SWDnovel Chapter 107 The Fates of All Parties
Chapter 107 The Fates of All Parties
Chapter 107 The Fates of All Parties
Since He Jing was willing to give it, Zhou Ye certainly wouldn't be polite.
Zhou Ye glanced at it and noticed that the large cart was loaded with various goods; it was one of the carts he and Gu Jiu had brought back earlier. The most valuable items were probably the dozens of bolts of cloth—right?
Zhou Ye laughed, "Uncle Jing, there's no need for formalities between us. Helping you back then was also helping myself. It's just these arrows—"
"It's yours. You can use it when you're running around in the mountains." He Jing agreed readily. "I've already contacted the head of the family, and they'll send someone over soon. They'll be transporting a batch of goods back. I'll arrange for you to go with them, and they'll be delivered directly to your house. How about that?"
"That's great. But Uncle Jing, is it really over just like that?"
"There shouldn't be much fighting left. According to news from outside, we've taken control of the entire county. But you should definitely get back as soon as possible. Don't you remember? There's still a victory celebration and rewards for those who contributed. By the way, besides all that, is there anything else you need?"
"Hmm... Do you have any martial arts techniques for fighting in water? Preferably first or second-rate."
Zhou Ye suddenly remembered that he had only been able to escape from the county town by borrowing a boat from the canal gang. What if there were no boats available in the future? Then he would have to rely on swimming to get out. And what if he encountered enemies in the water? In that case, it would be best to have a martial art that was good at fighting in the water.
Furthermore, there's a large river right next to the small family home, and there are many rivers and lakes in the mountains. If they could master a water-based martial art, it wouldn't be a bad thing.
In other words, having this water-based martial art doesn't mean you have to be an expert, but you absolutely cannot be completely ignorant of it.
"Aquatic martial arts? This kind of martial arts seems rather unorthodox." He Jing asked, somewhat puzzled. "Xiao Tian, are you planning to hunt aquatic monsters?"
"Pretty much! It just means more choices." Zhou Ye chuckled casually.
"Alright! I'll go ask the patriarch for you. Don't worry, the He family has a fairly comprehensive set of martial arts techniques."
"Thank you so much!"
""
After He Jing left, Gu Jiu unexpectedly came looking for him soon after. He also gifted a whole cart full of things and promised that Zhou Ye would be given a temporary position in the Gu family according to the He family's standards.
In other words, in addition to 10 taels per month, there will also be a quota of 2 medium-grade Qi and Blood Pills to be purchased each year.
In fact, during last night's battle, anyone who wasn't blind could clearly see that Zhou Ye's strength was already very close to Ming Jin. His archery skills, in particular, played an absolutely crucial role in the fight.
Therefore, whether kept as a family offering or placed outside for hunting, its effects are considerable, making it well worth the effort to cultivate a connection with one's family.
More than an hour later, Zhou Ye returned to his home at the dock. He brought home two large carts full of goods, and another cart loaded with various kinds of arrows.
Besides the arrows, the cart was also loaded with a considerable number of common weapons such as swords, spears, and knives. Zhou Ye even discovered two crossbows! Furthermore, there were quite a few wooden arrows mixed in as well.
To be fair, He Jing is quite decent in this respect. Anyway, last night's spoils were plentiful. Aside from the heavy armor, he gave away quite a few other weapons.
He tipped the coachmen and He Da and He Er. The men thanked him profusely, saying, "Master Tian, please don't forget, the victory celebration banquet tomorrow night will be held at the He residence in our inner city."
"understood."
I checked the situation at my home. Perhaps because it was protected by the canal gangs, the surrounding buildings weren't badly damaged. And my home at the dock was even more remote; it was practically unscathed.
However, Zhou Ye noticed that the hot pot they had eaten was still there. Most of the broth had frozen into a lump.
Even more interestingly, someone once slipped three letters through the crack in the door.
One of the letters was sent by He Jing. Although I didn't receive the letter at the time, I should know what happened later due to a series of coincidences.
One of the letters was from Wang Zhengyu. He hoped Zhou Ye would rush to Wang's Pharmacy as soon as possible to protect its safety. They were also willing to pay him extra. Undoubtedly, in the midst of the chaos, even Wang's Pharmacy was desperately seeking help; how could they have actually looked for him?
The last letter, however, was quite unexpected; it was delivered by someone sent by Du Juan. She urged Zhou Ye to go to the martial arts school as soon as possible. With the school's protection, they could escape the chaos.
Therefore, seeing this letter warmed Zhou Ye's heart. His junior sister was truly a good person. She still thought of him at a time like this.
For a moment, Zhou Ye felt as if he had been transported to another world. Thank goodness! This chaos in the county town is finally coming to an end—right? Anyway, hopefully there won't be any more of these PUBG-style matches in the future.
However, after the initial tension subsided, waves of fatigue washed over me. This continued for an entire day, followed by a whole night.
Zhou Ye had been resting or sleeping the whole time. Around noon the next day, he felt as if he had finally come back to life—
A large crowd had already gathered in a square in the inner city, along with many vendors selling their wares.
Although the battle that night was quite fierce, many people also gained a lot. These people spontaneously organized this temporary market to facilitate the exchange of goods and services among themselves.
In a corner of the market, Zhou Ye bought two leather masks and one metal mask. He noticed many people around him were wearing masks and immediately took a liking to these practical little gadgets. At least he wouldn't have to go through so much trouble wearing a scarf all the time.
-
But during his subsequent stroll, Zhou Ye didn't find anything of interest. He didn't need most of the things, and he already had most of the things he did need.
In the end, remembering that he still possessed the Cloud Sea Overlapping Waves Sword, Zhou Ye spent 140 taels of silver to purchase a scholar's sword.
Scholar's swords are generally quite exquisitely crafted. Their decorative value outweighs their practical combat use. However, this particular sword is relatively inexpensive and extremely sharp, making it a good deal. Besides, it looks quite dashing carrying around, doesn't it? Every man has a dream of being a swordsman, right?
Realizing it was almost time, Zhou Ye left the market and hurried towards the He residence.
To be fair, the He family profited immensely from this chaotic battle, making them one of the most successful families.
Especially He Jing's team. They not only exceeded their mission targets, but also preserved their strength as much as possible.
You tell me! During that process of recruiting and incorporating others, most of the casualties were mercenaries. The He family's core military force, however, suffered minimal losses. Wasn't that a great achievement?
As for the silver and other wealth? Those aristocratic families didn't really care. What they valued most were their various industries, which would provide a continuous stream of gold. These, after all, were the foundation of their family's legacy.
Therefore, before the banquet, He Jing secretly approached Zhou Ye.
"Xiao Tian, this is a special gift from the head of the family to you. No one else has received this. You should take it quickly."
Zhou Ye took a look and saw that there were three mid-grade Qi and Blood Pills. He immediately put them into his pocket with a smile.
"And here's a martial arts manual called 'Azure Dragon Soaring in the Water.' This is the underwater martial arts technique you need. A top-tier technique, I'll give you a discounted price of 800 taels of silver. You can take the manual first, and pay me back in a few days! Let me tell you, if anyone in the Canal Gang knows about this, they might be willing to offer 1500 taels."
"Uncle Jing, thank you so much!"
"No need," He Jing chuckled. "By the way, keep this invitation safe. There will be an auction in the inner city in three days. There are quite a few good things there. You can go and take a look."
"An auction?"
"That's right! A lot of good stuff has leaked out this time, so we might as well put it all up for auction. I heard there's also a mid-grade Qi and Blood Pill that you need."
"Understood. Thank you, Uncle Jing."
However, after the banquet began, Zhou Ye discovered that his position wasn't very high. To put it more bluntly, he was in one of the very last seats.
This is understandable, actually. After all, he's only a beginner martial artist, and compared to those with more advanced internal or external internal strength, he's just a junior. To receive such a special reward from the family head is already quite remarkable.
During the banquet, Zhou Ye also learned a great deal of the latest news, especially the final outcome of the great battle. The various factions...
Almost everything has already reached its final conclusion.
First was the new prefect. When he realized the situation was completely out of control, he sent people to find powerful and influential families, making reckless promises and frantically selling out the interests of the government.
To be honest, the new prefect was practically at his wit's end. As long as he could keep his position as prefect, which meant saving his entire family's lives, he didn't care about anything else as long as he could eliminate his rivals.
As for the powerful and wealthy families? Initially, when they discovered the chaotic battle in the county town, they remained relatively conservative.
Although the most powerful families have the most experts, they are all harboring their own secrets, and some even have sworn feuds.
It was simply because of the previous chaos in the county town that these powerful families temporarily united.
If that's the case, then preserving strength will definitely be the priority. Would they sacrifice themselves to benefit the others?
But to my utter surprise, the new prefect gave so much!
If the new prefect's promise is fulfilled and all these benefits are transferred to powerful families, then the government will become a symbolic entity in Fufeng County, and the powerful families will be the real supreme rulers.
Therefore, after discussion, the powerful families immediately set aside all past grudges and united to launch an offensive. With a large number of experts mobilized, the tide of victory was already irreversible. After all, this was a martial arts world, and the number of experts was crucial.
In fact, the moment the fireworks were set off was the very moment the powerful families gathered all their forces to launch the attack. That was the moment they began their final assault.
However, under this pressure, the other two forces suddenly changed.
Let's start with that guerrilla general.
Here, we can revisit the entire process—initially, the new prefect was allied with the Black Iron Gang, the miners. Since the guerrilla general wanted to overthrow the new prefect, he was naturally hostile towards the miners. Furthermore, he was unaware that the new prefect was already preparing to betray the miners.
However, things took an unexpected turn later. The guerrilla general, having given up all hope, eventually joined forces with the miners.
Therefore, this alliance was actually quite fragile. If not for the circumstances, the guerrilla general and the miners would have been adversaries. They simply couldn't have united.
Therefore, under the powerful offensive of the powerful families, the guerrilla general's side immediately began to waver. Many wanted to surrender, and some even planned to betray the miners, using their heads as a token of their loyalty.
However, no one expected that the guerrilla general and his men would encounter a fierce counterattack from the miners as soon as they betrayed them.
To be fair, if the guerrilla general didn't trust the miners, how could the miners trust him?
In addition, the miners have suffered too many betrayals and backstabbings in the past few days, so they have been on high alert for a long time.
Traitors are even more hateful than enemies! Despite the fierce offensive from powerful families and the new prefect, the miners concentrated all their elite forces and fought the guerrilla general to the death.
In the end, the guerrilla general was caught completely off guard. He was killed on the spot, and his side was almost completely wiped out.
It should be said that by this point, the miners had unleashed their last glimmer of hope. They were at their last gasp, and defeat was inevitable; they were merely making a last-ditch effort.
However, faced with the desperate struggle of the miners, the powerful families once again harbored their own agendas. Unwilling to expend their own resources, they ultimately offered to surrender. After all, the outcome was already decided. These miners were also a significant source of wealth; at least the mines still needed manpower to operate.
But no one expected that this would actually give the miners a very valuable chance to catch their breath.
Don't forget, there are several mining teams right outside the county town. And just at that moment, reinforcements arrived? And several more reinforcements followed closely behind?
It must be acknowledged that, among all the various factions, the miners actually constituted the largest number of people. Furthermore, their raids on various estates outside the city absorbed a large number of impoverished people and destitute refugees.
Furthermore, the miners in the county town were already fully armed, having acquired a large quantity of armor and weapons. Therefore, when the two armies joined forces, their morale soared, and they immediately withdrew from the battlefield, retreating towards the outskirts of the city.
Of course, one of them accidentally wandered into Zhou Ye's group, which led to a fierce battle that broke out in a confused manner.
However, some of the miners managed to evacuate outside the city and quickly made their escape.
Here, the powerful families held completely different views from the government. As long as the miners left the county town and stopped causing chaos, the powerful families could accept it. They wouldn't desperately try to stop them.
Ultimately, private armies are the power of wealthy and powerful families themselves, so why would they risk their lives for the government?
It was quite interesting, though. In this chaotic battle, the Black Iron Gang's top brass was almost completely wiped out first. Then the miners either died or rebelled.
So after that night, the Black Iron Gang, one of the three major gangs in Fufeng County, was completely wiped out from top to bottom.