As the Zhang family’s carriage passed Xuanwu Gate, the guards from the Five Cities Military Command, who usually didn’t bother with inspections, stood even straighter than usual.

Leaving the embroidered robe brother and the two knives at the inn, the six carriages didn’t head towards the Imperial Guards Commandery. Instead, they gathered beside the Cast Pot Factory in Cheng’en Temple Alley. Inside the carriage, Xiao Man curiously asked, “Second Sister, where is this?”

Zhang Xia sat upright in the carriage, her face covered, silently reciting scriptures and not answering. When they arrived, she got out of the carriage herself and waved for everyone to follow.

This was a remote spot in the southwest corner of the inner city. To the north was Cheng’en Temple, and to the south was Stone Lamp Nunnery. The few households nestled between them seemed particularly quiet.

Zhang Xia walked to the entrance of one of the houses and knocked on the door, three fast, two slow. Someone from inside pulled open the large door.

The Imperial Guards entered one after another, and saw that in the middle of the courtyard, more than ten strong men were awake, guarding a brazier. Two sheep legs were roasting over the fire.

When they saw Zhang Xia enter with her face covered, they immediately stood up, cupped their hands, and bowed in silence.

Chen Ji recognized these men!

They had been part of the group when they left Luocheng. Zhang Zhuo had once said that these were all Zhang family’s dead soldiers.

Zhang Xia entered the main hall and found a large sheet of Xuan paper spread out on the table.

She picked up a brush, and while silently reciting scriptures, casually drew a map of “Zhengxi Fang.” Then she marked out the names of alleys such as Baishun Alley, Hanjiatan Alley, and Yanzhi Alley.

She was doing two things at once!

Chen Ji waited quietly beside her. The Imperial Guards saw that Chen Ji wasn’t urging her, so they also kept their composure.

When the map was finished, Zhang Xia finally spoke. Pointing at Lishamao Alley on the map, she said, “An Ji has eighty-four people arranged here, sixty-three people in Hanjiatan Alley, twenty-one people in Shitou Alley, and forty-two people on Wang Guangfu Diagonal Street.”

The Imperial Guards all looked at Zhang Xia, seemingly not expecting her to have observed so many details while “joining the fun.”

Not a single detail was missed!

Li Xuan, covering his face, said in a low voice, “Their men are all surrounding Lishamao Alley. They’re defending against us.”

Chen Ji calmly said, “An Ji lost the wrestling match, but he doesn’t plan to hand over Lishamao Alley. He’s not defending against us, but defending Fu Rui Xiang!”

Li Xuan nodded, “No wonder there are so many people!”

Chen Ji thought, “When we go again tomorrow, we can’t attack from Lishamao Alley again! Since An Ji doesn’t play by the rules, we won’t stick to them either. We’ll wear An Ji out first, then wear down his forces and create a local advantage!”

However, Li Xuan suddenly said, “We can train soldiers, but we don’t have to treat An Ji as an enemy and beat him down! We don’t know who An Ji is relying on behind him. If the person behind them comes out, I’m afraid the ending won’t be good!”

Zhang Xia glanced at Li Xuan. She knew very well that Chen Ji said he was training soldiers, but his purpose was far more than just training soldiers! If they wanted to pocket the income from the eight major alleys, they had to pull An Ji off his horse and crush him underfoot.

She thought for a few breaths and said, “We must beat An Ji down, otherwise how will we know how the enemy reacts when cornered like a desperate dog? Right now, everyone still has restraint and doesn’t dare to kill openly, but a real battlefield isn’t like this. We must kill until our eyes are red for it to be the final step of training soldiers, otherwise it’s always just playing house… As for how it ends, we’ll figure that out then!”

Chen Ji hummed in agreement, echoing her words, “This formation is something new. We must put ourselves in danger to know if it will be of great use!”

Li Xuan seemed thoughtful. “That makes sense.”

Many Bao and others were slightly excited. “Since coming back from Gu Yuan, we’ve had to report for duty every day and haven’t had any energy! Now it’s good to finally find something to do, and we’ll start with this An Ji!”

Li Cen also chimed in, “After beating An Ji, we’ll beat Fu Rui Xiang.”

Li Xuan glanced at them. “Is it glorious for us to beat those stick-wielders? What are you shouting about!”

After speaking, he turned his gaze back to the map. “Tomorrow, there might be more stick-wielders in Lishamao Alley. Where should we attack from?”

Chen Ji and Zhang Xia simultaneously pointed to one side of the map and said with certainty, “Here!”

After discussing the tactics, Zhang Xia began to assign tasks one by one.

She pointed at Qi Shen Zao and said, “Your thirty-plus men will be divided into three teams. The three foremost lancers are the core of the formation and must be decisive killers. You are not suitable, find someone else to take your place!”

Qi Shen Zao wanted to speak but hesitated. He originally wanted to refuse, but then realized he was in the wrong!

Zhang Xia then looked at the three bow and crossbow users. “You can’t use bows and crossbows today. You three always lack strength, right?”

The three Imperial Guards nodded. “We can only assist with lances, but we don’t have much opportunity!”

Zhang Xia thought, “First use ox tendon slingshots to shoot iron beads. Your task is not to kill the enemy, but to harass. If a colleague falls into danger, you must assist from a distance!”

She then looked at the trident users who were responsible for blocking and dismantling. “Your role is to cover the middle four lancers who are killing the enemy. Don’t have too strong a killing intent yourself, so as not to disrupt the formation!”

Many Bao raised his hand. “Teacher, I have something to say. Wool bamboo is too soft. The branches brushing against people’s faces are at most a distraction. If the enemy is ruthless, they will just charge through with wool bamboo! I wanted to block their axes several times, but the wool bamboo was too soft and couldn’t block them at all. After being chopped several times, it became useless!”

Chen Ji explained, “Wool bamboo should have been soaked in tung oil, with iron lance tips inserted at the front end, and poison like arsenic coated on the branches. This way, it would have a deterrent effect! Also, I originally wanted wool bamboo that was one zhang and six chi long, but there’s no bamboo that long in the north, so the deterrent is greatly reduced!”

Zhang Xia suddenly said, “Use iron!”

Many Bao’s eyes lit up!

Zhang Xia looked at Chen Ji and said, “Ordinary soldiers naturally can’t swing an iron tool that is one zhang and six chi long, so they can only use wool bamboo!”

She pointed at Many Bao and the others. “But they are different, they are officials!”

Chen Ji lowered his head and thought, “How heavy would a narrow iron tool one zhang and six chi long be?”

Zhang Xia said with certainty, “Ninety jin! If made of hollow iron, it would be thirty-two jin, but there’s no time to make it hollow now!”

“Ninety jin… only those in the innate realm can use it freely.”

Chen Ji asked loudly, “Who can move it?”

As soon as he spoke, Many Bao, Li Cen, Qi Shen Zao, and others raised their hands. Chen Ji looked at them and saw one, two, three, four, five, six, seven… Even among the Imperial Guards, not many could easily wield an iron wool bamboo!

But if they really used iron wool bamboo, An Ji’s stick-wielders would suffer greatly!

Chen Ji curiously asked, “What are your official path abilities? Can you tell me?”

Many Bao and the others exchanged glances and began to explain, “Teacher, our official paths were all bought from the ghost market in Panjiayuan for several hundred taels of silver. There are too many people practicing the same path. Before the Dao realm, it only has the effect of strengthening the body! We were able to enter the innate realm because our families spent a lot of money to push us there!”

Li Cen smiled bitterly, “Having too many people practicing the same path also has a downside. Last year, when I went to stroll through the Shangyuan Festival lantern fair, I met several officials with the same path! My heart palpitated several times that night, I almost thought I was going to die!”

Zhang Xia said, “It’s getting late, you should all go back and rest. You don’t need to bring weapons tomorrow, I will prepare everything properly for everyone!”

At Hai Shi the next day, the six carriages stopped at the entrance of the Imperial Guards Commandery again!

The Imperial Guards soldiers familiar with the routine got into the carriages, covered themselves with gray cloth, and sat quietly, closing their eyes to rest.

The six carriages separated on An Street and drove out of the inner city through Chongwen Gate and Xuanwu Gate, finally stopping in a small alley beside Zhengyang Street.

When the carriages stopped, the door of a house in the alley opened. Zhang Xia, while silently reciting scriptures, waved for the Imperial Guards soldiers to enter the courtyard.

She lifted the cellar cover, and Chen Ji looked down. Inside the cellar were prepared lances, rattan shields, iron wolf whisks, tridents, and ox tendon slingshots!

The Imperial Guards soldiers moved the weapons to the ground, each picked up their own, turned around and walked out of the courtyard, heading towards the eight major alleys of Zhengxi Fang to kill!

In Lishamao Alley, Qian Ye was hanging in the air, standing still, without stopping for a moment!

Gradually, a hazy green smoke floated out from the top of his head. The green smoke coiled but did not disperse, like white clouds between mountains!

But just as these white clouds began to show signs, a stick-wielder ran up, cupped his hands, and said, “Qian Ye!”

The white clouds shook, and Qian Ye, with his eyes closed, asked, “Still haven’t found them?”

The stick-wielder said sheepishly, “We’ve searched almost the entire outer city, and we fundamentally haven’t found that group of people!”

Qian Ye said calmly, “In the entire outer city, only the Three Mountains Society and the Transport Gang are capable of hiding this group… or perhaps they went to the inner city!”

The stick-wielder said in a low voice, “Boss was furious today, he scolded the brothers like dogs, saying that he let that group of people cause trouble again, and An Ji is about to lose face!”

Qian Ye slowly asked, “Where is Boss?”

The stick-wielder hesitated and closed his mouth, not speaking!

Qian Ye opened his eyes and looked at the other party coldly!

The stick-wielder quickly said, “Boss went to Funing Nunnery in Chongnan Fang. Recently, he has been hooked by that nun from Funing Nunnery…”

Qian Ye drank in a low voice, “Are these words you should say?”

The stick-wielder shrank his neck. “You asked me… What do we do now? We fundamentally can’t find that group of people!”

Qian Ye slowly closed his eyes again. “It doesn’t matter, they will come again. As long as they come to Lishamao Alley again today, they will be stopped!”

However, just at this moment, a stick-wielder with an urgent look rushed through the narrow alley. “Qian Ye, it’s bad, that group of people went to Zhujia Alley, the brothers are all being beaten.”

Qian Ye suddenly stood up. “Not good!”

The stick-wielder asked, “Qian Ye, what do we do?”

Qian Ye immediately said loudly, “Everyone come out, go to Zhujia Alley. Remember what I said yesterday, we must first chop off their wool bamboo!”

The next moment, a black mass of stick-wielders rushed out of the brothel in Lishamao Alley. These stick-wielders were hiding in the brothel, waiting for the masked group to come to the door, but they didn’t expect the other party to feint and attack elsewhere!

At this time, in Zhujia Alley, three teams of mandarin duck array charged into the eight major alleys like three lances, leaving behind twenty-one stick-wielders on the ground who couldn’t get up!

A guest on the second floor pushed open the window and looked down!

The masked Chen Ji coldly looked back at the upstairs, frightening the guest into quickly closing the window, only daring to leave a crack open to peek.

The Imperial Guards marched rapidly through Zhujia Alley. When they reached a crossroad, Chen Ji suddenly said loudly, “Stop.”

The Imperial Guards held their lances and stood still. It only took an instant to go from moving to standing still!

The people secretly watching in Zhujia Alley were a little puzzled. What were these people doing stopping at the crossroad?

The next moment, from the south and west sides of the crossroad respectively, more than twenty of An Ji’s stick-wielders rushed over. They had heard the sound and come to support, but they suddenly didn’t expect to be ambushed by the Imperial Guards waiting like guardians by a tree for a rabbit!

Li Xuan shouted violently, “Kill.”

The three teams of mandarin duck array suddenly separated, one team heading south, two teams heading west, and charged in to kill!

The stick-wielders had changed to plain knives today, intending to chop off the wool bamboo first! But at the moment of contact, when the plain knives chopped down, a string of sparks burst out, emitting an ear-piercing sound of metal and iron colliding!

A stick-wielder exclaimed, “It’s not bamboo. It’s iron tools.”

“How did they change to iron tools?”

They only saw Qi Shen Zao swinging his “iron wool bamboo” towards a stick-wielder’s face. The ice-cold “branches” swept across his face, immediately leaving his flesh blurred, and he hurriedly retreated!

Zhou Chong followed up and used the butt of his lance to poke the stick-wielder in the abdomen. The stick-wielder wailed and fell to the ground!

With just one encounter today, the Imperial Guards had defeated the stick-wielders guarding the two alleys, leaving An Ji powerless to resist!

Some stick-wielders in the dark secretly threw flying knives, but they were easily blocked by the rattan shields in the formation!

The bow and crossbow users at the end of the team pulled open their slingshots to counterattack. Unfortunately, their accuracy was a bit poor, and they could only scare people, but they couldn’t hit anyone!

The stick-wielders fled deeper into the alleys. The Imperial Guards still wanted to pursue, but heard Chen Ji say loudly, “Their reinforcements have arrived, withdraw.”

The Imperial Guards turned their formation and left, simply abandoning Zhujia Alley, leaving only the wails of the stick-wielders on the ground. It wasn’t until the Imperial Guards were gone that Qian Ye led his large team to arrive!

He looked at the scene of wailing everywhere in the three alleys, took a deep breath, and then asked, “Where are the people? Didn’t I tell you to chop the bamboo first? How come there are no bamboo scraps on the ground at all?”

A stick-wielder on the ground bravely said, “They changed to iron tools today, and they are four chi longer than yesterday. We are fundamentally unable to resist.”

“Qian Ye, that formation is extremely strange. We have no way to deal with that group of people.”

Qian Ye was startled. “Changed to iron tools? Hollow or solid?”

The stick-wielder replied, “The knocking sound is dull, solid.”

Qian Ye asked again, “How many people among them are holding that kind of iron tool?”

“Six.”

Qian Ye quickly thought in his heart, how many jin would an iron tool over one zhang long weigh? At least several dozen jin, only officials in the innate realm can move it!

That group of masked people only has a total of thirty-eight people, among whom there is already a great official in the Dao realm, and six in the innate realm. Where did this group of officials come from? The Three Mountains Society, the Transport Gang, or the Wansui Army Lantern?

Qian Ye stood at the dim crossroad, looking at the darkness at the end of the alley, and muttered to himself in a low voice, “An Ji has provoked big trouble!”

Just as he was thinking, he heard someone in the distance shouting loudly, “Qian Ye, it’s bad, that group of people has gone to Lishamao Alley again.”

Qian Ye lifted his foot and walked, but by the time he led his people to Lishamao Alley, there was only a mess on the ground, and there was no trace of that group of people!

Meeting this kind of group of officials who came when they wanted and left when they wanted, and who also had an unheard-of formation, Qian Ye suddenly felt a little powerless!

He lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said in a low voice to the stick-wielder beside him, “Go invite the boss of Fu Rui Xiang over. Just say that An Ji is willing to give Lishamao Alley and Hanjiatan Alley to Fu Rui Xiang. With external enemies present, temporary private enmity should be forgotten! I will ask a ‘middleman’ to be a witness in front of the ancestral image, swear a blood alliance, and hate the enemy together!”

The stick-wielder was startled. “Qian Ye, they are just over thirty people, is it that serious?”

Qian Ye said solemnly, “This group of people is hiding their true strength, we perhaps haven’t seen their true skill yet. Just go when I tell you to go. If we don’t prepare now and are worn down by them, then thinking of fighting to the death will be too late.”

The stick-wielder turned and left. Just as he took half a step out, Qian Ye pulled him back and instructed in a low voice, “Tell Zhu Guan that he personally sold that embroidered robe brother. If he stands by, the next unlucky one will definitely be him!”

After that person had gone far, Qian Ye pointed at another stick-wielder. “You go to Chongnan Fang to find Boss. Explain to him clearly that this time, An Ji must invite out all the officials from the inner eight halls… A dragon from across the river has arrived!”

A gust of wind blew, and Qian Ye stood under the swaying red lantern, silently watching the stick-wielders go to report!

When the wind stopped, he lifted his clothes and walked deeper into the alley!

A stick-wielder curiously asked, “Qian Ye, where are you going?”

“Three Mountains Society!”