Chapter 1024

"I'm a fair person. Whoever wants my life must pay the price." He Lingchuan slowly squatted in front of Wanqifeng, "So, who do you think should pay the price? Your old uncle, or these several hundred loyal subordinates?" Flesh is flesh, whether on palm or back, and Wanqifeng's heart was in turmoil.

Dong Rui added another dose of strong medicine from the side: "And there are several hundred family members as well."

Upon hearing this, Wanqifeng startled and looked up: "What did you say?"

The captive crowd instantly became agitated, like a gunpowder barrel that had been lit, dozens jumping up on the spot and shouting: "What have you done to them!"

"Don't move my wife and children!"

Min Tianxi and others fiercely kicked them in the back of the knees, kicking them back to kneel: "Kneel down, kneel properly! Still want to rebel?"

He Lingchuan glanced sideways, giving Dong Rui a hard stare, thinking: Why bring this up? It's not time yet, not time yet! Dong Rui, realizing his slip, touched his nose and fell silent.

Zhu Xiuer's voice echoed softly in his ear:

"Talkative."

"……" He observed his nose, observed his heart—would that do?

"Your family members are still safe and sound in the deserted village of Bai Sha County." He Lingchuan projected his voice with true strength, carrying through the chaos to each captive's ears, "As for whether they can continue to be safe——"

The captives looked at each other, their hearts half-chilled.

With their own family fallen into enemy hands, how could they not be hesitant to act? How exactly did the news leak out? How did Island Master He know they were going to rebel?

He Lingchuan slowly continued: "——It all depends on your young master!"

Wanqifeng's cheeks twitched twice, his jaw hardening.

Whose life to spare? The old uncle's, or these several hundred subordinates plus family members? He Lingchuan forced him to choose one.

The answer lay right there.

Wanqifeng knew he had no real choice.

He didn't even dare to look at Wanqisong's face, steeled himself, and was about to speak.

But before he could open his mouth, He Lingchuan beat him by half a second: "So have you decided? Do you want your old uncle to go mine for me, or should these six hundred plus and their families all go down to the mine?"

"Mine……" Wanqifeng choked at once, "Mine? I…… you didn't say……"

Having seen He Lingchuan's cruel methods against Yu Zecheng and the other Bekajia people, he thought the either-or outcome would be death, and a miserable one at that.

Suddenly, from despair to hope, he couldn't believe it.

Would Island Master He really be this, this lenient toward his old uncle? "My mine is desperately short of hands." He Lingchuan smiled, eyes narrowed, "Otherwise, what did you think it was?"

The faces of these several hundred captives on the ground were all quite remarkable.

Yes, this Island Master He had just demanded the young master choose one of two, said someone must pay the price, yet never mentioned the word "execute."

Wanqifeng let out a long breath in relief, then quickly said: "I choose, I choose! Let my old uncle go to the mine!"

Asking his old uncle to go to his death, he felt a grudge in his heart.

But his old uncle was merely sent to mine, not to lose his life, and he only felt his whole self relax.

Knowing He Lingchuan had misled him earlier, Wanqifeng felt gratitude well up in his chest at this moment instead.

Yes, gratitude.

Gratitude that he wasn't forced into a life-or-death choice, wasn't forced to betray his conscience.

His uncle and nephew clearly wanted to take his life and seize his island, yet he was still willing to raise his noble hand and spare the old uncle.

To repay hatred with fairness—this was already unimaginable kindness.

He Lingchuan pointed two fingers at Wanqisong, and Min Tianxi immediately had someone put handcuffs and leg irons on him, then took him away for separate detention.

After the storm passes and the islands reopen to travel, Wanqisong will be escorted to the mine to mine ore alongside the three sea bandits there, with dedicated supervision.

Wanqisong glanced at his nephew, then at the Bailong crowd, finally lowering his head in dejection as he left.

The entire clan had abandoned him.

From beginning to end, He Lingchuan never gave him a chance to speak.

This person, no longer mattered.

"As you wish." He Lingchuan rubbed his hands, then said to Wanqifeng, "Good, now let's discuss the affiliation of these several hundred of your people."

These several hundred Bailong people merely surrendered, forced to do so under Wanqifeng's leadership, but their unwillingness was written all over their faces.

"After you leave the Yangshan Archipelago, where do you plan to settle? Yanguo has long threatened harshly: whoever shelters you, it will beat.

In this world, victors become kings, losers become bandits; if you could take the archipelago, everything could be discussed; but now you've lost, returning to the mainland with dirt on your faces, tell me, who dares to shelter you, this group of forsaken wanderers?"

The Bailong people had nothing to say.

They were only thinking of seizing He Lingchuan's island because they couldn't establish a foothold on land.

This time, their risky gamble failed, and everyone knew their future was pitch black, with no light in sight.

"I kindly take you in, giving you a tile to shelter under, so your families need not suffer displacement—yet what happened? You've only eaten a few days of full meals, then turned around to harm me, scheme against me?" He Lingchuan looked down at them, "The good deeds you've done on my island will soon spread far and wide. By then, whether Yanguo, Bailie, or Mouguo, all will know your Bailong clan specializes in repaying kindness with betrayal, scheming for power and harming lives—do you have other branches of your clan lingering in these places? Do you want them to be everywhere driven out, spat upon, guarded against? What would your clan leader Wanqitong think: 'Good thing I drove you out, otherwise each of you would be a horse that harms the herd'?"

Facing the Wanqi uncle and nephew, he wouldn't just open his mouth to speak of kindness and malice, for it would be meaningless;

but these Bailong people below are ordinary folk. Ordinary hearts still distinguish good from bad, right from wrong, and still wish to believe in correctness.

That's why he could make them unable to lift their heads.

He snorted coldly: "The royal priest of Mouguo is currently a guest on Suoding Island, and after the hurricane he must return to Mouguo. Do you want to go with him? Do you think he'd want you, this group of 'warriors' with eyes but no pearls, who lose battle after battle?"

Most Bailong people were shouted down by him until they hung their heads, tears streaming down their faces in drops, falling one by one to the ground.

Indeed, under heaven, there truly is no place for them to stand.

But those four words "lose battle after battle" struck heart and lung, and a few Bailong people suddenly lifted their heads, faces showing unwillingness, yet unable to utter a sound.

Their bravery is also renowned in Yanguo, and they don't accept this label.

He Lingchuan keenly caught this resentment, snorted coldly: "Insignificant small battles—win a thousand times and they're still insignificant; in crucial battles, lose once and you're powerless to turn the tide. You're quite fortunate, actually—you lost the Battle of Bai Ning Pass to Yanguo, then lost to me tonight, one a battle of fate, one a battle of future, you've lost twice, and what you bring out is nothing but defeat!"

The Battle of Bai Ning Pass was precisely the crucial battle between the Bailong clan and Yanguo. The Bailong people lost, directly leading to the clan being expelled by Yanguo, scattered and fragmented.

He Lingchuan laid out the facts and reasoned, and the Bailong people had no way to rebut.

Yes, the crucial battle was lost.

Warriors don't speak with victories—do they just use their mouths?

(End of Chapter)