The authority Zhang Shi carried was immense, even, in some respects, greater than that of Ren Tianye.
After all, he was a hardened man who had truly fought his way across the grasslands. The scars on his face were a testament to his journey and a symbol that made everyone who saw him tremble with fear.
They knew...
This was a man who absolutely dared to draw his blade and kill!
As a result, the moment Zhang Shi announced he would lay down new rules, the entire military camp, no matter how boisterous and heated it had been moments before, fell silent instantly.
Everyone turned to look at Zhang Shi in unison.
They looked at him, his face flushed red, barely able to contain the excitement surging within him.
They waited for Zhang Shi to establish the rules.
Liu Xu and Gao Ning, the newly surrendered couple, even stood up instinctively.
Then Zhang Shi slowly began to speak: "I have decided that this army under my command will resolutely carry out the Lord Duke's decree—which is to firmly crack down on love-blind fools!"
"And furthermore..."
"Not only will we crack down, but we will also provide a channel for everyone."
"A channel where they can seek redress!"
"From now on, wherever there are love-blind fools, I, Zhang Shi, will be there, and I will strike them down!"
"So, anyone who has suffered injustice because of love-blind fools, I, Zhang Shi, will rescue."
"Even if the love-blind fools flee to the ends of the earth, or deep into the grasslands... I, Zhang Shi, will lead the army to deal with them!"
After speaking, Zhang Shi looked around the camp, his gaze finally landing on Lu Shuang. He asked, "Lu Shuang, what do you think of this rule I've set?"
Lu Shuang nodded: "Very good, very good!"
"No, it's excellent!"
"From what I've learned, if this rule can spread throughout Yun Jing, then... General Zhang Shi, your path ahead will surely be one of brightness!"
"Good!" Zhang Shi shouted. "Then let's make this rule official and spread it to Yun Jing."
"Hmph, aren't those love-blind alliance people in Yun Jing the best at spreading rumors, saying that the Lord Duke's army is cold-blooded and ruthless? Now, I'll use the same method to let the millions of common people in Yun Jing know exactly why the Lord Duke's army has come to Yun Jing!"
Zhang Shi faced the surging waves with bold ambition.
The military camp erupted in excitement as well.
The scribes who had already been prepared immediately began summarizing and copying. Liu Xu and Gao Ning also quickly mobilized their connections in Fanshan Fort, speeding up the transcription process.
By the time the banquet was over, most of the preparatory work had been completed. By dawn the next day, over a thousand leaflets had been printed and distributed.
Led by Lu Shuang, they went deep into the countryside to spread the word.
Their destination was naturally the second of the two great barriers guarding Pukou—
The Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress!
...
In Pukou City.
Defending general Zhou Xiong finally figured out the situation at Fanshan Fort.
The letter in his hands detailed everything: how Liu Xu, the defending general of Fanshan Fort, had surrendered to Zhang Shi; how Liu Xu's wife, Ke Xunfang—a member of the love-blind alliance—had divorced him; and how Gao Ning had risen to power.
The more he read, the more furious Zhou Xiong became.
His rage reached its peak, and he could no longer hold it in.
"Rip!"
"Rip!"
The letter was torn to shreds in his fury.
With both hands, he flung the pieces into the air, where they scattered and drifted down.
Zhou Xiong's face was ashen as he cursed loudly.
"Idiot!"
"Absolute idiot!"
"A fool destined for the history books!"
"Had a perfectly good fortress at Fanshan, why not just hold it? Why the divorce?!"
"Now you've handed Fanshan Fort over to the enemy on a silver platter, and what good end will you come to yourself?"
"Damn it... I should never have trusted those love-blind alliance people. Even if they are born enemies of Ren Tianye, as incompatible as fire and water, they aren't worth even a speck of trust."
"Pure brain rot!"
"Utterly sick in the head!"
Even after cursing, Zhou Xiong was still fuming.
He practically wished he could storm over to Fanshan Fort, hang that stupid woman Ke Xunfang up, and whip her a hundred times.
But anger was anger; in the end, he had to face reality.
In particular, now that Zhang Shi had taken Fanshan Fort so effortlessly, he would very likely set his sights on Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress next.
Fanshan Fort and Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress were both barriers for Pukou City—its two great shields.
With Fanshan Fort in hand, Zhang Shi could use its higher ground to station troops, keep watch, and even command artillery fire.
If he also took Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress, he could block the river docks, cut off their escape route, and pin down the southern gate defenders...
Most importantly...
If he lost Fanshan Fort first, and then Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress, his already shaky credibility in Yun Jing would be utterly destroyed. Yun Jing would very likely send someone to take his position.
At that point, all his ambitions would collapse into nothing.
"Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress must not fall!"
"This time, I must hold Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress firmly!"
A plan quickly formed in Zhou Xiong's mind.
Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress was already naturally fortified and hard to attack. Surrounding it were vast stretches of muddy riverbanks, where infantry would sink deep into the mire, making it impossible to advance. Heavy warships couldn't get close to the shallows, and only small sampans could reach the fortress's walls.
On top of that, Ren Tianye's soldiers were mostly infantry, unaccustomed to fighting on water. With such a perilous position and the water defenses of Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress, under normal circumstances, Zhang Shi's troops would take huge losses and a great deal of time to capture it—though not as hopeless as facing Pukou City itself.
Still, time was on Zhou Xiong's side, giving him plenty of opportunity to send reinforcements.
But having seen how the actual situation was completely different from the theoretical defenses, he knew he had to come up with another approach.
The first idea immediately sprang to mind.
"The wife of Shen Du, the commander of Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress, is also a member of the love-blind alliance. She's naturally hostile to Ren Tianye's army and would never surrender, so..."
"As long as she doesn't do anything reckless, Linjiang Shazui Water Fortress will be fine."
"Then I..."
"I'll write her a letter!"
Zhou Xiong himself had never liked the love-blind fools in Yun Jing and had always been reluctant to deal with them. But now...
For the greater good of Pukou City!
He had to deal with them.
He personally wrote a letter.
In the letter, he emphasized one key point.
...
ut it can buy an entire year of absolutely perfect training results! Su Yu stared at his empty wallet and decisively opened up various online loan platforms. “Borrow a thousand bucks! Recharge my vitality!” Boom! His vitality broke a hundred points, shattering the limits of the human body! “Borrow ten thousand bucks! Recharge my combat skills!” Boom! A basic punching technique so common it was everywhere instantly maxed out, revealing the ultimate assassination technique of Five Elements Unity—Inner Force! When a rich kid hired assassins for a midnight ambush, aiming to break both of his legs, they instead ran headfirst into a monster—a human-shaped tyrannosaur, brimming with dragon-like vitality. With just two fingers, Su Yu snapped a steel staff reinforced with alloy. Staring at the killer’s stash of stolen cash—a staggering quarter-million dollars—he showed a corporate-sincere smile: “Thanks for the pre-exam gift pack, Mr. Zhao! I’m gonna go re-invest this!” Three days later, at the National Martial Arts College Entrance Exam, while everyone else struggled just to reach the passing line, Su Yu threw a single punch—and more than a thousand vitality points literally detonated the entire arena!
pression Bureau] Transported to a fantasy world overrun by demons and monsters, Gu Qingfeng becomes a jailer in the Demon Suppression Prison of the Great Yan Dynasty's Demon Suppression Bureau. From this point on, bizarre cases frequently occur in the Demon Suppression Prison, once known as hell on earth and infamous for its gloomy, terrifying atmosphere! Why do the demons and monsters in the prison wail miserably every night? Why has the corpse demon, capable of transforming into various beauties, donned black stockings and switched careers to become a foot massage therapist? Why has the eye demon, expert in soul-snatching and illusions, turned into a VR headset? Why is the fox spirit performing otaku dances? Are all these occurrences a twisted expression of demonic nature, or a descent into moral depravity? After peeling away layer upon layer of mystery, all clues ultimately point to a jailer named Gu Qingfeng. Gu Qingfeng: "Hehehe... My dear demons and monsters, whose card shall we flip today?"
ose... to cooperate with the protagonist! Shen Yuan: I have a system! Protagonist: What? System: Holy crap, you're just spilling it out like that? Shen Yuan: Let's team up, we'll split the system rewards! Protagonist: Fifty-fifty split? Shen Yuan: No way! Protagonist: What!? I'm the one getting beaten up, and I don't get half? Shen Yuan: Forty-sixty split, I get forty, you get sixty! Protagonist: Deal! Big brother, come on, hit me! As long as it doesn't kill me, beat me like you mean it! Shen Yuan: Don't worry... I will definitely protect all of you! No one but me can lay a finger on you! Guard our Heaven's Chosen Ones! I'm the only one allowed to bully them!
ing gift was a patch of barren land, and disciples were all picked up along the way. He spent fifty years diligently building three "ramshackle little sects," thinking he could finally live a carefree life relying on his disciples. But right at the fifty-year mark, he was suddenly swept away by a spatial rift and exiled to the Chaos Desolation, the Disorderly Ruins. There was no spiritual energy there, only slaughter. Relying on the cultivation feedback from his disciples, Gu Changyuan hacked his way through a sea of blood for eleven hundred years. When the system finally fished him back out, he discovered the ramshackle little sects he'd built back then had developed a rather... unusual style. Hold on... I vanished for a thousand years, so how did my ramshackle little sects become holy lands?!
