Chapter 404: A New Official's Fire

"Fighting?" Zhang Xibai stared at Wu Tie and Pei Feng with a shocked expression.

He trembled as he raised his hand, pointing at Wu Tie and shouting, "You, the grand State Military Chief Commander of Great Marsh Prefecture, and the commander of the Black Phoenix Army... brawling?"

Wu Tie and Pei Feng narrowed their eyes simultaneously.

This newcomer, having just arrived, could actually recognize them at a glance—obviously, he's put in some effort.

"How outrageous! How outrageous!" Zhang Xibai put on the air of a wise, steady old man, stamping his feet and shouting loudly, "Simply put, it's the ruin of civility, the collapse of rites, you esteemed commanders of the divine state—you don't think of serving the country, but instead brawl privately..."

"How can you face the millions of people up and down Great Marsh Prefecture?" Zhang Xibai cried out in anguish, his normally dignified visage twisting painfully.

Wu Tie and Pei Feng glanced at each other, their eyes flickering.

Wu Tie pointed, and the immortal binding rope wrapped around Pei Feng silently retracted into his sleeve; he stepped back two places, sheathed the fire-dragon immortal sword, held his spear, and said calmly, "Prefect... where do the millions of people in Great Marsh Prefecture come from?"

Upon hearing that, Pei Feng began to cough dryly.

Zhang Xibai widened his eyes, his face full of righteous vigor, and shouted loudly, "In my office, I have the roster of convicts sent to garrison Great Marsh Prefecture over the past ten years; over the past ten years, convicts sent from all the states, prefectures, and counties of the Great Jin to Great Marsh Prefecture total 3,778,935."

After a light cough, Zhang Xibai said calmly, "Even if Great Marsh Prefecture's conditions are harsh and its environment a bit vicious, over the past ten years those three hundred-odd convicts have borne children and multiplied; the total population, without even doubling, must be at least five million, right?"

Wu Tie bared his teeth and grinned, laughing happily.

He shook his head and laughed loudly, "Prefect, I know nothing about such state affairs, heh heh... I'm off, I'm off, going to eat meat and drink wine; leave these prefectural matters to you to handle."

With a call, Huang Lang, Huang Yu, and Li Er Haozu closely followed Wu Tie behind him; the state army braves who had just fled also came back, shamelessly, and hurried after Wu Tie back to the camp.

Wu Tie led the men back to the camp; with a "dong" sound, the north gate of the camp shut immediately.

Stroking his ever-lengthening beard, Wu Tie gave a heh-heh cold chuckle. Five million people? Wu Tie believed Zhang Xibai's figure wouldn't be far off, but Great Marsh City clearly had only twenty-some thousand residents.

Thinking back to what Huang Lang and Huang Yu had told him, Wu Tie roughly understood where the missing people had gone.

Interesting, interesting.

Such a groundless lawsuit, as Wu Tie said, is the affair of Great Marsh Prefecture and has nothing to do with him as its State Military Chief Commander.

So let Pei Feng and Zhang Xibai go to court; Wu Tie just needs to stand by and watch the spectacle.

Neither side are good sorts; neither side are good people!

After a few cold chuckles, Wu Tie's expression suddenly changed; the immortal binding rope in his sleeve shot out as hundreds of golden strands, instantly binding the state army braves in the camp tightly.

For these low-cultivation "braves," using the Nine Refined Immortal Weapons to bind them is like using a dragon-slaying sabre to kill a rat—utterly overkill for the immortal binding rope. A gang of braves bound tight collapsed to the ground, shouting in bewildered panic.

"Li Er Haozu, Huang Yu, take the military batons and give each of them a hundred strikes!"

Wu Tie snarled ferociously, "Good, you're all a bunch of loyal braves—eating my food, drinking my drink, wearing my gear, using my stuff—yet when facing the enemy, you all fled the battlefield... heh heh, that's great!"

"Hit, hit hard! If you don't kill them, beat them to death!"

Wu Tie stomped his foot and roared, "Hit!"

Huang Yu and Li Er Haozu drew two tiger-head military batons forged of alloy, cracked their knuckles, and walked toward the braves lying helpless on the ground.

At Wu Tie's command, they raised their military batons and struck down, raining blows on the braves' heads and faces.

These braves mostly came from the market streets, with some being mountain bandits; they practiced lowly civilian cultivation methods, and though they followed the body-refining path, their cultivation was low, making their physical strength only three to five times that of ordinary folk.

Huang Yu and Li Er Haozu far outclassed them in cultivation, and their military batons were specially issued weapons of the Great Jin military—unusually heavy and equipped with special armor-piercing enchantments.

One strike, and wherever it hit, the bone snapped in two.

Huang Yu and Li Er Haozu unleashed a furious barrage on the braves; the camp instantly filled with wailing screams, and some were beaten so badly they lost bowel and bladder control, spreading a nauseating stench throughout the camp.

Wu Tie's face darkened as he said coldly, "Beat them to death, shatter every bone in their bodies."

Wu Tie took out one of the ten techniques gifted by Mr. Li, a near-demonic scripture titled "Divine Scripture of Pulverized Body and Myriad Calamities," and, laughing eerily, he forced all the arts he had cultivated to the peak of the Chonglou Realm into these state army braves' minds via the method of enlightening the crown.

"Now, all those with broken bones, begin cultivating this secret divine art... if you don't want to die, you'd better hurry up and practice it."

Wu Tie gave an evil grin and said to them, "You should thank Huang Yu and Li Er Haozu—they've worked hard to help you cultivate this divine art. Although practicing the 'Divine Scripture of Pulverized Body and Myriad Calamities' is somewhat painful, it grants extraordinarily strong bodily defense, making it the best life-saving method on the battlefield."

This demonic art focuses on defense; at deep levels its attack may not be formidable, but its bodily defense is extraordinarily strong, able to endure great pain—every cultivator of the "Divine Scripture of Pulverized Body and Myriad Calamities" becomes an elite meat shield on the battlefield.

Its killing power may only match the "Six Revolutions Primal Art," but the defense and vitality it cultivates far exceed those of the "Nine Revolutions Primal Art," qualifying it as a top-tier heretical demonic secret technique.

Wu Tie retracted the immortal binding rope, and the braves, beaten to a bloody pulp with bones and flesh shattered, wailed to heaven and earth, then hurriedly began circulating the "Divine Scripture of Pulverized Body and Myriad Calamities."

If they don't cultivate it, they won't survive; with their small frames, they would truly be beaten to death.

Wu Tie grinned wickedly, flicked his finger, and strands of fire shot out, sinking into the braves' foreheads, entering their souls, and leaving there the most vicious soul seal he had comprehended from the Tower of Reincarnation.

Originally, Wu Tie had applied this seal only to Li Er Haozu, hoping to control the state army braves through him.

But these fellows' performance...

Since they refuse to be obedient, carefree state soldiers, Wu Tie doesn't mind making them into obedient puppets.

Anyway, not a single one of them is a good person.

The camp echoed with miserable howls, and Wu Tie's evil laughter continually issued from within.

Zhang Xibai, Pei Feng, and the others listened to the wails and laughter from the camp, their faces turning somewhat strange.

After a strange silence fell on the scene, Pei Feng bowed to Zhang Xibai with clasped fists and said, "Congratulations, Prefect, on taking office; I still have military duties, so I won't disturb you further... as General Huo Xiong said, the affairs of Great Marsh Prefecture still require the Prefect to attend to them diligently."

Pei Feng turned and left; Qian San, Ma Dasha, and the others hastily led troops to surround and protect her.

Zhang Xibai smiled at Pei Feng's retreating back and said slowly, "Commander, the Grand Commander has ordered that if you soften and utter a single word, the Black Phoenix Army will immediately receive his full support, restoring your father's former glory—just a matter of three to five years."

Pei Feng mounted the Blazing Black Lion without expression, gave a soft cry, and led a large force galloping toward the west gate.

Zhang Xibai drawled, "Commander, even if you don't think for yourself, consider the many brave souls of the Black Phoenix Army... especially, if you truly resign yourself, will you let the rank your father earned blade by blade be taken by outsiders?"

Pei Feng's body twitched slightly; she took a deep breath and spurred her mount forward without looking back.

Zhang Xibai gave a faint smile, hands behind his back, and said lightly, "Having come to this point, still so obstinate—no wonder the Grand Commander took a liking to you... heh heh, but you'll come begging me. The Black Phoenix Army is your greatest reliance, and also your greatest burden."

Zhang Xibai shook his head, raised his brow, and suddenly a crack split his forehead, revealing a white light radiating dharma eye; he glanced around, and his face instantly darkened.

"There are only 274,895 people inside the city—where are the others? Where are they?"

Zhang Xibai waved his hand forcefully and bellowed, "Investigate thoroughly! Make it clear—where have all the people of Great Marsh Prefecture gone!"

A squad of soldiers, fierce as wolves and tigers, under the leadership of a few civil officials, swiftly charged into the city.

Soon, inside Daze City, there was a commotion of chickens flying and dogs jumping; many people were seized by these soldiers, kicked and dragged to one side for harsh torture.

On the open ground north of the city, Zhang Xibai swept his wide sleeves, and a set of halls shrouded in mist and clouds flew out from his sleeve, landing heavily on the ground with a boom.

It is a complex of six halls front and back, with several side courtyards on the left and right, covering an area of nearly a hundred mu.

Although not as good as Wu Tie's set of third-refined immortal soldier level cave dwelling barracks, the set of halls Zhang Xibai threw out is also a sixth-refined spirit soldier level mansion, covering a hundred mu of halls, which is already the ultimate form of this mansion.

The thirty thousand troops Zhang Xibai brought quickly erected numerous tents to the left and right of the halls, set up a camp, and encircled the mansion in defense.

Afterwards, batches of civil and military officers departed on orders, driving the city's commoners to the front of the mansion, where a large number of officials gathered, registering each person's household records and personal information one by one.

Moreover, officials leading large numbers of troops marched straight out of the city, beginning to measure the vast farmlands outside, registering the types and quantities of crops in those fields, and uniformly entering the land's data into the records.

Furthermore, more than ten military officers led ten thousand troops back onto the barges, after which six medium-sized barges left the city directly, flying toward the western mountains beyond the city.

The Black Phoenix Army troops left behind in the city turned pale…… the western mountains, where the Black Phoenix Army controlled several mines, lay in the western hills.

Those several mines are now the last bit of resources left in the hands of the Black Phoenix Army.

The entire Great Marsh Prefecture was stirred up by Zhang Xibai's arrival.

Wu Tie closed the gates of the barracks, ignoring the disturbance brought by Zhang Xibai; he was merely the State Army Commander, and everything Zhang Xibai was doing were internal affairs of the Great Marsh Prefecture, over which Wu Tie had no authority to interfere, and he could not be bothered to do so.

But early the next morning, as Wu Tie was urging those fellows to train in the Scripture of Pulverized Bones and Myriad Tribulations, he suddenly heard heavy footsteps on the steps outside the north gate of the barracks; not long after, the north gate of the barracks was smashed so hard it shook the mountains.

Huang Lang slightly hunched his waist, stepping with Flowing Wind like a slippery loach, in a flash he reached beside the north gate and gently pushed open the heavy barracks gate.

A burly Commandant in silver armor, leading seven or eight soldiers, stood outside the barracks gate, his eyes blazing as he gazed upon this cave-dwelling treasure.

Seeing the barracks gate open, that Commandant shoved aside Huang Lang, who had opened the gate, and strode into the barracks with large steps.

"General Huo Xiong, I come to deliver the Prefect's oral order—building a city is a good thing, but what does building a city have to do with the state army? General Huo Xiong, are you neglecting your duties?"

"From today onward, the Prefect's Bureau of Works Minister Liu Li will be in charge of city construction; all the laborers in the city will be mobilized by Minister Liu Li, General Huo Xiong—you need not worry about these matters any longer; just focus on training your troops."

Wu Tie rolled his eyes, sitting on the inspection platform's chair, and said coldly, "The Minister of Works taking charge of city construction is fine, but can the Prefect reimburse the supplies and military expenses I spent these past days for building the city?"

The Commandant lightly laughed, looking at Wu Tie, and said calmly, "The Prefect knows General Huo Xiong has this question, so the Prefect wants to ask General Huo Xiong whether he has any accounts, and whether anyone can prove that General Huo Xiong did not embezzle or leak funds internally."

Shaking his head, the Commandant said softly, "If no one can prove General Huo Xiong's accounts are clean… sorry, under Great Jin law, the Prefect truly cannot help you reimburse all the expenses you incurred these past days for building the city."

Chuckling, the Commandant said calmly, "This barracks is quite good… General Huo Xiong, you should hurry up and train your troops; in a few days, the Prefect still has important matters, and will need your service, General Huo Xiong."

The Commandant laughed and turned to leave; he and those dozen or so soldiers acted like thieves, walking while desperately scanning their surroundings, their eyes full of greed.

Such a cave-dwelling treasure of this grade…… what a rare treasure! If one could obtain it and present it to the person behind the Prefect, it would be a great merit…… truly, what a treasure!

Just as the Commandant was delivering Zhang Xibai's oral order to Wu Tie, at the mouth of a valley in the western mountains outside the city, Pei Feng, leading over twenty thousand troops, blocked the path of the six barges.

"This is the private territory of my Black Phoenix Army—get lost!" Pei Feng sat upon the back of a black flame lion, holding a black spear, his hair disheveled, his face grim as he looked at the two third-rank generals standing on the prow of the lead barge.

"Army Commander, the Prefect has heard that this place hides filth and harbors criminals, that someone is harboring fugitives from the Great Marsh Prefecture…… we are merely acting on orders to search; if the Army Commander does not clear the road, do not blame us for using force."

A third-rank general laughed brightly, the bow decks of the six barges opened, and six main cannons slowly extended from the hulls.