Chapter 778

Zhao Shizhang sighed:

"Those rebels are essentially bandits, but their strength is genuinely impressive.

"Our decision to take up arms against these self-styled Heavenly King Army bandits today was forced upon us.

"We have already done our utmost to try to avoid this war.

"As everyone knows, our village pooled together 100,000 gold coins to offer them, with our household's share being 25,000 gold coins — all to buy off the disaster and use money to avoid war.

"Everyone understands the value of this sum — it's already a sky-high price.

"But the other side's appetite clearly wasn't satisfied; they actually wanted another 120,000 gold coins, which we simply can't afford.

"Most importantly, what they truly want isn't money — they want everything we have!

"We had no choice but to fight; this battle was forced upon us.

"But these bandits won't understand such reasoning — they'll probably send people to take revenge.

"What we need to do now is absorb and digest the abundant loot as quickly as possible.

"Restore our strength as fast as we can — even improve it!

"Did everyone hear me!?"

Zhao Shizhang let out a thunderous shout, and every lord in the meeting room shuddered!

"Did everyone hear me!!"

Zhao Shizhang roared once more.

"We heard you!"

"Grandfather, rest assured — I'll give it my all!"

"Please set your mind at ease, Clan Chief Grandfather."

"We understand, Clan Chief."

The lords responded one after another.

Zhao Shizhang nodded:

"After the battle ended, I exchanged messages with the other clan chiefs.

"Xiao family's Xiao Qigong died in battle, Xiao Peng lost his territory — together with others, a total of 9 lords are gone, the same as us.

"Qi family's Qi Henghao and Qi Hengjie both died in battle; together with those who lost their territories, a total of 6 lords.

"The Liu family suffered the most — they lost 12 lords in total, including Liu Xuanzhi, who also died.

"Every family suffered significant losses."

Exclamations of shock rose once more.

Xiao Qigong, Qi Henghao, Qi Hengjie, Liu Xuanzhi — all were lords of tremendous strength.

Who would have thought even they would die.

Zhao Chi had truly felt that paying these bandits 100,000 gold coins was far too much.

But looking at it now, it was the clan chiefs who thought further ahead.

If 100,000 gold coins could truly have averted war, then no matter how steep, it would have been worth it.

What a pity.

In the end, fighting was unavoidable.

On the other hand, Zhao Chi also gained a fresh appreciation of these bandits' strength.

Those people had looked no different from street thugs.

Who could have imagined they possessed such power.

No wonder the nobles classified them as rebels and hunted them down — their strength was genuinely formidable.

But even so, they gained nothing from it.

After all, they lost the battle.

I really don't know what they were after.

Wouldn't it have been better to take the 100,000 gold coins and leave back then?

They had to drag things to this point.

There simply is no winner.

After the murmurs of discussion faded, Zhao Shizhang continued:

"Although we can count this as a victory, we don't know when those Heavenly King Army bandits will come again.

"After discussion among ourselves, the clan chiefs have reached a unanimous decision to seek help from outside.

"Three targets have been set — all powers of considerable strength.

"But the matter hasn't yet been set in motion, and it's not convenient to make it public; I'm just giving you a heads-up, so everyone can have a little more confidence.

"Now that all our battles have concluded, we've obtained a great deal of loot.

"A portion was given to Zhao Cang, but he couldn't store it all — most of it remains with me.

"However, you can go to Zhao Cang for the inventory; if anything catches your eye, feel free to trade or purchase it.

"Alright, time is precious — that's all for today.

"I still need to meet with the other clan chiefs in person — meeting adjourned."

No one moved.

Zhao Shizhang stood up first, gently patted Zhao Qijia's shoulder, then walked out the door.

Zhao Qijia's face darkened; he closed his eyes and said nothing.

The lords rose slowly and left in silence.

Once they reached the courtyard, everyone went to Zhao Cang for the loot inventory.

Zhao Chi had no money left now, but he still asked for a look at the list.

If something suitable came up, he could sell medicines or props to trade for it.

Suddenly, he spotted a treasure chest at the bottom of the list.

【Random Livestock Treasure Chest】

There's even something like this?

Honestly, Zhao Chi had never seen this before.

He thought only seeds could be opened from treasure chests — he never expected poultry and livestock could also be opened from one?

Perhaps, like how a Heroic Spirit can summon a hero, this chest can also summon livestock?

Everyone was looking at the list.

Zhao Chi didn't keep looking. He immediately walked toward Zhao Cang, wanting to buy this treasure chest right away.

"Zhao Chi, wait a moment."

Suddenly a woman rushed over and stood in front of Zhao Chi.

It was Su Qin.

"Zhao Chi, thank you for supporting me. Otherwise I would have ended up like Big Brother and the others…"

Zhao Chi didn't wait for her to finish: "You're welcome, no need for politeness. We ought to help each other."

Then he was about to leave.

But Su Qin blocked him: "Zhao Chi, I have something to give you."

Zhao Chi said anxiously: "Wait for me a moment — I have something to do, we'll talk later."

Su Qin was stunned for a beat, then quickly nodded: "Oh, alright, you go ahead then."

Zhao Cang was already preparing to teleport.

Zhao Chi hurried over and grabbed him: "Third Brother, I want to buy the Random Livestock Treasure Chest — it hasn't been sold, has it?"

Zhao Cang shook his head: "No."

Zhao Chi breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good. I'll take it. How much?"

Zhao Cang said: "3 gold coins. Although it randomly produces livestock, there's still a chance of getting large ones like warhorses or cattle…"

"It doesn't matter, I'll take it!"

Zhao Chi still had 9 gold coins left, so he immediately pulled out 3 and handed them over.

"When can I go pick it up?"

Zhao Cang said, puzzled: "This isn't anything good. It can't produce rare animals, only common poultry and livestock. And it's not cheap either. What do you want this for? An expedition?"

Zhao Chi shook his head: "No. Are there any other treasure chests similar to this one?"

"No, this thing isn't common, and it's not very useful either — nobody really pays attention to it. At most people bring it on expeditions, and when food runs short, they can open it to slaughter the livestock for meat."