Silence gradually returned to the valley.
The main force of the Eight Great Kings had collapsed. More than forty thousand men threw down their weapons and lay flat on the ground, trembling. The moment they saw Gao Family Village militia approaching with firearms in hand, they shouted in unison.
"Hero, do not kill me. I surrender. I surrender."
The veteran militia stood guard along the outer perimeter with muskets ready.
Meanwhile, Jiang Daliang led a group of Sichuan recruits armed with cold weapons to clear the battlefield, bind prisoners, and collect the wounded.
One soldier ran over and saluted.
"Report. We have captured tens of thousands. There are too many. What should we do with them?"
Flat Rabbit grinned widely.
"The old method. Send them all back and throw them into labor reform camps. We withdraw temporarily to Macheng, process the prisoners there, then reenter the mountains."
"Yes, sir."
Someone shouted from the side.
"There is a young man here. Judging from his clothing, he looks like an important bandit leader. He is injured from the explosion but not dead."
Flat Rabbit waved his hand casually.
"Treat prisoners well. Dress his wounds. Take him back to Macheng. When he recovers a little, we will question him properly."
Thus a few men came forward, dug shrapnel out from the muscles of the young man's back, applied disinfectant and anti inflammatory medicine bestowed by Dao Xuan Tianzun, whether it truly matched the injury or not was beside the point. Applying medicine was the symbol of humane treatment. Whether he lived or died afterward depended on his own fate.
The army of Flat Rabbit escorted tens of thousands of prisoners and returned to Macheng in high spirits.
…
In darkness, Li Dingguo heard voices.
"Hey, this young fellow did not die. Took a grenade blast and still breathing."
"Youth is good. Recovers quickly."
"Change his dressing."
"Are we being too kind to these bandits? I would rather they all died."
"You cannot say that," another voice replied. "Tianzun said our country has nine hundred something thousand square kilometers. Anyway, it is huge. Yet the population is still under one hundred million. Spread across such a vast land, people barely make a ripple. If we want to build the nation well, we need many, many, many labor reform inmates."
"That is true. I heard the seventy thousand captured from Chuang Wang are building a road from Hanzhong to Guangyuan. Cutting through the mountains of Shu is no easy matter. Seventy thousand men working for so long and the progress is still limited."
"Exactly. We lack manpower. If we kill them all, who will do the work? You?"
"Hahaha. Fine. Change his medicine."
Li Dingguo felt coolness spreading across his back.
Then he sank into darkness again.
When he awoke once more, several days had passed.
He opened his eyes and saw a man in clean cotton clothing. Around the man's sleeve was a white armband marked with a red cross.
The man glanced down at him.
"Oh. Awake?"
Li Dingguo's voice was weak.
"You are…"
"Gao Family Village militia. Second Regiment of the village. Medical corps."
"Gao Family Village… militia?" Li Dingguo frowned. "The ones who defeated us were militia? Not imperial troops?"
The medic laughed.
"Imperial troops are worthless trash."
Li Dingguo fell silent.
The medic shouted loudly.
"Rabbit Lord. Rabbit Lord. The prisoner is awake. He can speak. Mind seems clear."
Two men in their thirties or forties walked in.
Neither wore any clothing that signaled high rank. There was no aura of distant authority about them.
The one in front grinned.
"This great hero's Jianghu nickname is Flat Rabbit. Also known as the Number One Divine Sword Under Heaven. One slash chills forty provinces. Sword energy sweeps thirty thousand li. You may address me as Rabbit Lord."
Li Dingguo nearly fainted again from the introduction alone.
Flat Rabbit continued cheerfully.
"This beside me is Zheng Gouzi. Also known as…"
Zheng Gouzi cut him off.
"Do not fabricate nonsense. I am not as foolish as you. No need to invent titles to inflate your face."
Flat Rabbit cleared his throat.
"Very well. Now introduce yourself."
Li Dingguo hesitated.
"Zhang… Li… Dingguo."
Flat Rabbit's eyes widened.
"Zhang and Li? Are you playing games with me?"
"My original name was Li Dingguo. At ten years old I followed the Eight Great Kings in rebellion. He adopted me as his son. I changed my surname to Zhang."
Flat Rabbit let out a long whistle.
"So you are indeed someone important. An adopted son of the Eight Great Kings. Interesting. If I put a blade to your neck, perhaps I could force him to crawl out of the mountains and surrender."
Zheng Gouzi shook his head.
"That is not our village style."
Li Dingguo gave a bitter smile.
"My adoptive father would not surrender for me. I understand now. In his heart there is only himself."
Flat Rabbit tilted his head.
"Then you are useless?"
Li Dingguo closed his eyes.
"Yes. I am useless. Kill or punish me as you wish."
At that moment, the mass produced Dao Xuan Tianzun walked in from outside.
"Rabbit Lord, I heard this battle went rather well."
Li DaoXuan's first sentence was praise.
Flat Rabbit lit up like a lantern.
"Tianzun is here. Hehe. I was clever this time, was I not? Actually I am always clever."
Li DaoXuan smiled and patted his shoulder.
"Well done. Keep it up."
Flat Rabbit was overjoyed. With that encouragement, he would have material to boast for months. His greatest flaw in life was boasting, and he had no intention of correcting it.
Li DaoXuan's gaze shifted to the stretcher.
"Has this man's identity been confirmed?"
"Yes, Tianzun," Flat Rabbit replied. "His name is Li Dingguo. Adopted son of the Eight Great Kings."
Li DaoXuan raised an eyebrow slightly.
Li Dingguo.
One of the Southern Ming's twin pillars in later years. A land general as rare as Zheng Chenggong was at sea. If Zheng Chenggong was a rare naval card, Li Dingguo was a rare land card.
But he had been captured too late.
There was little time left to cultivate him before the campaign to liberate the Ming was complete.
Li DaoXuan sat beside the bed and looked at Li Dingguo with an unreadable expression.
Li Dingguo sensed something and opened his eyes again. A young man sat at his bedside. Handsome, composed, dignified. Yet there was something faintly uncanny about him, though he could not explain why.
"Li Dingguo," Li DaoXuan said with a faint smile. "You have followed Zhang Xianzhong for seven years. Tell me, what do you think of him?"
The question struck like thunder.
Li Dingguo's pupils contracted.
"How do you know my adoptive father's name? And how do you know I followed him for seven years?"