Flames were burning ragingly inside a dilapidated Xuande furnace covered in rust and blackened by smoke and fire. On a rush cushion in front of the Xuande furnace sat a man cross-legged in ragged clothes, with a pair of ragged straw sandals tied to his feet. Unlike ordinary people wearing queues, this man didn't comb the hair on his forehead back like the common people of this era; such a hairstyle would expose a shiny forehead. This man's front hair was cut into short bangs, and the hair at the back wasn't braided either but gathered into a bun, held casually by a white wooden hairpin.

If Chen Ke saw this man's look, he would immediately associate it with Ng Man-tat's look in "A Chinese Odyssey". This man, who looked quite like Ng Man-tat, had his eyes closed tight, muttering incantations in his mouth. He had quite the style and mystery of performing magic arts. A group of men wearing queues, each holding a red-tasseled spear, stood four or five meters away from the man, looking at him anxiously. Just as they were waiting anxiously, the man on the rush cushion suddenly stood up. He fiercely sprinkled the powder in his hand into the Xuande furnace. The powder flew into the flames which had started to die down, and suddenly ignited a plume of thick smoke. Although they had seen this kind of ritual, the onlookers still instinctively took a step back in unison.

The man performing the ritual pulled out a sheet of yellow paper from his bosom, picked up a brush from a chicken blood bowl on the ground, and scribbled a spell. Then he threw the yellow paper into the Xuande furnace. The yellow paper turned into ashes in an instant, and fly ash particles rose straight into the air with the rising airflow in the furnace.

The man threw down the brush, closed his eyes, and fell back onto the rush cushion. Just at the moment when everyone couldn't help moving forward slightly in anxiety, this hero performing the ritual suddenly jumped up from the rush cushion. He trembled all over, his eyes staring round. Then he shouted with a sharp voice that was quite difficult for ordinary people to imitate: "Taiyin (Great Yin/Moon) comes from the West, the Red Flag enters the world. Twin reds meet, beholders' lives hang in the balance."

After shouting this verse twice in a row, the man sat back on the rush cushion and regained his calm. The fire in the Xuande furnace behind him also gradually extinguished.

When the man opened his eyes and stood up with a normal expression, the people around immediately surrounded him, "Master Wu, what exactly does this divination mean?"

When "Master Wu" regained a calm expression, he looked like a very steady middle-aged man. After this tossing about, the master repeated the verse with a tired look before starting to explain. The content was roughly that a force flying a red flag would be disadvantageous to the Red Spear Society in front of them.

"Since both are crimson red, they must clash. The Old Master of the Red Spear Society suddenly got a strange illness a while ago and fell ill; why did a healthy person get sick just like that?" Master Wu explained with a focused attitude, "I think the red flag itself clashes (fan chong), and that talisman on the flag is the chief culprit."

"So that's it!" The leading man suddenly saw the light, "That was when the People's Party just came to our place."

"I felt it was evil looking at that flag of the People's Party. No words written on the flag, but a ghost talisman painted instead."

"Go talk to them, ask them to change the talisman on the flag for us."

Those who came to ask Master Wu for divination results were one of the sub-branches of the Shandong Red Spear Society at Menglianggu. The Old Master suddenly fell ill a while ago, and seeking medical advice and medicine didn't work. Having no other choice, they came to ask this famous Master Wu to point out a way. Since they got the result, the Red Spear Society congregation offered a considerable amount of incense money and then went out.

Menglianggu was a small rocky mountain located in the Yimeng Mountain area in south-central Shandong Province. Located between Mengyin and Yinan counties. "Gu" was the local common name for square mountain terrain with flat tops and steep slopes. Menglianggu belonged to low mountains, with an average altitude of about 400 meters, and the highest peak Dadingzi was 575 meters. Menglianggu was located on the north-south traffic artery of the Yimeng Mountain area; the terrain was dangerous, and it had been a place contested by militarists since ancient times.

The People's Party's Shandong Base Area was initially set up in the south of Yimeng Mountain. With the expansion of strength, the advance troops had already entered the Menglianggu area. The Shandong Base Area believed that after controlling this area, they could fully enter the northern part of Meng Mountain and complete the full control of the Yimeng Mountain area.

Shandong men had simple and honest characters. Since they believed Master Wu's words, each one was "filled with righteous indignation" and immediately organized a team to look for the People's Party, wanting the People's Party to change the "ghost talisman" on the flag.

Everyone just arrived at the foot of the mountain when they heard the rumbling sound of horse hooves coming from behind the hills in the distance. This group of horsemen was huge; the Red Spear Society brothers simply couldn't hear exactly how many cavalrymen there were. A moment later, they saw two teams of cavalry bypass the hills and appear in front of everyone. All horses were shod, knocking out crisp sounds on the rocky ground. And with countless cavalrymen advancing together, the crisp sounds converged into a thunderous roar.

Two flag bearers at the head of the two cavalry teams held high two red flags. On the crimson flags fluttering in the wind, bucket-sized yellow hammer and sickle symbols were clearly visible. Although shocked by the might of this large cavalry unit, the Red Spear Society brothers didn't flinch at all. They raised their red-tasseled spears one after another and formed a formation.

Seeing someone blocking the way, the cavalrymen slowed down and soon stopped on the road. Soon two horses came out from the crowd; they were Pang Zi and Chai Qingguo. Chai Qingguo stopped his horse more than thirty steps away from the Red Spear Society members.

"Are those brothers from the Red Spear Society in front? I am Chai Qingguo, coming to pay respects to the mountain." Chai Qingguo shouted.

Sure enough, the rightful owner came! The Red Spear Society brothers exchanged glances, and their leader also walked out of the Red Spear Society queue. "Just talking about finding you, and you delivered yourselves to the door."

Although the Red Spear Society's tone was unkind, Chai Qingguo still cupped his fists in salute. "Wonder what advice these brothers have?"

Although the Red Spear Society people knew the strength of the two sides was disparate, Shandong people were honest; once they made up their minds, they were afraid of nothing. The leader told Chai Qingguo straightforwardly to ask the People's Party to change the symbol on the flag. After finishing, the leader shouted: "I'll leave my words here today; if you don't change the flag, don't think about entering our mountain."

Chai Qingguo wasn't angry at all. He turned his head to look at Pang Zi beside him; a sneer hung on the corner of Pang Zi's mouth, but he didn't speak.

Turning back, Chai Qingguo smiled: "Gentlemen care about the Old Master; I think that's not wrong. But the Old Master is sick; instead of finding a good doctor, you believe that bullshit nonsense; isn't this asking for trouble? If everyone says our flag hindered the Old Master, didn't the Old Master get sick before we came? When he was sick a few years ago, I even asked someone to send medicine to the Old Master. Is this sickness the same as last time?"

As a famous "former horse bandit" in Shandong, Chai Qingguo had wide connections. Actually, he really hadn't met the Old Master, but the other party was the Red Spear Society. There were only those few famous people in this lineage; Chai Qingguo was confident he could quickly establish a relationship with the Old Master.

Sure enough, this lie told without blushing or heart skipping immediately intimidated this bunch of youngsters. Everyone had heard of Chai Qingguo's name; that was a senior. According to the seniority of various branches, if the Old Master met Chai Qingguo, he would probably have to call him Junior Uncle. These juniors were just annoyed in a moment of urgency, so they challenged Chai Qingguo regardless of everything. Hearing Chai Qingguo say this, their momentum disappeared immediately.

"So you say, you can cure the Old Master's illness?" The leader asked half-believingly.

Chai Qingguo said loudly: "I am not a doctor; I don't understand treating illnesses. But there are doctors in our team who will try their best to treat the Old Master. Listening to what you said, the Old Master is seriously ill. Lead the way quickly. Seeing the patient is important."

The military doctor was newly transferred to the Shandong Base Area. Like the military doctors cultivated on a large scale by the People's Party, he was very young but had three years of study and practical experience. Upon examination, he found it was appendicitis. And it had reached a very dangerous late stage.

"Must operate quickly," the military doctor said to Chai Qingguo.

"Can you guarantee safety? How sure are you?" Chai Qingguo asked in a low voice.

"Can't guarantee this; I don't even know if it has perforated. Operating now, there is still a forty percent hope. If not saved, he won't last three days." The military doctor gave a definite answer. In these years, medical care was extremely scarce, and the death rate after getting sick was very high. The People's Party never lacked various dissection and observation subjects.

Chai Qingguo pondered for a while. In these years, it wasn't strange at all if people died of illness. It wasn't strange if treatment had no effect and the patient died. But once the knife was used for surgery and the person died, the patient's family would absolutely not let the doctor go. They would definitely think the cause of death was the doctor intentionally harming people. Everyone lacked medical knowledge, so saying anything wouldn't work.

But the current situation was even more difficult. The Old Master was already delirious from illness, and those youngsters believed the shaman's words, insisting that the People's Party's flag hindered the Old Master. If the treatment was unsuccessful, that would be resentment absolutely impossible to dissolve. As the leader of the troops, Chai Qingguo was really in a dilemma.

"Regardless, treat him. Can't just watch a person die in front of us like this." Chai Qingguo made up his mind quickly.

Members of the medical team immediately began to prepare for surgery. Chai Qingguo called the current leader over, "The intestine inside the Old Master's belly is swollen. We have to cut open the belly and cut off this swollen intestine."

"What?!" The current leader was the Old Master's nephew. Hearing this, he roared as if scalded by a branding iron.

"I knew you wouldn't believe it; what have you seen, you little brat." Chai Qingguo didn't explain at all, just giving him a severe scolding right away. Not to mention, this awe-inspiring high-pressure posture actually took effect. The Red Spear Society people didn't know what illness the Old Master had. If he explained blindly to the Old Master, it would instead make people with no concept of medicine think wildly. Chai Qingguo coming up to scold the young dolls for knowing nothing effectively suppressed the scene.

The Old Master's nephew wilted. Hearing about doing some surgery, cutting open the Old Master's belly, taking out the swollen intestine. The young man who usually didn't fear knives and guns was scared pale at this time.

"The Old Master was a hero all his life; taking knives and guns on his body, he didn't even blink. How does he have such a worthless nephew like you!" Chai Qingguo scolded right in his face.

"Chai, Senior Chai. I can't make the decision on this matter. In case he can't be saved..."

"If he can't be saved, that's fate. Who do you think you are; can you bear such a big matter? Go, call the brothers of the sub-branch together for me." Chai Qingguo shouted.

The sub-branch actually only had forty or fifty people; the only one who could make decisions was the Old Master. A group of young people heard Chai Qingguo finish talking about cutting open the belly to cut the intestine, and they were also scared ashen.

Chai Qingguo looked at this group of people with the contemptuous expression unique to elders for a while before saying: "We came here to save people; telling you is just to make it clear. The Old Master and I have both fought the court before; a friendship of life and death. The Old Master has a tough life; if he can survive this pass, we are naturally happy. If the Old Master can't survive this pass, I, Chai Qingguo, will personally order people to wear mourning for the Old Master and carry the coffin to the end. You guys prepare the funeral affairs now, wash away the evil spirit (Chongsha)!"

Folk belief held that there were two extreme methods of saving people as a last resort: "Chongxi" (joyous event to wash away bad luck) and "Chongsha" (preparation for death to trick the spirits). Chongxi was letting the critically ill person marry a new wife; Chongsha was preparing the spirit shed and funeral affairs, pretending to do it. Chai Qingguo proposed the Chongsha plan as an elder, and these youngsters obeyed the order. They started to build the spirit shed. Because they got rid of the responsibility, these people felt much lighter in their hearts.

Here he suppressed those reckless young lads, and the surgery started quickly. After ether gas anesthesia, the surgery began. Accurately cutting open the abdominal cavity, they saw the extremely large appendix swollen due to inflammation. The military doctors breathed a slight sigh of relief. The Old Master came from a martial arts background, and his constitution was quite good. Even though inflamed, the appendix hadn't ulcerated yet. As long as bacteria didn't enter the abdominal cavity, this surgery would be much easier to handle. After a tense surgery was completed, the military doctor came out to tell Chai Qingguo that the hope of saving the patient reached sixty percent. But because the appendicitis dragged on for a relatively long time, the white blood cell count in the patient's body was extremely high. The old man was also over fifty; whether this body could withstand the post-operative period was still a big question.

Chai Qingguo asked the doctors to treat him well and began arranging accommodation for the troops. By the second half of the night, the Old Master finally woke up. The family members saw the old man's condition improve, and everyone was extremely happy. The original hostility towards the People's Party instantly transformed into extreme friendliness and trust.

The Old Master finally understood the ins and outs of the matter, and immediately scolded these youngsters with a weak voice, "You believed that Old Ghost Wu's words too? Isn't this clearly cheating us?"

"Old Brother, you just finished surgery; don't make yourself angry again." Chai Qingguo advised.

The next day, Chai Qingguo let Pang Zi lead the troops to continue advancing, while he himself stayed here with the medical team comrades. After all, one couldn't be completely at ease about the situation after surgery. Moreover, Chai Qingguo always wanted to confirm something. Bullying outsiders was human nature. As a newcomer force in Shandong, it wasn't too outrageous a guess that shamans pushed the results of various unfavorable divinations onto the People's Party. But almost all shamans did this; Chai Qingguo always felt this was too magical.

The People's Party wasn't an annoying organization in Shandong. Known as the eight hundred li of Meng Mountain and Yi River, the People's Party spent more than a year gradually building its own regime in the south. The mass base also gradually settled down. Moreover, there was a small piece of border area between Anhui and southwestern Shandong. Many Shandong comrades also planned on the map to establish a base area including southern Shandong and northern Jiangsu, reaching straight to the seaside. In such a situation, the unanimous opposition of shamans to the People's Party was really puzzling and implicitly worrying.

The Old Master's body didn't recover fast; after all, he was a person over fifty. This surgery only had the effect of saving his life. On the sickbed, while accepting infusion, the Old Master wanted to thank the doctors in person. The military doctors had already gone to the village to treat the masses for free. Thanks could only be postponed again. The Old Master asked about the purpose of Chai Qingguo's trip. The news of the People's Party's large troop passing through had already spread.

"Old Brother, we are going to fight the Manchu Qing. Now coming to pay respects to the mountain first, to see the meaning of brothers from various routes." Chai Qingguo replied.

"Fight the Manchu Qing? Where are you preparing to fight? Jinan?" The Old Master was very puzzled.

"Although Shandong will be fought, that's a matter for later. This time we are going to Hebei to rob the Imperial Estates (Huangzhuang)." Chai Qingguo replied lightly.

"Rob Imperial Estates?" Not only the Old Master but the surrounding youths were also startled.

"Old Brother, if we fight too hard in Shandong, I'm afraid when we withdraw, the government troops will chase over and harm the common people. In previous years, we suffered a big loss from this." Chai Qingguo brought up history.

Mentioning old matters, the Old Master couldn't help sighing. When fighting Beiyang back then, everyone ran home when defeated. As a result, Beiyang chased relentlessly, and quite a few relatives died instead. Hearing Chai Qingguo say this, the Old Master felt much lighter in his heart. Even so, the Old Master still didn't feel reassured, "Brother Chai, it's not for me to lecture you. Can you win fighting all the way to Hebei? Following Chief Zhao back then, so many brothers, finally didn't win either. How many men and horses do you have now?"

Since the Old Master didn't believe Chai Qingguo could win this time, Chai Qingguo changed the subject, "Old Brother, I was just passing by this time. Just happened to meet these youngsters blocking the road because you were sick, only then did I know you were sick. If not for these youngsters, I would really have missed it."

"This is my good luck, meeting you, brother. This injury to the internal organs, how could one survive. Brother, I thank you."

"Being brothers, naturally one must step forward when encountering things. By the way, Old Brother, later our medical team will patrol the mountains to treat illnesses. When they arrive here, can you let them stay at your place?"

"Of course!" Hearing that doctors would travel to treat illnesses later, the Old Master was overjoyed. Because of excessive excitement, it pulled the wound, and he couldn't help frowning.

"Old Brother, don't rush. Let the people under you handle this kind of thing. You rest well now."

Coming out from the Old Master's place, Chai Qingguo took a few comrades and went to see Master Wu under the lead of the Red Spear Society sub-branch brothers. Along the way, the Red Spear Society brothers cursed "Master Wu" as a liar, claiming they would burn Master Wu's "dog kennel" later. Chai Qingguo didn't commit himself. The group arrived at Master Wu's place. They saw a dilapidated temple from unknown years ago, with fallen walls and leaning rooms. Just wondering how much courage Master Wu must have to dare live in this broken house. The Red Spear Society brothers had already led everyone to the back of the temple. There was a shack there, and they saw Master Wu carrying a broken pot out of the shack. Seeing the crowd coming aggressively, Master Wu stopped there and said with relief: "Gentlemen came so fast, it is beyond my expectation."

This "speechcraft" bluffed the Red Spear Society brothers. Chai Qingguo was knowledgeable and experienced, and secondly, under Chen Ke's instructions, the Shandong Base Area had studied the "speechcraft" tricks of these Jianghu swindlers. Although slightly shaken in his heart, Chai Qingguo quickly recovered his calm.

The Red Spear Society brothers were still young and couldn't hold back. Stunned for a moment, they took the initiative to curse Master Wu for deceiving people. In this scolding, the secret was quickly leaked. Hearing that the People's Party had good doctors, a trace of joy flashed in Master Wu's eyes. But Master Wu sighed, "This is Heaven's Will. Divination always brings disaster to oneself. I leaked too many heavenly secrets, and misunderstanding Heaven's Will is also possible. Not only is the Old Master sick, my wife also suffered heavenly punishment." After speaking, Master Wu went into the house and led a woman out.

They saw a tumor the size of a fist swelling high behind the woman's cheek. The few Red Spear Society brothers stepped back in fright.

Master Wu said: "Gentlemen, the People's Party's flag is a crimson flag, using the Fire Virtue Star Lord. The Manchu Qing values black, using black flags. That is Water Virtue. Water and fire are absolutely incompatible; either Fire Virtue starts a prairie fire, or Water Virtue covers the earth. My attainment is shallow, always deducing unclearly about this. But even so, divining Heaven's Will created heavenly punishment. This divination, I said whatever I divined. Although ambiguous, it wasn't a bad hexagram. This People's Party brother, can I borrow the auspicious number of this hexagram to save my wife? Heaven has the virtue of loving life; planting good causes yields good results. I still hope this brother has pity."

These words bluffed the Red Spear Society people into a daze. Seeing the terrible shape of that woman's tumor, they lost the intention to beat Master Wu soundly. Instead, Chai Qingguo felt between laughter and tears. An old Jianghu slicker was an old slicker. The Red Spear Society called Master Wu a liar; Master Wu didn't say he was a liar, only admitting the divination wasn't accurate. And he pulled out his wife with a malignant disease as a shield. As long as the Red Spear Society believed "Destiny and Heaven's Will" existed, they would think Master Wu wasn't a liar but "not skilled enough". Then this set of feudal superstition stuff could continue to be played. And the current situation was that Master Wu still held the scene.

Seeing he held the scene, Master Wu then begged Chai Qingguo and the others bitterly to save a life. Not only begging like this but also putting high hats of flattery like "People's Party occupying Fire Virtue" and "Heaven's Will" on Chai Qingguo's head one by one. Not to mention, even though Chai Qingguo already believed feudal superstition was nonsense, hearing these sets of rhetoric refined by Jianghu swindlers, Chai Qingguo still felt quite good in his heart.

Of course, Chai Qingguo was a People's Party member after all. The discussion results at the Party Committee meeting also echoed in Chai Qingguo's mind, "Chairman Chen's evaluation of the existence of feudal superstition is like this: rulers need the feudal superstition system to brag for them, to whitewash for them. After twisting the people's worldview, the Manchu Qing rule deceiving the people can get an important pillar. Why must our People's Party oppose feudal superstition? Because supporting our People's Party is science and democracy, is seeking truth from facts. So our struggle with feudal superstition is an arduous and long-term struggle. If we want to obtain final victory in this struggle, we must popularize science among the masses. And popularizing science is definitely not something that can succeed overnight; this requires thirty to fifty years, seventy to eighty years, or even a hundred years. So comrades must not only have unwavering confidence but also be mentally prepared for a long-term struggle."

Hearing these words at the Party Committee meeting, Chai Qingguo also felt his heart filled with lofty aspirations to eliminate feudal superstition. But really crossing hands with an old slicker of feudal superstition, Chai Qingguo discovered he actually didn't have any advantage. Killing this Master Wu was easy. With the favor of Chai Qingguo saving the Old Master, the Red Spear Society brothers would absolutely not stand on the side of such a "not skilled enough" shaman. But, what meaning did this have? If the Red Spear Society brothers didn't believe this shaman, they would go believe another shaman. In the final analysis, he still failed to pull them out of feudal superstition.

Moreover, meaningless killing would only have negative effects. For example, at least Master Wu wouldn't speak bad words about the People's Party in the future, and the science and medical care mastered by the People's Party would also have a good reputation locally. If Master Wu was killed, and another shaman changed here, he would probably still treat the People's Party as an enemy. From the perspective of political interests, saving Master Wu still had benefits.

This kind of crappy matter made Chai Qingguo feel as disgusting as eating a fly, but disgusting or not, you had to endure it. Seeking momentary pleasure would only bring more trouble.

The final result was that Chai Qingguo took Master Wu and his wife back to the village. He emphasized to the young people not to believe Jianghu swindlers; to treat illness, one must talk science. Obviously, because Chai Qingguo had practical cases to show, the youths had confidence in the People's Party's medical skills.

Chen Ke had proposed the theory of "benign tumors" and "malignant tumors". But saying was one thing; besides knowing tumors were produced after one's own cells became cancerous, malignant tumors would constantly devour other cells to proliferate and spread, while benign tumors didn't spread, Chen Ke didn't understand how to distinguish between benign and malignant either. Even so, Chairman Chen's "medical knowledge" already made Chen Ke "more shaman than shamans" in the medical department of the Base Area.

The medical team performed surgery on Master Wu's wife and removed the tumor. When Chai Qingguo and the medical team left three days later, Master Wu's wife was also alive and kicking without incident. "At least this place won't oppose the People's Party anymore..." Chai Qingguo took this expectation and chased the main force with the comrades.

The cavalry unit holding a grand armed parade in the Yimeng Mountain area was an instruction from the Shandong Base Area. Before advancing to Hebei for mobile warfare, it was very necessary to display the People's Party's armed forces to the Base Area masses to stabilize the people's hearts and deter the petty people. Not far north past Menglianggu, it was no longer the range reached by the People's Party. So after advancing a part slightly, the main force withdrew.

Chai Qingguo led the main force back to the Base Area to make final preparations for troop dispatch. Pang Zi led a small detachment of fifty people to leave the Base Area, heading to the Hebei and Taihang Mountain areas to negotiate with local heroes everywhere to dispatch troops together for this job.

"Third Brother, you must be obedient this time dispatching troops. Don't act on your own." Chai Qingguo said to Pang Zi. Pang Zi's dishonesty was well known. Besides daring to fight and risk his life, and also knowing how to retreat, Pang Zi's revolutionary consciousness was really impossible to evaluate. Rebelling against the Manchu Qing, Pang Zi did without turning back. But obeying commands in all actions...

This was why Wu Xingchen and Chai Qingguo and others were holding the fort here. Wu Xingchen had publicly evaluated Pang Zi, "He is the Monkey King under the Five Finger Mountain." But the Monkey King also had the Monkey King's advantages. To contact the various "local heroes" in Hebei and Taihang Mountains, the Shandong Base Area really had no candidate more suitable than Pang Zi.

Hearing Chai Qingguo's words, Pang Zi didn't have the so-called "Monkey King's" impetuousness at all. His tone was very indifferent, "It's good enough if I can complete the task; act on my own my ass."

This steady attitude had the unique vigor of a pragmatist. Without doing it personally, how would one know the hardships of getting things done. This was also the real reason why the Military Commission could agree to let Pang Zi mobilize "local heroes".

Pang Zi didn't care about Chai Qingguo's approving gaze at all. He tucked in his upper lip, extended his lower lip slightly forward, blew air towards his own nostrils, and then said: "Old Chai, I still say that. It's good enough if I can bring those heroes out. Don't expect them to have any 'Three Main Rules of Discipline and Eight Points for Attention'. If trouble happens, you guys can't say I didn't try my best."

"Don't worry, we roamed the Jianghu together back then; who doesn't know this matter." Chai Qingguo replied. But then Chai Qingguo's tone became strict, "Whether they pay attention or not, we can't say, but you can't take this opportunity to indulge yourself like a wild horse. This is what I'm worried about."

"Tch, boring." Pang Zi snorted coldly, "Let's put it this way, if you are reassured, I'll leave now."

"Okay, Third Brother, you go. Be careful on the road." Chai Qingguo said. Just based on Pang Zi's performance just now, Chai Qingguo was ninety-nine percent sure Pang Zi was going to act wildly in Hebei. "Just hope this bastard doesn't overdo it and get himself involved." Chai Qingguo thought discouragingly.

The team of fifty cavalrymen plus spare horses was not small in scale. When Pang Zi charged forward, he blew the whistle held in his mouth. The reason "Shandong Mounted Bandits" (Xiangma) were called Xiangma (Sounding Horse) was that they would fire sounding arrows and blow this special whistle before attacking.

On the other side, the People's Party's cavalry brigade turned their horse heads in an orderly manner, rumbling towards the assembly point designated by the Military Commission in good order.

After Cixi and Guangxu died, although the Qing court "established" a new monarch, the situation of the world galloped from chaos towards even greater chaos.