Chapter 394- Surrendering
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
"Why would I kill you?"
Sun Bin naturally would not do such a stupid thing.
The position and meaning that Shan Hu held amongst the Li Race aboriginals was exceptional. If they really killed him, Yashan City would become mortal enemies with the Li Race. In such a scenario, it would be impossible to recruit them.
"Then release me!"
Since he saw that nothing would happen to his life, Shan Hu grew arrogant once again.
"Release you? Impossible."
Sun Bin has been reading war texts and learned of Zhu Geliang, who captured and released Meng Huo seven times. Naturally, he would not do something so dumb that wasted time and energy.
"You!" Shan Hu was furious, "What exactly do you want?"
"Cooperation!"
"Cooperation?"
"That's right!"
"Hen, our Li Race lives here. We definitely won't cooperate with all you Han people." Shan Hu was defiant. He had a strong sense of distrust toward Han people.
Sun Bin shook his head in regret, "You don't want to cooperate? Then I have no choice but to kill all of you. I really want to see how the old and sick left in the mountains can fight against us."
It was easy for Sun Bin to speak these words, but his description sent a shiver down their spines.
"Hen, kill us if you wish. The Li Race doesn't have any cowards."
Shan Hu remained adamant. Even after knocking into a wall, he did not want to turn back.
"Good, what guts you have there!" Sun Bin nodded. His face suddenly turned cold, "Men!"
"Present!"
Four guards walked into the room.
"Drag them all out and behead them for all to see!"
"Yes, general!"
The guards dragged Shan Hu and the other two out.
Shan Hu was stunned. One moment, this young general was so relaxed. The next, he was so cold and vicious; the speed at which he changed was totally unexpected.
Stupid Han people, they are really too cunning.
A tinge of regret flashed through his heart. However, it was impossible to make him admit his mistake.
"Stop!"
The one that spoke up was Shan Hu's son, Shanzhu.
When he saw that the situation was not right, Shanzhu regained his composure. If no one would speak up, it probably would not be just them. The entire tribe would be dragged into this.
Compared to Shan Hu, Shanzhu was younger and his thinking was more open. Especially after living in the military for a time, the experience made him realize the excitement of life.
Being cooped up in the tribe was like sitting in a well and looking at the sky.
When he was locked up, he kept on thinking, How should the tribe proceed? Is walking out of the mountains really a mistake?
Even if he did not talk about other matters, just the Han people’s Art of War attracted him.
"Speak!"
Sun Bin waved his hand to stop the guards.
He just wanted to scare Shan Hu. He would not really kill them.
Sixty thousand people, Sun Bin was definitely not such a cold killer.
When Shanzhu heard this response, he turned and said, "Father, I feel that we should hear them out before making a decision."
Shanzhu was at a loss; he had to take into account the face of his father.
Shan Hu gave out a loud "hen," which was a silent acceptance of his proposal.
Shanzhu looked toward Sun Bin, "How do we cooperate?"
Shanzhu felt really complicated about Sun Bin. Shanzhu treated him as an enemy, but he also looked at him with respect. Especially after he heard Daiqin say that Sun Bin had high hopes for him. Those words made him feel even more complicated.
"As for the specifics, I have no power to decide. You must speak with the lord."
Sun Bin was only a general. Naturally, he did not have the power to make such decisions. Although the lord had granted him much power, Sun Bin knew his limits and would not cross it.
If not, that would be a huge crime.
Following the rules and power boundaries were the bottom line and rule of every great leader and general.
"Ok. General, please bring us to the Lianzhou Lord."
When in someone else's house, one had to lower one's head.
For an unknown reason, Shanzhu's mind flickered to the memory of when met the Lianzhou Lord.
What would the future hold?
The next day, under the accompaniment of Sun Bin, Shan Hu and Shanzhu teleported to Shanhai City to meet Ouyang Shuo.
After he received the news, Ouyang Shuo waited for them in the main hall.
As they were still prisoners, they entered in a tied up state.
When Ouyang Shuo saw this, he said, "Guests from afar. Men, release their ropes."
"Yes, lord!"
"Marquis?"
Sun Bin was a little worried. He knew how strong Shanzhu was. The moment they untied him, it would be bad if he tried to fight his way out.
"Dont worry!"
Ouyang Shuo smiled with confidence.
Although Shanzhu was strong, Ouyang Shuo had nothing to fear with his current strength. There were even guards waiting outside to help him, just in case.
When the guards heard his orders, they released the prisoners.
As the guards backed off, Shanzhu really thought about taking the lord hostage.
However, when he saw Ouyang Shuo’s stable and large figure, Shanzhu felt a shiver run down his spine. He realized that he could not see through his opponent.
When he saw Shanzhu not cause any problems, Sun Bin heaved a sigh of relief.
Ouyang Shuo did not mind and smiled, "Please sit!"
Both of them sat at the sides, while Sun Bin faced Ouyang Shuo. The four directors were in Leizhou now, so it was not convenient for them to come over.
Since the two of them had entered the main hall, they judged Ouyang Shuo, and they realized that he was not ordinary. After fighting and killing beasts in the mountains, they had acute, beast-like senses.
Based solely on their instincts, they could feel the strength and killing intent from the Lianzhou Lord. It was like they were facing the king of the mountains and forests. They felt totally restricted.
As Ouyang Shuo's memories had returned, the killing aura from his last life had started to influence him. The Yellow Emperor Internal Cultivation Technique locked down this aura.
On the other hand, this killing aura stimulated the devil bloodline.
If Ouyang Shuo was not paying attention, this killing aura would leak out.
With their auras totally suppressed, they lost all their confidence.
They were up against a lord that they could not take lightly.
Before the meeting, Ouyang Shuo did not talk about the Li Race tribes. Instead, he introduced the life of the mountain barbarians and the grassland tribes in Lianzhou.
When Shanzhu and Shan Hu heard his description, they felt awed.
Not talking about the grassland tribes, the mountain barbarians were a tribe equal to the Li Race Tribe. Since the Lianzhou Lord could recruit them, this showed that he was a real ruler.
If it was just as the Lianzhou Lord had stated, getting off the mountains would be a great idea.
Shanzhu was delighted; he felt that his decision was correct.
Looking at the shocked state of the two, Ouyang Shuo added, “If you have doubts, you can move over to Lianzhou Prefecture to have a look and see if what I'm saying is true. After which, we can move onto discussion."
Shanzhu and Shan Hu exchanged glances and stepped out, "We can trust the lord."
"Great!"
Ouyang Shuo smiled.
Sun Bin sat at the side. When he saw how the lord had managed to persuade them so easily, he felt amazed.
From the meeting, it was decided that the more than twenty tribes would move into Yashan City. They would end their hunting lifestyle and become farmers. They would open up settlements on the west of the city with tribes as a unit.
Based on the territory’s strategy, each tribe would be granted free land, farming tools, and a month of grain and resources. If they needed more grain, they could borrow it from the city granary.
At the same time, to take care of those who were not willing to farm, Yashan City built the first subsidiary territory—Ningyuan Town, at the foot of the Five Finger Mountains.
The future Ningyuan Town would act as the sentry post for adventure gamemode players who entered the mountains. Yashan City was too far away, so it was not a convenient place to restock and replenish.
One could look forward to the future prosperity of Ningyuan Town.
Ouyang Shuo naturally would not take all of the sixty thousand troops that surrendered. Most of them would be sent back to their tribes to become farmers.
Keeping in line with the strategy of having an elite army, Ouyang Shuo ordered Sun Bin to form three mountain regiments using the elites out of their forces.
In addition to the current two, they formed a mountain division, which became the 3rd division of the Tiger Legion.
The major general position would temporarily be left empty.
Shanzhu, who Sun Bin favored, became the deputy major general and colonel of the 1st regiment. Meanwhile, Shanying became the colonel of the 2nd regiment.
With Shanzhu’s successful appointment, Shan Hu did not feel as doubtful.
Toward Ouyang Shuo, Shanzhu felt really thankful.
Name: Shanzhu (Gold rank)
Identity: Tiger Legion 3rd division deputy major general, 1st regiment colonel
Occupation: Intermediate General
Loyalty: 75
Command: 55
Force: 85
Intelligence: 45
Politics: 40
Specialty: God given strength (Raise troops' fighting power by 15%)
Cultivation method: Nil
Equipment: Nil
Evaluation: The bravest warrior of the Li Race, born with god given strength.
As expected of someone with a god given talent. Without any training, he was straight away an intermediate general. After Sun Bin taught him for a bit, Ouyang Shuo expected Shanzhu to upgrade to advanced general.
As for the problem of cultivation method, Ouyang Shuo immediately thought about the technique that Er'Lai trained in.
If there was a chance, he would just ask Er'lai to teach Shanzhu.
With this, the South of Qiongzhou Island was finally peaceful.
The population of Yashan City had ballooned to over 160 thousand. Based solely on this battle, Bing'er's merit points had quickly risen; she was now a rank 2 earl.
On the same day, Yashan City became a grade 2 county.
At the same time, the Battle of Leizhou entered a crucial stage.