Chapter 483 - Li Feihong"s Cruelty
Bo Cai returned with their a.s.sault platoon a few hours after Li Feihong had abducted important personnel of Liu Bei Army.
Upon arrival, he found Liu Bei laying on the ground with his broken limbs. Xu Shu and Ma Chao were tied with ropes, and they were kneeling on both knees.
Xu Shu was trembling in fear. However, Ma Chao kept glaring at Zhang Liao and Li Feihong with hatred.
"Oh, are you done, Bo Cai?"
Li Feihong did not even turn around to check who had returned. He was slowly carving letters on Liu Bei"s forehead.
It was Chinese letters, translated as [Shameless Mutt].
Zhou Cang was also beside Li Feihong. His face had a trace of tears, and his eyes were still red from the excessive crying.
"His majesty said we have to kill Liu Bei and his followers. Shouldn"t we finish them off and be done with our job?" Asked Bo Cai.
Li Feihong stopped what he was doing and glanced at the vice general, "I want to. But at the same time, I don"t want to."
"What do you mean?"
"My inner instinct keeps telling me to spare this motherf.u.c.ker, but my reason tells me to kill him ASAP. Tell me, what would you do if you were in my shoes?"
Bo Cai almost uttered, "Just kill these idiots," but he stopped.
As a cultivator, he understood what Li Feihong referred to. The instinct of cultivators, especially a high ranker, was sharper than ordinary mortals.
It was different than pure luck. Cultivator"s instinct was a premonition of something important that might help them later on.
Bo Cai had experienced this many times when he was cultivating his wing power. Like other elite generals in Tong"s forces, he could have awakened at least 4 wings or higher, but he maintained his rank as a two-wing angel to reinforce his physical foundation and mentality.
This action came from his instinct, and it proved to be the correct choice.
Later when Bo Cai was reinforcing his const.i.tution, Medusa advised all clan members about cultivating, which she stressed about the foundation and const.i.tution of all cultivators. The earlier that they focused on muscle building and getting used to the circulation of life forces in the atmosphere, the more their potential could expand, which they could break through the latter stages more comfortably.
Not only that incident that proved Bo Cai"s instinct right, but his stance with Yellow Turban was also correct.
There was an incident that was kept secret among former Yellow Turban colleagues.
At first, when the former yellow turban colleagues contacted him via letters, they invited Bo Cai to reform the organization again since Zhang Jiao and his brothers refused to rebuild it.
One of the merchants in Julu wanted to steal Julu from Zhang Jiao, so he bribed many officials inside the city to cause an uprising, hoping to use the chaos to boost his political power.
It would be a lie if Bo Cai said he was not tempted at that time since the bribe was huge, 200,000 taels of gold.
At that time, Bo Cai"s instinct stopped him from joining the rebelling merchant. He refused and continued serving as a vice general in the Monster Legion.
Afterward, no letter came from his former colleagues ever again. Only Sima Fang, the counter-intelligence minister, sent him a letter of praise.
[You"re a trustworthy man.]
It was a short letter, but Bo Cai remembered that he had a chill running down his spine at that time. He did not want to imagine what might have happened to those former Yellow Turban members and that merchant.
Two incidents of experience were enough for Bo Cai to put his faith in Li Feihong"s guts feeling.
"Do what you must. I won"t interfere or object."
Li Feihong nodded. He clicked his tongue and summoned one of his virtuous souls, Charity.
The soul came out in the form of an old man. The soul"s appearance was Li Feihong"s 80-year-old version.
The soul smiled at the half-dead Liu Bei and poured a handful of sparkling sand on his body. Liu Bei"s body covered in a silver light before his injuries disappeared.
This was the same ability that Zuo Ci used to cast it on Tong when he was ambushed by 8-wing Liu Yang.
Liu Bei regained his consciousness right away and sat up in a panic. When he saw Li Feihong"s face, he jumped back in fright.
"D-Don"t kill me! I surrender! I surrender!"
As shameless as he was, Liu Bei begged for his life. On the other hand, Xu Shu and Ma Chao never uttered a word or beg for mercy. They only waited for the judgment of the victors.
"Zhou Cang..."
"Yes, grand commander Li?"
"Tie him up. We"ll send all of them back to Ye."
"… Understood."
Zhou Cang looked at Liu Bei with cold eyes. He was too disappointed in Liu Bei that he did not care for this former lord anymore. However, he had not yet reported anything to the clan chat or tell the other colleagues, Zhao Yun and Wei Yan.
.
While the four were busy dealing with the prisoners, on the outside world, the 100,000 soldiers, who were without generals to command, a.s.sumed action and raided Hongnong City.
Those Liu Bei"s soldiers had heard the commotion from the western battlefield. Although most of them were the mindless cataphracts that could not move without someone"s command, several of these men were originally followed Liu Bei for years.
Many sergeants could think for their own. They thought that the west side already began the siege battle, so they should start fighting too.
"ATTACK!!"
The south regiment of 50,000 men charged at the undefended city.
"CHARGE!!"
The remaining 50,000 men, the eastern front, also pushed their siege towers toward the east walls.
Without Li Feihong"s soldiers, the city fell within minutes.
.
After the prisoners had been sorted, Li Feihong, Zhang Liao, Bo Cai, and Zhou Cang resumed the eradication plan.
However, the city had already fallen. The remnants of Liu Bei were plundering the city as they pleased.
The non-partic.i.p.ant and the only rightful observer of this entire battle, Lu Lingqi, watched the events through the broadcasting monitors in Li Feihong"s world with worries.
"Uncle Zhang, why won"t we rescue those civilians?"
Lu Lingqi referred to the peasants of Hongnong City. Now, they were being slaughtered and robbed by the uncontrolled soldiers of Liu Bei.
Zhang Liao revealed a bitter smile and shook his head, refusing to answer.
Zhou Cang and Bo Cai also averted their eyes from the carnage.
However, Li Feihong embraced the entire tragedy from the beginning. His bloodshot eyes kept staring at the monitors.
One of them revealed an event, in which a teenage girl in the city was ravished and killed.
Another one showed that a child, whose age was no more than 5-year-old, was stomped to death by a cataphract"s horse.
A crippled old woman, about 60-70 years of age, could not get out of her burning house. Her hoa.r.s.e voice screamed for help, but no one appeared to save her.
Ma.s.sacres continued. Yet, Li Feihong did not send his men to help the local townsmen.
"Brother Li! Why aren"t you helping them!?"
Impatient, Lu Lingqi asked the question that Zhang Liao, Zhou Cang, and Bo Cai wanted to hear, but they did not have the courage to ask this otherworlder.
"I"m destroying Liu Bei"s fame. Be patient," Li Feihong shed a tear of regret and frustration.
From the beginning, this cowardly strategist never wanted to kill the local people. But because of Liu Bei and Pang Tong"s ruthlessness, several townsmen began cursing at Liu Bei, which inspired Li Feihong.
Since Liu Bei"s fame spread across the Liang Province and the nearby cities, it might be hard for Tong to pacify these local peasants after they executed Liu Bei. However, a rare chance presented right in front of Li Feihong.
As long as these uncontrolled soldiers destroyed the town, all Hongnong"s population would hold grudges for Liu Bei for eternity. Moreover, the surviving merchants would spread words to other Liu Bei"s affiliate cities, discrediting this lord with their words of mouth.
Afterward, Li Feihong planned to send an official publication along with Liu Bei"s head to the capital of Liang Province to blame Liu Bei for the ma.s.sacre. With two sources of information, those brainwashed citizens in the Liang Province might abandon the thought of avenging for Liu Bei and his men.
Without this plan, Tong might have to repeat what he did to Liyang"s citizens. Li Feihong ensured that Tong would not dirty his hands.
"Will they believe me if I tell them that I"m committing a sin, so Tong doesn"t have to dirty his hands?"
Li Feihong closed his eyes. Another teardrop rolled down on his cheek.
Meanwhile, Lu Lingqi had another change of heart after she witnessed all the cruelty of war. Her impression of Li Feihong hit rock bottom as she saw him as a hypocrite.
"You… I"m disappointed, Li Feihong. I thought you were a good man!"
"War doesn"t differentiate good or evil. Only the smarter or stronger side wins."
Lu Lingqi"s face distorted in disgust. She stomped away and returned to the courtyard resident that Li Feihong prepared for her.
Zhang Liao, Zhou Cang, and Bo Cai shook their head and sighed.
"Feihong, they"ve killed enough. Shouldn"t we rescue the townspeople?"
Zhang Liao could not hold it anymore. He wanted to stop this cruelty as soon as possible.
Li Feihong nodded and opened 100 gates in a row, sacrificing another 10,000 years of lifespan.
"Go. Take no prisoners. These three are enough."