At Bold King's deafening shout, Luo Xi instantly flew into a rage.
"You wretched scoundrel!" he roared. "How dare you sow discord among my troops? Guards! Loose arrows! Shoot him dead!"
His personal retainers reacted at once, drawing their heavy bows and setting arrows to the string.
Before they could fire, a relaxed chuckle sounded behind them.
"Don't shoot, don't shoot," Li Daoxuan said lazily. "Let him shout. Isn't it more fun to watch a clown perform?"
Luo Xi froze mid-command.
"Huh?" he said anxiously. "But if he keeps shouting like this, I'm afraid the men might—"
"It's fine," Li Daoxuan replied calmly. "Just enjoy the show."
With no one stopping him, Bold King continued his impassioned tirade.
"Brothers!" he shouted toward the walls. "Think carefully! How have those landlords and wealthy gentry treated you?"
"You toil in the fields, and half your harvest is taken as rent! They feast on meat and wine while you gnaw on bark and grass roots!"
"They even snatch your daughters away to serve as maidservants! Can you endure such humiliation?"
"Our Chuǎng Wang has come to save you! Join us, kill those landlords and rich scum, wipe them out completely, and take this world for ourselves!"
"The Chuǎng Wang commands two hundred and fifty thousand troops! You cannot stop us!"
"Instead of throwing your lives away for landlords and gentry—like a mantis trying to block a chariot—why not join us while you still can?"
Bold King finished his speech with a smug expression.
He waited.
He expected to see hesitation. Fear. Confusion. Maybe even men throwing down their weapons or scrambling to flee.
But what he saw made his confidence waver.
One militia soldier on the wall wasn't furious.
He wasn't tempted.
He looked… amused.
His expression was a strange mix of interest and entertainment, as if he were watching a street performance.
This was wrong.
After such a speech, ordinary people should not be making such faces.
Bold King felt a flicker of unease.
Just then, a quick-witted militiaman spoke up loudly:
"Landlords and wealthy gentry? Who exactly are you talking about?"
"Do you mean our Master Li?"
Bold King had no idea who "Master Li" was. But judging by the tone, he assumed this Master Li must be a major landlord, and that these men were his tenants.
So he rolled with it.
"Yes!" Bold King declared confidently. "People like your Master Li! None of them are good! They do nothing but oppress the poor! Think carefully—what have such people ever done for you?"
The militiamen fell silent.
They began to think.
They remembered what Dao Xuan Tianzun had done for them.
Rice—distributed freely, in great quantities.
White flour—handed out without stinginess.
Hot Pot Festivals—entire villages eating together.
Crispy rice crackers—special treats no one had tasted before.
The miraculous "Happy Fat Water."
Opera troupes invited to perform for everyone.
Cotton issued for padded winter clothes.
Houses allocated so no one slept exposed to wind and snow.
The memories piled up.
Too many.
Too sweet.
One man suddenly broke into song.
"Sweet—so sweet—your smile is sweet—
Like blossoms in the spring breeze…"
It was a tune that often played during Gao Family Village News broadcasts, said to be sung by a goddess named Deng. Everyone loved it.
As soon as he began, others joined in.
"Blooming in the spring breeze—ah—
As if in a dream…"
Two thousand men singing together on the city walls.
The scene was absurd.
The atmosphere turned bizarrely eerie.
Bold King's eyes nearly popped out of his head.
"!!!"
Not only Bold King—even Luo Xi was stunned.
"What's happening?" he muttered. "Why are they singing?"
Li Daoxuan chuckled softly. "Because they're happy."
"How can unhappy people feel like singing?"
Luo Xi had no words.
Bold King listened for a moment longer, and finally realized—
They weren't wavering.
They were mocking him.
His face flushed red with rage.
"I'm trying to save you!" he screamed. "And you dare mock me?"
"Do you really enjoy being lackeys to landlords and wealthy gentry?"
"Only by looting them clean is there a future!"
A militiaman who had attended Gao Family Village School for only a few days raised his hand and spoke seriously:
"So… everyone stops farming and just loots, right?"
"And after all the rich are looted clean—who do we loot then?"
"When there's no one left to loot, what will we eat?"
Bold King froze.
"Eh?"
The walls exploded with laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
With that level of thinking, he wanted to incite them?
Within the Gao Family Village Militia, even the lowest foot soldier had attended many rounds of political education classes. They all understood simple, fundamental truths.
Meanwhile, Bold King—an illiterate bandit—understood none of it.
Someone who understood nothing trying to sway those who understood at least something—
It was a complete farce.
Defeated, Bold King turned his horse and slunk back.
He approached Sweeping King and said weakly, "Boss… those people are incredibly stubborn. I couldn't get them to open the gates."
"And… they asked me a strange question. But the more I think about it, the more it kind of makes sense."
Sweeping King frowned. "What question?"
Bold King hesitated. "If we keep looting the rich… what happens after all the rich are looted clean? What will we eat then?"
Sweeping King exploded.
"I sent you to shake their morale!" he roared. "How did you end up wavering instead?"
"Are you an idiot?!"
Bold King whimpered, "But that question really is—"
"Nonsense!" Sweeping King kicked him aside. "Get lost!"
Then he raised his voice and bellowed:
"Attack the pass!"
Sweeping King and Stars-A-Plenty each commanded their divisions forward.
The terrain before Wuguan Pass was extremely narrow, squeezed between two mountains. Though they had tens of thousands of men, they could not deploy properly.
Only two large square formations could be arranged at the front, advancing slowly in dense ranks.
Against the Gao Family Village Militia, the difficulty of defending such terrain required no explanation.
This time, even Luo Xi felt no fear at all.
In northern Shaanxi, he had personally witnessed how the militia shattered Mongol cavalry.
If even Mongol horsemen couldn't break through—
How could these sluggish infantry succeed?
Luo Xi stood atop the wall, hands on his hips, laughing loudly.
"You bandits! Today you'll learn what true strength is!"
As if in response, the rhythmic bang, bang, bang of musket fire rang out.
The rebel soldiers at the front collapsed instantly.
The narrow terrain forced them to bunch together. Even careless shots could not miss.
Hundreds fell in a blink.
Their morale shattered immediately.
The front ranks panicked and began to retreat. Those behind them, unable to see what was happening, only heard gunfire—then saw men rushing backward.
The formation collapsed like rotten wood.
The rebel army recoiled like a retreating tide.
Sweeping King and Stars-A-Plenty were stunned.
They had never imagined that tens of thousands of men would be driven back by a few thousand militia—at the very first clash.
Where was the logic in this?!
"Don't run!"
"Turn back and attack!"
"Damn it!"
They shouted themselves hoarse, but nothing worked.
Tens of thousands of rebel soldiers fled down Shangluo Road in chaos.
And Wuguan Pass remained unbroken.