169: First fight with Zheng Zhixiang

Qinghe County:

Zheng Zhixiang sat in the main hall with an expressionless face.

A group of his subordinates reported what had happened recently.

"Cui Moyang and others are suppressing our experts. We've lost over twenty Blood Refinement experts already."

"As for the Tendons and Bones Realm, even more have died."

Zheng Zhixiang nodded, remaining silent.

Another subordinate reported:

"Now, only a few counties in the direction of Shiji County haven't surrendered."

"The other thirty-plus counties have all surrendered."

Zheng Zhixiang nodded.

Another general reported how many elite Soldiers had been recruited and how many cannon fodder had been gathered during this period.

"General, our efforts to collect medicinal herbs are not going smoothly!"

"Almost all medicinal herbs in the fifty-plus counties under the Prefecture City have been acquired by Shiji County."

Finally:

A quartermaster reported on the food situation:

"Food supplies are not very abundant."

"There's too much cannon fodder."

"The people below have hidden a lot of grain, and there's no way to collect it!"

"Also, many people are secretly taking their grain and fleeing to Shiji County."

Zheng Zhixiang nodded.

These people reported many things.

However, upon closer inspection, one would find:

All these matters, in fact, were directly or indirectly related to a young man named Chu Qing.

"Chu Qing... is your relationship with Madam Shi really that deep?"

"Did you really get the dragon tendon?"

"How much confidence do you... truly have?"

Zheng Zhixiang closed his eyes in thought.

Even before going to the Eight Hundred Li Shui Po, at the Xian Yuan Restaurant, he had wanted to kill Chu Qing.

It was just that the situation there was special.

If he had killed Chu Qing, his own fate wouldn't have been much better.

So, he endured it.

Yet, how many days had passed since then?

Because of Chu Qing, his grand rebellion was actually in trouble?

Damn it!

A moment later:

Zheng Zhixiang commanded:

"Tell the medicine merchants that we will purchase their Hemostasis Powder and Marching Pills at fair prices."

"Yes, sir!"

Zheng Zhixiang continued to command:

"Arrange for the newly recruited experts to cause trouble at the Quarry in Shiji County!"

"Whether they kill people, destroy mine shafts, or seize pearls."

"In short, make that place chaotic!"

"Yes, sir!"

Finally, Zheng Zhixiang said in a hoarse voice: "Have people keep an eye on Madam Shi and Chu Qing."

"I want to know their situation at all times!"

"Yes, sir!"

One command after another was issued.

The massive rebel camp, like a giant war machine, began to operate.

Some went to threaten medicine merchants.

Some went to slaughter Quarry workers.

Measures targeting Chu Qing were launched simultaneously.

Chu Qing was unaware.

He was in seclusion in the stone house.

These days, he consumed two top-grade bone-refining Secret medicine, top-grade specially made pearls, golden incense, ordinary bone-refining Secret medicine, and so on, every day.

He refined two Black Gold Bone a day.

The efficiency was quite fast.

One day... five days... ten days... As the end of the month approached, Cui Moyang, Nangong, and the others all gathered outside the stone house, anxiously saying:

"Qing Ge, come out of seclusion!"

"Don't stay in seclusion anymore!"

Whoosh!

Chu Qing exhaled a mouthful of stale Qi, quite displeased, and said: "What happened?"

"Did the sky fall?"

"Did the earth collapse?"

"Did the Great Qian Empire perish?"

Cui Moyang and the others... were speechless.

"Qing Ge, the Empire won't perish!"

"The sky hasn't fallen either!"

"But, our Quarry has a small problem!"

Nangong quickly explained the situation.

It turned out:

Ten days ago, experts suddenly attacked the Quarry.

These experts burned Quarry tools and even killed Quarry workers.

Cui Moyang and the others went to take charge.

But it was useless.

Because:

That group of experts dispersed across Shiji Mountain, moving around and attacking Quarry workers everywhere.

Ordinary people, even in small teams, couldn't stop an expert's charge.

Cui Moyang and the others rushed around, struggling to cope.

Even mobilizing the Cloaked People was useless.

After several days of this torment, they really couldn't bear it anymore.

One-third of the Quarry workers had fled.

The remaining ones were also panicking.

Because:

Even hundreds of people gathered together could be suddenly attacked and beaten by an expert who rushed out.

The Quarry workers had no heart to work.

The output of pearls dropped significantly.

Now, the supply of pearls couldn't keep up.

They could no longer hide it, so they confessed to Chu Qing.

After listening, Chu Qing remained silent for a long time.

Cui Moyang and the others were uneasy.

After a while, Mingyue mumbled: "Qing Ge, what do you say we do now?"

"Don't always be silent!"

Chu Qing smiled: "Your actions have greatly disappointed me."

Mingyue pouted and mumbled: "This is our first time encountering such a thing."

"We don't know how to handle it!"

Chu Qing nodded.

He had The Crowd sit cross-legged around him, then placed some pebbles on the ground.

"This is the Quarry of Shiji County; our only weakness is this Quarry."

"But the Quarry is too large, and it's impossible to completely seal it off when mining pearls."

"The enemy can come and go as they please."

The Crowd nodded.

"Yes, there are always gaps in the places we guard."

"As long as there's one gap, they can slip in and cause massive destruction!"

Chu Qing nodded and said: "The best defense is offense."

"They attack our weakness, so why don't we attack their weakness?"

He pointed at the pebbles on the ground and said: "The rebels occupy the county towns, and each county town has experts stationed and Soldiers guarding."

"If you eliminate one, or even two, county town experts every day; and kill all the Soldiers."

"Do you think the rebels will be anxious?"

"Do you think they'll still be in the mood to attack the Quarry?"

Cui Moyang and the others suddenly understood.

"Qing Ge, it really does depend on you!"

"We'll deal with them immediately."

Not long after, they left.

Inside the stone house, only Chu Qing remained.

Although the Quarry had problems, he didn't care.

He continued to consume Secret medicine, refining his Jingu (tendons and bones) day and night without stopping.

One Black Gold Bone... two... And that night:

Cui Moyang and others, masked and armed with sharp blades, rushed towards a place called Heishi County under Chu Qing's guidance.

That night:

They went on a killing spree.

First, they eliminated the experts.

Then, they began to slaughter the rebels.

There were hundreds of rebels in the county town, and everyone's hands grew soft from killing.

Even the carefree Mingyue felt a pang of softness.

Nangong suddenly said: "Everyone, these are only a few hundred rebels!"

"Back then, Qing Ge killed thousands of cannon fodder!"

"We... shouldn't be too far behind him."

After speaking, she used a cloth strip to tie her sword hilt to her small hand, then charged towards the fleeing rebels.

"Kill!"

The others exchanged glances and also followed suit.

Then:

The slaughter continued.

That night:

They not only killed all the hundreds of elite rebels but also eliminated over a thousand rebel cannon fodder.

The vast Heishan County was left with corpses strewn everywhere, and blood stained the bluestone roads.

Finally, Nangong remembered Chu Qing's usual style.

She had The Crowd find fierce fire oil and throw it into important places like granaries and armories, setting them ablaze.

Whoosh!

Flames soared into the sky, illuminating more than half of Heishi County.

However:

All the living people hid in their homes, trembling, not daring to go out and put out the fire... Thump! Thump! Thump!

At dawn:

Cui Moyang and the others returned to Shiji County.

They first went to the Quarry for a look.

Last night, over a hundred Quarry workers died at the Quarry, and a large pile of tools was burned.

Several people, following Chu Qing's instructions, organized the Quarry workers into groups of one hundred.

Each group was very close to the next.

The scope was reduced by more than ten times.

Thus, although efficiency was greatly reduced.

However, it also made it easier for them to oversee.

At the same time:

Zheng Zhixiang of Qinghe County received news from Heishi County.

"Chu Qing has been in the martial arts academy and hasn't left?"

"Cui Moyang and the others have met him?"

Zheng Zhixiang sneered: "It seems Chu Qing must have told them to act."

"Exterminate all rebels in Heishi County!"

"Burn the granaries and armories!"

"Truly... a ruthless tactic."