Only to prevent Wuzhou from causing trouble and focus on attacking Quzhou.

Once decided, it happened quickly; within four or five days, everything was arranged, a fortunate day chosen, wine and meat conferred, rewarding the three armies, heading towards Quzhou.

Quzhou, unlike Huzhou, is surrounded by numerous waters, with a precarious terrain, but vast and sparsely populated, with many cities standing. Though Ming King Yang Gong usually boasted loudly and was wild in demeanor, he actually was very cautious, and he carefully consulted with the Think Tank Iron Mouth, dividing the troops into several routes.

The main army formed the rear, acting as the central support, then several vanguard officers were appointed, each leading three thousand troops to seize key locations on various routes.

Once those key locations were captured, the main army would have no rear worries and could directly charge Quzhou Prefecture City, for a decisive battle.

Thus, as the army advanced forward, it surprisingly won successive victories, capturing several counties. The main army steadily advanced, everything went smoothly, but on this very day, suddenly urgent reports came from General Zhou Liang, who was on the right flank.

When the troops reached Miyun County, they encountered a group of strange soldiers under the God-given King. Although the enemy numbers were few, we held the advantage, but after a battle, we suffered significant casualties.

Upon hearing this, the Think Tank Iron Mouth temporarily halted the main army, personally bringing disciples of the Not Eating Beef Sect to inspect the situation.

Upon arriving, they discovered that the ten thousand strong troops were unexpectedly blocked at this small Miyun County. Inside the county, there were only a thousand or so soldiers, barely ten thousand people including the common people, yet they managed to inflict a bitter defeat on the Food Protection Army's vanguard.

"It's not that the boys are afraid to die; indeed, inside Miyun County, there was a group of demon people."

Vanguard Officer Zhao Zhu himself, injured in the arm, carrying a steel fork, came forward to greet, saying: "Since joining the Food Protection Army, I've fought plenty of battles, but I've never seen such strange people."

"The enemy numbers are not particularly powerful, but among them are a hundred or so who carry large red gourds. As they saw us coming, facing defeat, they took out the gourds and blew towards us."

"That blow made the sky dark and the earth dim; the eerie wind caused dizziness and confusion, rendering it impossible to fight, impossible even to see clearly."

"Then the enemy took advantage, storming forward, inflicting heavy losses upon us, killing many brothers, prompting a retreat to devise new strategies."

"..."

The Think Tank Iron Mouth listened, shook his head, and said to Zhao Zhu: "It's fortunate that it's you who suffered this defeat; after all, in the previous battle, you captured the Huzhou Three-headed Flood Dragon alive, earning great merit, so even if you lost this time, military law can't punish you severely."

"If someone else suffered this defeat, even just for appearances, they'd have to be whipped a few times with the military baton."

"However, it's not surprising that you suffered this loss."

"You have encountered demon soldiers."

"..."

Zhao Zhu listened incredulously: "Demon soldiers? The three-headed Jiao was also a demon, but it was pinned to the ground by just one thrust of my fork."

"This demon is different from that demon."

Iron Mouth said: "Because the army is heavily imbued with destructive energy, many dharma methods from the jianghu cannot be used within the military. The only skills applicable are those of Mr. Hu from your village."

"But also because the jianghu has numerous sinister skills, there's always someone who wants to take advantage of these dharma methods in battle formations for terrific effects, resulting in these demon soldiers."

"They typically specialize in just one technique or focus on one magical artifact, and when deployed in battle formations, they often catch others off guard, decisively defeating the enemy. The group you encountered, I've heard of, is called the Eight Hundred Gourd Army."

"When you've lived long enough in battle formations, you'll see more of them!"

"Tengzhou has the Fire Crow Army, we're thinking of ways to subdue it, and there's the White Fish Army, Wrapped Head Army, Bamboo Formation Army in the south, and the Futu Army, Black Flag Army, Evil Drum Army in the north, each resounding and formidable, treasured possessions of those formidable regional rulers."

"..."

Zhao Zhu's face changed upon hearing: "They have those, does our Food Protection Army have none?"

"Alas, you few, learning from Mr. Hu, have such limited knowledge?"

Iron Mouth listening, gave him a disdainful glance, said: "The Food Protection Army, especially those who've been to Shangjing, is itself the world's utmost treasure."

"I don't even know how those experts did it, each with a stable Divine Soul, able to suppress dharma methods, though confronting these demon soldiers, facing ten thousand of our Food Protection Army, they would likely avoid it, but there's also a downside."

"These ten thousand Food Protection Army soldiers are precious; lose one, there's one less, irreplaceable."

"And those soldiers with demon-like powers aren't foolhardy enough to rush in openly; instead, they conceal themselves within the troops, emerging unexpectedly, leaving you unprepared."

"Sigh, in the end, these demon soldiers shouldn't exist in this world. It's only because the current state of chaos has brought out demons and ghosts."

"If we can't break this Gourd Army, then encountering the God-given King's Futu Army will be even more hopeless."

"..."

Zhao Zhu listened, somewhat confused. He definitely hadn't learned this from Brother Ma Zi...

He grabbed the Think Tank's sleeve: "But I don't care, you come up with a solution. If you can't think of one, you'll be the one to blame."

"Alright, alright."

Iron Mouth was speechless, saying: "Actually, when we were coming from Quzhou, I had prepared for this long ago."

"Their Gourd Army is formidable, but did you think our Tengzhou Fire Crow Army is just playing around? To be honest, the key to taking Tengzhou was to subdue that Fire Crow Army."

"I thought it would be tricky, but unexpectedly, our Food Protection Army has such a great reputation. When the envoy went to Tengzhou, it immediately attracted people from all sides, including that Fire Crow Army. It's a good chance to see their skills."

"..."

As they talked, they made arrangements overnight. After midnight, they saw an unusual troop arrive at the battle formation.

From afar, Zhao Zhu saw that the troop looked strange. None wore armor, instead carrying iron frames on their backs and hanging leather sacks at their waists. Once they entered the army, they gathered around large bonfires, eating meat and drinking, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

...

...

"So, this time it's the turn of the Laozao Wine brothers to step up?"

Meanwhile, Hu Ma had returned to the Gunzhou Blood Food Mine, retrieving the weights he had previously left there, ready to take them to Quzhou and try to acquire the remaining two weights.

But he was always concerned about the fate of the Food Protection Army, constantly staying updated. Now he heard that the Fire Crow Army was about to face off with the Gourd Army, piquing his curiosity.

"The Fire Crow Army from Tengzhou was trained by one of the Laozao Wine's men. When we caused trouble at the Meng Family Mansion in Salt State before, he brought them, setting fires everywhere."

The speaker was Miss Red Wine, who was also coming down from Old Yin Mountain, preparing to meet Hu Ma in Quzhou: "Because Tengzhou is near Dongzhou and has few reincarnators, those reincarnators there follow Laozao Wine, under his command."

"Frankly, they trained this unusual troop for fun back then, but they aren't rooted here, so they want to send the Fire Crow Army to a wise master for a promising future."

"Now is a chance to achieve great merits and show off against the God-given King."

"Just be cautious; my information might not be wrong, as the God-given King has a complicated origin."

"The reason he dares to be so brutal, slaughtering and causing a sea of blood without fearing military revolt or the wrath of ghostly gods, is because he has powerful backing."

"..."

Miss Red Wine slowly stated: "He's one of the pieces secretly raised by Impermanence Li Family."

"This time, we're not dealing with the God-given King, but with the Li Family."

"..."

"Then we're in for the real showdown."

Hu Ma sighed softly upon hearing this, knowing that this battle across the world would inevitably clash with the ten families, but now truly facing Impermanence Li Family for victory or defeat, his heart grew heavy.

After a while, he suddenly asked: "This duel isn't something one or two of us can easily resolve."

"Miss Red Wine, how many reincarnators do you think will be willing to come help us?"

"..."

Faced with this question, Miss Red Wine and the others talking with Er Guotou suddenly fell silent.

All hoped that reinforcements would come, but feared the possibility they might not...