Chapter 371: No Prisoners Left

As the setting sun hung over West Mountain and the earth was soaked in twilight, Wu Bu Yong and Qian Fugui's two troops returned to Xiao Jia Ji in high spirits.

Every soldier's face was lit with smiles, and in their talk they boasted of how many people they had slain and how much loot they had snatched.

Chen Wuji liked seeing such smiles.

Even without a scout's advance report, just seeing those smiles from afar let him know this was surely a great victory.

And it was a great victory with few losses on our side.

But the blacksmith Yang Tiejiang standing beside Chen Wuji did not look so pleased.

He angrily cursed, "These little rabbit bastards, why strike so hard? Prisoners are useful too—what's the point of wasting energy on two extra cuts? Not to mention the risk; winning is enough."

The scout had reported in advance that Wu Bu Yong had captured only eighty prisoners.

Qian Fugui had not sent a scout, but looking now, there was no sign of any prisoners.

Not a single one!

He outdid even Wu Bu Yong.

Capturing eighty prisoners could still be considered normal.

But having zero prisoners clearly means they were all killed—no prisoners left at all.

Chen Wuji smiled and advised, "Old Yang, recruiting new troops can't be rushed; we can't just give you a bunch of incompetents?"

"Take it slow; Old Qin is still recruiting in the city, and the city's respectable youths are better than prisoners. I think you shouldn't insist on a quick win—pick soldiers from these people. Honestly, I don't much care for this lot of evildoers and tyrants."

Yang Tiejiang glanced at Chen Wuji and said, "You ordered them to take no prisoners?"

"No, I didn't." Chen Wuji shook his head. "Wasn't that your order today? I issue commands on the mountain—don't try to pin the blame on me!"

"Hiss... Oh." Yang Tiejiang realized, shaking his head.

This battle really was his order.

"Commandant, a great victory, a splendid victory beyond compare—we've slain about four hundred, all hung on trees to dry." Qian Fugui strode over, his voice arriving before he did.

Chen Wuji nodded approvingly. "What kind of praise does Commandant Qian like to hear? Today's battle, I'll have to flatter you a few lines—splendid!"

Qian Fugui hehehed twice, his expression instantly turning lewd. "Anything can be said?"

"I can say anything, but you—think it over before you speak." Chen Wuji said.

This dog seems ready to take advantage of him.

Qian Fugui curled his lip, flung his hand hard, and said, "Boring, boring—I thought the commandant was magnanimous, heart as vast as heaven and earth, ready to play something real with me!"

"I'm telling the truth." Chen Wuji smiled.

Which of his words is false?

Qian Fugui perfunctorily and hastily clasped his hands, "Reporting to the commandant, I have another matter to report."

"Cut the formalities, just say it." Chen Wuji said.

This guy even gave him the yin-yang technique.

Qian Fugui's expression instantly turned grave and serious: "Today I captured a few live mouths and obtained some more concrete intelligence."

"The Gu, Li, and Xue families have divided their troops into three groups, each responsible for the northern, central, and southern parts of Yunan."

"They plan to sweep the entire Yunan county within five days, leaving not a single person, not a single house."

"The enemy troops we encountered today all came from Baiquan Village, their temporary garrison, led by a direct descendant of the Gu family commanding three thousand men, sweeping a three-hundred-li radius, unsheathing their blades for three days."

"These beasts!" Chen Wuji felt his head swim with rage.

"If not for the Yunan populace's support, could these descendants of traitors become a powerful clan?"

"Now they have risen, yet they do the deed of eating the meal, smashing the pot, and killing the cook."

"A bunch of worse-than-pigs-and-dogs scum!"

Chen Wuji truly never imagined such things could happen within a nation, within an ethnicity—even the phrase 'heaven-defying atrocities' falls short of describing their cruelty and wickedness.

Xu Zengyi said faintly, "Heaven and earth are not benevolent, treating all things as straw dogs; rulers are not benevolent, treating the people as straw dogs; sages sometimes misspeak; heaven and earth treat everyone equally—I believe that. But rulers, nobles, and aristocrats treat the people with a hierarchy of superiority and inferiority."

"And in their eyes, superiority belongs to the high, inferiority to the low."

"Those sitting above who truly regard the people as human are few. In their view, the populace is merely how many people live in a place, how many were born this year, how many died in a certain disaster."

"The people are completely just a number, a symbol."

As a rebel leader, Xu Zengyi naturally holds great contempt for the court; his words may be overly absolute, but they certainly hit the mark.

Chen Wuji suppressed the surging killing intent in his heart like a tsunami and asked Qian Fugui, "Does their 'no blade sheathed for three days' mean they will muster their main force after three days?"

"That would be the case, but the live mouths we captured are only a brigade commander, whose knowledge is limited to this campaign's troop deployment." Qian Fugui said.

Xu Zengyi said, "The Gu family handles Yunan's north; these three families, with the Gu family as the main, have not much territory in Yunan's north—the enemy garrison at Baiquan Village is responsible for a two-hundred-li radius, leaving hardly any land left."

"The Gu family at least still has a force of troops, likely guarding against our army!"

Chen Wuji nodded, "That's right; while harming the populace, they are also forcibly conscripting strong youths, so their numbers should have increased considerably."

"Even possibly doubled."

Qin Zhanhong previously reported that the Gu, Li, and Xue families' method of sweeping the populace is to deceive some people into joining them, then slaughter the others.

"It's practically a demonic cult."

"With this development model, their forces will surely experience explosive growth in a short time."

"No worries, let's play with them—since ancient times, evil does not prevail over righteousness!" Chen Wuji shouted angrily, then strode into the small courtyard serving as the temporary big tent.

"I've always thought myself a benevolent person, but this time, not leaving a single survivor, I'll flatten the Gu, Li, and Xue families' wagon wheels and cut them down one by one."

Faced with Chen Wuji's imposing aura, Yang Tiejiang, Qian Fugui, and the others promptly straightened and obeyed.

No one uttered a word of opposition.

Chen Wuji glanced at Yang Tiejiang, softened his tone, and said, "Old Yang, I'm sorry to let you down—don't dwell on prisoners; recruit soldiers from the populace. The people we've rescued, you can enlist on the spot."

"Already prepared; I'll do as you say." Yang Tiejiang resignedly said, lifted his foot, entered the small garden in the courtyard, and began pulling out chrysanthemums by the handful.

The owner of this small courtyard is a flower lover; every idle spot in the garden is planted with all kinds of flowers.

"Uncle Yang, why are you plucking so many flowers?" Qian Fugui asked in a low voice.

"I see everyone's tempers are a bit high; let's cool down."