Moonless Night for Stealing Chickens, Windy Heights for Capturing Pigs.
The high-ranking generals and commanders of the Xuzhou army, who possessed the demeanor of gentlemen, all appeared together within Xu Village tonight.
Yet within the village, every household left its doors unbolted at night.
Occasionally, a few lights flickered on, only to vanish again moments later.
The village paths wound and twisted into secluded corners, displaying a unique charm.
This tranquility and peace seemed somewhat out of place with the current state of the world.
It truly was a treasure land for stealing chickens and dogs.
Mi Fang wore a set of black clothes, clearly after careful and deliberate preparation.
“First Young Master, this general has already dispatched scouts to thoroughly investigate.
In the entire village, the large household in the northwest corner raises the most pigs.
By the timing, they should be ready to be sent out to pasture!
Tonight is the perfect opportunity to strike.” Upon hearing these words, Tao Shang couldn’t help but feel like laughing.
“General Mi is farsighted and meticulous.
To prepare for tonight, he even deployed scouts.
It must be foolproof… In that case, let’s begin!” Mi Fang nodded and waved his hand behind him.
More than ten figures flew after him toward the northwest corner of the village.
Each one moved with agile physiques, fully displaying the usual training of the Xuzhou army at this moment.
The group soon arrived at the household Mi Fang had mentioned.
They located the pigpen and immediately divided tasks.
Most stood guard on all four sides of the pigpen, while the rest, led by Mi Fang, stealthily stepped over the fence and climbed inside.
The pigs in the pen clearly sensed the impending disaster!
A sow that seemed to be the matriarch let out a grief-stricken howl.
The tones rose and fell with a certain rhythm.
Although the words were unintelligible, the high pitch and miserable timbre fully expressed the rage and accusation in her heart toward this dark world and the extreme injustice inflicted upon her family.
Just as the saying goes: Man is the knife and cutting board, I am the pig’s flesh.
“Hurry up!” Tao Shang outside the pen grew somewhat anxious.
If this pig kept howling like this, the owners would soon catch them in the act, which would be utterly humiliating.
How could the Xuzhou army face the world afterward?
Mi Fang grabbed one pig in each hand, yanking hard on their tails while pulling backward with all his might.
Panting heavily, he replied, “First Young Master, stealing pigs is not like stealing chickens.
The difficulty and technique required are far greater!” “Who told you to take them all!” Tao Shang’s eyes blazed with fury, so angry he wanted to jump in and slap Mi Fang across the face.
“Focus your efforts—drag out the one that’s howling the loudest!” These words awakened the dreamers.
The various generals and officers who had been chasing pigs in all directions gathered together.
They targeted the sow that was still singing at the top of her lungs, pulling, driving, riding, and kicking, preparing to remove her from the pen as quickly as possible to finish the job.
That sow was quite intelligent and knew she was completely doomed… Looking at this situation, she would surely not escape the clutches of these beasts tonight!
At the brink of death, the sow gathered her last ounce of strength and let out the loudest, most mournful howl: “Oooooh~~~!” ………
“Stop!” Suddenly, amid a series of crisp cracking sounds, a large man’s figure leaped out from behind the pigpen.
He stood before the crowd like an iron tower and roared fiercely, “Who are you people?
What gall you have!” Under the moonless and windy night, Tao Shang could not clearly see the man’s appearance, only making out a rough outline: The man was tall and broad, with thick arms and a wide waist, nearly two meters in height.
Judging by his sturdy build, he weighed at least 250 to 260 jin.
Tao Shang awkwardly curled the corners of his mouth into a very stiff smile: “Has the pig in the pen become a spirit?” “Nonsense!” The man spat fiercely.
“I am a human, not a pig!
Where did these petty thieves come from, daring to steal someone’s livestock!
Tired of living?!” Tao Shang’s face reddened.
He looked left and right and changed the subject: “You startled me, I thought it was Marshal Tianpeng descending to the mortal world.
Turns out it’s just a human…” Mi Fang sneered: “If it’s a human, then it’s easy to deal with… Take him down!
Don’t let him escape and alert others, that would be troublesome!” The big man sneered back: “Don’t worry!
I won’t look for anyone else.
I’ll just settle things with you lot.” The men rolled up their sleeves and bared their arms.
Several Commandants, Captains, and accompanying guards surged forward together, forming an encirclement.
They bared their teeth and claws as they pounced at the big man.
The big man snorted, planted his feet firmly, drew in a deep breath to fill his chest and lungs, swept his left palm, and clenched his right fist into a punch that met the oncoming Commandant head-on.
With a loud “bang,” it struck the Commandant squarely in the chest.
“Ah!!” The Commandant’s body flew backward like a kite with its string cut.
He crashed with a “thud” against the pigpen fence, hanging there like a hanged ghost, groaning and whimpering… and did not move again.
Everyone was stunned.
The Commandant had always prided himself on his strength.
Although he was not the bravest warrior in the Xuzhou army, attaining the rank of Commandant through martial skill meant he had real ability.
No one expected him to be so casually extinguished by this big man in a single move… How could the others not be shocked?
Mi Fang was also quite frightened by the big man’s monstrous strength, but in the heat of the moment he could not afford to hesitate.
He angrily shouted in a low voice: “What are you staring for?
Everyone, attack!” Everyone secretly swallowed a mouthful of saliva and swarmed toward the big man once more.
The big man did not hold back.
His two fists, each the size of a large bowl, whistled left and right like golden iron hammers.
In the darkness of night, they stirred up gusts of wind.
One punch per person, those struck were either sent flying directly or knocked off their feet.
For a moment, figures tumbled through the air outside the pigpen.
Whether Commandants, Captains, or accompanying guards, none could withstand even two blows.
All were knocked out in a single punch.
It was truly a miserable sight!
“He’s still not a monster!” Tao Shang wiped the sweat from his forehead, looking at his subordinates sprawled in all directions.
With the big man’s courage and brute strength, it would not be difficult for him alone to keep all of them here.
It was lamentable that all the people he had brought were military generals and officers, yet none could withstand a single punch from him… The selection and preparation of the Xuzhou army’s officers were truly too weak.
“Take this!” After the others were beaten down, it was finally Mi Fang’s turn.
The big man thrust out his left palm, striking Mi Fang squarely in the back.
Mi Fang let out a miserable “Ah!” and his body involuntarily tumbled toward the direction of the sow that had been driven out of the pen… The big man’s expression suddenly changed.
He urgently reached out with his right hand and grabbed Mi Fang, lifting him up.
Tao Shang raised an eyebrow, showing a look of surprise… Could this fellow be afraid that Mi Fang would fly out and smash into his pigs?
“You are truly a hero… Could you spare my life!” Mi Fang, held in the big man’s hand like a chicken, still remembered to beg for mercy.
“Pah!” The big man spat fiercely and said viciously, “With just this level of skill!
You still dared to come steal my family’s pigs, and now you beg for mercy.
You’re simply a coward!
If you had stood straight and spoken to me like a man, I would still consider you a real fellow.
But a spineless wretch like you… Hmph!” With that, he raised his large-bowl-sized fist, ready to smash it down onto Mi Fang’s face!
“Let him go…” A lazy voice drawled out slowly.
The big man was startled by the sound.
He followed the source of the voice and looked over… He saw that Tao Shang had, at some point, already mounted the sow that had been driven out of the pen.
He pressed a bronze dagger he carried against the sow’s throat.
The sow, having barely survived earlier, was now restrained by Tao Shang again and began a new round of whimpering and miserable cries.
The big man’s expression immediately became tense: “Don’t harm my pig!” Just as expected!
From the moment the big man had acted earlier to prevent Mi Fang from smashing into the pig, it was clear that although this man possessed extraordinary strength, he cherished his livestock dearly.
“Put down my man.” The big man looked at the Mi Fang he was holding, snorted, and casually tossed him to the ground.
Mi Fang and the others, all hunched over and supporting each other, stood up and remained to the side, not daring to approach the big man again.
Tao Shang quietly coughed toward Mi Fang, then jerked his chin toward the pigpen, giving a silent signal.
Although Mi Fang was usually a bit slow, he was quite quick on the uptake at critical moments.
He immediately understood Tao Shang’s meaning.
Seeing that the big man was now completely focused on Tao Shang, he quietly took out a firebrand from his bosom and slowly crept toward the pigpen… The big man’s attention was entirely on Tao Shang and he paid no notice to Mi Fang’s movements.
He glared angrily at Tao Shang and roared, “If you dare touch my pig, I will surely break one of your legs as compensation!
I, someone, always keep my word!” “You’d better keep your voice down.” Tao Shang shook the dagger in his hand, pressing it against the side of the sow’s throat.
“Otherwise I’ll castrate it.” Upon hearing this, the big man’s mouth corners twitched uncontrollably.
What kind of nonsense was this, castrating a pig with the knife held at its throat?
And castrating a sow at that… The sow had already been tormented enough by Mi Fang and the others earlier.
At this moment, she was panting heavily, lying on her side on the ground and unable to move.
The big man gnashed his teeth, but clearly treasured these pigs.
He took a step back in concession: “How about this?
Let today’s matter be over.
As long as you release my family’s pig, I will let you all go free and will not pursue this matter further.
How about it?” Tao Shang smiled gently, his smile very amiable and friendly.
“Thank you for your kind offer, but you’d better turn around and look behind you…” With that, he pointed toward the pigpen.
The big man turned his head and saw that the pigpen had already been set ablaze by Mi Fang at some unnoticed moment.
Flames suddenly flared up.
“You damned thieves, how dare you!!” The big man was greatly alarmed.
There was no water source nearby.
If the fire grew larger, the consequences would be disastrous.
He no longer cared about Tao Shang and hurriedly ran to the roadside, picked up a bag filled with grass and leaves, and rushed toward the pigpen.
Seeing the big man drawn away by the fire, everyone scrambled to flee.
As Mi Fang ran, he did not forget to take revenge.
He leaped into the air and delivered a side kick to the big man.
The big man was busy extinguishing the fire to save the pigs and had no time to deal with Mi Fang.
But he was not one to suffer a loss.
He shouted at the top of his lungs in fury: “You damned thieves, how dare you do this!?
Kicked me, did you?
Fine!
I remember you!
Just wait, this matter is not over…” Mi Fang and the others had no interest in arguing with him any further.
They dragged their injured bodies along the winding paths and fled at high speed.
The group fled madly along the small paths.
They ran breathlessly for the time it took several incense sticks to burn before finally stopping to rest.
“Pah!” Mi Fang imitated the big man and spat fiercely.
He stamped his foot and said, “We didn’t steal the pig and instead got beaten up!
What rotten luck!
Who was that fellow?
So many of us military officers couldn’t defeat him alone?” After Tao Shang had crossed over, his physical condition was rather weak.
He propped himself up on his thighs, panting heavily: “Raising troops for a thousand days to use them for one moment, Brother Mi.
I am truly very disappointed in your combat effectiveness… At a critical moment, you couldn’t even handle a rural villager… The prospects for this campaign against Dong Zhuo look extremely worrisome to me personally.” Mi Fang and the various generals and officers all turned bright red, their expressions filled with shame… Today’s performance had indeed been quite poor.
Military leaders in charge of several thousand troops had been beaten black and blue by a single pig farmer, not daring to show the slightest temper.
If word got out, it would be truly embarrassing.
“First Young Master, how about I go back and bring a large contingent of troops to take revenge?” Mi Fang asked tentatively.
Tao Shang felt deeply helpless toward Mi Fang’s shameless behavior.
“General Mi, our Xuzhou army is an army of gentlemen.
How can we use superior force to bully the weak and oppress the few with numbers?
A group of generals and officers already being handled by one man is humiliating enough.
If you dispatch troops to seek revenge… winning would bring no glory, and if you lose again, wouldn’t the whole world laugh until their teeth fall out?” Mi Fang was stunned, clearly not having considered this implication.
That fellow earlier was so formidable.
If everyone in that village were as fierce as he, these few thousand troops might really not be enough to deal with them.
“The First Young Master’s foresight is truly admirable.
Before we even campaign against Dong Zhuo, we would first lose to a group of villagers and blunt the army’s sharp spirit!” Tao Shang looked sorrowfully at these soft-egg generals led by Mi Fang.
For this campaign against Dong Zhuo, they had thought of everything except that the Xuzhou army was simply too weak, especially these soft eggs headed by Mi Fang… The future truly looked worrisome.