During the cleanup of the battlefield, Tie Niaofei sat alone off to the side, gloomy and silent.
A few subordinates wanted to comfort him, but none knew what to say.
"Zhai Tang got away. We didn't catch him."
"Boss must feel awful."
"How do you even comfort someone about that?"
"No idea."
Suddenly Tie Niaofei threw his head back and roared at the mountain peak before him.
"Ahhh! How did that bastard escape? My old brothers' vengeance is unfinished!"
"Hey, hey, Master Tie, why shout so fiercely?"
Walking toward him with a grin was Luo Xi, garrison commander of Shangnan. He waved cheerfully. "Heard explosions and musket fire over here. Figured it was you. How did it go? I assume you won."
Tie Niaofei answered gloomily, "Won, yes. But Zhai Tang slipped away. I am furious. After all these years, finally found that bastard, and he escaped."
Luo Xi had joined Gaocun later and did not know the old feud between Tie Niaofei and Zhai Tang. He could only pat the man's shoulder. "It is fine. We will catch him next time."
Tie Niaofei sighed. "Who knows when that next time will be."
Wanting to distract him, Luo Xi quickly changed the subject. "Master Tie, you must have earned great merit this time. Killed quite a few bandits, I bet. Lucky you. Me, I only shot one unnamed bandit chief. Hard to even report that."
Tie Niaofei shook his head. "In Gaocun, merit is not counted by bodies. It is counted by whether you completed the strategic objective. Fulfill the objective, that is true merit."
Luo Xi blinked. "Ah? Then that unnamed bandit chief I shot probably counts for nothing. No strategic objective there."
"Probably not much meaning," Tie Niaofei replied.
Luo Xi groaned. As a court born general, he cared deeply about military merit. Hearing this, he felt utterly dejected. He waved at his men. "No need to carry that unknown bandit chief's corpse back for identification. Just bury him somewhere. What rotten luck."
His men answered and carried Zhai Tang's body over.
Tie Niaofei's subordinates had already dug pits for burial. So Luo Xi's men simply brought the corpse over, intending to toss it in and cover it together with the others.
But just as they laid the body down, one of Tie Niaofei's men shouted, "Boss! Come look at this. Quickly!"
Tie Niaofei waved him off. "I am in no mood to look at anything."
"Boss, come look. It is…"
"Not looking."
"It is Zhai Tang!"
"What?"
Tie Niaofei shot up like a startled tiger.
In two strides he reached the corpse and stared.
Then he burst into wild laughter.
"Hahahaha! Thought that dog escaped. Turns out General Luo took care of him. Hahahaha! General Luo, I thank you. I truly thank you."
Luo Xi blinked repeatedly. "Eh? Eh?"
Tie Niaofei drew his blade with a flash and chopped down onto the corpse. "Run, why don't you run again? Pay back my brothers' lives."
"Boss, he is already dead," a subordinate muttered. "No need to keep chopping."
"Of course I know he is dead. Even dead, his head comes off. I am taking it to my old brothers' graves."
And so he did.
Several swift chops later, Zhai Tang's head was severed. It was placed in a box with lime to preserve it. Tie Niaofei slung the box over his back as if it were a priceless treasure.
After this mission ended, he could finally go home and pay respects to his fallen men.
They would like this offering very much.
Off to the side, Luo Xi quietly pulled out his merit record book and scratched out "unnamed bandit chief." In its place he wrote: "Zhai Tang, heinous leader of the Jin merchants."
He stared at the entry.
Then his eyes lit up.
This should count as real merit. Strategic significance.
…
Dabie Mountains, northeast corner. Red Stone Valley.
When the Eight Great Kings entered the valley, fewer than five hundred men remained at his side.
From over one hundred thousand strong to this.
Inside the Dabie Mountains, his army had dissolved piece by piece.
Each time he tried to break out, Gaocun forces blocked the mountain passes. Then came bombardment. Thousands surrendered. Thousands scattered.
Again and again.
In the end, more than one hundred thousand men had turned to dust.
Only five hundred hardened bandits remained.
Yet he did not fear.
As long as even a handful still followed him, he could rise again.
This was not the first time he had been reduced to scraps.
Red Stone Valley was filled with crimson rocks.
The Eight Great Kings led his men around a massive red boulder.
From the opposite side of a narrow gully, another figure emerged.
The two locked eyes.
Recognition struck instantly.
"Eight Great Kings!"
"Zuo Liangyu!"
It turned out that after suffering consecutive defeats at the hands of Shi Kefa and the Eight Great Kings, Zuo Liangyu had also fled into the Dabie Mountains. Like his rival, he had wandered endlessly, unable to find a gap in the tightening encirclement.
Gaocun's converging armies had compressed the space again and again, forcing both sides into Red Stone Valley.
With the poisonous ring of encirclement shrinking steadily, it was inevitable that the Eight Great Kings and Zuo Liangyu would collide in the final circle.
Without hesitation, both drew their blades.
The scene echoed the earlier clash between Tie Niaofei and Zhai Tang.
But unlike that encounter, there were no disciplined musket volleys here to decide matters in an instant.
Both sides could only raise sabers, spears, and halberds.
With a roar, they charged.
Red Stone Valley became a killing ground.
The loser would be eliminated.
The winner, great fortune. Tonight, we eat chicken.
…
On a distant hilltop, a scout ran up to Gao Jie. "General Gao, two li to the east in Red Stone Valley, two armies are fighting."
Gao Jie raised a brow. "Who?"
"One side appears to be the Eight Great Kings. The other is an official army unit without banners."
Gao Jie laughed. "Then it is likely Zuo Liangyu. Dog bites dog. Let us go watch."
On another hill to the northeast, Henan's Provincial Governor Fan Shangjing received the same news.
"Red Stone Valley. The Eight Great Kings and Zuo Liangyu are fighting."
Fan Shangjing smiled. "Let us go enjoy the show."
Cheng Xu, Shi Kefa, Bai Yuan, Xing Honglang, Flat Rabbit.
One after another, Gaocun's converging militia forces received word.
All of them began moving toward Red Stone Valley.