8mi Chapter 103 Night of the Snowstorm and Massacre
Chapter 103 Night of the Snowstorm and Massacre
Chapter 103 A Night of Slaughter in the Snow (Part 5)
"Brothers in front! Don't misunderstand! We are from the He and Gu families."
"I don't care who you are. I don't want to get involved in your mess. I'm going to take my brothers out of the city!"
"General, don't misunderstand! Listen to me. It'll only take a few minutes."
"Then spit it out!"
"General, look at this dark night, and the snow. Even if you few dozen people manage to escape to the city, what will you do for food and supplies? Not to mention, the risks along the way are immense, don't I need to elaborate? Why not come with us for now? We'll give you 1000 taels of silver. Let's cooperate for one night. The spoils that are due to you will be distributed separately. You should know the reputation of the He family; we won't shortchange you by even a single coin."
"And what about after tonight?"
"You are free to come and go. We will not hinder the future of the general and all the officers."
",
Before long, a centurion appeared with over thirty soldiers, who excitedly joined the ranks.
You know what, once you get to the negotiation stage, you're in He Jing's comfort zone.
Along the way, because they avoided the most intense fighting zones, there were hardly any battles at all.
Instead, Ho Ching constantly used the Ho family's financial power, trying to recruit as many people as possible whenever he encountered them.
Regardless of whether they were from other prominent families, defeated soldiers, miners, or even a few thugs taking advantage of the chaos, they were all accepted without question.
Interestingly, regardless of the quality of this group, they've become increasingly impressive. To date, they've already exceeded 300 people. Even Gu Jiu has recruited over 50 of them.
In this way, smaller enemy forces wouldn't dare approach. As for larger ones—well, He Jing and his men would never go there anyway.
Zhou Ye and He Jing hurried along. After an unknown amount of time, they finally arrived at a cluster of shops.
This cluster of shops is located in the heart of the inner city, a prime location where land is incredibly valuable. Comprising over a dozen high-rise buildings, it resembles a traditional commercial center.
After sending someone to knock on the door, He Jing negotiated with the shopkeepers. Perhaps the negotiations had been pre-arranged, as they went very smoothly. Therefore, it wasn't long before this group of people became the guards for the shop complex.
At this point, Zhou Ye finally breathed a sigh of relief. Tonight should be alright—right?
Furthermore, He Jing was quite competent in his work. He asked the shops for another batch of rewards, and Zhou Ye received another 20 taels.
Honestly, I've already received 60 taels in three separate transactions, plus the remaining 50 taels after the mission ends? Can I really earn over 100 taels in one night?
Two? That money is relatively easy to earn. It seems that hard work is just a life of toil, and it's better to make money from war!
However, Zhou Ye was quite satisfied, but some people were still not satisfied.
A short while later, Gu Jiu pulled He Jing aside, and the two began to whisper to each other.
If I'm not mistaken, the He family's mission has been successfully completed, but the Gu family's mission is still unresolved. Therefore, Gu Jiu must be seeking help from He Jing to borrow troops.
Gu Jiu's offer must have been very satisfactory, and He Jing quickly became all smiles.
After discussing with Gu Jiuyi, He Jing called Zhou Ye and the others over: "Our relationship with the Gu family has always been good."
So I'm going to help Xiao Jiu later. Who wants to come along? Whether it works out or not, the Gu family will give us a gift.
"Master Jing, is the matter with Ninth Young Master difficult to handle?"
"It should be similar to this place. What they want are those silk shops and their attached cloth workshops."
Most people immediately got excited. They thought, "Why not make some extra money?"
Zhou Ye, observing the situation, quickly said, "Uncle Jing, then I'll stay! I'm quite skilled with archery, so at least I can observe the surroundings."
After a moment's consideration, He Jing nodded: "Okay. Xiao Tian, then I'll leave you a few more people!"
He Jing and Gu Jiu left quickly. Zhou Ye then led the two servants carrying arrows to the top floor of the brothel, the highest point in the area. To make it easy to distinguish them, Zhou Ye called the two men He Da and He Er.
Meanwhile, Madam Liu from the brothel was by his side, and she warmly greeted him, "Master Tian, would you like me to arrange a few girls for you? They can sing some songs and chat with you, and help you pass the time."
"No need. Thank you, Aunt Liu," Zhou Ye said with a smile, politely declining.
This place will all become part of the He family's property in the future. The brothel will definitely become one of the He family's cash cows. Therefore, Zhou Ye was also quite polite to this Madam Liu.
"Master Tian, thank goodness you're here tonight. The girls in the building can finally feel at ease."
"You're too kind," Zhou Ye said with a slight smile. However, a question suddenly arose in his mind. "By the way, Aunt Liu, why haven't you hired a few senior experts of the Ming Jin realm to oversee things here?"
To be honest, you could probably gather over a hundred guards and able-bodied men in this "commercial center." But I didn't see any Ming Jin masters.
You know, this is one of the most prosperous shops in the inner city, so it's obvious that they have plenty of money.
Unexpectedly, Madam Liu gave a few bitter laughs: "Actually, yes, we did. Our Tingfeng Tower invited two Ming Jin masters, and the other families invited four or five as well. We even pooled our money to invite an An Jin master."
"Then why—?"
"Sigh! They just don't want to come," sighed Madam Liu. "Actually, we sent people to call them a long time ago. But one gentleman, Mr. Mingjin, refused to see us. The other one was a little better; he just said one sentence—"
"What did you say?"
"Take care!"
"???" Zhou Ye chuckled, speechless. "Aunt Liu, then didn't you waste your money at Tingfeng Tower?"
"Who says otherwise? But what can we do? These martial arts masters won't listen to us—"
According to this Mrs. Liu, a merchant hires several martial arts masters and practitioners to hold nominal positions, which is simply a way for him to buy himself an insurance policy.
However, this insurance does not include "war insurance." Martial arts masters and practitioners would certainly refuse in extremely dangerous situations.
The reasoning is actually quite simple: a Ming Jin martial arts master is almost one in ten thousand. In their surrounding environment, they are practically the chosen ones. Furthermore, the resources required to cultivate to the Ming Jin level are at least tens of thousands of taels of silver.
And you merchants only pay a few dozen taels of silver a month for temporary employment? What's the point of risking your lives like that? Even if your employer is rich, it's not mine. Since that's the case, I'll just do my job day by day and call it a day. There's no way I'll live and die with you.
This is why nominal martial arts masters and warriors don't gain much trust. To be honest, their reputation is quite bad. They're nothing more than a group of "mercenaries" who do things for money.
Then there are the powerful and wealthy families. They have learned many painful lessons and will only trust their blood relatives, never daring to trust outsiders. They would rather lack manpower and prevent their family businesses from expanding than recruit soldiers from outside.
Perhaps if we're not careful, we might end up letting a wolf into our house.
Of course, given your attitude, martial arts masters and practitioners become even more complacent. They become even more self-centered, which means they become even more selfish.
To put it bluntly, someone like Zhou Ye, on a temporary assignment, doesn't need to worry about anything else; all they need to do is provide a certain amount of herbs, monster meat, and monster materials. And Zhou Ye actually completed these tasks, and even provided more than he was supposed to?
Such a boss and their client? Actually, both sides are quite professional—one really pays the money, and the other takes the money and actually does the job!
Hearing this, Zhou Ye found it amusing: "Aunt Liu, according to you, those Ming Jin seniors seem pretty useless?"
"Actually, it does have its uses," Madam Liu said with a smile. "Most martial arts masters know each other. Even if they haven't met, they've at least heard of each other. If something happens, you can ask a martial arts master to step in. People will usually give you some face."
Zhou Ye nodded: "So that means you rarely resort to violence? It's almost always about mutual respect?"
"That's right! So it won't work if we don't have them." Madam Liu laughed. "Unlike those mountain bandits and martial arts masters who escort goods, they often fight with mountain and river bandits, so their strength is generally quite formidable."
"Uh-huh."
Zhou Ye chatted with Liu's mother for a while. Suddenly, they heard loud "bang bang bang" sounds outside and saw fireworks being launched into the air, exploding into brilliant fireworks in the night.
Seeing the continuous barrage of fireworks, the fighting in other areas ceased, and they rushed to the location where the fireworks were being launched.
"Uh—Uncle Tian, you're busy!" Upon discovering a new situation, Madam Liu hurriedly took her leave.
Zhou Ye nodded. He also picked up a bow and arrow, hid behind the window, and jumped out to look.
Unexpectedly, when Zhou Ye looked around, he felt that his night vision had improved slightly. Although the improvement seemed small, it was at least an improvement.
Is this the effect of the Azure Eye? Even amidst the falling snowflakes, my eyes' ability to distinguish things has improved slightly?
This is an unexpected bonus. It proves that no matter how unorthodox a martial art may seem, every martial art or skill is actually quite useful.
At that moment, Zhou Ye peered down again. He noticed that the group of shops was surrounded by a wall. Behind the wall, many guards were also prepared for battle. Clearly, the fireworks earlier had alerted them as well.
Thus, Zhou Ye remained vigilant, constantly observing his surroundings.
However, not long after, Zhou Ye saw several dark figures moving in the distance, seemingly a large group of people slowly approaching. Zhou Ye immediately shouted loudly to warn the guards below, "Get ready! Someone's coming! From that direction!"
"Understood! Quickly! Everyone, get ready for battle!"