Chapter 357: Fish Bait (1)

Several flying vessels landed in the middle of the vast camp.

Inside Hua Xinxin's tent came the sound of drizzle; this rascal was still mingling with the Ren family's maid. No one informed Wu Tie of his arrival, and he probably wouldn't care anyway.

Ren Shanwen and Ren Duxing stood before Wu Tie, both looking troubled.

"Suppress bandits?" Ren Shanwen had his hands behind his back, gritting his teeth as he stared fixedly at Wu Tie.

Everyone here is a native of Flower Insect City; how could Ren Shanwen not know "Huo Xiong"?

Having been a military household for generations, after joining the Divine Martial Army he relied on the martial merits accumulated over generations by the Huo family elders, plus a bit of luck, he didn't die on the Three Kingdoms battlefield; instead he cultivated all the way to condense a life pool, and his rank reached Eighth‑grade Colonel.

Among Flower Insect City's military households, Huo Xiong stands out as an outstanding figure.

As the head of Flower Insect City's powerful family, after Huo Xiong was promoted to Divine Martial Army Colonel, the news returned to Flower Insect City, and Ren Shanwen even sent his steward to deliver a generous gift to the Huo family.

But looking at the Huo Xiong before him, Ren Shanwen felt as if the generous gift he had once given had been fed to dogs.

"Colonel Huo, the mountains outside Flower Insect City stretch for thousands of miles… vast forests, countless places where bandits could hide. Why not turn around? The camp gate is over there—go outside and have a look?"

Ren Shanwen was impolite, spewing harsh, sarcastic remarks at Wu Tie.

Wu Tie laughed brightly: "Does the Ren family head not welcome this general?"

Ren Shanwen stared straight into Wu Tie's eyes: "Yes."

Wu Tie stepped forward, his face almost touching Ren Shanwen's, and asked softly: "You, do you have a guilty conscience?"

Ren Duxing's forehead veins twitched a few times as he thrust a palm at Wu Tie's shoulder: "How bold!"

Wu Tie laughed, letting Ren Duxing's palm push against his shoulder; then, feeble as he pretended to be, he staggered back over ten steps, collapsed in utter disgrace, even rolling backward seven or eight times before slamming his head into the heavy trailer of a dragging survey device.

"Ah… Ren young master, you dare attack an active Divine Martial Army officer? Though your Ren family is rich and a prominent clan of Flower Insect City, don't forget… you are merely commoners." Wu Tie slowly rose, ignoring the dust on him, his face grim as he fixed his stare on Ren Duxing.

"Your Ren family has wealth, people, masters—there are plenty of Fetal Storage Realm experts both openly and in secret—but you must always remember: you are merely commoners." Wu Tie said coldly: "I am an official; you are civilians. Try touching me again and see what happens."

Ren Shanwen and Ren Duxing's faces turned extremely grim.

In the Great Jin Divine State, the hierarchy of royalty, nobility, military households, and commoner households is strictly ordered, and the laws are harsh to the extreme.

The Huo family of Flower Insect City, a long‑standing military household that has served the Great Jin Divine State's military generation after generation, may not be wealthy, may lack broad connections, yet they enjoy privileges unavailable to commoner households.

For example, upon joining the Divine Martial Army, Huo Xiong, a military‑household origin, will certainly promote faster than a commoner‑origin Ren family junior of equal cultivation, and he will enjoy far greater conveniences in the army.

Even when fighting in the army, if the offense is the same, a commoner‑origin soldier who would receive a hundred strokes of the military cane sees a military‑origin soldier get only twenty.

Even when some commoner‑origin soldiers in the army commit capital crimes, placing the same blame on a military‑origin soldier might merit only a heavy punishment.

Another example: in cultivation arts, the Three Revolutions Origin Skill practiced by Huo Xiong and taught in the Divine Martial Army Training Hall possesses tremendous restraining power over commoner households—even over a mighty clan like the Ren family.

A Divine Martial Army officer who has just entered the Life Pool Realm through military cultivation can easily slay a peak Life Pool Realm practitioner of the Ren family's hereditary art, and can even match a Ren family expert who has just entered the Fetal Storage Realm.

All commoner households of the Great Jin Divine State, no matter how great a powerful clan, have their ancestral arts archived by the state's military. The major corps of the Great Jin Divine State's military cultivate specialized secret arts specifically to deal with these commoner households.

The military‑household status gave Huo Xiong immense confidence, allowing this lowly Eighth‑grade Colonel of the Divine Martial Army to dare to confront Ren Shanwen.

Even if it weren't Wu Tie but Huo Xiong himself present, he would still have the confidence to reason face‑to‑face with Ren Shanwen.

Wu Tie lightly brushed the dust from his clothes while recalling the information about the Great Jin Divine State provided by Xi Bu Bai.

"I know the Ren family head and young master are holding back anger… suppress it, absolutely do not erupt, just keep it bottled up."

Wu Tie laughed extraordinarily brightly: "If you're dissatisfied, the Ren family head can make a decision to turn the Ren family into a military household… but that would be troublesome, for once you become a military household, all the Ren family's men must serve in the army—tsk tsk, swords flashing, seas of corpses, you who are used to fine clothes and jade food, to luxurious indulgence, can you endure it?"

"Not only that, military households are strictly forbidden to keep private guards, to engage in trade, to reclaim land, and to leave the military household's inner city for travel; in short, all their food, clothing, housing, and usage are distributed monthly according to military standards… you couldn't endure it."

Wu Tie chuckled, then stamped his foot hard, pointing at the ground beneath him and said coldly: "So, I will clear out the bandits in this camp and pacify the locality… any objections?"

"Got objections? Then hold them in, endure them!" Wu Tie laughed with great satisfaction: "Or else, find someone of higher rank than me, a fine young man of your Ren family, to overwhelm me? As long as he gives an order, I have no objection—I'll turn and leave, and I won't concern myself with what happens here."

Ren Shanwen and Ren Duxing pressed their lips, their lips turning white from rage, yet they could not speak.

Ren Shanwen drew a deep breath, pointed fiercely at Wu Tie, then turned and walked away; as he went, a thick mist continually rose from his body, and soon he vanished into the vapor without a trace.

Ren Duxing glared at Wu Tie, gritted his teeth, stamped his foot, and strode toward the tent where Hua Xinxin was.

Wu Tie smiled, clapped his hands, and pointed at the Divine Martial Army soldiers behind him, laughing: "Here, we are here to suppress bandits, and also… to protect Hua Xinxin and the Flower young master's safety. The Flower young master's tent has good feng shui; we will requisition all the tents nearby."

The soldiers responded in unison, wearing strange smiles as they walked toward those several large tents.

Just now, Wu Tie's blunt rebuttal to the Ren father and son was, for these soldiers born and raised in Flower Insect City, truly a pleasure to behold.