Yun Ye hated seeing battlefields. When he first arrived in the Great Tang and witnessed tens of thousands of troops slaughtering each other, his blood would boil. Even knowing his own martial skills were poor, he’d be so influenced by the atmosphere that he wanted to grab a blade and charge in. If his personal guards hadn’t held his war horse tightly, he would have long since become a pile of dried bones.

Now, seeing a battlefield made him want to vomit. The scene of arms and legs flying everywhere really had nothing worth watching. One after another with blood-red eyes tearing at each other like wild beasts—such scenes could no longer arouse any desire in him to watch.

When an arm flew off, the world gained another one-armed man. When a leg was gone, the world gained another cripple. When a head was lost, the yellow earth would gain an additional grave mound. But a solemn atmosphere was necessary, so he knelt on a cushion drinking tea with Wu She. Old Qian knelt in the lower seat, carefully attending to Yun Ye and Wu She’s tea drinking. Before they knew it, the sky had turned dark. The autumn nights of the great Yuezhou marsh came very early. Yun Ye didn’t order candles lit, only had someone lower the gauze curtains to somewhat ward off mosquito attacks. Personal guards continuously brought reports of the battle from the front, so Yun Ye was very clear about the fierce fighting ahead.

Han Zhe personally led his great army like a tide to Yuezhou City. He didn’t even rest for a moment before launching his assault on the city. From the moment the water bandits carried scaling ladders to attack the city, the war entered white-hot intensity. Trebuchets hurled massive amounts of burning materials into the city walls. Round grass balls trailing fierce flames rampaged wantonly through the city. The towering flames reddened half the sky.

Guan Tinglong, together with the evacuated common people, watched the battlefield thundering with battle cries and painfully closed his eyes. The suppressed weeping of the common people reached his ears. These cries were like knives cutting his heart. Even knowing this was part of the plan, he still had no way to forgive himself.

Han Cheng, with his hair hanging loose, forcefully slammed his head against a tree trunk. After just a few strikes, blood covered his face. A stream of crimson blood slid down from his forehead, finally dripping from his chin. Qian Sheng drank cup after cup of plain water—he knew this wasn’t the time for alcohol. When he’d drained the water gourd at his waist, he untied Han Cheng’s water gourd, preparing to continue drinking.

A hand reached over. Lord Liang, dressed in hemp clothes, pressed down on Qian Sheng’s hand: “Old Qian, drinking water like this is too harmful to your body. At this time, it’s better to comfort the common people. Now refugees cover the mountains and fields—if chaos breaks out, there’ll be trouble. This old man still has some grain that can sustain our fellow villagers on the road. Why don’t we ask the government forces to escort us to Baling? Yuezhou is finished.”

“No need to go to Baling. The Grand Marshal will soon eliminate the water bandits. We only need to hide in the wilderness for two or three days before returning to Yuezhou to prepare to build houses. Right now the weather is clear and fine—perfect for building new houses.” Han Cheng wiped the blood from his face and said decisively to Lord Liang.

Lord Liang was about to rebuke him when he discovered a fast horse had arrived before them. The rider reported loudly: “The bandits have already entered the city. General Lai has already led his forces to withdraw from the city walls and sealed the north gate. Colonel Yang has also led his forces to withdraw from the south gate and sealed the south gate. General Zhangsun from Baling has also arrived and completely sealed the west gate. Now these bandits couldn’t escape even with wings.”

Guan Tinglong, who had kept his eyes closed, finally let out a long breath. Opening his eyes and straightening up, he said loudly: “Now the bandits are turtles in a jar. After this battle, our great Dongting marsh will have no more worries about water bandits. You just watch—Yuezhou City’s new chapter is about to be written. Gentlemen, for the sake of these Yuezhou common people, please let us cast aside past grievances and together establish a new city on this land. This new city will be our eternal glory.”

Qian Sheng tossed aside his water gourd and pulled out a flat bottle from his chest. Inside was strong liquor brewed by the Yun Family, which he’d seized back from Liu Jinbao. He drank deeply without a word, then led the able-bodied young men he’d already selected toward the Yuezhou city walls without looking back. At this time, there must surely be many corpses beneath the city walls that needed burying.

Han Zhe entered Yuezhou City with a smile on his face. Seeing the city smoking everywhere, he only wanted to laugh wildly. This time he’d finally beaten Yun Ye once—won cleanly, won thoroughly and satisfyingly.

“Young master, now that we’ve entered the city, it will be difficult to leave. Just now I saw the government forces hadn’t even displayed thirty percent of their combat strength. This must be a great trap. Please reconsider, young master.”

Liu Fang was surrounded by his own guards. Nothing that happened in Yuezhou City escaped his eyes. Seeing the water bandits easily enter Yuezhou City, he couldn’t help reminding Han Zhe again, hoping he could immediately lead the water bandits to escape from Yuezhou City. While the government forces’ foothold was still unstable, they should force open a way to survive and flee back to the great marsh. Perhaps then there would still be a thread of hope.

“Master Han, you’re absolutely right. The reason the government forces so easily abandoned the empty Yuezhou City was to execute a plan of catching turtles in a jar, trading an empty city for the complete annihilation of the Dongting water bandits. This transaction is worthwhile. Even if reported to the royal court, Yun Ye would have merit without fault. As a great general he is indeed qualified—willing to fail himself in order to consider the nation. No wonder he could gain such favor from the Emperor. Successful people have no luck.”

After a light laugh, he continued: “My purpose is much simpler and more straightforward. My only goal is to defeat him, single-mindedly, without all those worldly affairs that bind him. As long as I destroy Yuezhou City and completely ruin his new city enterprise, I win. What do these water bandits’ lives and deaths have to do with me?”

Han Zhe watched Han Nu demolish houses with iron chains and laughed very happily. Each time the iron chains wrapped around pillars and Han Nu forcibly tore the pillars apart, those crude small buildings collapsed with a thunderous crash, and Han Zhe felt all his pores opening, his entire body comfortable and at ease.

The water bandits didn’t understand why their leader wanted to destroy Yuezhou City. This made no sense. Shouldn’t this be the time for amassing wealth and plundering beauties? This thought only flashed through their minds. The brutal emotions hidden in their bones made them thoroughly enjoy the pleasure of destruction.

Unable to find people, venting hatred on their houses wasn’t bad either. Porcelain and furniture that wealthy families couldn’t take away became their primary targets. They emptied houses, then set great fires, laughing and joking as they rushed straight to the next house…

Han Nu emerged from the dust carrying a great bell on his shoulder. No matter how he slapped with his massive hands, he couldn’t produce the thunderous sound of iron chains whipping it. This was the first time Han Cheng had heard this bell make such a tremendous sound. His face twitched with distress. In that earlier clash of metal on metal, he had clearly heard the bell’s mournful cry. When ringing a bell, you use wood! Who uses a giant hammer to strike a bell? When I catch you, I’ll also use a giant hammer to examine your shinbone and see if you know pain.

The bell was quickly smashed to fragments by the two giants. With nothing left to play with, they removed the wooden balls from their mouths and continued shaking their heads to watch those rotating figure-eights.

After the water bandits had searched the entire city, they discovered there wasn’t a single grain of food in the city. When they reported this to Han Zhe, he burst into loud laughter and ordered the water bandits to continue their destruction. He himself brought Liu Fang to a mansion on Front Street. This mansion was fortunate—it hadn’t been completely destroyed. The only reason was that it was built of blue stone. Star-like flames still flickered on the roof beams. The blue stone slabs were also blackened by smoke. A small garden had its plants and trees broken, the soft ground covered with footprints, presenting a miserable appearance.

“There’s a room underground here. Unfortunately, it can’t accommodate many of us, so we need to reduce a few people. Master Han, your abilities are good, but it’s a pity you’re obstinately unrepentant with too many attachments in your heart. You’re destined not to accomplish great things. Therefore, you’ll die in this city. With thirty thousand people buried with you, I’m sure you won’t be too lonely.”

Han Zhe never spoke nonsense. As soon as these words left his mouth, the two Han Nu stepped forward, about to swing out the iron chains in their hands. Liu Fang sighed, and seven or eight wooden balls immediately slid out from his sleeve, their colors even more brilliant. Falling on the blue stone slabs, they bounced and rolled everywhere, their bright colors adorable. Han Nu immediately forgot about killing anyone. They released their iron chains and called out “he he he he” as they clumsily chased and grabbed the wooden balls everywhere. The Han Nu without a wooden ball was even more frantic, throwing himself to the ground, using his massive body to immediately press down on two. His outstretched hand grabbed another. He looked so happy he was nearly crazed.

The guard who had been watching Liu Fang—the horizontal blade tucked at his waist suddenly left its sheath. His body passed between the two Han Nu, and then the unprepared Han Zhe saw a red mark appear on Han Nu’s neck. Immediately after, great gouts of fresh blood shot skyward. Within a three-zhang radius, it suddenly began raining blood.

Han Nu strangely touched his own neck, getting a hand full of blood. This wasn’t so strange—he often had this stuff on his body. He continued playing with his wooden ball. His bloody hand picked up the blue one to look at, couldn’t bear to put it down, so held it in his mouth. He picked up a green ball and shook it before his eyes. This time he finally found the correct way to play with the wooden balls—turns out you didn’t need to shake your head, you just needed to shake your arms. Discovering this secret made him very happy. He took the wooden ball to show off to the other Han Nu, shaking his hand very proudly.

The blood rain finally stopped. Han Zhe was terror-stricken, watching Han Nu lean against each other sitting and playing with the wooden balls. There wasn’t half a trace of blood color on their faces. The wounds on their necks only occasionally squeezed out a thread of blood. Their hands shaking the wooden balls grew slower and slower, gradually drooping down. The anxious Han Nu struggled to extend his hand toward Han Zhe, who was fighting Dan Ying, looking at him anxiously. His gaze was full of incomprehension, unable to figure out why he couldn’t control his own hand. Arms that could once lift thousand-catty boulders now couldn’t even lift a hand…

Blood tears flowed from Han Zhe’s crimson eyes. He tried every method to get close to Han Nu, but Dan Ying’s long blade came one stroke tighter than the last, each stroke not leaving his vital points, giving him not a moment’s leisure…

He suddenly heard the sound of wooden balls rolling. Amid the clashing sounds of metal, Han Zhe actually heard the rattling sound of wooden balls rolling. His heart couldn’t help but sink. Like a madman, he fought to take two blade strikes, and amid spraying blood, launched a frenzied attack on Dan Ying. After forcing Dan Ying back and retreating to Han Nu’s side, he only saw two pairs of lusterless large eyes, full of bewilderment, as if asking him: “Why can’t I play with the wooden balls anymore?”