Chapter 187 - 103: Subduing the County Soldiers of the Three Counties

Chapter 187: Chapter 103: Subduing the County Soldiers of the Three Counties

Another point was that Zheng Jun now desperately needed to establish his persona and build his reputation! Now that he had an additional quota of six hundred soldiers, he naturally had to make good use of it. To be a General, reputation was extremely important.

For instance, during the Han Dynasty, if you had to choose between two Generals, would you choose to serve under the command of Marquis Changping Wei Qing, or fight alongside the Flying General Li Guang?

Zheng Jun wanted six hundred soldiers who could fight right away, not recruits he had to train from scratch.

Hearing Zheng Jun’s words, Cai Liu was filled with awe. He then focused on driving the carriage, heading toward Black Mountain County.

Cai Liu had never imagined this even in his wildest dreams. Just a few short months ago, this promising junior of the Jianghu was a young man who had to fight so hard against a newly advanced Qi Storage martial artist like Lou Wei that the webbing of his hands tore and his internal organs churned. Yet now, he had already become an existence who didn’t even put an Outer Gang County Magistrate in his eyes! It truly felt like a surreal dream.

Qingdai, too, heard Zheng Jun’s words, and the gaze she directed at him was filled with deep admiration. A true man should be exactly like this! No matter who they were, if anyone dared to block his path, they should be taken out with a single slash!

While Qingdai looked at him with admiration and Cai Liu sighed in amazement, Zheng Jun, who was resting with his eyes closed to regulate his breathing, suddenly spoke up. "Old senior, please conceal your aura on our way back to the city this time. Take the remote and quiet backroads, specifically those areas with a high rate of bandit attacks.

"Since we finally made a trip out, we should do some good deeds for the common people of the counties. Let’s take this opportunity to sweep these highwaymen completely clean!"

Three days later. Black Mountain County.

The half-demon Cyan Mane Horse pulled the carriage, looking travel-worn as they returned to Black Mountain.

The return trip took an extra day due to Zheng Jun’s instructions. Taking remote and quiet paths naturally meant winding through endless twists and turns, adding considerable distance to their journey. As expected, they encountered several groups of bandits. However, they were merely Blood Refining thugs without a single Qi Storage martial artist among them. This left Zheng Jun somewhat disappointed, but he still eliminated them all, taking them out with a single slash each.

There were two reasons why Zheng Jun chose to travel this way. First, just as he had openly stated, he wanted to do a good deed. Second, he needed to repay the debt for the Cloak and Dagger Technique, and killing enemies provided the most repayment progress. Zheng Jun had no intention of killing indiscriminately, so slaughtering bandits was the best way to obtain this progress.

These groups of Blood Refining Martial Artists successively provided Zheng Jun with three to four hundred points of repayment progress, pushing the Cloak and Dagger repayment gauge to "1328/8000." It seemed like there was still a long way to go, but Zheng Jun was about to personally lead his troops to pacify the Gentry and Strongmen across three counties. Naturally, the debt would be fully repaid by then.

The low city walls of Black Mountain County could be seen from afar. The guards at the gate spotted Zheng Jun’s carriage from a distance and immediately perked up. However, constrained by their duties, they could only stand motionless at their posts, waiting for the carriage to pass.

The Black Officials from the Three Squad of Black Mountain County who had come to assist, however, couldn’t care less about such formalities.

The newly appointed Strong Shift Squad Leader, Wang Lai, was overjoyed when he caught sight of Zheng Jun’s carriage from afar. He hastily ordered, "Everyone, come with me to welcome Commander Zheng... Ahem, General Zheng!

"Third Yan, go notify the Historian that General Zheng has returned. The Historian has been muttering about General Zheng every single day lately!"

Following Wang Lai’s instructions, the Black Officials immediately sprang into action. Soon enough, they went out to meet Zheng Jun’s carriage.

Sitting at the front and driving the carriage, Cai Liu wasn’t surprised to see a large group of Black Officials approaching. He merely lowered his voice and spoke toward the curtain behind him. "General, the Black Officials from the Three Squad have arrived."

"Yes, I know."

Zheng Jun nodded, and Qingdai immediately stepped forward to lift the curtain for him. Zheng Jun’s figure instantly appeared before the Black Officials. He wore a dark, gold-threaded cloud-patterned robe with a Beirong Saber strapped to his waist. His tall, straight posture and indifferent eyes exuded a cold, decisive aura of slaughter.

Wang Lai thought, "After this trip to the Commandery city, General Zheng seems to have become even more formidable."

This thought flashed through Wang Lai’s mind, but he quickly snapped back to reality and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Respectfully welcoming General Zheng’s glorious return! Victory to the General!"

With that said, Wang Lai bowed down to respectfully welcome Zheng Jun. Prompted by Wang Lai’s shout, the surrounding Black Officials also shouted in unison and bowed in reverence. "Respectfully welcoming General Zheng’s glorious return! Victory to the General!"

After a few shouts, it wasn’t just the Black Officials cheering; the guards defending the city gate also roared in excitement. They saluted Zheng Jun’s carriage with military courtesy, their expressions incredibly respectful, as if they were greeting the imperial carriage!

"Respectfully welcoming General Zheng’s glorious return! Victory to the General!"

The voices reached the heavens, rolling in continuous waves.

The passing commoners instinctively shrank their necks upon hearing the commotion. But they quickly realized that the Black Officials and soldiers weren’t starting a riot; rather, they were cheering loudly as they crowded around a luxurious carriage. Stunned for a moment, the crowd began to gather to watch the spectacle. In an instant, a sea of people swarmed the area.

"Who is in that carriage?"

"General Zheng? Do we have a General Zheng in Black Mountain County?"

"I only know Third Master Zheng Jun, who has shown us immense kindness. I don’t know any General Zheng!"

The commoners chattered among themselves. Just then, a few sharp-eyed onlookers caught sight of Zheng Jun, clad in black, armed with a saber, and wearing a white jade belt. They couldn’t help but exclaim, "It’s Third Master Zheng! So General Zheng is Third Master Zheng!"

"Third Master Zheng looks so dashing, truly handsome and outstanding! To become a General at such a young age... it seems the world will finally see peace!"

"Third Master Zheng has returned! Third Master Zheng has returned! The backbone of our Black Mountain people has returned!"

Following that first gasp of surprise, a chorus of cheering voices soon rose and fell throughout the crowd of commoners.