Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 537 - 500: The Accounts Don’t Add Up!_2

Chapter 537: Chapter 500: The Accounts Don’t Add Up!_2

Hearing these words, everyone was dumbfounded.

Many were even secretly grinding their teeth.

White Cloud noticed that the atmosphere around him was increasingly filled with anger.

He immediately stood up and said, "Gentlemen, stay calm! We’re not here to cause trouble. What are we here for? We’re here to obtain more rewards, to benefit ourselves. If we get into a conflict with the Shuofang Army over the spoils of war, it won’t be worth the losses. Everyone, isn’t that right?"

After White Cloud’s persuasion, many martial artists who had already placed their hands on their weapons calmed down.

"After all, the rewards here are higher than those of the Lingwu Army. Aren’t we all just after the profits? Let’s let this go for today; we can deal with General Shen next time."

Hearing this, many people reluctantly hung their heads.

After all, within the camp of the Shuofang Army.

Even though they were martial artists, skilled in their own right, they were just commoners at the end of the day.

The others were officials.

High and mighty officials.

So, the crowd began to walk out.

White Cloud had several people beside him call over the martial artists who were injured today.

"Gentlemen, not far from here, there is a manor of the Wind Divine Hall. Although it’s not a large one, there should definitely be healing medicine inside. Come with me," he said.

Hearing this, many expressed gratitude towards White Cloud.

Many of them were also aware that White Cloud was using the resources of Wind Divine Hall to curry favors for himself.

But at least he did something!

Thus, many injured martial artists followed White Cloud, and even some who didn’t know where to go also followed him.

Even many from the martial path forces felt it was a good idea to follow White Cloud first, to rest at the manor of Wind Divine Hall, and to discuss later in the evening the subsequent actions to take.

After all, everyone had initially come to the Shuofang Army full of enthusiasm, but considering the current situation, the effort and reward were completely disproportionate.

The Town Martial Office, on the other hand, only accepted the heads of the Tujue martial artists killed for reward redemption.

As for the spoils of war, nothing was announced, so naturally, no one knew what it would be like in the future.

But just as the group following White Cloud, numbering two to three hundred martial artists, walked along the small path towards the Wind Divine Hall’s manor.

Suddenly, someone with keen Vision Power spotted something ahead and shouted, "Careful!"

In recent times, quite a few martial artists had gone to hunt Tujue warriors.

Obviously, Tujue warriors also crossed the border to take revenge by killing Great Sui martial artists.

Noticing something off ahead, someone immediately used Observation Skill.

"Ahead... it seems like an army has been ambushed! The ground is littered with bodies!"

White Cloud raised his hand and yelled, "Spread out and surround the area, and also be careful of any other ambushes nearby."

Soon, the many martial artists had surrounded the site where the army had been ambushed.

The enemy who had attacked this troop was nowhere to be found, so no one knew who had actually struck.

Nevertheless, the entire troop was no more than a hundred men, escorting about twenty wagons, and it seemed that they had been ambushed here, resulting in total annihilation.

Curiosity got the better of some people who secretly opened the boxes on the carts to check and were shocked.

"Military pay! It’s money!"

Then another person opened a sack and shouted, "It’s medicinal herbs! All cultivators need Red Blood Grass! There are also Earth-born Fruits!"

At this, the surrounding martial artists became somewhat restless.

Already frustrated from their treatment by the Shuofang Army, seeing the Shuofang’s logistics squad robbed and the people dead while their goods remained felt like a windfall of wealth from heaven.

Greedy gleams appeared in the eyes of many.

But since everyone had come with White Cloud, they knew it wouldn’t be right to just take things as they pleased.

For a moment, many eyes turned towards White Cloud.

White Cloud, seeing the gazes of those around him, was sweating.

"Gentlemen, don’t look at me; I know what you’re thinking. But... the military just happened to die nearby? The murderer just happened to have fled heavily injured after killing them, leaving all the good stuff untouched? Do you guys think that’s normal?"

White Cloud’s words, like a splash of cold water, jolted many who harbored fantasies back to stark reality.

Representatives from martial path powers also acutely realized that something was indeed amiss.

"Gentlemen, we can claim that stumbling upon these supplies on our way to Shuofang Army was purely coincidental. But if we take the supplies away, won’t the Shuofang Army accuse us of killing their soldiers and looting military provisions?"

On hearing this, many shivered involuntarily.

"True, there is a Town Martial Office station in Spring Breeze Town to the north along the Longyun Path, and Military Chief Zhang San indeed showed no intent to deal with us or control us. But if the Shuofang Army were to report to the Imperial Court claiming that martial artists are causing chaos and robbing government provisions, do you think the Town Martial Office won’t send men?"

"They don’t even need to send someone from the Town Martial Office. With Military Chief Zhang San leading the men from within the Office, how many of our sects and factions behind us could withstand their assault? At least my Wind Divine Hall could not."

Having said this, White Cloud let out a sigh, whispering, "Besides, for such trifling goods, it’s truly unnecessary. There are so many of us and so few goods here."

There were a total of about twenty transport carts on the road, with two to three hundred people present, ten per cart dividing its contents.

It seemed not bad at first glance, but realistically, the cultivation resources everyone would receive could be earned back with some hard cultivation or by taking on the task of hunting down Tujue martial artists for a bounty in half a year’s time.

For the gains of half a year, risking one’s entire lifetime of fate was simply not worth it.

White Cloud finally breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the greed in everyone’s eyes receding at last.

He had just been worried that once these people got greedy and acted recklessly, things would become troublesome.

"Everyone, let’s search and see if you can find any documents or account books on the soldiers or junior officers. Let’s make a list of the goods first. This way, there won’t be any confusion when we hand them over to the Shuofang Army. That General Shen, I don’t think he’s any good, so it’s better for us to figure things out clearly first."

The crowd nodded, then quickly began searching the soldiers’ corpses for any account books and documents.

Soon, someone found a document. White Cloud then had someone hold up a torch while he examined under the light what exactly was contained in the consignment.

But as he looked, White Cloud’s countenance suddenly turned grim.

And it wasn’t just White Cloud whose expression changed; a few of the others who understood accounting also sensed something was wrong.

"White Cloud, the reward on this document for a True Core Realm warrior holding the Five Emperors’ Proper Position seems different from what General Shen told us, doesn’t it?"

On hearing this, many people quickly gathered around.

The batch of cultivation resources and military provisions were precisely what Mei Fei had requested for the martial artists of the Longyun Path.

Naturally, when requesting resources and military provisions, one could not merely make unfounded claims; the amount of compensation for approximately how many people needed to be given, the battle achievements of each person, and what kind of rewards corresponded to each achievement were necessary details.

Thus, the document clearly listed the rewards for killing Tujue martial artists of various strengths.

And it indicated roughly how many portions of each reward there were.

These quantities were all estimated by Mei Fei’s men based on the past encounters with the Tujue over the years.

With these rewards, after the martial artists of the Longyun Path killed a Tujue martial artist, they could directly receive their reward from Mei Fei, avoiding the need to report up the chain of command and making the martial artists wait too long.

After all, receiving the reward quickly would naturally incite the Longyun Path’s martial artists to be more proactive in their tasks.

However, to everyone’s shock, they discovered that the cultivation resources mentioned in the document were one and a half times the amount Shen Buxing had told them!

In other words, the Shuofang Army had directly pocketed a third of their due rewards!

The absence of war spoils was one thing.

To then skim a third off the rewards rightfully theirs was another.

Fighting alongside the Shuofang Army on the steppe, serving as scouts and Martial Generals, wasn’t it all to earn some rewards to acquire more cultivation resources?

Some weaker martial artists labored solely to provide for their families.

But now, to discover that Shen Buxing was even squeezing out everyone’s hard-earned money!

In no time, indignation fueled rage, and a fierce resolve set in.

"Let’s go! We’re going to confront Shen Buxing!"

"If that old crook doesn’t cough up our belongings tonight, we’ll skin him alive!"

"Let’s go!"

In this moment, the crowd’s fury completely drowned out White Cloud’s attempts to stop them.

Of course, White Cloud wasn’t genuinely trying to prevent it.

If he truly intended to stop them, he was confident he could have held them back.

It was just that this was part of the Saint Heir’s plan all along; a symbolic attempt to stop them followed by letting them create an uproar was exactly what he had intended to do!