Water Margin: I am Zhu Biao

Lijia Village.

It's a small village nestled against the mountains, with only about twenty households in total.

Because it is located northeast of Shahu Pass, it was not affected by the wildfire.

The sky was already bright, but the entire village remained deathly silent, devoid of human voices or barking dogs, and not even a wisp of smoke could be seen.

Boom boom boom~

Suddenly, a series of muffled thunderous footsteps came from outside the village, and seven or eight hundred soldiers carrying long poles slowly pressed in like a dark cloud.

These soldiers were all dressed in disheveled uniforms and their leather armor was incomplete, but they were all young and strong, and their fighting spirit was high.

Morale is just as high.

Damn it! It's been so long since they received their full pay, and even double pay! Their families can finally have a good New Year!

"point!"

Upon reaching the village entrance, Zhu Biao, who was leading the way, suddenly raised his hand and gave a low shout.

wow~

At his command, more than a hundred soldiers, led by several captains, scattered in all directions.

This was a strategy Zhu Biao had devised the night before, deploying over a hundred men to seal off the entire village.

These garrison soldiers do not need to obstruct the enemy; they only need to strike the gong when they spot the enemy, and Pang Qiutang's archer cavalry will arrive in an instant.

Dozens of elite mounted archers unleashed a barrage of arrows; even a god would find it difficult to withstand!

Zhu Biao was determined; he had to see Master Qin's corpse today, no matter what, or he wouldn't be able to rest easy.

"Go! As long as you can leave the village alive, yesterday will be forgiven."

Zhu Biao turned his head and said indifferently, without any emotion.

The ones he named were a dozen or so soldiers from the patrol station, their faces ashen. They were the same guys who had set up barricades at Shahu Pass yesterday to block the way out.

Come to think of it, they were quite unlucky.

They had no idea who Zhu Biao was; they were only ordered to block the road because their superior had accepted money.

As a result, not only were more than a dozen people slaughtered like slicing melons and chopping vegetables, but even those who managed to escape with their lives at the time are now facing the fate of cannon fodder.

Nine deaths!

These soldiers were all locals. The prefectural and county governments worked together and dispatched only a few dozen constables to dig them out overnight.

They had no choice but to rebel.

As I said before, the Song Dynasty was rotten to the core, but it was not dead yet, and the power of the government should not be underestimated.

This is also why Zhu Biao humbled himself and changed his identity from time to time—it was simply because the time was not yet right!

"Crescent formation, follow me into the village!"

Seeing that the troops that had been sent out had gradually surrounded the entire village, Zhu Biao brandished his spear and shouted.

His spear had also been modified, with six fire-breathing bamboo tubes attached to the shaft.

"Why is this village so eerie? There's not a sound at all!"

"Yes! Not a single ghost can be seen."

"Damn it, there's not a soul in sight, not even a rooster crowing or a dog barking. Could they all be dead?"

"Could it be that the entire village has been fed poisonous insects?"

The army slowly marched into the village, but the surroundings remained as silent as a tomb. The soldiers felt a chill run down their spines and began to whisper among themselves.

"Halt! Silence! Stand your ground! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

Zhu Biao suddenly shouted.

"Draw your bow! Nock your arrow!"

Pang Qiutang, positioned at the rear, immediately responded and shouted orders to the cavalry.

The cavalry unit she selected from the Imperial Guards stationed there was responsible not only for encirclement, support, and pursuit, but also for supervising the battle.

It is a pillar of strength that can be described as a stabilizing force.

This is also why Zhu Biao was willing to sell everything he owned to form a cavalry team. In the era of cold weapons, cavalry archers were invincible in open field battles.

Even heavily armored cavalry are useless; just switch to armor-piercing arrows, and they become sitting ducks that can't be caught or escaped.

Therefore, no matter how powerful the armored heavy cavalry is, it can only serve as an auxiliary military unit and cannot form an army on its own.

With two shouts, the crowd fell silent instantly.

Everyone tensed up, raising the long pole with one hand and pulling out the tinderbox with the other.

At this time, the dozen or so patrol soldiers responsible for scouting the way split into two groups and, with gritted teeth, went to investigate the two households closest to the village entrance.

A moment later, they rushed out as if granted a pardon, waving their hands vigorously at Zhu Biao and shouting in tearful voices.

"Sir, there's no one here! And no insects either!"

"Continue the investigation."

Zhu Biao pointed his spear forward and coldly replied, then immediately gave an order to those behind him.

"Chief Zou, set fire to these two houses!"

"Here you go!"

Chief Zou responded and quickly led more than twenty soldiers, each carrying a flying fire lance, out of the ranks.

"Ready, ignite, extend the rod!"

Hoo hoo hoo~~

At Zou Dutou's command, dozens of fire snakes shot out one after another, and the thatched house was ignited by flames almost instantly.

"Hmm, not bad. When I return to the village, I'll also form a flying fire lance team."

Zhu Biao gazed at the houses visibly engulfed in flames and pondered to himself.

This was the strategy he had come up with: to proceed step by step, steadily and surely, gradually squeezing out Master Qin's space while simultaneously cutting off his escape route.

As for the thatched house that was destroyed, he will accept the loss if the villager is still alive.

Soon, both houses were ablaze. Zhu Biao waited patiently for several breaths, confirming that no poisonous insects had escaped, before giving the order:

"keep going!"

Following the same method, after burning down eight households, Zhu Biao led his troops to the heart of the village, where the Li Family Ancestral Hall was right in front of them.

The scouts were now much bolder than before, after all, they had hundreds of "fire soldiers" who looked like heavenly warriors backing them up.

"I'll do it!"

A burly man pushed aside his companions, rushed forward a few steps, kicked open the courtyard gate of the ancestral hall, and then jumped inside.

"Ah! Ah~"

As the other soldiers rushed in, a heart-wrenching scream was heard.

"Front row! Step forward three steps, prepare to fire! Second row, prepare to change positions!"

Zhu Biao frowned and made a quick decision. At the same time, he took out a tinderbox and shook it vigorously.

Whoosh!

No sooner had he finished speaking than a sound like waves crashing against the shore erupted from the ancestral hall.

As they drew nearer, countless centipedes and scorpions surged forth like a black tidal wave from the open courtyard gate of the ancestral hall and from the top of the wall.

Even Zhu Biao felt a chill run down his spine and his hair stand on end when he suddenly saw this scene.

"Light the fuse! Anyone who dares to retreat even a step will be executed on the spot!"

However, having experienced countless battles along the way, he had finally developed courage. In an instant, he regained his senses, straightened up on his horse, and roared with all his might.

He wasn't idle either; he lit all six flamethrowers at once.

woohoo~~

As the spear thrust forward, six orange-yellow fire snakes, each half a zhang long, shot out simultaneously, instantly converging into a fire dragon.

To be honest, Zhu Biao was a little panicked, so he lit the fire too early. It looked impressive, but it didn't even burn a single poisonous insect.

but!

The general is the courage of the soldiers. He did not retreat an inch and took the lead, which greatly boosted the morale of the soldiers.

"Don't be afraid!"

"Ignite, extend the rod!"

"Kill them!"

"Burn them!"

For a moment, a chaotic cacophony of shouts rose and fell, yet no one retreated; some even dared to take a few steps forward.

woohoo~~~

The next instant, staggered tongues of fire burst forth in front of him, instantly scorching the poisonous insects' shells and flesh, causing the surging swarm of insects to halt momentarily.

However, an unexpected event occurred.

Two unlucky men who rushed forward were set ablaze by their colleagues' flames, instantly turning into human torches, their cries of agony deafening.

"Maintain formation! First row, retreat; second row, advance!"

Zhu Biao roared.

At the same time, he swung his spear horizontally, and the two men, who were engulfed in flames and rushing around aimlessly, were swept away and slammed into the swarm of insects.

Huhuhu~

Fortunately, the second rank of soldiers had overcome their initial panic, and the effect of the volley of fire from the flying muskets finally became apparent.

Snap snap snap~

In an instant, the sound of the shell exploding was like a firecracker, and the smell of burning filled the nostrils.

The swarm of venomous insects seemed to have crashed into a reef formed of flames, instantly shattering into pieces before surging back.

"It's done!" Zhu Biao's eyes lit up.

"Three rows, press them down! Burn this damn shrine down!"

Just then, the insect swarm receded, the second rank of soldiers retreated, and the third rank of soldiers advanced, with a gap of about three breaths in between.

Right now!

Suddenly, a slender black shadow, swift as lightning yet silent, rushed out against the swarm of insects and then leaped into the air.

It's that greyhound!

The beast's target was extremely cunning; it wasn't Zhu Biao, but rather the man beneath him, or more precisely, the man's genitals.

Almost simultaneously, a figure wearing a hooded cloak, with eerie green eyes and resembling an owl suddenly appeared on the wall.

It was none other than the poisonous man who called himself the Jade Emperor, Master Qin.

With a powerful push from his feet, he leaped into the air, his two large, claw-like hand halberds opening wide and lunging towards Zhu Biao.