Chapter 227: Entering the Mountains to Suppress Them

Shengle City.

The City Defender’s yamen.

Rear residence.

Bedchamber.

On the bed, Siniang deliberately brought her lips close to Zheng Fan’s.

Zheng Fan instinctively turned his face away and leaned back.

Siniang cast him an alluring sideways glance.

“Master, are you disgusted with yourself?”

“Heh. Hehehe. Hehehehehe…”

City Defender Zheng could only laugh foolishly.

“Master, rest a little longer. This servant will go wash up.”

With that, Siniang got out of bed.

After washing and dressing, she walked to the door and pushed it open.

Fresh morning air immediately poured inside, leaving one refreshed and invigorated.

Siniang spread her arms.

Threads shot out from her body one after another, automatically weaving themselves into brilliantly colored butterflies. They looked almost alive as they fluttered gracefully through the air.

Under the eaves ahead, a “bat” was hanging upside down.

Xue San pointed at his own eyes.

Then shouted, “Siniang, what do you see in my eyes?”

Siniang looked at him disdainfully.

Xue San answered his own question.

“Jealousy! Deep, overwhelming jealousy!”

The butterflies began to dissolve, transforming back into needles and thread before slipping into Siniang’s sleeves.

Siniang’s aura had also changed considerably.

She now carried a faintly transcendent air.

“What are you yelling about this early in the morning?”

Xue San dropped from the eaves and landed steadily on all three legs.

“We need to call Master. The prey over there has entered the trap. It’s time to prepare to close the net. Can Master get out of bed right now?”

“Why wouldn’t I be able to get up?”

Zheng Fan walked out of the room.

“Oh! Good morning, Master. This subordinate pays his respects.”

Xue San gave his sleeve a theatrical flick and performed a mock formal salute.

“Entered the trap? News from the mountains?”

“To answer Master, the deadline has arrived. Of the three savage settlements in this stretch of the Tianduan Mountains near us, not a single one has come down.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Are all the preparations complete?”

“We’re only waiting for you.”

“Fine. I’ll put on my armor.”

Siniang had already brought the armor over and began helping Zheng Fan into it.

Previously, they had set the terms for the savage settlements in this stretch of the Tianduan Mountains: pay tribute, provide troops, and send hostages.

Xiong Lie had also been dispatched as an intermediary.

But now the deadline had arrived, and none of the three savage settlements had responded.

“Has Xiong Lie returned?” Zheng Fan asked.

“He has. Came back last night. Said he was nearly detained in the settlement and almost couldn’t escape.”

“What else did he say?”

“He said those savages fail to recognize the heavenly might of the Great Yan Dynasty and dare provoke its royal army. So he intends to serve as our guide, lead us into the mountains to punish them, and teach them a lesson.”

Zheng Fan nodded.

“Can Xiong Lie be trusted?”

Xue San nodded.

“Of course not.

“I followed his group into the mountains. The bastard walked into those settlements like he was going home. He and the settlement chiefs are thick as thieves.

“When he left, the chiefs personally saw him off. Then he found a spot outside the city, smeared some mud on his face, and made himself look like he’d barely escaped after suffering all kinds of hardship.”

“You’ve worked hard.”

“Master, listen to you. All I did was follow them into the mountains and sleep for a night. It was nothing.”

“What about the Tufa Clan?”

“The Tufa Clan is fairly stable.

“Master, the Tufa Clan is fundamentally different from the savages in the mountains. The savages want autonomy. They also want to gain the upper hand in future trade.

“As for Xiong Lie, that fellow wants to help preserve the position of the mountain savages so he can preserve his own position along with them.

“At the end of the day, their roots are still in the mountains.

“The Tufa Clan, on the other hand, lives right here in Shengle City and its outskirts.”

“Is Liang Cheng ready?”

“The army is already assembled. They’re eating breakfast and distributing dry rations.”

“Good.”

The advantage of having extremely capable subordinates revealed itself perfectly at moments like this.

Zheng Fan could act as a completely hands-off boss throughout the entire process, while the people beneath him dug the pit, set the trap, waited for the prey to bite, and then ran over first thing to call him to come see it—as though he had personally caught the prey himself.

It was practically easier than an actor shouting “one-two-three-four-five-six-seven” in place of actual dialogue.

“Master, I’ll go with you,” Siniang said.

“No need.”

Zheng Fan smiled and squeezed Siniang’s hand.

“We have to give them a chance.”

Xue San immediately chimed in.

“Exactly, Siniang! A full man doesn’t know the hunger of a starving one.

“You stuffed yourself until your belly was round, while the rest of us brothers are still starving!”

“I think your skin is itching for a beating.”

Siniang glared at Xue San.

Xue San was so frightened that he immediately jumped three steps backward and waved his hands.

“No, no, no! You’re stronger than me right now. Bullying me wouldn’t prove anything.”

Xue San knew perfectly well that he was no match for Siniang at present.

Zheng Fan patted Siniang’s hand one last time, picked up the long saber lying nearby, and twisted his neck several times.

Unfortunately, there was no satisfying crack.

But that did nothing to spoil City Defender Zheng’s mood.

“San’er, let’s go.”

“Right away, Master.”

…

After riding out of the city, Zheng Fan headed straight for the military camp outside.

The soldiers were already sitting on the ground.

Having finished breakfast, they were resting.

It was somewhat like students before entering an examination hall. Plenty of them used the opportunity to relieve themselves. Once they truly reached the battlefield, no one would let you call a timeout to go to the latrine.

When Zheng Fan arrived, the camp gates were opened from within.

Zheng Fan dismounted and walked past the soldiers.

One thousand Jingnan Army troops would remain in the camp to guard their base.

The rest of the forces, together with the Tufa Clan soldiers—a total of four thousand men—would all enter the mountains.

Zheng Fan spotted Xiong Lie standing beside Liang Cheng.

The moment Xiong Lie saw Zheng Fan, his eyes actually filled with aggrieved tears.

When the Sixth Prince had recommended Xiong Lie, he had said outright that those not of one’s own people were bound to have different intentions and warned Zheng Fan to keep an eye on him.

After all, when the Sixth Prince first took him in, Xiong Lie had merely been a destitute savage slave.

After living well for several years and experiencing what it felt like to stand above others, it was inevitable that a few additional thoughts would begin growing in his mind.

But trying to play schemes and calculations in front of the Demon Kings and come away with an advantage?

That was truly harder than ascending to Heaven.

“My lord! My lord, you must seek justice for this servant! You must uphold justice for this servant!”

Xiong Lie threw himself directly at Zheng Fan’s feet, wrapped his arms around Zheng Fan’s boots, and began sobbing out his grievances.

Well, well.

Did you graduate from the Shanghai Theatre Academy too?

Junior brother, back when your daddy was acting opposite Fatty Xu and the Marquis of Jingnan, you were still here in Shengle City selling pet dogs.

“Old Xiong, you’ve suffered. You truly have.”

“My lord! My lord…”

“I know. I know. Don’t worry. I’ll get justice for you!”

“Many thanks, my lord!”

Zheng Fan turned around.

He drew his saber and pointed it toward the sky.

“I haven’t been here long, but even when I was still in the State of Yan, I heard that the heroes of the Three Jin lands all took pride in hunting the heads of savages in the mountains!

“Today, those savages think they can bully newcomers. They think that because the State of Jin is gone, there are no heroes left in the Three Jin lands!

“They think that because the people of Yan have come, Yan can do nothing to them!

“They think that because barbarians have come, once barbarians leave the desert they no longer know how to fight!

“Today, we’re going to teach those savages in the mountains one thing:

“your daddy will always be your daddy!”

That was the defining feature of commanding a multicultural army.

It was also one of the exhausting parts.

Even during a pre-battle speech, you had to take every faction into consideration, rather like the hosts of a Spring Festival Gala rattling off greetings to every part of the country without being allowed to leave anyone out.

Still, those words genuinely did stir morale.

The thousands of soldiers around him played along enthusiastically.

Led by the simple-minded barbarians, they roared together:

“MIGHTY!”

“MIGHTY!”

“MIGHTY!”

Even the two thousand surrendered Jin troops had fairly good morale at the moment.

Against the Yan people, they had been opponents across the gaming table. They had lost, and that was that.

But against savages?

The Three Jin lands had fought savages for centuries.

Killing savages was a duty that brooked no hesitation.

Even the Tufa Clan joined in.

Tufa Chengji led his clan soldiers in cheering, though every so often his gaze slid toward Xiong Lie, who stood beside Zheng Fan looking excited.

A mocking smile unconsciously appeared at the corner of his mouth.

The Blind Man stood with his back toward Tufa Chengji.

A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth as well.

If someone could have pulled the camera back into a long shot at that moment, the scene might have been titled:

The Smiles of Two Scheming Old Bastards.

“Move out!”

At Zheng Fan’s order, the troops began marching.

During the march, Zheng Fan deliberately moved his horse closer to Liang Cheng.

Liang Cheng understood and likewise drew closer to his Master.

“There won’t be any problems, right?” Zheng Fan asked.

After all, Shengle City had only been in their hands for a week.

Taking this sort of “multinational coalition” out on campaign so soon made accidents easy to imagine.

“There won’t be, Master. Nothing is better than training through battle.”

“Mm.”

When it came to military affairs, Zheng Fan trusted Liang Cheng without reservation.

All of the Demon Kings had joined this campaign except Siniang.

Zheng Fan and Liang Cheng rode together at the front, talking.

Behind them, the Blind Man, A’Ming, and Xue San rode together and talked among themselves.

Fan Li walked alone at the very rear of the column.

“The Demon Child advanced, and Siniang recovered some of her strength too,” Xue San said.

A’Ming replied, “The question is, are you going to imitate the Demon Child or Siniang?

“If you imitate the Demon Child, you’ll have to die first, and after dying you’ll still need to enter Master’s dreams.

“If you imitate Siniang, even if you want to copy her, would Master agree?”

“If they can advance, then so can we!” Xue San said with absolute certainty. “We just haven’t found the method yet.”

“Siniang actually told me her method before,” the Blind Man said. “Now that she’s succeeded, it’s obvious that method was correct.”

“What method?”

“Going a little deeper.”

Xue San frowned.

A’Ming frowned too.

The Blind Man continued, “How about this? Tonight, after we make camp, San’er, cover your face and go assassinate Master in his command tent.

“I’ll step in and repel you, saving Master.

“But you’ll need to cut me in exactly the right place so I bleed a little. Once Master is moved by my sacrifice, I’ll probably advance.”

Merely bootlicking with words was no longer enough.

They had to go deeper.

Xue San rolled his eyes at the Blind Man.

He said irritably, “Hey, do you realize the Demon Child is always right beside Master? At the same level, I probably couldn’t beat him to begin with. Now he’s one level above me.

“You want me to cover my face and go assassinate Master? Aren’t you afraid the Demon Child will just blow me apart?”

A’Ming looked somewhat astonished.

“San’er, that’s actually what you’re worried about?”

“What else should I be worried about?”

“Shouldn’t you be worried about the fact that the Blind Man told you to cover your face before assassinating Master?”

“Hmm?”

“You.

“Whether you cover your face or not—is there any difference?”

“…”

Xue San.

[End of Chapter 227]