Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 535 - 499: Robbing the Tujue, Sharing the Spoils!

Chapter 535: Chapter 499: Robbing the Tujue, Sharing the Spoils!

"I heard the conditions offered by the Shuofang Army this time are quite generous!"

"I’ve found out that the Shuofang Army has always been in name only with the Lingwu Army. In the end, it’s the balancing act of the Kaihuang era, and with Zhang San in the Lingwu Army, he will definitely side with them, so the Shuofang Army here is anxious. Otherwise, would they give us so many benefits?"

Everyone felt that made a lot of sense.

However, at this moment, many noticed a plump figure also mixed among the other martial artists within the temporarily established camp of the Shuofang Army.

A few familiar faces immediately approached, asking, "Isn’t that White... "

"Shh—"

White Cloud turned around to see someone greeting him and immediately quieted everyone.

Someone curiously asked, "Why have you come"

White Cloud exhaled and said, "Originally, the accounts of the Wind Divine Hall were handled by me, but now the spouse of the Third Hall Master occasionally comes over too, and I really don’t dare anymore. Didn’t I hear there was easy pickings here"

Everyone knew that White Cloud had never missed an opportunity to profit at the Wind Divine Hall.

But White Cloud was generous, and the money he gained was usually squandered on food and drink.

If anyone faced difficulties, he would also dig into his own pockets to help.

Over the years, White Cloud’s gains from corruption were such that he likely kept half for himself and the other half genuinely helped other martial artists.

So everyone knew White Cloud always took his cut, but nobody minded.

This was also why White Cloud had been the Steward of Wind Divine Hall for so many years without any trouble.

But what everyone understood even better was that Feng Bubian had given Feng Wenqing to marry into the Wind Divine Hall. One couldn’t say the hall was Feng Family’s property, but it was somewhat part of their assets. It would indeed be more difficult for White Cloud to keep skimming money in the future.

His appearance here was both reasonable and appropriate.

White Cloud noticed that there were a good seven to eight hundred martial artists that had come here this time.

Almost every martial faction had sent someone, but they had only sent one or two younger martial artists.

They probably came to test the waters first. If the Shuofang Army indeed rewarded titles of nobility as the rumors suggested, they would send more people later.

More present were martial artists of lesser strength.

After all, for them, obtaining cultivation resources was extremely difficult.

Trying to improve solely with time, one might not get much stronger in a lifetime. Instead, it was better to find an opportunity to join the military and become a military artist.

Soon, the person in charge of the temporary camp, General Shen Buxing, came out with his assistant Zheng Poyue.

"Please forgive me, the military affairs have kept us busy, which is why we are late arriving!"

In fact, Shen Buxing was intentionally making these martial artists wait, not wanting them to feel too valued by him, to avoid their becoming arrogant.

"It is an honor for each of you to forgo Zhang San and come join our Shuofang Army, and on behalf of Grand Commander-in-Chief Mei Fei of the Longyun Path, I welcome you all!"

Immediately, someone in the crowd of martial artists led a round of applause, and the others could only follow suit.

But many felt that this old general was not quite sharp enough.

Coming over to your Shuofang Army doesn’t mean we’ve given up on Zhang San; after all, he’s a Military Chief of the Town Martial Office.

Old man, if you want to die, go offend Zhang San yourself, but don’t drag us into it!

"Rest assured, the rewards you’ve heard about are real. To make the martial path of our Longyun Path flourish, the Grand Commander-in-Chief Mei Fei’s rewards indeed exceed those of the Lingwu Army by a full thirty percent!"

Zheng Poyue inhaled deeply beside him, saying nothing.

Mei Fei had said the rewards would be doubled, but they had somehow become only thirty percent more once they reached Shen Buxing.

Where the remaining seventy percent went, one didn’t have to think too hard to guess.

"Additionally, the reason I’ve called you all here is to let everyone have a taste of the action first. Gather your things now and follow my army—we set out together! Our first task is to annihilate a Tujue tribe as an offering to our battle flag!"

Upon hearing they were going to fight against the Tujue, excitement surged among many.

Thus, over eight hundred martial artists followed General Shen Buxing and his force of more than two thousand soldiers, heading straight towards the north.

Under General Shen’s leadership, they successfully reached the Tujue heartland and obliterated a tribe with a population of three to four thousand.

They took nearly two thousand Tujue people captive, brought back more than thirty thousand heads of sheep and cattle, and even captured up to nine thousand horses.

Even Shen himself hadn’t anticipated earning so much from this campaign.

What he didn’t know was that during this period, many martial artists from the Great Sui had been raiding the steppes, ambushing and assassinating Tujue warriors, then trading their spoils for rewards at the Town Martial Office. As a result, many of the Tujue elite had been scouring the plains in search of Great Sui martial artists.

The outcome was a heavily-guarded border area. However, once they penetrated beyond that, the region became markedly safer.

This was also a major reason why they were able to net a hefty profit.

At this moment, someone sidled up to White Cloud and asked, "Steward Bai, your calculations are always spot on. Can you estimate how much we’ll get this time?"

"Yeah, exactly! I mean, there are more than thirty thousand sheep and cattle, and we martial artists make up a third of the total force. Moreover, we’ve killed far more than these soldiers. How much can we expect?"

Many shrewd individuals, particularly those from martial path organizations, crowded around to listen.

"That’s up to General Shen to decide. How would I know how much we’ll get? But I figure, the military always prizes fairness, so at least a third should be ours. Tens of thousands of cattle and sheep, and three thousand horses, won’t escape us. But livestock vary in quality, and so do horses; we’ll take what’s given to us. As for the Tujue captives, they’ll probably be sold as slaves, along with any gold, silver, and jewels. Whether those items will be converted into silver coins or something else, I can’t say for sure."

Hearing White Cloud’s words, everyone felt very pleased.

Although over a hundred martial artists were wounded in battle, the profits were still substantial.

Then, one martial artist, severely injured, could no longer bear the pain and asked, "Does anyone have pills for internal injuries? I... I’ve got no money on me right now, but I’ll repay you double in the future."

Hearing this, White Cloud said, "We’ve assisted the Shuofang Army fighting against the Tujue, surely the Shuofang Army will provide treatment. Just mention it to the soldiers."

Many nodded in agreement.

Someone kind-hearted helped the injured martial artist approach the soldiers.

"Internal Injury Medicine? Don’t have any! Move, move, move! Don’t block the way!"

The soldier questioned, clearly impatient, sent a few martial artists away.

The army maintained a strict formation even on the march, following military order to the letter.

But the martial artists marched each to their own pace, in a relaxed formation.

So, the few martial artists went to ask other soldiers, only to be sent back as well.

Finally, an old Taoist, unable to stand it any longer, approached where General Shen Buxing was and respectfully asked, "General Shen, we have several martial artists here with severe injuries. Does the army have any healing pills?"

Of course, there were healing pills available.

But Shen knew all too well the value of these healing medicines, especially those effective for martial artists, which were extremely precious.

"Gentlemen, I am here on the orders of Grand Commander Mei Fei to campaign against the Tujue tribes, and the rewards promised by the Grand Commander include only the bounties for killing martial artists, not healing pills. How about this, you’ll just have to bear with it. Once we return and tally this battle’s achievements, we’ll distribute the pills then."

At this moment, some could tell Shen was merely fobbing them off.

But others thought it was likely just military protocol, where everything is done by the rules.

Amidst the crowd, White Cloud let out a soft spit of disdain.

"No worries, I’ve got pills on me that even those in the Spiritual Platform Realm can use. Get those to our brother there. Don’t tell him they’re for the Spiritual Platform Realm though, just say they’re just right for the True Core Realm. We don’t want him to know they’re too precious and hesitate to take them."

Everyone looked at the rotund White Cloud. Although he had a face that was naturally cheerful, which made him look incapable, his actions spoke louder than words—in fact, they eclipsed General Shen by miles!