The words “The bandits are getting closer” snapped the salt smugglers out of their shock. Indeed, now was not the time to lie on the ground prostrating in worship; it was crucial to hurry and attend to the important task.

The group quickly got up; each selected rolling logs that matched their own strength, and by carrying them in their arms, hugging them, or rolling them on the ground, they moved them to the edge of the cliff.

As they looked at the almost endless supply of rolling logs, everyone’s spirits soared.

Cheng Xu said, “Everyone, stay steady, don’t rush to throw the rolling logs and stones. The bandit army has only come halfway up the slope; wait until their back half has climbed up before we strike.”

Xing Honglang suddenly interrupted him, saying, “Instructor He, it’s better to strike earlier. Half of them being up is enough.”

Cheng Xu was greatly puzzled. “Your idea isn’t in accordance with military strategy.”

Xing Honglang sighed. “It isn’t in accordance with military strategy, but it is in accordance with humanity. The back half of the bandit army is all…”.

Cheng Xu suddenly realized: that’s right, only the front half of the bandit army consisted of combat-ready troops; the back half was entirely filled with elderly and weak, women and children.

As a military commander, his mind had only focused on how to inflict the greatest harm on the enemy, but he hadn’t considered this before. With Xing Honglang’s reminder, he finally thought about that scene: rolling logs and stones crushing over the elderly and weak, women and children…

It left a sour taste in his heart!

Xing Honglang said, “We who roam the Green Woods are heroes who raise our blades only against the strong, never against the weak.”

Cheng Xu let out a snort, thinking to himself: I serve in the army; what I learned is that benevolence has no place in leading troops.

However, recalling that image again, it truly felt unpleasant in his heart.

He turned his head and glanced down the mountain. Among the back half of the bandit army, the elderly and weak, women and children, there were probably many like grandmothers—old and frail, withered, with clouded eyes, but whenever they looked at you, they showed an unmasked affection.

Cheng Xu waved his hand and commanded, “Strike now! No need for the back half to climb the mountain.”

“Great! We can finally throw them, hahaha.” Ground Rabbit sprang out suddenly and kicked down the wooden post he had prepared for so long with one foot.

This wooden post of his was not small at all; it was half-height in length and belonged to the thickest section, thicker than his own waist. He couldn’t carry it at all; he had pushed it to the edge of the cliff entirely by rolling it slowly and had been long waiting for Cheng Xu’s order.

At that moment, on the mountainside, Erchun was struggling upward with a large group of subordinates; as he climbed, he asked his men, “Once we get over this slope, we’ll be in Chengcheng County?”

His subordinate nodded. “Yes, after crossing over, it’s Zhengjia Village in Chengcheng County. Then passing through Gaojia Village and Wangjia Village, we can travel straight to Chengcheng County City.”

Erchun cursed, “Excellent! That damned Xing Honglang cut me and then fled to Chengcheng County. Now I’ve come to Chengcheng; I’ll capture her alive and make her realize my might.”

His subordinate quickly flattered, “Third Leader, your might is something that woman probably couldn’t handle.”

“Hahahaha!”

A group of worthless thieves all burst into loud laughter.

They had just laughed twice when suddenly they sensed something was wrong; a rumbling sound came from the mountainside. Looking up, they saw a massive log, half-height tall and thick as a man, rolling down from the mountain; its rolling momentum was utterly terrifying.

Erchun shouted, “Fuck!”

As he cursed, he tumbled and dove into the grassy area beside the path.

He reacted quickly, but his subordinate was slower and couldn’t dodge in time; dim-wittedly, he stared as the huge log crashed down directly upon him. With a loud thud, the subordinate spun through the air, and the blood he sprayed painted spiraling rings in mid-air.

The huge log knocked over one person and kept rolling downward; the bandit army on the mountainside couldn’t avoid it in time and was violently plowed over by the huge log, scattering chaotically as a gruesome sight.

“Fuck! What’s going on?”

“Who threw that log?”

“It’s coming again, it’s coming again!”

The bandits shouted wildly.

Suddenly, numerous heads appeared on the slope; some lifted stones to hurl down, some kicked down giant logs. The rumbling sound thundered on endlessly as large quantities of rolling logs and stones surged down like a massive landslide.

The bandit army was instantly terrified to stupor!

The smart ones hastened to find large stones nearby and huddled behind them. The moderately clever covered their heads with both hands and lay flat on the ground. The foolish ones, however, scattered across the slope like headless flies.

The rolling logs and stones arrived and plowed over these chaotic equipment-clad bandits, crushing them relentlessly—wails pleading for mothers and fathers filled the scene.

“It’s the militia!”

“I don’t know which militia this is.”

“Damn!”

“Ah!”

Cries and curses tangled together.

Erchun hid behind a stone, trembling violently. Sui Fengxiong and Fan Shanyue also found crevices in the rocks and hid motionlessly, only perking up their ears to listen to the commotion outside.

The rumbling persisted for a long while and then ceased.

The three bandit chiefs cautiously peeked their heads out from behind the rocks to survey the scene. Utter chaos met their eyes: corpses sprawled haphazardly all over the slope…

After blinking a full thirteen times, Fan Shanyue finally snapped to reality and bellowed, “Retreat! Retreat to the foot of the mountain now!”

In truth, no order from him was needed—the bandit army had already planned to flee. Even if he had yelled to charge, they still would have withdrawn. Large groups of bandits scrambled downhill recklessly; some slid rapidly on pot lids. A hasty descent was disastrous: many slipped on the mountain path and tumbled down. Though not killed by rolling logs, they were dead from the falls.

In no time, all the He Yang bandits had retreated to the foot of the mountain.

The militiamen and salt smugglers on the slope erupted in cheers: “We beat them back!”

Xing Honglang let out a sigh of relief. “We held them off! With just us hundred folk, we actually repelled an eight-thousand-strong bandit army. Ha!”

She turned her head and glanced back at the massive pile of wooden posts behind her, thinking, “If not for the Deity granting so many rolling logs, even with the terrain advantage, we couldn’t have defended this spot. Truly, by the blessing of the Deity.”

With that thought, she tilted her head upward. Drifting in the air, about sixty to seventy zhang high, lingered a low cloud. Undoubtedly, the Deity must be watching from within that cloud.

Had she first come to Gaojia Village and heard tales of a divine presence there, she would have been scared witless—revering spirits only to keep a distance—and never dared return. Yet now, she felt not a shred of inclination to retreat; instead, having a deity aiding her was deeply comforting.

Cheng Xu chuckled softly a few times, pondering, “I’ll pen a memorial once back, claiming I commanded over a hundred local gentry militia to repel twenty thousand bandits and safeguard Chengcheng…”

“Wait!”

“I’m no longer an official of the court! Why draft a ghost of a memorial?”

Cheng Xu thumped heavily onto the ground, orz!

Deprived of his official title, he still felt a fair bit of sorrow inside.

Ground Rabbit ambled over from the side: “Instructor He, we just won clear and sound—why aren’t you happy at all?”

Cheng Xu rolled over from his orz state, sat up on the dirt, and gazed heavenward, sighing softly: “I seem to no longer be myself.”

Li Daoxuan smiled: “What’s wrong with becoming a new self then?”