Dabie Mountains. Mazong Ridge.
Nearly one hundred thousand bandits, together with the Shanxi merchants who had thrown their lot in with them, were entrenched across the ridges and valleys like ants clinging to a broken hive.
The Eight Great Kings looked somewhat travel worn, but his spirit remained intact. Defeat did not weigh heavily on him. Being chased like a stray dog by Gao Family Village forces might humiliate an ordinary rebel, but not him.
"What is there to mind about losing a battle?" he snorted.
He had lost more times than he could count. He had been driven across provinces like a rat fleeing fire. This was not even his first time retreating into the Dabie Mountains. If anything, fleeing for one's life was a craft he had long since mastered.
"Are the pursuers close?" he asked, turning toward his adopted son, Sun Kewang.
Sun Kewang shook his head. "Not yet. Those musket troops move slowly. They are advancing cautiously."
The Eight Great Kings chuckled.
"Of course they are slow. Their advantage lies at long range. If we slip close through the forests and rob them of that distance, they are finished. So they dare not rush. They march a short stretch, then raise one of those strange sky balls to scout from above. Only after confirming there is no ambush do they move again."
With that method of marching, speed was impossible.
That was how the bandit army had shaken off Cheng Xu's forces so easily.
Sun Kewang frowned. "But we cannot gather a large force on a peak and counterattack either. The moment we concentrate troops, they bombard us with those strange shells."
Two days earlier they had tried exactly that. Heavy forces had assembled atop a ridge, rolling logs and stones prepared, determined to crush Cheng Xu in one decisive blow.
However, countless hot air balloons floated in the sky like watchful ancestors. Cheng Xu had seen through the plan instantly and simply barked, "Blow them apart."
Shells had rained down upon the mountaintop. The bandits had howled in agony. Even the balloons floating above them had been blasted apart.
Only then had the Eight Great Kings understood.
Against these peculiar musket troops, holding a fixed defensive position was suicide.
Gather together and be shelled. Split into small groups and they advanced cautiously, never allowing close engagement.
Impossible to win.
Absolutely impossible.
So he could only keep running.
At that moment, the Shanxi merchant Zhai Tang approached.
"Eight Great Kings, we cannot continue north."
The rebel leader nodded slowly. "You mean their reinforcements from Henan are closing in from that direction."
Zhai Tang inclined his head. "The north will certainly be their main force. We cannot go east or south either. That leaves only the west."
The suggestion was reasonable.
The Eight Great Kings rose, brushing dirt from his robes. He glanced southeast and spotted another strange balloon rising in the distance. His expression darkened.
"Pass the order. We head west."
The bandit army moved quickly, climbing and descending slopes, winding through forest paths as they pushed westward.
What they did not know was that in the western Dabie Mountains, another army had just entered the range.
Leading them was Flat Rabbit, who had advanced overland after exiting Sichuan.
He stood before the rolling mountains, hands behind his back, eyes bright with calculation.
Beside him, Zheng Gouzi spoke up.
"Rabbit, we should start raising the hot air balloons. These mountains are vast. Without aerial scouting, we could easily walk into an ambush."
Flat Rabbit shook his head and grinned.
"No. Not here."
Zheng Gouzi blinked in surprise. "Why not?"
Flat Rabbit snorted softly.
"The Eight Great Kings were defeated days ago by Instructor He and Shi Kefa. He has already seen our balloons. He knows that wherever a balloon floats, our troops stand below. He will avoid them."
Zheng Gouzi scratched his head.
"That makes sense. But even if he avoids them, we have encircled him from all sides. The instructors have divided their forces. He cannot escape forever."
Flat Rabbit looked at him with pity.
"That is exactly how a dog thinks. Relying on numbers and pack tactics."
Zheng Gouzi shot him a glare. "What is wrong with outnumbering the enemy?"
"That is why you are a dog," Flat Rabbit replied smugly. "Rabbits think differently."
"Oh? And how do rabbits think? Do rabbits bite when cornered?"
Flat Rabbit raised his chin proudly.
"I shall educate you. The way of the rabbit is called a cunning rabbit has three burrows."
Zheng Gouzi folded his arms. "And how does that help here? Do you intend to dig three holes in the mountain and hide in them?"
Flat Rabbit burst into laughter.
"Gouzi, I have completely crushed you in intelligence. Listen carefully to my brilliant plan."
He gestured toward the surrounding peaks.
"Whenever the enemy sees a hot air balloon, he assumes our troops are directly below. In his eyes, each balloon is one of my burrows. If I raise many balloons, he will believe I have many burrows."
He spread his arms theatrically.
"I have surpassed three burrows. I now possess many burrows."
Zheng Gouzi's eyes widened slightly.
Flat Rabbit continued, pointing left, right, forward.
"On that ridge. And that one. And the slope beyond. Raise balloons there. He will avoid them. He will go this way instead, then that way, then pass through that valley, circle around that gorge…"
His finger stabbed toward a narrow mountain pass.
"And he will inevitably choose this route."
His grin turned feral.
"And I, the great Flat Rabbit, will lie in ambush right here with our main force. The moment he enters the valley, we rain shells and grenades upon his head."
Zheng Gouzi wiped sweat from his brow.
"Rabbit Lord… have you always been a genius?"
Flat Rabbit planted his hands on his hips.
"When have I not been a genius?"
"Since forever."
"Enough nonsense," Flat Rabbit snapped cheerfully. "Deploy the burrows."
He turned toward the troops and shouted, "Brothers, time to set up rabbit holes."
Laughter erupted among the militia.
"Following Rabbit Lord is always entertaining."
The soldiers dispersed swiftly, climbing the designated peaks and launching hot air balloons into the sky one by one.
Meanwhile, Flat Rabbit led the elite core of the militia into the chosen valley and concealed them along the most treacherous terrain.
Thus began the grand and glorious operation of the many burrow rabbit.
And somewhere beyond the ridges, the Eight Great Kings marched confidently west, unaware that he was already hopping along a path carefully arranged for him.