Yutou County had gone a hundred years or more without being touched by war.

Caught without warning, its people had no means of resistance.

From every direction came screams and cries of anguish, as vicious, bloodthirsty soldiers chased them down, greedily seizing their spoils.

The proprietor of Heliu Hall ran with his family toward the city gate with all his strength, three broadsword-wielding soldiers close on his heels.

“Halt!” a sharp command rang out from somewhere distant.

Halt your mother.

The proprietor of Heliu Hall ran until he was gasping for breath, but still mustered the inner composure to curse these soldier-bandits back eighteen generations through his ancestors.

He abandoned all pretense of the cultured bearing he put on in his daily life. His topknot lopsided and half undone, he gripped his eight-year-old son with his left hand and his frail wife with his right, running without pause or stopping.

His wife, shut away indoors for years, had already reached her limit after this stretch of running.

Her face pale, she wrenched her hand free and shoved him forward from behind:

“Don’t mind me… take the child and go!”

“Don’t even think about it!”

The proprietor gritted his teeth, hoisted her onto his thin shoulders with every last bit of strength he had, and kept running.

His eight-year-old son, understanding enough to know the moment, clung tightly to his hand and kept pace with his father’s strides as best he could.

Burdened on both sides, the proprietor of Heliu Hall ran as hard as he could, but he couldn’t outpace the soldiers behind him. His mind raced, and he suddenly veered off course, dragging his two family members into a fabric shop beside the road.

The shop had long since been abandoned.

He ran straight through to the back courtyard, pulled his son to a stop in front of the open space filled with dye vats, then kicked the back door open himself, turned around, and spoke urgently to his wife: “Both of you hide inside a dye vat. Don’t come out until the rogue army has left — no matter what!”

“And what about you?!” His wife clutched his hand, eyes filling with tears.

“I’ll hold them off out front!” The proprietor wrenched himself free, paused for a moment, and then — on that face so long given over to shrewd calculation — a rare flash of tenderness broke through. “…Take good care of our son. We’ll be husband and wife again in the next life.”

“Husband —”

The proprietor clapped a hand over her mouth, shoved her — tear-streaked face and all — toward the dye vats, and turned around without a moment’s hesitation.

The three soldier-bandits had just stepped through the front entrance of the fabric shop.

The proprietor of Heliu Hall picked up a fabric-cutting knife from the counter and stood at the entrance to the back courtyard, his face set.

The three soldier-bandits seemed to find his defiance laughable — the look of those who have all the power in the world, leisurely and amused.

“Give me the woman. The little one stays with me,” said the tallest and most muscular soldier, shifting his grip on his large broadsword, fingers loosening and tightening again, as he stepped forward toward the proprietor.

No way back. Only one road remained.

The proprietor of Heliu Hall let out a battle cry, raised the cutting knife high, and charged the soldier-bandits first, resolved to die if he must!

If his wife and son could survive, his old life was a price worth paying!

He had not yet reached the towering soldier when a kick landed square in his gut, sending him sprawling helplessly backward.

The burly soldier gripped his still-blood-streaked sword and walked toward the fallen proprietor.

Up until this moment, not one of the three soldiers had said a single word to him.

People only speak to other people.

In their eyes, the proprietor of Heliu Hall was not a person.

Men like him — utterly defenseless, capable only of futile flight, struggle, or kneeling to weep and beg — they had encountered countless times and killed countless times.

The repetition deadened them. The lives beneath their blades ceased to be human.

He was no longer a person.

He was only the stalk that bore the grain, only the chest that held the treasure — nothing to do with humanity. Killing him was no harder than slicing vegetables or splitting a melon.

The burly soldier planted a foot on the proprietor’s wrist as he gripped the knife, and kicked the cutting knife away while the proprietor cried out in pain.

Death looming before him — claiming he felt no terror would be a lie.

But the thought of his son and wife still hiding in the back courtyard filled the proprietor’s heart with courage.

He let out a great cry, rolled over, threw his arms around the burly soldier’s right leg, and sank his teeth in as hard as he could.

“You’re asking for death —”

The soldier snarled in pain, raised his broadsword, and swung it down at the proprietor’s exposed and unprotected back.

Whir —

A crossbow bolt pierced through his palm. The burly soldier screamed louder than the proprietor had.

“Who’s there?!”

Only then did the other two soldiers realize an enemy was closing in. They wheeled around to defend themselves — and met a strike that hit straight to the bone.

Li Wu drew out his blood-soaked blade, sending a spray of hot blood spattering to the ground. Without looking back, he turned and slashed the throat of the enemy lunging at him from the side.

The burly soldier tried to lunge back in, and took another crossbow bolt to the chest.

At the wide-open entrance of the fabric shop, Li Que sat on horseback, crossbow in hand, firing two bolts down the street.

Two screams rang out from beyond the courtyard in quick succession.

Li Wu walked to where the burly soldier lay, struggling to crawl away, and finished him off with one clean stroke before turning to stand before the proprietor of Heliu Hall.

The proprietor of Heliu Hall, having narrowly escaped death, found his eyes filling with tears against his will.

“Old Lu, long time no see — did you miss me?”

Li Wu crouched down, his hands draped casually over his knees, looking at the freely weeping proprietor with an expression of idle calm.

“Miss — missed you to death.” The proprietor wiped his eyes and nodded vigorously.

“In that case, my toilet paper in the future —”

“Free of charge!” the proprietor declared, with the weight of a man who had never spoken anything but the truth.

“Good! You’ve shown feeling, and I’ll show loyalty —” Li Wu clapped him on the shoulder, hauled his limp body upright, and said, “Come on — where’s your wife and kid?”

The proprietor led him to the back courtyard at once.

His wife and son had obediently hidden themselves in the dye vats and, though they had ended up with rather colorful faces, had come through with their lives intact.

Reunited at last, all three collapsed into each other’s arms and wept.

After the Qingfeng Army had equipped itself with the finest weapons from its seizure of the Wuying Army’s supplies, and Li Wu had brought with him only the elite of that already elite force, the defeated rabble — already scattered once by Fu Xuanmiao — was simply no match for them.

In terms of equipment, the rogue soldiers could not compare to the Qingfeng Army.

In terms of ferocity, those who had only just turned to banditry or taken it up midway could not compare to those who had been bandits since birth — a trade passed down through the generations.

After the Qingfeng Army entered Yutou County, the fighting was brought to a swift end.

Just as the rogue soldiers had cut down defenseless civilians as though slaughtering livestock, the Qingfeng Army dealt with the defeated rogue soldiers in exactly the same manner.

The rogue soldiers had not regarded the civilians as people. Li Wu, in turn, did not regard them as people either.

Before the Qingfeng Army had even entered Yutou County, their commanding general’s orders had already been issued.

No prisoners.

Everyone knew what that meant.

San Hu had shown them that Li Wu was a man of great tolerance. The rogue army had shown them where Li Wu’s lines lay.

Whether a soldier barely thirteen or fourteen years old still wet behind the ears, or a seasoned veteran soldier who kept letters from family tucked close to his heart — anyone who fell into the Qingfeng Army’s hands had only one fate.

Death.

The devastated wreckage of Yutou County was filled in every direction with the sounds of weeping and with blood and bodies.

Civilians who had lost their loved ones wept. The rogue soldiers about to be killed wept too.

In war, there are no winners.

Shen Zhuxi had been settled by Li Wu in the county magistrate’s compound, and still the sounds of weeping drifted in unbroken from outside.

She sat unable to keep still, her feelings turbulent and without resolution.

Sui Rui was keeping the still-shaken Jiu Niang company in a room in the rear courtyard, leaving only the visibly uncomfortable county magistrate and his wife to keep Shen Zhuxi company in the reception hall.

Who could have imagined that the local tyrant of this small town would one day return as a great power?

Yutou County’s garrison numbered only three or four hundred. How large was Li Wu’s force?

Shen Zhuxi could not sit easy, and the county magistrate himself was not faring much better. He had already instructed his servants to bring out all of the household’s most prized possessions to present to Shen Zhuxi, but was still afraid of falling short of proper hospitality — and feared that if he did, Li Wu might vent his anger on him, in which case not only his official cap but the head beneath it might not be long for his shoulders.

After all, back when Li Wu had still worked under him, he had made the man’s life difficult on more than a few occasions.

If it weren’t for the guards posted in layers outside the gate, the county magistrate’s own guilty conscience would have sent him sprinting for the door.

“…I always said Li Wu was no ordinary fish — and look at him today, exceeding every expectation! If not for him, who knows how many lives Yutou County would have lost!” the county magistrate’s wife said, her face a mask of flattery and goodwill.

“Li Wu is now the great benefactor of everyone in Yutou County,” the county magistrate chimed in. “And Li Niang, for seeing his worth so early — how many women out there will be green with envy!”

Shen Zhuxi had no desire to make polite conversation and gave a perfunctory smile in response.

The county magistrate was just about to urge her to have more tea and refreshments when a commotion suddenly erupted outside the door, and several figures in armor still bearing the blood of battle strode in. The one at the front was Li Wu, with Li Kun and Li Que behind him.

Shen Zhuxi rose at once, and upon seeing that none of the three bore any injuries, let out a breath of quiet relief.

The county magistrate and his wife also rose immediately to receive them.

This was his magistrate’s compound, and Li Wu had walked in as though there were no one there — without even having someone announce him first —

The county magistrate swallowed his fury and bowed with a strained smile: “General Li returns victorious — you might have sent someone ahead; this official would have gone to the gate to welcome you on behalf of every person in the county —”

“Skip the formalities — it’s not as if you’re meeting me for the first time,” Li Wu cut him off.

“I understand, I understand —” the county magistrate nodded, bowing, then raised his hand and called out, “Bring out the gifts we’ve prepared to thank our benefactor!”

A page boy soon appeared, carrying a small wooden box.

“These —” the county magistrate opened the lid of the box, revealing a tidy, full stack of bright silver ingots within. “Are to express this official’s gratitude to the General and his soldiers.”

As a former authority figure himself, Li Wu knew very well exactly how much the county magistrate’s purse held.

“Is this from the county treasury, or your personal coffers?”

Of course, the silver had come from the county treasury.

But since Li Wu was asking the question, the county magistrate understood what answer was expected of him.

His heart aching as though cut, he forced a smile. “Naturally, from my personal coffers.”

Only then did Li Wu give a nod: “That shows sincerity.”

The county magistrate’s smile was deeply strained.

“I’ll put the silver into the army’s funds and let the men know it’s a reward from the county magistrate of Yutou County,” Li Wu said.

The county magistrate had no grounds to bargain — the man’s armor wasn’t even dry of blood yet, and to voice any objection now would be the same as declaring he’d lived long enough.

He could only respond with an expression of heartfelt gratitude — though he couldn’t quite work out why he was the one feeling grateful, when he was also the one providing the silver.

“Though the rogue forces have been cleared out, the cleanup will take a few more days, and we’ll need somewhere to stay —”

Before Li Wu had finished speaking, the county magistrate tactfully volunteered: “Of course you’ll stay right here! General, take whichever courtyard you like — your pick of the whole compound!”

Having once lived under the same roof as the county magistrate, Li Wu required no introduction to the layout and orientation of each room in the compound.

“I notice your main courtyard faces south…”

“We’ll move out immediately!” The county magistrate made the decision without hesitation.

“The steamed pork belly I used to eat here was quite good…”

“It’ll be on the table tonight!”

“Good.” Li Wu grinned. “Since the county magistrate extends such a warm invitation, we’d hate to refuse such hospitality…”

The county magistrate quietly dabbed the cold sweat from his forehead.

Li Wu walked to Shen Zhuxi’s side, slung an arm around her shoulders, and said, “Come on, I’ll show you to where we’re staying.”

This was a place the county magistrate had lived in for years, yet Li Wu moved through it with the ease and familiarity of a man in his own home.

The county magistrate mobilized every person in the household — not even sparing his own delicate daughter — and pressed them all into service moving out of the main courtyard.

In under an hour, the county magistrate and his wife had vacated the main courtyard and yielded it to Li Wu and the personal guards he had brought with him.

With Li Wu beside her, the violence outside seemed to recede to some distant place. The oppressive thoughts weighing on Shen Zhuxi eased, almost without her noticing, in his presence. She helped Li Wu remove his armor and gave him a brief account of the day’s events — how she had gotten Li Kun to go and carry out the rescue.

“You were so frantic that you threw the wine jug off the table?” Li Wu suddenly interrupted her account, repeating back what she had just said.

Shen Zhuxi looked at him, puzzled. “Is there something wrong with that?”

“And the moment you threw it, it happened to hit that man squarely on the back of the head?”

“That’s right…” Shen Zhuxi nodded.

“Your aim is that good?”

“…Maybe I take after my mother.” Shen Zhuxi smiled, a little sheepishly. “My mother also threw things with very precise aim.”

Among the palace servants who had been struck on the head in the Palace of Wangshu, the number likely approached a thousand, if not exceeded it.

Noble Consort Bai throwing teacups — she was famously never known to miss.