There was a group of swordsmen that carried machetes and knew how to intimidate others . They were also eloquent and intelligent . Even so, they still could not find stable jobs, because they were too smart for their own good and always on the move .

Basically, they were all talk, no action .

To them, fighting was more like a game . Two parties competed against each other showing off their machete skills and trash talking . The party with the better performance won the game . The loser, if they obeyed the rules, left willingly, accepting the outcome publically after the game was over .

However, if they met any aggressive foes who were willing to fight to the death, they would run away immediately, even if they outnumbered the enemy .

These soldiers were independent, and never worked for any one organization for very long . They joined or left organizations freely . As they never actually fought against others with their sabers (as their swords were just for show), they were widely known as the "Men with Machetes" .

"Life means everything," was their motto .

The Men with Machetes needed money to support themselves, and there were people willing to hire them .  Their purpose for hiring these men was just to show off their strength, not to actually fight .

Unfortunately, the employers were rare . Therefore, the Men with Machetes had to pretend to be swordsmen just to get jobs .

War was supposed to be a good opportunity for swordsmen, and Golden Roc Fort had lowered their requirements for new recruits . They had alreay taken in almost half of the swordsmen in the Western Region . Even inexperienced, young lads who had never held a saber could join them . However, they refused the Men with Machetes .

Like swordsmen, the Men with Machetes carried their sabers . Their real ident.i.ties would only be exposed in a fight, when it became obvious that they had no battle skills . So, inexperience employers were fooled by them often . These employers paid the Men with Machetes, but did not get any protection when they were in danger .

Bodyguards in Jade City volunteered to provide the ident.i.ties of the Men with Machetes to Golden Roc Fort . They were willing to help the Supreme King keep these spineless, cowardly Men with Machetes out of the Golden Roc Army so as not to ruin the entire army .

Although the Men with Machetes were outraged and insulted by this, they did not dare to complain openly .

The Men with Machetes all had one thing in common -- they liked and believed gossip . One day, they heard the rumor that several of the kingdoms would have a shortage of soldiers for guarding the capital gates after Golden Roc Army entered Xiaoyao Lake . This job would be easy, and the requirements to get hired were simply being a man with a saber .

The Men with Machetes made up their minds to try for the jobs while sitting together in a small tavern, asked the manager for their bills, and left . A few of them gathered together and headed for Xiaoyao Lake . They followed the main force of the Golden Roc Army on the way there . By the time they arrived at the capital of the Hui Kingdom, their numbers had grown to a little over 200 .

However, they did not get the jobs they sought . In his youth, Shangguan Jianyi had fought together with Shangguan Fa to clear the hooligans from the streets, so he knew all about the Men with Machetes . He would rather hire 50 or 60 year old farmers than accept these outcasts .

The Men with Machetes were in a desperate situation . They had not brought much money with them to Hui City, and what little they had was already gone . They had no money to return to Jade City .

After their departure, the managers of the taverns in Jade City were very relieved . It wasn't long before the managers of the taverns in Hui City realized that the Men with Machetes were penniless . Eventually, they made a rule for the Men with Machetes: no credit .

One night, a few dozen of the Men with Machetes bought a bottle of cheap liquor together . They played games in low spirits . Half of them couldn't afford any liquor at all .

Most of the other soldiers were fighting in battle . The Men with Machetes were the only male guests in the tavern at the time .

"We can't continue to live like this," shouted one of the Men with Machetes angrily (for he had not been able to afford any liquor at all) . He pounded on the table violently and stood up, putting on a good performance .

"You're right .  We have sabers, just like the swordsmen . Why do they deserve to live a luxurious life while we have to fight for liquor here?" asked one of the other men .

"The Golden Roc Army didn't accept us, and look what became of them -- they lost the battle," the first man said .

The Men with Machetes became angrier and angrier . According to them, the Golden Roc Army had lost the battle solely because they had not been allowed to join .

"Why didn't you join the Dragon Army?" someone asked .

"Why? Because we never take a loser's side, even if we get handsome rewards," they all responded . They had never even considered joining the Dragon Army .

But to their surprise, the Dragon Army won the battle . The Men with Machetes regretted their decision a lot . They even blamed some of their friends for talking them out of joining the Dragon Army .

Then, they started to talk about the Dragon Army . They were only interested in how much money the soldiers could make, not the battle itself .

"I heard that the Dragon King is so selfish that he keeps all the money to himself," one of the men said .

"You idiot . He used to be selfish . He didn't put much money in the battle because he thought he would lose .  But now he's won the battle and claimed a huge fortune from the Golden Roc Army . If he didn't give some of it to the soldiers, no one would follow him," replied another .

They imagined a scene in which the soldiers of the Dragon Army were dividing the spoils .

"Is it too late to join the Dragon Army now?" one of the men asked .

"The war is over, so there's no use joining now . How can you get paid if you don't fight on the battlefield?" someone else answered .

"No one said that the war was over . The Golden Roc Army is escaping, and the Dragon Army is pursuing them . Everyone knows it," another of the men argued .

No one responded . The Men with Machetes were all thinking the same thing: "Pursuing the defeated army is dangerous, and that goes against our rules . "

"I have an idea . We can not only serve the Dragon King while remaining safe, but also take revenge on the Golden Roc Army," one of the men said, suddenly .

"Tell us, and hurry," the others begged .

"The bridge isn't far from here . Both the southern and northern sh.o.r.es set up checkpoints . Luckily, these checkpoints are guarded by timid, local soldiers . We can easily scare them away and take the bridge . As long as we don't let the Golden Roc Army pa.s.s for several days, they can't cross Xiaoyao Lake, and their entire army will be annihilated . Don't you think it would impress the Dragon King, and get us a big reward?" he said .

The Men with Machetes were lost in thought again . This time, they were thinking about this new idea .

"Let's do it," they all agreed .

The Men with Machetes pulled out their sabers and banged them on the table violently . Then, they rushed out of the tavern suddenly, deciding to take the bridge and get revenge on the Golden Roc Army right away .

They were too excited to even notice which man had originally proposed the idea .

In Jade City, the experienced tavern managers were not scared by their exaggerated behavior . Rather, they watched them quietly, and sold the information they collected from the men to whomever wanted it .

But this was Hui City, not Jade City . The managers here did not dare to get involved .

Meng Mingshu's plan was to sell out the Men with Machetes .  However, when his accomplice told him that the men had already started their takeover, he thought he might be too late . He had heard a lot about the Men with Machetes . He asked, "Will they . . . succeed?"

His accomplice lowered his head silently .

Compared to Meng Mingshu, Xiao Fengchai knew the Men with Machetes better . She laughed, "Don't expect too much . It doesn't matter, even if they fail . Right now, any man who stands out is likely to get himself in trouble . "

Meng Mingshu understood her words, and smiled . He thought, "The Dragon King will need me and the Meng family in the future . It doesn't matter whether my plan works or not . "

Hui City was in disarray . The city gates were still open by nightfall, and the civilians escaped from the city with their families . When a hundred of the Men with Machetes flooded through the city gates, no one stopped them .

To the Men with Machetes, it was a good sign .

At first, they felt confident that they would succeed .  They robbed anyone that they encountered who had horses or mules, and none tried to fight against them because of being outnumbered .

The Men with Machetes became more and more confident of their plan .

Checkpoints were set up at each end of the bridge . The checkpoint on the southern sh.o.r.e was tall and thick, while the one on the northern sh.o.r.e was comparatively smaller . Shang Liao arrived there before the Men with Machetes did . The general of the Hui Kingdom in charge of the checkpoint opened the gate . At the first sight of Shang Liao, the general and his soldiers knelt down, and shouted, "Your Grace . "

The Prime Minister had done a good job . The generals and soldiers of the Hui Kingdom all supported Xiaoyao Lake's independence, and they were willing to take risks for it .

There were dozens of Golden Roc Army soldiers guarding the checkpoint, and they all slept soundly without noticing that they were being tied up by ropes . They had never suspected that some of their companions would secretly add knockout powder to their food .

At around 11:00 pm, two boats made their way from the east . Half of the troops guarding the sh.o.r.e abandoned their posts out of fear . The rest let them pa.s.s, promising to claim they had seen nothing if questioned .

Shang Liao went to the watchtower . He waved a torch to command the boats to come ash.o.r.e . He did not ask them to unload the boats immediately, though .

Powerful bombs were inside the two boats . Shang Liao would not hand them over until the Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom fulfilled his promise .

After fifteen minutes, a group of soldiers rode towards them from Hui City . The Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom was amongst them, and dismounted his horse hurriedly, shouting, "It's me! Open the door!"

Obviously, the Prime Minister was frightened .

Some things are easy to talk about, but difficult to do . Regicide did not only require weapons and courage, but also the willpower to abandon loyalty and tradition .

Looking at the king he had knelt before daily, the Prime Minister started to panic . After hesitating for awhile, he gave the signal to his bodyguard . The bodyguard was a professional and killed the king quickly .

The Prime Minister cut off the king's head himself to hide his anxiety . He took the scimitar from the bodyguard, and violently chopped off the king's head, as if the king were his foe .

He knelt before the new king, and raised the disembodied head in the air . His hands were covered in blood .

When he watched the Prime Minister holding the former king's head, Shang Liao was very angry for a moment . "The Prime Minister is from the Royal Family . He is supposed to show respect to the old King of the Kang Nation instead of holding his head excitedly," he thought to himself .

Now that Shang Liao was the King of the Kang Nation, his att.i.tude towards the Prime Minister had changed quite a bit .

"Rise," Shang Liao replied coldly . He turned around and waved the torch to give his second signal .

The men on the boats carried the bombs to the bridge very carefully and arranged them on the bridge evenly .

The generals and soldiers guarding the bridge remembered their first fight on the lake . They looked at the bombs with fear, too afraid to even approach them .

All the soldiers guarding the checkpoint of the southern sh.o.r.e retreated to the northern sh.o.r.e . Soon, those who had escaped from the Golden Roc Army would gather here and watch the bridge burn .

Shang Liao hoped that these army deserters at least had the courage to return and engage in a final fight with the Dragon Army .

The Dragon King sent an army of thousands to take the Kang Kingdom, which was Shang Liao's biggest threat . But Shang Liao had a plan for victory: At dawn, he would return to his navy . He would take into custody all the soldiers who weren't from the five kingdoms of Xiaoyao Lake, and then he would block every way onto the lake .

This would force the Dragon King's army of thousands to be isolated . They could either surrender or die .

Everything went as planned . Shang Liao began to envision a bigger future for himself .

The sound of hooves and shouts awakened him from his daydream .

"What's going on?" the Prime Minister of the Kang Kingdom asked, turning around anxiously .

No one knew what was happening .

In the darkness, hordes of troops and horses seemed to come down on them from out of nowhere . It came as a complete surprise to them, as there was no large army in the capital of the Hui Kingdom .

The Men with Machetes fully utilized their acting talents . They managed to create a terrifying scene to intimidate the enemy .

"We are the Dragon King's troops . Fight or surrender!" they shouted .

The Prime Minister, generals and soldiers guarding the checkpoint were shocked, but Shang Liao was more stunned than anyone else .

He had been thinking about the Dragon King's army of thousands . But all of a sudden, the army directly attacked here instead of heading for the Kang Kingdom, as he had expected .

"The Dragon King is smarter than me . All of my plans have been in vain," he thought .

Shang Liao did not want to give up now, though . He drew his scimitar and cut off the Prime Minister's head . He said to the terrified generals and soldiers, "If you believe me, you will follow me to serve the Dragon King . He promised me that he would allow Xiaoyao Lake to be an independent country . As for this man, he murdered the king, so he had to be punished . "

Shang Liao only had a dozen guards serving him, while there were a hundred generals and soldiers serving the Hui Kingdom . Terrified by the scene, they held onto their weapons tightly, not knowing what to do .