Gao Chuwu didn’t answer Xing Honglang’s question, afraid it might break his quarreling rhythm. Once interrupted, he’d lose count of their exchanged barbs. He simply turned and charged toward the mouth of the ravine—the sole manageable slope for attackers.

Erchun and Sui Fengxiong had scaled the slope moments before, inspiring fierce bandits who followed with renewed hope. Ducking rolling logs from both sides, they hurled themselves toward that slope.

Suddenly a roar came: “Chuwu, slow down!”

Bandits looked up to see a man more imposing than a bear atop the slope. Clad in two-panel armor, he stood with arms outstretched, his overwhelming presence suffocating.

One fierce bandit lunged upward. Clang! His blade struck Gao Chuwu’s two-panel armor.

Gao Chuwu countered with a punch that flung the attacker backward. The bandit crashed onto the slope and tumbled down.

Instantly, the bandits recognized it: his martial skills were marginal, but raw strength was terrifying.

“Attack his legs! Two-panel armor can’t guard there!”

Another bandit scrambled up, rusted sword slashing at Gao Chuwu’s calf.

Gao Chuwu was overwhelmed—strike imminent—when Xing Honglang flashed forward beside him. Her left hand swung a blade, Ding! Blocking the rusty strike.

Gao Chuwu kicked the bandit’s gut, sending him spinning through the air.

Xing Honglang yelled, “Are you an idiot? Why fight with fists when you have a spear?”

Gao Chuwu jolted awake. He had an iron spear—stored forgotten on his back. He snatched it off his shoulder, sweeping horizontally at the advancing bandits: “Daniu! Catch! Wine jars incoming!”

His spear technique had no refinement—just crude sweeps and thrusts learned from Cheng Xu—yet each wild swing carried terrifying force. Bandits scrambled backward on the slope. A misplaced step sent them pinwheeling downhill, knocking others behind them off their feet.

More surged uphill. Gao Chuwu’s spear slashed left, right, sweeping wide. Within several meters radius, no one could keep standing.

Stalled on the slope, bandits became targets for the salt smugglers lining the ravine cliffs. Rolling logs crushed downward; screams echoed through the gully.

Their morale shattered.

Someone yelled, “Retreat!”

Surviving bandits turned and fled.

The salt smugglers cheered: “Victory again!”

Xing Honglang grinned, glancing at the fleeing bandit army and Erchun’s corpse. Good. Revenge achieved. This fight wasn’t wasted. Heh heh heh.

Gao Chuwu burst into laughter: “Chuwu! Your head was as slow as a pig’s!”

Xing Honglang: “???”

Gao Chuwu: “Fifty bickers finished. Time to leave.”

With whirlwind stride, he vanished instantly.

Veins bulged on Xing Honglang’s fists: “Next time we meet, I’m thrashing him without a word.”

At Cheng Xu’s position, salt smugglers rolled logs down slopes for sport.

Fan Shanyue employed some strategy this time. He kept his main force back. Only a few hundred fierce bandits ventured uphill—darting between boulders like children playing hide-and-seek. Slow but steady advance.

This method of advancing was slow, and very few men were participating in the assault.

But it didn’t matter. There weren’t many people on the mountaintop; he had already discerned that during the earlier bickering.

If just two or three hundred fighters charged up, tangled with the defenders on the peak, and prevented them from hurling down the massive logs, his main force could swiftly scale the mountain. Victory would be his.

Besides, there were also Sui Fengxiong and Erchun’s units circling around the ravines to attack from the rear. Their success would create the same strategic advantage.

There was absolutely no need to panic. Take it slow!

With eight thousand men in his army, how could he possibly lose?

Watching the bandit army inch their way torturously up the hill, Cheng Xu snickered inwardly. Just these two or three hundred pathetic souls, cowering behind rocks—they actually thought they could reach the summit? Wait till they enter the range of my men’s hand crossbows, and they’ll immediately be met with a volley…

As he was planning this flawless tactic, Gao Chuwu came lumbering back. “Instructor He, I’m back! The fifty phrases of bickering are done!”

Cheng Xu: “Oh. Rejoin the ranks.”

Gao Chuwu: “On my way back, running, I saw officials coming up the southern mountain path, way off in the distance.”

Cheng Xu made a surprised sound (“Huh?”), then instantly realized: the newly appointed Patrol Officer Fang Wushang had arrived. This new patrol seemed quite diligent. He must have rushed rashly here upon receiving news that the bandit army had entered Chengcheng County through this pass.

The man had guts, even bolder than he was.

His eyes flickered over the armor worn by the militia. “My men are wearing plate, he thought. That’s the capital crime of treason. Can’t let Fang Wushang see this. Might as well let him fight this battle.”

Commander Cheng Xu waved his hand and shouted: “All forces, cease! Retreat immediately!”

His men were momentarily stunned.

Ground Rabbit protested: “This rabbit was just enjoying the fighting! If we retreat now…”

Cheng Xu lashed out with a kick, sending Ground Rabbit tumbling. “After I speak, your only permissible response is ‘Yes, Commander!’ Stop spouting useless crap.”

The others swiftly echoed: “Yes, Commander!”

Ground Rabbit had once again been made an example of. He lay sprawled pathetically, not daring to get up.

“Retreat! Retreat! Oh right, tell Xing Honglang’s forces to withdraw with us!”

Soon, Cheng Xu’s troops met up with Xing Honglang’s band. Xing Honglang had clearly seen the officials arrive too; the retreat didn’t surprise her in the least. She just chuckled. “Let’s not go too far. Fall back and enjoy the show. If the officials can’t hold, we might still need to step in.”

Cheng Xu nodded and pointed towards a small slope west of Zhengjia Village. “Fall back behind this slope! Hide and watch!”

The group quickly withdrew to the western slope. It was strewn with jagged rocks and withered, twisted trees. Hidden among them, they were hard to spot.

Their withdrawal instantly boosted the confidence of the He Yang bandits struggling up the slope. “The logs and stones have stopped thundering down from the peak!”

“Hahaha! They must be out of rolling logs!”

“Charge! Charge! Rush them!”

The He Yang bandits broke into desperate sprints towards the mountaintop.

Meanwhile…

The newly appointed Patrol Officer Fang Wushang was also roaring: “Charge! Do you hear the fighting ahead?! The militia are already engaged with the bandits! We must hurry!”

His force of over a hundred officials instantly picked up their pace, racing frantically towards the sounds of battle.

It was at that precise moment that the first wave of fierce bandits crested the ridge!

Free from the threat of rolling logs and stones, the leading group of bandits quickly reached the plateau summit. They immediately caught sight of… Zhengjia Village and its promising wheat field spread below them.

“Huh? There’s a wheat field right here?”

“A wheat field!”

The fierce bandits surged forward, charging headlong towards the field.