Chapter Sixteen: Riot

  Liu Ziguang entered the city from the south gate, and the meeting hall was located in the center of the city. The city was in chaos, with rebels wrapped in white cloth on their arms attacking important departments everywhere. There were also some unidentified, burly men wielding sharp blades, setting fires everywhere. The workers and families of the iron factory were frightened and hiding everywhere. The small stalls that originally sold flowers, snacks, toys, and jewelry on the streets of the city were trampled and scattered all over the place. Cries and wails filled the air, with thick smoke billowing everywhere.

  Liu Ziguang rushed through the crowd, anyone who blocked his way would be cut down with a knife. Suddenly, a familiar figure appeared in the corner of his eye - it was Ding Libin, the small follower from the accounting room.

  At this moment, Ding Libin was being pressed to the ground by two iron guards. One of them had his hands pinned behind his back, while another pulled his hair into a straight line. Another guy held a steel knife and gestured at Ding Libin's neck. The poor boy's face turned pale and colorless.

  "Zhao Lao Er, be quick with your knife, don't splash blood all over me." said the Iron Guard pulling on Ding Libin's queue.

  "Cut the crap and kill him quickly so we can go back to guarding the treasury!" Zhao Lao Er said, raising his steel knife high.

  Before his sword could fall, Zhao Lao Er was pierced through the chest by a flying knife. The blade entered from his back and protruded from his front chest, only stopping at the hilt. His body crashed to the ground. The other two men hastily released Ding Li Bin and rushed to grab the long spear leaning against the wall, but before they could reach it, Liu Zi Guang swooped in and seized them.

  Liu Ziguang grabbed the back of two people's necks, and with a forceful collision, their two heads knocked together. The helmeted head instantly deformed, and the sharp top of the helmet was inserted into the opponent's helmet. The two bodies suddenly collapsed.

  Ding Libin, who had narrowly escaped death, saw that his savior was Liu Ziguo and shouted: "Manager Liu, I know you were framed! I overheard the secret conversation between Ren Dafeng and Ding Zongli. They embezzled funds and framed you, so they want to kill me to silence me."

  "Good grief! Not only did I bear the blame for Winter Fragrance's murder, but also was falsely accused of stealing from the treasury by this group of people. This debt will be recorded and settled later."

  "Manager Liu, I can be your witness, you have to save me." Ding Libin finally grasped the last straw for survival.

  What can't be proven, won't be proven. From now on, everything will be proven with my fists and the edge of a blade. However, this young man is quite pleasing to himself; dying in the city amidst war and chaos would be a waste, so I'll take him with me instead.

  He picked up the waist knife from the dead man's body and hung it on Ding Libin's belt, then grabbed the long gun leaning against the wall and handed it to him. He also took a long gun and hung the waist knife, two fully armed men running towards the city center.

  The western part of the city was a slave camp, and the heavily guarded camp was also in disarray. Several doors of the slave sheds were smashed open, and unarmed slaves took advantage of the chaos to rush out and try to seize the guards' weapons, but were shot down by the guards' crossbows. The guards used large iron bars as door wedges to seal off the remaining unbroken slave sheds, but even from a distance, you could still hear the slaves shouting slogans and smashing doors. The guards were outnumbered and feared that the slaves would break out and cause chaos, so they started setting fire to the slave sheds. In the dry winter season, the flames quickly spread, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

  Liu Ziguang, who saw this scene from afar, couldn't help but stop in his tracks. His fellow slave brothers were being slaughtered and burned.

  "Miss, I can't save you anymore." Liu Ziguang muttered to himself in the direction of the council building.

  "Come on, stick with me and don't fall half a step behind." Liu Ziguang yelled at Ding Libin, raising his long spear and striding towards the slave camp that had imprisoned him, enslaved him, oppressed him, and tormented him for a whole year.

  The head of the slave camp, Wang, was one of Yu Hualong's trusted men. The main task of this uprising was to guard the slave camp and prevent it from being bombed, as slaves would still be useful in the future, so they could not be slaughtered unless absolutely necessary. These slaves, who had been planning a violent uprising for some time, finally saw an opportunity today and tried to break out of the camp and escape with their lives. Fortunately, Wang gave the order to shoot, temporarily stopping the momentum, but all the slaves in the slave quarters were rushing at the doors, trying to let these long-imprisoned men rush out, which would have thrown the iron factory into even greater chaos. Therefore, Wang ordered the fire to be lit, burning the 5,000 slaves to death in their quarters.

  The iron guards loyal to the young lady were divided and surrounded by the rebels, unable to cope with their own affairs. As a result, the slave camp only needed to face internal pressure. Three hundred guards held crossbows and long spears, vigilantly monitoring the slave quarters in the fire, shooting arrows at anyone who appeared, while there were only a few dozen people defending the outside of the camp.

  The guards at the main gate saw two people armed and rushing over, without the white armband identifying their own side, and fired the crossbow without asking questions.

  The guards were using old-fashioned Zhuge crossbows, each time the mechanism was triggered, an iron arrow would be shot out. Tens of people shooting crossbows together, a swarm of iron arrows flew towards the two men. Liu Ziguang danced with his long spear, hitting the iron arrows and making them scatter in all directions. Ding Libin hid behind Liu Ziguang's back, unscathed.

  The guards looked fierce, but after finishing their arrows, they were busy reloading the crossbows while calling for reinforcements. Liu Ziguang had already approached the main gate of the camp. The heavy iron gate usually required four people to push it open. However, Liu Ziguang did not intend to break in, as this high wall was child's play for him.

  He exerted great strength and threw his long spear, lodging it into the wall. With one hand grasping Ding Libin's collar, he took two swift steps forward, then leaped up, landing precisely on the spear shaft. Borrowing momentum from the jump, he landed steadily on top of the wall.

  On the inner side of the wall was a platform where people could stand. The guards standing on the platform saw Liu Ziguang's incredible bravery and were already terrified. Liu Ziguang took Ding Libin's long spear and stabbed and parried, sending five or six guards tumbling down. The remaining ones fled in disarray, escaping from the wall.

  Liu Ziguang chased down the wall and met the reinforcements head-on. The guards formed a fan shape, with their long spears pointing out in unison. Liu Ziguang grasped the tail of his gun and swung it around, sweeping towards the crowd of guards like a gust of wind. Twenty or thirty long spears flew into the air, and the guards who had lost their weapons turned to flee. Liu Ziguang followed close behind, using his spear to knock off the iron leaves from their helmets, sending them flying through the air.

  Ding Libin was still young at heart, and when he saw his leader chasing after the guards with such vigor, like a shepherd driving ducks, he couldn't help but smile with joy. He drew out his waist knife and followed behind, pretending to be fierce as he slashed at the air, muttering "I'm killing, I'm killing."

  The guards retreated in disarray, but under the urging of Wang Zhongguan's large army, they turned back and killed again. There were only 300 guards left, and this time more than 100 people surrounded him. Even a great general couldn't withstand such a siege. Long spears, long swords, and shields, as well as crossbow bolts, repeatedly attacked Liu Ziguang's body.

  The fire at the slave quarters was spreading, and Liu Ziguang's heart was racing with anxiety. He quickly fired his gun, shooting three guards and stringing them up like sugarcanes. With a swift motion, he snatched a large knife and charged into the crowd, hacking and slashing wildly. In an instant, severed arms and heads flew through the air, and blood and brains splattered everywhere. The guards were no match for him, and he managed to fight his way to the entrance of the slave quarters where he used to live. The fire was raging fiercely, with flames engulfing the wooden parts of the building. From inside the slave quarters came the sounds of rough shouting and pounding on the door. The large iron door bolt remained unmoved despite the intense battering it received. Liu Ziguang hastily lifted the door bolt and swung it at the guards who were trying to attack him from behind, knocking down a group of them with a single blow. Immediately after, the large gate emitted a deafening crash and collapsed to the ground. A group of slaves, their bodies covered in sparks, tumbled out of the gate, unable to contain their excitement. The leader, a burly man, caught sight of Liu Ziguang and exclaimed in surprise, "Fourth brother, it's you!" It was none other than Zha Mu. Anthony and Duncan led the charge, followed by a crowd of slaves, each with a cloth covering their face that reeked of urine.

  "Fourth brother, I knew you'd come." Anthony said, throwing down the wet cloth that covered his face. If he hadn't thought of soaking the cloth in urine to cover his mouth and nose, he might have been suffocated by smoke before being burned to death.

  "Hurry, this is not a place for conversation." Liu Ziguang hastily said, pulling down his waist knife and handing it to Anthony. As he spoke, the guards' arrows were already shooting over, and suddenly a group of slaves fell to the ground with arrows.

  Zhamu picked up the bow and arrow from the dead guard's body, drew his bow and placed three feathered arrows on it with his right hand. The three arrows were fired simultaneously, and the three guards opposite him fell to the ground. The slaves also picked up the weapons on the ground, those with bows and crossbows exchanged fire with the guards, while those with long spears and knives prepared to form a team to charge out of the camp.

  "Hurry up and open the doors of the other slave sheds, everyone rush together to have hope." Liu Ziguo shouted, "Someone has already been sent." Zhamu replied while shooting arrows, he got his bow and arrow again, his arrows were not wasted, living up to the title of "Zhebie". Liu Ziguo looked up and saw Dengken holding a long knife and shield, leading a team of sturdy slaves, rushing towards other slave sheds.

  Wang Zhuguan discovered Duncan's plan and ordered the crossbowmen to shoot at the slaves who had already run to the gate of the slave quarters. A hail of arrows passed, and the slaves in the open space fell one after another without any cover. Fortunately, Duncan used his shield to protect himself and was not hit by an arrow, but he was also pinned down tightly.

  Liu Ziguang was enraged, swinging his long knife to kill the crossbowmen. The crossbowmen hastily shot arrows to block him, but he swung his long knife and swatted the arrows away like flies. In an instant, he arrived in front of them. The crossbowmen had experienced Liu Ziguang's ferocity before, so they turned around and left. Then the long spearman came over to hold him back.

  Taking advantage of the opportunity, Duncan sprang up and pushed down the bolt on the door of Hut B. Another loud crash was heard as a group of slaves with scorched heads and faces, coughing desperately, rolled out in a frantic scramble.

  Duncan led the way to open the doors of other slave sheds. Some of the first sheds that had caught fire were already engulfed in raging flames. With great effort, they managed to push down the door bars and pull open the large doors. Fresh air from outside poured in, causing the flames to surge up again. The entrance was piled high with charred corpses, most of which were intact, clearly having been suffocated to death. A smell of burnt protein wafted through the air.

  The slaves who escaped from the cage were suppressed by arrows on all sides, and people fell to the ground one after another. The cries shook the sky. The slaves searched for hiding objects and weapons everywhere. Some rushed into the cafeteria, picked up pot lids as shields, knives, rolling pins, and large iron shovels for cooking were also used as weapons. Slaves who were closer to the tool room smashed open the door and ran in, picking up axes, hoes, iron hammers, iron picks, willow hats, and bamboo baskets. The slaves were all prisoners of war and had at least been on the battlefield with real swords and guns. Seeing that freedom was about to be achieved, they also had iron objects in their hands, and began to gather in the large camp square, preparing to force their way out.

  Liu Ziguang also retreated and stood together with his three brothers, the slaves were all former soldiers, at this time they spontaneously formed a battle array according to the slave regiment's establishment, those holding weapons stood in the front row, those unarmed and injured stood in the back row, with the highest prestige, the slaves who had been low-ranking military officers before shouted loudly commanding each team.

  As he watched several thousand slaves form up on the open ground, about to charge over, Wang's chief of staff also turned red-eyed. These several thousand wild beasts were released, and it was not said that lives would be lost, but their own heads would definitely not be kept. "Get in the carriage!" he shouted loudly.

  A team of guards pushed out two large, wheeled shooting machines from the house next to the main camp gate. Two soldiers sat on either side of the machine, pedaling with their feet and pulling back a powerful bowstring. Another soldier placed short, spear-like arrows into the sliding track, and the bowstring was pulled taut by the chain drive, automatically releasing at the end of its travel and launching thick, heavy wooden arrows with iron heads continuously, like shortened long spears, whistling towards the slaves' gathering place.

  It was as if boiling water had been poured on snow, the mighty arrows were everywhere, and the crowd was pierced through a bloody alley. The arrow continued to pierce several people in a row without diminishing its power, and it directly hit the wall of the slave shed behind them, causing the brick wall that had already been loosened by fire to collapse in an instant. The slaves' battle array was quickly disrupted, and they trampled on corpses while dodging the direction of the crossbow's shooting.

  "Hurry up and bring out the tables from the dining hall!" Liu Ziguang shouted loudly.

  Anthony immediately understood, beckoned his team to rush into the dining hall, taking advantage of the small fire, pulled out several long tables used for eating, and blocked them in front. The slaves of other teams also followed suit, using thick wooden tables as shields, although it was barely better than nothing, but also much stronger than blocking with flesh and blood.

  Seeing the enemy's formation in disarray, Director Wang gave a decisive order, "Form a phalanx!" The remaining guards quickly formed a square formation, with long spearmen at the front, swordsmen and shield bearers at the back, and archers standing on the wall frames to continue shooting arrows. Two catapults were pushed to either side of the phalanx to provide suppressive fire.

  "With a single order from Commander Wang, the phalanx began to advance forward, with swords and spears gleaming, their footsteps firm and steady. Although they were only a few hundred men, they still exuded an aura that intimidated the slaves."

  Behind them were the burning slave quarters, raging flames, in front of them were mountains of knives and forests of guns, the unarmed slaves began to panic.

  "The defenders are few, we are many, only a fierce charge will do." Liu Ziguang said to the person beside him. Although the slaves had some combat experience, they lacked unified command and needed someone to lead the charge.

  Liu Ziguang jumped up from behind the table, stood on the table and shouted loudly: "Advance to live, retreat to die, brothers follow me in a charge!" After finishing speaking, he raised his long knife and charged towards the defensive phalanx alone.

  Afraid that Liu Ziguang would lose, Zhamu and hastily stood up and fired several arrows, slung his longbow behind him, picked up a long spear and followed closely behind. Anthony and Duncan also picked up their weapons, unwilling to fall behind. The four of them shouted as they charged forward. The thousands of slaves behind them also understood that if they didn't rush out and riot now, they would miss their chance. Seeing 9527 and a large team of fierce men charging forward without hesitation, the crowd was boiling.

  "Either way is death, I'll just pull a scapegoat."

  "The Second Squad isn't weak either, brothers charge!"

  "It's just one life, I'm willing to stake it!"

  The slaves were wildly enthusiastic, picking up the car arrows and arrows that had been shot over as weapons, jumping over the long table, rushing towards the guard formation, thousands of slaves like a black cloud, rolling over.

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