"The boss, the buyer currently dealing with Wu Zimian seems to be that well known Yichuan horse bandit, Zao Ying."
The moment Wang Zuogua heard the name Zao Ying, a certain image flashed through his mind, a rough and sturdy woman with the temperament of a battle-hardened brute. He clicked his tongue and sighed, immediately rejecting the thought. No, no, best not to picture it too clearly.
"This Zao Ying always calls herself a righteous bandit, only robbing the officials and never touching common folk," Wang Zuogua said. "She has always looked down on us, saying we coerce civilians and are not true heroes. Damn her…" He paused mid-curse, then coughed lightly. "Well, her mother probably is not much to look at either, so forget it. Since she does not see us as the same kind, then we will not treat her as one of us either. When the time comes, we will take her horses along with everything else."
His subordinates grinned. "Understood."
Miao Mei, Feishan Hu, and Da Honglang immediately split off with their forces.
They had operated in Huanglong Mountain for a long time and knew the terrain like the back of their hands. Leading their troops through winding gullies and hidden paths, they moved swiftly and silently. Night had already fallen, and for anyone unfamiliar with the mountain, spotting them would be nearly impossible.
It did not take long before Wang Zuogua's forces formed a complete encirclement around Duzhong Village.
Seeing this, Li Dao Xuan could not help but frown.
He quickly tapped the "south" direction outside the box. At this moment, Xing Honglang and Cheng Xu were still four or five li away from Duzhong Village, clearly the last group to arrive.
If they kept advancing, they would soon run straight into Da Honglang's detachment, which had been sent to seal off the area.
Li Dao Xuan had no intention of letting his people blunder straight into an ambush and was just about to intervene…
At that exact moment, two scouts came running back from ahead. One was Old Zhu from Xing Honglang's side, and the other was Shi Jian, a scout from Gao Village Family militia.
They rushed up to Xing Honglang and Cheng Xu and reported quickly.
"The situation ahead is complicated. A bandit force has suddenly appeared between us and Duzhong Village. It is already dark, so we could not see clearly, but we suspect it might be Wang Zuogua's men from Yichuan."
Li Dao Xuan broke into a satisfied smile. Good, his little people knew what they were doing. They had sent scouts ahead instead of charging blindly into danger. Looks like the nanny Dao Xuan Tianzun had been worrying too much again.
Cheng Xu frowned. "Are they targeting us?"
"Does not seem like it," Shi Jian replied. "They appear to be targeting Wu Zimian."
Cheng Xu blinked. "Oh? That is interesting."
He turned and exchanged a look with Xing Honglang.
She grinned. "Instructor He, what brilliant plan do you have this time?"
Cheng Xu grinned right back. "Obviously, we sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight. Dao Xuan Tianzun does not lack silver, but handing over more than thirty thousand taels to someone like Wu Zimian still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. If we can take advantage of the chaos and pull off a little black eats black operation, then we would not need to spend a single tael. Saving silver for Dao Xuan Tianzun will surely make him happy."
Xing Honglang raised an eyebrow. "Why does the way you think feel even more bandit-like than an actual bandit?"
Cheng Xu looked genuinely puzzled. "Does it?"
She snorted. "I will just say it outright. You look like an official."
Cheng Xu jumped. "Hey, hey, every official in the world would protest that statement. Are you saying officials are more like bandits than bandits themselves?"
Xing Honglang shot back, "Are they not?"
Cheng Xu waved his hands. "Not me. Absolutely not me. I am a law-abiding citizen, Instructor He from He Village. Dao Xuan Tianzun can vouch for me."
She rolled her eyes. "There is no He Village in Cheng County."
Cheng Xu let out a whistle and glanced up at the sky. "Ah… well… the moon looks quite nice tonight."
Xing Honglang shook her head, laughing softly. What a character.
Still, she did not object to his idea. Dao Xuan Tianzun might not lack money, but using that money to buy horses from a corrupt official felt wrong. If they could save those tens of thousands of taels and use it for the common people instead, that would be far better.
"Fine," she said. "We will try a black eats black play. But we still do not know the situation inside Duzhong Village. We have no idea how many enemies there are or what the conditions are like. Acting rashly could get us swallowed instead."
Cheng Xu nodded, his brow furrowing. "That is true. If the force ahead really is Wang Zuogua's, then he knows Huanglong Mountain far better than we do…"
Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly walked straight into something invisible.
Duang.
He bounced backward and landed flat on the ground in an undignified heap.
There was clearly nothing in front of him.
He quickly looked up and saw a low hanging cloud floating in the sky.
Understanding dawned instantly.
"Haha, Dao Xuan Tianzun is helping us. His hand is right in front of us, we just cannot see it."
Xing Honglang blinked. "What?"
Cheng Xu, whose ability to read intentions rivaled that of a seasoned court official, immediately grasped the meaning behind the invisible hand. He scrambled forward and began climbing onto it.
Xing Honglang followed his movements and suddenly remembered. "Right, when we fought Fanshanyue in Heyang last time, Dao Xuan Tianzun lowered his hand and lifted you into the air to scout the terrain… Wait, can I go up too?"
Cheng Xu waved at her with a grin. "Dao Xuan Tianzun already considers you one of us. Come on."
Her face lit up with delight. She reached forward carefully, felt around until she found the edge of the unseen hand, and climbed up.
Soon enough, both of them were sitting in the palm of Li Dao Xuan's hand.
He gently lifted them, raising them into the air.
…
The sun had nearly disappeared, and darkness spread steadily across the land.
In the last traces of dim yellow light, Zao Ying finally finished negotiating the price with Wu Zimian's attendant. Thirty two thousand taels of silver.
However, Zao Ying had been chased here by Hong Chengchou's guards and had not brought any silver with her.
The price was agreed, but she had no way to pay. She was racking her brain, trying to figure out how to stall Wu Zimian…
And then it happened.
From the eastern forest, a drum suddenly thundered.
A moment later, a great shout rose in unison.
"Wang Zuogua of Yichuan has arrived. Government troops, prepare to die."
With that cry, the forest erupted as a large force charged out.
At the very front were fierce soldiers clad in official armor.
After the Guyuan mutiny, border troops had defected in droves. Across the land, unpaid soldiers began abandoning their posts and joining rebel forces. Later, when courier stations were abolished, even more dismissed couriers joined the ranks of the bandits.
Wang Zuogua had absorbed many such men, and his army was no longer what it once had been. Its combat strength had increased dramatically. When battle began now, his vanguard looked indistinguishable from a proper government army.
The sudden appearance of this force startled Wu Zimian.
"Damn it, Wang Zuogua really dares to come?" he barked. "Men, seize him at once!"
Ming Context:
By the late Ming, unpaid troops and dismissed couriers often turned to banditry, blurring the line between "official army" and "outlaw." Figures like Wang Zuogua embodied that chaotic overlap of authority and rebellion.
Trivia:
When Xing Honglang calls Cheng Xu "more like an official than a bandit," it's the Ming-era equivalent of: "Bro, you're more corrupt than the people we're robbing."