Starting from 1618 of the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 78 The Chaos of the White Lotus

As night fell, the wasteland outside Yuncheng was lit up by countless torches, resembling a giant, burning spider web.

The air was filled with a nauseatingly sweet and fishy smell—the smell of burning human flesh.

In Lu Yan's camp, the campfires were strictly controlled in sheltered tunnels to prevent the camp from being detected. The patrolling sentries changed shifts every half hour, and the hidden sentries extended for two miles.

"Boss, have something to eat."

Fan Fu brought over a bowl of hot soup, which contained a few pieces of dried salted meat and dehydrated vegetables. This was Lu Yan's "instant noodles for marching," and although the taste was so-so, being able to eat a hot meal on the battlefield was like a godsend.

Lu Yan took the bowl, but did not drink it.

His gaze fell upon a small village two miles outside the camp—Zhao Family Village.

That place was originally a "location point" for Lu's Carriage and Horse Trading Company, and the flag with the character "Lu" still hangs on the flagpole at the village entrance. The villagers paid protection money, hoping that this flag would ensure their safety.

But now, it's burning there.

By the firelight, Lu Yan could see a group of people with red headscarves wreaking havoc in the village.

They weren't working on a tough challenge; they were celebrating.

The screams of men, the cries of women, and the neighing of livestock drifted intermittently on the night wind.

"Tie that old bastard to the millstone! Turn it! Turn it for me!"

"Hahaha! That woman's running pretty fast! Grab her! Whoever catches her gets to keep her!"

They were a group of about two or three hundred stragglers from the White Lotus Sect who had retreated from the battlefield. They had suffered losses at the hands of the government troops or had been at a disadvantage in internal conflicts, so they turned their swords on the weaker ones.

As for that flag with the character "陆" (Lu), it had long been cut down and trampled on in the mud.

"Master..." Zhao Changying stood behind Lu Yan, her teeth grinding together, "That's our patron. Last month, Chief Zhao even sent us two truckloads of eggs."

Lu Yan took a sip of soup, the warmth flowing down his throat and into his stomach, dispelling the chill of the night wind.

"Don't the government troops care?" Lu Yan asked.

"I don't care." Zhao Changying spat angrily. "I just saw a group of government scouts loitering nearby. They glanced at the enemy and left. To them, as long as the bandits don't storm the camp, what does it matter if a few civilians die? They might even... wait until the bandits have finished looting and left before going in to cut off civilian heads and claim credit for it."

This was the social landscape at the end of the Ming Dynasty. Soldiers were bandits, and bandits were soldiers. The common people were sheep caught in the middle, suffering from both sides.

Lu Yan put down the bowl.

He stood up, straightened his chainmail, and put on the deerskin gloves.

"Zhao Changying".

"exist!"

"Assemble the first squad and the musketeer squad. Bring that newly built 'Heartless Cannon'."

"Master, should we make a move?" Fan Fu asked worriedly. "What if the government troops...?"

"This is our business."

Lu Yan's voice was eerily calm. "Lu's Group has taken the money, so we have to do our job. If we get slaughtered after flying our flag, who will buy our security in the future? This isn't just about saving lives; it's about protecting the reputation of our brand."

He turned around and looked at the group of soldiers who had already assembled in the darkness.

"Remember, this is not a war, this is a 'sanitation cleanup'."

Lu Yan drew his flintlock pistol from his waist and checked the flint.

"No pity for pests, just pesticides. Let's go."

……

In the threshing ground of Zhao Family Village, a brutal act known as the "Pig Slaughter Feast" is underway.

Dozens of villagers were tied together and forced to kneel on the ground. A minor leader of the White Lotus Sect was holding a pig-slaughtering knife and rubbing it on a whetstone.

"Old man, you wouldn't hand over the grain when I told you to. Now look what's happened, the grain is mine, your daughter is mine, and your life... is still mine."

The leader grinned maliciously, grabbed Chief Zhao by the hair, and pressed the blade against the old man's neck.

"May the Eternal Mother bless me... so that I may be reborn into a better life!"

Just then.

"call out--"

A strange whistling sound came from the darkness.

The leader was stunned for a moment, not yet realizing what was happening.

"boom!!!"

A bomb exploded in mid-air in the center of the threshing ground.

There weren't many fragments, but the massive shockwave, like an invisible hand, instantly knocked everyone within a ten-foot radius to the ground. The leader felt a ringing in his ears, then his internal organs were shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Immediately afterwards, countless sparks lit up in the darkness.

"Bang bang bang bang——"

A dense volley of gunfire erupted.

This wasn't random firing; it was precise targeting. With each shot, a person wearing a red headscarf and holding a weapon fell.

"The government troops! The government troops are here!"

"Run!"

But the rioters soon realized they couldn't escape.

Soldiers clad in dark gray cotton armor appeared at the village entrance, on the back hill, and even along the small river. They didn't shout for battle or charge; they simply held their guns or spears coldly, forming an iron wall that blocked all escape routes.

Lu Yan rode his horse slowly into the threshing ground.

His warhorse kicked aside a still-convulsing corpse and stopped in front of the petty leader whose mouth was full of blood.

"Who...who are you?" The junior officer looked at the young general, who seemed to have come from hell, in horror.

Lu Yan did not answer. He glanced at the Zhao clan chief who was paralyzed with fear beside him, and then at the trampled "Lu" flag in the mud.

"Pick it up." Lu Yan pointed to the flag.

The junior leader trembled as he tried to pick it up.

"Bang!"

Lu Yan pulled the trigger. The lead bullet shattered the leader's kneecap.

"ah--!"

"I didn't ask you to pick it up," Lu Yan said coldly. "I asked Clan Chief Zhao to pick it up."

Chief Zhao crawled over shakily, picked up the flag covered in mud and blood, and wept bitterly as if he were holding his own grandson.

"Master Lu...you've arrived...you've finally arrived..."

Lu Yan looked around. The remaining dozens of bandits had been cornered by the militia soldiers, and one by one they threw down their weapons and knelt down to beg for mercy.

"Mr. Lu, spare us! We're just trying to make a living!"

"We are just ordinary people being dragged into this too!"

Zhao Changying walked over and asked in a low voice, "Master, what should we do? Should we send it to the authorities?"

"Send them to the authorities?" Lu Yan sneered. "Send them to Yang Zhaoji so he can claim a reward for their heads? Or send them to Zhao Yan so he can release them and then go and wreak havoc on other villages?"

He turned his horse around and stopped looking at the people begging for mercy.

"Killing surrendered soldiers is considered unlucky. But we are not government troops; we are a security company."

With his back to Zhao Changying, Lu Yan waved his hand, "Since they've broken our rules, they have to pay the price. Deal with them all, and that will be the boundary."

"Bang bang bang bang——"

A burst of gunfire erupted behind me; it was the firing squad carrying out an execution.

Lu Yan looked up at the night sky. The dark clouds dispersed, revealing a few cold stars.

That night, Lu Yan's heart hardened completely. He understood that in this chaotic world, the so-called "white lotus saving the world" was a lie, and the so-called "government troops suppressing the rebellion" was a business transaction. Only the guns and cannons in his hands, and the order built upon them, were the only truth.

"Let's go."

Lu Yan said to Fan Fu beside him, "Go back and write a notice, and distribute it throughout Shandong. Anyone who flies the banner of my Lu family will not be robbed by bandits, nor will they avoid officials. Anyone who dares to touch my clients will suffer this fate."

"Yes!" Fan Fu's pen trembled, but the light in his eyes was brighter than ever before.

In this battle, Lu Yan didn't kill many people, but he established a rule. A ruthless rule belonging to the "Lu Clan" that transcended the laws of the Ming Dynasty and the doctrines of the White Lotus Sect.