Sure enough, the messenger vaulted down from his horse and said in a grave voice, "Reporting to the Chief Commander—"
He Lingchuan crooked a finger at him and jerked his chin toward the teachers and students.
How could military intelligence be reported in front of civilians? Was this boy new?
The messenger caught on, leaned into his ear, and dropped his voice to a whisper. "Six hours ago, the Xiji puppet troops raided Baicheng Post Station. From the couriers and grooms to the caravans resting inside, every man, woman, old person, and child was slaughtered. The dead total... total one hundred and seventeen people!"
Sitting beside him, Sun Fuling turned her head and noticed He Lingchuan's jaw tighten.
The Xiji puppet troops had bathed a post station in blood? Such a thing had not happened in a long time—not since the balance of power between Yuheng City and the Xiji puppet troops had reversed.
Whether river bandits or mountain brigands, they rarely wiped out their prey completely. That was draining the pond to catch the fish. After all, their goal was usually wealth; committing such vicious atrocities would ensure no future travelers used the trade route.
He Lingchuan asked in a low voice, "No eyewitnesses?"
"One caravan was just about to enter the post station when they heard the battle cries and turned to flee. In the end, more than half were butchered, leaving only a dozen or so alive," the messenger said. "Lord Chao deduced that these survivors were likely left behind intentionally by the enemy."
Fu Shanlie had not only engaged in indiscriminate slaughter, he had also ensured He Lingchuan would know immediately:
*Yes, I did it.*
Had that bastard lost his mind?
What was more, Baicheng Post Station was the closest station to the waters of Lake Longchuan. It had been abandoned for years until He Lingchuan reclaimed most of Longchuan and had it renovated and reopened.
It was also the negotiation site where he had brought the Globe Amaranth Gang and another major river bandit gang to heel. One could say that place was the turning point for everything that followed in Longchuan, the very beginning of Yuheng City seizing the initiative.
Fu Shanlie choosing to make trouble and butcher people here was an overt provocation, no different from throwing a gauntlet directly into He Lingchuan's face.
He Lingchuan rose abruptly and addressed Sun Fuling and the other teachers: "I must return to camp first. Please, enjoy the rest of your meal."
Master Liu hadn't heard his conversation with the messenger and called out to dissuade him: "You haven't even had a bite yet."
Sharing a meal with the Chief Commander would have been an honor to brag about.
He Lingchuan offered a brief smile, took the bowl of fish soup from Sun Fuling's hand, and tilted his head back to gulp it all down. Then he wiped his mouth and thrust the bowl back into her hands. "Tastes fantastic!"
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Sun Fuling blushed again and pinched his arm hard before saying, "Be careful. When things are abnormal, treachery lurks."
"I know." He Lingchuan patted the back of her hand, strode away from the pebble beach, vaulted onto the horse the messenger had brought, and rode off without looking back.
***
Over the next two days, four more bloody raids occurred along the Longchuan trade route.
The Yuheng City Army naturally stepped up patrols.
To ensure success, Fu Shanlie personally led an elite squad of over twenty men, playing hide-and-seek with the Yuheng City Army along the Longchuan trade route.
He changed his tactics: kill whenever possible, run whenever he couldn't. His focus was on moving like the wind, vanishing and appearing like a ghost, never allowing the Yuheng City Army to bite his heels.
Twice the Yuheng Army intercepted this squad during a slaughter, but Fu Shanlie neither engaged nor stood his ground; he simply turned and fled.
The Yuheng Army easily captured four or five prisoners, but he didn't turn back to rescue them, disappearing into thin air on his own.
This method of fighting was utterly bizarre.
The Longchuan trade route was vast, and the terrain treacherous. If he truly wanted to wage guerrilla warfare, He Lingchuan had no good way to pin down a mere handful of men.
His side was out in the open while Fu Shanlie lurked in the shadows. The latter only needed to focus on wreaking havoc.
Destruction was always easier than construction, and far easier than maintenance.
Fu Shanlie's frantic raids caused an uproar in both Yuheng City and Baisha Port.
Was the Longchuan trade route dangerous once more?
Could merchants still travel this road in the future?
What was the local power, Yuheng City, doing? Could it still guarantee the safety of traveling merchants?
Soon, all the public outcry turned into pressure weighing directly on He Lingchuan.
He was the Chief Commander; he bore the responsibility for the safety of the Longchuan trade route.
His previous strategy of boiling the frog slowly would work no longer. Among the dead from these five attacks were residents of Yuheng City. The soldiers and civilians of Yuheng City were seething with outrage, petitioning the Chief Commander en masse to wipe out the Xiji puppet troops and avenge the innocent dead!
Civilians submitted petitions, and soldiers demanded to fight.
Since Yuheng City had already encircled Longchuan and the overall situation was so favorable, why not cut away this festering sore once and for all?
They did not know He Lingchuan's misgivings; they did not know that Yuheng City's adversary, Fu Shanlie, was no easy prey.
Even if they knew, they wouldn't care.
Even Adjutant Chao Qian couldn't resist bringing up attack plans before him.
The entire city was in a restless frenzy.
When the families of the victims came to the gates of the City Guard Office, weeping and petitioning Yuheng City to deliver justice, He Lingchuan knew this final bandit-clearing campaign could be delayed no longer.
This was the will of the people, and he could hardly go against it.
*I've still been swept along by the tide,* He Lingchuan sighed to the heavens. *Could this be exactly what Fu Shanlie wanted?*
Sun Fuling stepped into the courtyard just in time. Hearing his sigh, she couldn't help but smile faintly.
"Run off your feet these past few days, are you?"
Previously, He Lingchuan had always complained that she was nowhere to be found. As it turned out, he was now far busier than she was, often sleeping at the City Guard Office, staying away from home for half a month at a time as a routine matter.
He Lingchuan had finally witnessed firsthand just how much work and how many troubles awaited the head of a rapidly expanding city.
In reality, he had to manage the Yangshan Archipelago; at night, upon entering the Panlong World, he had to oversee Yuheng City.
Working diligently day and night, he truly lived a 24/7 grind.
Even 996 wage slaves would shed a sympathetic tear if they saw him.
Back when they had first moved to Yuheng City, Sun Fuling had erected a trellis in his courtyard and planted clematis.
Whether it was because the local soil was particularly fertile or not, in just over a year, the clematis had climbed all over the wall. The lush green foliage completely concealed the dull gray underlying wall, and clusters of bluish-purple blossoms swayed in the breeze, attracting bees and butterflies.
Today the teacher wore light orange. Fair-skinned and graceful, her mere presence in the courtyard infused the somewhat cool flower wall with a gentle warmth.
The genial sunlight bathed her, making her appear so serene and lovely she hardly seemed real.
The moment He Lingchuan saw her, his heart instantly settled, and seven-tenths of his troubles vanished.
"Indeed. Today a woman rushed into the City Guard Office, dropped onto the stone steps without a word, and kowtowed repeatedly—thud, thud, thud—until the stone was stained with blood. The guards thought she was trying to smash her head and commit suicide." He Lingchuan scratched the back of his head. "Her husband was killed at Baicheng Post Station a few days ago, so she came begging me to wipe out the Xiji puppet troops."
Sun Fuling nodded. "So, when will you strike?"
"Soon," He Lingchuan said solemnly. "This matter can brook no delay."
He was the master of a city, guardian of regional peace; righting the wrongs of the weak and avenging their deaths was his duty in the first place.
Holding a bunch of gardenias in her arms, Sun Fuling went into the room to change the water in the vase, arranged the flowers inside, and set it by the window. That way, whenever a fresh breeze blew, the entire room would fill with fragrance.
Chapter 1029