When Zhang Fengyi saw Li Daoxuan's half-human, half-iron body, she froze for a split second, utterly stunned.
But she was a commanding general.
The battlefield was no place for childish curiosity.
She snapped her gaze away, raised her hand, and pointed toward the bandits swarming around the stone house.
"Kill them all!"
The White Pole Soldiers roared in unison and surged forward.
White pole spears stabbed out like a forest of lightning. The bandits at the front didn't even withstand a single clash—some were skewered on the spot, others screamed and fled. In moments, corpses littered the ground, and the entrance to the stone house was completely cleared.
The White Pole Soldiers immediately formed a defensive ring, sealing the area tight.
At the same time, the fifty Gao Family Village militia rushed forward. They pulled out clean clothes and a fresh cloak, quickly covering the exposed iron structure on Li Daoxuan's body.
With the metal hidden, Li Daoxuan finally looked like a normal human again.
Zhang Fengyi didn't mention his earlier appearance at all. Her eyes were sharp, her mind focused.
"Master Xiao," she asked calmly, "what's the plan now? Do we escort the women and children out and fight our way through?"
"No."
Li Daoxuan shook his head without hesitation.
"We hold this village."
He swept his gaze across the houses and fences.
"With buildings for cover and choke points everywhere, we can defend ourselves. If we leave and get surrounded on open ground, that's when we're truly dead. We stand here and wait for reinforcements."
"Understood!" Zhang Fengyi replied instantly.
She didn't waste a single word.
"Form ranks!"
The White Pole Soldiers moved as one, snapping into formation.
A thousand white spears rose upright.
Cold light gleamed from the spearheads, murderous intent thick in the air.
Inside the stone house, the women and children stared out in disbelief.
"Government soldiers…"
"They actually came to save us?"
"Do government troops really protect common people? Could these be impostors?"
Just then, Li Daoxuan stepped inside, fully dressed, his expression relaxed and steady.
"Don't be afraid," he said with a gentle smile. "We'll get you out of here safely."
"Great hero!"
"Thank you, great hero!"
For reasons they couldn't explain, the moment he spoke, their panic eased.
Outside the village, the bandit army finally revealed itself.
A massive banner rose first.
Zijing Liang.
Then another banner snapped in the wind:
Qing Bei Lang.
Another followed:
Yunzhong Shou.
Then:
Jin Gang Zuan.
More banners unfurled one after another:
Gun Di.
Xin Lai Jiang.
Yi Pian Tie.
Hong Lang Ma.
Fei Cao.
Banner upon banner filled the horizon.
Zijing Liang truly deserved his reputation as the greatest bandit chieftain of the era. Nearly half of the former thirteen great factions and seventy-two bandit routes had bent the knee to him. When he mobilized his full strength, the banners alone seemed enough to blot out the sky.
Even Geguofei, blind and furious, was dragged back into the encirclement by his men.
Standing beneath his own banner, eyes sightless, he roared like a mad beast.
"I'll kill you all! I'll kill you all!"
"Who the hell are you yelling at?" Qing Bei Lang snapped angrily.
"Huh?" Geguofei stiffened. "Brother Wolf? Sorry, sorry—I can't see. I'll turn around."
He turned the wrong way and continued screaming, "I'll skin you alive and rip out your tendons!"
"Your spit is hitting my face!" Zijing Liang roared. "You want to skin me alive? Are you rebelling now?"
Geguofei froze.
"…Boss… over there… that way…"
His subordinates hurriedly spun him around.
Facing the White Pole Soldiers at last, Geguofei bellowed, "You're all dead!"
Zijing Liang's expression darkened.
He waved his hand.
"Attack."
From all directions, the bandit army began to advance toward Houjia Village.
Inside the houses, the women and children were so terrified they didn't dare breathe.
Zhang Fengyi's palms were slick with sweat.
So were the hands of the White Pole Soldiers.
Even the fifty militia soldiers felt their grips growing wet.
Only Li Daoxuan looked completely at ease.
He stood atop the highest rooftop in the village, arms spread wide as if embracing the heavens, and sang loudly:
"Sing of endless ages,
Share a lifetime of mountains unbroken.
So long as righteousness stands—
Come! Fight!"
"Charge!"
"Kill!"
The bandits surged forward like a flood.
The first to open fire were the Gao Family Village arquebusiers.
Though only fifty men, each could fire roughly once every ten seconds—three hundred shots per minute in total. That firepower rivaled a Ming unit of five hundred arquebusiers.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gunfire cracked sharply through the air.
The first wave of hardened bandits fell instantly.
But this time, the enemy numbers were overwhelming.
Nearly thirty thousand were battle-ready, with another twenty thousand rabble cheering behind them—a full fifty thousand strong.
Fifty arquebuses weren't enough to shake their morale in the slightest.
Once the bandits entered bow range, the White Pole Soldiers loosed a volley of arrows.
At the same time, former border troops mixed among the bandits raised their bows and fired back.
Arrows crossed in midair, trading silent curses before slamming into flesh and shields.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound of arrows striking shields was enough to set teeth on edge.
Zhang Fengyi scanned the battlefield, her heart sinking.
"Master Xiao," she said quietly, "although we've saved the women and children… I'm afraid we won't make it out alive."
Li Daoxuan casually lit a grenade, tossed it away, and instinctively covered his ears.
"General Zhang," he said calmly, "don't be so pessimistic. A turnaround is coming."
"But the situation—"
"Hm?" Li Daoxuan tilted his head, hands still over his ears. "What did you say? I can't hear you."
Zhang Fengyi: "..."
"They're closing in!"
"Spear formation!"
The White Pole Soldiers thrust their spears forward in unison. Their formation bristled like a steel hedgehog, countless sharp points extending outward.
The bandits slammed into it from all sides.
Shields clanged against spearheads. Long spears stabbed wildly.
The moment the lines met, men began to fall.
The melee was savage.
Bandits died.
But even more bandits replaced them.
The White Pole Soldiers were elite, disciplined, and perfectly coordinated. The bandits couldn't compare. Though some former soldiers were mixed in, their formations were chaotic, their strength unfocused.
Spears clashed.
Arquebuses thundered at close range.
Li Daoxuan's grenade arced over the front line and dropped deep into the bandit ranks.
BOOM!
Men and horses were blasted into the air.
Zijing Liang watched with a cold smile.
To him, this was nothing more than a trapped beast's final struggle.
No matter how fiercely the White Pole Soldiers fought, the difference in numbers was too great.
They wouldn't escape.
Not this time.
Just then, a scout came sprinting over.
"Boss! Boss! A government unit has appeared in the northwest! Their banner bears the character 'Wang'!"
"Wang?" Zijing Liang frowned slightly. "Which general named Wang is stationed around here?"
"They don't seem important—only about a thousand men."
Zijing Liang laughed loudly.
"So reinforcements have arrived to save the White Pole Soldiers?"
"Hah!"
He turned his head.
"Qing Bei Lang. Take your men and wipe them out."