Chapter 398: The Ten Crows' Calamity (Part 8) [Author's Note]
"They've all been captured?"
Shen Tang wiped the remaining crimson from the sword with a handkerchief.
The extinguished campfire was relit.
However, this time it was "hope" that was ignited.
Xu Quan reported, "Reporting to my lord, all the villains have been captured. Seventy-nine were alive, and the rest were executed."
These bandits were all relatives of neighboring tribes.
They are related by marriage and have a strong ability to work together.
However, Xu Quan wasn't necessarily against capturing them alive. He'd capture those who could be captured alive, and kill those who couldn't be captured on the spot, dragging their bodies back as a form of closure. He feared nothing but his lord writing to his cousin to complain.
"Only seventy-nine survivors?"
Upon hearing this, Xu Quan immediately wore a bitter expression.
Capturing someone alive is much more troublesome than killing them.
These bandits were fierce and savage, and it took him a lot of effort to control them, including but not limited to breaking their limbs and dislocating their jaws to prevent them from biting their tongues and committing suicide... Seeing his pitiful state, Shen Tang took back what she was about to say.
She handed the bandits over to Xu Quan.
He then walked toward the group of women.
Most of them were terrified, and in the darkness of the night, they hadn't seen what was happening. They only knew that a fight had broken out and then quickly returned to silence. A short while later, footsteps approached. The woman on the outermost edge nervously tried to hide in the crowd, her expression tense, her dark eyes filled with silent pleading and fear.
Before long, sobbing began.
Until a clear, unfamiliar voice sounded overhead.
"Are you villagers from Sangouli Village?"
The owner of the voice leaned closer before one could barely make out the person's face. The face was radiant and bright, with a natural smile playing on the lips—a clean and beautiful face. When the eyes were deliberately curved upwards, they exuded a natural sense of approachability.
The man turned his head and shouted.
"Wen Shi, bring me a torch!"
"Here it comes." Xu Quan handed over a torch by hand instead of throwing it to him, his face somewhat sour.
The orange-red firelight softened Shen Tang's face, and the woman being questioned subconsciously relaxed and nodded. Shen Tang said, "That's good, we didn't get the wrong person. You're all safe now. I'll untie you in a bit, but don't wander off. I'm not familiar with this place, and if you run into bandits, there might not be another me to rescue you."
We need to be upfront about the unpleasant things.
Shen Tang now only has two people.
If someone were to be so frightened upon gaining their freedom that they would run away in terror, Shen Tang would be unable to find anyone to help them.
After hesitating for a moment, the women nodded.
A moment later, Shen Tang severed the ropes binding them with a single sword stroke and found the dried meat carried by the bandits, which he distributed among the group. After such a harrowing experience, warm food was a welcome comfort…
After arranging all this, I could always hear their soft sobs and whimpers, a sound of relief after surviving the ordeal.
Shen Tang felt sorry for and sympathized with their plight, so at this moment he could only sit quietly by the campfire and not disturb them too much.
Some emotions need to be processed slowly on their own.
"benefactor……"
Shen Tang looked up at the sound.
A disheveled woman, her face still wet with tears, held a ceramic bowl in both hands. The bowl contained a steaming bowl of stewed dried meat broth, and she looked at him cautiously. Shen Tang asked, "Is this for me?"
The woman nodded.
Shen Tang accepted the clothes without ceremony. Seeing that the woman had few warm clothes, was covered in patches, and had dried bloodstains on the front of her clothes, he said, "The wilderness is windy and cold. If you feel cold, take them from the bandits."
Whether the bandits freeze to death or not is not important.
Shen Tang also planned to use them as a "chicken" to scare the monkeys; they were going to die anyway, so it didn't matter whether they died sooner or later. Besides, these bandits were strong and healthy; even if they were stripped naked and left to freeze overnight, they wouldn't easily die. There was no need for sympathy.
The woman said nothing, but staggered back. Shen Tang took a sip of the bland meat soup, chewed the gamey meat, and swallowed it with difficulty, ignoring the increasingly pitiful cries around her.
When the ground began to tremble noticeably, the rescued women, like a flock of frightened birds, were terrified, their hair standing on end, their eyes darting frantically towards the source of the tremors. Meanwhile, the two heroes who had rescued them appeared completely calm.
They gradually calmed down and put their minds at ease.
Finally, the sound of horses' hooves drew near.
Hundreds of soldiers arrived, led by their leader. Bai Su jumped off his horse and exclaimed, "My lord! We are late!"
Shen Tang said, "It's not too late, it's just right."
With his own men arriving, Xu Quan breathed a sigh of relief, withdrew his martial arts soldiers, removed his martial armor, and handed over the heavy responsibility of escorting the bandits to the troops brought by Bai Su. He finally had a chance to catch his breath.
Bai Su looked at the bandits and the women they had abducted, and how could she not guess? The tragic scene of Sangouli Village flashed through her mind like a series of images, and her beautiful eyes flashed with intense disgust.
He raised his hand and waved: "Take all of these people back."
As for the rescued women, they went back to the administrative center with them, and they would think about how to settle them later.
On the way back, Bai Su probed Shen Tang's intentions.
"My lord, what should we do with these bandits?"
Bai Su frowned with some worry.
What are you worried about?
Worried that her lord was too kind and gentle, Bai Su demoted these bandits to do heavy work. This was a fair and just punishment, but the fact that they were still alive and wasting food after committing so many evil deeds made Bai Su feel a tightness in her chest. Killing them directly would be too easy for them... It seemed like she was losing out no matter how she thought about it.
In the end, you only end up making yourself angry.
Shen Tang countered, "What does Shao Xuan intend to do?"
Bai Su remained silent: "...I can't think of anything right now."
Shen Tang sighed inwardly.
Bai Su, after all, was a professional thief with top-notch skills, but she only killed a few people at a time, and her methods lacked a certain bloodthirstiness and cruelty, failing to intimidate... She was too merciful. Shen Tang said, "Then think about it now, we have plenty of time..."
Bai Su: "..."
She wavered back and forth between speaking the truth and conforming to her lord's consistent style.
Finally, he muttered under his breath, "...In short, we can't let them die too easily, but to use their own methods against them would go against our lord's reputation for benevolence. It's really not worth damaging our lord's name for these filthy things..."
Shen Tang: "..."
After Bai Su became familiar with Gu Chi and the others, she became increasingly adept at passing the buck. What's the difference between saying something and not saying anything at all?
Bai Su then asked, "...Then, should we kill the Jingguan?"
Use this method to intimidate them and let those bandits who run rampant in Longwu County know that Longwu County has a new master, a bad temper, and is not to be trifled with! Anyone who dares to rob and kill in Longwu County should be prepared to never return.
"Build a mound of skulls?"
Shen Tang looked at the night sky and gave a cold, mocking laugh.
"Do bandits deserve such merciful methods?"
Bai Su: "???"
Shen Tang said in a chilling tone, "They deserve better! What's worse than death is living a life worse than death!"
Establish your prestige by stepping on your enemies.
This is something she's good at.
(=`=；)ゞ
The way Yuewen operates is truly baffling.
When I woke up from my afternoon nap, I saw a bunch of messages talking about new perks for female-oriented content. I thought it was a good thing, so I went to check it out, but the more I read, the more I realized it was a disaster.
Those in the group should know what happened today.
Upon closer examination, the content is indeed quite interesting.
They're practically posting notices saying they don't welcome female-oriented novels that have been serialized for over a year and have more than a million words; their plots and lengths are now on par with websites like Jinjiang.
Jinjiang has a large amount of paid traffic, but what about Yuewen's female-oriented section?
Can a female fan on Qidian.com or Xiaoxiang.com be defeated in a fight?
Perfect attendance is no longer an option; only those in the top 400 receive benefits.
Are only 400 books on Yuewen's female-oriented platform eligible for benefits?
It's not that it's bad to release new books frequently, nor is it that I can't write short stories, but with this basic audience base, the risk of releasing a new book is greater than being reborn. The so-called new welfare list will become a paradise for studios to fleece in less than two months. How can legitimate authors expect to make a living?
Don't even think about taking a sip of the spoiled, leftover soup.
Welfare?
Would you dare offer such great benefits to male-oriented content?
PS: Let me translate this for you, using the book "Resign from the Emperor" by Shiitake Mushroom as an example—
"Retreat, My Emperor" was first published on July 15th last year, and the contract was signed in July as well. For the first 12 months after signing, readers could enjoy new benefits; after that, nothing happened. Now, only May, June, and July remain. Starting in August, there will be no new benefits, no monthly ticket bonus (no more sports tickets needed), and no perfect attendance bonus (no more racking your brains to update for perfect attendance)...
Only books serialized within 12 months of signing a contract will receive benefits, which is roughly equivalent to a million pages. In other words, books exceeding this length are not welcome... The new benefits list is extremely friendly to studios that generate hype, haha.
(End of this chapter)
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