Chapter 149: Pingchuan's Intent, Tieniu Boards the Ship

Listening to the thunderous sound of hooves gradually approaching, in an instant, six hundred thousand cavalrymen arrived around Fei Yu's encampment, tightly surrounding the entire base like an iron bucket.

The warhorses neighed and their hooves rose, slamming heavily into the ground, echoing in the hearts of the twenty thousand soldiers inside the camp. Iron Bull looked at the troops brought by Jiang Pingchuan.

Everyone knew that the elite cavalry Jiang Pingchuan brought from the royal capital this time consisted entirely of brave and skilled fighters, with the entire Jingwei Battalion taking the vanguard.

If Fei Yu's soldiers were to recklessly and directly go to war with Jiang Pingchuan here, Jiang Pingchuan would end this civil strife with overwhelming speed in the shortest possible time. Holding the decree of life and death, Jiang Pingchuan could walk sideways through the frontier city without exaggeration.

The reason why other generals here were currently reluctant to submit to Jiang Pingchuan was, firstly, that upon his arrival at the frontier, Jiang Pingchuan had severely injured Tie Shilin before directly killing Fei Yu. Having not yet showcased his combat capabilities on the battlefield, relying solely on the decree of life and death to lord it over everyone inevitably sparked some internal resentment.

Every warrior on the frontier held a pride of their own; they only knew that they had all been baptized by brutal battles. Whether Jiang Pingchuan—someone who lived in the inner city—could live up to the title of the General Conquering the West remained to be tested by war.

"A total of five. From now on, you'd better obediently crawl out yourselves. Numbers do not make an army; elite troops are the true instruments of war. Slaughtering tens of thousands of soldiers makes not the slightest difference to me."

Jiang Pingchuan turned back to ask Youlan a few questions, then turned around to address the tens of thousands of soldiers who had stopped their unrest. Out of Fei Yu's entire garrison, only forty thousand had not risen up in rebellion against him.

Jiang Pingchuan sneered as he looked at the sixteen thousand defiant soldiers before him. If he could not tame them, Jiang Pingchuan felt he would simply have to harden his heart and execute all sixteen thousand of them right on the spot.

Jiang Pingchuan looked at the seething mass of sixteen thousand soldiers and gently waved his hand. Long Heng and Xia Ha carried over an hourglass and placed it on the military command platform. Five cavalrymen drew their sabers and stood at the front of the platform, their cold eyes waiting for the five violators of military discipline to come and meet their deaths.

Beside the sand vat, soldiers in front of Jiang Pingchuan began using tools to toss up flying sand, while another soldier scattered grain into the air to mix with the grit as it fell to the ground.

Nearby, a blazing furnace roared. Soldiers continuously threw obsolete weapons into the fire, followed by chunks of gleaming silver currency. Molten liquid silver and iron flowed out from the furnace's channel into an iron bucket ahead.

As the sixteen thousand soldiers watched their own rations and military pay disappear before their eyes, the murmurs within the crowd grew noisy. Finally, someone stopped protesting against Jiang Pingchuan; some began to denounce the five culprits, while others shouted harshly, demanding that the five go up and accept their deaths rather than let Jiang Pingchuan waste their grain and pay.

At this moment, Jiang Pingchuan noticed that behind the soldiers—presumably among the remaining four thousand troops—a path was being pushed open through the crowd of sixteen thousand. Jiang Pingchuan watched as two soldiers supported a haggard soldier covered in wounds, slowly walking toward him.

The man being carried raised his head to look at Jiang Pingchuan, shook his shoulders to signal the two supporting him to let go, and then cupped his fists in salute to Jiang Pingchuan.

"General Pingchuan, I am Yuan Hao. These four thousand soldiers are willing to follow General Pingchuan into battle, to fight the Northwest Army to the bitter end."

The man who called himself Yuan Hao said in a deep voice. When Jiang Pingchuan suddenly heard Yuan Hao's name, a scene flashed through his mind: Nalan Xiang, the courtesan of the Hundred Flowers Pavilion in Yangcheng, Yin-Yang City. Jiang Pingchuan carefully observed Yuan Hao standing before the command platform and smiled, nodding.

"Why? Do you not care about the lives of your five brothers?"

Jiang Pingchuan asked curiously, looking at Yuan Hao. When the commotion first started in Fei Yu's camp with people demanding vengeance for their general, Jiang Pingchuan had noticed that not every soldier wanted to avenge Fei Yu.

This fellow in front of him was someone he hadn't noticed at all initially. Seeing that the wounds on Yuan Hao's wrists and ankles were still bleeding, Jiang Pingchuan deduced that this guy had just been released from the camp's prison.

"Hmph! Fei Yu's character was vile. Relying on his backing, he wreaked havoc in the frontier. I was originally one of his deputy generals, but because I opposed him everywhere, he beat me into a severe condition and locked me in a dungeon to be tortured day after day. Fortunately, General Pingchuan arrived, and hearing that the General killed that Fei Yu has truly brought me great joy."

Yuan Hao cupped his fists, his face filled with anger. It was clear that Yuan Hao had suffered immensely under Fei Yu's hands. Presumably, the four thousand soldiers who had not moved initially were Yuan Hao's own men.

"Heh, good. Welcome aboard. If you don't mind, you may serve as my vanguard officer."

Jiang Pingchuan looked at Yuan Hao with a smile. Yuan Hao froze, staring at Jiang Pingchuan, thinking he had misheard. But when he saw Long Heng and Xia Ha by Jiang Pingchuan's side wearing vanguard armor and walking toward him, Yuan Hao's eyes turned red, and he suddenly dropped to one knee, momentarily speechless.

He had not expected Jiang Pingchuan to be so bold and straightforward. Despite his own brief and simple explanation, Jiang Pingchuan harbored not the slightest suspicion and immediately appointed him as vanguard.

Although the post of vanguard was not the highest, it was an indispensable and vital role in warfare; only a commander who deeply trusted someone would assign them as vanguard. As Yuan Hao knelt on one knee, the four thousand soldiers behind him followed suit in unison, dropping to the ground with lowered heads.

"Thank you, General..."

The four thousand soldiers spoke those three words simultaneously. Jiang Pingchuan smiled and turned back to look at Tie Bull and the others standing behind him, and Tie Bull smiled back slightly.

Jiang Pingchuan possessed his own charismatic resolve; Tie Bull had sensed this the very moment he first met him. Wang Man grinned broadly with his thick eyebrows, while Long Heng and Xia Ha helped Yuan Hao up from the ground and escorted him onto the command platform.

The moment Yuan Hao moved, the four thousand soldiers behind him quickly sprinted to form a circle, enclosing the sixteen thousand main troops in the middle, holding their blades and spears while coldly eyeing their former comrades.

Faced with the sudden defection of Yuan Hao and the four thousand soldiers, some among the sixteen thousand could no longer remain calm. Seeing Jiang Pingchuan continuously mixing their rations with sand and melting down their silver pay, some soldiers felt as though their hearts were being carved out; it had been a very long time since they last saw their military pay.

"Active informants will be rewarded with ten catties of silver."

Jiang Pingchuan shouted to the soldiers who were losing their composure. No sooner had his voice fallen than a man fiercely attacked a soldier beside him, hoisted the man onto his shoulder, threw him to the ground before the command platform, and cupped his fists at Jiang Pingchuan.

"General Pingchuan, four others are hiding in the army. I know of one among them, please forgive me."

The man said helplessly in a deep voice to Jiang Pingchuan. Jiang Pingchuan smiled at him and waved his hand; a soldier immediately stepped forward to hand ten catties of silver to the man. The man took only a single piece of the silver, leaving the rest untouched, then drew his own steel saber and walked to the outer perimeter to join the encirclement of the sixteen thousand troops.

"Tie him up and carve him to pieces. I've long heard that Marshal Tie wields a great axe and practices a fine blade. I wonder if I might trouble the Marshal to lend a hand and wield the knife."

Jiang Pingchuan looked at Tie Bull behind him. Tie Bull smiled back at him; Jiang Pingchuan's intention was crystal clear—he wanted to drag him into the muddy waters, which was precisely what Tie Bull hoped to see.

He had actually been worried that Jiang Pingchuan wouldn't pull him onto his warship. Now that Jiang Pingchuan was asking him to punish the offender before them, it matched Tie Bull's own desire. Since Jiang Pingchuan intended to win him over, drawing his own knife meant he would stand on the exact same boat as Jiang Pingchuan.

"Such a minor task is a pleasure for Tie. My blade-work is unrefined, so I hope General Pingchuan won't laugh."

Tie Bull drew the small blade from his waist, chuckled as he leaped off the command platform, and approached the soldier tied to the pillar. With a few rapid flashes of cold steel, the soldier's clothes were completely shredded.

Tie Bull licked his lips and slowly carved a slice from the soldier's shoulder, peeling away a layer of bloodied flesh and skin. The soldier bared his teeth, wailing and begging for mercy, but Tie Bull ignored him as if he hadn't heard, rapidly cutting several more times until blood stained the soldier's entire body.

The surrounding soldiers felt a chill run through their bodies. Jiang Pingchuan had brutally beaten Fei Yu to death alive, and now Tie Bull was following in Jiang Pingchuan's footsteps, using this excruciatingly cruel method to carve up the captive before them.

"If you know the pain, name the other four, and I can give you a quick death."

Tie Bull glanced at the soldier, whose eyes were already glazed over from the agony, and said in a cold voice. The soldier moved his lips, whispering in a voice no louder than a mosquito's. With a single slash, Tie Bull grazed the soldier's cheek, and one of the soldier's ears detached from his body and fell to the ground.

"Ah..."

"I'll talk... I'll talk..."

The soldier screamed almost hysterically. Tie Bull let out a cold laugh, and Jiang Pingchuan looked at Tie Bull with great satisfaction; by drawing his blade, Tie Bull had clearly understood his intent.

When he came from the royal capital, Uncle Duo Ze had told him that Tie Bull in the frontier city was a dependable man. Upon arriving at the frontier, Jiang Pingchuan's very first move was to strike at Tie Shilin.

Part of it was indeed to discipline Tie Shilin, but the other part was to test what was truly on Tie Bull's mind. Through a few days of observation, Jiang Pingchuan found that Tie Bull seemed somewhat wary of him.

The decree of life and death he carried was perhaps precisely what concerned Tie Bull. Having Tie Bull execute the punishment just now was Jiang Pingchuan's way of extending an olive branch, signaling to Tie Bull in this manner that he was willing to pull him onto his warship—and Tie Bull had not let Jiang Pingchuan's goodwill go to waste.

With the soldier's confession, Jiang Pingchuan successfully rooted out the remaining four individuals. True to his word, the soldier who betrayed his accomplices was granted a quick death as Tie Bull swept a blade across his throat, ending his life. The other four knelt before the command platform.

Jiang Pingchuan drew a blade and laid it before Youlan. Youlan looked fearfully at the four men on the ground, then hesitantly gazed at the knife in Jiang Pingchuan's hand. Jiang Pingchuan shook the sharp blade in his grip and looked at the nervous Youlan.

"There is nothing to be afraid of. Those who bullied you must pay. Kill them, and trade their blood for your rebirth. Go."

Jiang Pingchuan looked softly at Youlan and said. Youlan hesitated, muttered an acknowledgement, picked up the sharp knife from Jiang Pingchuan, and slowly walked down the command platform to stand before the four men.

"Hehehe, little girl, your body was really tight down there, made us brothers feel damn good. Do you miss that feeling..."

"Ah..."

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you..."

One of the soldiers had sneered and teased the nervous Youlan. Who would have thought that while Youlan was still harboring trauma from these men and felt deep hesitation about killing someone, the man's provocation shattered her fear, replacing it with madness. She fiercely raised the sharp knife in her hand and hacked mercilessly at the soldier—one slash, two slashes, without the slightest intention of stopping.

She did not stop until that soldier had been hacked into minced meat by Youlan, panting heavily as she turned toward the next target. Seeing Youlan covered in blood with a ferocious expression, that soldier was terrified, but Youlan was not.

Ignoring his pleas for mercy, she drove her knife straight into the man's crotch and violently twisted it. A gush of dark blood soaked the man's lower garments, and Youlan stabbed downward, blow after blow, exclusively targeting the crotches of the remaining three men.

Jiang Pingchuan felt a chilly wind blowing across his back, and the others behind him felt much the same way. Long Heng shriveled up entirely, swallowing hard as he watched Youlan torture the remaining three men to death, slash by slash.

Presumably, in their next lives, these three would vow to become women to avoid having someone drive a blade into their most painful spots, stroke by stroke. The terrifying pleasure brought by that torment before death had already twisted the three men's expressions into the likeness of a stroke victim.