But it was at this moment that reinforcements finally arrived.

First came an elegantly dressed, charming and lovely little lady, who claimed to be General Qiao Yun under the Ming King. She traveled at night in a sedan chair, leading five hundred Cloth Army soldiers, rushing here overnight. By dawn, they had entered the city, intending to assist Bald Zhang in confronting the Southern King of Chaos.

Upon seeing her, Zhang nearly burst into tears: "Madam Lu, I know your skills are great. You once showed a hand when dueling with the green-clothed evil ghost."

"But you only brought five hundred people this time, adding mine would make about a thousand."

"Do we use our lives to oppose the King of Chaos's hundred-thousand-strong army?"

"..."

Sweet Potato Shao saw Bald Zhang's dejected look and simply laughed, "Don't worry, there's more to come..."

"That's the main part!"

"The Left Protector of the Red Lantern Lady's Club said that no matter what your situation is, as long as that person arrives, we can definitely turn the tide!"

"..."

Bald Zhang, seeing her confidence, also started to expectantly ask, "Who is so formidable? Must they have thousands of troops under their command?"

On this day, amid the hopes of the entire army, the awaited person finally arrived. They saw a person in a white robe, holding a bamboo flute, sitting in a strange ox cart. The cart carried a few bamboo baskets, slowly arriving directly at the county government.

His gaze swept over the county government, the troops already scared out of their wits, and the wounded, who had been groaning day and night with festering wounds, while countless strange insects burrowed in and out.

Frowning, he said, "The killing aura in the army indeed weakens the effectiveness of the gu insects, no wonder there was such a great loss. But the Zhu Family indulging this army, has already fallen to the inferior position."

Then he raised his eyes toward the hundred-thousand mountains to the south, saying indifferently, "Prepare, tonight we'll enter the mountain!"

"What?"

Bald Zhang was filled with anticipation upon their arrival, but was now so furious he almost threw down his weapon.

After wishing on stars and moons, waiting so long for reinforcements, it's only these two?

Zhang, born of the jianghu, wasn't ignorant of its ways. He was Shousui himself and had seen many powerful Pathways and met many strange people.

But no matter how strange, facing a thousand-strong army, one must avoid the sharp edge. Today, just a solitary person, boasting about leading his already terrified eight hundred troops into Demon Mountain, to fight against that King of Chaos's hundred-thousand army?

Nonsense! Utter nonsense!

Don't even mention following orders, he didn't even care to provide this person with a meal!

...

...

"Does the noble want to kill us, does even Heaven?"

Meanwhile, in the Southwest, Yang Gong led his troops there, seeing what he saw stirred his anger to the point of fury.

Leading the army from Quzhou, he annihilated the clans and opened warehouses to distribute grain, but the Food Protection Army took only a portion, leaving the rest so that women, children, and the elderly might survive until the autumn harvest.

As for the able-bodied, those who wished to stay did so, while those wanting to leave followed him.

Along the way, countless bitter battles were fought and tough foes decimated, but upon arriving here, progress ground to a near halt.

It seemed as if God intentionally made things difficult, as amidst the marching troops, the grain carts stacked together suffered a lightning strike, erupting into a fire that burnt half up.

Marching through the mountains, the ground dragons overturned, rocks tumbled, resulting in numerous casualties. Crossing rivers, calm waters suddenly surged with great waves, capsizing many boats and ships.

Even more egregious, in the middle of April, heavy snow unexpectedly fell, covering everything, rendering many cold and starving.

Now in this world, rumors spread of Yang Gong being a reincarnated evil ghost deserving of divine retribution, yet others said he was blessed by the ghostly gods and his pursuits were unstoppable. But now, with every step disaster following, morale wavered even among the troops.

Yang Gong wasn't afraid of tough battles, but upon seeing those who willingly followed him, just wanting fewer to die of hunger, dying pointlessly, his anger was immense.

The promise he made to them that they wouldn't starve echoed, yet where did it stand now?

He protected them from being killed by nobles, only for them now to die under natural disasters?

He was filled with hatred, yet, holding his sword, didn't know who to strike.

"Men aren't killed by men but by Heaven."

Amidst the dampened spirits of the whole army, bundled in grass clothes against the wind and snow, someone crouched, sitting on a nearby rock.

From elsewhere, he came to join the army, under Yang Gong, becoming an execution officer, not particularly notable, except his decapitations were particularly clean. Yang Gong wasn't familiar with him.

Now, hearing him sigh, "It's Heaven wanting our lives, if not starved, then killed by others, if not by others, then taken by Heaven..."

"These bitter days of the common folk will never see an end..."

"..."

Such words seemed to sway the army's heart. Yang Gong heard and felt tempted to apply strict discipline, unsure whether to cut him down.

But glancing around, he saw people shivering in thin clothes, faces pale, and their eyes lack clarity, and he felt exhausted.

The people he saved from starvation, indeed now did not blame him. Instead, many seemed genuinely to start doubting whether they deserved to live.

As Yang Gong, weary, rode back and forth inspecting, in the midst of the vast natural disaster, helplessly facing it, ahead in the swirling wind and snow, suddenly emerged a grand temple, towering and solemn amidst the blizzard.

Beside him, the Think Tank Iron Mouth saw it and suddenly had a thought: "General, since the natural disaster harms people, there is a temple ahead, why not enter to pray to the ghostly gods?"