Young Master Bai had been watching the invisible hand assemble the block missile in mid-air earlier, foolishly grinning away without committing any of the steps to memory. Now that he was being questioned, his face instantly flushed a liverish purple.
He was unbearably mortified.
Beside him, Madam Bai seethed with rage and gave her son a hard pinch on the ear.
“The Deity is teaching you how to use a magical weapon, yet instead of learning the important parts, you focused on how Blacksmith Li struck the mechanism? How could I give birth to such a foolish son!”
Young Master Bai covered his face, not daring to retort, obediently enduring the scolding.
Madam Bai: “Hurry up and apologize to the Deity!”
Gao Yiye: “No need. The Deity says not to apologize. He will demonstrate it for you again. This time, you must watch carefully.”
Young Master Bai immediately snapped to attention, his eyes wide open, fixed intently on that strange magical weapon. It went click, click, click, piece by piece disassembling, falling apart, and soon became a pile of scattered components again.
Gao Yiye: “Alright, the Deity will begin assembling now.”
Li Daoxuan even reached his hand down the slope to retrieve the eight shells and reloaded them into the missile launch tubes.
Gao Yiye: “Did you get it clearly this time?”
Young Master Bai looked up, face radiant with excitement: “Reporting to the Deity, I have remembered it all.”
“Quite quick to learn,” Gao Yiye said. “The Deity praises you for being clever.”
Young Master Bai himself had little reaction, but Madam Bai beside him was overjoyed: “The Deity praised my son as clever! Hahahaha! My son was praised by the Deity! Hahahaha!”
Later, whenever Madam Bai boasted to other women in her chats, she would tell everyone, “My son was praised by the Deity, who said he is clever.” This claim she boasted about her entire life. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ɴovelfire.net
While Madam Bai was laughing uproariously with delight, Gao Yiye said to Young Master Bai: “Tomorrow morning, the Deity will send Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, bringing three sets of magical missiles and a large quantity of shells to Bai Family Fortress. You will go with them and teach your father how to assemble the magical missiles.”
Despite his young age, Young Master Bai had good manners. He made a deep bow toward the sky: “I humbly obey the Decree of the Deity! Heh, the ‘Rites’ part of the Six Arts, I learned it from my fathe—”
Pinch! Madam Bai gave him another hard pinch on the ear: “Don’t learn that from your father.”
Early in the morning, Cheng Xu rose very early.
He was writing a memorial to the throne. Though a military officer, he could read and write, though his literary skill wasn’t on par with civil officials. He could manage plain talk and commonplace language, chronicling events straightforwardly enough to recount what had happened clearly.
“I, leading a hundred soldiers, defended Bai Family Fortress against the bandit army, overseeing the porters in felling trees to build weapons such as catapults and giant crossbow vehicles, training the local gentry. After several days, the bandits indeed arrived, covering the heavens and earth, their numbers exceeding six thousand. Yet I harbored not a shred of fear. First, I used catapults and giant crossbow vehicles to crush the bandits’ morale, then led troops out to mask and attack, shattering the villains in a single blow. The scoundrels fled, casting aside helmets and armor, retreating into Huanglong Mountain. I pursued the bandit army for over thirty li, slaughtering bandits without number. The villains were terror-stricken, never daring to invade our Chengcheng again…”
He wrote animatedly, filled with self-satisfaction.
Having achieved such a great feat, promotion and wealth were within reach. Hahahaha!
Just as he was overjoyed, the deputy inspector pushed the door open and entered, speaking in a low voice: “General, we received news brought down by hunters from the mountains.”
Cheng Xu: “Oh? Report!”
Deputy inspector: “The hunters reported that after Bu Zhan Ni retreated to Huanglong Mountain, he reunited once more with Yichuan’s Zuo Guazi. The two armies are now marching jointly towards Bai Family Fortress.”
The brush in his hand clattered to the table. He fumed: “Why?! Those scoundrels suffered a heavy defeat in our Chengcheng County! They should dare not come again! They should head northeast into Yichuan County, or west to Luochuan County! Why must they come to Chengcheng County? As long as they didn’t come here, it wouldn’t be my problem!”
The deputy inspector lowered his voice: “They say there’s a formidable commander stationed in Yichuan County… Hong Chengchou, Shaanxi Grain Transport Supervisor. Zuo Guazi was beaten so badly by him that he dares not face him or go to Yichuan County. As for Luochuan County, they say there’s also a formidable patrol officer… Bu Zhan Ni was actually driven into Huanglong Mountain by that man… So… so…”
Cheng Xu grimaced: “So they’re squeezing the soft persimmon, right? I, Cheng Xu, look easy to deal with, do I?”
The deputy inspector broke out in a cold sweat.
Cheng Xu raged: “Where about me looks like a soft persimmon?! Exactly where?!”
Deputy inspector: “Leader, don’t be angry now. Think about how to deal with these two villains first. They’ve joined forces, their fighting strength amounts to fully three thousand. With this small Bai Family Fortress, we ultimately cannot defeat them. We’d better slip away.”
Panic churned in Cheng Xu’s heart: “I planned to slip away anytime anyway; I wasn’t bound to hold this Bai Family Fortress. But if those villains refuse utterly to go to Luochuan or Yichuan Counties, they’ll surely march straight into Chengcheng County after breaking through Bai Family Fortress, eventually throwing the entire county into ruin. As Patrol Officer of Chengcheng, where could I flee? Escape today, be caught tomorrow. Even if by luck I escape a while longer, in the end the Emperor will hold me accountable, it’ll still be the crime of dereliction of duty. The Donglin Party Magistrate will impeach me again, and this head of mine… won’t be kept.”
Cheng Xu snapped his head up and suddenly saw the deputy inspector’s face transform into his grandmother’s, who grinned at him: “Good great-grandson, come keep your great-grandmother company.”
“Ah!” he screamed, turning around to see another great-grandmother standing behind him: “Good great-grandson, your great-grandmother is so lonely…”
Cheng Xu: “Aaaaaaaagh!”
Thud! He face-planted onto his desk, sweating profusely. “I’m dead… This time I’m really dead.”
Just then, outside came the loud shout of the Bai Family Fortress sentinel: “Lord! Lord! Gao Chuwu has come again! He’s brought us more stuff!”
Cheng Xu: “Huh? Gao Chuwu? That guy who brought us the strange catapults and giant crossbow vehicle? He’s back?”
His spirits lifted, rushing with pride. He shot out of the room in an arrow-like burst.
Indeed, that enormous strange vehicle stood parked at the gate of Bai Family Fortress once more. This time too, the vehicle was piled high with goods. It was the same bizarre material that wasn’t metal, nor iron, nor stone, nor wood. However, this time it wasn’t clear what it was – it resembled a jumble of chaotic equipment, useless squares.
A young master in white clothes sprang down from the vehicle, looking about thirteen or fourteen, exceedingly young, without a trace of facial hair. It was precisely Young Master Bai. He tilted his head back and shouted loudly to Bai Yuan: “Father! I’m back!”
Bai Yuan took a single glance and panicked: “Eh? Why have you come back? This place is dangerous! Get back to Gaojia Village at once!”