Fearing being killed for his overwhelming merits, the empress decided to marry him.

"Second leader, the Chu army is skilled in sorcery; our brothers can't even get within a hundred paces of them!"

The surviving bandits struggled back to their base and burst into tears upon seeing Shi Xiushuang.

"Nonsense! What sorcery! Stop spreading these false rumors!"

Shi Xiushuang kicked the person away.

"This must be a trick by the Chu army! Men, don't be afraid! Let's go up again and wipe them all out!"

However, the bandits all took a few steps back, and none of them dared to step forward again.

It's very simple. The swamp in front of us still reeks of blood, and the ground is littered with the corpses of our companions.

Charging now would be tantamount to suicide, wouldn't it?

Besides, everyone's eyes aren't blind; they saw the whole thing.

"Second leader, I think we should retreat first. This Chu army seems a bit strange."

One of the terrified leaders couldn't help but make a suggestion.

Upon hearing this, Shi Xiushuang flew into a rage: "You all get scared when you encounter a little setback. So what if a few people die?"

"We've fought our way here, haven't we lost countless brothers? How come you've lost all your fighting spirit now!"

"But no battle has ever caused such heavy casualties in such a short time!"

Some of the leaders were trembling as they spoke.

Upon hearing this, Shi Xiushuang was about to scold the group for being cowardly.

But just as he was about to speak, he heard two soft rumbles of iron hooves on the flat road on both sides, accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of wheels grinding together.

"Ok?"

Just as Shi Xiushuang was wondering, two carriages, one in front of the other, suddenly appeared on the ground to the left.

As the carriage drew nearer, his pupils contracted involuntarily.

Two horses were seen carrying an open carriage, with four wheels.

Isn't that an outdated war machine?

There were three people in the carriage: a coachman, two Chu soldiers, and...

A hall with hand-cranked Gatling guns.

Da da da da…

Before Shi Xiushuang could react, the machine gunner had already started cranking the Gatling gun handle without hesitation. The seven tubes began to spin rapidly, scattering all the "equal bullets" upon the world.

In an instant, blood mist rose from the body of the bandit on the side.

A bead of sweat instantly dripped down Shi Xiushuang's forehead. Before he could react, a commotion erupted from the right flank.

Two more tanks sped along the flanks and fired.

A dense hail of bullets rained down on the bandits, taking away one life after another.

This shocking scene made the already tense bandits even more terrified.

"Attack!"

At this moment, on the main battlefront, Qu Yi gave the order, and the soldiers who were already prepared jumped out of the trenches in unison under the command of the squads and platoons, and approached the bandits in an orderly manner.

"Mom——"

"escape!"

A sharp shriek suddenly erupted from the crowd, and the already collapsing bandit army completely crumbled.

Everyone dropped their weapons and fled for their lives, fearing that if they were even a step too late, they would become victims of gunfire.

"Ah~"

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Shi Xiu and his entourage, no matter how unwilling they were, had no choice but to go with the flow and join the fleeing group.

The Chu army's infantry and cavalry pursued them relentlessly from noon until dusk, killing countless bandits along the way and pushing back more than thirty miles in one go.

The pursuit only ended after the bandits were routed, scattered, and fled for their lives, repeatedly kneeling and begging for mercy.

"Tch, what a rabble, utterly pathetic!"

Watching Shi Xiushuang flee towards the capital, Qu Yi scoffed contemptuously, then ordered the troops to retreat and sent someone to report to Shen Lang.

After learning the result, Shen Lang's expression remained completely unchanged.

If a motley crew can't win, then that would be truly unbelievable.

He glanced at the hourglass, then casually tossed it away before calmly ordering, "Notify the entire army to continue advancing towards Wu County!"

……

Wu County.

Fang Hanshan never expected things to turn out this way.

In just half a day, of the 300,000 troops who had fought against the Chu army, only less than 10,000 were able to retreat back to the city.

He had considered the possibility of defeat, but he never expected it to be such a crushing defeat, with his entire army nearly wiped out.

"Brother, the Chu army's weapons are so strange. Even with tens of thousands of men, we can't get within a hundred paces of them."

"Those fire-breathing weapons can easily tear through the armor on the soldiers' bodies, and even shields cannot withstand them."

"Therefore, I am certain that this must be sorcery, and it can only be subdued by exorcism."

Listening to Shi Xiushuang's words and looking at the disheveled and terrified appearance of the bandits around him, Fang Hanshan fell into deep thought.

After a long silence, he asked in bewilderment, "Is it really sorcery?"

“Absolutely true!” Shi Xiushuang replied. “If you don’t believe me, ask them. What kind of weapon can kill tens of thousands of people in an instant? Even the best spiritual artifacts can’t do that. What else could this be but sorcery?”

Fang Hanshan nodded, clearly believing Shi Xiushuang's words.

"If what you say is true, then the Chu army must have come prepared this time. In that case, we must first use a method to break the Chu army's sorcery. So what method should we use?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a minor leader named Patterned Leopard immediately suggested, "Leaders, I used to know some methods for exorcising evil spirits and demons..."

For sorcery, one can splash it with black dog blood, then throw it with a black donkey hoof, and add a child's urine; it will surely have an immediate effect.

Shi Xiushuang nodded: "Brother Shanbao is quite right, but the Chu army is simply too numerous."

Moreover, with the enemy about to besiege the city, where could they possibly find so much black dog blood and black donkey hooves all at once?

As for boys' urine, even all the children in the city combined probably couldn't produce that much urine.

Mountain Leopard said, "Don't worry, leaders. Besides black dog blood and black donkey hooves, there is another thing that can break the magic."

"Oh? What is it?"

Fang Hanshan and Shi Xiu's two extraordinary paths.

“A woman’s essence and blood are yin and filthy things. The so-called evil to overcome evil will surely remove the Chu army’s sorcery.”

"In addition, women's intimate clothing, such as bellybands, undergarments, and panties, also have the effect of warding off evil spirits."

"Oh~"

Hearing Shan Bao speak so logically, Fang and Shi stroked their chins thoughtfully and nodded in unison.

This scene is just like a primary school student who is struggling with calculus. Although they don't understand it, they feel that it is very advanced and sophisticated.

"Immediately mobilize the entire city to collect women's undergarments, recently used cloth charcoal (coarse cloth used by women to handle menstruation before cotton balls became widespread; it could be reused by mixing charcoal powder with linen), and send them to the city walls as soon as possible!"

"Okay, I'll get on it right away!"

At Fang Hanshan's command, the bandits got busy again.

"Once the Chu army's sorcery is eradicated, we will surely slaughter all the invading enemies! Hmph!"

……

Inside the Heavenly Dao Sect, Zhao Banshan stood respectfully before a "celestial master" dressed in a brown Daoist robe in the main hall, whispering something to him.

"Is what you're saying true? Has the State of Chu really entered the territory of the State of Wu?"

"Sect Master, I saw it with my own eyes. They're probably already at the gates of the Great Wu capital."

Sect Master Yuan Xiuren, with a peak innate cultivation level, has presided over the Heavenly Dao Sect for sixty years and is now over a hundred years old.

He was extremely excited upon hearing the news.

"Excellent! Let Chu cause trouble within Wu's territory for a while longer, until the people can't live like this anymore."

Then, with the intervention of my Heavenly Dao Sect, we will win back the hearts of the people in one fell swoop. In this way, the Heavenly Dao Sect will surely become the first sect in the world to establish a nation, leaving its mark on history! Hahaha!