After a while, Li Daoxuan finally understood why the sentinel was so panicked and why Thirty-Two had ordered all villagers to take weapons up the walls.

It turned out the sentinel witnessed a terrifying scene.

A large crowd was Dragging Children Along as they fled, wailing for their parents. Behind them, a massive bandit army chased them, wildly swinging blades and indiscriminately hacking at those in front.

Occasionally, someone would fall behind only to be struck down by pursuing bandits, their blood spraying far into the distance.

Those in front ran even more frantically upon seeing this, while those behind, after shedding blood, grew more vicious and deranged, chasing and slashing while emitting maniacal laughter.

Who wouldn’t panic seeing this?

If Gaojia Village’s villagers hadn’t had protective walls and a Deity hovering overhead, witnessing this scene would likely have terrified them into wetting themselves, already thinking of escape.

“To the walls! Fast, fast, everyone up the walls!”

“Bows! I have a bow, picked it off bandits last time!”

“I have a rusty knife.”

“Bring everything, even bamboo poles!”

The villagers scrambled up the walls clutching various pieces of chaotic equipment.

The blacksmithery’s Li Da and Gao Yiyi actually unearthed two sets of two-panel armor from a corner, hastily donning them. Gripping their big hammers, they instantly became the best-equipped warriors in Gaojia Village.

Both men were robust, and standing armored atop the wall, giant hammers resting on their shoulders, they had an immediate stabilizing effect like pillars of a tranquil sea. Numerous weaker villagers clustered around them.

Two others, though unarmored, were imposing figures – Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu. Each held an axe, and dozens of villagers gathered near them too.

Just as they finished taking their defensive positions, the outsiders entered Li Daoxuan’s “field of vision.”

Leading the flight wasn’t common citizens, but a wealthy family using a carriage. However, struggling violently without a proper road, it bounced violently, barely outpacing those fleeing on foot.

The carriage reached the gate first. The driver wasn’t a coachman but a middle-aged man in a cyan robe, evidently of some status. He craned his neck and yelled upwards, “What town is this? Please open the gates! Let us take refuge! Bandits kill behind us! Their vicious…”

Before he could finish, Thirty-Two exclaimed, “Huh? Isn’t this Mr. Bai?”

The man looked up, “Ah! Third Lady! Have I reached Chengcheng County? Impossible! The county seat should be distant yet?”

Thirty-Two shouted, “Open the gates quickly! Let Mr. Bai and his family in!”

Villagers frantically cranked the wooden wheel. Fishing lines pulled the wooden gates apart slowly. Mr. Bai urgently flicked the reins, driving the carriage to rush inside.

“Can we close the gates now?” yelled the villager operating the gates.

Thirty-Two glanced outside. Mr. Bai’s carriage had created significant distance from those still fleeing on foot behind him. Shutting the gates behind the carriage was easy and timely. But those escaping on foot remained perilously close to the pursuing bandits – practically on their heels.

Letting these people in would also risk the bandits charging through and slaughtering their way in… the consequences would be…

In that split second, sweat poured down him.

Should he prioritize self-preservation and order the immediate closure?

Or risk the entire village to save more lives?

Thirty-Two was not a war general. Facing such a crisis, he couldn’t calm down to judge rationally, completely overwhelmed by panic.

Luckily, Li Daoxuan didn’t give him the chance to decide!

Human nature cannot be withstood.

Li Daoxuan had no desire to push a man who wasn’t bad into becoming a villain over such matters. Since he had the power to solve it, there was no need to test human nature.

He puffed his cheeks and blew forcefully toward the yellow sand outside the village.

A swirling tempest of sand surged through the air, enveloping those behind them and the bandits alike.

The bandits needed to see their targets to give chase with swords, but the fleeing people did not. They merely had to run straight ahead into the wind.

Within mere seconds, the escapees burst through the yellow sandstorm, putting distance between themselves and the bandits.

Once they had gained some separation, Li Daoxuan could easily swat the bandits like flies or flick their foreheads as if popping melon seeds…

He raised his hand, then paused thoughtfully before lowering it.

He could crush them anytime—there was no rush to act immediately. Besides, indulging incompetence wasn’t wise. The villagers needed experience handling such threats themselves. Otherwise, if he weren’t around someday, not a single person in the whole village would have combat experience. They’d be helpless amid tragedy, even with strong walls to guard them, easily overrun and slaughtered without mercy.

Activating his Deity’s Cold Gaze upon the Mortal World mode, he decided to observe how Gaojia Village would handle the situation now.

Taking advantage of the sandstorm widening the gap, Thirty-Two no longer had to test anyone’s limits and yelled, “Once everyone is inside, shut the gate!”

He hadn’t even finished shouting when Mr. Bai appeared atop the wall. His carriage had barely entered the fort when he leapt off and scrambled up to join Thirty-Two, commanding without ceremony, “Anyone holding bows—shoot randomly toward the bandits! Scare them off!”

An outsider charging onto the wall to give orders was certainly audacious, yet strangely, no villager questioned it. Someone had taken charge, so they listened. They nocked arrows drawn from bandits during the last raid and fired a sprinkling of feeble shots outward.

Not a single arrow struck its mark, but their purpose was served—intimidation. The bandits collectively halted outside archery range and stared upward, whispering among themselves at the massive fortification before them.

Seizing the respite, those fleeing poured through the gate. Villagers swiftly wound the winch, with others pitching in to shove. With a thunderous groan, it slammed shut.

It was only then that Mr. Bai exhaled in relief. “Thankfully, I studied all Six Arts of Gentlemen thoroughly, particularly ‘charioteering.’ Driving the carriage myself all the way here saved our necks. And to think you’d be here… had you not been, I’d have perished.”

Thirty-Two looked bewildered. “Mr. Bai, what exactly happened?”

A sigh escaped the scholar. “Bai Family Fortress has fallen to the bandits.”

Thirty-Two’s jaw slackened.

Bai Family Fortress—that was their ancestral stronghold.

The Bai family weren’t among the most illustrious gentry, just a lesser lineage. Their ancestors had produced a magistrate and a county magistrate, yet no one in the current generation held any office.

Still, in Chengcheng County, they flourished through generations of accrued wealth. They possessed a sturdy fortress manned by dozens of guards, employed over a hundred tenant farmers, and funded local militia to defend nearby villagers against bandits—a force never to be dismissed.

Small roving gangs of bandits had always steered clear of Bai Family Fortress.

That they had breached its walls… Thirty-Two was stunned. What kind of unholy bandits could do that?

Mr. Bai pointed a despairing finger at the enemies now muttering beneath the walls. “Those dozen or so pursuers are but a fraction. Hundreds more gather behind them. My fortress resisted for barely two hours before crumbling. The militia shattered; guards slaughtered; only this pitiful company escaped…”