Chapter 29

The body lay in a pool of blood that had congealed into an eternal hue under the slanting sunlight, but at least we had survived. After the leader of the cavalry was knocked off his horse by an old vinegar jar, these enemies who had attacked us for no apparent reason suddenly and inexplicably retreated.

The price of survival for us, these wandering souls, was the death of many people. In the struggle between life and death, many people exhibited extreme behaviors, such as hysteria or panic.

Thus, those who panicked died the fastest, those who fled in battle came next, the rash and the timid died, the careless died, and those with bad luck died without a doubt.

Those who managed to hold on until the end were, surprisingly, those who were usually more moderate and stable in temperament, knew how to cooperate, and had a bit of luck.

Out of the five or six hundred patrol guards, fewer than a hundred survived, a truly tragic outcome. But it was somewhat ironic that most of the survivors were former rebels.

We dispatched scouts, cleaned up the scene, sorted through the armor and weapons, bandaged the wounded, made makeshift carts, and recovered some of the discarded supplies that were still usable. We boiled several large pots of soup and meat, warming our empty stomachs, and finally regained some energy and strength.

Amidst the suppressed groans.

As one of the few surviving leaders, Deng Fang was now the undisputed leader. He was silently playing with a long spear, a war trophy in his hand.

"We still have forty-seven horses and twenty-six mules available..."

"Various rations, dried meat, pickled vegetables, and alcohol should last the remaining people for about half a month..."

"There are eleven intact wagons, which can be used as long as they are hitched to the horses and mules. The twenty or so injured can ride in them..."

"Those who can still wield weapons and fight, including you and me, number eighty-seven... The recovered armor and weapons are more than enough."

"Each person can have a set of armor or a leather suit, a spear, a knife, and three javelins, with some left over. We have over twenty shields and sixteen bows..."

"Things are a bit more reassuring now..."

He sighed, gestured for me to sit down, and handed me a roasted sweet potato. Although it was only as big as a child's fist due to poor quality, it was warm and quite delicious when I bit into it.

"When did the leader tell you...?"

"Tell me what?"

Deng Fang was taken aback.

"Tell you that we have... Don't you know?"

I was also taken aback.

"About the supervisor being treated as a distinguished guest on the mountain..."

"Is that so..."

He sighed heavily.

"The mountain has gathered us scattered defectors again, which is clearly not a good sign."

"I had hoped to reunite with the brothers under the leader's command..."

"It seems that the day of our reunion will be the day we die without a proper burial..."

"It seems that those on the mountain are determined to use our anniversary next year to win back the favor of that eunuch."

I shook my head, and many of the confusing doubts and fragments suddenly became clear. I feared that even Luo Ke, who had been close to me, had become a pawn in someone else's game.

"It seems that the mountain not only wants our lives but also the opportunity for the government army to legitimize us."

I muttered to myself.

So, when we offered the dead eunuch and the small group of government soldiers he represented as a token of our loyalty to Liangshan, it was only a matter of time before some people on Liangshan would offer us in return as a condition for negotiating with the government army.

This was a rather ironic situation.

"If that's the case..."

I said softly.

"The water camp's boats probably won't return."

"What?"

Another leader who had just walked over was shocked.

This news immediately shattered the侥幸心理 of those who still harbored hope. Their rations fell to the ground, and the movements of those bandaging their wounds froze.

Then it turned into a chaotic argument. Some were terrified, some desperately wanted to return to the mountain, and others hoped to rest and observe for a couple of days before moving on.

"Has everyone's resolve already crumbled?"

I sighed as I watched them argue heatedly.

In recent days, Liangshan had subtly influenced many people, making them reluctant to easily give up their newly acquired identity and recognition.

"We will return by land..."

Deng Fang finally said firmly.

"We will observe further."

The truth was harsh, and the deliberately ignored reality was only postponed for a while before it had to be faced again.

"We can't go back."

Many people, facing the direction of Liangshan, burst into tears or fell to their knees, their limbs weak.

In the vast burned reed marshes, smoke from the smoldering remains and lingering fires rose in the gray-black background, curling upward.

The burned water fort and ferry, along with the charred debris and floating bodies in the river, frequently came into our view.

...

A few days ago, the Hall of Heroes, once filled with high-ranking guests and visitors, had turned into a blood-soaked battlefield. The brief and fierce encounter had already determined the outcome.

In front of the screen depicting loyalty, filial piety, integrity, and righteousness, a head rolled to the feet of the white-haired leader, clearly the dead eunuch Ye Mengyan.

In just one night, his hair had turned completely white, his spirit was withered, and his aura diminished. In a short moment, two of the nine seats of Liangshan's leaders were empty.

The most likely successor, the second leader Chen Ju, had become an unrecognizable mass of flesh, and Zhu Taigong, the chief financial officer responsible for the mountain's finances, had died stiffly on the table, spitting out blood.

It seemed that in the blink of an eye, two of the five core members of the Great Heavenly Lord's inner circle were gone.

Amidst the heavy breathing and flickering torches, the Great Leader kicked Ye Mengyan's head with his toe and sighed.

"Why did it have to come to this..."

Standing before him were the most radical military leaders of Liangshan's younger generation. They stared at the Great Leader with a mix of tension and indignation, but no one spoke.

"Never mind..."

Lu Tianjun shook his head.

"Come out, this kind of plan couldn't have been devised by you alone..."

"Where is your Green Forest Team? Have they not returned from their mission to ambush and kill yet?"

The military advisor Feng Junzi, who always carried a fan even in the cold, stepped out from the back of the crowd and said calmly.

"Is this really your plan?"

Lu Tianjun's face twitched as he looked at his longtime partner, feeling a mix of emotions and nostalgia.

"When did you switch sides?"

Qu Lianrong, the chief instructor of the central army, stood silently by Feng Junzi's side, not even glancing at Lu Tianjun.

"Or were you always working together from the beginning?"

As one of Lu Tianjun's trump cards, without the cover and protection provided by this unassuming chief instructor, it would have been much harder for the military advisor Feng Junzi to coordinate and collude with the radicals, leading to the current situation.

"This isn't about scheming,"

Feng Junzi continued, fanning himself.

"I just couldn't stand to see you sacrifice the new brothers to curry favor with those government dogs."

"But..."

Lu Tianjun smiled wryly.

"Didn't you let it happen anyway?"

"If not, how could we have easily replaced the troublesome ones around you?"

"Thanks to this good brother for giving you the heads-up."

A figure stepped out from beside the military advisor, revealing the pale-faced Jiang An.

"Great Feng Junzi, who are these people now?"

"Because I can offer them what you can't. You are old, too old to lead us anymore."

"Most of the people in the old camp are now on our side."

"Lu Tianjun, are you going to resist to the bitter end and cause more casualties?"

Amidst the rising voices and fierce accusations.

Lu Tianjun said nothing, just staring intently at Tu Yao Zheng Maichen in the crowd, making the former confidant take a half-step back.

Then he subtly glanced at Ji Gongsun, who had once been his trusted ally, standing among the rebels with a calm expression. He wondered if this was his support and confidence.

"Wanting to establish your own faction isn't a big deal, with the capital Liangshan has accumulated over the years,"

Ruan Qi, known as Jin Yao, stepped forward to block his view and argued earnestly.

"But you mustn't negotiate with those government dogs. Haven't enough of our people died at their hands over the years?"

"Without amnesty, what else can we do? Let our descendants bear the stigma of being bandits and fight for others?"

Beside the Great Leader, Bai Lang Xiao Yin, with a severed arm and covered in blood, shouted in agitation.

"Stigma, do you think we all want to be bandits? It's this cursed world and the corrupt government that have forced us to become bandits."

Ruan Qi also roared in anger.

"Without being bandits, most of us would be bones lying on the roadside."

The white-bearded old leader, Song Changsheng, the head of the first battalion of the old camp and one of the founding members, clearly had deep feelings and a sense of belonging to Liangshan.

"Using the lives of tens of thousands of people inside and outside the mountain to exchange for the future of a few is a good deal, isn't it?"

This statement caused the two sides to argue again, with angry shouts.

"Ridiculous, what kind of heartless people are these?"

"Those who died here, weren't they your elders?"

"Whether it's a good deal or not, can the government army really accept tens of thousands of people without any reservations?"

This hit a nerve, and the people around Lu Tianjun fell silent, even his personal guards looked at their leader furtively.

"The government army is heavily damaged now. Feigning negotiations for amnesty and gaining the authority to govern the region is our best chance to shed our old names and establish a foothold."

Lu Tianjun smiled bitterly, the wound on his face like a gaping mouth, bleeding profusely, staining his shoulder and back red.

"Unfortunately, you can't understand my dilemma."

As he sighed, arrows suddenly rained down from the beams, causing the crowd, who were holding short weapons for close combat, to fall in disarray. A group of archers, clearly Lu Tianjun's last trump card, stood in the shadows on the beams.

Feng Junzi, sweating coldly, watched as the blood arrow pierced through the neck of Zheng Maichen, shouting for more people to rush in and protect him.

They raised tables and chairs, braving the arrows, and charged forward, throwing whatever they could find. Although most of the throws were inaccurate, some hit the people on the beams, causing them to fall and be hacked to pieces.

The wall behind the screen suddenly collapsed, revealing a larger space, and a group of well-armed guards poured out, surrounding Lu Tianjun and his men.

With the archers firing arrows, the rebels, losing their advantage, clashed with the reinforcements from the inner chambers. As more and more rebels poured into the Hall of Heroes, they gradually gained the upper hand.

Feng Junzi, who had retreated outside the hall, hadn't even had time to catch his breath.

"Rescue the leader, kill the rebels!"

The shouts of the rescuers drowned out the sounds outside, and the cries of the wounded and the flickering torches became chaotic and dim.

Lu Tianjun, under the protection of his last loyal guards, retreated to the terrace of the two-story Hall of Heroes, built on the mountain.

He saw the new arrivals, including the woman in a bright red cloak, Lu Linglong, and the chief of the Liangshan artillery, Liu Qi, the cavalry and infantry commander, and the construction director, Shi Heng, who was supposedly recovering from an illness. He immediately understood everything.

This great leader, who had been through countless battles and had a heart of stone, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No matter how much he cherished and loved, women were ultimately unreliable.

"..."

Feng Junzi looked at the one-sided battle outside the hall and the increasingly grim expression of the Great Leader on the terrace, suddenly realizing the situation. He laughed bitterly.

"Like a mantis catching a cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Well, very well."

After the faction represented by Ji Gongsun, the faction represented by Lu Linglong, who had been waiting in the wings, also stepped forward, aiming to replace a more obedient proxy.

So, two of the three major factions in the East Sea had already broken the tacit agreement and intervened in Liangshan's affairs. Before he could think more about it,

Liangshan's only artillery unit began to unleash its power. With the arms waving in unison behind the shield wall and the grenades flying over the heads of the crowd,

The smoke and dust and debris from the explosions tore through the ranks of the old camp's elite soldiers, causing them to scatter in a bloody and chaotic retreat.

As the page turns, the AD begins.

As the page turns, the AD ends.