Okay, here is the English translation of the provided Chinese text, following all the given guidelines and the fixed translation table.

Mountains rose and fell. The intense fighting and defense continued. As the Chinese Army signal was sent, over two hundred soldiers of the Chinese Army began forming ranks at the mountain path below Little Grey Ridge, preparing to launch a charge. Helmets, steel sabers, powerful crossbows, armor… In the few years of living and working in the Southwest, the Chinese Army had focused on improving their military equipment and raw materials. The armament of the small units was extremely sophisticated. However, at the front of the battlefield, having sensed the Chinese Army’s intention to counterattack, the warriors of the Hengqing Tribe did not show the slightest fear. Instead, they shouted in unison. As the war horns sounded, a large number of Hengqing warriors wielding knives and spears, their bodies stained with blood, surged forward, their roars coalescing into a terrifying tidal wave.

Living in these vast mountains, the strength of the Ni people was beyond doubt. Compared to the formation of the two hundred-plus Chinese Army soldiers, the gathering of thousands of Hengqing warriors, the rough shouts, and the power displayed were more likely to make one's blood boil and heart surge. The terrain in Little Liangshan was rugged and complex. Previously, the Black Flag Army and other chieftain guards had relied on the terrain to defend the area below Little Grey Ridge, making it difficult for the Hengqing Tribe to achieve complete success in their attack. At this moment, they finally had the opportunity for a head-on confrontation.

Amidst the spreading gunpowder smoke, the advance of thousands of people threatened to overwhelm the entire Little Grey Ridge.

Chieftain Shi Meng had already hoisted his giant blade. Li Xiannong’s heart surged.

“I want to see how powerful the legendary Black Flag Army really is!”

Since the Jurchen came south, the weakness of the Wu Dynasty soldiers had become a fact in the minds of scholars. Generals were corrupt, and soldiers were afraid of death, so they could not resist the Jurchen. However, compared to the snowy and icy north, the barbarians in the south were fierce, and with the strong soldiers of the world, they could still fight. This was one of the reasons why Li Xiannong was confident in this scheme. At this moment, he couldn't help but blurt out this sentence. A man should take the world as a chessboard, playing games of strategy, that is how it should be. Chieftain Shi Meng “Ha” uttered a sound. This feeling came to an abrupt end in the next moment.

With a bang from afar, something splashed on Li Xiannong's face, and the giant body, after the prelude of "Ha," fell to the ground.

The sky was gloomy, the wind was blowing heavily, and the shouts continued. The warriors of the Hengqing Tribe had already overwhelmed the front line, unleashing fierce attacks at high speed. In the blink of an eye, more than two hundred Black Flag Army soldiers were submerged in the front line. Some long sabers struck armor, some iron shields smashed open giant clubs, and fierce swords killed unarmed barbarians on the ground. The Black Flag Army soldiers, in groups of eight, nine, or more than ten, gathered together, meeting the surging impact ten times their number.

“Waaah ah ah ah ah—” Some barbarian warriors, relying on the wildness honed in years of fighting, dodged the first round of attacks, rolled into the crowd, steel sabers twirling, bravely fighting in fearless roars!

At the edge of the forest slightly behind and to the side, Li Xiannong had just put down the lens of the telescope after speaking. The wind was blowing, and he stood there, unmoving. Among the people around him were the Jiangnan heroes who had followed Li Xiannong, and the guards beside Chieftain Shi Meng. At this moment, they were all somewhat stunned, not understanding what had happened. Just as Chieftain Shi Meng opened his mouth to laugh, a gunshot from the forest on the side of the mountain traveled over a hundred zhang, landing on Shi Meng's neck.

The strong man's throat was shattered in the first moment, blood burst out, and he collapsed with his long knife. Everyone had not even reacted yet. Li Xiannong's ambition was still lingering in the dream of taking the world as a chessboard. He officially dropped the opening chess piece, considering the subsequent back-and-forth fight. The opponent checkmated.

On the front line below, the heroic fight was just beginning. More than two hundred Chinese Army soldiers had broken into the tidal wave of attack. At the core of the slaughter, the Black Flag cleaved through the waves, standing firm. The Ni warriors also had the same brave and unyielding fighting spirit. No one had yet noticed the change in the rear.

Li Xiannong reacted from the extremely slow consciousness. He looked at the fallen chieftain's body beside him and opened his mouth. The shouts and fighting in the air were spreading. He said, "Block him..." The people around him couldn't understand, so he said again, "Block him, don't let anyone see."

The Jiangnan heroes who had followed Li Xiannong then knew what he was talking about and were about to step forward, but the guards behind Shi Meng rushed up, drawing their weapons and blocking the heroes.

Li Xiannong's face turned yellow and then white, his head was buzzing, and seeing the confrontation, he turned and left, the heroes beside him also following. The group quickly crossed the forest. A whistling sound passed over the forest, and the chaotic sounds outside the forest clearly began to swell. At the other end of the forest, a wave of fighting also began to intensify. Li Xiannong and others had not been able to leave yet when they saw a small team cutting over there.

This time at the Little Grey Ridge gathering, the Hengqing Tribe suddenly launched an attack, and many chieftains' guards were separated on the periphery of the battlefield, unable to break through to rescue. What appeared now was a Black Flag team of twenty or thirty people. The leader, with a single blade and one arm, was the great villain in the Black Flag Army, "Sky-Piercing Blade" Du Sha. If it were normal times, Li Xiannong might have realized that this team's sudden attack from the side was no accident, but at this moment, he could only run away as quickly as possible.

The heroes beside him charged over, trying to block this special operations team. What met them was the whistling and crisscrossing of powerful crossbows. Li Xiannong's running originally tried to maintain his image, but at this moment, he gritted his teeth and ran wildly. He didn't know if he was tripped by someone or by a tree root, but he suddenly lunged out and fell to the ground. He crawled a few times, but before he could stand up, someone stepped on his back, his abdomen hitting the stones on the ground, causing his whole face to twist in pain.

"Tie him up!"

The sounds of fighting echoed in waves from afar, while the close-quarters combat was already coming to an end. Li Xiannong was bound with his hands behind his back, and hemp ropes were used to tie him up. In the swaying vision, the heroes had either fallen or scattered and fled. "Sky-Piercing Blade" Du Sha, who had cut over, did not pay much attention to the situation here, leading most of his members to rush in the direction Li Xiannong had come from.

Li Xiannong's hands and feet were bound, unable to move, and his heart had already cooled down. After a while, he vaguely realized what this team was going to do. The Black Flag Army's counterattack, the flying gunshot, and the appearance of this team were all interlinked. If Shi Meng had not died from that gunshot, this team would have obviously been attacking Shi Meng's rear. This thought flashed through his mind, and he felt an indescribable mixture of emotions. Looking around, only three Black Flag members were guarding here. The fighting in the distance was still going on. A glimmer of hope rose in his heart: perhaps the Hengqing Tribe could still defeat the Black Flag Army head-on, and after a while, Brother Lang, Lian Niang, and the others would come, and he would still have a chance to be rescued.

But this hope ultimately sank.

The sounds of fighting, shouting, and war drums in the distance gradually became orderly, symbolizing that the battle situation was beginning to tilt to one side. This was not surprising. Although the Ni people in the Southwest were brave, the entire system was headed by the chieftain. With Shi Meng's death, either a new tribal chief would take over and surrender, or the entire tribe would collapse. At this moment, all of this was obviously happening.

Things continued for a short time, and the shouting gradually subsided. After that, there were more killings and footsteps. Someone was shouting loudly to maintain order. After a while, Li Xiannong saw some people coming this way – he had originally expected to see Ning Yi and the others, but he didn't. What came were just a Black Flag squad to report the victory, and then someone brought bamboo poles, wooden sticks, and other things, tying Li Xiannong and the others on them like pigs, and carrying them to the Hengqing Tribe's main square.

Li Xiannong was extremely humiliated. When he was about to be tied to the wooden stick, he struggled a few times, shouting, "A scholar can be killed but not humiliated!" "Let Ning Yi come to see me!" The soldier was covered in blood and casually hit Li Xiannong on the head with a stick. Li Xiannong dared not say any more. Then his mouth was gagged with a cloth strip, and he was carried to the central square and erected.

More members of the Hengqing Tribe had already knelt here. Some cried and pointed at Li Xiannong, scolding him, but under the guard of the surrounding soldiers, they dared not move randomly. At this time, the Ni people still had a slave system, and the defeated had no human rights. This time, the Hengqing Tribe insisted on calculating the sixteen tribes, and when the chieftains of each tribe were able to command their subordinates, they almost completely slaughtered the entire Hengqing Tribe. It was only the Chinese Army that stopped the almost started massacre.

More members of the Hengqing Tribe were dragged out and knelt densely in front.

Li Xiannong, placed in front, was already numb. After a while, someone came to announce that the Hengqing Tribe had a new chieftain. For this incident, only a few key criminals would be punished, and there would be no indiscriminate killing. The crowd cried and bowed, and several confidants under Shi Meng were dragged out and beheaded directly in front.

After this matter was slightly calmed down under the new chieftain's order, Ning Yi and the others came from the other side of the vision, and the chieftains of the fifteen tribes also came along. Li Xiannong, tied to the wooden stick, stared at Ning Yi, waiting for him to come and ridicule him, but none of this happened. After showing his face, the new chieftain of the Hengqing Tribe went over to kneel and apologize. Ning Yi said a few words, and then the new chieftain came over to announce that those who were innocent could temporarily return to their homes to count their supplies and salvage the houses that were burned or affected. The Hengqing Tribe was once again grateful. For them, the failure of the rebellion could mean the enslavement of the entire tribe. At this time, the Chinese Army's handling really gave people the feeling of regaining a life.

The time was already afternoon, and the sky was gloomy and had not cleared. Ning Yi and the sixteen tribal chiefs entered the side hall next door to continue their meeting. Li Xiannong could imagine what the Chinese Army would gain this time. The meeting didn't last long before warning sounds finally came from outside.

Brother Lang and Lian Niang’s teams had arrived.

What awaited them would be a head-on blow. At the same time, thousands of Heden garrison troops were still pursuing them!

************

The Mangshan Tribe arrived as expected, without disturbing Ning Yi and the others who were meeting in the hall. With the settlement of the Hengqing Tribe's affairs, the Ni tribal teams that could be gathered in the Little Grey Ridge area at this time numbered in the thousands. The earlier ambush caused Brother Lang and the others to suffer a head-on blow as soon as they arrived.

This was the most difficult time in Li Xiannong's life, like an endless swamp, where people slowly sank, unable to struggle at all. The people of the Mangshan Tribe came and began to flee again. Ning Yi didn't even come out to take a look. He was tied here upside down, and people pointed and pointed, which was also an unspeakable humiliation for him in this life. He wished he could die.

Time gradually passed, the sky gradually turned dark, and bonfires were lit. Another Black Flag troop arrived at Little Grey Ridge. From the trivial words he had no intention of listening to, Li Xiannong knew that the Mangshan Tribe's losses this time were not serious, but so what – the Black Flag Army didn't care at all.

His gaze could see the gathering hall. After this alliance, the Mangshan Tribe would have no place to stand in Great and Little Liangshan. What awaited them was the disaster of extermination. It wasn't that the Black Flag Army didn't have this ability, but what Ning Yi hoped for was that many Ni tribal tribes would verify their mutual help and cooperation through this form. From then on, the Black Flag Army would really open up the situation in Great and Little Liangshan.

It was his own running around that brought this opportunity to his hands. Li Xiannong thought of these things, feeling extremely ironic, but more of it was the fear he would face next, how cruelly he would be killed.

The bonfire burned for a long time. He didn't know when, but the meeting in the hall dispersed, and Ning Yi and others came out one after another, still laughing and talking to each other. Li Xiannong closed his eyes, unwilling to look at their smiles, but after a while, someone came over. The middle-aged man in grey robes was Ning Liheng. His appearance was not old, but he had a natural authority. Ning Yi looked at him a few times and said, "Release him."

Du Sha next to him pulled out his knife and cut the rope with a swish. Li Xiannong fell to the ground, feeling terrible pain. As he slowly rolled over, Du Sha had already cut open the ropes on his hands and feet, and someone helped the numb-limbed Li Xiannong up. Ning Yi looked at him, and he also tried to look at Ning Yi.

"Do you know monkeys?"

Ning Yi's opening words were unexpectedly calm. Li Xiannong was slightly stunned, and then thought that the other party was mocking him as a monkey, but then he felt that things were not like that.

"In the Chinese Army's recent research, there is a strange theory that people evolved from monkeys." Ning Yi said in a calm tone, "Many, many years ago, monkeys walked out of the forest and had to face many enemies, tigers, leopards, jackals. Monkeys didn't have the sharp teeth of tigers, nor the claws of beasts. Their fingernails were no longer as sharp as those animals. They could only be preyed upon by these animals. Slowly, one day, they picked up sticks and found a way to protect themselves."

"If they didn't have caves, they would build houses. Eating raw meat was easy to get sick, so they learned to use fire. Monkeys still couldn't beat tigers with sticks, so they learned to cooperate. Later, these monkeys became people."

Li Xiannong was listening to a fantastical tale. Ning Yi smiled.

"Everything in the world becomes stronger in the process of overcoming problems. I am your problem, the Jurchens are your problem. If you can't beat me, it means you're not strong enough. If you're not strong enough, it means you've found the wrong path. You must find the right path." Ning Yi said, "If you don't, you will die."

Countless words of rebuttal flashed through Li Xiannong's mind, but his mouth was dry. He didn't know if it was fear or a lack of words, but he couldn't make a sound. Ning Yi just paused.

"After you go back, whether you teach and educate people or continue to run around and appeal, in short, you have to find a way to become stronger. We not only have to have the wisdom to find the enemy's weaknesses, but also have the courage to face and improve our own filth, because the Jurchens won't let you go, they won't let anyone go."

"...Go back...Release me..." Li Xiannong was stunned for a long while. The Chinese Army soldiers next to him released him, and he even took two steps back slightly. Ning Yi pursed his lips and said nothing more, turning to leave.

A messenger came from afar, reporting some information to Ning Yi. Li Xiannong looked around blankly. Du Sha next to him had already waved his hand around. Li Xiannong staggered a few steps and saw that no one was stopping him, so he staggered away, gradually walking to the side of the square. A Chinese Army member stepped aside, seemingly not intending to block him. At this time, Ning Yi on the square looked over here, he raised one hand, hesitated, but finally nodded: "Wait a moment."

Li Xiannong was stunned again. At this moment, he even wanted to turn around and run away. The Chinese Army soldier next to him looked at him, and the scene was very awkward for a moment.

In the moment of eye contact, the young soldier punched him.

Li Xiannong fell to the ground in pain. He didn't faint, though. When he looked towards Ning Yi, that bastard's hand was awkwardly raised in the air for a moment before saying, "Not now...I'll send you out in a few days."

Li Xiannong didn't know what was happening. Ning Yi had already started walking to one side. From that side face, Li Xiannong vaguely felt that he seemed a little angry. The game of Ni tribes in Great and Little Liangshan was all within his calculations. Li Xiannong didn't know what he was angry about, or what big things could make him angry at this moment.

"...Mobilize Jishan, prepare for war...Send someone to tell him, the person must live. Three days later...I'll talk to him personally."

The autumn wind at night faintly carried the sound over. The smell of gunpowder had not yet dissipated. The next day, the Ni tribal tribes in Great and Little Liangshan successively began their crusade against the Mangshan faction.

The Southwest, this chaos was just a gentle prelude, opening the corner of the curtain to the great chaos of the entire world...