Chapter 145: Chapter 146: Marsh Warden
"Go west..." Lui Yao repeated, his face suddenly grim. "This is bad. We can’t let them join forces with Pei Xinyong." If they did, he’d be the one at a disadvantage. "Did they bring horses?"
"No. There wasn’t room on the boat."
’Besides, a horse would never dare tread on an alligator’s back.’
"Quick, get to Desheng Town and put everyone on high alert! Wu Shaoyi took the waterway to get ahead of us, but they can’t travel far without mounts. Within a sixty-li radius, Desheng Town is the only place with horses!"
The Red Falcon took flight, and a subordinate came over to ask Lui Yao, "General, what’s our plan now?"
"What else is there to do? Full speed ahead!" Lui Yao sneered. "We have to drag Pei Xinyong into this fight and cut off his contact with Wu Shaoyi. Hmm, we should have six or seven hundred of our brothers in Desheng Town by now. As long as they’re on alert, we don’t need to fear his paltry two hundred men!"
As a veteran of many campaigns, he was a man of decisive action. The strategy immediately became clear to him: first, join forces with Pei Xinyong to annihilate the government soldiers. At the same time, they had to pin Wu Shaoyi’s group down in Desheng Town and sever all contact between them and Pei Xinyong.
Once the government troops were eliminated, he would have time to strategize with Pei Xinyong at their leisure. Then, they could send men to deal with Wu Shaoyi.
After reaching Langming Cave, the government troops followed their guide onto a branching path that led toward Qianteng Town.
With no sign of pursuers before or behind them, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Hee Chunhua had chosen to go west precisely to buy them time. He’d taken advantage of the window created by Pei Xinyong driving out the ambush at Whistle Rock, using it to lead several hundred soldiers and civilians to Langming Cave and onto this branching path.
This way, they avoided a disastrous head-on collision with the returning Mountain Bandits.
All in all, the first phase of their plan had been a success.
Now, they had to escape to Qianteng Town as quickly as possible.
Zeng Feixiong glanced at Hee Chunhua. ’The Lord Governor has suffered the greatest loss of all,’ he thought. ’The Eldest Young Master was always so cynical and carefree. I never thought he’d die a hero.’
Hee Chunhua’s brow had been furrowed this whole time. He asked the guide, "How much farther to Qianteng Town?"
"Less than fifteen li. The road ahead was repaired just two years ago. It’s flat, straight, wide, and easy to travel."
The words had barely left his mouth when a plume of red smoke erupted in the eastern sky.
It was the signal from a scout on a mountain peak:
Pursuers were coming!
’So fast?’ everyone thought, surprised. ’The mountain road is full of twists and turns. Did the bandits drift around every corner like madmen to catch up this quickly?’
Before Hee Chunhua could even issue a command, another plume of red smoke unexpectedly rose in the western sky.
This meant Pei Xinyong’s forces had also turned back.
When it rains, it pours.
Hee Chunhua wasn’t sure how Pei Xinyong would react upon reaching Langming Cave. Would he press on to engage Lui Yao, or would he turn onto the side path to pursue the government troops?
He couldn’t gamble the lives of his several hundred people on such an uncertainty.
Mozhe Jingxuan leaned in and said in a low voice, "My lord, we’re moving too slowly. If we abandon the baggage, we can increase our speed by at least thirty percent."
The ’baggage,’ of course, referred to the villagers from Xianling Village. How could people on foot keep up with horse-drawn carts? Especially not when they had their families in tow.
The mountain path was narrow. With the civilians taking up half the road, the soldiers’ pace was naturally dragged down.
They were only fifteen li from Qianteng Town now—a deadly fifteen li! Every single step closer was a victory.
Hee Yue’s eyes were still red from grief, but he countered, "The path is narrow, and we’re all mixed together. If we try to abandon the villagers, they’ll just cry out and block our way. It would probably slow the convoy down even more."
Hee Chunhua remained silent. He summoned two Mages. "Has the ritual not succeeded yet?"
"It won’t succeed." One of them, sweating profusely, was clutching Hee Chunhua’s Society Command. "Th-there’s no reaction." For a while now, a faint but palpable aura of menace had been radiating from the Lord Governor, putting immense pressure on anyone who faced him.
Zeng Feixiong immediately dispatched another thirty men to the rear of the column as reinforcements.
Combined with the twenty riders already there, these fifty men would form the first line of defense should the Mountain Bandits attack.
Hee Yue, who had been scanning their surroundings, suddenly pointed to the side of the road. "We’re at the dawn redwood grove! Look how huge they are!"
Everyone looked up. Sure enough, to the right of the mountain path was a small grove of dawn redwoods. The trees varied in size; the thinnest were as thick as a bowl, while the largest would take ten people to encircle with their arms. That one stood at a staggering height of over fifteen zhang!
Their arrow-straight trunks made for a spectacular sight.
Hee Yue pointed to the tallest one. "Is that the Grandfather Tree?" he asked the guide.
The guide shook his head. "Not that one. The Grandfather Tree is much taller, and it’s not here. It’s by the lake near Desheng Town."
The locals called the oldest, most ancient tree in the area the Grandfather Tree.
Hee Yue turned to Hee Chunhua, his expression serious. "Father, since that being won’t help us, let’s have these dawn redwoods defend us instead!"
"The dawn redwoods?" Hee Chunhua’s expression flickered. He glanced at the grove, and the deep furrow in his brow eased slightly. "An excellent idea!"
The Lord Governor immediately issued his command: "Fell the trees! Block the road!"
Most of the fleeing villagers had brought more than just their valuables; the men had also grabbed weapons. After all, you need weapons to protect both life and property. Many had brought the same axes they used for chopping firewood, now intended for self-defense.
Many of the soldiers also used axes as their primary weapon.
At the Lord Governor’s command, soldiers and civilians alike threw themselves into the frenzied task of felling trees.
Furthermore, Hee Chunhua instructed them to focus on the largest trees—the bigger the diameter, the better.
Everyone knew their lives were hanging by a thread, so no one held back. They all put their backs into it, chopping with every ounce of strength they had.
Before long, three large trees, their golden-red canopies trembling, crashed to the ground one after another with a great groan.
They had chopped with care, making each one fall perfectly across the center of the road.
With these massive logs blocking the way, the pursuers’ horses would be unable to pass. Their only option would be to move them by hand.
This thought spurred everyone to work even harder.
As they started on the fourth great tree, a sudden gale ripped through the forest, so fierce it forced everyone to shut their eyes.
The wind howled like an angry roar, echoing in every person’s ears:
"Insolence! An outsider official dares to harm my children!"
The dawn redwood closest to Hee Chunhua began to shake violently, its canopy drooping unnaturally. Cracks spread across the surface of its trunk, bulging outward. From a distance, it resembled a human face, though the features were indistinct—a purely impressionistic work of nature.
And yet, everyone could feel its gaze upon them. Hee Chunhua, in particular, bore the full brunt of it, forced to face the entity’s undiluted fury.
But he remained unnaturally calm, even brushing a fallen leaf from his shoulder before he spoke. "So you are the local Marsh Warden? I performed the rites of summoning several times to no avail. I was left with no choice but to resort to such crude methods."
In truth, this tree was not the Marsh Warden’s true form; it was merely a vessel for its voice.
The true Marsh Warden was still rooted on the outskirts of Desheng Town.
The dawn redwood was blunt. "You are not the magistrate of this land. I have no obligation to answer your call!"
As the Land God of this mountain range, it was rarely sought out. Even the local officials hadn’t summoned it for a very long time.
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