Recruitment

Back in the human domain, they normally should have headed toward the military redoubt, which was merely several tens of li away and could be reached in the blink of an eye. Yet Li Zhi did not change the orders; the troops continued to pull back toward Quyang County in accordance with Wei Yuan's command. After fighting for a short while longer, a great cloud of dust suddenly rose in the direction of Quyang County, and the ground began to tremble faintly with regular, rhythmic vibrations. Clearly, an elite force was marching in lockstep; otherwise, the earth's tremors would never have been felt from such a distance. With the appearance of reinforcements, morale soared among Li Zhi and his personal guards. They loosed magical arrows like water, forcing the Northern Liao cavalry to pull back and open distance. As the reinforcements drew near, the forest of long spears within the dust became visible! This unit advanced in a square formation, marching in lockstep. Every foot fell on the exact same beat—advancing steadily like a forest, towering with the presence of a mountain! Through the dust, one could not tell the exact headcount, but judging by the length and width of the square, there were at least a thousand men. When Great Tang fought Northern Liao, its elite infantry used long spears as barricades, backed by powerful bows and heavy crossbows inside the ranks, along with cultivators sniping from afar with magical arrows, fearlessly engaging Northern Liao iron cavalry in open battle. With such numbers, ironclad discipline, and soaring momentum, not just two hundred-man cavalry squads, but even six or seven would have had to steer clear. Seeing such strong reinforcements arrive, and knowing they were already in the human domain, the two centurions had no desire to prolong the fight and raised their hands. The two hundred-odd Northern Liao iron cavalry ceased charging, pulled back, turned around, and retreated into the Liao domain. Only after joining up with the reinforcements did Li Zhi discover in astonishment that these were not frontier army elites at all, but a ragged crowd of peasants. These peasants were formed into a hollow square. Only the front rank held twelve-foot spears; those in the rear carried sharpened wooden poles. Leading them was Fang Hetong, clad in half a scholar's robe, holding a longsword high in the air and swinging it with measured rhythm. With every wave of the sword, the peasants took a step forward. The billowing dust had masked their ranks; seen from afar, their aura made them look like an invincible elite force. Only upon closer inspection could one see they were merely peasants. Wei Yuan dismounted and walked up to greet him. "Brother Fang! Why have you come?" Fang Hetong raised his longsword, the tip lighting up with a glint of Daoli, and with a thunderous halt, the entire formation stopped—hundreds moving as one man. Fang Hetong lowered his sword and said, "I saw your distress signal arrow and knew you were in peril, so I hurriedly brought men to your aid. I calculated the range at which the Liao barbarians could perceive us, then deployed into formation and advanced, hoping to see if we could frighten them off first." Wei Yuan said, "That was far too dangerous! What if the Liao barbarians had charged?" Regardless of how neat and imposing the three hundred militiamen of Shayang Village looked, their bodies were frail. They lacked heavy crossbows, heavy armor, and barely had any decent weapons. If the Northern Liao cavalry had actually charged, this unit would have been wiped out without a trace. Fang Hetong said, "Standing by when people are in mortal peril is not what we scholars do. If the Liao barbarians really charged, at worst I would sacrifice my life for righteousness. If the Liao barbarians aren't eliminated, commoners live on the brink of life and death every day. Dying earlier or later makes little difference." Fang Hetong had long placed life and death out of mind, as had the three hundred militiamen behind him. Watching from afar, Li Zhi was deeply moved. He was about to urge his horse forward to get acquainted and forge a bond. To his surprise, despite urging it three or four times, the warhorse beneath him did not budge. Only then did Li Zhi remember he was riding a Liao horse, and one subdued by Wei Yuan at that. Li Zhi had not expected a Liao horse to be so snobbish: it would let Wei Yuan ride, but refused to move for anyone else. Keeping his composure as if nothing had happened, Li Zhi leapt down from the horse and strode over to Fang Hetong, saying solemnly, "Brother Fang's noble righteousness fills Li Zhi with admiration! Tonight I will host a banquet—we won't go home until we're drunk!" Fang Hetong seemed a bit flustered and repeated, "General Li overpraises me. Fang was merely doing his duty. Isn't this how we scholars ought to act?" "Brother Fang cultivates the self, regulates the family, and orders the state—truly a model for all scholars!" Fang Hetong quickly shook his head. "My aptitudes are dull; cultivating the self is out of the question. I sold off my ancestral estate, so regulating the family is best left unsaid. Now, I merely do my utmost to protect two or three villages; I cannot even secure a single county, let alone speak of ordering the state." Li Zhi said, "From small to large is the way of heaven and earth. The sages also began from humble beginnings; who is to say we cannot retrace the path of the sages?" Fang Hetong appeared moved. After exchanging pleasantries, dust rose in the distance once more; judging by the direction, other reinforcements were approaching. However, coming from afar, had Fang Hetong not scared off the Liao barbarians, Li Zhi's personal guards would have had few survivors left by the time they arrived. Seeing the reinforcements, Li Zhi remained calm and commanded, "Signal that the formidable enemy has retreated, that I intend to rest and regroup in Shayang Village, and ask them to rendezvous with us there." The captain of the personal guards promptly shot a signal arrow into the sky to transmit the message. Fang Hetong had thought Li Zhi would rest in Quyang County seat, as Shayang Village had virtually nothing. But since Li Zhi had decided, he did not object. He swung his sword in a few circles and pointed toward Shayang Village, the tip flashing with Daoli once more. The three hundred militiamen immediately shifted from a square into a single-file column and marched back toward Shayang Village. Li Zhi waited for Wei Yuan to head back to the Liao horse together—after all, without Wei Yuan, that Liao horse stood still like a statue. Wei Yuan glanced at the Liao horse and said, "This horse can't be used anymore. We need to switch mounts." Only then did Li Zhi notice several arrows lodged in the Liao horse's flank, each buried up to the fletching. Suffering such injuries, it had miraculously behaved as if nothing were wrong, holding out until now. As if echoing Wei Yuan's words, the Liao horse suddenly collapsed and died without a sound. A wisp of black qi flew out of its body and returned to Wei Yuan. However, when using Outlaw of Heaven and Earth, Wei Yuan had deployed two wisps of black qi, yet only one returned now. He did not know whether the wisp that subdued the soul had vanished or the one that drove its movement had dissipated. Li Zhi's guards gave up two horses to Wei Yuan and Li Zhi, and they returned toward Shayang Village. Mounting up, Li Zhi glanced in the direction of the military redoubt, his gaze chilling. "Liao Jingwu..." The military redoubt was closest to the battlefield; by all reason, the frontier army reinforcements should have arrived first. Yet now, even reinforcements from other counties were nearing, while the frontier army remained nowhere to be seen. There were still twenty li to Shayang Village. Fang Hetong led the three hundred militiamen on foot, with Li Zhi's guard cavalry following behind. The militiamen formed two columns, their steps brisk and swift, and most remarkably, completely in sync. Every so often, whenever their steps grew slightly ragged, the tip of Fang Hetong's sword would flash with Daoli, and the disorganized ranks would immediately snap back into order. Not only were their steps uniform, but their pace was also swift, equivalent to a normal person's jog. Li Zhi observed for a while and found that the militiamen depleted their stamina very slowly; at this pace, they could march continuously for several shichen. This was clearly another of Fang Hetong's abilities. Li Zhi rode closer to Wei Yuan and remarked, "Brother Fang is formidable at training and leading troops!" Wei Yuan said, "His Dao Foundation consists of three essays. This is the second essay, 'Establishing Merit', which boosts soldiers' combat strength on the battlefield." Coming from a Confucian cultivation background and well-versed in the classics, Li Zhi understood immediately upon Wei Yuan's mention. "So it was derived from the sage's Three Immortalities! This 'Establishing Merit' is truly remarkable. Not only is it useful in battle, but it also has immense value in drilling an army. Look, just from marching like this, a few more runs could turn an unruly rabble into a disciplined force. Furthermore, to incorporate the words of the sages into one's Dao Foundation—calling Master Fang a grand scholar wouldn't be an exaggeration. How could he have ended up reduced to this?" Li Zhi then recalled the banquet from the night before, growing thoughtful. "Master Fang's temperament is indeed rather stubborn, but with his talent, he should never have been cast aside and left unused. Has the court of Western Jin truly become so muddleheaded and corrupt? Well, that is good news for us." Wei Yuan said, "You wish to recruit Master Fang? His words aren't pleasant to hear." Li Zhi laughed heartily. "As long as what he says is right, even if he points at my nose and curses me, it wouldn't matter in the least!"