Chapter 241: Gains

“Guard Yan, there’s a Blackwind Bandit here that’s still alive…!”

Hearing the shout from nearby, Yan Liqiang leaned over to pick up the Blackwind Bandit’s quiver which had fallen on the ground and carried it on his back. He then went over to where the guard was calling him.

A Blackwind Bandit was lying on the ground, his groaning barely audible. Lying next to him was a rock about the size of a basin which had rolled down from the mountain just now. There was a trace of blood on the rock, and the Blackwind Bandit’s right leg had been distorted beyond recognition. It took Yan Liqiang only one glance at this Blackwind Bandit to identify him as the person who was hit by the rolling rock which the crowd had pushed down the mountain.

The guard told Yan Liqiang, “We thought this guy was dead and was about to drag his body over there. Little did we expect to hear him start groaning and showing signs of life as soon as we touched him…”

“I didn’t expect this Blackwind Bandit to be this tough!” Yan Liqiang laughed. He then squatted in front of the Blackwind Bandit and pulled the black veil away from his face. Beneath the veil, a typical bearded Shatu man’s face in his thirties was revealed.

“D-Don’t… kill me…” The groaning Shatu man opened his eyes. He looked at Yan Liqiang and spoke in broken Chinese.

“So you know how to speak our language!”

“I have a wife… and a son… back home…” The Shatu man continued gasping for breath.

Yan Liqiang replied flatly, “Oh, is that so?” He stood up, then picked up the Shatu man’s scimitar from the ground.

Terror filled the Shatu man’s eyes. “Please… Please… I beg you… You Chinese still hold the Writ of Grace!”

This Shatu man was actually talking about the Writ of Grace to him in this situation? Yan Liqiang smiled, but his smile was rather icy.

“So you Shatu people are human, and us Chinese aren’t human? When you guys killed us with your weapons, did you all think about the Writ of Grace? Now that you don’t have a blade in your hands, you suddenly remember the Writ of Grace? How many of our traveling merchants have the Blackwind Bandits killed over these years? I bet you guys can’t even remember it yourselves. When you all strike, have you ever let someone go out of mercy? The Blackwind Bandits’ reputation has been built upon countless deaths and destruction of Chinese families. I’m afraid that even God wouldn’t agree with me letting you go this time, you ingrate…!” Yan Liqiang spat. He raised the scimitar up and brought it down upon the Blackwind Bandit’s neck, beheading the Blackwind Bandit whose eyes were as big as saucers.

Crimson blood immediately soaked the yellow sand on the ground.

Yan Liqiang kicked the Blackwind Bandits’ head and tossed the scimitar aside. He then looked at the few silent guards at the side. “Whether these bastards are dead or alive, you must stab them or behead them first before anything else. You mustn’t let them live. Do you all know how these Blackwind Bandits treated our traveling merchants these past years? They nailed all the male traveling merchants they captured on wooden stakes, skinned them alive, and let them die in in pain under the sun. As for the females, they severed their limbs after raping them, regardless of their age. When they met pregnant women, they cut their wombs open to take their babies out. Then they either strangled the babies to death, or even ate them. These Blackwind Bandits are animals that deserve to be chopped into pieces. Even calling them animals is an insult to animals themselves. That’s why you mustn’t show them any mercy. If you were the ones who fell into their hands, I’m afraid a quick death would be nothing more than wishful thinking…”

The soldiers exchanged glances and replied through clenched teeth. “Understood!”

The few guards walked away and continued cleaning up the battlefield. Not far away, there was a Blackwind Bandit lying on the ground with an arrow impaled on his back. The guards went over and looked at him. One of them remembered Yan Liqiang’s words. He clenched his teeth, drew his longsword, and stabbed the Blackwind Bandit’s back…

Yan Liqiang who saw that from the side could only secretly shake his head.

The guards who followed Sun Bingchen on his patrol this time were all soldiers from the Imperial Capital. Many of them probably had not actually fought on a real battlefield before. These guards might not be inferior to the veterans in Gan or Lan Province in terms of martial arts, but they certainly had never been exposed to the cruel experiences the veterans had gone through. Hence, they lacked the fortitude and drive of the Northwestern soldiers. Putting aside everything else, if the soldiers from the barracks here cleaned up the battlefield, they would definitely end the lives of those Blackwind Bandits who weren’t dead yet on the ground instantly without a word. There would be no hesitation. For the so-called finishing blow, the safest was to behead the target or at least sever half the person’s neck instead of just stabbing the body once or twice more. This was because people who were decapitated or people who survived with half-broken necks would be useless on a battlefield. A person who could survive after being stabbed seven to ten times was definitely not a myth. There were one or two extremely lucky people out of every thousand.

All this knowledge and experience were imparted to Yan Liqiang by the soldiers from the Qian Su’s Weaponsmiths Quarter when he was still there. They were also rules which had been passed down among the military barracks and soldiers in the northwestern part for many years. Behind these rules and experiences were countless lessons stained by blood and tears.

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These guards around Sun Bingchen were still a little too soft toward their enemies.

Even so, these kinds of things really took some time to get used to. Seeing that the guards had learned how to perform a finishing blow before checking, Yan Liqiang continued cleaning up the battlefield. The other few guards he led were collecting the longbows and quivers of arrows which were scattered all over the place…

On the other hand, Liang Yijie led several guards to round up all the riderless rhinodrake steeds which were wandering around in the valley.

Although the Blackwind Bandits didn’t carry money on them when they came to carry out their tasks, their rhinodrake steeds were very valuable. Not only that, these Shatu people’s weapons, like their scimitars and longbows, were of superior quality…

By the time everyone finished cleaning up the battlefield, the whole morning had passed. The sun was high up in the sky, indicating that it was almost noon.

After a final count, everyone found a total of 190 riderless rhinodrake steeds in the mountain valley, 260 Blackwind Bandits’ corpses, and nearly 200 weapons such as scimitars and bows. They also easily found two or three thousand arrows which were still usable. After Yan Liqiang’s demonstration, several injured Blackwind Bandits who were still alive were quickly finished off by people who were cleaning up the battlefield.

When everyone came together to pile up the things they had gathered from the battlefield at the mountain valley’s exit, everyone fastened their gaze on the pile of spoils before their eyes. No one expected it to be this much.

In the previous battle, there was a total of seventeen casualties from Yan Liqiang’s side. They were all either grazed or shot by arrows when the Blackwind Bandits retaliated from the bottom of the valley. Among them, twelve had minor injuries and four were moderately injured. One of them was quite severely injured, but fortunately the injury wasn’t fatal and he could still hold on. At least they could get a respite for now. Only two died in the battle from getting accidentally shot in the vital parts of their body by those Blackwind Bandits at the bottom of the valley and couldn’t be saved. With these sacrifices in exchange for such victory and gains, this battle could be described as glorious.

Many guards were quietly looking at Yan Liqiang in their party. The respect in their gazes thickened because they knew Yan Liqiang was the person who proposed to ambush the Blackwind Bandits. During the battle just now, Yan Liqiang was also the person who had killed most of the enemies and scared the Blackwind Bandits out of their wits the most. Seeing that Yan Liqiang was still able to draw his bow and kill a Blackwind Bandit at the bottom of the valley with every single shot he made as though he was hunting hares was reassuring to many of the guards. Despite being outnumbered by those Blackwind Bandits beneath them, they weren’t intimidated. Instead, they were able to perform at their best.

Lord Sun certainly had a discerning eye for recognizing talent!

—That was what most of the guards were thinking in their hearts.

“Everyone fought bravely against the enemy today. This stunning victory wouldn’t be possible without everyone’s effort.” Looking at the collected spoils and achievements, Sun Bingchen stood in front of everyone as he looked at the crowd with a burning gaze and spoke. “There’s no need to turn in the spoils we gained this time. All of you may discuss and share them among yourselves. Once we reach the Imperial Capital, I will also report to the higher-ups regarding everyone’s achievements today. Your contributions shall be awarded.”

All the guards cheered at once. The depression and pressure that had built up over these few days were instantly swept away…

After saying all this, Sun Bingchen once shot Yan Liqiang another meaningful glance filled with admiration…

At this moment, Yan Liqiang didn’t seem as happy as the other guards. He even had some regrets deep down in his heart. If he were given a cavalry of three hundred men again to ambush and follow up with a victory, he would surely eliminate every single Blackwind Bandit so that they would never be able to wreak havoc anywhere else.

After his first encounter with the Blackwind Bandits, Yan Liqiang realized that his other self was quietly awakening somewhere in his heart. What his other self yearned for was a powerful army that could purge Heaven and Earth…

When Yan Liqiang met Sun Bingchen’s gaze, he only gave him a humble smile.

“Liqiang, your contribution was indispensable to our stunning victory this time. However, our mission this time is to safely escort Lord Sun back to the Imperial Capital so we cannot afford to get involved with these Blackwind Bandits from the Northwest for too long. Let them escape for the time being. At least the Blackwind Bandits have suffered serious casualties and won’t be able to recover in a short time. When we get the chance to return to the Northwest again in the future, we will definitely eradicate these Blackwind Bandits once and for all. Let’s kill those scourges and avenge for our brothers who have lost their lives…!” Liang Yijie walked over to Yan Liqiang’s side and patted him on his shoulder.

Yan Liqiang chuckled too and breathed out a long sigh of relief. “You are right, Brother Liang. We shall let those Blackwind Bandits live a little longer. We will eradicate them sooner or later anyway…”

As soon as he finished talking to Liang Yijie, Yan Liqiang felt someone’s gaze on him. He turned his head and saw Ye Tiancheng watching him from a distance with his wavering gaze. When he noticed that Yan Liqiang had turned his head toward him, he lowered his gaze and grew silent again…