Chapter 29: One Niter, Two Sulfur, Three Charcoal

When word spread that the messy pile of corpses in the county magistrate's office belonged entirely to the banner officers of the Prison Guard Bureau, every rebel gazed at Li Chang'an with eyes saturated in sheer terror.

Before this, they had no idea why Wang Su would hand over the pivotal role of rebel leader to such a wet-behind-the-ears brat.

But now they finally understood—what kind of brat was this? This was the living King of Hell incarnate!

He had slaughtered banner officers of the Prison Guard Bureau like he was chopping melons and slicing vegetables, leaving himself absolutely no room for retreat. Not only was his skill matched by his audacity, but he was a man who simply did not fear death!

To dare raise a banner of rebellion under the high-pressure tyranny of the Demon Qing, these rebels, no matter how wretched their plight, were true desperadoes.

Yet despite their own grit, they were thoroughly shaken today by Li Chang'an’s staggering feat.

Struggling to collect his wits, a sturdy young man in his early twenties among the rebel elite spoke up, his face brimming with admiration: "The Leader is so young yet so formidable. I wonder if you could bestow a word or two of guidance upon us regarding the path of martial arts?!"

It could be said that this sturdy youth possessed courage far surpassing the rest.

For while the other men looked at Li Chang'an standing amidst the ring of corpses with expressions of awe tinged with a hint of dread, he alone dared to openly step forward and seek instruction in martial arts from him.

Li Chang'an offered a genial smile and casually inquired, "What is your name, where do you come from, and why did you join the rebel army?"

The sturdy youth dropped to one knee, offering a respectful salute as he replied, "This humble one is named Xiong Er, from neighboring Qingpu County. My family has been hunters for generations!"

"Because my wife was defiled by a wealthy young master in the county, this humble one flew into a rage, found a burlap sack, and beat that wealthy scion to death with my bare hands!"

"After many twists and turns, this humble one drifted to Sanhuang County. As for joining the rebel army... my initial purpose was simply to get a full meal, but secondly, it was to avenge the eradication of my entire clan by that wealthy household!"

"I await the Leader's orders!"

As he uttered these words, the youth named Xiong Er gritted his teeth in bitter hatred.

Li Chang'an could sense the fierce, resentful aura radiating from him, as well as the surging ambition concealed at the bottom of his heart, yet he did not expose it, nor was there any need to do so.

After all, who joins a rebel army at such a young age just to idle about and wait for death?

Besides, if a young man lacks a bit of ambition, can he still be called a young man?

He smiled faintly and said, "I can guide you all in your martial cultivation, and I can even grant you a technique to draw Qi into the body. However, before we get to that, there are still some matters left unfinished!"

...

Having completely wiped out this faction from the Prison Guard Bureau, Li Chang'an could finally address the internal issues of Sanhuang County without any lingering anxieties.

Previously, his assembly of troops without taking action was not only to deliberately grant the surrounding local gentry time to react so he could catch them all in one net, but also to resolve the threat of the Prison Guard Bureau's assassins first.

Now that this group of banner officers had been annihilated, Li Chang'an would not have to worry about facing assassinations or raids for at least a month.

Once the order was handed down, the Taiping Rebel Army, which had long been building its momentum, surged forward majestically toward the landlord alliance formed by the local gentry.

Very quickly, the rebel forces arrived outside the residential estate of the first wealthy squire.

The master of this estate was named Yan Tian, a man who shared equal fame with Huang Sunan of the Huang clan, making them the foremost grand landlords in Sanhuang County.

In this era, the bureaucracy and the gentry were essentially one and the same.

To prevent being overrun by displaced vagrants and commoners during turbulent times, the wealthy gentry of noble households would build their estate gates and surrounding walls remarkably high.

Consequently, what the rebel army currently faced was an estate that resembled a veritable turtle shell.

The Yan family estate spanned over a thousand mu, and its outer wall alone stood a full three meters high, constructed entirely of quarried green stone.

Though many surfaces of the green stone had weathered and flaked away due to the somewhat ancient date of its construction, its defensive capability had not degraded in the slightest.

Strictly speaking, this high wall built of green stone was even more solid and reliable than the brick walls outside the Sanhuang County magistrate's office!

Against such an estate, which was easy to defend and difficult to attack, ordinary vagrants and bandits could do absolutely nothing.

Furthermore, so many estate guards had already assembled inside the courtyard.

It was so tightly fortified that not even a fly could slip inside.

Wang Su sat astride his horse, gazing into the distance at the high walls of the estate ahead, before turning to look at Li Chang'an and asking, "Do you need me to take action?"

Li Chang'an shook his head: "No need."

Wang Su thought for a moment before speaking up again, "Should we halt for now and fashion some siege engines on the spot?"

Li Chang'an shook his head once more: "No need for that either."

Hearing this, Wang Su said no more, his eyes flashing with a touch of scrutiny.

For the moment, he could only think of two solutions:

The first was to utilize the overwhelming personal martial prowess of himself and Li Chang'an to breach the estate, shattering its defenses from the inside out; the second was to pitch camp right there, and then lead a small detachment alongside the accompanying artisans into the northern mountains to fell timber and construct siege equipment.

The most prudent approach was naturally the second one.

The first carried a certain degree of risk.

After all, even a martial master who had cultivated his inner energy to its peak still remained within the bounds of a mortal, flesh-and-blood body.

No one knew what kind of scene lay behind those estate walls, nor did they know if that group of gentry had made certain special preparations for this very occasion.

Should they be surrounded by an enemy that was well-prepared, even a peak martial master would face grave danger!

To stand alone against thousands of troops and horses was a realm that only powerhouse figures at the Martial King level could touch; whether it was he or Li Chang'an, they were both still a long way off from that domain.

Right now, Wang Su truly wished to open his eyes wide and see exactly how Li Chang'an intended to breach this turtle shell, fortified three layers deep inside and out, without relying on personal martial prowess and in the absence of large siege machinery like catapults or battering rams.

Li Chang'an did not keep him waiting long, or rather, Li Chang'an had long since anticipated such an outcome and had prepared accordingly.

He turned around and had that group of nominal disciples from Li Family Village haul up a crate of head-sized explosive shells, before stuffing one into a crudely manufactured iron barrel.

Li Chang'an glanced around at his surroundings and spoke up, "Step back a bit further, and remember to cover your ears in a moment!"

Gunpowder naturally existed in this world.

However, in the hands of the nobility of the Demon Qing royal court, this substance was used as one of the ingredients for refining elixirs of longevity, whereas among the common folk, it was generally used to manufacture everyday items like fireworks and firecrackers.

Moreover, the gunpowder formulas of this era were abysmal, and the power generated upon explosion was not particularly grand.

Aiming the barrel of the rudimentary artillery piece toward the Yan estate, Li Chang'an adjusted the angle while murmuring to himself, "One part saltpeter, two parts sulfur, three parts charcoal, add a bit of white sugar for a Big Ivan... I wonder if there's any issue with the proportions I mixed?!"

The reason he came forward to operate it personally.

Was because Li Chang'an himself did not know whether this crudely fashioned piece of junk would ultimately fail at the critical moment.

If it were he himself, after lighting the fuse, he would still have time to sprint a distance away to ensure he remained unharmed; were it anyone else, a stroke of bad luck would make becoming crippled on the spot a mild consequence.