Chapter 19 Subjugation

The sounds of fighting on the main battlefield gradually subsided, leaving only sporadic clashes.

With the main stronghold in turmoil, the bandits of Huangdang Mountain were panic-stricken and unwilling to fight. They suffered a massive defeat, some surrendering, others fleeing.

The men of Tiger Head Stronghold pursued for a while, but seeing many enemies scatter and vanish into the deep mountains, they retreated at the urging of their leaders.

The fires in the camp gradually died down, leaving the ground littered with discarded weapons and bloodstains, a scene of utter devastation.

The men could only direct their teams to clean up the battlefield in the darkness, a noisy affair.

"Big Brother, I've caught this guy. He's a leader."

Fang Zhen dragged Yu Zhen and threw him in front of Guo Hai Shen.

Yu Zhen was in a sorry state, begging for mercy in a panic... He had been knocked unconscious by Guo Hai Shen and almost trampled to death in the chaos.

Guo Hai Shen glanced at him and asked Fang Zhen, "Is this the only one? Where are the other leaders of Huangdang Mountain?"

Fang Zhen said resentfully, "They all ran away. It's all because of that Deng Zhi. If he hadn't interfered, we would have captured all those leaders with their mediocre martial skills."

Guo Hai Shen shook his head. "Fortunately, their main stronghold caught fire, and a rockslide damaged their branch stronghold. Without these unforeseen events, this battle would have been dangerous for us."

Fang Zhen chuckled. "This is probably Second Brother's doing. He must have stirred up trouble in their stronghold."

Just as the two were talking, the forest behind them rustled, and the sound of footsteps echoed.

The men of Tiger Head Stronghold stiffened, quickly raising their weapons, wary of any more surprises.

Soon, a group of dusty and disheveled bandits from Huangdang Mountain emerged, holding their hands high to show they had no weapons.

"You already fled. Why are you back?"

The men of Tiger Head Stronghold were stunned by the sight.

At that moment, Zhou Jing followed, walking out.

He had Xu Gui tucked under his left arm and Deng Zhi in his right hand, a long spear slung across his back. He was shouting, as if herding the bandits of Huangdang Mountain.

"Brother!"

The men were overjoyed and hurried to greet him.

Zhou Jing threw the two men on the ground and nodded. "I captured their chieftain. I found out they have secret passages. When I came down, I ran into a group of fleeing soldiers, so I conveniently caught them too."

The men were delighted to see Xu Gui and Deng Zhi on the ground.

"Good job, Brother! With these two in our hands, Huangdang Mountain is as good as subdued!"

They had let the other leaders escape, but Chen Feng had turned around and captured the two most important ones, which secured the situation.

Fang Zhen even pointed at Deng Zhi, gloating. "Haha, you thought you could escape! You're lucky my Second Brother didn't beat you to death."

Deng Zhi's face turned pale, then red.

In the narrow tunnel, Chen Feng was an impassable barrier, even more valiant than he had been in Anlin Prefecture.

He had been knocked down by Zhou Jing at the first encounter and almost lost his life on the spot. His troops were routed by Zhou Jing and lost their helmets and armor, all terrified and surrendering to one man.

Deng Zhi was grateful that he hadn't been stabbed to death by a spear. He was now trembling and dared not speak, or even look directly at Zhou Jing.

Zhou Jing recognized the man but didn't do anything.

At this moment, Guo Hai Shen asked curiously, "Second Brother, was it you who set the stronghold on fire?"

Zhou Jing nodded. "That's right. I captured Xu Gui and learned of their night raid plan. Seeing you were under attack from both sides and I couldn't provide support, I decided to set fire to their main stronghold and collapse the mountainside to cut off their retreat."

"So the rockslide was Brother's doing too!"

The men exclaimed in shock, their faces pale.

However, they had witnessed Zhou Jing's divine strength in Tiger Head Mountain, so they didn't disbelieve him.

"Thanks to Brother's actions, we might have lost this battle if their main stronghold hadn't been in trouble and their morale had been shaken."

Hong Ding Xian said admiringly.

Guo Hai Shen said sincerely, "Although Second Brother wasn't here, we were able to turn the tables thanks to Second Brother's blessings."

Zhou Jing waved his hand, interrupting their praise, and said, "Enough of that. Time is of the essence. While they're still reeling from their defeat, we'll hold their chieftain hostage and completely take over Huangdang Mountain."

"We'll follow Brother's orders!"

The men's expressions turned serious, and they responded in unison.

Zhou Jing turned to look at the dispirited Xu Gui and said in a deep voice, "Chieftain Xu, now I'm counting on you to quell the chaos and make sure all the men in the stronghold submit. You wouldn't play any tricks, would you?"

Xu Gui came back to his senses, a bitter smile on his face, and bowed.

"Brother Chen Feng's martial arts are divine. I admire you. I won't go back on my word. I'll persuade the entire stronghold to surrender. I hope Brother won't blame me for my previous offenses and will treat my brothers in the stronghold well."

Now that things had come to this, he knew he couldn't turn the situation around and could only give up his intentions and truly surrender.

Besides, Zhou Jing's display of divine strength had not only shattered the mountainside but also shattered his understanding of martial arts.

Xu Gui was terrified and held Zhou Jing in awe, not daring to provoke him.

Guo Hai Shen was afraid that Zhou Jing's temperament would be too volatile and he would say something that couldn't be taken back, so he took over the conversation and said steadily,

"In war, each side relies on their own abilities. Since you have surrendered, we will not make things difficult for you."

Although he resented Deng Zhi's earlier attack, he gave up trying to deal with him to take care of the bigger picture and appease the leaders of Huangdang Mountain.

In any case, the man had lost his official position because of the affair, so he would consider it as Second Brother avenging him.

Hearing this, Xu Gui breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his head. "Thank you, heroes. I will now persuade the brothers in the stronghold."

Accompanied by the others, Xu Gui quickly visited the surrendered soldiers of Huangdang Mountain, constantly persuading them.

He had always been quite prestigious, and the surrendered soldiers of Huangdang Mountain were panicking, unsure of how they would be treated by the enemy. Hearing that their chieftain had surrendered, they felt relieved.

Xu Gui couldn't rest and turned to persuade the men left behind in the stronghold to open the gates and surrender.

...

After a night of chaos, the matter was finally resolved when the sky began to lighten in the east. The entire Huangdang Mountain had completely surrendered.

The men led their forces to clean up the battlefield and moved into the main stronghold.

The fire in the main stronghold had long been extinguished, but many houses were still charred black.

The Hall of Gathering had been burned to ruins, so the men gathered in another room, sitting down in order.

The other Huangdang Mountain leaders who had fled were all brought back and were now standing in the hall behind Xu Gui, trembling with fear and bowing to Zhou Jing, who was in the seat of honor.

"Brother, please accept our bows. From now on, Huangdang Mountain will follow Brother's lead."

Xu Gui couldn't hide the fatigue on his face, but he still forced himself to cheer up and express his loyalty.

The other Huangdang Mountain leaders quickly repeated his words. Although they were unwilling, they had no choice but to admit defeat and, like their chieftain, be wise and adapt to the circumstances.

Moreover, they already knew how they had lost and were greatly shocked by Zhou Jing's skills.

Rather than saying they had lost to Tiger Head Mountain, it was better to say they had lost to Chen Feng. If it hadn't been for this man striking at the heart of their stronghold, their night raid might have succeeded... The opponent's ability to turn the tables was mostly due to Chen Feng's efforts. He was truly a rare and unparalleled warrior in the world.

Deng Zhi trembled and bowed his head in submission.

Although he had been dragged into the world of bandits by the other party, he dared not resent Zhou Jing any longer. He was deeply terrified and had been scared out of his wits.

Zhou Jing accepted their greetings before raising his hand and saying, "Everyone, please rise. I am here on behalf of Red Cloud Mountain, so you don't have to see me as your chieftain..."

He began to explain the reason and soon told them the whole story.

The men of Huangdang Mountain were all stunned after hearing it.

They had been defeated by Zhou Jing and surrendered to him. They were convinced in their hearts and secretly believed that with Chen Feng as their leader, they might be able to grow stronger in the future.

But what was Red Cloud Mountain? How could it be compared to Chen Feng?

Yu Zhen immediately called out in dissatisfaction, "If Brother Chen Feng had already fallen into the hands of Red Cloud Mountain, then so be it. But Brother is an outsider, only here to repay a debt. Red Cloud Mountain is reaping the benefits. Why should they annex us?"

Xu Gui thought for a moment and bowed in agreement. "Brother, your actions are truly righteous, but we must refuse to obey. If Brother isn't the chieftain, the brothers won't be convinced."

"That's right!"

The men of Huangdang Mountain nodded in agreement, their emotions stirred, and they were immediately on the verge of an uproar.

"Hey, don't say such things." Zhou Jing waved his hand and said casually, "Since I promised Chieftain Yu Feng, I won't go back on my word. Besides, I don't intend to stay in Luhe for long. I still want to travel the world. I don't want to be a chieftain right now. Please don't try to persuade me."

Seeing that Zhou Jing had made up his mind, the men had no choice but to reluctantly agree, accepting the fact with frustration.

Xu Gui's eyes darted around and he said, "Since Brother has ordered us to do so, we will first submit to Red Cloud Mountain. If Brother needs anything in the future, we will not refuse."

Hearing this, Peng Jin quickly followed suit. "The same goes for my Tiger Head Mountain!"

Zhou Jing blinked. How could he not see that these two chieftains had some ulterior motives, unwilling to become vassals of Red Cloud Mountain so easily?

He could suppress these two strongholds. They were afraid of him, so they had no choice but to bow their heads temporarily and accept being incorporated into Red Cloud Mountain.

But after he left, it was hard to say whether these two strongholds would go back on their word.

Zhou Jing snorted and said slowly,

"I know you two are unconvinced. How you compete with Chieftain Yu for power in the future is none of my business. I only have one request: you must not violate today's agreement and rebel against Red Cloud Mountain. The leaders of Red Cloud Mountain have been kind to me. If you fight them, I will come back and settle the score with you. At that time, I won't be as easy to talk to as I am today. This spear might have to see some blood!"

As he spoke, he patted the black iron dragon spear, his tone stern.

With the three strongholds merged into one, the familiar leaders would naturally band together, which would inevitably lead to power struggles. It wasn't something that could be dispelled with a few words.

Unless he became the chieftain, it was impossible for these two groups of people to truly submit. Yu Feng didn't have the ability to subdue them like he did.

So Zhou Jing only set a bottom line, stating that as long as these two groups of people didn't violate their promise to surrender, they could fight as much as they wanted.

In any case, he had conquered two strongholds and completed his mission. Whether or not he could secure his position depended on Yu Feng's own methods. As long as he made sure that the two groups of people didn't dare to rebel for his sake, he would have already given Red Cloud Mountain enough benefits. There was no need to go too far, as he wouldn't stay in Luhe forever.

Hearing this, the leaders of Tiger Head Mountain and Huangdang Mountain shuddered and repeatedly said they wouldn't dare.

Xu Gui even flattered him, praising loudly, "Brother is truly righteous, heroic, magnanimous, brave, and awe-inspiring. I admire you!"

"Me too!"

Peng Jin quickly echoed, secretly annoyed that Xu Gui had read a few books and could spout out a series of elegant phrases to flatter him.

The group of people hadn't slept all night. After finalizing the matters and chatting for a while, they went to rest.

In the following days, they rested in Huangdang Mountain for two days, communicated with each other, and slightly repaired the stronghold before setting off together for Red Cloud Mountain.

...

Red Cloud Mountain.

Since Zhou Jing left, several days had passed, and the leaders of Red Cloud Mountain were worried, losing their appetites and sending out scouts every day to gather information.

One day, Yu Feng and the other leaders were training their men when they happened to talk about this matter.

"Brother Chen Feng has been gone for so long without any news. I wonder how the situation is."

Li Chun sighed, placing his hands on his hips.

Lu Yun Zhao shook his head. "Tiger Head Mountain and Huangdang Mountain each have over ten thousand men. Even if Chen Feng is skilled in martial arts, it's impossible to take them down. I think he'll probably return empty-handed."

Yu Feng sighed. "I don't expect Brother Chen and the others to succeed. I'll be content as long as the three brothers can retreat safely and not be trapped in any of the strongholds."

"Why are you chieftains so lacking in confidence in Brother Chen?"

Lu Xin Niang frowned.

Hearing this, Lu Yun Zhao smiled bitterly. "Sister, it's not a matter of confidence. How can conquering a stronghold be so simple? I don't think the leaders of those two strongholds would be stupid enough to fight Brother Chen one-on-one. Even if Brother Chen's martial arts are high, he would still be killed on the spot if he was surrounded by thousands of people."

Lu Xin Niang snorted. "In my opinion, Brother Chen's martial arts are enough to take on thousands of enemies."

"Alas, there's no reasoning with you. I don't know what kind of bewitching potion Chen Feng has given you."

Lu Yun Zhao shook his head helplessly.

Just as the group was talking, a messenger ran over in a hurry, panting for breath.

"Report! Urgent news!"

"Speak quickly."

The group's expressions changed, and they quickly urged him on.

The messenger didn't bother to catch his breath, swallowed hard, and said loudly with a hint of joy on his face,

"Chieftains, it's good news! Chen Feng has pacified Tiger Head Mountain and Huangdang Mountain, and has subdued all the leaders and all the men of the two strongholds. They are on their way back!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the group was shocked, their faces filled with disbelief.

Three people, with only two hundred men, had actually taken down two strongholds with ten thousand men?!

Brother Chen hadn't been exaggerating at all. He actually had such abilities!

Lu Xin Niang immediately beamed with joy and snorted. "See, I said Brother Chen had such abilities, but you didn't believe me."

The group looked at each other, speechless, their hearts filled with shock.

Yu Feng was overjoyed, trembling with excitement. He couldn't sit still and shouted excitedly,

"Quick! Immediately go and find out where Brother Chen is. I want to go out... no, I'll personally go down the mountain to welcome him!"