The Huai Shuo leaders, led by Deng Lang, were immediately impressed by Lü Tu's magnanimity and asked curiously, "Lord Lü, are you really willing to let us return to Huai Shuo?"
Lu Tu said sternly, "Stop babbling on, you grown man! If you don't want to leave, then leave your life here!"
Nie Yun shouted, "Get out of here now!?"
These words were like heavenly music to the ears of the Huai Shuo border troops. They bowed and saluted Lü Tu, and quickly helped each other to their feet.
But they were also sensible, knowing to leave their weapons and warhorses behind, and stumbled towards Huai Shuo.
"Sun Kuang, take some men and clean up the battlefield!"
"Yes, sir!"
After they had gone some distance, Nie Yun finally couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Brother, isn't this like letting a tiger return to the mountain? It would be better to just recruit them into our ranks. At worst, we'd just have to eat more food."
Lu Tu raised an eyebrow: "You've said everything, kid. Didn't you just say that even if we brought them under our control, they would not only be full of bad habits but also have no loyalty whatsoever?"
"I...I think we should still kill them."
Lu Tu patted him on the shoulder and said earnestly in a voice just loud enough for those around them to hear, "Do you know what it means to subdue the enemy without fighting?"
"don't know."
"Then let me ask you this: if I were killed while you were fighting alongside me, and you all returned to the village unharmed, what would others think of you?"
These words really put Nie Yun in a difficult position. Seeing the people around him looking at him with ill intent, Nie Yun stubbornly said, "I will choose to fight and die with you, my elder brother!"
Lu Tu snapped, "Stop your damn nonsense! I'm asking you what people will think of you after you return to the village unharmed. Answer me!"
At this moment, Xiao Zhong in the crowd understood what Lü Tu meant and knew that Lü Tu was instructing Nie Yun to help him grow quickly, so he did not interrupt.
Nie Yun's face turned bright red. Clearly, this question was a bit beyond his level. Even just imagining it made him feel extremely ashamed.
Tuoba Yue reminded him, "Brother Nie, don't worry about it. Just answer the questions asked by the master."
Nie Yun nodded gratefully to him, then shouted at the top of her lungs, "People will call me a traitor, I'll be looked down upon my whole life, they'll point fingers at me behind my back, ostracize me, and even suspect that I was able to return to the village unscathed because of some favor from the local government!"
Hearing this, Lü Tu laughed: "That's a very good answer. Now let me ask you, do you think they'll have a good life after they go back to Huai Shuo?"
Nie Yun's ashamed eyes instantly lit up with a sharp light: "I understand, brother! If we let all the Huai Shuo soldiers go back like this, they will inevitably be implicated, so there's a high probability they'll come back?"
Lu Tu shook his head: "You're wrong. They most likely won't come back; they'll escape to other places!"
"Why?"
Lu Tu sighed and said, "You still don't understand human nature. I'll teach you when I have time. Take your people back first."
Lu Tu then cupped his hands to the villagers who had arrived last and said, "Thank you all for coming to help me today. I am deeply grateful for this kindness. Today, I will give each of you an extra pound of grain!"
"Thank you, sir!" The villagers were also very happy. They were rewarded every time they came to help Lü Tu, and they decided in their hearts that they would come again next time!
Nie Yun couldn't understand the logic behind it. Why would Lü Tu let these people go even though he knew they would escape? Even keeping them here as military slaves would be a form of assistance.
Lu Tu noticed his confusion but didn't intend to tell him, because he didn't know Deng Lang's identity.
Deng Lang was a key figure in why Lü Tu did this!
After Lü Tu and Xiao Zhong reunited, they left the others behind and began to talk in hushed tones.
“Sir, if you let the Huai Shuo border troops go back, they naturally won’t dare to do it again. I understand that you want Deng Lang to play a role at this time, but how can you believe that Deng Lang can do it?”
Lu Tu lowered his voice and said, "Because the opposing commander, Wei Hanshan, was killed by Deng Lang!"
Xiao Zhong was overjoyed upon hearing this: "Is that so? Deng Lang has truly made a great contribution this time!"
Lu Tu added, "Not only that, after stabbing Wei Hanshan to death, he took an arrow and stuck it into Wei Hanshan's forehead, saying that I killed him."
Xiao Zhong immediately understood the key points and exclaimed in surprise, "Deng Lang is brave and resourceful, and he doesn't covet credit. He's a rare talent. No wonder you trusted him so much, sir, that he could bring back that group of people."
Lu Tu laughed and said, "To be honest, I didn't expect Deng Lang to have such cunning and courage. Others may not know, but I can see clearly that my arrow did not hit Wei Hanshan at all. Now that he has won the merit of beheading a general, the day he returns with the surrendered soldiers will be the day he becomes a general under my command!"
"Congratulations, sir, on gaining another excellent general! If it weren't for your discerning eye in placing Deng Lang as a pawn that day, we wouldn't have been able to break the deadlock so easily and buy us a lot of time."
Lu Tu turned back with a deep gaze: "I'm afraid that after this, Zhao Wuyou will not act rashly, but once he does, it will be with the force of thunder!"
Xiao Zhong agreed with Lü Tu's assessment, calculating, "At our current construction speed, we can complete the walls of Kuishan Village within ten days at most. Even if an army of ten thousand comes, we can hold our ground. If Zhao Wuyou dares to defy the world and send a large force to attack..."
Lu Tu nodded: "At that time, we can only rely on Yun Tian. If he doesn't come to my aid, I will abandon Wuchuan and flee south. At worst, I will abandon the mess here. Anyway, he will lose control of Wuchuan by then, and no one will submit to him."
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