Chapter 102: Chapter 102: A Windfall of Wealth
"Kill them!"
As the peaceful night was shattered, Han Wu led hundreds of Divine Brave Guards charging forward.
Hu Qiang and several hunters bent their bows and launched arrows. Once in range, they released arrow after arrow, with at least one hitting the target every three shots.
Taking advantage of the chaos caused by the Pottery Bombs on the official soldiers’ formation, Chen Mo charged forward on horseback.
One of the soldiers stepped forward to block him, but was directly knocked several meters away by the Chestnut Horse. Nearby soldiers, coming to their senses, quickly picked up their long spears, aiming them at Chen Mo.
But at this moment, a flash of saber light passed before their eyes.
Thud!
As a head rolled down, a gush of fresh blood sprayed out from the severed neck.
Chen Mo took the lead and broke into the crowd.
Seeing soldiers stationed at the salt warehouse rushing out, Chen Mo took the last Pottery Bomb, lit the fuse, and hurled it forcefully.
The Pottery Bomb exploded among the crowd, scattering countless fragments everywhere.
Some soldiers, upon hearing the buzzing sound near their ears, suddenly felt a warmth on their cheeks, along with a sticky sensation. Gently wiping it, they found themselves drenched in blood, flowing down to their neck pit.
Some soldiers were scared and tried to run, but suddenly felt pain in their calves. Looking down, they were shocked to see blood gushing out, and any slight movement resulted in excruciating pain.
Others started rolling on the ground.
The surrounding soldiers had never seen such a scene before. As a defense army from the county town, they had never been to the battlefield, and upon encountering such a bloody sight, each was terrified.
On top of that, as a group of black-clad people surged in, they were immediately frightened and scattered in escape.
Chen Mo, with one slash, killed several men, breaking through the crowd like a War God.
The Divine Brave Guards were inspired by his might and engaged the remaining soldiers, three against one.
These ten days of hard training finally showed some results.
Unfortunately, they hadn’t formed a battle array, leading to some chaos.
In less than a quarter of an hour, hundreds of defense soldiers were either dead or fled.
As for those who escaped, Chen Mo didn’t kill them all, as he was not bloodthirsty.
The main task was urgent.
"Hurry up, the first and second squads strip off their armor, confiscate all weapons. The third squad, bring over the mule cart and donkey cart."
Saying this, Chen Mo dismounted and entered the salt warehouse.
"My goodness..."
Following closely behind, Hu Qiang couldn’t help but click his tongue as he looked at the heap of coarse salt piled high in the warehouse.
"Quick, quick, quickly pack them into bags and load them onto the carts, time is limited, speed up, move it!"
Suppressing his inner excitement, Chen Mo urged the soldiers to load the salt.
There were shovels in the warehouse.
Those without shovels dug with their hands, packing the salt into bags.
A quarter of an hour later, two mule carts, donkey carts, and ox carts—all six carts—were loaded to the brim.
The job wasn’t finished yet; Chen Mo ordered each man to carry at least another thirty pounds.
"Let’s go."
Chen Mo no longer lingered, waving his hand.
Upon hearing this, a soldier glanced at the warehouse, lamenting, "Immortal Master Chen, there’s still so much salt left."
By now, the Divine Brave Guards knew that their food was acquired by selling contraband salt.
Seeing so much salt left behind and unable to be taken was more painful than death to them.
Hu Qiang hesitated slightly before suggesting, "Immortal Master Chen, why not make a few more trips? We don’t fear the fatigue."
Chen Mo laughed in exasperation at this suggestion, "What, do you think the salt warehouse is our own village? Come and go as you please?
If we wait for the defense army from Qingtian County to arrive, we won’t be able to leave, retreat."
"Then let me carry more."
...
The mountain road was illuminated by patches of firelight.
Cattle, mules, and horses, treading heavily, dragged the fully loaded goods of coarse salt step by step forward.
As they neared the village, the dawn began to break at the horizon.
"Who?"
Three miles away from the village, a vigilant inquiry sounded in the dark.
"It’s me."
"The password."
"The Heavenly King covers the ground tiger."
"The Pagoda suppresses the river demon."
Firelight brightened in the nearby woods, and two scouts from the Divine Brave Guard, sent ahead to keep watch, emerged holding torches.
"Immortal Master Chen," they said respectfully.
Chen Mo patted their shoulders, "Your vigilance is commendable."
Upon returning to the village, Chen Mo immediately ordered the weighing of coarse salt and the counting of confiscated military equipment.
Then came recording the battle achievements of each Divine Brave Guard; there were rewards for killing the enemy.
However, they hadn’t yet established rules for recording achievements by severing heads or ears, so for now, accomplishments were recounted verbally, with witnesses as proof.
Everyone wanted achievements, and knew each other well, so lying would surely be uncovered.
Additionally, even those who hadn’t killed the enemy but participated in today’s "raid" received rewards.
Such a commotion naturally woke the villagers.
All rose from bed to check if their husbands/sons were safe.
The surprise attack this time was quite successful.
The soldiers at the salt warehouse were caught off guard, with many frightened, while the Divine Brave Guard lost only six men, with seventeen wounded.
The compensation standards were the same as before.
...
The weighing of coarse salt couldn’t be completed immediately, but the military equipment was already counted.
Two hundred thirty-seven suits of armor were confiscated, eleven of which were damaged.
Twenty-one long spears.
One hundred seventy official sabers.
Ten longbows.
Twelve crossbows, two of which were damaged.
Numerous iron shovels.
Indeed, they even brought back the iron shovels from the salt warehouse.
...
Qingtian County Government Office.
Late into the night.
The Qingtian County Magistrate was sleeping with his newly married third concubine when the steward’s cries started outside, followed by urgent knocking.
Awakened by the noise, the Qingtian County Magistrate cursed in anger.
The steward said, "Master, something terrible has happened; the salt warehouse was robbed by bandits."
"What?"
Initially, the Qingtian County Magistrate was still groggy, but upon hearing the words ’bandits’ and ’robbed the salt warehouse,’ he suddenly became alert.
He pushed away the concubine clinging to him, opened the door hurriedly, barefoot, and asked the steward what had happened.
Upon hearing the steward recount the events, the Qingtian County Magistrate furrowed his brows deeply.
A jar that could explode?
A watchtower collapsing instantly?
Killing several men with a single slash?
An uncountable number of bandits...
The more the Qingtian County Magistrate listened, the more he felt something was amiss. In a deep voice, he said, "Is it possible that the Celestial Master traitors have come? But no word of Nanyang’s fall has been received..."
"What do those bandits look like?"
"According to the surviving soldiers, the night was too dark to see clearly, but some of them wore armor similar to ours," the steward said.
"Similar armor?" The Qingtian County Magistrate frowned further. Many from the Celestial Master traitors wore armor similar to theirs, stolen from them.
"Quickly send someone to notify Chang Yuan," ordered the Qingtian County Magistrate.