That enormous palm descending from the heavens did not merely stun the five thousand rebels. Even many of the Gao Family Village militia soldiers felt their scalps prickle as they stared upward in shock, their hearts pounding as the scene burned itself into their memories. In their minds rose the same thought, almost in unison: they had only ever read of such a palm strike in The Dao Xuan Tianzun's Epic of Demon Slaying, lines of text inked onto paper, distant and unreal, and yet today they had witnessed it with their own eyes, vast and merciless, crushing living men into nothing.
The residents of Gudu Ferry were no less shaken.
Many of them stood frozen where they were, secretly murmuring to themselves, vowing in trembling voices that from this day onward they would never again commit even the smallest wrongdoing. If one did, surely the Dao Xuan Tianzun would descend with divine punishment, and who in this mortal world could possibly withstand a blow like that?
As for the five thousand rebels, who moments ago had been shouting and clamoring without restraint, they had now fallen into a deathly silence.
In that oppressive quiet, Xing Honglang's voice rang out once more, clear and cutting. "Ah. Just a moment ago, you all looked quite defiant. I rather liked that."
The rebels shuddered as one. Defiance? What defiance? Anyone who still dared act defiant now would be nothing more than a fool who had lost all sense of fear.
Xing Honglang gave her next order without hesitation. "Throw all your weapons onto that hillside."
Who would dare disobey? What use was keeping a weapon now? What blade, spear, or bow could possibly contend with that golden giant hand? The rebels scrambled into motion, each afraid of being the slowest. One by one, they rushed to toss their weapons onto the slope, metal clattering and thudding as piles of swords, spears, bows, and arrows quickly grew.
It was almost amusing that while most of them were frantically discarding their arms, a handful of men remained seated on the ground, unmoving. When Xing Honglang's gaze fell upon them, those few instantly burst into tears, wailing as they tried to explain themselves.
"Boss Xing, we're not disobeying you. Truly, we're not. It's just that our legs are weak from fright and won't listen to us. Please give us a little more time. Once our legs stop shaking, we'll throw them away too. Waaah. My legs. Why won't they move?"
"We're obedient. We're very obedient. Please don't kill us. Don't summon that great hand again."
"We'll follow every order. Every single one."
Xing Honglang watched them coldly, her expression unreadable, neither confirming that she would kill them nor that she would spare them. This uncertainty terrified the men even more. Tears and snot streamed down their faces as their sobbing grew louder. The more frightened they became, the weaker their legs seemed to grow, and the weaker their legs grew, the more impossible it was for them to stand.
After a long while, when she felt she had enjoyed herself enough, Xing Honglang finally looked away.
Only then did the men feel as though a mountain had been lifted from their chests. Their legs suddenly found strength again, and they scrambled to their feet, stumbling toward the hillside to throw away their weapons. They dared not keep anything hard on their bodies, fearing it might be mistaken for a hidden weapon and bring disaster down upon them.
Watching from the side, Lao Nanfeng chuckled and said to Gao Chuwu, "See that? Look at how your wife has terrified these scoundrels. Hahaha. She really is a salt smuggler who's lived on the fringes of society. She knows far better than you how to deal with wretched bandits like these."
Gao Chuwu stared, eyes wide. "Wow. My wife is really amazing."
Lao Nanfeng slung an arm around his shoulders and laughed. "How did someone like you manage to marry such an incredible woman? Forgive my bluntness, but you're leagues beneath her. This match really isn't fair."
Gao Chuwu blinked in confusion. "Huh? Didn't I just have to beat her in a fight to marry her?"
Lao Nanfeng fell silent, suddenly unsure how to respond.
By this point, all five thousand rebels had been disarmed and stripped of their armor, leaving them in nothing but coarse linen clothes, empty-handed and trembling. They were not allowed to enter the fortress. Instead, they were herded to a stretch of the Yellow River outside the walls and ordered to sit and wait.
They all knew that some sort of arrangement awaited them, though none knew what it would be. Even so, whatever lay ahead had to be better than being crushed into pulp by that golden giant hand. They could only wait obediently.
Before long, three massive gunboats appeared, sailing upriver. Each vessel carried twelve gleaming silver cannons, their cold metal reflecting the light. The mere sight of them made the rebels' hearts sink into terror.
"Just who is this Xing Honglang?" they thought in despair. "How can she command three gunboats like this?"
The cannons of the gunboats slowly turned, their muzzles aimed directly at the seated rebels. Soon after, numerous flat-bottomed cargo ships followed, gliding toward the shore and mooring firmly in place. Xing Honglang's expression hardened.
"Get on board," she barked.
The crowd dared not hesitate. They meekly boarded the cargo ships and sat down, shoulder to shoulder, filling the vessels to capacity. Hundreds were crammed onto each ship, and more than a dozen ships were packed full before all five thousand rebels were loaded. Escorted by the three gunboats, the fleet began moving upstream, heading toward the upper reaches of the Yellow River.
After an indeterminate stretch of time, a dock came into view ahead.
Suddenly, one rebel cried out, "Ah? Qichuan Ferry? More than a year ago, Leader Bai Yuzhu led us to attack this very place. We were beaten back by flintlock volleys and strange bombs."
At his shout, others quickly joined in.
"I was there too."
"So was I."
"So these ships are from Qichuan Ferry."
"Then what's Boss Xing's connection to this place?"
As their murmurs spread, a figure clad entirely in white appeared atop Qichuan Fortress on the shore. His bearing was striking enough that the moment he stepped forward, many rebels recognized him at once.
"That's him," they exclaimed. "The militia instructor who defeated us back then at Qichuan Ferry. I'd recognize those white robes anywhere."
Bai Yuan accepted a tin megaphone from a subordinate and addressed the fleet in a loud, steady voice. "Gentlemen, welcome to your new lives as labor reform prisoners. I am Bai Yuan, current Master of Bai Family Fortress, General Instructor of the Chengcheng County Militia, and concurrently the Admiral of the Gao Family Village Navy."
He deliberately recited his long list of titles, allowing their weight to sink in. Then he unfolded a fan in his hand with a practiced flick, revealing the character for "gentleman" written upon it. Only then did he continue.
"You will disembark here and then walk several dozen li to Huanglong Mountain Prison. I advise you not to make any rash moves. The Dao Xuan Tianzun is watching from above."
The rebels did not truly understand who the Dao Xuan Tianzun was, but the words "from above" made them instinctively raise their heads.
What they saw made their hearts seize.
The clouds had parted, and beneath them hovered that same golden giant hand. It was not descending now, but its presence alone was enough.
Bai Yuan's meaning became instantly clear. Any rash movement, and that hand would fall.
At once, every rebel became exceedingly docile.
Yet Bai Yuan was different from Xing Honglang. He did not rely solely on intimidation. He also understood how to pacify hearts. The blending of benevolence and power was the mark of a superior leader, a skill he had honed through years of governing Bai Family Fortress, and it stood in sharp contrast to Xing Honglang's more unorthodox methods.
A gentle smile appeared on his face. "When you broke through the encirclement in Hequ County, most of you left your families behind, didn't you? Your parents. Your wives. Your children. Do you miss them?"
At his words, sorrow flickered across many faces.
They were human beings, not wood or stone. How could they truly be without feeling?
Even the most brutal among them had soft places in their hearts. When they fled, abandoning their loved ones, they had done so under the desperate assumption that the imperial court would not dare slaughter tens of thousands of old people, women, and children all at once. It was not that they were utterly heartless or devoid of conscience.
Bai Yuan continued calmly, "Your wives and children have already been brought here by us. They are settled in a valley within Huanglong Mountain. If you are obedient, you will be reunited with them. But if you harbor thoughts of wrongdoing, then…"
He let the sentence trail off, leaving the rest to imagination.
How could the rebels not misunderstand? The moment his words landed, a single thought surged through them. If they disobeyed, their wives and children would be slaughtered.
In truth, Gao Family Village would never do such a thing. The Dao Xuan Tianzun did not permit the killing of the old, the weak, women, or children. But the rebels did not know that. They believed Bai Yuan was capable of it, and that belief terrified them far more than any shouted threat ever could.
From that moment on, not a single one of them dared to cause trouble.