Chapter 1 When the Sky Was Not Yet Light

Before dawn, Zhao Zhu's cooks had already started building stoves and cooking food. After eating and donning their armor, they attacked Miyun County again.

This time, not only did he have the five hundred Fire Crow Army soldiers who had been transferred to him, but he had also asked Zhou Liang, the general of the right wing, for another three thousand soldiers. Adding them all together, he now had five thousand soldiers under his command. When they raised their banners, they were a dark mass, attacking Miyun County.

The defending soldiers of Miyun County numbered only a little over a thousand. Even with the forcibly conscripted laborers, they only numbered about three thousand. Facing the five thousand fully armed Bao Liang Army soldiers, the disparity was vast.

However, the defenders had just won a battle yesterday, and their morale was high. They were not afraid and did not huddle in the city. Instead, they pulled out their troops, beat drums, and waved flags on the open ground in front of the city, waiting for Zhao Zhu to lead his men to attack.

The two sides met, shooting arrows to secure their positions. Fifty *zhang* apart, an officer from the opposing side rushed out to curse.

Naturally, his words were full of accusations of treason and urging early surrender.

Zhao Zhu ignored him and shouted, "Who doesn't know the reputation of our Bao Liang Army? What's the point of talking nonsense with you?"

As he spoke, he brandished his steel fork and went straight to meet the officer. His arm had been injured yesterday, but after a night of shousui (watching the year pass), he was almost fully recovered. Now that he was filled with anger, he wielded his steel fork even more fiercely, each move aimed at the opponent's chest.

After a few rounds, the officer lost his courage and retreated, dragging his spear behind him.

Seeing their general flee, the deputy general immediately led his troops to meet and rescue him. Zhao Zhu was no longer the reckless youth he had been when he first started out. Seeing the other side's feigned retreat, he knew there was a trick.

He didn't even bother to chase. With a wave of his hand, his soldiers grunted and groaned as they charged toward the enemy. The area in front of Miyun County instantly became a killing ground for the two armies.

But facing the fierce Bao Liang Army, the enemy troops were no match. It could even be said that they collapsed at the first touch. Just as the Bao Liang Army was about to push forward, the Miyun County defending soldiers repeated their old trick, hiding a team of soldiers in their ranks.

Each of them tore off the cloaks behind them, revealing the green-skinned gourds on their backs, carrying them on their shoulders, aiming at the Bao Liang Army.

This time, there were even more of them, a full five hundred men, cutting across the entire battlefield.

It turned out that reinforcements had arrived in Miyun County last night, and now the five hundred Gourd Army soldiers were on the field together.

"Hoo!"

As these gourd-carrying soldiers simultaneously chanted incantations and pulled out the gourd stoppers, a gust of yin wind blew out.

The yin wind was mixed with the howls of fierce ghosts, bone-chillingly cold, as if it could freeze people's bones and blow away their souls.

The soldiers at the front, at the height of their killing intent, were hit in the face by the gourd wind. Surprisingly, they all froze. Logically speaking, people who had been caught up in the fighting would not be deterred by ghosts or gods.

But these gourds were different. The mouths of the gourds had been sawed short, and one could vaguely see clumps of white, sticky flesh inside. They had no facial features, but they had a mouth that puffed out its cheeks and blew out air when the stopper was removed.

The first breath blew people's minds clear, suddenly making them realize that they were on the battlefield, surrounded by swords, spears, and halberds.

The second breath blew people into cowardice and panic, their limbs as if frozen.

The third breath blew people into even greater fear, their bodies still in place, but their souls eager to flee the battlefield.

At this point, it was difficult to even stand still, let alone fight. They were left at the mercy of the enemy's attack.

"Damn it, the Gourd Army are not good people!"

They had suffered from this yesterday when attacking the city, but they had not seen it clearly in the confusion. This time, Zhao Zhu was closer and saw it clearly. He immediately cursed, "Back when I was with Brother Ma Zi in Qing Shi Town, we fought a bunch of demon men from some Tan'er Religion."

"Those demon men raised Tan Gu Gu, which is similar to these gourd-carrying guys."

"It's just that the Tan'er Religion was never anything good, just pure low-down stuff. They even knew to hide when they were practicing this stuff."

"But this Gourd Army actually practices it openly and uses it in battle?"

"..."

The strategist Tie Zui Zi, who was watching the battle from the side, said in a low voice, "This is the difference between the God-Given King and the Bright King. The name God-Given King sounds like he has great fortune and is most pleasing to the ear."

"But he himself is eccentric, vicious, and doesn't care about anything. Because he is born under the protection of ghosts and gods, and has never suffered a loss since childhood, he doesn't care about so-called compassion and benevolence. He only cares about what works."

"This Gourd Army is just the tip of the iceberg. There are many demon men under the God-Given King who are skilled in evil arts!"

"..."

"They're even crueler than the Guanzhou Hungry Ghost Army."

Zhao Zhu spat on the ground in anger and said, "The Hungry Ghost Army was extremely cruel in its actions back then, but they really couldn't find anything to eat. But these people, Quzhou has had good weather and abundant harvests in recent years. Their grain is even richer than our Mingzhou, yet they still practice this evil art!"

"Fortunately, I figured it out last night. I'm going to train an army to deal with them too."

"..."

Just as he was thinking, the flag in the army changed, and the Bao Liang Army at the front also scattered to both sides.

A group of people wearing leather armor and carrying iron frames on their backs appeared in the crowd. Facing the rows of green-skinned gourds, they also shouted.

Everyone raised their left palms high, and their right hands grabbed a sharp scimitar, performing a uniform movement. They slashed their scarred left palms, and blood splattered immediately. Then, they smeared it on their chests.

"Whoosh..."

As the blood formed symbols on their chests, a ball of fire appeared in their throats, and they spat out a crow covered in flames, flapping its wings and flying up.

One after another, they flew in the air, rushing forward against the yin wind blowing out of the green-skinned gourds. The yin wind blew, but it could not extinguish the fire. Instead, the more the yin wind blew, the stronger the fire became.

When they encountered people, they did not burn cloth or leather, but when they encountered human flesh, they burrowed inside.

The Gourd Army soldiers were shocked by this scene and patted their gourds even more vigorously, spraying out a stronger and heavier wind, trying to blow the fire crows back.

In theory, the Gourd Army somewhat restrained the Fire Crow Army. If they could blow the fire back, it would be a mutually destructive situation.

However, the Bao Liang Army also had people who were good at using wind. Tie Zui Zi, the strategist who was standing side by side with Zhao Zhu behind the army formation, saw the fire crows fighting against the yin wind and had his men bring his Great Wind Flag.

He stood under the flag, cast a spell with his sword, and pointed remotely. Immediately, a rolling gust of wind came from behind the flag, following the direction of the flag and blowing toward the entire battlefield.

The fire crows borrowed the wind's power and became even fiercer, like waves rolling toward the front.

The Gourd Army was instantly engulfed in evil flames, screaming repeatedly. The flames directly burned into the army formation behind the Gourd Army, burning the gourd-carrying soldiers to pieces.

"This battle is stable!"

Seeing this, the strategist Tie Zui Zi put away the Great Wind Flag and clapped his hands in praise, "This Fire Crow Army is on the right path."

Zhao Zhu watched the fireballs in the enemy formation, the charred smell drilling into his nostrils, his eyes widened. He said, "This fire is so poisonous and evil, yet you say it's the right path?"

"What do you think is the right path?"

The strategist Tie Zui Zi said, "Now there is a demon sky above and a ghost land below. All the laws in the world have a touch of evil. Even the Ghost Walking School has sinister methods like Please Yin Thunder, let alone other methods?"

"So whether this path is right or not has only one standard: whether you are seeking it for yourself or harming others."

"All those who seek the law from themselves are on the right path."

"The Fire Crow Army's method of training soldiers is to raise a fire crow in their own stomachs. When they need to use it, they use their own blood as a guide to summon it out of their bodies and drive the fire crow to injure the enemy."

"The Gourd Army is cruel to others, but the Fire Crow Army is cruel to themselves."

"They are doing great harm to their bodies by raising this fire crow in their stomachs. First of all, those who can join the Fire Crow Army must be virgins. Anyone who wants to marry and have children must leave the army and pass this fire crow on to others."

"They can only eat vegetarian food on weekdays, vegetables and tofu, but they also need three raw eggs every day to replenish their bodies."

"Even so, they consume a lot of blood essence every time they fight."

"However, it's no wonder they said that each Fire Crow Army soldier receives three times more pay than others. Being able to recruit this Fire Crow Army into our ranks, let alone three times the pay, even ten times, there are plenty of people in the world who would be fighting for it!"

"..."

While they were talking, the battlefield had already become a foregone conclusion. The enemy's Gourd Army was broken, and rolling seas of fire engulfed them.

Seeing that the fire was weakening slightly, the army was about to take advantage of the situation and attack, but unexpectedly, at this moment, the Gourd Army soldiers who had been engulfed in the fire crow crowd, seeing that there was no escape, shouted at the same time and smashed the gourds in their hands on the ground.

If they couldn't smash them open with one blow, they smashed them twice. The sound of "dong, dong" could be heard. It was unknown how many gourds had been broken, and things were crawling out of them.

The battlefield was instantly filled with evil energy, and rolling black fog rose up. Countless screams could be heard within.

The Bao Liang Army soldiers who were about to attack were also panicked. They were shocked to see strange white figures crawling out of the gourds, their bodies filled with eerie evil energy. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and even the fire that was still burning turned blue.

The fire crows flying in the air also gradually slowed down, as if they were shrouded in yin wind. The Fire Crow Army soldiers who were driving the fire crows also began to tremble and hurriedly summoned the fire crows back into their stomachs.

"Not good."

Even the strategist Tie Zui Zi was surprised by the enemy's ferocity.

Seeing that they were losing, they were still willing to smash the gourds, risking their lives to cause this great chaos, so as to help the rear army retreat back to the city.

If the gourds were smashed, the things inside would not survive, but before they dissipated, they would inevitably unleash a great deal of evil energy.

Normally, these kinds of evil things could not cause trouble in the army because there were a large number of soldiers, and their yang energy was strong.

But now there were quite a few of these things, which was enough to cause a great chaos.

Seeing that the Miyun County officers had loudly ordered a retreat, the Bao Liang Army soldiers at the front slowed down, and the soldiers behind them were affected, and the formation became somewhat scattered.

Among them, some were obviously affected, their faces pale, and their expressions strange. Some of them even slowly turned around and raised their swords and spears at their comrades.

This change was not even calculated by the strategist Tie Zui Zi. But when Zhao Zhu saw it, he was both shocked and angry, "Too evil."

"Fortunately, I was prepared!"

"..."

As he spoke, he waved the flag, and a group of junior officers each carried two clay pots, tied with grass ropes, slung around their necks. They didn't carry swords or spears. They just shouted loudly and charged from both sides of the army towards the center where the demons and evils were wreaking havoc.

When they reached the front, they shouted, "Take this!"

They vigorously raised the clay pots in their hands and smashed them into the crowd, regardless of friend or foe.

With a series of "smack, smack" sounds, the field was filled with a stench. An unexpected scene appeared before everyone's eyes.

The clay pots were mostly filled with yellow and white substances. When they were smashed into the field, the flames were extinguished, and the things wriggling on the ground from the gourds let out screams and slowly melted away.

Even the Bao Liang Army comrades who had been affected by the evil energy were splattered with this stuff, and they felt nauseous for a moment, but the evil energy on their faces was clearly gone.

"You..."

The strategist Tie Zui Zi was stunned by this scene.

"You don't know this stuff can ward off evil?"

Zhao Zhu stared at the field, seeing that it was working, he was also shocked. He said to Tie Zui Zi, "Yesterday, when I heard you talking about this army and that army, all of them were very evil, I was thinking about how to break them."

"The old people in our village all say that those strange things are afraid of filth, so I asked my personal soldiers to collect their feces and urine from the army overnight, waiting for the opportunity."

"I never expected..."

He became more and more excited, his mouth splitting open to the roots of his ears, "It's actually so useful?"

"This stuff is good, the army has no shortage of it!"

"The only thing is that it's a bit wasteful of clay pots. All the clay pots in the army have been used by me. The brothers probably won't have pickled vegetables to eat these days..."

As he spoke, he shouted loudly, raised his steel fork, and rushed forward.

When he passed through the field, he hesitated slightly, reined in his horse, first stirred the steel fork in the filth on the ground, and then raised it again.

He shouted loudly, chest puffed out and head held high, and rushed up. Countless soldiers shouted behind him and followed. The Miyun County soldiers were about to take the opportunity to retreat back into the city and defend it again, but they did not expect the Bao Liang Army to charge up so quickly.

Hearing the deafening shouts of killing behind them, their legs went weak, and they were slow to escape. In an instant, they were overtaken, hacked all the way, and killed to the front of the city gate before it could be closed.

Seeing that Miyun City was about to be taken, another great achievement was about to be recorded in Zhao Zhu's name.

"It can actually be like this?"

The strategist Tie Zui Zi watched the great victory from behind, a little dazed. He took a deep look at Zhao Zhu, "Other people are all something Gourd General, F屠 General, Wrapped-Head General..."

"Could it be that we are going to have a Jinzhi (golden fluid - euphemism for urine) General in the Bao Liang Army?"

"..."

"This young general is quite interesting..."

Behind them, in the Fire Crow Army, which had also made a miraculous contribution, a person with a rather round face, dressed like a rich young master, sighed softly.

He covered his mouth and nose, while leading his Fire Crow Army back, away from the filthy place, he looked at Zhao Zhu, who was leading his troops into the city, fierce and good at fighting, and said to himself:

"I heard that this person is also a former Mingzhou man from the Bao Liang Army. He learned the skill of shousui, and he dares to fight. He was injured yesterday, and he still dares to charge in the front. But if you say he's reckless, his brain is also flexible..."

"If this kind of person sits in the world under the Bright King, his future is probably limitless. I am going to find a good person to entrust my brothers to. Why don't I entrust the Fire Crow Army to him?"

"..."

He naturally thought this way, and he also wanted to test Zhao Zhu. Unexpectedly, on the day that Miyun County was captured and a feast was held in the city for the soldiers, he quietly mentioned this matter, but Zhao Zhu directly shook his head and refused:

"No!"

"Give this Fire Crow Army to Brother Zhou Liang!"

"I've thought about it, I don't want to practice your Fire Crow Army, Wild Boar Army, or whatever. If I want to practice, I want to practice an army that can break all kinds of evil things and be invincible against ten thousand enemies!"

"..."

"What?"

The round-faced young master was shocked, "My Fire Crow Army is so powerful, but it was actually rejected?"

As the vanguard officer Zhao Zhu captured Miyun County in one fell swoop, it also meant that the Bao Liang Army's strategy to attack Quzhou had taken a big step forward. Reports of victory came from all directions, and the army advanced very quickly. Within a few days, they had already entered Quzhou territory.

And if we talk about the most courageous person in the entire army's advance, it would be a female general under General Shen Hongzhi of the central route. She started as a small leader and actually won consecutive victories.

Facing the brave and fierce generals under the God-Given King, she used all kinds of wonderful methods and captured several cities in a row, making General Shen Hongzhi of the central route the fastest advancing side.

Especially when it came to attacking Zao Zi Ridge, facing the 20,000 soldiers of the God-Given King stationed there, she just took a few deputy generals and walked out of the army triumphantly, cursing at the defending general on the other side:

"The opposite side should take a closer look, your grandma Qiao Yun is back again today..."

"..."

The one leading the troops guarding Zao Zi Ridge was one of the Seven Great Generals under the God-Given King, and was also a well-known fierce general. It is said that he could set up altars to cast spells, and kill people like hemp. Shen Hongzhi knew that he was guarding this place, and was also very vigilant, and even thought of asking her lover to come and help.

Unexpectedly, the other party was high up on the ridge, staring down. When he saw Di Gua Shao, he suddenly broke out in a cold sweat and said in fear, "This is bad!"

"That demon, witch, madwoman, evil ghost with no bottom line, the number one demon on the wanted list with a bounty of one hundred gold..."

"...is here again!"