Chapter 504: Grinding the Disobedient into Mincemeat

Li Daoxuan chose Yongji Ferry Dock as the place to confiscate the weapons of this group; there was naturally a reason for this.This reason was also simple: Yongji Ferry Dock was already within his reach.

From Gaojia Village to Longmen Ferry, the straight-line distance was sixty-five kilometers, while to Yongji Ferry Dock, it was only fifty-seven kilometers.

While Li Daoxuan was setting up the Huanghe Bridge at Longmen Ferry, Yongji Ferry Dock had long been in view and he could directly reach it with his hand; however, his operations were stretched too thin and he was a bit overwhelmed at the moment, so he had not yet intervened at Yongji ancient ferry dock.

The small followers also did not know this yet.

But now was the time for them to know.

As soon as he spoke, his own small followers gained courage and slowly advanced toward Yongji Ferry Dock with those five thousand worthless thieves.

To prevent this group from disturbing the common people, Xing Honglang deliberately said they were “avoiding officials” and led them through deserted areas. Along the way, they did not let this group harass a single innocent person.

As they walked on and on, they eventually saw Yongji Ferry Dock ahead.

The puppet deity let out a chuckle: “There’s no need to coax these people anymore; everyone can be more arrogant now.”

Several of his own small followers felt pride rushing inside.

At that moment, Chui Shan Hu, the leader of the bandit crowd, also began to perk up. After walking for a long time and moving far from Xicheng Mountain, he forgot the pain once the wound healed, waking from the dazed state after being beaten by Cao Wenzhao. He put on the air of a big boss, pointed toward the distant Water Fortifications ahead, and laughed loudly: “Everyone, look, there’s a huge Water Fortifications out front; I can see lots of people moving inside. Maybe it’s rich over there? We can rob it big!”

“Rob your mother!” Xing Honglang snapped angrily: “That’s my fortress!”

Chui Shan Hu: “Huh? Boss Xing, you’re just a salt smuggler—how come you built Water Fortifications to hole up? Isn’t… isn’t that just asking to get surrounded by the officials?”

He also remembered Wang Jiayin had been beaten to death because he got too arrogant; he stopped being a proper “mobile bandit” and insisted on calling himself king in Hequ County, defending the county town—that’s why the government hounded him to death. So there, he’d actually died.

By then, the six hundred militiamen from Gaojia Village had already quietly distanced themselves a bit from those five thousand people. They had been doing this secretly since the Deity gave the order, as the bandits marched chaotically and hadn’t noticed.

By now, the Water Fortifications were very close, and everyone reached the open ground outside the fortress wall.

Xing Honglang suddenly spun around and raised her hand. Her Three Hundred Cavalry Troops and three hundred infantry stopped dead in their tracks.

This action startled Chui Shan Hu and those five thousand people greatly; everyone froze. Chui Shan Hu swiftly put distance between himself and Xing Honglang, retreating into his followers, with his final hundred men shielding him in the center. He bellowed: “Boss Xing, what are you up to?”

Xing Honglang called out loudly: “Chui Shan Hu, weren’t you just asking me if building the fortress made me afraid of being attacked by officials? I’m definitely telling you: I’m not!”

Chui Shan Hu felt a shock inside: “Could it be you’ve surrendered to the officials already?”

Xing Honglang laughed heartily: “Me, Yongji Xing Honglang, surrender to the officials? Besides spewing filth, can you ever say anything decent?”

Chui Shan Hu: “Then what do you mean?”

Those five thousand unaffiliated bandits quietly gathered behind Chui Shan Hu.

Xing Honglang said loudly: “I’ll tell you right now the good way not to be surrounded by the authorities, and that is…”

She dragged the words out until all had craned their necks, and then she shouted: “Stop burning, killing, and looting; stop doing bad deeds; live properly for a fresh start!”

Chui Shan Hu: “What?”

He rubbed his ears, doubting he’d heard right: “Damn it, Xing Honglang, you’re at least a salt smuggler—why spout hypocritical nonsense like a sour old monk?”

Master Zhan Sheng’s head popped up from the Water Fortifications’ watchtower: “Amitabha! Describing a monk’s kind heart like that—poor monk isn’t too pleased.”

“Shut it!” Chui Shan Hu: “Where’d this stupid monk crawl from? Believe it or not, I’ll chop you up!”

Master Zhan Sheng: “Kindly manage kindly manage!”

He was a monk with no quarrels against anyone, so even when threatened, he didn’t fight back; he just mumbled “kindly manage” quietly twice.

Xing Honglang took over and said loudly: “I saved you at the foot of Xicheng Mountain not to let you keep burning, killing, and looting, but to make you idiots drop your weapons and turn back to the right path. I know you’re all tough characters who won’t listen easily, but I warn you—I’m tougher than you. From now on, you all better do as you’re told, and if anyone dares to say a single ‘no’, I’ll summon the Deity to grind him into a pulp of meat!”

Gao Chuwu whispered on the side: “Wow, my wife got fierce all of a sudden.”

Old Nan Feng chuckled softly: “With these types, you have to act fierce. If you’re polite and reason with them, they draw their knives and cut you down; only if you’re fiercer can you control them.”

“Hahahaha!” Chui Shan Hu burst out laughing: “Xing Honglang, why act so big here? You’ve got just this tiny force—barely hundreds of shrimp soldiers and crab warriors—and dare threaten me? Open your eyes and see—do these five thousand people want to follow you or me now?”

With his laugh, his hundred or so loyal followers all stepped forward, making fierce looks. The five thousand leaderless petty thieves, stirred by him, also roared at Xing Honglang a couple of times.

Chui Shan Hu: “I won’t just not turn back to the right path; I’ll start by killing you here! Right now, I’ll cut down this ugly woman and loot your lousy Water Fortifications clean. Hahaha, brothers, will you join me?”

His hundred men shouted first: “We follow!”

The other five thousand began hesitating; follow or not? They kinda felt like it…

Just as they were still mulling it over.

Xing Honglang gave a cold sneer: “Fine, Chui Shan Hu, you can go die now.”

Chui Shan Hu: “Oh? I’d like to see how you kill…”

Before the last word “me” left his mouth, the clouds overhead suddenly split open. A giant golden hand descended with a rushing wind and thunderous boom.

“Bang!”

The enormous palm smacked down on Chui Shan Hu’s head, covering him and all his hundred-plus loyal followers nearby, flattening them.

The earth trembled and mountains shook as if in a quake.

The huge hand whisked back into the sky.

Only a large puddle of crushed flesh and guts remained on the ground.

The five thousand bandits behind screamed in fear; some wet their pants instantly, and others defecated in terror—stinking foul!

The people at the front of the group stepped back repeatedly, while those at the rear turned and bolted.

But they couldn’t escape; the golden hand reached down again with a thunderous crash and landed squarely on their escape path.

Seeing escape was impossible, every one of them felt their legs go weak, and they dropped to their knees on the ground.