For and Against

Even if Fu Shanlie was formidable, he could not bring Beijia's vast armies with him. Those present held high ranks and great power, well aware that some matters simply could not be settled through brute force alone. Zhong Shengguang nodded. "If none of you object, I will reject He Lingchuan's request." The doors of Gange Hall swung open, and General Red strode in, clad in dark red light armor. Fresh from the battlefield, she carried a fierce, hardened aura in her every movement. Zhong Shengguang asked her, "How goes the fighting at Bi River?" "Baling launched two assaults, and I threw them both back. But with little rain in autumn and winter, the water level will drop, and they will certainly try to cross again." General Red sat down boldly, interlocking her fingers beneath her chin. "A number of new demons have appeared within Baling's ranks, all possessing decent cultivation." "Could they have been sent by Beijia?" Zhao Xianhe was startled. "This bodes ill. Beijia has never dispatched troops to meddle in the Panlong Wasteland before." Beijia had plotted against Panlong City time and again, but always through underhanded schemes—either manipulating Baling and Xianyou to attack the Panlong Wasteland, or unleashing the Ghost Mother of the Ferry and mutated demon insects to invade the Chipa Plateau. Sending demon troops directly into battle in the Panlong Wasteland—was this the first time? The implications behind such an act were grim. Did it herald that Beijia had already lost its patience with Panlong City? "Once we capture a few, we can interrogate them thoroughly." General Red wore a mask, yet everyone present felt her gaze sweep across their faces. "What were you all discussing?" Zhong Shengguang then explained the topic at hand. General Red picked up the urgent dispatch from the table and glanced over it. "Interesting. If his goal were merely to divide the bandits and isolate Fu Shanlie, there would be no need to cater to the river bandits like this. Sending emissaries to negotiate and pacify the gangs would have been enough. It seems to me He Lingchuan still has cards up his sleeve that he hasn't played." General Nan Ke looked slightly surprised. "You support him?" Zhong Shengguang was caught between laughter and tears. "What cards? The urgent dispatch says nothing of the sort." "If you employ a man, trust him," General Red said nonchalantly. "It's only an extra thirty thousand taels of silver a year. Let him have his fun." "It's more than thirty thousand," Zhao Xianhe pointed out. "The upkeep and repair of the Longchuan trade route can't be accomplished by those river bandits alone; Yuheng City will inevitably have to pay out of its own pocket. What's more, Yuheng City fought and killed river bandits for months, and deep grudges have long been forged on both sides. Now Yuheng City is suddenly groveling to the river bandits—how could the troops and the commoners ever accept it?" "Public sentiment can be guided, and Yuheng City has been managed quite well recently, with revenues rising," General Red said coolly. "I see no issue with it." Zhong Shengguang frowned. "However..." A youth's scheme reeked of reckless fooling around. "Dealing with Beijia's general first is never the wrong move. Drive external forces out of Longchuan, and the bandit mob will cease to be a major threat." General Red tossed the dispatch back onto the table. "Commander Zhong, you originally intended to send Zhao Yin'an to take charge of Yuheng City, but changed it to He Lingchuan at the last minute—wasn't that precisely to test his mettle? Now the opportunity has presented itself, providing the perfect chance to see what he's made of." Zhong Shengguang fell into contemplative silence. Zhao Xianhe spoke discontentedly, "He Lingchuan's request is purely whimsical. Surely Commander Zhong isn't genuinely considering it? Treating a matter of such gravity as an experiment is child's play!" General Nan Ke chimed in, "Whenever we suppressed bandits in the Panlong Desert in the past, were we ever anything less than clean and decisive? Even if Beijia sent men into Longchuan to stir up trouble, it's nothing more than a single troop. If He Lingchuan can't handle it, I am willing to lead an army to Longchuan to wipe them all out once and for all. Why let Yuheng City play house with them?" General Red asked indifferently, "If Panlong City conquers Jintao in the future and there are bandits there as well, will you go there too?" General Nan Ke answered without hesitation, "I will." "And if someone in the former capital of Xiji rebels at the same time, can you split yourself in two to quell the revolt?" "...I can divide my forces." "And what if Baling presses down upon our northern line in the Panlong Desert at that very moment?" Displeased, General Nan Ke said, "General Red, Panlong City does not lack fine generals." "If Panlong City wishes to expand outward, what it lacks most are talents capable of holding their own," General Red crossed her arms and countered. "If Panlong City must deploy troops to suppress every minor trouble in the former territory of Xiji right now, then as our lands grow ever larger in the future, must the Panlong Army and the Gale Army spend all their time putting out fires everywhere?" Zhong Shengguang hesitated for a long while before speaking: "I happen to have a trip to make to Yuheng City. I will go hear He Lingchuan's reasoning myself." Hearing it with his own ears would allow him to make a sound judgment. The other generals said no more. In arguments like today's, whenever General Red was present, the outcome was almost never in doubt. Alas. *** Longchuan, encampment of the Xiji puppet troops. This place had originally been the lair of the Lujia Gang. After the Xiji puppet troops swallowed it up, Fu Shanlie took a liking to its complex terrain. Known as Liang Lake, it comprised seven bodies of water of varying sizes interconnected like strung pearls, with shimmering ripples across their surfaces. The reeds and tall grass along the shores grew up to ten feet high, swallowing a person's silhouette the moment they stepped inside. The islands within the lake served as their encampment, guarded by the aquatic monsters lurking in the surrounding waters. Having finished his noon meal, Fu Shanlie was dozing lightly when a confidant trotted up to his green bamboo couch and whispered, "General, intelligence." Fu Shanlie lifted an eyelid. "Speak." "Word from our insider in Qianjin Stronghold says Tao Lin and Xu Zeshou held a secret meeting with Yuheng City's commander. The other side offered them an agreement." "The commander? He Lingchuan?" Fu Shanlie opened his eyes. "What agreement?" The confidant reported the details. Upon hearing it, Fu Shanlie sat right up. "Was the agreement finalized?" "Tao and Xu said they needed to head back and talk it over." "Indecisive and ignorant," Fu Shanlie scoffed. "Were it me, I would have agreed on the spot." "Yuheng City fears I'll swallow up everyone in Longchuan, so they're trying to win over these useless trash!" He rubbed his temples. "To catch a wolf, you must be willing to risk the bait—this fellow He is quite something." "According to inside word from up north, Yuheng City dislikes his policy. They think fawning over the river bandits is completely redundant and squanders money without restraint, entirely contrary to the Panlong City army's usual practice." Hearing this, Fu Shanlie brightened. "Now that is good news. Since he alone champions this scheme, killing him will solve everything!" Once He was dead, Yuheng City's bandit-suppression policy would likely revert to the old ways, allowing Fu Shanlie's plans to proceed uninterrupted. This confidant had accompanied him from Beijia and remained somewhat puzzled: "General, even if Panlong City took down Xiji, it's still just a tiny, insignificant place. Why did you volunteer to come here and deal with a surrendered city?" General Fu Shan had shone brilliantly during the war in Yuan Kingdom and was an up-and-coming young talent among Beijia's generals. He could have earned merit anywhere—why choose this place? For a dignified Beijia general to mingle with river bandits day in and day out, wasn't that demeaning himself? Even subordinates like them had to spend their days shaking down caravans on the dusty Longchuan trade route. Fu Shanlie glanced at him, seeing right through his petty thoughts. "Following me to Longchuan and eating too much dust made you unhappy, has it?" "No, no!" the confidant hurriedly denied. "This humble one's life belongs to you, General. What is swallowing a little dust?" "Places like the Panlong Wasteland or Xiji are a dime a dozen in this world. Why would Lingxu City spare them a second glance?" Fu Shanlie asked. "Why has Lingxu City tested Panlong City time and again?" "This humble one does not know." "Many things here are abnormal." Fu Shanlie pointed a finger toward the sky. "I heard that the deity worshipped by Panlong City is stirring up wind and rain up in the heavens, and Holy Venerable Lingxu is deeply displeased. Furthermore, Panlong City's army, the Gale Army, is unexpectedly formidable." The confidant said at once, "No matter how strong it is, it cannot compare to our Beijia." "Is that so? Have you tested them yourself?" "N-No. But..." Beijia's national power and military might dominated the world, boasting countless famed generals. How could tiny Panlong City compare? Fu Shanlie sneered. "Compared to Beijia, the Panlong Desert is indeed a tiny speck. But considering its land area and population, Panlong City's origin power is extraordinarily potent! It has even drawn the attention of the celestial gods. If we let them grow stronger where they stand, eradicating them later will be all the harder. Xiji and Longchuan are excellent points of incision; Panlong City has only just pocketed them, and its rule is far from stable. If we can sever their reaching limbs, we might bleed Panlong City continuously." He clasped his hands behind his head. "My coming here is truly a brilliant move." The confidant half-understood. "General is wise." Fu Shanlie yawned again. "You don't know shit. Dismissed." *** A little over a month later, Qianjin Stronghold in Longchuan. Chief Tao Lin had just awakened from an afternoon nap, stretching lazily as he walked. Ever since signing the agreement with He Lingchuan and entering Yuheng City's employ, Qianjin Stronghold, the largest bandit gang in Longchuan, had transformed itself: its men wore official waist tokens, ate at the government's trough, and steadily collected road tolls for dozens of days. Passing merchants and travelers had their eyes pop out of their heads when they saw these river bandits standing at checkpoints collecting tolls with official badges; had the Yuheng garrison not been stationed right beside them, the merchants would likely have turned tail and bolted. That fellow He had been spot on—collecting money this way was immensely comfortable. Without even drawing a blade, people offered smiles and willingly handed over silver with both hands. Collecting money under an official guise made everything legitimate and aboveboard. After signing the pact, Qianjin Stronghold and the Globe Amaranth Gang proclaimed it across Longchuan, warning the other bandit factions to steer clear of their toll sections and refrain from causing trouble. Over all these days, only the Xiji puppet troops had refused to give them face, raiding the route twice. They succeeded once, but on the other occasion they were intercepted by Qianjin Stronghold and the Yuheng City defenders, leading to a bloody brawl. Overall, guarding the road was vastly more profitable than robbing it, and Yuheng City even footed the bill for casualties and pensions incurred while on duty. How had Commander He phrased it again? "Workplace injuries reimbursed by the public purse"—meaning covered entirely by the government. With Qianjin Stronghold and the Globe Amaranth Gang operating like this, smaller bandit factions had even less room to survive, prompting them to follow suit and surrender to Yuheng City. Still, Tao Lin couldn't shake the feeling that the atmosphere in the stronghold today was rather odd. Many men huddled together in hushed whispers, falling silent with shifty eyes the moment they caught sight of him. Even when he went to relieve himself, several pairs of eyes seemed to bore into his back, making him profoundly uneasy. Unable to bear it any longer, Tao Lin pointed directly at the crowd. "Out with it! What the hell is going on? What are you bastards staring at me for with those rat-like eyes? What, got no work lately and going stir-crazy?" He commanded considerable authority in the stronghold; the men exchanged glances, none willing to be the bird that stuck its neck out. In the end, someone shoved the lame man standing by the doorway, whispering, "Cripple Liu, you saw it, you go!" The cripple's leg had been broken during a robbery three years prior. Unable to ride horses afterward, he had been relegated to working as a stablehand in the stronghold, pitching hay and mucking stalls all day long. Tao Lin's gaze narrowed. "Get over here! What did you see?"