Witch Wind

Chapter 205: Jieshi Headquarters (Part )

Thick clouds rolled in.

Below the huge airship, there was a large amount of water vapor. As Xing Tianli chanted, large areas of light and shadows distorted, making the entire airship invisible to the naked eye.

The huge airship landed lightly on a grassy slope about ten miles away from the house. The skinny cattle and sheep nearby flicked their tails anxiously and slowly moved away from the area.

Several mountain men wearing old sheepskin coats, with swords hanging around their waists and slings in their hands, looked at the faint water vapor that suddenly appeared on the grass slope with a little surprise. After all, they were descendants of the Wu people with Hou Tu blood, and even if their blood was thin, their intuition was better than that of ordinary people.

Xing Tianli and his men left the airship.

Several mountain men were startled by the sudden appearance of the figure. With a "swish", an egg-sized stone was thrown out by a mountain man's high-speed rotating slingshot and hit He Duo's forehead very accurately.

He Duo cursed with a smile, flicked his finger, and the stone exploded into pieces.

"He Hu, He Mu, you bunch of bastards, don't you recognize me?" He Duo opened his arms proudly, showing off his gorgeous jacquard brocade robe, tight leggings with dark silk patterns, and boots made of first-layer calfskin inlaid with a lot of gold and silver accessories.

He gently shook his ten fingers, and six large, sparkling gem rings reflected dazzling light.

Several mountain men widened their eyes. They instantly forgot to ask how He Duo and others suddenly appeared in front of them. They stared at He Duo with fiery eyes, like a group of wolves finding their prey, running over with the sound of the wind, and slapping and caressing He Duo's body with excited hands.

"What the hell, He Duo, you old bastard, have you made a fortune?"

"Which unlucky rich man was kidnapped by you? You can't buy this silk brocade without a hundred gold coins, right?"

"Oh, our Master He Duo, take off your six rings quickly and let us country bumpkins open our eyes."

"Is this diamond? Yes, top-grade diamond. This is cat's eye, and the rarest green cat's eye... Bastard, these rings of yours can be exchanged for a thousand cows, or directly for three thousand women, right?"

Xing Tianli rolled his eyes when he heard this.

The living environment of the mountain people is harsh. Here, the price of a cow is much more expensive than that of a woman.

These rings of He Duo can only be exchanged for one thousand cows, but they can be exchanged for three thousand women of appropriate age, healthy, able to work, and able to raise children!
He Duo proudly raised his head, spread his arms, and let several familiar tribesmen rummage around him. He deliberately stood on tiptoe and shook his body, so that the red brocade purse hanging around his waist, which was as big as an ordinary person's head, made a crisp metallic collision sound.

Several shepherds widened their eyes and carefully untied the purse from He Duo's waist.

'Crash'!
In the purse, there was a pile of newly minted, brand new, large gold coins without even a scratch on the edges, emitting an extremely dazzling golden light. Several shepherds took a deep breath at the same time, staring at He Duo fiercely: "Asshole, have you found a way to make a fortune? How much money is in here?"

Some shepherds even looked at Xing Tianli, who was standing next to He Duo. His purple-ribbon Taoist robe had turned into a pitch-black fur coat with black and white Tai Chi patterns on the back and cuffs. His long hair was casually draped behind him, and he looked graceful and elegant.

They grinned, revealing their teeth, which were black and yellow and worn from years of chewing coarse grains and tobacco leaves. They reached out to grab Xing Tianli: "Is this the fat sheep you brought back? Hey, looking at this delicate and tender appearance, you can tell that he is the son of a wealthy family... With such a tall and sturdy body and such a handsome little face, we must let him leave more offspring for the clan!"

Uncle He Duo and nephew He Xi both had dark faces.

Xing Tianli smiled slightly, and shook his purple Taoist robe lightly. Wisps of purple air rose up and transformed into a purple light column around him, isolating the palms of several shepherds three feet away. To be honest, Xing Tianli felt a little disgusted when he saw these guys' palms that were covered with sheep and cow dung and were yellow and black in color.

Please, we are all descendants of Wu people, could you please pay a little more attention to your personal hygiene?

Shaking his head, Xing Tianli raised the five fingers of his left hand, and five-colored lightning jumped between them. "Swish~Boom", a deafening thunder sounded in the sky, and dozens of lightning bolts meandered down from the thick clouds and struck a mountain in the distance.

Several herdsmen were stunned at the same time, with distorted faces, looking at Xing Tianli in disbelief.

"This is the Great Shaman from the East Country. Don't be rude to him." He Duo scolded several herdsmen very harshly: "Also, it was the Great Shaman who made us rich... Not only me, but all the tribesmen I brought to the East Country to make a living have become rich, and they are the kind of nouveau riche!"

Not to mention how vast and rich the Jieshi County, the fief of the Jieshi Duke's Mansion, is, nor how much wealth the Jieshi Duke's Mansion has taken from various major forces by being a second-hand arms dealer... let's just say that Xing Tianli now monopolizes Black Borneo and the southern islands of Dongyun... countless people are working for Xing Tianli to make money.

He Duo, He Xi and a group of clansmen, as the few witch bloodlines under Xing Tianli, are his capable ministers and generals. They don't need to make money themselves, countless amounts of money flow into their pockets every day!

Get rich!

Make a fortune!
He Duo knew very well what method could most quickly impress his people and gain their support.

Xing Tianren and his brothers walked out of the airship. Each of them carried a heavy metal box that was more than six feet long and wide on their shoulders. The box was so heavy that when Xing Tianren and his brothers stepped on the grass, their entire soles sank into the grass.

Led by several herdsmen, Xing Tianli and his group walked towards a large group of houses several miles away.

On several arrow towers, the mountain people on duty blew sharp whistles.

A large group of mountain men poked their heads out from behind the walls of the houses, and their old-fashioned muskets and various crossbows were all locked on this side. But from a distance, He Duo yelled and cursed in the mountain dialect: "You bastards, your uncle He Duo is back, quickly put away the rags in your hands, isn't that shameful enough?"

Inside the protective wall, many mountain people who were of the same seniority as He Duo shouted at the top of their lungs to greet He Duo's ancestors for eight generations.

Suddenly, a heavy stone door on the parapet was pushed open, and a tall, pretty woman in tattered clothes, who looked about twenty-five or twenty-six years old according to Xing Tianli, ran out, leading a boy who was dirty like a mud monkey and looked to be about eight or nine years old.

"He Duo, you bastard, this is your baby!"

The woman cried and cursed from a distance: "You old bastard, tell these bastards that this is your child... The day you ran away from the tribe with your people, you climbed into my bed, do you remember?"

He Duo's smile suddenly froze.

He Xi and a group of Wuyue Hall juniors all widened their eyes and looked at He Duo with a gloating look.

The woman rushed over pulling the boy. They were still seven or eight steps away from He Duo. The strong woman actually lifted up the boy, who was not thin at all, and threw him directly at He Duo.

Xing Tianli was stunned - the people here were so fierce?

He Duo had just caught the baby boy thrown by the woman when a woman with a strong frame but skinny body strode out from the house behind, holding a grass mower.

"He Duo, you old scoundrel, Millie said her baby was yours, it turns out it was really your fault? You bastard, you cheated on me!" The woman came running over, holding a hay knife, looking so aggressive as to chop He Duo to death with one blow!

He Duo dropped the struggling boy in his hand who was jumping around like a mud monkey, and shouted at the woman with his head held high: "Wife, yes, I slept with Millie and let her spoil the baby, so what? Your man has come back with a fortune!" He Duo pulled off the purse tied around his waist and threw it in front of the woman in a cocky manner.

The woman dropped the grass-cutter and swiftly caught the purse. She untied the string of the purse, revealing the golden coins inside… The woman's hand suddenly 'slipped', the purse fell to the ground, and large pieces of gold coins 'clattered' out.

The woman turned around triumphantly, put her hands on her hips, and laughed with her head held high: "Ha, you bunch of gossipers, that's right, it was my He Duo who slept with Millie and got her pregnant... But my He Duo can make money, he brought back so many gold coins... Not to mention Millie, even if there were ten or eight more, our family can afford them!"

The woman laughed loudly and hugged Millie's shoulders: "Okay, Millie, we'll be sisters from now on. Hey, so many gold coins, these gossipy women are so envious... Hey, their men can't bring back so many gold coins at once!"

Millie's eyes were fixed on the radiant jewel ring on He Duo's finger.

"What's this little bit of gold? Open your eyes and take a closer look. This bastard He Duo has made a fortune... a lot of money... Look at the silk and brocade he's wearing, his top-grain cowhide boots, and the big gems on his fingers!"

Millie and the woman both looked at each other with tears in their eyes and came closer to He Duo with tenderness and affection.

"Boss, you're back? You've worked hard... Well, you've kidnapped a lot of fat sheep this time, right?"

"It's fine if they kidnapped him, but they paid us money, so we have to send him back safely. We want to do long-term business, and we can't afford to do such ugly things as taking money and then killing him."

Xing Tianli was dumbfounded.

Xing Tianren and his brothers were stunned.

Oh... such a tough folk custom.

They also blame the moral code of the underworld!
Passing through the stone gate and into the retaining wall, I entered this area of ​​houses. All around were walls made of large and small stones, and a narrow alley only three feet wide connected the tightly packed houses.

There were gun and arrow holes of various sizes on the walls of the house. If outsiders came in, they would have to be on guard from all directions at all times, as spears might be stabbed out, bullets might be shot out, and arrows might be stabbed down from high places at any time.

Xing Tianli roughly judged that, assuming the individual strengths were equal, it would be impossible to capture this fortress consisting of houses without more than twenty times the number of troops.

However, in these precipitous mountains, no single force could pass through the winding and rugged paths, gather more than twenty times the number of troops in this group of houses, and mobilize enough baggage and supplies.

Even if it is a top power like Falu, if he really wants to go all out, he can do it, but why?
After walking around the winding alleys for a while, Xing Tianli and others finally came to the deepest part of this area of ​​houses, under a cliff, and arrived at a huge stone hall built against the cliff.

Many mountain men had already gathered here. They were wearing almost identical old sheepskin coats, with the same sinister and fierce eyes. Their hands were clasped in front of their chests in unison, their dry lips kept moving as they chewed tobacco. From time to time, someone would make a "Pooh" sound and spit a mouthful of thick brown saliva onto the ground.

Xing Tianli and others came over, and He Duo, He Xi and a group of people proudly showed off their gorgeous clothes, expensive jewelry accessories, and their exquisite and almost luxurious boots to their tribesmen.

So, many men stared with eyes wide open, fiercely gleaming, and kept touching He Duo and others, and sighed in amazement, are the rich people outside the mountain so easy to kidnap now? Then, from time to time, I should also gather a group of clansmen and go out to make a fortune?
Inside the huge stone hall, several dusty knights rushed out angrily, shouting, "Be quiet, you uneducated fellows! The major is discussing the details of the conscription with your elders... Shut your stinky mouths to show respect to the great Kingdom of Yidori!"

A group of fierce and brutal men shut their mouths in dismay, and looked at those arrogant guys with twitching faces.

Xing Tianli smiled and shook his head. He pushed through the crowd and walked towards the palace gate.

Several knights frowned. They looked Xing Tianli up and down and saw that the purple Taoist robe on his body was faintly glowing with a strange glow, and had strange patterns such as the black and white Tai Chi diagram. He was tall, with a handsome face, and exuded an extraordinary temperament... They subconsciously took two steps back.

He Duo and He Xi came over arrogantly, pressed their hands on the chests of several knights, and easily pushed them back more than ten steps. They almost fell to the ground: "Assholes, in front of the honorable Great Witch Chief, you should show us some respect... Otherwise, the Dusk Mountains are too steep and accidents can happen anywhere!"

A few knights were furious and were about to shout curses when Xing Tianli glanced at them.

They felt a buzzing sound in their heads, and an unpredictable force confused their thinking. They turned around in a daze and walked straight into the giant stone hall like zombies, standing stiffly behind a young man wearing the uniform of a major in the Yidoli Kingdom Army.

In the middle of the huge stone hall was a square fire pit, with a large pile of dried cow dung burning vigorously. Under the ceiling beams, several iron chains hung down, with several huge kettles hanging on the iron hooks at the end. The cow dung bonfire made the iron kettles hot, and steam kept gushing out of the kettles.

Next to the fire pit, seven haggard, skinny and shriveled old mountain men sat quietly around.

They held pipes in their mouths, puffing on them, with huge tin cups that had been blackened by the carbon ash and smoke placed next to them, filled with turbid tea.

When Xing Tianli walked in, Major Yi Duoli was standing next to the fire pit, shaking his hand and holding a document with the seal of the Yi Duoli War Department: "This is the best offer we can make. You Wuyue tribe must mobilize at least 500,000 soldiers. We know that you have so many young and strong people."

"Five hundred thousand soldiers, weapons, uniforms and other baggage are all borne by the Kingdom of Yidoli. Moreover, they can get two silver coins in military pay every month. If they kill the enemy on the battlefield, the head of a Saint Ross bastard can be exchanged for a silver coin in reward!"

Xing Tianli and Xing Tianren's brothers behind him all widened their eyes.

What did they hear?
The silver coins minted by the Kingdom of Yidoli were of pure quality and exquisite craftsmanship. During the Great Yu Dynasty, they were basically exchanged at a one-to-one exchange rate with the official silver of the government. One silver coin was roughly equivalent to one tael of official silver.

The monthly salary of two taels of silver, if food and drink are also provided, is probably the same for ordinary county soldiers in Dayu Dynasty. This treatment cannot be considered high.

But, the head of a Saint Ross soldier can only be exchanged for a reward of one silver coin?

You damn Idoli bureaucrats, how much kickbacks have you taken?
Even though the Dayu Dynasty was so corrupt, when it came to foreign wars, the Dayu Dynasty's Ministry of War would clearly mark a price for the head of a foreign enemy. According to the strength of the enemy's country, a head was worth at least thirty taels of silver, not including promotions in military rank and rewards!
In a country as corrupt as Dayu Dynasty, an enemy's head is worth at least thirty taels of silver. In your Yidoli, the head of a Saint Ross soldier equipped with new weapons and terrifying combat power is only worth one tael of silver?
The seven elders of the Five Mountains Hall said nothing, but just smoked and drank tea quietly.

Major Yi Duoli was angry. He looked back at Xing Tianli and others who had broken in. His eyes suddenly focused, and he transferred all the anger caused by the elders' non-cooperation, silence, non-expression and non-speech attitude onto Xing Tianli.

"Who are you? Why did you break in here?"

The major raised his head with great pride and shouted, "Are you trying to spy on the military secrets of the great Yidoli Kingdom? Ahaha, I think you are spies of the Saint Ross people!"

He waved his hand violently: "Take it down for me!"

Behind the major, except for those unlucky guys who were frightened by Xing Tianli's witchcraft, there were more than a hundred cavalrymen who untied the carbines hanging on their shoulders and pulled the bolts of the guns.

Xing Tianli looked at the major coldly, and suddenly he laughed: "It's really interesting. But, it's also really boring!"

He slapped it with one palm.

The five-colored lightning flashed, and the thin lightning jumped and exploded, instantly covering the Yiduoli people. There was a continuous sound of sharp and tiny thunder, and the lightning jumped and jumped on the Yiduoli people. They twitched all over and fell down, and thick black smoke came out of their seven orifices at the same time.

(End of this chapter)