Chapter 54: The Bloodied God of War

Gou Bai, known to all as Chief Gou, was a man of formidable martial prowess. He had established the Black Cloud Fortress, proclaimed himself king of the mountains, and plagued Pei County for many years.

At this very moment, however, his headless corpse lay upon a horse-drawn carriage, blood staining the entire vehicle crimson!

The surrounding bandit soldiers were struck as if by lightning; not a single one dared to step forward to avenge their chieftain.

Having succeeded in a single strike to take the head of Chief Gou, Liang Xiao slaughtered several personal guards along the way, temporarily escaping the range of the bandits' archers. He reined in his horse in the distance, raised his Night-Startling Spear high, and shouted with a voice like booming thunder:

"The supreme leader of the Black Cloud Fortress is dead! The arch-criminal has met his divine retribution! Those who surrender now shall be spared!"

The surrounding bandit soldiers, snapping back to the chilling reality of Chief Gou's demise, heard Liang Xiao's warning and were seized by terror and bewilderment, not knowing what to do.

They possessed an army of thousands—were they expected to surrender to a single man?

Liang Xiao, mounted and alone, remained near the edge of the forest, watching the condition of the Black Cloud Fortress army with cold eyes without immediately returning to his own ranks.

The vanguard of the Black Cloud Fortress had not yet realized that Chief Gou was dead.

Though the chieftain had been executed, other leaders and commanders were still directing their subordinates to attack the Pei County forces, leaving him no time to rest...

"The Chief has been killed!"

Not until the rear soldiers fell into chaos did the center of the Black Cloud Fortress army turn back to look toward the command canopy.

Sure enough, beneath the canopy lay the headless corpse of Chief Gou...

"The Chief has been killed!!"

The rear of the Black Cloud Fortress army descended into utter turmoil.

Zhuo Zifang commanded with steady composure. From afar, seeing the chaos in the enemy's rear, his tightly furrowed brow finally relaxed.

"Cao Chen, notify the entire army: The magistrate himself has ridden forth and slain the chieftain of the Black Cloud Fortress! Now is the time to press the advantage and pursue the victory!"

Cao Chen had been resting near Zhuo Zifang while serving as a guard. Hearing this, he was both startled and overjoyed, and immediately dashed off to relay the order.

"The chieftain of the Black Cloud Fortress, Gou Bai, has been slain by the magistrate?!"

The soldiers of Pei County had been locked in a bitter struggle against enemy forces several times their own size, but upon hearing this news, every single one of them was revitalized!

Regardless of whether the report was true, they could already see that the bandits' assaults were growing weaker—something had undoubtedly happened in the rear!

"To achieve glory and establish our careers, the time is now!"

The soldiers of Pei County on the battlefield shouted in unison, having already fully committed themselves to the fierce battle.

The original hundred men assigned as reserves had also picked up bandit equipment on the battlefield and joined the fray, engaging the enemy in a blazing clash.

Though the defending garrison of Pei County was at an absolute numerical disadvantage, they had been meticulously selected by Liang Xiao and possessed extraordinary stamina.

Coupled with the fact that Liang Xiao had led them to wait at ease for the fatigued enemy, striking by surprise, and had even decapitated Chief Gou so that no effective counter-offensive could be organized, the outcome was inevitable.

Three thousand one hundred men, at the cost of barely a hundred casualties, had miraculously withstood the tidal wave of the bandits' assault and turned defense into offense!

The bandits, who had been exhausted from rushing into battle, now began a cascading retreat due to the rear turmoil and lack of support!

In the rear of the Black Cloud Fortress, a one-eyed commander realized that Chief Gou had been ambushed and slain. Gripped by fury and panic, he roared with a harsh voice.

"Our numbers are fourfold those of the enemy! Charge them down!!"

The surrounding bandit soldiers, failing to quickly grasp the battlefield situation and infected by his frenzy, pressed forward once more.

In the distance, Liang Xiao locked his gaze upon the man who had shouted. His eyes turned ice-cold, and he spurred his horse forward, charging straight toward the commander.

"That god of death is coming again!!"

The bandit soldiers along the way saw the corpses left in the wake of Liang Xiao's path and, their courage utterly shattered, did not dare to offer resistance, scrambling out of his way.

The commander turned his head in shock, only to see a streak of white robes stained with blood flash before him. The Night-Startling Spear swept horizontally with the might of a thunderbolt—

It was a speed and power he had never witnessed in his entire life!

"Crack!"

Amidst the terrified gazes of the surrounding bandits, the one-eyed commander was parted from his head. His skull was hoisted up by the tip of Liang Xiao's spear and casually tossed into a hemp sack, joining the head of Chief Gou to be reunited with his brother in death.

"The Second Chief has been slain as well!!"

The bandit soldiers in the rear cried out in shock, finally alerting the entire army.

"Both the First Chief and the Second Chief have been slain? How is that possible?"

The Black Cloud Fortress troops currently engaged in the thick of battle turned their heads in horror, completely at a loss.

Things had been going fine—how on earth had both chieftains ended up dead?

On the other side of the battlefield, the Pei County soldiers finally caught the faint echoes of the bandits' cries from afar, filled with a mixture of shock and joy.

"Both the First and Second Chiefs of the Black Cloud Fortress have been slain by our magistrate!"

The soldiers, who had just begun to show signs of fatigue, regained their vigor and launched a ferocious counter-attack.

The vanguard of the Black Cloud Fortress fell one after another, while the center and rear armies descended into absolute chaos.

In the rear of the battlefield, Liang Xiao still did not return to his battle formation. Instead, he locked onto the various bandit commanders and captains who were still barking orders from afar.

While the center of the battlefield raged with ceaseless combat, Liang Xiao galloped unhindered through the rear, systematically cutting down enemy commanders of captain rank.

A quarter of an hour later, the entire rear army of the Black Cloud Fortress was left without a leader!

Those bandits who feared Liang Xiao's martial might fled in droves toward the vanguard, hoping to escape the slaughter of that distant god of death by huddling together in collective defense.

They had already discovered that any soldier attempting to flee toward the rear was intercepted by him and robbed of their life with a single thrust of his spear...

While the center and rear of the Black Cloud Fortress were plagued by panic, the vanguard's front lines collapsed one after another under the fierce assault of the Pei County forces.

"The enemy leaders have all been beheaded by the magistrate! Our army has achieved a complete victory! Pursue the fleeing enemy!"

At Zhuo Zifang's command, everyone fought with desperate valor, their eyes reddened with bloodlust.

Thanks to the magistrate's calm and steady command, they had persevered until they turned defeat into victory, and he had thoroughly won the trust of the soldiers.

Following Liang Xiao's successive successful beheadings, the soldiers launched a full-scale counter-offensive, and the Black Cloud Fortress army finally crumbled, collapsing into a rout!

The Pei County army shifted from a bitter, desperate defense to a one-sided massacre and pursuit of the bandits.

The raiders, who had previously marched menacingly toward Pei County, scattered and fled in all directions, cursing their parents for not giving them extra legs.

"Unbelievable..."

The garrison forces upon the distant city walls watched as the battlefield situation reversed and the bandits suffered a massive rout, filled with a wondrous sense of joy.

Those brave warriors had only signed up for military service a few days ago, yet facing an enemy several times their own number, they had actually...

"Are our forces... going to win?"

Everyone rubbed their eyes and pinched their calves hard, feeling a sharp sting of pain.

This was no dream!

The enemy forces had already broken and fled!

Amidst their joyous surprise, the people on the city walls could not help but sigh with deep regret.

If only they had summoned the courage to sign up back then and gone outside the city to fight... they truly would have had a chance to achieve glory and carve out a career!

It was all too late now...

Now they could only stand upon the city walls and watch helplessly as the departing warriors pressed their victory, their eyes turning green with envy!

More than three thousand brave souls, most of whom had never received professional training, had managed to forge such a miraculous military record.

One could easily imagine what terrifying and awe-inspiring elite force they would become under the brilliant leadership of this magistrate, securing both fame and fortune!

"We've lost! We've been defeated!"

"The Chief is dead! The Second Chief is dead too!"

"The captains are all dead!!"

In the rear of the battlefield, the Black Cloud Fortress bandits were in complete turmoil, trampling over one another in countless numbers.

With no one left to command how to fight, they could no longer even manage a semblance of an orderly retreat while fighting!

"Lay down your weapons and strip off your armor! Surrender and your lives will be spared!"

The soldiers of Pei County shouted in unison. Driven to utter despair, the bandit soldiers along the way cast down their weapons and fell to their knees to beg for mercy.

Yet in the rear of the Black Cloud Fortress army, quite a few soldiers still clung to a sliver of hope, turning around to bolt in full flight—only to freeze in their tracks the instant they turned, struck with overwhelming terror.

In the distance, the blood-soaked god of death, spear in hand and horse reined high, stood squarely blocking their path of retreat. In his left hand, he held aloft the head of Chief Gou, radiating majestic and intimidating splendor!

"Those who surrender shall live!"

"Those who do not—shall be granted an early rebirth!"