Fang Wushang was furious and really wanted to charge down the slope to fight Fan Shanyue.

But at this moment, Fan Shanyue was already thinking of retreat.

He would dare to charge against the militia on the mountain, but he didn’t dare charge against officials.

While he was hesitating, someone came to report from behind: “Boss, great misfortune! Second Leader and Third Leader were ambushed by Xing Honglang and killed. They’re both dead.”

Fan Shanyue was greatly shocked, tears streaming down. “Second Brother, Third Brother.”

“Aaahhhh!” Fan Shanyue raised his head to the sky and let out a cry of anguish. After the cry, he lowered his head and loudly ordered: “Retreat!”

The bandit army began retreating again, sliding and scrambling down the mountain slope.

Seeing the bandits retreat, Fang Wushang was immediately overjoyed. “Pursue!”

The deputy inspector grabbed him urgently, crying out, “Cannot pursue, cannot pursue.”

Fang Wushang raged, “Grabbing me just now to stop me from charging down the slope was somewhat understandable! But now the bandits have retreated, so why are you still stopping me?”

The deputy inspector said, “Once we go down this slope, it’s the territory of Heyang County.”

Fang Wushang’s movement froze.

He was the Patrol Officer of Chengcheng, not the Patrol Officer of Heyang. If he led troops into Heyang County’s territory, it was overstepping his authority. If someone spoke up for him in the court, it would be seen as daringly fighting bandits—charging past the county boundary without realizing it would be a great merit, worthy of heavy reward.

But if someone in the court wanted to trap him, it would be considered abandoning his jurisdiction and leading troops across boundaries, engaging in suspicious actions, possibly rebellion—a serious crime punishable by beheading.

Fang Wushang was not afraid of bandits, but he feared the scholar-official’s pen, sharp as a blade.

His movement frozen, he let out a long sigh. “Enough. We won’t pursue.”

The deputy inspector also sighed in relief. This new leader was reckless; keeping him in check was truly difficult. Compared to him, the previous leader Cheng Xu was much more resourceful; he didn’t need any persuasion—he’d been the one teaching this approach.

The deputy inspector missed his former superior a little. General Cheng, ah, I hope your spirit in the heavens is doing well now?

“Achoo!” Cheng Xu sneezed.

“Clear the battlefield!” Fang Wushang tossed out the order and sat down to the side, leaving matters for others, his eyes watching the bandit army slowly leave at the foot of the mountain, a bitter taste in his heart.

As a soldier, seeing bandits within easy reach yet unable to pursue just because it was the border between two counties was incredibly frustrating.

The soldiers busied themselves, cutting off the bandits’ ears to take back for claiming credit, then haphazardly burying their corpses.

They were working enthusiastically when a soldier reported.

“Report, General! We discovered a large number of bandit corpses in the ravine beside us.”

“In the ravine beside us?”

Fang Wushang was greatly puzzled and quickly led people over. At one glance, he saw the bodies of Sui Fengxiong and Erchun slumped at the ravine entrance, and upon looking further into the ravine, dozens more bandits lay scattered haphazardly inside.

“Hmmm! Could this be the work of the Gaojia Village Militia?”

“It should be,” the deputy inspector stepped forward and said in a low voice. “The Gaojia Village Militia is no simple force. Wang Er once raided Gaojia Village at night, resulting in severe injury to Wang Er himself and the deaths of Zheng Yanfu and Zhuang Guangdao… but this matter is only known to us. Officially, the credit all went to General Cheng Xu.”

Fang Wushang’s eyebrows jumped. “So that’s how it is! Seems I underestimated the Gaojia Village Militia before.”

Just as they were speaking, shouts arose from the slope west of Zhengjia Village. A large group of people emerged—the Gaojia Village Militia had arrived.

Cheng Xu, Xing Honglang, and the salt smugglers had already withdrawn. The militia members had also taken off their armor, handing it over to the salt smugglers to take back to Gaojia Village. Many wore only an undershirt. Led by Ground Rabbit, they walked toward Fang Wushang.

Ground Rabbit was quite surprised to receive the order to temporarily lead the group.

He had thought that based on seniority, it should have been Gao Chuwu or Zheng Daniu leading, but after thinking carefully, those two simpletons couldn’t possibly understand how to act out a play, so him stepping forward was easily understandable.

Hehehe, I, Mr. Rabbit, am a clever person and will surely shoulder the heavy responsibility my master entrusted to me.

Ground Rabbit sauntered up to Fang Wushang and pretended to bow respectfully: “General Fang, you repelled the bandits? That’s truly impressive. Thank you so much.”

Fang Wushang looked, hadn’t that been that stupid and clumsy fool he tripped over? Was he really the militia leader? Wasn’t this a mistake?

“Hmph!” Fang Wushang snorted coldly: “Your militia fought quite well too. Were these rolling logs and stones prepared by you? And those bandits killed by hitting in the ravine, that was your doing?”

Ground Rabbit laughed heartily, looking up at the sky: “Hahaha, correct, these were all my accomplishments. Hahaha, I fought off the mass of bandits and am already unmatched under heaven.”

Fang Wushang said: “Then why weren’t you guarding by the slope when I arrived?”

Ground Rabbit replied: “I retreated to advance, to find better opportunities.”

Fang Wushang was furious: “Why not just admit you were running away?”

“Running away? How could I run away?” Ground Rabbit swiftly drew out his rusty sword: “I led the team to ambush outside the village, waiting for the bandits to come. Then I unleashed my ultimate skill ‘Celestial Rabbit Sword’ and killed them all cleanly.”

Fang Wushang said: “Alright, you can get lost now.”

Ground Rabbit: “…”

Fang Wushang shook his head: “I had thought the Gaojia Village Militia had some skill, but I really overestimated them. Speaking with such exaggeration, they’re just like Cheng Xu, cut from the same cloth.”

He couldn’t be bothered to deal with Ground Rabbit anymore and sat down on the slope, continuing to watch the retreating bandit army.

Ground Rabbit chuckled slyly to himself; the mission was complete! Instructor He had told him to go out for a spin, spew nonsense, and prevent the officials from getting suspicious. Now the task was done, so he could just pat his rear and vanish.

“Then we’re off,” Ground Rabbit said: “We still need to go back and practice martial arts. So busy, so busy.”

He winked at the people behind him, and the group hurriedly made their escape.

They had only slipped away a couple of steps when the deputy inspector yelled out loudly: “Stop! Why are you running? Come lend a hand, help bury the bodies.”

Ground Rabbit replied: “I only take care of killing, not burying.”

The deputy inspector was torn between annoyance and amusement; someone so dismissive was rare. Most common folk cower in fear when seeing officials, but this guy calling himself ‘Mr. Rabbit’ truly wasn’t intimidated: “Cut the nonsense and come help! If the bodies aren’t buried and a plague breaks out, your Gaojia Village will be the first hit.”

This startled Ground Rabbit terribly. Alright, after handling the killing, he’d manage the burying too. Otherwise, if rabbit plague erupted, this Mr. Rabbit might not be able to bear it.

So, the soldiers and civilians worked together, digging pits and interring the bodies, with the group laboring enthusiastically.

Li Daoxuan saw this and knew it was unnecessary to keep watching any longer. In this battle, he hadn’t interfered much at all, merely providing a few rolling logs and helping Cheng Xu fly up to survey the terrain. He hadn’t provided any of his own insane toy weapons again, yet the little people still fought excellently.

It seemed his approach was right; letting them stand on their own and grow stronger was the proper thing for this poop-scooper—ahem—caretaker—to do.

Alright, time to head out and get a set of comic books from my old man.

Oh, before stepping out, I’ll grab the fish tank; it would be useful later.