Chapter 115: A Sudden Crisis at Mount Tianmu

Tianmu Mountain is situated between Ningguo and Qiantang Commandery. Should Qiu Dian’s rebel forces succeed in capturing Qiantang Commandery, any further expansion to the west or north would inevitably lead them through, or at least near, Tianmu Mountain.

By seizing Tianmu Mountain, Li Yun would secure a strategic foothold at this critical juncture. Although he commanded fewer than two hundred men—a force that seemed insignificant against the tens of thousands Qiu Dian claimed to possess—Li Yun knew that these rebels were amateurs. Qiu Dian had been in rebellion for less time than Li Yun had spent as a mountain bandit. The notion that one could conjure tens of thousands of soldiers out of thin air in a few months was preposterous. Even accounting for surrendered imperial troops, Li Yun was certain that Qiu Dian’s core strength did not exceed a few thousand men, and the number of actual combat-ready soldiers among them was highly questionable.

The overwhelming noise Qiu Dian made was, frankly, a result of the local government forces being utterly rotten—mere hollow shells. For years, no one had dared to pierce the facade of the imperial authority. Qiu Dian’s claims of a massive army were merely a way to bolster his own image and, more importantly, to harden the resolve of his followers. Historically, accounts of small groups of dozens defeating thousands were almost always rooted in such circumstances. In reality, if a few dozen men were to chase thousands, the moment the latter turned back and threw a single stone each, the few dozen would be crushed to death.

With Li Yun present, the Bandit Suppression Team found their backbone. Following his lead, they set aside the bandits elsewhere in Ningguo and marched directly toward Tianmu Mountain.

After traveling thirty or forty miles, Li Yun and his hundred-plus subordinates took shelter in a dilapidated temple in the wilderness. Though not small, it could not accommodate everyone, so many slept along the base of the walls. Fortunately, having been bandits themselves, they were a hardy lot, and since Li Yun slept in the temple alongside them, no one complained.

The next day, they resumed their march. By noon, a village appeared in the distance. Li Yun gestured for Li Zheng to come forward. "Skinny," he said, "go scout ahead and gather some information. We’re not far from Tianmu Mountain; they should know something about the bandits there."

Li Zheng acknowledged the order, mounted one of the few horses the team possessed, and vanished into the distance.

Li Yun turned to the rest of the team and looked at the sun. "Find some shade and wait for Skinny to return," he said casually. "If they have food in the village, we’ll eat there. If not, we’ll build a fire and cook our own."

As the men rested, Zhou Liang sat beside Li Yun and whispered, "Chief, sleeping in the open like this isn't sustainable. Several men have fallen ill. We must find a place to bed down tonight."

Li Yun chewed on some dry rations and replied quietly, "I know."

As they spoke, the sound of hooves approached. Li Zheng returned, dismounted, and hurried to Li Yun. He sat down and whispered, "Second Brother, horse bandits have been to the village ahead." He swallowed hard before adding, "Many people were killed."

Li Yun froze, looking at Li Zheng with a frown. "They were brutal?"

Horse bandits were different from mountain bandits. Mountain bandits were sedentary, with limited ranges, whereas horse bandits, being almost entirely mounted, possessed a much larger reach. They were also, by nature, far more vicious.

Li Zheng took a drink of water and said softly, "I went around the village. Apart from the sound of crying, there was nothing else."

Li Yun stood up, his brow furrowed. "Let’s go see."

He was a man of action. Without further ado, he and Li Zheng mounted their horses and rode to the village. At the entrance, a wooden sign identified it as Xia’ao Village. A heavy scent of blood greeted them. Li Yun dismounted and tied his horse. Upon entering, the first courtyard they encountered was stained with crimson blood.

A few steps further, in the low courtyard of a house, a naked woman lay discarded, her face bloated and her arms severed. Further along the road, another naked woman lay exposed. In the distance, a man’s head hung from a tree.

"Yesterday..." Li Yun narrowed his eyes. "It happened last night."

Li Zheng nodded, clenching his fists. "Probably in the latter half of the night."

Li Yun looked up at the sky. "I haven't heard of any notorious horse bandits in the Tianmu Mountain area. If it were local bandits, it wouldn't be strange to rob the place, but they shouldn't be capable of such atrocities."

They toured the village. Of the fifty or sixty households, few people remained. The bodies they saw numbered twenty or thirty, mostly women. It wasn't that the entire village had been slaughtered; many had likely fled in terror and had not yet returned. The survivors were those who had miraculously escaped or children hiding in corners, sobbing incessantly. Li Yun saw ten-year-olds sitting by their doorways, weeping without end.

Li Zheng gritted his teeth. "Second Brother, we’re from the greenwood ourselves. For years, we’ve never heard of such things around Xuanzhou! Tianmu Mountain is in Qiantang Commandery—isn't that a prosperous region? How could such a thing happen?"

Li Yun remained silent for a long while before saying, "The local government must be incapable of protecting them. That is why these horse bandits act with such impunity." He turned to Li Zheng. "Go, have the brothers enter the village and help bury the dead."

By afternoon, the entire team had entered Xia’ao Village. Even these men, who were no strangers to killing, were appalled by the carnage. Some of the more hot-headed ones approached Li Yun. "Commander Li, these animals are truly beyond the pale. Who did this? Lead us, and we’ll wipe them out tonight!"

Li Yun looked toward Tianmu Mountain and shook his head. "Those who dare to do this are likely long gone. We’ll stay for a day or two; people will start returning soon. Then we can find out the truth."

With over a hundred men assisting, all the bodies were buried by late night. Li Yun comforted the survivors, provided them with food, and settled the team into the village.

The next day, Li Yun sent men to scout Tianmu Mountain while he remained in the village with half the team. Occasionally, someone would peer into the village, see the strangers, and flee in terror, never to return. Li Yun waited patiently. It was not until the third day that a middle-aged man rushed into the village, frantic. Finding his family gone, he collapsed on the ground, wailing.

Hearing the commotion, Li Yun approached. Before he could even enter the courtyard, the man charged out with a kitchen knife, shouting and lunging at him. Li Yun frowned, dodged the strike, and pushed the man to the ground with a gentle shove, causing the knife to clatter away. The man let out a cry and fainted.

By the fourth day, more villagers began to return. Li Yun eventually met an elderly man. After eyeing Li Yun’s attire, the old man hesitated. "Are... are you officials from the government?"

Li Yun did not waste time. "I am an officer suppressing bandits in Ningguo. What happened to Xia’ao? Who did this?"

The old man looked at him timidly before lowering his head. "If it please the official... it was those god-forsaken thieves from Tianmu Mountain. They suddenly went mad, broke into the village, burned, looted, and slaughtered. They even abducted many young girls to the mountain..."

The old man looked at Li Yun’s official robes again, sighed deeply, and collapsed to the ground, wiping away tears. "My granddaughter was taken too!"

"Suddenly went mad? You mean they didn't do this before?" Li Yun frowned. "Setting aside the government, were they not afraid of having nothing left to rob later?"

The old man sighed heavily. "I heard there is a war in the commandery. The bandits must have heard it too. That night, someone heard them saying..."

"Saying what?"

The old man’s speech was slurred, but Li Yun understood the meaning. "They said they intended to loot everything they could, and then take the spoils to join some 'Heavenly King'..."

Li Yun frowned, looking toward the direction of Yuezhou.

"Heavenly King... Heavenly King..."