My lord, spare his life!

"Half a day? Half a day it is."

Let Guan Si be smug for half a day.

Half a day later, it will be the day of Guan Si's death!

Just as the leader was about to raise his hand to wave the man away, he suddenly remembered something and changed his gesture: "Wait, send men to intercept them as before."

The others were puzzled: "Aren't the Allied forces coming?"

The leader looked at the group as if they were idiots.

If Guan Si hadn't been relentlessly pursuing him, leaving him no way out, he really wouldn't have wanted to join forces with these idiots: "The Allied forces are indeed coming, but are you planning to send a forced march to fight Guan Si and his men? Don't they see through your little schemes?"

Don't be so blatant in your scheming.

The sound of the abacus beads being struck could be heard even on the other side of the Dongfan Mountains.

Regardless, we must at least put on a show of holding off Guan Si's troops to buy the reinforcements some time to recover. This way, even if the reinforcements harbor resentment, they won't openly break ties. After eliminating Guan Si, we still need to rely on cooperation with the mountain prefectures to recover our strength; we certainly can't afford to completely offend them. These fools don't even have this much foresight.

The others resented being looked down upon, but they also understood that there was some truth to it. It wasn't that they didn't understand; it was just that they had been too used to being domineering and arbitrary within their own ranks, and they weren't used to this new mode of operation.

"If it weren't for my brother's reminder, we would have made a terrible mistake."

Someone who was both flexible and assertive stepped forward to flatter him.

His location was unfavorable, too close to Guan Si, making him the unfortunate victim Guan Si first attacked and wiped out. He fled in the middle of the night, not even having time to pull up his pants, taking with him a male favorite, a concubine, and two trusted confidants. The next day, he gathered his remaining forces; the once large camp had been decimated, leaving only a hundred or so men.

Now, he and his hundred-odd men live at the mercy of their leader.

They had no choice but to fawn over their leader.

Other vassals stepped forward to express their gratitude, while the brothers and sisters whose strength had been preserved rolled their eyes, but refrained from directly retaliating out of consideration for their reputation.

With everyone having different thoughts, their efficiency was naturally low.

Everyone knows how terrifying Guan Si's Hundred Ghosts Guard is. Sending troops to intercept him is no different from sending them to their deaths. Nobody wants to send their own loyal guards there. If their personal guards are wiped out, even without Guan Si as a threat, they will find it difficult to establish themselves in the Dongfan Mountains and will most likely be swallowed up by their own brethren.

"...If it's just one group, they might fight to the death, but if it's several groups of miscellaneous soldiers, they're nothing to worry about." Guan Si knew these people's temperament best. "They're all cowards, desperately hiding behind others. What kind of threat can they possibly pose?"

"They're all like this, so why are Jiu Si and the others worried?"

Zhang Yang remembered that Xu Jin and Du Fang were both quite wary of the bandits from the Eastern Frontier. The Tianyue Army also had a few records of suppressing bandits, but they didn't achieve much.

Guan Zongdao said, "Times have changed."

The fact that the Eastern Barbarian bandits are weak now doesn't mean they were weak before.

Guan Zong glanced at Guan Si discreetly: "...As the saying goes, a cowardly soldier is a cowardly individual, but a cowardly general leads to a cowardly army. Back when the old man and his gang were still around, the Eastern Bandits were fierce and brutal, fearing nothing but death. How much money could Tianyue County, this rural place, afford to support elite troops? You didn't see the Eastern Bandits at their peak; even the gatekeepers could eat meat every day."

Meat is very important for those who practice martial arts.

The two sides are not on the same level in terms of military strength.

Zhang Yang: "Eating human flesh?"

Guan Zong smiled awkwardly, his eyes darting around: "Ha, well... human flesh is cheaper, other meats are more expensive..."

Lamb and dog meat are much more expensive than vegetables.

However, it's not that vegetable vendors can't sell their produce at high prices.

Young children are the most expensive, followed by elderly women, with the cheapest being elderly men. Young and middle-aged men are also available, but not in large numbers. Many young and middle-aged men can perform manual labor, and women among them are fertile and can give birth to more children, thus increasing their value significantly. Unless both young and middle-aged men and women are ill, disabled, or have lost their ability to work and their sexual value, they generally will not appear in the child market.

Zhang Yang said, "We can't eat human flesh anymore."

Guan Zong tugged at his ears to indicate that he had heard everything. Zhang Yang had warned him before, so how could he not remember?

Moreover, he really doesn't have that hobby.

He had seen soldiers, their eyes bloodshot from the battlefield, seize half-dead prisoners, bite down on their carotid artery, and tear flesh apart alive with their teeth. The sight of that savage chewing still made him uncomfortable. He felt he wasn't interacting with humans, but rather with a pack of beasts in human skin.

Zhang Yang wiped the blood and flesh off his cane.

He suddenly asked, "Why did you leave?"

Guan Zong feigned ignorance: "When did I leave?"

"I'm asking you why you left the Eastern Bandits? Guan Siyin said you even know where the trade routes are, while he doesn't, which shows you hold a high position within the Eastern Bandits. Why did you leave them?"

If Guan Zong hadn't left, he could have at least been a bandit leader—the boss can do well anywhere, but the poor ones are the laborers below him—but Guan Zong ran away, and there's more to it than meets the eye.

Guan Zong: "...Why ask such detailed questions?"

It's something he really doesn't want to mention.

Seeing that Zhang Yang was still staring at him expressionlessly, Guan Zong sighed and twirled his beard with his fingers, saying, "My lord actually knows."

Zhang Yang: "...???"

Guan Zongdao said, "The stars are descending in fury."

His "Star-Descending Calamity" is a creature that cries at night, capable of forcibly rejuvenating itself within a set timeframe. Within the Eastern Bandits, cannibalism has never been considered taboo. Guan Zong was displeased when this past event was mentioned.

"When I was a child, I was transformed back into a baby by the wrath of the stars. Some little beasts offered me up, saying they wanted to give me to the old man as a birthday gift, to be eaten on his birthday night. They said you are what you eat, and that eating me would make him cry at night, so the old man could stay young forever."

Zhang Yang: "...???"

She asked curiously, "So how did you survive?"

Surely it's not another sworn sister that Guan Zong just made up on the spot?

Guan Zong: "My lord, on what day did Guan Si stage a mutiny?"

Guan Si deliberately chose this day to launch the coup because the old man's many children would try to return to celebrate his birthday. The coup on this day would maximize the chances of wiping them out in one fell swoop.

Zhang Yang looked somewhat speechless.

"In other words, Guan Si saved your life."

Guan Zong had previously called people "little beast" repeatedly.

Guan Zong retorted indignantly, "He didn't come here specifically to save me; he just happened to be there. Besides, it's not like I haven't saved him before. Back when he had half his skin peeled off and was on the verge of death, wasn't it I who happened to be passing by and took him away?"

If it weren't for him, even Lie Xing Jiang Li wouldn't have been able to save Guan Si's life.

Guan Zong retorted confidently, "What's wrong with me calling him a little beast a couple of times? Isn't the old beast's son a little beast too?"

Zhang Yang: "You've included yourself in this insult."

"I don't consider myself anything other than an animal."

Zhang Yang: "..."

In a sense, Guan Zongzhen was truly an impeccable figure. Not having a household registration certificate gave him the right to be arrogant and unruly.

Guan Si coldly replied, "I'm still alive, not dead yet."

The bandits of the Eastern Frontier are utterly incompetent.

Their defensive line was sparse and ineffective in stopping Zhang Yang's troops. Most of the heads were taken by Guan Si and his Hundred Ghosts Guard. Zhang Yang's personal guards were too slow to even see the enemy's face, let alone snatch heads from the Hundred Ghosts Guard.

Puyang Kui's face grew increasingly pale and then increasingly dark.

If they were newly recruited retainers, it wouldn't matter; if they couldn't compete, they couldn't compete. But Puyang Kui had a group of personal guards under his command. Even these personal guards couldn't compete with the ruthless Hundred Ghost Guards.

This is a joint anti-bandit operation between Tianyue County Government and the Hundred Ghosts Guard, not an inspection of the Hundred Ghosts Guard's anti-bandit operation by Tianyue County Government! What are these people doing? By not demonstrating their own military strength, they will become a laughing stock in the future, whether the two sides are enemies or cooperating.

Guan Zong didn't care that the soldiers she trained were ridiculed, but the Puyang chieftain had a burden to bear, and she couldn't accept the thought of it.

The Puyang governor was secretly vying for power.

However, the effect was not significant.

The Hundred Ghosts Guards would behead anyone who killed them and hang their heads on horseback.

The spoils range from a few to a dozen or twenty.

Fresh blood dripped down the horse's back.

The newly recruited soldiers had only been trained for a few months and hadn't really seen blood. They could bring themselves to kill, but they hesitated to learn from the Hundred Ghost Guards.

Puyang Kui sighed inwardly.

The cooking time is far from sufficient.

She planned to launch anti-bandit operations in other areas after this battle, allowing soldiers to practice combat skills and see more bloodshed.

Living in chaotic times, one will inevitably witness the true horrors of human suffering sooner or later.

Zhang Yang and his group's speed was not significantly affected, and in less than two hours, the trade route checkpoint Guan Zong had mentioned came into view. A high wall was built in front of the checkpoint, closely connected to the mountainside, and fluttering banners could be seen from afar.

The watchtowers on the high walls had long since discovered their presence.

"Useless! You couldn't even stop them after all this time!" The leader was so angry that veins bulged on his forehead. He grabbed something and threw it at the messenger soldier, trying to hide his panic. "What use are you!"

"The Hundred Ghost Guards only number one or two hundred..."

"Is it a matter of one or two hundred people? Does having more people guarantee victory?" Every time the Hundred Ghost Guards intercepted them, their numbers were always fewer than theirs, yet they always inflicted heavy losses on them.

Guan Si is a bloodthirsty madman.

His Hundred Ghost Guards were all madmen.

The messenger stammered, "No, more than a hundred people."

They discovered that there was another force of soldiers behind the Hundred Ghosts Guard.

The group exchanged bewildered glances: "There's another army?"

Zhang Yang probably didn't expect that because his side couldn't outrun or outmaneuver the Hundred Ghosts Guards, the enemy's intelligence system only included the Hundred Ghosts Guards, while Tian Yue's side had no information about them. Even when they occasionally saw a few people whose attire differed from the Hundred Ghosts Guards, they were simply assumed to be newcomers.

"Whose flag are we flying?"

"The flag has the character 'Zhang' written on it."

In fact, Zhang Yang didn't even want to raise this banner.

Isn't this war?

Fan You: [Of course, it's war.]

Why do we need to display our flags so openly during a war? Is it because we're afraid the enemy won't know who's fighting us? Shouldn't war be fought stealthily, catching the enemy off guard, ideally emerging from their bedside?

Zhang Yang couldn't understand the act of hanging banners at all.

Fan You: [...]

He really didn't want to explain to Zhang Yang.

Zhang Yang could suddenly sneak up on the enemy and behead them, but the soldiers didn't have that ability. Not only did they not have it, but without flags to guide them, they might even get lost along the way.

In short, the "Zhang" family banner has been raised.

However, the soldiers carrying the banner couldn't keep up with the fast-moving Hundred Ghost Guards, causing the banner to fall behind most of the time.

Fan You sighed again and again.

Fortunately, this was just a campaign against bandits and not a battle against a regular army. Otherwise, with this ever-stretching army formation, they would have been stabbed in the back long ago.

"Zhang? Who is this guy?"

Guan Si was arrogant and disdained to associate with others.

"It is said that the new prefect of Tianyue is surnamed Zhang."

The leader thought he'd heard a joke: "The Prefect of Tianyue? How could that little beast Guan Si possibly collude with officials?"

Guan Si despised officials the most.

The bandits from the Eastern Frontier, who were closer to Tianyue County, knew more about it.

"It could be the Tianyue Prefecture... Some time ago, the Tianyue Prefecture sent troops to blockade the foot of Dongfan Mountain and killed several of our men... If it weren't for them, how could it be such a coincidence?"

Others were both in favor and opposed.

The group was arguing and unable to reach an agreement when their leader shouted angrily.

"Enough! What's the point of arguing about this kind of thing!"

The enemy has already reached our doorstep. What's the point of knowing their names? The most urgent task is to drive them back! If we can't stop them, and Guan Si breaks through their defenses before reinforcements arrive, everything will be over! The leader was so angry he wanted to kill someone!

Just then, they felt that the sky was visibly darkening.

It's not even night yet!

A thought flashed through the leader's mind, but before he could fully process it, hurried footsteps sounded outside. Before the messenger even entered, a panicked voice reached their ears: "Report—no, something bad has happened! Outside the city, outside the city—!"

"What happened? Useless coward!" Seeing the messenger's flustered and incoherent speech, the group decided to go out and see for themselves. They were immediately stunned by a pair of tiger-like eyes that seemed to pierce the city walls, rendering them unable to move!

Yes, a white tiger.

A white tiger whose shoulder height was much taller than the city wall.

The other party held its snow-white head high, its golden tiger eyes several times larger than war drums, staring intently at them.

"It, it, it—"

Beneath the city wall, Guan Zong spoke their minds.

"Damn it, that little beast is a real beast!"

Guan Zong slapped his thigh hard, his face contorted in pain.

The stars belong to the Four Symbols, and those who cultivate to a certain level can transform into a part of their bodies into beasts. The Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise each have seven constellations, and there are seven levels in total. The higher the level, the more complete the beast transformation. The White Tiger before them is clearly at the fifth level.

It was missing only the chest and the tiger's stomach.

That is, the constellations Stomach and Orion.

If that's not obvious enough, take a look at Du Fang. Du Fang is only at the second level, but that strength is already enough to be a vanguard for a warlord on the battlefield. Guan Zong is slightly stronger than Du Fang, but he always felt that the gap between him and Guan Si wasn't too big.

but--

They've reached the fifth level of beast transformation.

Guan Zong felt that the other party was really good-natured for not killing him.

The next second, a scene confirmed his guess.

Beneath the city walls, the two armies stood as witnesses.

A tall figure carrying a cane walked up to the highest point, stepping on a tiger head.

Zhang Yang surveyed all the mountains from a high vantage point.

He spread his arms wide: "Let us become one with the tiger."

Everyone: "..."

No, when did she go up there?