When the main regiment of Gao Family Village mobilized, the entire village responded as though a great festival had been declared, except this festival carried rifles, artillery, and five thousand determined men.
The Chang'an Automobile Factory ran at full capacity. Long columns of troop transport trucks rolled out from its gates, engines rumbling in disciplined succession. Solar powered buses were pressed into service. The railway lines were fully utilized, freight cars converted, schedules rewritten overnight. Grain, ammunition, medical kits, spare boots, engineering tools, everything moved with astonishing coordination.
What had once been a scattered settlement was now a war capable industrial system.
Five thousand men departed with such speed that observers could only shake their heads and say it was as though the army had sprouted wings.
They reached Shanyang County in record time.
But once there, the convenience of modernized infrastructure ended.
Southward lay Sichuan.
And beyond that lay mountains.
There were no smooth concrete roads stretching obediently into the distance. No neatly graded highways cutting through valleys. From this point onward, the earth rose and folded into itself in endless ridges, tangled forests, and narrow passes that could swallow an army whole.
This was where the true trial began.
Both the main regiment and the logistical units adjusted their pace. Soldiers crouched to tighten rope bindings around their calves to stabilize muscles during steep climbs. They checked boot soles for wear, tested the seals on their waterskins, adjusted ration packs, and slung their long flintlock rifles across their shoulders. Engineers redistributed load weight. Scouts were reassigned in rotating shifts.
No one complained.
At some point during the preparations, a voice rose in song.
"At the sound of the order, we pack and march…"
The tune carried lightly at first, almost playful.
Nearby soldiers picked it up instinctively.
"Advancing on the path to defend our land…"
More voices joined.
"Across forests, mountains, rivers, and plains we go, ever onward…"
The mountains echoed faintly with the rhythm of marching boots and rising song.
Before long, the army reached Zhuxi County, territory once under the Yunyang Pacification Commissioner.
The moment the forward elements appeared outside a mountain village, chaos erupted.
Doors slammed shut. Chickens scattered. Children vanished like startled rabbits. Within seconds the entire village emptied as though it had never been inhabited.
Cheng Xu blinked slowly.
"Huh."
Flat Rabbit burst into laughter.
"Instructor He, no need to trouble yourself. Leave this to your Rabbit Lord."
He bounded forward with theatrical flair, climbed onto a stone platform near the entrance, spread his arms wide, and shouted with all the confidence of someone who had never doubted his own popularity.
"Folks, do not be frightened. Your Rabbit Lord has arrived."
The effect was immediate and almost comical.
Heads popped out from behind doors. Windows creaked open. A few brave elders squinted toward the road.
Then recognition dawned.
"It is Rabbit Lord."
"It really is him."
"We thought it was bandits or some new tax collectors."
"It is the militia from Gao Family Village."
In moments the village flowed back into the open. Fear melted into relieved smiles.
Cheng Xu watched the transformation with quiet astonishment.
So this was influence.
Years earlier, when Lu Xiangheng had served as Yunyang Pacification Commissioner, Gao Family Village had provided both open and discreet assistance to Zhuxi County. Supplies had been delivered. Relief grain distributed. Tools, medicine, cloth, even livestock had been provided to struggling families.
Flat Rabbit had been among the most enthusiastic participants in those relief efforts.
Unlike many officials who saw disaster as opportunity, he truly treated wealth like dirt. Bribes slid off him like rainwater. When Li Daoxuan saw this, Dao Xuan Tianzun had granted him a Hero's Mandate, authorizing him to mobilize relief resources whenever necessary.
Flat Rabbit had traveled tirelessly across Yunyang. Flood, drought, landslide, it did not matter. If people suffered, he appeared.
He had even ventured deep into the Shennongjia mountains.
Popularity like this was not purchased.
It was earned.
An old villager clasped Flat Rabbit's hands tightly.
"Rabbit Lord, it is a blessing you have returned. After you left, Commissioner Lu also departed. The new commissioner is like a wooden puppet, useless in every matter. Not long ago, a large bandit force swept through here. We fled into the hills and barely survived. The commissioner never came. Only General Luo Xi arrived afterward to clear remnants."
Flat Rabbit's expression darkened.
"That fool Luo Xi only appears after the damage is done. Why not defend before they arrive?"
Several villagers hurriedly shook their heads.
"Rabbit Lord, you truly cannot blame General Luo. These mountains twist and fork endlessly. There are countless hidden paths. Even if he had three heads and six arms, he could not guard every village. All he can do is chase wherever the bandits surface."
Zheng Gouzi leaned in with a grin.
"Rabbit Lord, you are scolding Luo Xi for arriving after the fact, but did you not also arrive after the fact?"
Flat Rabbit froze.
For several seconds he maintained a dignified silence.
"Yes," he admitted finally. "That is… unfortunately accurate."
He coughed, recovering authority.
"Which direction did the bandits flee?"
Villagers pointed south toward dense forest ridges.
"They crossed those mountains, likely heading toward Daning County in Sichuan."
Daning County, what would later become Wuxi of Chongqing.
Chongqing was infamous for its mountains. Even in a future age of satellites and digital maps, travelers became lost in its layered streets. In these times, without modern navigation, the land was a labyrinth.
Cheng Xu stared at the jagged horizon and felt unease crawl up his spine.
At that moment, a faint spectral figure drifted beside him.
"Little one," the apparition said in thick Sichuan dialect, "great grandma lost her way on the road to Fengdu Ghost City and simply settled here in Chongqing. Come visit."
Cheng Xu nearly jumped out of his boots.
"I am your great grandson. Why are you calling me little one and referring to yourself as great grandma?"
The spectral elder laughed softly.
"In Chongqing we call our younger kin little ones. We call grandmother popo. So I am tai popo."
Cheng Xu felt a chill. Even the noodles of Shaanxi seemed to transform in his imagination. Cold skin noodles becoming cold noodles. Linguistic shifts everywhere. The mountains felt even more ominous.
Was this a warning that he would become permanently lost here, wandering forever as a Chongqing ghost?
He was still contemplating existential doom when a villager stepped forward.
"Rabbit Lord, are you pursuing those bandits?"
"Of course."
"Then allow me to guide you. I know every ridge and stream. I will ensure you do not lose your way."
Flat Rabbit's eyes shone.
"That would be most appreciated."
The villager smiled.
"This is nothing compared to what you have done for us. To assist Rabbit Lord is our honor."
Voices rose behind him.
"We all wish to help."
In that moment, Cheng Xu felt the oppressive weight in his chest lighten. A local guide meant survival in these mountains.
The spectral great grandmother's form grew faint. She waved lightly.
"My dear great grandson, great grandma has found her way after all…"
Then she disappeared.
With a structured formation, the army entered the mountains.
A villager led at the front, escorted by Flat Rabbit and a scout detachment. Behind them followed Zheng Gouzi with the vanguard battalion at controlled distance. Further back, hidden from sight, the main force advanced in measured intervals.
This layered formation reduced the risk of catastrophic ambush.
From the rear command position, Cheng Xu observed Flat Rabbit and Zheng Gouzi navigating the terrain with discipline and awareness.
They were not the reckless fools they once had been.
Dao Xuan Tianzun had once said these three had grown.
At the time, Cheng Xu had doubted it.
Now, watching them manage scouts, maintain spacing, and communicate efficiently in complex terrain, he finally admitted the truth.
People change.
Even rabbits.
Even dogs.
He took out his brush and wrote quietly in his field notebook:
"People evolve. So too do rabbits and dogs."
The line would later be included in the Collection of Gao Family Village Aphorisms, Cheng Xu's Volume.
And deep within the mountains of Shu, five thousand soldiers marched forward, not merely with weapons, but with something far more powerful.
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