Chapter 443: Striving to Achieve the KPI (Twenty-Three) [Seeking Monthly Tickets]
The salt merchant was initially puzzled.
After a brief eye contact with Shen Tang, the seasoned businessman immediately understood what she meant. He hesitated for a moment, unsure of Shen Tang and the others' identities. A wrong answer to this question could cost him his life.
Shen Tang noticed his predicament with her sharp eyes.
He said, "Speak your mind, and I will not punish you for your answer. I will keep you safe."
The salt merchant asked anxiously, "Judging from this gentleman's accent, he doesn't seem to be from Shiwu. You intend to...?"
Shen Tang smiled and said, "There's no need to ask that."
The salt vendor immediately wisely chose to keep quiet.
After sifting the answer through his mind again and again, he cautiously spoke: "In response to your question, my lord, based on my many years of business experience in Shiwu, they are mostly shameless and fickle. However, they also have one advantage: they will follow whoever provides them with benefits. If used properly, they can be a powerful tool, but we must use them carefully."
Shen Tang's expression became more playful.
Xu Quan frowned and said, "Whoever feeds you is your mother?"
Seeing the beautiful woman's somewhat unfriendly tone, the salt merchant immediately changed his tune: "Money talks!"
Xu Quan: "..."
Shen Tang burst out laughing.
He felt that this salt dealer was indeed a smuggler who had been making a fortune through smuggling for many years; his mouth was indeed eloquent, and his ability to read people's minds was also quite impressive. However, this person also proved his assessment of Shiwu: one should be careful when using him.
Xu Quan turned around, annoyed and embarrassed, and said, "My lord, this man is glib and smooth-talking; he's clearly not a good citizen."
The next line should be "drag them out and slaughter them".
The salt merchant turned deathly pale. He never expected that his clever trick would lead to his death. Terrified, he kowtowed repeatedly, his head pounding loudly as he cried, "Spare me, generals! I had no intention of offending you..."
Seeing that a red mark was about to be left on his forehead, Shen Tang stopped him from self-harming and comforted him, "We are not bloodthirsty people. We do have an important matter to attend to on this trip. If our identities are exposed, we will have to kill to silence us. I think you are an old merchant who has traveled all over the country. You should know when to be smart and when to play dumb."
The salt merchant quickly replied, "I know, I know, I know."
Shen Tang revealed his purpose.
He said coldly, "If the troops in the valley are truly so weak, I will send someone with you to go back and negotiate with those refugees. If this succeeds, you will have your day. If it fails, you, along with the thousand or so survivors in the valley, will be wiped out!"
Xu Quan immediately thought he had a job.
She looked at Shen Tang expectantly: "My lord~~~"
With his feminine appearance, even if it was unintentional, his words still carried a hint of coquetry. Coupled with his captivating bright eyes, he resembled a puppy with its tail wagging like a propeller. Shen Tang, a sucker for good looks, was completely unable to resist and retreated step by step.
Little did he know that upon hearing these words, Gu Chi's eyes widened in shock, and he hesitated for a long while before falling silent.
He looked at his lord, who was rubbing his forehead with a slight headache, and said, "Alright, alright, I'll leave this matter to you. But to be on the safe side, you should take two hundred elite troops with you. Be careful, and if anything seems amiss, sound the alarm with arrows."
Xu Quan blinked.
I didn't expect it to be so easy to snatch.
Aren't we going to give Bai Su a chance to practice?
Despite his doubts, he had no reason to refuse the military merit he had already obtained. He immediately mustered two hundred elite soldiers, prepared them, and escorted the salt merchants to the valley. Shen Tang was still worried and asked Jiang Sheng to accompany them.
Gu Chi remained silent.
This configuration could easily overwhelm even a small group of so-called "elite" refugees, let alone a force of a hundred or so.
It's truly like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.
Xu Quan's efficiency was unquestionable; he acted swiftly and decisively. Relying on his previous experience in suppressing bandits, he easily destroyed the makeshift watchtower high in the valley and stormed in by force. However, this group of refugees had been entrenched there for a long time and had set up traps, but they were no match for the two hundred heavily armored elite soldiers led by Xu Quan in a well-organized charge.
It's even more brittle than paper.
Jiang Sheng only occasionally dealt with those who launched sneak attacks from the shadows, and otherwise just coasted along. In less than a quarter of an hour, he reached the enemy's lair, capturing a group of able-bodied men and women. The remaining prisoners were either the elderly, women, children, or thin, weak young men.
Each of them carried a simple weapon in their hand.
Calling it a weapon is a bit of an exaggeration.
It was just a pile of polished, rather sharp stones.
There weren't even any decent knives.
Xu Quan rode atop a warhorse clad in full armor, exuding an imposing aura. The heavy armor enveloped his body, obscuring his figure, but he appeared slender and almost feminine compared to the other soldiers in armor.
"Everyone's here?"
The difficulty was too low, and Xu Quan felt it wasn't very interesting.
But you shouldn't refuse free military merits.
Before long, the soldiers brought over several escapees and threw them on the ground: "Reporting to the Commandant, everyone is here." Xu Quan did not reply, but glanced sideways at the trembling salt merchant.
The salt merchant said, "It's all here."
Xu Quan waved his small hand.
"Take the leader away, and gather the rest under guard, awaiting the lord's judgment. Don't worry, if you behave well, not only will your lives be safe, but you'll also have enough to eat. Isn't that much better than squatting in the valley eating grass and peeling tree bark?"
When I barged in, I saw a simple stone pot bubbling with a yellowish liquid that looked like corn porridge at first glance. But upon closer inspection, I realized it was made from ground tree bark, cooked until soft and eaten as porridge.
This stuff is hard to digest but keeps you full for a long time.
For refugees suffering from hunger and cold in the dead of winter, this was a decent option. Xu Quan, seeing this, felt a pang of sorrow—it seemed that refugees across the land, driven to desperation, were all in similar situations. Eating tree bark, wild grass, mud…
The only difference is that when the refugees of Shiwu are driven to desperation, they will grab weapons to kill and plunder, and if that's not enough, they will continue to steal. But when the common people of the inland countries are reduced to this state, they still think about getting through this ordeal and finding a piece of land to cultivate and support their families.
The person in charge was identified by the salt merchants.
They tied up about ten people.
Just as Xu Quan was about to head home, he caught a glimpse of a strange color out of the corner of his eye. He instinctively looked around to search for it, only to realize that the strange color was not minerals, but a person's hair. He became curious, and the salt merchant, who was also quick-witted, rushed into the crowd like a lackey to pull out the target, fawning over Xu Quan with obsequious smiles and bows.
Xu Quan ignored his flattery.
He accepted the order and said, "Take the cloth off his head."
Ignoring the young slave's fierce warning glare, the salt merchant ripped off the cloth, revealing a braid that gleamed eerily purple in the sunlight. The salt merchant said, "This is a slave I bought while traveling, someone who seemed interesting..."
The young slaves were not only good-looking.
This unusual hair color is even more rare and precious.
The salt merchant bought it at a high price, intending to profit from its unusual color. After all, who wouldn't be interested in such extraordinary hair color?
When he was attacked and captured by refugees, the young slaves were also taken and made to do hard labor in the valley every day.
Despite the wind and sun, the boy's appearance was not damaged; instead, it gave him a more captivating and resolute look.
The salt merchant believed that Xu Quan was attracted to the woman's looks.
(*▽*)
Time flies.
It's almost the end of the month again.
(End of this chapter)
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