The sun dipped low in the sky, and the shadows of the mountains stretched long across the land.
Li Dao Xuan held a Chinese hamburger in his left hand while his right hand tapped outside the box, pressing east, south, west, north like a bored god fiddling with a control panel. He was casually studying the terrain around Lone Tomb Village as if it were a strategy game map.
He poked around here and there, zooming in and out, when suddenly, about seven to eight li south of the village, he spotted Cheng Xu and Xing Honglang. Each of them led a squad, marching steadily toward Lone Tomb Village.
The moment he saw his own little people, Li Dao Xuan felt an immediate boost of happiness. His finger moved again, tapping north this time, scanning the road ahead of them to check for ambushes, lurking beasts, or any nonsense waiting to ruin the trip.
The babysitter Tianzun was extremely dedicated when it came to protecting his people.
He kept tapping forward along their route. No beasts. No ambushes. Smooth sailing. Then, with a few more taps, his perspective snapped back to Lone Tomb Village.
And that was when he let out a small surprised sound.
"There are people in the village?"
Not just people. Definitely not government troops either. Judging by their outfits, they looked like horse bandits.
There were around one hundred and twenty of them. Every single one had a horse, though none were mounted at the moment. The horses grazed nearby while the men sprawled across the open ground in the center of the village, resting in loose, messy clusters.
Li Dao Xuan tilted his head slightly.
What is this situation?
Where did this bunch come from?
Interesting. This might turn into something unexpectedly entertaining.
He tapped around again, shifting his view in all directions. Very quickly, about a little over one li north of the village, he found another group.
A large force of government troops.
No banners were raised, but it was obvious. This had to be Wu Zimian.
Now this was getting fun.
Li Dao Xuan closed the lid of the box, causing the small cloud that represented him to disappear entirely. He had officially entered spectator mode.
…
Zao Ying and her one hundred and twenty subordinates had been resting for over an hour. After eating some dry rations, their spirits had finally recovered a bit. The chase from Hong Chengchou's guards had shaken them badly. It had been a genuine brush with disaster.
Who would have thought there was such a fierce official in Shaanxi?
Zao Ying stood up and brushed the dirt off her backside.
"Alright, enough rest. Get up. We move."
Her men rose one after another. Just then, a lookout from the village entrance came sprinting over.
"Boss! Boss! A large group of government troops has appeared about one li north of the village. They have a lot of warhorses with them."
Zao Ying's heart skipped.
"Hong Chengchou's men again?"
Li Dao Xuan, watching from above, raised an eyebrow slightly.
Oh, so you were being chased by Hong Chengchou. That explains things.
The lookout shook his head.
"Not Hong's troops. They deliberately put away their banners, so I cannot tell which unit they belong to."
Zao Ying let out a short laugh.
"Government troops marching without banners? That already tells me they are up to something shady. And they have a lot of horses…" She paused for a second, then grinned. "I get it. It is Wu Zimian. I heard rumors a few days ago that he was selling off a batch of warhorses."
Li Dao Xuan could not help but laugh.
This guy Wu Zimian is really that famous?
Xing Honglang guessed it immediately when she heard about horse trading. Now this female bandit did the same. The moment horses were mentioned, everyone pointed straight at him.
This guy had truly achieved fame across both the underworld and official circles. At this rate, was he not worried about getting punished by the court?
The lookout lowered his voice.
"Boss, should we avoid them?"
Zao Ying waved it off.
"What is there to avoid? He is not Hong Chengchou. Honestly, calling him a general is generous. He is more like Wu the Great Merchant." She smirked. "Let us just talk to him. Maybe buy a few horses."
So instead of leaving, Zao Ying and her group simply stayed put in Lone Tomb Village and waited.
Not long after, Wu Zimian's forces arrived.
The man was cautious. His main army did not enter the village. He only sent a small squad ahead. When they saw Zao Ying's group, the leading guard called out loudly:
"What is three plus two?"
Zao Ying thought to herself, so it is a code phrase. Good thing I already know Wu Zimian's contact signals. This stuff is hardly a secret in the jianghu.
She replied just as loudly:
"Thirty-two."
The guard's face lit up.
"Good. A buyer."
Zao Ying chuckled.
"I heard your general has a batch of warhorses for sale."
The guard nodded.
"That is correct. No need for nonsense. Five hundred horses. Thirty-five thousand taels of silver. Payment and goods exchanged on the spot. Our general prides himself on honest business."
Zao Ying raised a brow.
"That price is a bit high, no?"
And just like that, the two sides entered full bargaining mode.
Watching from outside the box, Li Dao Xuan felt both amused and exasperated.
Now hold on a second. This is not fair at all. I had my eyes on those warhorses first. I need them.
I can send all kinds of supplies down to my little people, but I cannot send living creatures. And now this random bandit woman pops out of nowhere to steal my deal?
This cannot be tolerated.
Still, Li Dao Xuan was not the kind of person who would slap someone to death just because they cut into his business. Killing for that reason would be completely unreasonable, and he had no intention of becoming that kind of tyrant.
His mind began to spin.
Should I just reach in, grab Xing Honglang, and drop her here? Turn this into a three-way bidding war?
Just as that thought formed…
More people arrived from the northeast.
And this time, there were a lot of them.
Several thousand, in fact.
Their clothing was a chaotic mess. Some wore official armor. Others were in ragged hemp clothes. A few even had silk merchant outfits, though they clearly did not fit, and their bearers had none of a merchant's demeanor.
Li Dao Xuan narrowed his eyes.
He saw it clearly. This group carried a large banner with a single bold character:
"Wang."
Wang Zuogua had arrived.
His appearance here was not surprising. Ever since the uprisings in the early Chongzhen years, Wang Zuogua had been active around the Huanglong Mountains.
But he no longer looked like the man who had first attacked Bai Family Fort.
His aura had deepened. His clothing was no longer ragged but had been replaced by a proper set of mountain-pattern armor, giving him a commanding presence.
Before, he had been purely ferocious. Now, that ferocity carried an edge of calculation.
He turned to his trusted general, Miao Mei.
"Wu Zimian is just ahead?"
Miao Mei grinned.
"Yes. He stopped at Lone Tomb Village. Looks like he is trading horses with someone inside."
A smug smile flashed across Wang Zuogua's face.
"Wu Zimian is a useless fool. His troops are nothing to worry about. But if we charge recklessly, he will just run off with the horses. Two legs cannot catch four."
He pointed decisively.
"Miao Mei, Feishanhu, Dahonglang. Each of you take a unit. Spread out. We move from the east, south, west, and north together with my main force. Surround Lone Tomb Village completely."
His eyes gleamed.
"Those five hundred warhorses must not escape."
Ming Context:
During the late Ming collapse, corrupt generals like Wu Zimian were infamous for selling imperial horses and weapons on the black market. Simultaneously, local rebel leaders such as Wang Zuogua and female bandit Zao Ying emerged around Shaanxi, showing how blurred the lines had become between "official army" and "outlaw band."
Trivia:
The real "Da Honglang" and "Xing Honglang" were both minor historical figures in the peasant uprisings — their nearly identical names are authentic. The author jokes that even he wouldn't dare make up names that confusing unless history did it first.