It seemed County Magistrate An was a man who guarded his wealth fiercely, though truthfully, he hadn't been stingy with Cheng Susu. During her stay at the magistrate's office, she had managed to save over a hundred iron coins as her private stash—a fortune that, converted to Earth currency, might just make one a 'ten-thousand-yuan household.'

Seeing how heartbroken Magistrate An was, I tried to persuade him: "Magistrate An, your thinking here is quite misdirected. When you win a victory, won't the Imperial Court reward you? Won't that money be enough to cover this small loss? This is a case of 'you can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a child, nor catch a scoundrel without letting go of your wife.'"

Magistrate An was amused by my novel phrasing. He chuckled, "Nephew Zhao speaks the truth. Scholars are certainly something else. I'd never in a million years have thought up such a comparison. I was clearly short-sighted just now. With these bandits pressing our borders, I was still worrying over this minor loss. Heh, old age makes one muddled. Please forgive me, forgive me."

Compared to the Twin Stars, I was a total illiterate; what scholar? I turned to A-San and A-Si, who were practically floating with joy, and said, "You two did excellently. You earned the first merit today by driving off the bandits, and the County Lord will surely reward you. Don't forget to treat me to a meal then. Oh, and to the two senior secret agents, Ah Mao and Ah Gou, your contributions were huge too—you must be heavily rewarded."

Ah Mao and Ah Gou had returned; they were the ones who had given advance notice for the people digging the horse pits to retreat. Hearing talk of commendations instantly erased the weariness from yesterday and this morning. The two laughed, "Thank you, Lord Zhao. If it weren't for your brilliant leadership, Lord Zhao, all our scheming would have amounted to nothing. Just one pit from you has doomed over twenty of their horses—miraculous!"

A-San and A-Si pointed toward the base of the city wall: "Lord Zhao, look, those are the common folk who helped us dig the horse pits. They are waiting outside for us to send out the grain."

I glanced down at the crowd and actually spotted Sun Dasheng and Lao Liu mingling among them. I quickly found an excuse to descend from the wall, pretending to go comfort the citizens, and walked up to Sun Dasheng. Sun Dasheng deliberately acted as if he didn't recognize me, cupping his hands in a salute: "Greetings, Lord Zhao. We common folk heard the yamen was short of hands, so we came to offer assistance. I just heard the yamen runners on the ramparts shout that the horse pits worked? It seems our all-night effort was not in vain."

I returned the gesture with a sincere clasp of my fists: "Thank you all so much."

Lao Liu added, "Lord Zhao is too polite. Feiyu County is our home. If we didn't actively rise up to resist those overbearing bandits, we would likely end up as their slaves. We should be thanking Lord Zhao for waking us up; otherwise, we’d all still be hiding at home."

I said, "Brothers, since you are keen to fight the bandits, and our city defenses are currently thin, might I ask you to lead these people up to the ramparts to help the officials defend the city?"

Sun Dasheng replied, "We shall heed Lord Zhao’s commands."

"Excellent!" I couldn't help but rejoice. I had worried that the twenty-odd yamen runners wouldn't be enough to handle the assault later. Although the bandits were blocked on the main road, those small horse pits couldn't stop them for long. They would soon bypass the pits and reach the city walls, requiring a large number of people to fight back. These members of the Feiyu Gang were no ordinary citizens; they were robust, strong, and more likely to follow orders—precisely the best candidates for reinforcement.

Sun Dasheng turned and selected some twenty people, then followed me up to the wall. As we walked, I whispered softly, "Thank you, Brother Sun. But defending the city is certainly dangerous; you must all be extremely careful. The most important thing is to guard against those poisoned arrows."

Sun Dasheng declared, "Brother Zhao isn't afraid, so why should I, as an elder brother, be scared? Feiyu County is our Feiyu Gang’s territory. These bandits think they can steal our livelihood? No way! We’ll drive them out, even if it costs us our lives."

When Magistrate An saw me bringing up a group of commoners, he grew anxious: "Nephew Zhao, why have you brought civilians up here? This is a vital defensive position; unauthorized personnel are forbidden. Make them go down quickly."

I pointed to the bandits in the distance who were chopping down trees to clear a path: "Magistrate An, look over there. The bandits will soon bypass the horse pits and attack. We only have about twenty people up here—do you think we can hold them? These brothers aren't afraid of danger and have come to help us defend the city. Do you think we have a reason to refuse them? We should be exceedingly grateful."

Just then, the bandits managed to hack out a new path around the horse pits. Over three hundred fine horses whinnied and charged forward, thundering straight toward the base of the wall. Magistrate An flinched and shrank back, "Refuse? Of course not! Of course not! Ask everyone to lend their full support. After repelling the bandits, this county will offer great rewards."

Sun Dasheng also saw the bandits charging. He urgently said, "Lord Zhao, tell us quickly what needs to be done! There's no time!"

I shouted, "Those who can shoot arrows, immediately grab bows and arrows! Those who cannot shoot, follow A-Si to the rolling logs, stones, and vats of oil. In a moment, everyone must follow the orders of their respective commanders. No one acts rashly! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

With that, I drew my military saber and brought it down hard onto a quiver of arrows resting on the battlement. Over thirty arrows snapped cleanly in half. The onlookers gasped, having never seen such a sharp blade, exclaiming, "Wow, divine strength!"

Lao Liu yelled at the stunned crowd, "Stop calling him a great god! Hurry and get to your posts! Those with great arm strength, go man the bows and arrows. Those with average strength, prepare to launch rolling logs and stones. Those with less strength, prepare to pour the boiling oil." Scholar Lao Liu was clearly a man of perception; he understood the purpose of these implements with just one glance. Beyond deep admiration in his heart, he had no other words.

Daliwan was usually quiet, and Linglong, knowing I was now the commander, dared not speak to me lightly. But as the bandits drew closer below, she anxiously tugged my arm to draw my attention. Yun Yao also approached me and said, "The bandits are attacking with full force. They are about to enter the range of our crossbows. We should tell everyone to take cover."

We had confiscated a few crossbows when clearing the battlefield this morning. I had examined them closely; their construction was very simple, essentially just a compound bow, only with a few mechanisms that could hold the arrow in the firing position for a long time, ready to be released by pulling a trigger. Because it didn't require continuous physical exertion, its range was much greater than a regular bow. Although it lacked a sighting mechanism, saving one hand—the other being needed to control the horse—made it easier to target objects.

Yun Yao's words served as a reminder. Although we were positioned above them, our archers’ range was insufficient. The bandits could now attack us, but they hadn't yet reached our effective firing zone. So, I waved my hand, ordering everyone to conceal themselves.

Whoosh... The bandits only managed to fire their first volley of crossbow bolts before crashing into the caltrops. They had initially been baffled and dismissive of these upward-pointing spikes. Only now, up close, did they realize these things posed a fatal threat to horses. Having already been enraged by stumbling into the horse pits, the bandits had charged forward madly after clearing a new path. Now, due to their carelessness and contempt for the stakes, three horses failed to brake and plowed straight into them.

Thump, thump, thump. Three strong, sturdy horses were impaled through the chest and dropped dead instantly. The bandits, who had initially looked down on this pile of wood, became fearful. Some swung their blades, trying to chop them down, but these stakes were exceptionally heavy; it would take at least thirty or forty solid blows to break one.

A bandit leader shouted a command, and over a dozen bandits dismounted to haul away the stakes. Without clearing a path, they couldn't advance. At this moment, five scaling ladders and four makeshift battering rams were being brought up from the rear. The bandits knew that if they couldn't reach the base of the wall quickly to shield their siege engines, this attack would likely fail again.

The dozen or so bandits had just dismounted and hadn't even managed to lift a stake when a volley of arrows shot down from the wall—swoosh, swoosh, swoosh. Caught off guard and right in the optimal range, these ten bandits were immediately turned into pincushions and perished.

The bandit leader was furious. With a roar, he commanded over three hundred crossbowmen to fire simultaneously at the city wall, momentarily suppressing the defending volley of arrows. Meanwhile, another twenty-odd bandits dismounted to move the stakes. However, this time, what rained down from the wall was not arrows, but beams of white light. Wherever the light struck, men and horses were slain, and even their curved sabers could not block it—the metal melted instantly upon contact. The bandit ranks fell into chaos once more.

The bandit leader shouted twice, trying to stabilize the formation, when suddenly a beam of white light shot toward his skull. He only had time to squeeze his eyes shut; his scalp felt a searing heat, and then he lost consciousness.

Seeing their leader fall, the bandits became somewhat disorganized. Suddenly, another rider leaped out from the ranks, shouting commands and directing the crowd. The bandits resumed their orderly work of advancing. But their good fortune was short-lived; this newly appointed leader was also quickly shot from his horse. Yet, new leaders kept emerging from the bandit ranks to direct them. Despite heavy losses, they managed to move the stakes and bring the scaling ladders and battering rams right up to the base of the wall under the cover of their crossbow fire.

Yun Yao turned to me, "The bandits have become smarter. The last time we killed their leader at Feiying Prefecture, they scattered in a panic. But this time, even after we killed four leaders consecutively, their morale wasn't shaken. It seems the quality of the citizenry of Wanmaguo cannot be underestimated."

I gazed at the advancing battering rams and scaling ladders. "Indeed. According to Constable Sun, in previous encounters, they never used these things. Yet in just a few days, they have manufactured siege equipment. It seems that country also has experts. The safety of Shuangcheng is greatly concerning."

Linglong nestled tightly against my side, seemingly savoring this intimate contact. Normally, such a posture would have been unthinkable, but now, with arrows and bolts raining down from above, everyone was huddled in the corners behind the crenellations to avoid the barrage, so our position seemed perfectly natural. Hearing my earlier words, Linglong whispered to me, "With Master here in Shuangcheng, what is there to worry about? No matter how fiercely they attack, we can defend it with Master's methods. What’s there to fear?"

While the scaling ladders hadn't yet reached the wall, I explained, "That is naturally different. Wanmaguo has fine horses and the superior weaponry support of the Jin Kingdom; now they have also learned how to build siege weapons. But what does Shuangcheng have? Nothing but backwardness. We can't even forge our own blades. Tell me, if we only defend, how many years must we defend for? Moreover, defense never leads to development. Founding and pioneering are the true path."