Subsequent battles continued until the end of the night.
The three thousand reinforcements which had been acquired with some difficulty by the Shili family were completely annihilated. More than half of them had died in the process of retreating. The survivors surrendered near their own military camp.
Tuo Nengya and the machetemen had not attacked the military camp at all. They had just set a fire near the camp and then ambushed nearby. Together with the main force of the Great Snowmountain, they surrounded and annihilated a thousand people who remained in the camp and the retreating remnants.
Such an outcome was completely beyond the expectations of the nobles of the Land of Fragrance. Therefore, it was no wonder that many people reacted extremely by sitting down and crying bitterly, kotowing to their gods for help at the altar and throwing belongings on the streets. Some people even committed suicide with their own family members.
Only a small number of people quickly fled with the Shili family. Most people surrendered themselves to the Dragon King for the second time.
Gu Shenwei had no time to respond to the nobles’ second pledge of loyalty. This evening, he kept giving orders, sending out small forces again and again to chase down the escaped remnants.
At noon the following day, the seven sons of the Shili family, as well as a group of followers, were all captured and escorted to the Dragon King.
Gu Shenwei was very satisfied with the performance of the warriors. Their leisurely life for more than a month had not impacted their combat effectiveness.
Behind him, packages and boxes piled up like a hill. The warriors from the Great Snowmountain had not needed to move their hands at all. The nobles and tribal soldiers of the Land of Fragrance had spontaneously “contributed” them to the Dragon King.
On his left hand, more than 1,600 warriors from the Great Snowmountain stood upright and proudly. They had only suffered a minimal loss in the combat. The warriors never looked away from the Dragon King. This victory overshadowed most of their failures of the past few months. It also enhanced their reverence for the Dragon King.
On his right hand, there were more than a thousand tribal remnants, looking at the wealth that they had possessed for a short time. They were all seized with remorse. Yesterday, they were saviors. Today, their lives were in the hands of the Dragon King.
More than 4,000 slave soldiers surrounded the prisoners of war. Many of them replaced their wooden sabers with swords for the first time. When they received the heavy steel weapons, they were both excited and frightened. Especially when they saw their former owners kneeling on the ground like slaves, they felt like the whole world had turned upside down．
The nobles were divided into two groups. The smaller group consisted of about one hundred people. They were headed by the seven sons of the Shili family and were kneeling at the forefront. All of them were fugitives who had been arrested. The other group was much larger. More than 1,000 people knelt behind them. This was their second surrender. The first time was when they were a part of the Great Snowmountain. Last time, they were standing, but this time they were all kneeling down, begging for forgiveness.
A huge quantity did not necessarily mean powerful strength. Sometimes they could become a cumbersome burden.
Under the supervision of sabers and swords, no one in the entire military camp dared to speak.
Gu Shenwei had to deal with these nobles and prisoners of war immediately. He didn’t do it out of revenge. The resistance of these people was understandable. He didn’t do it to demonstrate his power in front of the people of the Land of Fragrance. There was no need to enhance their cowardice. He did so for the sake of the warriors under his command.
For the Dragon King, having this one thousand and six hundred people on his side was far more important than owning a country. There wouldn’t be any others like them. They would believe every single word of Dragon King and unconditionally execute his every order.
Compared with these nobles who were kneeling in front of him, his warriors were obviously more valuable assets.
Gu Shenwei raised his right hand and pointed to the escaped nobles in the forefront rows, “Behead.”
Before the nobles understood the meaning of this word, a row of the Great Snowmountain warriors emerged from the crowd, wielding their sabers and swords. They struck the necks of the nobles without resistance, like lions and tigers rushing into a flock of sheep.
Dozens of nobles who had surrendered twice and were kneeling in the back fainted all at once.
The nobles who had surrendered were equally untrustworthy. They had to be punished, and they had to prove that they were no longer liabilities. Gu Shenwei pointed his bloodstained finger at them, “Send them all to the forest and give them a day’s rations. ” Then he raised voice, ” After five days, anyone who wants revenge, come out and fight with the Great Snowmountain. If you want to join the army, prove that you are a man. ”
Gu Shenwei had come up with this method of training killer appretices in Golden Toc Fort – a brutal survival of the fittest. As for the hatred that might arise, he paid no heed.
For many nobles, this was worse than being executed on the spot. They cried out loud saying they were willing to contribute all their possessions, even their wives and daughters.
Their performance only brought them more contempt and disgust. Two hundred Great Snowmountain warriors took more than 1,000 nobles out of the military camp and drove them to the forest in the north.
Then it was the captured tribal soldiers’ turn.
The Dragon King had always just been a distant and vague nightmare for them. They never expected it to become a reality. Those inconceivable legends suddenly became credible. Many people looked up nervously, thinking that the horrible Man-eating Demon Bird was flying in the air.
“You have a choice.” Gu Shenwei used Internal Strength to projecy his voice so that everyone could hear it. “Go home, prepare to fight again; Or surrender, fight with the real warriors. ”
“Surrender.” Immediately, a captive opened his mouth, and soon the sound of surrender became unanimous.
But there were others with a different idea. One of the captives shouted, “No, I won’t surrender!”
The captives automatically drew back to let him through. He walked to the front of the crowd and said again: “I have to go home. I will crawl my way back if needed. Dragon King is a hero. But we are not wusses. I want to fight again. ”
He was tall with a resolute gaze. He had always been conspicuous standing amidst the captives. At this moment, he became the focus of everyone’s attention.
“How did you get captured?” Gu Shenwei asked, admittedly with a little respect for the bold man. There might be many people who were reluctant to surrender and wanted to go home but he was the only one who had dared to defy the majority and speak out in public.
Sometimes, it required even more bravery to voice a contrary view than to kill enemies on the battlefield.
“They took my weapon away.” The man turned his head and glanced back at them. His tone was resentful and full of disdain. He had been betrayed by his own companions, so it was beneath him to surrender with them.
“What’s your name?”
“Ha Chilie. I’m the son of the chief of Dongshan Mountain Tribe, Ha Shelong.”
“Go back and tell your father and clansmen. Dragon King and the Great Snowmountain are the co-owners of Western Region. We will soon go out and fight with the Supreme King. You must make a choice. There is only one chance to join a side. You are free to go now”
Ha Chilie seemed to be not totally convinced of Dragon King’s words. When he hadsaid he would not surrender, he was ready to die. Since the Dragon King had already said so, he did not see the need to be courteous. He turned back and said to the captives from his clan, “Follow me. Let Dragon King know, he is not the only real warrior here. ”
No one moved. Everyone thought that the Dragon King was playing a trick by setting them free. If someone dared to walk out of the military camp, he would be beheaded immediately. What more, they had completely admitted defeat. They believed that even if they tried again, they would undoubetedly be defeated.
Ha Chilong shook his head in disappointment. He looked enviously at the Great Snowmountain warriors across the road, then headed out of the camp. He did not even express gratitude to the Dragon King.
Many warriors were deeply angry with this and gripped their swords tightly. As long as the Dragon King indicated anything with a meaningful glance, they would rush to attack the ungrateful son of the chief.
The Dragon King never opened his mouth and did indeed set Ha Chilong free.
Gu Shenwei spoke to those who had surrenderred again, “If you lost your weapon, you have to grab another with your own skills. Before the next battle, you have to fight with your bare fists.”
The last thing to deal with was the piles of gold and silver treasures.
Gu Shenwei insisted that they shouldn’t be divided equally. It was not because that he didn’t think the warriors were worthy of rewards. He didn’t want to take exclusive possession of everything either. He never had a desire for fortune.
His experience with Zhong Heng had taught him a principle: drawing somebody over to one’s side little by little without letting up was far better than a one-time bribe.
When Gu Shenwei had been a killer of Golden Roc Fort and Zhong Heng had been the commandant, he had given Zhong Heng a gift every month. The amount was not too big, but ihe had done it consistently for years. It was because of this, Zhong Heng’s loyalty gradually lay with the Dragon King.
The Daxueshan warriors were simple and loyal. Even the macheteman under Tup Nengya’s could stand the test. They would never forsake righteousness for the sake of gold.
Gu Shenwei cherished this quality, but thought that he could not afford to be relaxed and sit on this laurels. On the contrary, he had to be careful when dealing with any warrior. He had to demonstrate the nobility and severity of a king. Occasionally, he would express trust and gratitude to satisfy them. He could never make the warriors feel like they were merely his employees.
This was much more difficult and more rewarding than commanding an army that was simply manipulated with rewards. Gu Shenwei had to use techniques. As long as he did not go too far, he could secure his position in the minds of the warriors.
All the gold and silver treasures were divided into two parts equally. One part was to award all the warriors according to their merits. The other was kept as future rewards and jointly controlled by Long Xiaoshi, the one-eyed patriarch of Danduo Peak, and the old macheteman, Tuo Nengya.
The rewards and punishment had been all settled. Gu Shenwei convened several generals to discuss military affairs.
When Long Xiaoshi entered the main tent, he asked, “That Ha Chilong, how dare he disrespect Dragon King! Do you want me to send someone to chop off his head back?”
“No. He abandoned the brothers of his clan and went home alone. He will be called into question instead of being respected. Let him spread the fear. Send out my order, we decamp five days later. We will follow the son of the chief back to the Western Region. ”
Gu Shenwei could ask the captives for directions, but he also wanted to have an unwitting guide.
The following situation was very complicated. Another group of slaves from the Land of Fragrance had joined the army. No more young men could be found inside the city.
But Gu Shenwei couldn’t take away all the young men. This country would be completely destroyed if it merely consisted of elderly people, women, and children.
According to his order, only one young man could stay at home in each family, all the other men must go along and fight with the army. At the same time, a small number of troops were to remain. They set up checkpoints at every exit and entrance, preventing foreign enemies from invading.
The Land of Fragrance could not stay isolated from the world anymore.
The hardest part was finding a governor. The nobles were very unreliable, not to mention they had already been driven into the forest. The slaves had not yet got rid of their former habits and none of them dared to be a leader.
Gu Shenwei managed to settle this problem by designating several warriors who had been injured in previous battles to stay in the Land of Fragrance.
Gu Shen kept himself swamped with work, so he would not have to visit the two women in a semi-conscious state. He didn’t want the warriors to misunderstand.
The seven sons of the Shili family had already been executed. However, the High Priest who made frangrances and the antidote did not return to the country with the tribal warriors. Eventually, good news returned of the heir of the High Priest finally making the antidote under the strict supervision of several warriors after nearly 20 days.
The young disciple repeatedly stressed that the effect of the antidote was unknown, and he could not guarantee that it would work.
Gu Shenwei had no choice but to take a risk. Fortunately, there were five comatose women in total. He could try the antidote on the others first.
Taking the antidote coincided with the night before the army set out. Everything happened at the same time. People kept coming in and out of Gu Shenwei’s main tent without pause. Many things were waiting for him to settle.
The news about the efficacy of the antidote had not yet arrived. A disturbing incident happened in the military camp.
Old Man Mu left the training grounds. On the first night, he killed only one warrior. Although everyone was furious, they did not anticipate how severe the incident was.