In the thirteenth year of the Tianbao era: I became Yang Guozhong's eldest son.

Half an hour later.

The gates of the Yanjing County Government Office were suddenly flung open.

Yang Xuan, dressed in a scarlet county magistrate's robe and wearing a black gauze hat, rode a tall horse and slowly drove out of the county government office.

Behind him, Pei Zhao led three hundred fully armed and menacing salt guards, forming a neat military formation like a black torrent of steel, closely following him.

The cold wind howled, swirling up the fallen leaves on the ground.

The people of Yaozhou City and the spies of various forces watched in shock as this grand procession headed out of the city.

Soul-Falling Valley.

The cold valley wind howled and whistled through the cliffs, producing a mournful sound like the wailing of ghosts and wolves.

The scarred captain from Zhechong Prefecture was sitting on a stool, holding a tattered cloth in his hand, slowly wiping his horizontal sword that had been stained with countless drops of blood.

Behind him, on the open ground, were three hundred salt carts and more than five hundred mules and horses that had been forcibly seized.

The soldiers of Zhechong Prefecture were gathered in twos and threes. Some were starting fires to roast meat, while others made no attempt to hide their greedy eyes, using the tip of their knives to pry open the seams of salt packets and exclaim in amazement at the snow-white, fine salt inside.

"Damn it, I've spent my whole life eating salty food with sand on the border, and I've never seen anything so white before."

An old soldier dipped his finger in some salt and put it in his mouth. His eyes lit up immediately. "Goodness, this is damn salty and savory! How much is this bag worth?"

"Whatever it's worth, it belongs to our Helan Commandant!" A squad leader next to him added a handful of firewood to the fire.

"I heard from the Commandant that the new magistrate is incredibly wealthy, squeezing tens of thousands of strings of cash out of the well every month! We brothers are risking our lives on the frontier, and even our pay is often deducted. How come a demoted official can live so well?"

"Exactly! If it weren't for the Commandant's order, we would have just stormed into Yanjing County, beheaded that damned magistrate, and seized Yanjing!"

The soldiers talked without restraint, their words filled with contempt for the county government and an extreme desire for wealth.

In the eyes of these arrogant and fierce soldiers, the local civil officials were nothing but spineless cowards who only knew how to talk big. As soon as the knife was drawn, those civil officials would be so scared that they would wet their pants.

Just then, a series of muffled and rhythmic footsteps suddenly came from the direction of the valley entrance.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The sound was extremely oppressive, as if even the ground was trembling slightly.

This was not the sound of chaotic footsteps, but the sound that only a well-trained army could make when marching in formation.

Scarface Captain suddenly raised his head, a hint of wariness flashing in his eyes. He grabbed his sword and stood up.

"All troops on high alert!"

With a loud shout from the captain, the soldiers of the Zhechong Prefecture, who had been warming themselves by the fire and chatting idly, quickly dropped what they were holding, grabbed their weapons at lightning speed, and formed a neat defensive formation.

The thin mist at the mouth of the valley gradually dissipated.

The first thing that catches everyone's eye is a large black flag fluttering in the wind, with a huge "Yao" character embroidered on it.

Immediately afterwards, an army of three hundred men, like a black torrent of steel, slowly entered the Valley of Fallen Souls.

Scarface's pupils suddenly contracted, and a look of undisguised shock flashed in his eyes.

Leading the way were a full hundred heavily armored infantrymen wielding spears.

They wore uniform black leather armor, which, although not as sturdy as the Mingguang armor of the Zhechong Prefecture, was extremely fine and far superior to the tattered armor of ordinary state soldiers.

Behind them were a hundred swordsmen with steel broadswords at their waists, and a hundred crossbowmen with powerful bows on their backs and military-grade repeating crossbows in their hands.

The three hundred people were completely silent, with only the sounds of armor plates clattering and footsteps hitting the ground.

That overwhelming killing intent was not to be underestimated, even by the veterans of the Zhechong Prefecture.

"These...these are soldiers from Yanjing County?"

The veteran, who had been boasting just moments before, now had a slight sweat trickling down his face as he gripped his knife hilt. "Where did they get such sophisticated equipment? They even have military-grade repeating crossbows!"

Scarface's face turned extremely ugly.

He thought that as long as he set up a military checkpoint, the weak county magistrate would obediently send someone to deliver money and beg for mercy.

He never expected that the other side would actually bring out an elite force capable of going head-to-head with the regular army.

At the very front of these three hundred fierce soldiers, a young civil official dressed in scarlet robes sat on a tall, pure white horse.

It was Yang Xuan.

Beside him, Pei Zhao stood with his hand on his sword, like a demon god.

"Whoa—"

Yang Xuan reined in his horse twenty paces from the barricades, looking down at the Zhechongfu army formation ahead.

"Which captain is in charge? Come out and speak."

Yang Xuan's voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears in the empty valley, his tone carrying an unquestionable authority.

Scarface snorted coldly, sheathed his sword, and strode to the barricade.

"I am Li Kuang, the Commandant of the General's Guard!"

The scarred captain, chin held high, looked at Yang Xuan on horseback with disdain. "So you're that Magistrate Yang who was demoted from Chang'an?"

Yang Xuan ignored his rudeness and merely glanced at the salt cart behind him.

"Lieutenant Li, according to Article 7 of Volume 3 of the Great Tang Code, local military and administrative affairs are not subordinate to each other. The duty of the Zhechong Prefecture is to defend against foreign enemies and suppress rebellions. Who gave you the authority to set up roadblocks on the official roads in the interior and intercept salt carts from my Yanjing County?"

Yang Xuan spoke calmly, as if he were discussing a trivial matter.

"Stop trying to pull this on!" Li Kuang spat on the ground. "My orders are that there are bandits smuggling salt here. It's our duty as the military governor to suppress bandits! What, is Magistrate Yang trying to protect the bandits, or is this so-called smuggled salt actually your own?"

This is a blatant attack on one's conscience. Once accused of smuggling salt, not only a county magistrate, but even a prefect would be in deep trouble.

However, Yang Xuan showed no panic whatsoever; he didn't even furrow his brow.

"Roaming bandits? Smuggled salt?"

Yang Xuan sneered, dismounted, tossed the riding whip to Pei Zhao, and strode toward the barricades.

"Protect the magistrate!" Pei Zhao shouted, leading a dozen elite swordsmen in close pursuit.

"Halt!" Seeing that Yang Xuan dared to take the risk alone, Li Kuang roared, "If you dare take another step forward, I'll treat it as an attack on the army formation and kill you without mercy!"

"Whoosh—"

The spearmen from the front row immediately leveled their spears, the sharp tips pointing directly at Yang Xuan's chest, less than three steps away.

The atmosphere instantly plummeted to freezing point, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder, as if a single spark could ignite this devastating conflict.

Pei Zhao and the salt guards behind him also drew their swords, ready to fight to the death at Yang Xuan's command.

But Yang Xuan raised his right hand to stop Pei Zhao.

He didn't even glance at the spears pointed at his chest, but walked directly to the barricades and stood face to face with Li Kuang across the wooden fence.