Chapter 273: Come Down and Fight

Liang Shixian was completely stunned.The Clerk standing beside him was equally stunned.

The two did not know how long they had been stunned; when they came back to their senses, they saw that people outside had already confiscated the weapons and armor of the several hundred terrified rebels, stripping them bare.

Someone was controlling the scene, but who was controlling it?

Clearly, he himself as the county magistrate had not given a single order, so why were things now so orderly, with everyone doing their own tasks?

After seeing such a gigantic divine hand, why hadn’t the entire county fallen into chaos?

Shouldn’t everyone be stunned, crowding together, stampeding, fleeing, spinning around in confusion like ants on a hot pan?

Liang Shixian’s mind was in turmoil, and he desperately rallied himself: No, I must think carefully…

Liang Shixian, knowledgeable in many matters, immediately activated an emergency repair mode for traumatic stress response; the white clouds of his homeland, his old mother’s gentle whispers, the old ox in the countryside, the soft sunset, the cool evening breeze… all sorts of soothing images flickered through his mind like a revolving lantern. Then, with a “ding,” it settled on a warm rural landscape scene.

Gazing at this scene, he felt his mind grow calm, and his chaotic thoughts gradually cleared.

“No wonder I’d always sensed something amiss. That small area of the Li Family had rainfall, endless grain, plenty of weapons, and never lost against multiple bandit invasions… So, the Li Family’s household deity truly existed—he had been casting spells to protect the land of Gaojia Village all along.”

Liang Shixian muttered: “So that was it… so that was it!”

The Clerk was rushing with pride: “County Lord, that Elementary Math you brought back for me to learn last time was actually a sacred text! I told you it was incredibly powerful; after mastering it, my accounting speed doubled.”

The two had just spoken thus…

When a furious roar rang out from outside the city; Fang Wushang leaped onto his horse, lance at the ready, charging straight toward where the giant hand had slammed down. He and his horse halted at the center of the enormous palm print, and he tilted his head up to shout at the low cloud in the sky: “What monster dares to invade my Chengcheng? Come down, and this general will fight you to the death!”

Everyone stood silent…

Liang Shixian drew a sharp breath: “Has this guy not read Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale?”

The Clerk felt awkward: “I heard General Fang dislikes reading books.”

Liang Shixian pressed: “Not even comic books?”

The Clerk stammered: “This…”

Liang Shixian covered his face: “Even if he doesn’t know the name of Dao Xuan Deity, after seeing such a huge hand, why would he dare to challenge it?”

The Clerk broke out in cold sweat: “I have no idea.”

Fang Wushang was actually terrified; that earlier slap hadn’t just scared the rebels out of their wits—it had shocked him senseless too.

He had no knowledge of Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale, nor that the county folks had recently spread tales of some Dao Xuan Deity; he was a classic failure from compulsory education.

Upon suddenly seeing a giant hand descend, Fang Wushang was genuinely scared out of his wits.

But once he regained his senses, his duty to protect the land surged from within; after all, he was a patrol officer.

As a patrol officer, he was supposed to ensure no villains plagued the whole county; no matter how strong that villain was, a patrol officer had to confront it.

If all 108 bandits from Liang Mountain Marsh occupied Chengcheng County as warlords, he, Fang Wushang, would still charge to confront them, battling from the Earthly Fiend Stars to the Heavenly Chief Stars, until he subdued and captured all 108 to cease.

Now that a massive monster had appeared in the county, he had to step up as patrol officer.

It wasn’t about whether he could win; it was his responsibility, an unavoidable fight.

Fang Wushang raised his head and bellowed: “Monster, come down…”

Li Daoxuan watched him with great interest, looking down. That guy!

Alright, I’ll play with him for fun.

He extended one finger and slowly poked it toward Fang Wushang.

Fang Wushang saw the huge golden hand coming again, and his heart tightened. He waved his spear: “Yah yah yah!”

With a fierce thrust, he stabbed at the tip of Li Daoxuan’s finger.

The Infinity Gloves were made of alloy, several millimeters thick. In reality, it was about a meter thick in scale. With such thick alloy plate, even if Fang Wushang was wielding a spear, even if he had a rocket launcher, he couldn’t breach it.

His spear thrust upward and only produced a “ding” sound.

Fang Wushang felt his helplessness, but he couldn’t admit defeat. He waved his spear again and poked at Li Daoxuan’s finger…

Just then, a person leapt up nearby, kicked in mid-air, sending Fang Wushang flying off his horse. Then that person flashed and pinned Fang Wushang to the ground, locking his hands and feet, rendering him unable to move.

The immobilizing technique from the Ghost God Fist Technique was incredibly effective.

The newcomer was Cheng Xu: “Patrol Officer Fang, stop acting crazy. If it weren’t for the Deity having a good temper and teasing you, one finger press would have crushed you dead just now.”

Fang Wushang: “Deity? You know that demon?”

“That’s not a demon, that’s a deity,” Cheng Xu retorted angrily. “Fortunately, it’s a deity who allows a mortal like you to be disrespectful. If it were a real demon, you would’ve been killed long ago.”

This remark jolted Fang Wushang awake!

Exactly!

His body instantly relaxed.

Since he wasn’t struggling, Cheng Xu stopped restraining him and loosened his hold.

Fang Wushang got up confusedly and gazed up at the strange low cloud in the sky: “This… which deity is this?”

A devotee ran over and shoved a comic book into his hand.

Fang Wushang flipped through the pages blankly. As he flipped, sweat poured down: “Oh, I see… Ah? I see?”

Cheng Xu put his hands on his hips.

There was no reasoning to be done with that senseless fellow. Ignore him for now.

Cheng Xu turned to tend to the militia.

In this recent battle, the Gaojia Village Militia had gained a huge wave of experience. However, unlike before, there were casualties this time. Even with the Deity secretly helping from above, several dozen militiamen were injured, all with “bullet wounds” and “arrow wounds”.

Every militia soldier had a small medical kit containing disinfectant and Yunnan Baiyao that Li Daoxuan had distributed to them in advance.

The wounded soldiers were treating their own injuries.

The uninjured soldiers were gathering loot and overseeing prisoners.

The enemy had a total of eight hundred border army soldiers in this battle. Over a hundred were killed or wounded in combat, and Captain Wolf was eliminated by Cheng Xu and Fang Wushang. The remaining more than six hundred bandit soldiers were unhurt, but their morale had collapsed entirely, and they were scared out of their wits. Now, stripped of all equipment, they were trembling and didn’t know where to go.