Upon hearing this, Liu Yang and the others stepped forward and lifted Ulm, who had become a human pig, high into the air. All the people below shouted in unison, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Ulm didn't know what a human pig was. At this moment, he only felt excruciating pain. His severed limbs and the fact that there wasn't a single patch of undamaged skin on his body were constantly ravaging his brain.
When he smelled a foul odor, he turned around in terror, but before he could see clearly, he was thrown into a cesspool filled with a foul stench.
He was already afraid of water, and his ankles had been severed by Lü Tu. In this environment, he struggled to float, trying to avoid suffocating from the urine.
His wide-open mouth became the entrance to feces, and he greedily breathed in while helplessly chewing.
Only then did he truly realize just how cruel Lu Tu's words about wanting him to suffer a fate worse than death were!
He no longer felt hatred for Lü Tu, only endless fear. His aversion to excrement was ingrained in his genes; no matter how hungry a person was, they would never choose to eat excrement.
Not long after, he completely fainted in the latrine.
The people present were all shocked; they had never imagined that such a torturous method existed.
At first, I felt it was cruel, but when I thought about how the other party was a bastard, I felt so satisfied and gratified!
Just one incense stick's time later, Ulm breathed his last. It was unclear whether he died of anger or from overeating. Even after his death, Lu Tu was determined to squeeze every last drop of value out of him.
"Men, retrieve his body and cut off his head. I want to personally deliver it to the Wuchuan Commandery!"
This was the highest-ranking Wuhuan soldier he had ever killed. How could he not go to Yuntian to claim credit? Otherwise, wouldn't all his brothers have died in vain?
Soon, a head that had been slightly cleaned was placed in a basket on the carriage, along with the heads of the more than one hundred Wuhuan cavalrymen from yesterday.
Liu Yang cupped his hands in greeting: "Brother, I'll go with you."
Lu Tu shook his head: "You stay in the village and let Hu Zi take some men and come with me."
"Yes, ma'am!" Liu Hu excitedly led Xiao Hei over for Lü Tu.
The group of 30 riders, led by Lü Tu, headed aggressively towards Wuchuan Prefecture.
On the way, Liu Hu couldn't help but ask curiously, "Brother, how much military merit do you think you could get for the head of Ulm? I reckon you'd be promoted to a seventh-rank official position."
Lu Tu chuckled lightly: "How can an official position be promoted so easily? Yun Tian is just a captain in the Zhechong Prefecture, a fourth-rank military officer. How much can he possibly promote me?"
“Then we’re really getting a bad deal out of our military merits. I heard that every time we hand over our military merits, the Commandant’s Office reports them to Longcheng or the imperial court, and we get a hundred times the reward. It would be better if we just handed over our military merits to Longcheng directly, so that Yun Tian doesn’t embezzle any of them.”
Lu Tu shook his head: "Tiger, you are still too young and do not understand how things work. Let me ask you, if you gain military merit and do not report it to me, but report it directly to Yun Tian, what do you think I will think?"
Liu Hu scratched his head: "Big brother, you'll definitely think I'm not loyal. You're the one who promoted me, but I'm ignoring you. You'll definitely abandon me in the future."
Having some sense of logic, Lu Tu continued, "That's right. Since you know this, how could Yun Tian not know? Right now, it seems that Yun Tian values me highly and has even petitioned the court to reduce our corvée labor and taxes, but it's all bullshit!"
If I can't bring him military merit, and can't help him defend Aiying Mountain and Gubei Peak Pass, he would have eliminated me long ago! Do you think our military strength is strong now? Let's not even talk about the fact that our entire village only has a little over 1,800 people, but the Wuchuan border army alone has 50,000! Yun Tian can deal with us as easily as crushing an ant.”
Liu Hu then realized how foolish his idea was, and scratched his head with an embarrassed expression: "Brother, I misspoke."
Lu Tu laughed and said, "It's alright. It doesn't matter if you say the wrong thing. We're not high-ranking officials in the imperial court. As soldiers, it's okay as long as we don't do anything wrong."
"Brother, I understand."
It was rare to encounter bandits or brigands along the official road from Kuishan Village to Wuchuan. It seemed that these guys had long since moved away and chosen to stay far away from this place, leaving them nowhere to even plunder. Lü Tu also felt a little regretful.
Before long, they arrived at the south gate of Wuchuan, where the familiar Jia Dazhuang was still on guard.
From a distance, Jia Dazhuang ordered his men, "Go and bring the tea."
When Lü Tu walked in, he looked at Jia Dazhuang with a smile and said, "It's been a long time, Brother Jia, you look quite well."
Jia Dazhuang cupped his hands and smiled, "Thank you for your praise, sir. I haven't seen you for a while, and I've missed you terribly. Please have a glass of water first."
As he spoke, he took the tea from his subordinate and served it to Lü Tu with both hands.
The local residents and merchants who were entering the city also stopped to watch when they saw this scene.
"Is this the Benevolent and Brave Captain Lü Tu? He's quite the imposing figure, having Captain Jia personally serve him tea!"
"Of course! This is a hero of our Wuchuan border army! Every time the Wuhuan dogs invade, they are slaughtered by Commandant Lü. Look at the carriage behind, isn't there a Wuhuan dog's head on it?"
Only then did everyone focus their attention on the Wuhuan head. As commoners under the Fubing system, they naturally understood that these were all military merits, which could not only be exchanged for piles of silver, but also lead to promotions.
Lu Tu didn't stand on ceremony, took the tea and drank it all in one gulp. As usual, he took out a few taels of silver and handed them to Jia Dazhuang: "Please have some tea, brothers."
"Thank you, sir."
They only received one string of cash a month for guarding the gate, which could be exchanged for only one tael of silver. In previous years, however, they earned a lot more by guarding the city gate.
However, after Zhou Taishan's downfall, Yun Tian conducted a thorough investigation into corruption within the border army. If they dared to withhold the merchants' entry fees, they would not only be unable to continue their duties, but would also face certain death.
After the start of spring, Wuchuan City was indeed much more lively. Listening to the various hawking sounds around him, Lü Tu suddenly remembered something important.
Ten days ago, he had promised Wang Miaoling that he would help her deal with the difficulties caused by the elders in the clan. However, a fire broke out in Kuishan Village that night, and then there were all sorts of troublesome things to worry about. Lu Tu put the matter out of his mind!
Oh no, this is the first time Lu Tu has truly broken his promise. I wonder how Wang Miaoling handled it? Did she manage to protect her family business?
After much deliberation, Lü Tu decided to first go to the Commandant's Office to collect his military merits, and then seek Wang Miaoling's help to stand up for her.
After being informed of his arrival at the Commandant's residence, Lü Tu met Yun Tian and a young man in a side hall. On the chopping board next to them were piles of various gold and silver utensils, which were quite valuable.
"Young Master Wang, you are too kind. You have just taken charge of the Wang family and have already sent such a generous gift. I myself have received many favors from Grandfather Wang in the past. I am sure that under your management, the Wang family's business will flourish!"
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