"The main force of the bandit army is here! A lot—A LOT!"The sentry atop Gaojia Village's wall screamed like a pig discovering fire.
For villagers who'd lived their entire lives without stepping beyond the next county, the sight was overwhelming—nearly a thousand men moving together, dust rising like a brown fog.
To Li Daoxuan, however, it looked no different from the opening ceremony of a high-school sports day.Thirty classes marching in lines?Yeah—this was about the same.Actually… worse.
Because unlike the high-schoolers, these bandits had no formation. No discipline.Just a loose herd of filthy, hungry men wobbling across the field.Not a trace of order.And, tragically, not a single one shouting, "Study hard! Improve every day!"
Their physical condition was even sadder. Yellow-skinned, hollow-eyed, malnourished—Modern students would run circles around these guys.
The villagers of Gaojia Village, by contrast, had spent the past half month eating rice, noodles, meat, oil, vegetables…They were basically walking nutritional advertisements.
But there was one thing the bandits had that Gaojia Village lacked entirely:
Momentum.
These thieves had killed people.Pillaged villages.Butchered families.Stormed even the well-defended Baijiabao nearby.
They had confidence, cruelty, and the kind of battlefield ferocity that could only be earned by hacking real flesh.
Gaojia Village's villagers had…well, they had carbs.
And right now, carbs weren't helping.
Seeing the thousand-man mob closing in, the villagers trembled.Even though Sanshier and Gao Yiye kept shouting, "Don't be afraid! Heaven blesses us!"their legs shook harder.
The bandit host halted a hundred meters from the walls.
A burly brute with a painted ghost-face mask stepped forward, raising his huge saber.
"I am the Supreme Ming King! Cowards of Gaojia Village! You think hiding behind a wall makes you untouchable? Today, I—"
Over a thousand bandits roared his words with him, shaking the fields.
The villagers: "…"
Even Sanshier's legs shook.He whispered, "See? Their intimidation is working. I'm scared right now."
Mr. Bai clicked his tongue."These idiots… You don't shout threats before attacking! This just tells the defenders they need to fight to the death. If you want a surrender, you promise benefits first."
He jabbed a finger at Sanshier."And you—stop trembling! You're supposed to be inspiring them!"
Sanshier straightened his back. "I am a literati. Courage is optional."
"I'm a scholar too," Mr. Bai snapped. "But I'm still yelling at you!"
He turned toward the trebuchets."Two blacksmiths! When I shout 'SMASH,' you smash!"
Li Da and Gao Yiyi answered loudly, "Understood!"
Next he pointed at his dozen household servants on the wall."Bai family retainers! You hold the first wave!"
"We obey!"
"Gao Chuwu! Zheng Daniu! You lead the second wave!"
The two tall young men slapped their chests. "Yes!"
He looked around."Everyone else understands their roles, right?"
Voices answered:
"I know!""Know!""I think I know…""I… sort of know…"
The defenders ranged from brave to terrified, disciplined to hopelessly confused—not that different from the rabble outside.
Meanwhile, Li Daoxuan had already set up his tiny wooden bench outside the box, holding his rice bowl in one hand and his magnifying glass in the other.
Dinner + live ancient battle drama = peak luxury.
On the field, the bandit leader raised his saber dramatically.
"Charge!"
His second-in-command tugged his sleeve."Boss… the wall is very high. Charge where? We can't exactly 'rush up' it…"
"Use the LADDER!" the Supreme Ming King roared. "Climb up and you win!"
"Oh! Right!"
"And the big pointy log? Smash their wooden gate! Then we win!"
"Oh! Right!"
The Supreme Ming King waved his saber again.
"More than a thousand versus a hundred! How could we lose?! Attack! Just like Baijiabao—we'll win in a single rush!"
The bandits screamed and surged forward, waving mismatched weapons, hauling ladders and battering logs.
On the wall, the villagers panicked into a squirming blob of fear.
Even Gao Yiye's legs nearly gave out.But she remembered the Third Lady's instruction:"The more dignified you look, the more they'll respect Tianzun."
She clenched her teeth and stood straight.
Then—
Mr. Bai roared, his voice booming across the entire village:
"Blacksmiths! SMASH!"
Li Da and Gao Yiyi, hidden behind the wall and unable to see the terrifying bandit charge, felt no fear at all.They simply raised their hammers and brought them down.
DOOM!
The plastic trebuchets shuddered—And two massive stones catapulted skyward.
The stones soared over the wall with a shrieking wind.Gao Chuwu and the others instinctively ducked as the boulders whistled overhead.
Then—
BOOM!
The first boulder obliterated a bandit instantly.Both stones rolled through the mob like divine bowling balls, crushing bones, snapping bodies, carving two bloody trenches through the crowd.
Bandits screamed:
"My mother—!""Zhang San just exploded into meat paste!""My FACE! It's all BLOOD!""WHAT was that?!""Why did a giant rock just FLY OUT?!""RUN—run—run—!"
The bandit formation collapsed into chaos.
And there were still eighteen trebuchets waiting.
The two blacksmiths grabbed their hammers, sprinted to the next machines, and raised their arms—
SMASH.