Chapter 271: The journey to Pengshan is not far [Seeking monthly votes]

The bandit stronghold was not large, but it was not small either.

There were a total of 432 people, from top to bottom.

After the youths' fierce attack, only three hundred and seventy remained.

The bandits gathered near Heyin were partly commoners who had been forced into banditry by life or other reasons, partly wandering knights who had some martial arts skills and were wanted for committing crimes, and partly retainers kept by local powerful clans.

It sounds unbelievable, but it's true. The bandits are a front; their real purpose is to secretly train troops and build up their armed forces. They're both the players and the referees, so it's no wonder that bandit suppression efforts can't wipe them out completely.

Shen Tang had no idea what kind of bandit den he was running.

One word: Damn!

Kill their leaders and their trusted confidants, then deal with the dissenting henchmen as well. Use swift and decisive action to intimidate the remaining bandits, and then have the "atmosphere-building group" who have infiltrated beforehand give a shout. Under the influence of the herd mentality, the remaining bandits will echo their sentiments. If that still doesn't work—

Shen Tang wouldn't mind killing a few more.

Or, kill them all!

Do bandits who cannot be incorporated still have any reason to exist?

Shen Tang returned to the main hall with her sword, kicked aside the dismembered body of the chief, and sat down in that spot herself.

He ordered the bandits to submit their account books.

He casually flipped through the ledger with a lazy expression, then threw it on the ground. The bandits below, who had been shrugging and shrinking back, shuddered in fright. They considered themselves knowledgeable and had seen all sorts of disgusting and bloody scenes, but even seasoned bandits were too scared to utter a sound at the sight of a young man slitting someone's throat at the slightest provocation, his head flying into the air with blood.

Some people wear their ferocity on their sleeves; these people are often not scary because you're prepared. But some people are born beautiful and charming, smiling and talking to you one moment, and drawing their swords the next, ready to slit your throat the next. They are far more terrifying. Because no one knows when they will suddenly attack, when they will strike to take your life—

Unknown, unpredictable, and without any pattern.

The fear it evokes is doubled.

Shen Tang scoffed: "Three or four hundred people doing this kind of business? Do you even know what it means to be a bandit? Seizing a mountain, slaughtering a few passing caravans, living a life of frugality, and you call that 'banditry'? Tsk, you've really disgraced the 'bandit' profession!"

The bandits: "..."

A hint of confusion appeared on their fierce faces.

bandit……

If you don't do murder and robbery, what do you do?

Isn't that what bandits are like?

Could they possibly come up with some other tricks?

Shen Tang drew his sword and pointed: "Enough, enough. I'll teach you what real bandits are like. Real bandits should fight like bandits! Tear them apart, swallow them up, rob them, kill them! Just like I did to you! Do you understand?"

She didn't speak loudly.

However, by employing literary techniques, the message was clearly transmitted to the ears of every bandit within the stronghold. Before they could even ponder what was amiss, Shen Tang coldly cut off their escape route: "Anyone who didn't understand—you can forget about having ears!"

The intense, almost tangible killing intent pressed down on the bandits, making them afraid to breathe loudly or utter a single word of "no."

It wasn't that they were genuinely convinced; it was simply that one of the bandits couldn't take it anymore and turned to run. But before he could take two steps, two bone-chillingly cold sensations slid across his cheeks, and the next instant, two blood-stained chunks of flesh fell to the ground, getting covered in dust.

When did it start raining chunks of meat from the sky?

The thought flashed through his mind, and excruciating pain spread from his ear throughout his entire body! He screamed! He clutched his ears with both hands, writhing on the ground in agony. Thick, warm blood trickled uncontrollably from between his fingers!

Shen Tang smiled and asked, "Did you understand?"

In the crowd, the unfamiliar member of the "atmosphere group" seized the opportunity and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Boss, you understand!"

People are blindly obedient.

Especially under extreme fear, the ability to think independently is more easily lost. With one "atmosphere group" taking the lead, naturally a second, a third, a fourth... will follow.

Until the sound waves surged and roared across the mountaintop like a tidal wave.

Some of the bandits even shouted until their voices became hoarse and broken.

They were all afraid that if they shouted too softly, they would be ripped off.

Shen Tang seemed to enjoy the sounds, listening for a while before raising her hand to signal them to stop—of course, the real reason was to let the bandits vent their pent-up fear through roaring, which would be beneficial for their later incorporation. She walked around with her sword drawn.

Look at this, look at that.

Shen Tang pretended to ponder, then proposed the "Atmosphere Group," who had been mixed in with the bandits, to become the new leader and manage the group.

The bandit strongholds near Heyin were all well-hidden.

It is not easily found by outsiders.

However, this does not include the bandits themselves.

They had a special way of communicating with each other, and their approximate locations were also clear. Shen Tang used swift and decisive methods to capture the outermost bandit stronghold, and after gathering these bandits, he used them as guides to attack the next bandit stronghold. The operation went very smoothly.

I did two in one day.

She has no plans to expand further for the time being.

Let's deal with these hundreds of bandits first.

"My lord!" The first member of the atmosphere team who had come with Shen Tang quietly approached, clasped his hands in a fist and said in a low voice, "The people have been counted and are all accounted for."

This atmosphere group originally came from a bandit background.

However, under Gong Shuwu's constant training and manipulation, he was subjected to intense daily brainwashing and became extremely obedient to orders. He would carry out any order given by Shen Tang or Gong Shuwu without batting an eye.

Shen Tang initially thought this was a bit silly.

They've trained so hard their brains have atrophied.

But on second thought, this is the right thing to do.

Soldiers only need to obey and carry out military orders. Through high-intensity training, they are trained to develop conditioned reflexes—they must not retreat when it is time to attack, they are brave and fearless, and they are decisive and not greedy when it is time to retreat.

The atmosphere teams that Shen Tang brought over were all "achievements" that Gong Shuwu was quite satisfied with, so it was perfect to have them train the newcomers.

"You should know very well what to do if anyone causes trouble or tries to escape. Kill them without mercy!" He glanced at the booklet, then slammed it shut. "If they're not dead, you'll bring your heads to me!"

"only."

Shen Tang waved for him to leave.

Looking at the bright moon outside the window, Shen Tang wondered how Qi Shan and the others were doing. Because of a severe shortage of manpower, and because most of them were old, weak, women and children, Shen Tang was unable to bring them along to attack the bandit stronghold.

After some discussion, they decided to split up and cooperate.

Shen Tang is highly skilled in combat and leads twenty-five squads to be in charge of two bandit hideouts. The information about these two hideouts was provided by Bai Su, who was originally a thief and had dealings with bandits. Otherwise, it would have been really difficult to find the bandit hideouts.

Gong Shuwu and Chu Yao stayed behind to protect the elderly, women, and children hiding in the valley; Zhao Feng and Qi Shan were responsible for another, larger bandit stronghold; Kang Shi and Yang Duwei, who volunteered to help, led a group of men disguised as a merchant caravan to set up an ambush.

One more chapter, at midnight.

I almost lost track of time chatting with my mom.

PS: This is the revised version.

(End of this chapter)