Chapter 154: Hands On

“Is this from that Gold-rank One-Horned Tiger?” Lei Qing took the Crystal Core filled with the power of lightning with great joy. The bloodstains had already been wiped clean. It felt slightly cool to the touch, but he could sense the violent intent of lightning within it.

Mr. Hao stroked his beard and smiled. “That’s right. Speaking of which, we really should thank Yuwen Hu properly. If not for him, we would have expended quite a lot of effort to take care of this Gold-rank One-Horned Tiger.”

“My martial arts and cultivation have been improving very quickly lately, but there is still a long way to go before I break through to Mid-stage Silver.” Lei Qing said with a gleam in his eyes. “But with this Crystal Core, at the fastest one month, at the latest three months, I should be able to advance to Mid-stage Silver. That fellow Yuwen Hu isn’t worth thanking. It is actually Mr. Hao who used a clever plan to conveniently resolve two major crises for our Yehe Town. I, Lei Qing, truly must thank Mr. Hao properly.”

“Lord is in need of money right now, so let’s skip the rewards. This subordinate is not greedy for wealth,” Mr. Hao said with a shake of his head and a smile. “I am grateful for Lord’s trust in giving this subordinate this opportunity to display his talents and skills.”

“Who said I was going to reward Mr. Hao with money?” Lei Qing chuckled. “Our Yehe Town is going to be very busy next, and you won’t be able to get away, Sir. How about this, I’ll have Xianyu Bao run to Tieling City and call over a few of the prettiest girls from Wanxiang Tower…”

Mr. Hao was dumbfounded and said with a very embarrassed expression, “Thank you, Lord, for your concern, but let’s skip it. These old bones of mine probably couldn’t withstand the tossing and turning.”

“I was just joking. But the girls from Wanxiang Tower still need to be called. We’ll have them come to perform songs and dances to reward the soldiers. Mr. Hao, are you sure you don’t want any? You wouldn’t happen to like playing with decent women, would you?”

Mr. Hao wiped away a handful of cold sweat, secretly wondering what kind of Lord he had followed. He hurriedly changed the topic and said, “Lord, why did you return so suddenly this time? Did you get wind of the Blood Wolf Army’s movements beforehand?”

“This trip to the Zhen Family’s Northern Yan City was truly dangerous and shocking.” When Lei Qing mentioned this, his feelings were mixed with joy and worry. He told Mr. Hao everything that had happened in detail.

Mr. Hao listened with a grave and solemn expression. After pondering for a moment, he said, “This subordinate miscalculated this time. I didn’t find out clear information about Zhen Jimu, and I didn’t expect his relationship with Wan Liyun to be so tight. Actually, speaking of it, the major forces all have quite profound foundations. Intermarriage and the combining of interests are common occurrences among them. Now that I calculate it, Lord has already offended the Li Chamber of Commerce, Zhen Family Ranch, and Wan Family Fort, the three major Free Alliance forces.”

Lei Qing shook his head slowly and said, “It’s not three forces we’ve offended, but four. The day before yesterday, I just chopped off the head of Zong Wuji from Ten Thousand Eagles Stream.”

Mr. Hao was speechless for a moment, secretly thinking that although his Lord was very excellent and had potential, he was truly capable of causing trouble.

Pulling one hair moves the whole body. Speaking of it, this series of events all started because of the kidnapping of Li Baobao.

After pondering for a while, Mr. Hao said, “Lord, we have offended too many forces. Having only the Iron Cavalry Regiment as a backer might not be enough. In two or three years, once things break out, they will join forces to come and punish us, or secretly trip us up. We must have some large forces to rely on to have a chance of survival and room for development.”

“It is better to rely on oneself than to ask others. Since we have already offended the Zhen Family Ranch, we will take advantage of scooping up this huge amount of resources to expand our own power with all our might,” Lei Qing said with determination. “As long as we have enough military power in our hands, even if those large forces want to bite us to death, we’ll make them break some teeth. That will be enough to deter them.”

“What Lord says is not wrong. This time, Lord made a quick decision to kidnap Zhen Jimu. Although it seemed full of risks, it might not be a good opportunity for our development.” Mr. Hao thought for a while and then said, “Once the Zhen Family’s resources arrive, we can quickly develop and strengthen the army. Lord, this time we defeated Yuwen Hu, it is exactly the opportunity for our Black Flag Regiment to make a name for itself. This subordinate will go plan and properly publicize this battle for Lord.”

While the two were talking within the Scattered Rocks Ridge, Cheng Xiao came over and said with a good expression, “Reporting to Young General, our battle damage results are out. Only thirteen of our brothers died directly in battle. There are more than forty with heavy injuries, and over a hundred with medium and light injuries. It counts as a glorious battle.”

Facing a crisis that could have wiped out Yehe Town entirely, paying such a small price was indeed a glorious battle achievement.

In war, how can there be no deaths? For Mr. Hao to achieve this extent in a hurry was already about the limit. Although Lei Qing felt pain over the death of some brothers, he could not erase the merit of everyone fighting bravely against the enemy. So he said solemnly, “Brother Cheng Xiao, after we return this time, I will personally preside over the burial and memorial ceremony. As for the brothers with heavy injuries, we must take careful care of them while they recover. After I finish dealing with the villagers here, I will go visit them one by one.” Cheng Xiao was cautious and steady in his work, much more reliable than Xianyu Bao. The latter was okay leading a group of men to fight, but his ability in handling affairs and other aspects was far inferior to Cheng Xiao.

It had to be said that Uncle Xiahou had some ideas in doing things. Lending Cheng Xiao to use had solved quite a few troubles for Lei Qing.

After Cheng Xiao left, Mr. Hao said again, “Lord, the urgent task right now is to settle the villagers. This time, they were given quite a fright. The tens of thousands of villagers in Yehe Town are the foundation for our Black Flag Regiment to settle down and get on with our pursuit. The hearts of the people are very important.”

Lei Qing followed his words and personally led some Personal Guards to visit the village leaders who had some prestige among the villagers. After apologizing sincerely, he began to publicize the achievements of the Black Flag Regiment according to the plan.

An invasion by an army of such a scale was not something an ordinary army could withstand. Yet the Black Flag Regiment, incomparably brave, ultimately defeated the enemy army and even captured a full several hundred Blood Wolf Soldiers.

Under the repeated propaganda and the depiction of future prospects, Lei Qing’s prestige among the villagers of Yehe Town began to rise continuously. Moreover, Lei Qing had been making frequent moves in Yehe Town recently, building ranches and farms, bringing the hope of wealth to Yehe Town.

The various village leaders also expressed their support and trust for Lei Qing.

After the matters with the villagers were settled, Lei Qing spent the following time visiting the wounded soldiers and encouraging the troops. If those villagers were the cornerstone of Lei Qing’s future development, then the brothers of the Black Flag Regiment were the fundamental reason this force of Lei Qing’s could exist.

In this fierce battle, there were many injured, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Soldiers after being injured knew better how to train and cultivate desperately, putting themselves in the shoes of the situation. They would also have some experience regarding matters like fighting. In the future, they would be fierce soldiers one by one. If one hasn’t even been injured, how can they be called veterans?

With the ransom from the Zhen Family Ranch coming in hand in the future, Lei Qing had a lot more money on hand for the moment. For the soldiers who performed meritorious service and were injured, he rewarded those who should be rewarded and was not stingy at all. This also raised the already good loyalty of the soldiers by quite a bit. Everyone came out to be soldiers; personal admiration was important, of course, but they also had to earn money to support their families.

After a series of post-war matters were handled, the Iron Cavalry Sixth Regiment from Mobei Town and the Iron Cavalry Fourth Regiment stationed in Longxi Town galloped to the rescue one after the other. Although the war was already over, upon receiving the request for aid, they mustered their troops and rushed over, traveling day and night.

This favor had to be acknowledged.

Lei Qing led his Personal Guards and personally went out to welcome them. He had not met the Sixth Regiment Commander Yan Fei and Vice Commander Wu Rui. When he was stationed at Mobei Town, he couldn’t get away to go to the General Regiment for meetings.

But he had drank alcohol with the Fourth Regiment Commander Taishi Jian at the Xiahou Residence and had also attended meetings at the General Regiment. As for the Fourth Regiment Vice Commander Liang Yu, he had once tried to compete with Lei Qing for the position of Ninth Regiment Commander. It was just that Lei Qing had performed too strongly back then, so Liang Yu had willingly admitted defeat.

Lei Qing personally arranged for the two regiments to set up camp outside Yehe Town and took out some good wine and food from the town to treat the brothers from the brother regiments. That night, needless to say, there was all kinds of revelry.

The next day, seeing that there was nothing to do, Taishi Jian and Yan Fei wanted to lead their troops back. Unexpectedly, the Third Regiment, currently stationed at the General Regiment, also came galloping in, covered in dust.

The Third Regiment Commander was Shentu Xue. She looked gentle and lovely, but her nickname was Shrew. When she arrived, Lei Qing naturally had to treat her since he owed her a favor. Shentu Xue was a straightforward person who liked excitement. Under her strong invitation, Taishi Jian and Yan Fei also had to stay and accompany her.

After the generals of the Iron Cavalry Regiment took their seats in the tent one after another, the wine and food Lei Qing arranged were served. As everyone chatted, Lei Qing found out that Shentu Xue had originally been leading her troops on patrol duty within the borders, but she intercepted the messenger Taishi Jian sent to the General Regiment. After learning Lei Qing was in trouble, she took nearly half of the Third Regiment’s troops and rushed over without saying a word.

Originally, Lei Qing was still puzzled. Mr. Hao felt the General Regiment was too far away, so even if they rescued, it would be too late, so he only requested aid from the Fourth and Sixth Regiments. Moreover, even if the General Regiment got the news, Shentu Xue shouldn’t have arrived so quickly, right?

After three rounds of drinking, when the alcohol was strong, the generals started to get lively. Don’t let Shentu Xue’s appearance fool you; she looked like a decent, beautiful woman, but when she drank, it was like drinking water.

At this time, her pretty face was flushed red from drinking, and she started getting hands-on with Lei Qing again, putting her arm around his shoulder and hitting his back. She burped and said, “I say, Little Lei, are you looking down on me, Shentu Xue?”

Lei Qing was stunned and said strangely, “How could that be? Everyone says Big Sister Shentu is Righteous and High-Minded, more of a man than men. I, Lei Qing, admire you very much. How could I look down on you?”

“Then why didn’t you send someone to ask the Third Regiment for help?” Shentu Xue said drunkenly. “You are breaking my heart.” Her face looked dejected, truly as if her heart was broken.

But her wandering hands started to drill into Lei Qing’s clothes.

“Hey, hey, Shentu Xue, stop being so hands-on and taking advantage of my boss,” Xianyu Bao couldn’t stand watching anymore. He glared with his eyes and said.

…