Mengjin County Town.
From the ramparts, the county magistrate, the local gentry, and countless common folk all stood shoulder to shoulder, their eyes fixed unblinking toward the north.
Fear pressed down on them like a physical weight.
Although Li Daoxuan had personally promised to help them hold back the rebels, the enemy force was simply too vast. Vice General Qin Renhong's regular army—trained soldiers, proper troops—had already been annihilated on the river.
If even the imperial army had failed, how could the people of a small county dare to believe that salvation would truly come?
Yet belief or not, there was no choice.
They could only wait.
And wait.
After an unknowable stretch of time, a lone rider appeared on the northern horizon.
A yamen runner on a fast horse galloped desperately across the Yellow River floodplain. The hooves struck the hardened, mud-crusted earth, sending plumes of yellow dust billowing into the air.
The runner's face was glowing.
Not with relief.
Not with hope.
But with pure, unrestrained joy.
Before he even reached the city gates, he tore his throat raw, shouting at the top of his lungs:
"Benevolent Master Bai won!
Benevolent Master Bai won!"
For a heartbeat, Mengjin County froze.
Then—
"They won?!"
"They really stopped the rebels?"
"Is it true?!"
"Benevolent Master Bai is mighty!"
A thunderous cheer erupted from the city walls, surging like a wave.
The runner burst through the gates, still shouting, "Benevolent Master Bai had so many firearms—"
Before he could finish, Magistrate's Aide Liu Bawan lunged forward and slapped a hand firmly over the man's mouth.
"If you don't know how to speak," Liu Bawan hissed, "then don't speak at all!"
He lowered his voice urgently. "If word reaches the imperial court that Benevolent Master Bai privately forged firearms, and they decide to punish him, then who will dare help us ever again?"
The runner instantly understood.
His expression stiffened, and he immediately corrected himself.
"Benevolent Master Bai deployed thousands of archers by the river," he shouted instead, "their arrows falling like a swarm of locusts! The rebels couldn't land at all!"
Liu Bawan nodded with satisfaction.
"That's more like it."
This was how news traveled in those days.
There were no eyewitness recordings.
No clarifying reports.
No inconvenient truths uploaded afterward.
However the first messenger spoke—that version became reality.
If he said arrows, then arrows it was.
Firearms?
What firearms?
No one had ever heard of such a thing.
Not long after, the knightly couple—"Xiao Qiushui" and "Tang Fang"—arrived at the city gates with their hundred guards.
The county magistrate hurried forward, bowing deeply.
"Great Knight Xiao," he asked nervously, "did… did we truly hold them back?"
Yesterday, he had called him Young Knight.
Today, he'd upgraded the title to Great Knight.
Li Daoxuan silently mused, Win another battle and I'll probably be promoted to 'Grand Knight,' won't I?
Gao Yiye stepped forward before he could speak.
"Rest assured, everyone," she said calmly.
Her voice was steady, her posture dignified. She had grown astonishingly adept at addressing crowds—what once felt intimidating now seemed natural to her. The larger the gathering, the more composed and authoritative she became.
"The rebels have been repelled."
A murmur rippled through the crowd.
"Not only that," Gao Yiye continued, "we seized all of their boats. They cannot cross the Yellow River again anytime soon."
A wave of stunned silence followed.
"And Governor Xu Dingchen of Shanxi is even now leading a large army southward," she added, "to encircle them. As long as the rebels cannot cross the river, they are trapped on its banks."
The townsfolk might not have understood military theory.
But this they understood immediately.
Cornered.
Surrounded.
No escape.
The Mengjin County Magistrate let out a long sigh.
"I truly hope," he said softly, "that this time, the imperial court will seize the opportunity and eradicate the rebels completely."
Li Daoxuan, however, felt unease stirring beneath the victory.
I hope so too, he thought. But something feels off.
Zhang Xianzhong escaped with a handful of boats.
And more importantly…
The Dashing General, Li Zicheng, never appeared.
Where did he go?
The magistrate clapped his hands briskly.
"Great Knight Xiao, Lady Knight Tang," he said warmly, "you must be exhausted. Come, come—this official will prepare a proper feast for you."
Gao Yiye's eyes sparkled instantly.
"What delicious dishes does Mengjin have?"
The magistrate laughed.
"Our local specialty—Yellow River carp. Absolutely unmissable."
Li Daoxuan nearly drooled.
No—wait.
The silicone puppet didn't have saliva glands.
Then why did it feel like drool?
Ah.
Co-sensing.
His real self, outside the box, was probably already salivating.
Damn it.
That evening, a grand banquet was held.
A massive platter of Yellow River carp dominated the table.
The Puppet Heavenly Lord, eyes gleaming, picked up a fish.
Crunch. Crunch.
The metallic framework of his jaw pulverized the fish into splinters.
Then—poof—it vanished into the nearby trash bin.
The fish never reached his stomach.
But his taste buds had fully registered the flavor.
Bliss.
Pure bliss.
Meanwhile—
Jiyuan County.
The rebels were in anything but a blissful mood.
All their boats had been seized.
The Yellow River had become an impassable barrier.
Governor Xu Dingchen's army could descend upon them at any moment.
They were cornered, trapped, and increasingly desperate.
Zijing Liang spoke grimly.
"Gentlemen… what options remain to us?"
Chuǎng Wang surveyed the situation with a dark expression.
"To the south—the Yellow River. Impassable."
"To the north—Xu Dingchen."
"To the west—Hedong's Xing Honglang."
"To the east—Xiuwu County, heavily defended by Henan Governor Fan Shangzheng."
He exhaled slowly.
"At this point… I see no way out."
A heavy silence fell over the tent.
Then—
A rebel messenger burst in.
"Report!" he shouted. "The Dashing General has bypassed Henan Governor Fan Shangzheng's main force, stormed Xiuwu County, killed Magistrate Liu Fengxiang, and opened a passage into Henan!"
Everyone froze.
Then gasped.
Only then did they remember—
When preparing to cross the river, they had left the Dashing General behind near Zezhou, ordering him to cover their rear.
Instead—
He had gone completely off-script.
He had marched straight into Henan.
And captured Xiuwu County.
Even Chuǎng Wang was stunned.
"How… how did he manage that?"
The messenger explained rapidly.
"While you, my lords, were attempting to cross the Yellow River, Henan Governor Fan Shangzheng panicked upon receiving word. He led his army out of Xiuwu County toward the Yellow River, intending to intercept you at Mengjin."
"Our Dashing General seized that very moment—while Xiuwu was undefended—and took the city in one swift strike!"
The tent fell deathly silent.
The messenger continued urgently.
"Fan Shangzheng likely hasn't received the news yet. He may still be rushing toward Mengjin. My lords, we must move immediately—push through Xiuwu County and escape the imperial encirclement!"
The rebels erupted in cheers.
Zijing Liang stood abruptly.
"Move! Inform everyone—we depart at once!"
The rebel army surged into motion, racing toward Xiuwu County with all possible speed.
Meanwhile—
The West Camp Eight Great Kings drifted downstream along the Yellow River.
They landed in Wenshui County—Sima Yi's ancestral home.
They looted it clean.
Then joined forces with the Dashing General.
Together, they burned and pillaged Wushe and Huixian, before laying siege to Huaiqing Prefecture.
If Sima Yi ever learned of this—
Who knew whether he'd claw his way out of his grave to beat Zhang Xianzhong senseless?
Li Daoxuan had successfully blocked the rebels at the Yellow River.
He had saved the people south of the river.
But north of it—
The vast lands of Henan could not escape the storm.
The flames of chaos would still spread.
History, after all, never bent for just one battle.