A fierce wife enters the house: She helps up a house full of spineless people.

"Lieutenant Zhang, Yongning County is under siege! The main force of the rebel army is all there."

"Main force?" Zhang Kui grabbed the scout by the collar. "How many are there? Did you see clearly?"

"There are tens of thousands of people. The area below the city walls is full of people, and they have already started building ladders to climb over the walls."

The soldiers around them heard this, and the little bit of joy they had felt from just defeating a group of fleeing soldiers was instantly extinguished.

The main force is all in Yongning County? Then what is their force of over a thousand people? Are they just there to be fed to others?

Panic spread through the ranks, especially among the new recruits, whose faces turned pale instantly. Even some of the veterans looked extremely grim.

"What's the panic!" Zhang Kui jumped up and kicked a trembling recruit in the backside. "If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up! All of you, get the hell out of the dead bodies and pick up any usable weapons! Get moving!"

His shout finally got the group moving.

Wang Tianfang bent down and expressionlessly pulled the arrow out of the man's eye socket. Red and white ink still clung to the arrowhead; he didn't even glance at it, simply wiped it on the corpse's clothes, and put it back into his quiver.

Then, he walked over to Ma Ergou.

Ma Ergou was squatting on the ground, staring blankly at the corpse of a rebel soldier, whose intestines were spilling out onto the ground. Ma Ergou's face was ashen, and his lips trembled incessantly.

"Get up," Wang Tianfang said calmly.

Ma Ergou acted as if he hadn't heard.

Wang Tianfang raised his foot and gently kicked his lower back: "Get up, go and pick up all the usable spears."

Ma Ergou shuddered violently, turned to look at Wang Tianfang, his eyes filled with fear: "Squad leader, I... my legs are weak..."

"I told you to get up." Wang Tianfang repeated, his voice not loud, but Ma Ergou could detect a hint of impatience.

He struggled, grabbed a tree next to him, and stood up unsteadily. After taking only two steps, he ran to the side and started vomiting violently.

Wang Tianfang ignored him and walked to the middle of the battlefield to start collecting the scattered weapons.

On the other side, Li San was helped up from the ground by an old soldier, his complexion no better than Ma Ergou's. He watched Wang Tianfang walk around among the corpses as if nothing had happened, and his heart was filled with mixed feelings.

If it weren't for Wang Tianfang, he would be dead by now.

The short dagger that the rebel stabbed at him was less than a fist's distance from his waist; he could even feel the strong wind carrying the scent of blood.

All the moves he practiced since childhood, like "The Serpent Emerges from Its Cave" and "The Counterattack," were utterly useless against someone who fought with such reckless abandon.

They're risking their lives for yours. If you run away, you lose face. If you don't run away, you're too afraid.

But Wang Tianfang dared to.

He didn't even think; he just charged straight at it and stabbed it with his gun. Simple, direct, even brutal.

But it worked.

Anything that can kill is a good move.

Li San looked down at the spear in his hand, which was stained with someone's blood.

Zhang Kui summoned several centurions together.

"You've all heard the situation." Zhang Kui's face was darker than the bottom of a pot. "Yongning County is besieged, and we're the closest to it. We can't ignore it. The orders from above have just been sent down by carrier pigeon."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone.

"The rebels outnumber us, so we can't fight them head-on. Therefore, we'll split into two teams. One team, led by Centurion Liu, will harass the outskirts of the county town, killing as many as we can. The main goal is to create a commotion and give the defenders in the town some confidence, letting them know that reinforcements are coming soon. If the enemy chases us, we'll run; if they don't chase us, we'll continue to harass them."

"The other team," Zhang Kui lowered his voice even further, "follow me. We'll circle around to the rear of the rebel camp. Their main force is out, so they definitely don't have many guards protecting their supplies and provisions; they can't possibly cover everything. Our objective is to burn their supplies!"

"Burn the supplies?" A centurion gasped. "A rebel camp? Do you think a few hundred of us can storm it?"

Zhang Kui's eyes widened. "With so few men, even if we all charged in, we wouldn't make much of a difference. But if we could burn their supplies, that would be a different story! Without food, their army would fall into chaos within three days!"

Everyone understands this principle, but it's also very dangerous. The harassing team can escape if they can't win. But the team burning supplies, once discovered, will be surrounded and wiped out; not a single one will survive.

"Are they all fucking mute?" Zhang Kui cursed. "This is a military order! Anyone who wants to desert can step forward now, and I'll chop them in half with one stroke, saving them from making a fool of themselves on the battlefield!"

No one dared to speak.

"Alright, stop standing around." Zhang Kui waved his hand. "You have half an hour to pack your things, eat some dry rations, and then prepare to leave. Liu, the centurion, you choose five hundred men. The rest of you, come with me."

Upon receiving the order, the crowd immediately dispersed.

Li San walked to Wang Tianfang's side, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something. In the end, he swallowed back the "thank you." He felt awkward. He couldn't bring himself to say it.

He secretly vowed that next time, he would prove himself and that he could also help others.

Half an hour passed quickly.

The team regrouped, the atmosphere even more tense than before. Everyone knew that what they were about to do was a business with a slim chance of survival.

Liu, the centurion, was a veteran in his forties with a long, square face that gave him a serious look. He quickly selected five hundred soldiers who looked clever and fast, and Li San and his squad leader were also chosen by him.

Li San breathed a sigh of relief.

Although harassment was dangerous, it was better than sneaking into someone's camp and setting it on fire. He glanced at Wang Tianfang, who had volunteered to join another team, his expression complex. That guy was truly a fearless madman.

The remaining five hundred or so men all followed Zhang Kui.

"Listen up, all of you!" Zhang Kui, mounted on his horse, looked at the five hundred or so men before him. "You all know what we're going to do! Let me be clear from the start: the most important thing in this operation isn't how many people we kill, it's stealth! It's speed!"

He pointed at the crowd with his riding crop, lowering his voice, but every word was forceful.

"From this moment forward until we reach our destination, if anyone dares to make even the slightest noise—whether it's a cough or a fart—don't blame me for being ruthless; I'll take care of them on the spot! One mistake from you could kill all of our brothers!"

"No talking on the way, no falling behind! Fill up your water bags, and pack your rations! We must reach the designated location before dark. Understand?"

"Understood!" More than 500 people roared in unison, their voices not loud, but very orderly.