Chapter Eighty-Eight: Bandits Attack

The town magistrate refused to see me?

Hao Donglai’s face twisted with fury.

“So he really thinks he is some great man now?”

“Bah. What a piece of trash.”

After cursing a few times, Hao Donglai left in sour mood.

“No. I have to save myself.”

A sharp light flashed in Hao Donglai’s eyes.

The best way to solve a problem is war.

A bloody battle can bury everything.

All those who stand against me will vanish in the smoke of war.

To place my hopes on the Demon Suppression Office of East Shore City is no longer possible.

Less than half a year after leaving East Shore City, the office had already been turned into an iron bastion by Gongsun Yan.

“I have already found the pirate nest. The only trouble is that the pirates are not weak.”

“Baili Feihong, didn’t you want to remain in South County and refuse to move?”

“Then I will strike straight at the snake’s head and leave South County hollowed out. When the pirates come, I will wipe out their lair and then circle back to save the city. The merit will be mine.”

The more Hao Donglai thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

The only risk was that too many commoners in South County might be killed, making it hard to account for.

Still, with Baili Feihong there, they should be able to hold out for a while.

Let him organize the garrison and resist the pirates.

Once I destroy the pirate nest and sever their retreat, he will be the hero.

By then, what will the deaths of the county magistrate and the others in South County have to do with me?

Hao Donglai immediately ordered every demon-suppressing officer in the office to leave the city.

South County, already in chaos, now had no center at all.

“Hao Donglai has taken the entire office and vanished.”

Messenger pigeons flew out of South County one after another.

The traitors within the city did not miss this opportunity.

“At last, they have made their move.”

Baili Feihong smiled.

“Director Yang, I am quite satisfied with this residence of yours. I have decided to give you a chance to earn merit.”

He found Director Yang Cheng at once, smiling broadly.

“Serving you is my duty, sir. You need not be so polite.”

Yang Cheng replied respectfully.

Cooperating with the Demon Suppression Office had always been a key duty of the patrol constabulary.

“Rest assured, it is only a matter of catching a few spies. Nothing dangerous. Am I not here to back you up?”

Baili Feihong patted Yang Cheng on the shoulder.

What Hao Donglai had gone to do, Baili Feihong did not know.

But since he had taken the office away, South County was left dangerously hollow inside.

That left room for mischief.

As expected, some spies made no effort even to conceal themselves. They openly sent messenger pigeons to pass intelligence to the outside world.

By evening, squads of constables, armed with matchlocks, smashed in doors and dragged the household masters out.

They searched the homes and found abundant evidence.

Those men knew that once they fell into the hands of the authorities, death would be certain.

They resisted desperately.

Alas, under Baili Feihong’s suppression, they could not stir up any storm.

“Sir, this subordinate has a question. I wonder if it is proper to say it?”

Director Yang Cheng was delighted to have gained merit, but the intelligence extracted from the spies had terrified him.

“Director Yang, I have another task for you. Contact the garrison and keep order within the city. As for the pirates the traitors spoke of, leave them to me.”

Baili Feihong smiled as he spoke, showing not the slightest concern.

He had not intercepted the messenger pigeons precisely because he wanted the pirates and the forces allied with them to come.

They were all walking skill points.

How could he let them slip away?

“There are ninjas among the pirates, and even onmyoji from the Sakura Kingdom. I have heard their methods are strange indeed, able to control demons and send them to kill. Should we inform Commander Hao Donglai to guard the city?”

“Lord Hao has special duties. A mere band of pirates will not cause any great wave. Director Yang, just wait and watch the show.”

The meaning hidden in Baili Feihong’s words put Yang Cheng completely at ease.

Could it be that Commander Gongsun Yan would make a move?

Yes, the pirate scourge was like a wart that could not be shaken off.

Now that the Southern Naval Fleet had suffered a crushing defeat, the court urgently needed a victory.

This was the perfect chance to use these pirates as the blade.

“I am acquainted with the deputy general of the city garrison. I will go and contact him at once.”

The night was black and the wind howled.

Baili Feihong stood atop the city wall, gazing out beyond the city, where the mountains and wilderness lay pitch-dark and silent, so quiet it was chilling.

“The messenger pigeons have already gone out. The pirates want to plunder South County, and this is the perfect moment.”

Most of these pirates were sea bandits made up of wandering samurai from the Sakura Kingdom.

No one knew when the pirate scourge had begun.

But the wealthy Great Yuan Empire had become, by word of mouth, a land where gold lay everywhere.

In the Sakura Kingdom, many samurai had already fallen into street poverty, homeless and adrift.

Yet when they saw companions returning from the Great Yuan Empire, loaded with riches, how could they not be tempted?

“When a nation is prosperous, it suppresses all directions.”

“The fate of a country is all reflected in its imperial might.”

Baili Feihong mused deeply.

The Great Yuan Empire had already declined.

Overseas nations, and the neighboring states of the empire as well, had begun to think of dividing its wealth among themselves.

When Qin lost the deer, the whole realm chased after it; the swift-footed and able were the first to seize it.

That saying surfaced in Baili Feihong’s mind.

When the Great Yuan Empire was at the height of its power, all nations came to pay homage.

It was one of the overlords of the world today.

Now, as the industrial revolution began and countless foreigners entered Great Yuan territory, observing from the outside and probing out its strengths and weaknesses, their reports spread abroad. Ambitious men finally turned their gaze upon the empire.

To them, if the Great Yuan Empire was already in decline, then to cut a piece of flesh from it would be only natural.

When a whale falls, all things are born.

Firelight flickered.

Scattered footsteps came drifting on the wind.

“At last, they are here.”

Baili Feihong drew his blade and stood it across his body.

“I have been considering how the Four Seas Fist and Blood River Saber Art might be fused, and what the subsequent moves should be.”

“I shall use you to temper my blade.”

“To temper my Blood Sabre.”

He closed his eyes, and in his mind the Four Seas Fist and Blood River Saber Art appeared with perfect clarity.

Baili Feihong wanted to try extending the Blood River Saber Art.

However, even if the complete Blood River Saber Art were placed before him, it probably would not stir him much.

He would rather create his own art.

The firelight went out.

Groups of men drew near the South County city in silence.

Among them were not only pirates, but also blond, blue-eyed sea raiders, and even people of Great Yuan.

This time, to seize South County, the various powers had gathered more than three thousand men, intent on taking the county as quickly as possible.

They would not give the Great Yuan Empire time to react.

After plundering South County, they would take ship and depart.

A giant had been ripped open in the belly.

Countless wolves and jackals would swarm in.

This was no longer a mere act of plunder and slaughter.

If they succeeded, and with the Southern Naval Fleet suffering a crushing defeat, then the Great Yuan Empire’s aura of invincibility would be dragged completely from its throne.

No one stronger than the Nascent Soul Realm had made a move.

“That is the only way to shake the world.”

A single strong fighter launching a surprise attack and capturing a city was not enough to shock the world.

But a band of pirates and brigands seizing a city from the strongest empire in the world, and then looting it clean, that would be a true world-shaking event.

“Open the gates.”

Baili Feihong gave the order with a cold smile.

Beside him stood the deputy general of the garrison, a man tall as an iron pagoda, his expression solemn as he nodded.

The city gates slowly opened.

The spies already prepared inside the city desperately charged toward the advancing enemy ranks.

They fled for their lives.

A squad of cavalry burst from the gates and charged after them.

“The city gates are open.”

“Liu Sheng Taro, send in your ninjas and seize the gates.”

“Under no circumstances can we allow them to close again.”

The bearded pirate chief said excitedly.

“Eight-Headed Serpent Ninjas, step forward.”