Love Lock

Chapter 255 One Shot to the Head

Five days later, the army arrived in Mianning County.

The official road narrows here, with steep slopes on both sides.

Suddenly, a strange "thump-thump" sound came from ahead, like the low growl of some wild beast. Su Ce alertly raised his hand, and the entire army immediately halted their advance.

"What kind of monster is that ahead?" The soldiers stared ahead in terror.

At the end of the official road, hundreds of iron vehicles, all red in color, were lined up, a sight never seen before.

Even stranger, each vehicle had a tall stack of cages behind it, from which came the sounds of chickens and ducks squawking.

"alert!"

Su Ce shouted and drew his longsword. The army at the front immediately formed a battle formation, with spears like a forest and bows and crossbows nocked.

The convoy stopped two hundred paces from the main army. On the lead wagon, a young man dressed in simple cloth stood with his hands behind his back, the wind blowing his robes, making him appear remarkably composed.

Su Ce narrowed his eyes and shouted, "Who goes there? I am Su Ce, the Imperial General appointed by the court to suppress the rebels in Cangzhou! Clear the way at once! Otherwise, you will be treated as an accomplice!"

Zhao Zun's scouts were stationed in Mianning County to gather intelligence. On the way there, he had already received news from the scouts via walkie-talkie that the imperial army had passed through Mianning County.

But the disaster was on Zhao Zun's mind, and Zhao Zun's disaster relief team was about to arrive in Mianning County.

If we were to retreat to Tuomugou Fortress now to fight, the disaster in Jingzhou would continue to spread, and who knows how many more areas and people would be affected.

Zhao Zun refused!
Therefore, Zhao Zun ordered the disaster relief team to continue forward, and it was here that they encountered the imperial army.

Knowing that he would encounter the imperial army, Zhao Zun naturally made preparations.

Zhao Zun, standing on the truck bed, calmly bent down, picked up a strange object from the truck bed, and put it to his mouth.

When he spoke, his voice resounded through the valley like thunder.

"I am Zhao Zun, the King of Cangzhou. I am on my way to Jingzhou to provide relief to the disaster victims. I have no time to deal with you. How dare you call yourselves the royal army?"

In fact, although they weren't close, Su Ce had seen Zhao Zun a few times in the capital and had long heard of Zhao Zun's great reputation, but he hadn't recognized him because they were too far apart.

The sound shocked not only Su Ce, but also the disaster victims hiding by the roadside.

"It's the King of Cangzhou!"

"What did the King of Cangzhou just say? Is he here to help us?"

"Thank God..."

Whispers spread like ripples among the disaster victims. A few bolder ones even emerged from their hiding places and knelt in prayer towards the convoy.

Su Ce's face turned ashen. He hadn't expected to run into Zhao Zun here, and he certainly hadn't expected the other party to be so arrogant.

Facing the imperial army of 100,000, Zhao Zun, with only a hundred or so men, stood there calmly and without fear. It was as if everything in the world was already under his control. Although he was dressed in plain clothes, his imposing presence, as if Mount Tai were collapsing before him, showed Su Ce the dignity of a king.

Su Ce suppressed his anger and shouted again, "Zhao Zun! You have illegally built a fortress and are plotting rebellion. I, the general, am here on the Emperor's orders to punish you! You shall immediately dismount and surrender!"

Zhao Zun stood motionless on the truck bed, instead revealing a mocking smile.

"General Su, what an arrogant official you are! I'd like to ask you, did the court send you here to punish me, or to punish the people of Jingzhou?"

You want to attack me?

Zhao Zun spoke as casually as if Su Ce had come to argue with him.

He pointed to the back of the convoy: "These chickens and ducks are a special breed I bred for locust control. They can eat several kilograms of locusts a day. The people of Jingzhou are waiting for them to save their lives, yet General Su wants me to make way?"

Su Ce was speechless for a moment. He did see that the convoy was full of chicken and duck cages. The birds looked stronger than ordinary poultry, with sharp, hooked beaks.

"You're just a smooth talker!" Su Ce said sternly. "You've been building these strange vehicles without permission; you're clearly plotting something sinister!"

Zhao Zun laughed loudly: "General Su doesn't even care about the disaster victims? It seems that the generals of the court only know how to ride horses and fight, and don't know the suffering of the people!"

Suppressed laughter and whispers rippled through the surrounding refugees. Su Ce, enraged and about to erupt, was startled when his deputy, Lu Heming, suddenly pointed to the hillside and exclaimed softly, "General, look!"

Su Ce looked in the direction Lu Heming pointed and saw that hundreds of disaster victims had gathered on the hillsides on both sides. They held simple farming tools and stared at the imperial army with hostility in their eyes.

Zhao Zun's voice came through the loudspeaker again: "General Su, I'm giving you two choices: either clear the road and let the relief supplies pass, or I'll let these people judge for themselves and see who the real traitor is!"

Su Ce tightened his grip on the sword slightly.

He looked around and found that not only on the hillside, but also behind the army, more and more refugees were gathering. These people, who were usually as docile as lambs, now had flames of anger burning in their eyes.

"General..." Lu Heming said in a low voice, "The situation is not good. If we start a war here, it may cause a popular uprising..."

Su Ce gritted his teeth, secretly weighing the pros and cons in his mind.

But he had an army of 100,000 and an imperial decree at his disposal, so he was very confident.

"What are you afraid of? A mere hundred or so lowly commoners think they can obstruct the imperial decree? Dream on!" Finally, he waved his hand sharply and ordered, "Archers, prepare!"

Thousands of archers behind him drew their bows in unison, the arrows gleaming coldly in the sunlight, aimed at Zhao Zun and the convoy of three-wheeled vehicles behind him.

Zhao Zun remained surprisingly calm, slowly raising his right hand and making a strange gesture—his thumb and forefinger were straight, while the other three fingers were bent, resembling some kind of weapon.

"Playing tricks! Trying to break a rock with an egg!" Su Ce sneered. "Release—"

"Whoosh whoosh!"

At Su Ce's command, countless arrows rained down. Su Ce, seated on his warhorse, watched as Zhao Zun and the three-wheeled vehicle convoy were enveloped in the arrow barrage, his smile widening.

However, Zhao Zun and his convoy of three-wheeled vehicles remained motionless. He had already visually assessed the distance when the convoy stopped; at this distance, the arrows would be a complete waste.

"boom!"

A deafening explosion suddenly came from the convoy behind Zhao Zun.

Before anyone could react, Su Ce's head exploded like a ripe watermelon, spraying out red and white matter.

His deputy, Lu Heming, was splattered with blood and stood there dumbfounded.

The entire official road fell into a deathly silence in an instant; even the sound of the wind seemed to have stopped.

Su Ce's headless body swayed twice on the horse before falling heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

"General!" Lu Heming finally came to his senses, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

The imperial army was immediately thrown into turmoil, and panic spread like a plague.

The soldiers looked in horror behind Zhao Zun—a young man dressed in plain clothes was standing on a three-wheeled vehicle, holding a metal tube in his hand, which he was casually putting away.

"Ah! Sorcery!" a soldier screamed in terror.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Zhao Zun raised a high-powered megaphone, his voice booming like thunder. "Soldiers of the Imperial Court!" Zhao Zun's voice was amplified several times through the megaphone, shaking the eardrums of everyone present. "I know most of you come from Jingzhou! Your parents, wives, and children are struggling to survive in the locust plague, while the Imperial Court has sent you here to fight a civil war!"

The commotion in the army intensified, with many soldiers from Jingzhou whispering among themselves, their eyes flashing with anger and pain.

"Look around you!" Zhao Zun pointed to the convoy behind him. "These trucks are loaded with disaster relief supplies, including grain and chickens and ducks! The chickens and ducks can eat the locusts and save your hometown! And who was Su Ce trying to shoot just now? Your fellow villagers! The convoy that might bring your families their last hope!"

A weathered old soldier suddenly dropped his spear, knelt down, and wept bitterly: "My mother is still in Jingzhou! I don't know how she is now."

The veteran's cries were like the first domino to fall, and more and more soldiers began to waver.

The once orderly formation was now in disarray, like an anthill that had been destroyed. Some people were retreating, some were making way to the side, and those who were carrying flags had stopped carrying them, leaving the flags crookedly stuck in the mud.

The soldiers' complaints echoed again from within the imperial army: "I've had enough! Su Ce doesn't care about the lives of the people of Jingzhou, he's been plundering supplies all the way. Our families could very well be among them! The King of Cangzhou is right, we're aiding and abetting evil!"

“That’s right!” another soldier chimed in. “During the last flood, my little sister wrote to say that half the villagers had starved to death! What’s the point of us fighting here!”

Zhao Zun seized the opportunity and continued to shout: "I do not force you to follow me. I only hope that you will make way so that the disaster relief supplies can pass through! Those who want to go home may leave on their own. Those who want to stay and help with the disaster relief are welcome to do so. And those who want to return to the court to report for duty will not be stopped by me!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers from Jingzhou crowded to the side of the road, trying to make way for the convoy to pass and deliver the relief supplies to Jingzhou.

Standing on the back of the cart, Zhao Zun bowed to the people gathered on the mountainside and said, "Fellow villagers, rest assured! I assure you that once these chickens and ducks arrive in the disaster area, the locust plague will be quelled within three days!"

The disaster victims cheered and jumped for joy, some even shedding tears.

"Your Highness, they are starting to scatter."

Da Wu from the Jingzhou Big Character Team crouched on the three-wheeled vehicle behind Zhao Zun, his rough fingers gently stroking the barrel of the sniper rifle, but his eyes never left the front of his line of sight.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zun nodded slightly, then his pupils suddenly contracted.

A chestnut warhorse neighed and charged out from the imperial army ranks. The general on its back, clad in black iron armor, raised his long sword; he was one of Su Ce's personal guards.

"Stop right there!" The guard's roar was like thunder. He rode his horse to block the retreating soldiers, his iron armor gleaming coldly in the sunlight.

"General Su has just died in battle, and you want to desert? What use are you good-for-nothings that the court keeps!" With that, he thrust his sword at a soldier next to him who was staggering back towards the edge of the official road.

The soldier coughed up a jet of blood, his hands futilely reaching for the sky before he finally collapsed heavily onto the muddy ground.

"Anyone who dares to yield or run away again will suffer the consequences!" The personal guard flicked the blood from his sword and paced back and forth at the edge of the army formation like a furious lion. "Form ranks! All of you, form ranks!"

Deputy General Lu Heming also tried to control the situation: "No chaos allowed! We are acting on imperial orders; anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

Zhao Zun's chest heaved violently; the last glimmer of light in the soldier's eyes as he fell felt like a branding iron searing his nerves.

That soldier who stepped aside to make way was a man who cared about the people of Jingzhou! And yet, he died right before his eyes.

The soldiers of the imperial court were all commoners from the Great Jing. When he decided to start the uprising, he had already thought deeply about it and did not want to harm the soldiers of the Great Jing. His strategy was to subdue the enemy without fighting.

To catch the thief, first catch the king; this was a decision he had made from the very beginning.

He thought that after dealing with Su Ce, the commander of the imperial army, he could at least deter the imperial soldiers. However, he did not expect that there were still stubborn and treacherous henchmen in the army who were helping the wicked.

If these villains aren't eliminated, no matter how brave and skilled they are in battle, they'll still be the rotten apples among the soldiers.

"You bastard!" Zhao Zun slammed his fist on the carriage shaft, leaving a dent in the metal plate.

He shouted, "Big Five!"

"Here!" The man on the three-wheeled vehicle behind him immediately adjusted his posture, the sniper rifle steadily resting on his shoulder.

“Aim at that executioner.” Zhao Zun gritted his teeth, his voice as cold as ice. “Let him taste the pain of being splattered with the blood of innocent people.”

The personal guard was still roaring on the front lines, completely unaware of death's gaze.

He was whipping a young soldier kneeling and begging for mercy with the back of his sword: "Useless trash! How has General Su treated you all? Now—"

"boom!"

Just two breaths later, gunshots ripped through the air again.

The guard's words came to an abrupt halt. He looked down blankly and saw steam rising from the blood hole that had suddenly appeared on his breastplate.

Startled, the chestnut horse reared up, throwing its master to the muddy ground. The body, clad in black iron armor, twitched twice and then fell silent.

The entire official road fell silent once again.

The imperial soldiers stared dumbfounded at their commander and personal guards falling one after another. Even the deputy general, Lu Heming, had his mouth agape for a long time, his fear no less than that of seeing a ghost in broad daylight.

In the midst of an army of 100,000, the commander and his personal guards could be easily and inexplicably attacked without even being able to see what weapons the enemy was using.

Someone let out a terrified whimper, and the sound of clashing armor and falling weapons filled the air.

"Make way! Make way for the King of Cangzhou!" a veteran with a Jingzhou accent suddenly shouted.

He ripped off the imperial insignia and stomped it into the mud. More and more soldiers from Jingzhou began to follow suit, rushing to the side of the road to salute the convoy. This time, even the deputy general, Lu Heming, silently rode his horse to the side.

The narrow official road was quickly cleared to make way for a three-wheeled vehicle, though not wide.

Zhao Zun glared at the generals still mounted on their warhorses, and raised his hand domineeringly, pointing straight ahead.

"The people of Jingzhou are waiting for us!" His voice was like the clang of metal. "Anyone who dares to block our way will be killed without mercy! Let's go!"

The three-wheeled motorcycle convoy roared back to life, its sputtering sound particularly jarring on the otherwise quiet official road.

As the first vehicle rolled over the muddy puddle mixed with blood, Zhao Zun saw a young soldier with a childlike face quietly wiping away tears by the roadside.

As the convoy slowly passed in front of the army, cheers from the veterans from Jingzhou rose like a tidal wave.

The soldiers who had plundered civilians along the way now cowered in the shadows, too afraid to even look up.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Lu Heming gritted his teeth and said, "Zhao Zun, the court will never let what you have done today go unpunished!"

"General, the people are the most important; I can't worry about such things." Zhao Zun glanced at him sideways, gave a cold laugh, and spoke with extreme arrogance.

"If you insist on attacking me, you have two choices: First, you can lead your army to Cangzhou to start the war yourself, and I will not stop you. Second, you can wait here for my return. When I return, I will allow you to launch your attack."

No sooner had Zhao Zun finished speaking than an unexpected situation occurred—

Soldiers from Jingzhou in the imperial army began to move in groups toward Zhao Zun's convoy. First, there were dozens, then hundreds, and finally almost half the army was moving.

"We'll go with the King of Cangzhou!" someone shouted. "He can save our families!"

"That's right! I don't want to fight anymore." Someone threw down his weapon and strode after the convoy.

The disaster victims from Mianning County who had gathered on the mountainside also burst into cheers, and then walked to catch up with the convoy.

Lu Heming's face turned ashen. Knowing that there was no way to turn the tide, he could only watch the convoy disappear into the distance with the remaining soldiers.

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