"My! Heaven! Rabbit! Rending! Overlord! Sword!"
Flat Rabbit roared at the top of his lungs, his voice echoing across the training ground as he sprang high into the air, both hands gripping his sword as he brought it crashing down toward his opponent with all the drama and momentum he could muster.
Ma Shouying, standing calmly opposite him, could not help but shake his head.
In the midst of actual combat, this fellow had leapt straight into the air, arms raised overhead, his entire torso wide open, his balance floating and unsupported. If this had been a real battlefield, he would not merely have been injured. He would have been dead ten times over before he ever landed.
Ma Shouying stepped in and delivered a clean, decisive kick, his foot slamming squarely into Flat Rabbit's abdomen.
Flat Rabbit let out a strangled grunt as his body flew backward, tumbling across the ground before hitting it with a heavy thud. His ancestral sword spun free from his grasp and skidded far away. Clutching his stomach, he writhed on the ground, groaning pitifully. "Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch… Brother Ma… that was vicious… you kicked me so hard!"
Ma Shouying replied evenly, "On a real battlefield, that kind of move would not just hurt. It would send you straight to meet the King of Hell."
Still holding his belly, Flat Rabbit struggled to his feet and began searching around frantically. It took him a long while before he finally retrieved his sword. Then, with his cheeks puffed out in grievance, he muttered, "On the battlefield these days, there's no chance to use moves like that anyway. For years now, enemies do not even get close. They are all shot down by flintlock rifles from a hundred meters away. Swordsmanship is dead, the spirit of the swordsman is dead, ah, it's dead, the sword is dead!"
He spread his arms wide, palms turned toward the sky, and wailed theatrically, "There's no place left for swordsmen anymore!"
Standing nearby, Sun Chuanting scolded him with visible irritation. "If you were actually a swordsman, you might have the right to say something like that. But you are not a swordsman at all. You do not even know a single proper sword move."
Flat Rabbit froze for a heartbeat, then instantly sheathed his sword. He glanced left and right like a thief caught red-handed and quietly slipped away from the scene.
Ma Shouying watched him go and could not help but laugh. "That fellow…"
Sun Chuanting also smiled, though there was a hint of complexity in his expression. "He never behaves seriously, but…"
He deliberately drew out the pause before finishing, "he is very popular among the new students."
Ma Shouying looked surprised. "Someone like him is actually popular?"
Sun Chuanting nodded. "Even though he jokes around all day, he is genuinely kind to the newcomers. He always digs into his own pocket to treat poor students to meals, buys them daily necessities, and whenever someone runs into trouble, he is the first to step forward. These days, whenever the new students face difficulties, the first person they think of is Senior Flat Rabbit. Hahahaha."
Ma Shouying stared at him in silence, momentarily at a loss for words.
As they were speaking, the sound of galloping hooves suddenly rang out. A rider on a fast horse charged through the academy gates, dust billowing behind him.
The rider shouted at the top of his lungs, "Bad news, terrible news. Ah? Headmaster Sun, you are here, perfect. Dao Xuan Tianzun has given the order. All veteran students in the academy must immediately return to their military units. Everyone, right now, at once…"
Sun Chuanting was stunned. "All veterans recalled? Has something major happened?"
The rider shouted back in panic, "The Manchus have invaded. A massive Manchu invasion."
Sun Chuanting's expression changed instantly. "This is extremely bad."
Before long, the alarm of the Yellow Pole Military Academy rang out, shrill and urgent. Teachers and students poured onto the parade ground. Sun Chuanting stood atop the platform and announced loudly, "News has just arrived from beyond the passes. Huang Taiji has ascended the throne, proclaimed himself emperor, and changed his dynastic name to Qing. He has dispatched a hundred thousand troops to invade the passes. Dao Xuan Tianzun commands that all those with military duties immediately suspend their studies and return to their posts."
The entire Yellow Pole Military Academy erupted into chaos.
Wang Er and Bai Mao did not hesitate for even a moment. They immediately rushed out, heading straight for Pingyang Prefecture.
Chen Qianhu, that half-scholar, half-working villain actor, quickly returned to the Puzhou garrison.
Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, the two clumsy and good-natured fellows, laughed foolishly, not even sure whether they had truly learned anything. They slapped palms, then split up, one rushing toward Zao Ying's cavalry battalion, the other hurrying toward Hedong Circuit.
Ma Shouying cupped his fists. "I am returning to Tianzhu Mountain to lead my Iron Cavalry Battalion."
At the same time, Flat Rabbit and Zheng Gouzi both leapt up, eager to rush out as well. But halfway through their movement, they suddenly froze.
They seemed to have no unit to return to at all.
The last time they had gone to war, they had led a militia unit under Luo Xi, accompanying him to Shangnan County to resist rebel incursions into Shaanxi. After that battle, Flat Rabbit had been assigned to oversee the labor reform camp at Tianzhu Mountain, while Zheng Gouzi remained with Luo Xi, helping manage the militia.
But that militia unit was now entirely under Luo Xi's direct command.
Flat Rabbit and Zheng Gouzi stood there, dumbstruck.
"Oh no," Flat Rabbit cried out. "Where are we supposed to report back to?"
He wailed in despair, "We're finished. We do not even have a unit anymore."
Zheng Gouzi snapped back angrily, "It's all because you are so stupid. You probably got kicked out of the militia. Now I am stuck suffering because of you."
The two of them could only watch helplessly as everyone else hurried away to their respective posts, leaving them standing there like a pair of wooden statues.
Sun Chuanting walked up behind them, smiling. "You two have not even completed your studies yet. It is only right that you are not returning to the army. Otherwise, a single mistake could cost you both your lives. Stay here and help look after the new students. Coincidentally, I am preparing a large-scale practical exercise. Flat Rabbit, you will serve as the Red Team captain. Zheng Gouzi, you will serve as the Blue Team captain."
Both of them cupped their fists and cried out in grief, "No. We do not want exercises. We want real combat."
Sun Chuanting's face hardened. "You have no room to refuse. That was an order."
The two immediately straightened their backs. "Understood."
Meanwhile…
Outside Dabie Mountain.
Lu Xiangheng deployed his massive army, sealing Dabie Mountain in from all sides.
Trapped within the mountains, Chuǎng Wang Gao Yixian, Chuǎng Jiang (Dashing General) Li Zicheng, the Eight Great Kings, Cao Cao, and their forces had been besieged for months. Every attempt to break out in search of supplies was intercepted by Lu Xiangheng, leaving them battered and humiliated time and time again.
Food within the mountains had long since run out. They were reduced to scraping tree bark, digging up grass roots, and eating whatever else they could find. With no salt, no sugar, and no fats of any kind, their bodies weakened by the day, and it felt as though they could not endure much longer.
Chuǎng Wang's face was drawn tight with worry. More than half a year earlier, the entire Gao Family Village had come to persuade him to wash his hands of rebellion and start anew. He had refused. At the time, he commanded hundreds of thousands of men, brimming with youthful vigor and ambition, convinced that the empire was already within his grasp.
He had never imagined that he would soon suffer a crushing defeat at Luzhou, that his seventy-two rebel factions would scatter like smoke, and that only tens of thousands would remain at his side.
The rebel army was losing men faster than water evaporated from a shallow puddle under the summer sun.
His once-grand dream of conquering the realm now felt like nothing more than a fading illusion.
And now, it seemed, the time had come to wake up.
A deep sense of despair settled over him, and he began to question the path his life had taken.
Chuǎng Wang turned to Chuǎng Jiang and asked quietly, "What should we do now?"
Chuǎng Jiang shook his head slowly. "There is nothing we can do. We can only endure. Endure this most difficult period and wait for the moment when the government forces loosen their grip. When that time comes, an opportunity will surely appear."
Chuǎng Wang sighed. "Everyone is starving to death. How can we endure this? Alas. Do we still have any chance to seize this empire?"
Chuǎng Jiang replied firmly, "Yes. As long as this drought continues, we do."
Chuǎng Wang fell silent.
For the first time, he doubted it.
Perhaps I lack the talent, he thought. Perhaps I am not worthy to rule this land.
Just as this thought took shape…
A scout burst in from outside, his face flushed with excitement, shouting, "Lu Xiangheng has withdrawn. Lu Xiangheng has lifted the siege. He has gone."
Chuǎng Jiang cried out in surprise. "Is it true? It is not a feigned retreat?"
The scout laughed as he explained, "The Manchus have sent a hundred thousand troops to invade the passes. The imperial court has no one capable of resisting them. Lu Xiangheng has become the old emperor's only hope, so he has been transferred to defend against the Manchu invasion."
Chuǎng Wang threw back his head and laughed wildly. "Hahahaha. Heaven is helping me. It seems I truly am destined by Heaven."