“The main force of the bandit army is here. So many, so many,” the sentinel of Gaojia Village screamed first.

For villagers who grew up in a small village and never saw the outside world, the sight of a thousand people marching together was overwhelmingly terrifying.

But Li Daoxuan gave only a glance—nothing special. It resembled high school sports day, back when thirty classes lined up neatly for the opening ceremony.

And these mountain bandits’ discipline paled against high schoolers. They marched without formation or unified command, just a chaotic mass scurrying about. Passing the reviewing stand, they shouted no slogans like “Study hard, improve daily.”

Their physical strength clearly couldn’t match modern students either. Amid drought, they’d rarely eaten full meals—gaunt faces showed malnutrition.

Compared to Gaojia villagers, who for half a month enjoyed daily rice, flour, oil, meat, and vegetables, their vitality existed on another plane.

But…

They possessed one thing Gaojia villagers lacked: presence.

They were bandits, raiders. They’d plundered villages, slaughtered innocents, even breached the famed Bai Family Fortress. They had combat experience, confidence, and savagery to cleave a living foe—unflinching when blood sprayed them, remorseless when violating women or boiling infants alive.

These traits amplified battle strength.

Gaojia villagers had none.

Tremors seized the untested villagers as a thousand enemies advanced. Though Thirty-Two and Gao Yiye repeatedly urged, “Fear not! The Deity protects us!” still they shook.

The bandit army halted seventy meters from the walls. A man wielding a guillotine-blade, whose face screamed villain, stepped forward. “I am Supreme Bright King!” he roared. “Cowards of Gaojia! Heard you rely on tall walls? Think you’re safe? I’d have spared your wretched village for ten stones of food. Now you’re doomed! When we breach these walls, not a dog or chicken survives! Screw your ancestors!”

A thousand bandits echoed his oath, shaking the fields.

Villagers: “…”

Thirty-Two began trembling slightly himself. “I… I admit I’m spooked,” he whispered.

Mr. Bai sneered. “Fools. Such threats only steel defenders’ resolve. Bandits remain bandits—can’t grasp psychological warfare. To take this fortress, offer incentives, coax surrender.”

“But terrifying us works!” countered Thirty-Two. “I feel… unnerved.”

“Don’t tremble over trifles,” snapped Mr. Bai.

Thirty-Two protested, “I’m a scholar!”

“I am too!” shouted Mr. Bai. “Useless arguing.” He turned abruptly. “Blacksiths! Strike when I say!”

Li Da and Gao Yiyi boomed, “Understood!”

Mr. Bai barked toward the ramparts, “Bai family men! You fight first!”

A dozen Bai retainers shouted, “Yes!”

Mr. Bai ordered, “Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu! Second wave holds!”

Two sturdy youths chorused, “Yes!”

Mr. Bai roared, “All know your roles?”

Some answered “Know!”

Others stuttered “Kno… w…”

A few murmured, “Think… so…”

A chorus of loud replies rang out; some voices were resolute, while others wavered with hesitation. These hundred able-bodied men tasked with defending the city were unevenly trained and varied in courage. Their disarray wasn’t much better than the chaos of the bandit army outside.

Li Daoxuan, by now, had already placed his small stool, taken his bowl of covered rice in hand, and held a magnifying glass ready. Sitting outside the scenic box, he prepared to watch a grand spectacle of ancient warfare.

The bandit chief outside the walls, the Supreme Bright King, swung his arm wide and bellowed, “Charge!”

His Second Leader, standing beside him, inquired somewhat awkwardly, “Such tall walls! Charge where? There’s no way to scale them!”

The Supreme Bright King roared in anger, “Where are the ladders I told you to prepare?! Once they’re leaned against the wall, we climb up and we win!”

“Oh… right!”

“And the pointed logs?!” The Supreme Bright King snapped, “Smash through that flimsy wooden gate! Break it down, charge in, and we win.”

“Oh… right!”

The Supreme Bright King declared, “Over a thousand against barely a hundred! How can we lose? What are you waiting for? Charge! Just like taking the Bai Family Fortress—one charge and victory is ours.”

He swung his demon-head sword, and with a mighty shout, the horde of bandits waved their chaotic equipment, shouldering improvised battering rams and siege ladders as they surged towards Gaojia Village, yelling fiercely.

This charge terrified the Gaojia villagers even more, sending them huddling together in sharp fear.

Gao Yiye was also frightened. Standing on the wall, her legs trembled, but she remembered the words the Third Lady had once told her: “The more poised and graceful your demeanor, the more others will respect the Deity.” Though afraid, she gritted her teeth, remaining utterly still, forcing herself to appear calm.

Just then, Mr. Bai’s hoarse yell echoed above Gaojia Village: “Two blacksmiths, STRIKE!”

Standing behind the wall and thus shielded from the sight of the yelling, charging bandits, Li Da and Gao Yiyi felt no fear. Their hands, gripping the hammers, didn’t tremble—strength still coursed through them. At Mr. Bai’s command, both swung their massive hammers down with all their might onto the mechanism of the catapult before them.

A heavy thud sounded as hammer met mechanism. The two plastic catapults jerked violently, flinging two large stones into the air.

The stones soared overhead, slicing through the air with a sharp whooshing sound. Gao Chuwu and the others on the wall instinctively looked up, tracking the massive rocks passing above.

Then, a multitude of eyes followed the two stones as they arced beyond the city wall.

Seeing you off, I felt boundless emotion…

BOOM!

The large stones plummeted into the thick of the charging bandits. Bandits directly hit were instantly flattened by the crushing impact. Momentum unforgiving, the stones continued their terrible roll forward, crushing anyone—soldier or devil—in their path, carving two bloody furrows through the massed ranks.

A panicked cry rose from the bandit army:

“Oh my god!”

“Zhang San… Zhang San was pulped right before my eyes! Waaaah!”

“My face… it’s covered in blood!”

“God damn it!”

“What the hell was that?”

“How do flying rocks appear?!”

Instantly, the bandit army erupted into chaos!

Yet, eighteen more catapults remained ready. The two blacksmiths moved to the next pair, swung their heavy hammers with grim determination, and smashed down once more…