take us with you!"

He Chunhua had anticipated this. The soldiers pointed forward and instructed, "Retreat with us! Everyone, line up one behind another, with no more than three people per row!"

"You may ride horses, but no carts!"

Despite repeated emphasis, some villagers still loaded all their belongings onto carts and tried to pull them west with horses. They were stopped by the soldiers, leading to arguments and then physical altercations.

He Yue, Zeng Feixiong, and others were extremely busy. He Lingchuan had no choice but to stride over and say, "Abandon your carts and get on the road, or stay behind with them! Don't stand here blocking the way!"

These horse-drawn and ox-drawn carts were quite large, but the mountain path was narrow, barely wide enough for two carts side-by-side. With the villagers blocking the way, the official carts also needed to pass, making it impossible for civilians to squeeze through.

A cart owner angrily retorted, "If the officials can leave, why can't we?"

"Exactly! All our possessions are on these carts. Are we supposed to starve once we get out there?"

The two sides began to shove each other again.

He Lingchuan raised a hand, pulled the foremost man from his cart, and held him in front of him. "Government soldiers can cover the rear, can you? Whichever of you can pick up a weapon and cover the rear, your cart can pass!"

He sternly asked the man in his grasp, "Can *you*?"

The man froze, his neck seemingly stiff. He dared not nod, yet was unwilling to shake his head.

They were all law-abiding citizens. What right did they have to fight murderers like these bandits? Don't forget, these bandits had slaughtered a hundred villagers in broad daylight just the day before, among them many strong and capable men from the village defense team!

Moreover, these weren't just ordinary bandits; they were remnants of a rebel army who had fought government troops for years, besieged cities, plundered lands, and killed countless people! They had extensive combat experience; how could ordinary people possibly fight them?

"Those who cannot fight, dismount and walk! Those who can fight, send your families onto the carts and stay behind yourselves!"

At He Lingchuan's shout, combined with people pushing forward and screaming "Bandits are coming!" from behind, the civilians on the carts no longer dared to argue. They got off and ran forward.

If they didn't run now, when the bandits caught up, they would only serve as shields for those who ran faster.

The government soldiers pushed the villagers' carts aside, leaving a path for the civilians to run. This way, half the road was for people on foot, and half for carts.

It was relatively orderly.

Soon, He Lingchuan also saw bandits rushing towards the west side of the village, smashing doors and entering homes.

He couldn't distinguish whether these were Wu's or Lu's subordinates, but looting amidst chaos was their specialty. Especially when Wu Shaoyi's men saw that their numbers far exceeded the enemy's, knowing victory was only a matter of time, some began to entertain greedy thoughts, wanting to loot as early as possible.

When it came to looting, it was a matter of first come, first served.

Yesterday evening, Lu Yao's men had killed and occupied the village but hadn't had time to loot before the government soldiers arrived. To avoid exposure, Lu Yao's bandits hadn't rummaged through homes, thinking it wouldn't be too late to do so after defeating the soldiers. Consequently, the villagers' furniture and livestock that they couldn't hastily take with them were still in their homes.

Seeing this scene from the mountain, everyone felt relief rather than anger.

While the bandits were busy ransacking homes, they gained valuable time to retreat.

However, things didn't go as planned, and more and more bandits turned their attention to the mountain path to the west.

Some of these were following Lu Yao's orders, intending to capture He Chunhua, but a large portion were under attack by Wu Shaoyi's subordinates and were forced to retreat while fighting.

Some retreated to the east, but others withdrew to the west, inadvertently converging with the retreating path of the government soldiers and civilians.

Zeng Feixiong and others were rushing back and forth, directing, which was very inconvenient.

But no one made any demands of He Lingchuan; even Madam Ying had just told him, "Go to the front and help your father."

The front of the line was the safest place. After seeing the ominous fortune slip Water Spirit had given him, no one blamed him.

He Lingchuan watched Zeng Feixiong's back and quietly clenched his fists.

Water Spirit's prophecy lingered in his mind. If his great calamity truly was to happen tonight, he shouldn't try to act brave at such a critical moment of life or death.

But what if it wasn't?

Next time, and the time after that, would he still retreat?

If the great calamity was only to arrive ten years later, should he retreat for ten years first?

While it was certainly easier to hide behind others, could he be sure that the butcher's knife wouldn't eventually fall upon his own head?