These people had returned from hundreds of battles on the battlefield and had made great contributions to the empire. Although this was not the battlefield, for a warrior, what they wanted was not the compensation from the Ministry of War, but an honorable and dignified death.
There was no way Wang Chong could refuse such a lowly request.
Even if the Ministry of War did not agree, he would think of a way to get The King of Song and Big Uncle to agree. The current him indeed had the ability to do so.
"Boom!"
Suddenly, a trembling sound reached his ears. Wang Chong opened his eyes and saw that all the surviving cavalrymen had suddenly dismounted from their horses. Each of them placed their left hands on their chests and knelt on the ground with their right knees. They were kneeling respectfully on the ground, their expressions filled with gratitude.
"Thank you, Sir!"
"Thank you, Sir!"
"Thank you, Sir!"
...
Loud voices reverberated in the air.
Wang Chong looked at this scene and was stunned for a moment. He smiled, and then a hint of bitterness appeared at the corner of his mouth. Other than Bai Siling behind him, no one else saw it.
Only warriors could understand warriors!
Although Wang Chong was not a warrior, he was the leader of the warriors.
Wang Chong knew what they were thanking him for. They were not thanking him for himself, but for their comrades who had died in battle! In an instant, it was as if time had passed. Wang Chong felt as if he had returned to his previous life.
Wang Chong thought of his former subordinates. On the divine continent, they had once accompanied him, fought shoulder to shoulder with him without a care for their own safety, and in the end, disappeared like moths to a flame...
In that instant, Wang Chong felt an incomparable bitterness in his heart.
A light breeze blew, ruffling the hair on Wang Chong's temples. Wang Chong did not know that at that moment, he had given Bai Siling a shock that she had never experienced in her previous life.
Bai Siling did not know what kind of experience a person had to go through to reveal such a bitter expression. That wasn't something a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young man who didn't have to worry about worldly affairs should have.
Sitting on the boulder, Bai Siling stared blankly at the side of Wang Chong's face. At that moment, Bai Siling felt lost.
She had already figured out the identity of this young man, but Bai Siling realized that she had only discovered more mysteries. There seemed to be a thick layer of mystery surrounding this young man.
He had never told anyone, nor did he want to tell anyone. Apart from himself, there seemed to be no one else who knew.
"Who are you?"
Bai Siling lowered her head and buried it between her knees. At that moment, she realized that her hair and heart were in a mess.
…
After resting up, Wang Chong and the others headed straight for the old nest of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen.
Iron Cloak Li was dead, and Advisor Zhou An had been killed as well. The Iron Cloak Highwaymen who had once ruled over the region had vanished along with him.
However, there was one more important matter that they hadn't done yet, and that was to collect the spoils of war.
A bandit of Iron Cloak Li's caliber had plundered from Longxi to the capital for many years, and the wealth he had accumulated was unimaginable. On top of that, the bandits and highwaymen who had submitted to him would often contribute a portion of their wealth to show their 'sincerity'.
Over the years, the 'sincerity' of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen was truly astounding.
Even though Wang Chong was a man who had seen much of the world, he didn't think that it would be a waste for him to turn down such wealth.
"Wang Chong, do you think that the scattered highwaymen will return to plunder after Iron Cloak Li's death?"
Bai Siling caught up to Wang Chong and asked.
"I don't know. However, I can't rule out that possibility. "
Wang Chong said.
"Ah! Doesn't that mean that we have made a wasted trip? "
Bai Siling said with a frown.
"Haha, it's not that simple. It's impossible for Iron Cloak Li to leave his nest unguarded. Even though we have killed Iron Cloak Li, do you think that those who are guarding the nest will believe us so easily? Besides, do you think that the wealth of your Bai Clan will be placed in the open so that anyone can take it away as they please? "
"Are you asking for a beating? Can't you speak properly? "
Bai Siling rolled her eyes in annoyance. Just a few words from this brat was enough to make one want to pummel him.
"Haha, if you don't want to say it, then don't say it. The treasury of a bandit like Iron Cloak Li isn't that easy to breach. It'll save us a lot of effort if those people go in our stead. "
Wang Chong said nonchalantly.
“！!！”
Bai Siling stared at Wang Chong as if she was looking at a monster. Only now did she understand why Wang Chong wasn't anxious at all. It turned out that he was intending to make use of the scattered highwaymen to work for him.
"You really are a monster. Anyone who goes against you will surely fall for your schemes. I really don't understand. You are only in your teens, and you should have never left the capital before. How in the world do you know so much? In fact, I'm glad that I didn't go with Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, or else I would have been done in by you as well. "
Bai Siling said.
Those words fell into the ears of Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu, and both of them looked at each other in embarrassment. Bai Siling sure knew how to rub it in.
But then again, it was no wonder why the other party would say that.
"Hehe, Siling, don't worry. How can I bear to part with a beauty like you?"
Wang Chong chuckled.
The words' beauty 'from Wang Chong made Bai Siling blush in embarrassment. Hearing Wang Chong call her a 'great beauty', Bai Siling's face reddened in embarrassment, and she cursed at Wang Chong.
"Brat, you even dare to tease me. Are you itching for a beating?"
"No!"
Wang Chong squeezed the horse's belly, and Neigh, the White-hoofed Shadow, let out a long neigh and rushed forward with Wang Chong in tow.
Wang Chong was growing more and more fond of this divine chariot that had been gifted to him by The King of Song. In the battle with Iron Cloak Li, most of the steeds used to obstruct the bandits were killed.
Only the White-hoofed Shadow dashed left and right, sensing the danger ahead of time. Using the horses as cover, he found a gap and successfully escaped.
This was the second time the White-hoofed Shadow had managed to escape from danger, including the Goguryeons' assault on the Kunwu Training Camp.
When he was surrounded and faced with danger, the White-hoofed Shadow did not need to worry about him at all.
This made Wang Chong even more hopeful.
Galloping nonstop, Wang Chong and the others finally arrived at the base of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen before nightfall. This was a hill that wasn't too high. It was barren and there wasn't a single tree on it.
However, there were fences, sentry towers, and barracks.
By the time Wang Chong and the others arrived, the barracks was already in a state of chaos, and shouts of battle could be heard. Bandits and highwaymen were slaughtering one another, and loud explosions could be heard from the underground.
"Looks like we came at the right time!"
Upon seeing this sight, Wang Chong's eyes lit up, and he took the lead to charge forward. Boom! One with the WuZi Steel Sword, Zhang Xuan executed the Single Consecutive Slash, and the WuZi Steel Sword pierced through the Stellar Energy of one of the highwaymen and into his heart.
The highwayman's body trembled violently, and deep fear could still be seen in his eyes. Then, he fell from the back of his steed and fell to the ground, motionless.
"Kill! — — "
Behind them, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu were alerted by Wang Chong's warning. If the treasures had already been taken, there wouldn't be any battle here.
Since there were bandits and highwaymen fighting here, it meant that the treasures of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen hadn't been taken away yet.
"Kill! — — "
More than thirty Tang dynasty cavalrymen, along with Zhang Lin, Xu Gan, Huang Yongtu, Bai Siling, and the others, a total of forty or so cavalrymen, charged toward the Iron Cloak Highwaymen's barracks.
"Bad news, the soldiers are here!"
Those who recognized Wang Chong and the others were already scared out of their wits. Forgetting about the treasures, they immediately fled for their lives.
The highwaymen on the hills were fleeing for their lives, wishing that they could grow an extra pair of legs so that they could get as far away from these killing gods as possible.
Even the five hundred to six hundred men led by their former leader were defeated by them. How could this small number of people on the hill be enough for them to kill?
The highwaymen on the hill swiftly scattered, leaving behind those who didn't participate in the battle, those who didn't recognize Wang Chong and the others, and those who didn't know who they were, were swiftly slaughtered as if they were vegetables being chopped up.
After clearing up the bandits on the hill, Zhang Xuan and the others walked down the passageway. A massive metal gate had collapsed, and a group of highwaymen and bandits were currently plundering the treasures within.
Upon seeing Wang Chong and the others, the group was stunned. Clearly, they didn't expect the soldiers to appear here.
This time, without even needing Wang Chong's orders, the group charged forward and swiftly wiped out the bandits and highwaymen.
Wang Chong and the others had arrived at the perfect moment. The bandits and highwaymen had just knocked down the metal gate, and not a single one of them had managed to escape.
"What a huge metal gate! It must weigh at least seven to eight thousand jin!"
Wang Chong exclaimed in awe as he examined the collapsed metal gate. That was because Wang Chong realized that the metal gate was actually forged using Deep Sea Xuan Metal, and it was an extremely valuable material of the highest quality.
It was a top-notch material that could be used to forge top-notch armor. In the army, only the most elite soldiers were qualified to be equipped with it.
Based on the standard of heavy infantry in the army, a set of Xuan Metal Heavy Armor weighed around a hundred jin, and there were seventy to eighty sets of Xuan Metal Heavy Armor here.
It might not sound like a lot, but one must know that this kind of heavy infantry was equipped to the teeth. This was a heavily armored elite force that was used to assault enemy master archers.
Even the most formidable master archer wouldn't be able to pierce through Deep Sea Xuan Metal with a single arrow.
In the army, this kind of material was invaluable.
Even in the Great Tang army, there weren't many infantrymen equipped with such heavy armor. The entire army of the Tang dynasty, including the regular army, the reserve army, and the Imperial Army, only numbered around seven to eight thousand.
In an army of ten thousand, there wouldn't be more than five to six hundred infantrymen equipped with such heavy armor that could counter master archers!
The value of such heavy armor was unimaginable.
"Deep Sea Xuan Metal is priceless, and a set of top-notch Deep Sea Xuan Metal Heavy Armor can fetch up to seventy to eighty thousand gold taels per set. If we can forge seventy to eighty sets here, wouldn't that be equivalent to four to five million gold taels? "
Wang Chong stroked his chin in excitement.
Of course, it was impossible for pure Deep Sea Xuan Metal to be so expensive. Furthermore, they still had to be processed and inscribed with formations. However, this was what Wang Chong didn't lack.
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