Start with a red name

"...In tonight's battle, to achieve our ultimate goal, we paid the price of 105 wounded and 91 killed."

"Of the ninety-one people who died, the vast majority were from the Refining Skin and Refining Flesh realms with relatively low cultivation levels."

One of the students who had just broken through to the early stage of Marrow Refinement after receiving your blessing suffered an unexpected loss, partly due to carelessness and partly due to insufficient control over the sudden increase in power.

There are also five bone refiners and thirteen blood refiners.

"We successfully forced 3,428 bandits into the central area of ​​Wild Wolf Gorge and persuaded them all to surrender."

In order to achieve this goal smoothly and quickly, we killed 549 people in succession.

Most of them were killed in the very first moment of the battle.

Others were too badly injured to escape in time and collapsed along the way, while still others tried to feign death but were killed during our thorough cleanup.

At this point, Cao Ao paused, then said:

"While we were carefully finishing up the entire Wild Wolf Gorge with the Sand Wolves, we also found more than two hundred ordinary people hiding in various places who had no cultivation at all."

"An ordinary person?" Geng Xuan said softly, with a hint of doubt.

Just then, two Black Wind Gang squads escorted these timid ordinary people, staggering as they approached.

Judging from their appearance, Geng Xuan roughly understood the role of these ordinary people.

Nearly half of them were women of striking appearance.

There are women who look very much like those from Yuanzhou, some gentle and charming, others timid and frightened, and others like Baima who come from a tribe and have obvious wildness and exotic features.

From the expressions and behaviors of these women, one can roughly discern whether they are using the items for "public" or "private" purposes.

The other half were mostly older. Judging from their clothing and other characteristics, Geng Xuan guessed that they were all engaged in menial jobs such as cooks or odd jobs.

After a quick scan, Geng Xuan frowned slightly. The red names above the heads of these ordinary people were also quite prominent, with very few having a red luck score below ten.

Geng Xuan couldn't help but think that among the hundreds of red-named groups he had recently refined, some of them only contributed around ten points of luck, which was much lower than the average level of the bandits.

He had some guesses about this.

Now, Geng Xuan felt he had found the right answer.

"...Their situation is somewhat special, and I did not take the liberty of handling it." Just as Geng Xuan was sizing up these people, Cao Ao took the opportunity to say softly.

Geng Xuan nodded slightly and said, "Well done."

"If you encounter a similar situation in the future, do not attack ordinary people who pose no threat... Add this rule to the Black Wind Gang."

“…Yes.” Cao Ao hesitated for a moment, then answered decisively.

Geng Xuan asked:

"Among the more than five hundred people who were killed, there should have been some ordinary people like them, who had no cultivation, right?"

“...That should be it.” Cao Ao thought for a moment and replied in a low voice.

After pausing for a moment, he quickly explained:
"Everyone was trying to create pressure and not give the other bandits time to react, so there was no time to carefully distinguish them."

"..." Geng Xuan nodded slightly and didn't say anything more.

After a while, Cao Ao looked up at him and asked in a consultative manner:

"Commander, what should we do with them?"

Geng Xuan asked, "What do you think?"

“It’s inconvenient for us to take them with us, and we can’t let them leave either… How about we send them to Wild Wolf Stronghold and let their family members and relatives, who also lack cultivation, watch over them? What do you think?” Cao Ao thought for a moment and suggested.

Geng Xuan nodded slightly, but did not answer immediately, his gaze continuing to sweep back and forth over the two hundred-plus people.

If this were in Yuanzhou, whether it were the neighborhoods of Yuelu Plain or a market like Qingyuan Market, by his standards, even if these people in front of him were ordinary people.

He was able to deal with more than half of them without any psychological burden.

Because their red names are too strong, more than half of them have exceeded the 15-point red luck threshold.

Many others also have more than 20 points of good fortune.

This means that these people have taken many lives.

But now, this standard is wavering once again.

Near Zhu Zhechi, near the ink is black.

Living in such a "cesspool," ordinary people are just pure waste. To survive, they must first abandon their conscience and bottom line.

Otherwise, they would soon be crushed to the bone.

This is the fault of the larger environment; the blame cannot be placed entirely on these ordinary people.

However, Geng Xuan also felt that doing nothing was inappropriate.

Initially, these people may have been struggling to survive.

But after living in such an environment for a long time, one's humanity has long been distorted.

Simply dumping them into the lives of other ordinary people would be a disaster for them.

Moreover, besides being forced to do so by the general environment, other possibilities cannot be ruled out.

He couldn't just let these people off so easily.

With this in mind, Geng Xuan had a solution in mind.

He first selected 24 people with the most prominent red names from among these 245 ordinary people.

Of the twenty-four people he selected, the one with the lightest red name can provide him with about twenty-five points of good fortune after being refined.

None of the players with the most prominent red names had a score below 40.

Among them, the one with the most prominent red name was a gaunt old man with an unremarkable appearance.

Geng Xuan estimated that after refining his red name, the luck bonus would not be less than sixty points.

Geng Xuan looked at the old man and asked, "What's your situation? Why are you so guilty of so many killings?"

Upon hearing this, the old man shrank back in fear, knelt on the ground, and pleaded tearfully:

"I'm innocent! I'm just a wood-burning worker. I've spent most of my life in front of the stove. How could I have committed any murder?!"

Seeing his appearance, Geng Xuan frowned, looked at Cao Ao, and asked, "Where did he capture him from?"

Cao Ao stared at the old man, pondering as he spoke:

"I didn't capture him myself; it was the team led by Egghead who dug him out... Wait, where's Egghead?"

At this point, he exclaimed "Eh!" and looked around for the marinated egg.

As soon as he said this, he cleverly went to look for the person.

Soon, Lu Dan, who had been hiding in some corner, appeared in front of Cao Ao and Geng Xuan with a pale face.

He first glanced at the old man huddled on the ground, then subconsciously moved a few steps away before greeting Geng Xuan and Cao Ao, "Commander, Brother Cao."

His unusual behavior had already caught the attention of Geng Xuan, Cao Ao, and others.

Cao Ao asked in a deep voice, "Where did you get this old man from?"

"In a basement storage room near the kitchen of Yuebinlou."

At this point, he looked at the others beside him and said, "There were a few of them hiding there with this old man at the time."

The people he specifically pointed out were all among the twenty-four people that Geng Xuan had singled out.

And they were all among the top-ranked individuals with red names.

This made Geng Xuan even more certain that something was going on.

And it's not an ordinary thing.

He said softly, "Yuebinlou?"

Cao Ao, who was standing next to him, explained in a low voice:

"Yuebinlou is the largest restaurant in Wild Wolf Gorge. Its slogan is 'All you can drink, all you can eat, and everyone who comes is a friend.'"

Moreover, the price isn't too expensive.

Resources were never plentiful in Wild Wolf Gorge, and this characteristic of Yuebinlou made it quite famous among the surrounding bandit circles.

For this reason, whenever they have extra money, anyone coming to Wild Wolf Gorge on business will stop by Yuebinlou for a meal.

Upon hearing this, Geng Xuan vaguely imagined some extremely hellish scene.

Cao Ao, who introduced him to Cao Ao, seemed to realize this as well, and his expression changed by the end of his speech.

He turned to look at Lu Dan and asked, "When you found them at Yuebinlou, did you make any other discoveries?"

Egg nodded, his expression shifting as if he had thought of something that made him feel extremely disgusted.

"what have you found?"

The hard-boiled egg, barely suppressing his nausea, said:

"Guided by the Sand Wolf, we found that only a small portion of our underground storage room contained normal supplies; the majority was... was..."

"What are they?" Cao Ao frowned.

"They were all human corpses, not the kind that were killed and then just thrown away, but corpses that had been disemboweled and carefully processed inside and out."

It was also coated with a lot of salt and other spices.

Some looked quite new... oh, fresh, as if they'd been killed and processed just a few days ago; others looked dry and hard, like they'd been pickled and stored for at least a year or two... ugh...

Commander... Commander, please don't take offense, I just couldn't help it.

The moment I smelled that aroma, I remembered eating at Yuebinlou... Ugh... Back then, everyone said that Yuebinlou's beef and mutton were excellent, completely free of any gamey smell, and I always ate the most... Ugh..."

At this point, not only did the braised egg feel so uncomfortable that it couldn't continue.

Cao Ao, standing next to him, also looked as if he had been force-fed a mouthful of excrement.

As a newly established team, the Black Wind Gang had hardly ever made a fortune before they kidnapped Baima.

In order to unite the people, Cao Ao, the leader, tried every possible method.

Every time he comes to Wild Wolf Gorge, he organizes his team to go to Yuebinlou for team building activities and check-ins.

[Plenty of alcohol and meat].

Now that he knows the truth, how could he not feel nauseous?

Egghead looked at the old man huddled on the ground, and the others he had called out, seemingly understanding something. He felt a mixture of disgust and revulsion, and said:
"This is all their doing, isn't it?"
When I saw the state of the storage room, I wanted to just kill them all.

The old man, just like now, said that they were merely lowly servants at Yuebinlou and had never been qualified to enter there before.

This time, they panicked and fled into the underground storage room because of the chaos outside. They were terrified by what they saw inside.

...I listened to his plausible explanation and let them off the hook.

I never imagined it was really those beasts who did this.

The emaciated old man, who had been trembling and huddled on the ground, seemed to realize that his appearance would not give him any more chance of survival.

The trembling stopped, and he, who had been huddled and kneeling, suddenly straightened up. Tears streamed down his old face as he bitterly and angrily denounced:

Is this my fault? Is this our problem?

Who owns Yuebinlou?
Does that mean Yuebinlou wouldn't kill people or hold human flesh banquets without us?

What can we do? We are nothing more than tools for the masses to follow orders.

If we don't do it, there are plenty of others who will.

Do those who stick to their principles and refuse to compromise their integrity know what will happen to them?

Not only would they be killed, but they would also be cooked in public and forced to eat by others.

...You're amazing! You're incredible! You must uphold justice and find the real murderer!
"What kind of skill is it to bully a group of ordinary people who have no other choice!"

"..." Geng Xuan stared, and the old man, looking like he was ready to go all out, stared back at him, not giving an inch.

Geng Xuan looked away and whispered to Cao Ao beside him, "Who is the owner of Yuebinlou? Was he killed or captured?"

"He surrendered and was captured. He's at the mid-stage of the Marrow Refining realm," Cao Ao hurriedly said.

He then explained, "He is also a legendary figure around Wild Wolf Gorge. In his early years, he was a smuggler who did neither well nor badly."

In his thirties, he suddenly quit his job, probably because he was a seasoned bone refiner, and went to Wild Wolf Gorge to start Yuebinlou in partnership with someone.

...His partner should be at the early stage of Marrow Refinement, because according to some unspoken rules, to run such a business in a place like Wild Wolf Gorge, there must be at least one combatant at the Marrow Refinement level behind him.

Otherwise, don’t even think about it.

Later, Yuebinlou's reputation gradually spread, and his partner was no longer mentioned.

...Hehe, now that I think about it, it was probably served on the table a long time ago and ended up in the bellies of some lucky group of guests.

Geng Xuan nodded and said to Lu Dan:
"Finish what you haven't done yet."

"...???"

What haven't I finished? What am I supposed to do?
Upon hearing this, Lu Dan looked completely bewildered.

Cao Ao cursed, "Fool! Didn't you want to kill them? Why aren't you doing it?"

"Oh? Ah!!"

Egg suddenly realized what was happening and immediately drew the long knife from his waist.

The old man was terrified when he saw this. He opened his mouth to say something, but a flash of light, like a blade of water, swept past and cut right into his mouth.

Soon, with his upper and lower lips as the dividing line, most of his head, topped with his pale, messy hair, tumbled and danced wildly in the air.

The man with the braised egg was probably still resentful of the old man's earlier bluff, which is why he used such an "undignified" stab.

Even on his deathbed, he still managed to split someone's mouth in two. Then, without stopping, the scalp-covered man's body and the flashing blade in his hand moved towards several other ordinary people who also came from Yuebinlou.

Wherever the blade flashed, heads flew and blood splattered everywhere.

His indiscriminate hacking terrified the others, who frantically tried to flee in all directions.

Seeing the sudden chaos, Geng Xuan frowned and said softly, "Alright, that's fine."

Egg, who was wildly slashing with his knife in the crowd, suddenly felt his heart skip a beat, and the strength that had been gathered in his hands instantly dissipated.

The long sword, which was about to be raised high and swung down again, stopped there.

Around him, the ordinary people who had wanted to flee all froze in place.

It seemed as if there had been a pause of two or three breaths.

Then their bodies went limp and they all collapsed to the ground.

Even after they fell to the ground, thin streaks of bright red blood gradually seeped from their eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.

Beside him, Cao Ao was still scolding Lu Dan in a low voice:
"Idiot, can't you do things a little better?"

Why is it that everything you handle ends up being a complete mess?!

Lu Dan stood silently to the side, holding a long, blood-dripping knife, his eyes downcast, listening to the reprimand obediently.

Geng Xuan said to Cao Ao, "You should also deal with the owner of Yuebinlou... Also, there should be more than just him among the cultivators at Yuebinlou. Deal with those who were directly involved in this matter as well."

Originally, Geng Xuan intended to kill all the cultivators at Yuebinlou.

Even without direct involvement, one cannot escape being labeled an "accomplice."

But in the end, he held back.

If he truly acted according to his innermost desires, let alone the more than three thousand bandits who have now surrendered.

Even now, with over 1,900 members of the Black Wind Gang still alive, if you kill them one by one until not a single one is left, there will be no truly innocent ones.

Of the 24 people he selected from 245 ordinary people according to the "one in ten" standard, the old man and a few others who came from Yuebinlou were the most "outstanding".

However, if you dig deeper, you'll likely find that behind these ordinary people, there's probably also an "extraordinary" boss.

Caught between his emotions and reason, Geng Xuan chose to turn his head away and turn his back.

Seen, heard.

For some reason, Geng Xuan recalled a passage from his past life.

"...A wise person, when dealing with birds and beasts, cannot bear to see them die when he sees them alive; he cannot bear to eat their flesh when he hears their cries. Therefore, a wise person keeps away from the kitchen..."

For a long time, Geng Xuan felt that this "gentleman" was actually somewhat shameless and hypocritical.

But now, caught between emotion and reason, he himself has chosen this "shameless and hypocritical" approach.

If you don't see it with your own eyes or hear it with your own ears, it's as if you don't know it or that it didn't happen.

Geng Xuan looked at the remaining 221 ordinary people.

Already terrified, they trembled even more upon feeling his gaze upon them, their legs shaking with fear.

The stench of fish quickly spread throughout the surrounding area.

However, many people couldn't withstand the pressure of his gaze, and their legs gushed yellow liquid all over the floor.

Even the women, who made up more than half of the group and each had their own unique charm, were no exception.

"...You all know best what you've done."

I will send you to Wild Wolf Stronghold for resettlement, but I hope you can truly behave as ordinary people and not bring the habits you've learned here to Wild Wolf Stronghold... I will visit you when I have time, and if I find anything amiss..."

At this point, Geng Xuan glanced at the twenty-four corpses lying haphazardly on the ground beside them and said softly:

"They are role models!"

Without waiting for a reply, Geng Xuan gestured to Tong Hui and Song Yang, who were not far away, and told them to take the person away.

And find time to send these ordinary people to Wild Wolf Village.

Having just finished dealing with these matters, Baima trotted out of a sizable mansion nearby and approached Geng Xuan, saying:

"Commander, all the supplies have been prepared."

Geng Xuan nodded and followed Bai Ma toward the mansion.

Nearly an hour later, Geng Xuan walked out alone.

Besides the mental strain caused by excessive concentration, prolonged and meticulous hand operations also resulted in some abnormalities in the ten fingers.

The "Life-Gathering Technique" and "Severing Technique," which were already at the pinnacle of their skills, took another step forward through this intense practice, advancing to the level of master.

"The emergency medical team needs to continue recruiting... Let's recruit another seventy-two people this time, making a total of one hundred," Geng Xuan thought to himself.

Originally, the rescue team had a full complement of thirty people.

However, this seemingly safe "night battle at Wild Wolf Gorge" resulted in the loss of two men.

On the one hand, there are fewer people, and on the other hand, the workload has increased.

In order to improve efficiency, minimize the loss of life due to prolonged surgery, and also to save his own time and energy, Geng Xuan decided to expand the size of the emergency team again.

The first group of people he forced into the task, including Baima and Tao Bin, have become increasingly proficient due to the high-intensity practice.

Geng Xuan believed that before long, he would only need to use the "Life-Gathering Technique" and the "Mutilation Technique" whenever he needed to provide first aid to the injured.

Everything else can be left to the increasingly sophisticated and efficient emergency medical teams.

As soon as Geng Xuan stepped out of the mansion, he saw three people waiting at the gate.

Cao Ao reported:

"Commander, including the owner of Yuebinlou, there were forty-seven cultivators from Yuebinlou directly involved in this matter, and I personally dealt with them all."

Geng Xuan, who had already captured and refined a corresponding number of rich red-named individuals, nodded slightly.

"In addition, everyone else has been persuaded to join the Black Wind Gang."

Seemingly afraid that Geng Xuan would misunderstand, Cao Ao quickly added, "...They have all verbally agreed."

Geng Xuan nodded again and said to him, "Then hurry up and make the arrangements. I want to see just how many people are not sincere."

"Yes."

After responding, Cao Ao quickly left.

Beside him, only Kang Jun and another unfamiliar-looking man with a mid-stage Marrow Refining cultivation level remained.

Geng Xuan could tell at a glance that this man's figure was quite different from the other bandits.

With broad shoulders and a muscular back, a firm waist and abdomen, long limbs and well-proportioned muscles, his skin was also more delicate and fair compared to other bandits.

He simply stood there casually, yet his posture appeared more upright than Kang Jun's beside him.

This physique bears a striking resemblance to the swimming legends in Geng Xuan's past life memories.

This is something that can only be achieved by polishing and soaking in water year after year.

Geng Xuan already understood. He looked directly at Kang Jun and asked first, "Is he your sworn brother?"

Kang Jun nodded.

The man next to him had already knelt down and said, "Greetings, senior!"

Geng Xuan nodded and asked, "What's your name?"

"Ruan Ruizhe".

Would you like to join the Black Wind Gang?

"I can't ask for it!"

"Okay, when you have time, tell me all about your experiences on Huangwei Island."

"...And the situation in Xuanqing Sea, the distribution of sand islands, the composition of forces, the various shipping routes...Tell me everything you know," Geng Xuan said.

"Yes."

After quickly settling the matter in a few words, Geng Xuan led Kang Jun and Ruan Ruizhe toward the open space not far ahead, where the surrender had just taken place.

The 3381 surrenderers, who were scattered and "entertained" separately in various parts of Wild Wolf Gorge and then successfully "persuaded," were escorted to gather here one after another.

Besides these people, there was also Shen Xiao, the fifth leader of Wild Wolf Stronghold, and another 180 elite members of Wild Wolf Stronghold. Accompanied by Song Mingzhu, Gong Mu, and others, they arrived early at the front of the open space and waited quietly.

Although Song Mingzhu, Gong Mu, and others showed them unprecedented enthusiasm, from Shen Xiao to every elite soldier standing there, none of them gave them a kind look.

Some even gave a forced smile, barely managing to get by.

Some didn't even bother to give a perfunctory response, looking directly away; the fifth leader, Shen Xiao, was a typical example.

Their strong emotions were not due to Wild Wolf Stronghold secretly surrendering to Black Wind Gang behind their backs, nor were they because Song Mingzhu and others attacked them before the official operation.

Instead, they didn't invite their buddies to join them for such a great opportunity!
They now all know about the existence of good fortune and blessings.

They also knew that, apart from them, all their former companions had already experienced it.

According to the rules of the Black Wind Gang, after each fierce battle, the gang leader would generously bestow blessings upon all participants.

The "good news" was shared with his former brothers, who were able to personally witness the amazing progress their former comrade had made in a short period of time.

It would be strange if they could still be happy after knowing all this.

Who were we brothers with...? Now, we're no longer brothers!
What a bunch of bastards!
……

Under the "escort" of Black Wind Gang squads, waves of surrenderers gathered like a flowing river.

Once all three thousand people had arrived, the Black Wind Gang, except for the emergency medical team including Baima and Tao Bin, and the hundred or so people who were receiving emergency treatment, all gathered around and surrounded the three thousand people in the center.

This scene left almost everyone in the Black Wind Gang feeling somewhat dazed.

Because just last time, or the time before that, or even the time before that, the situation of the more than three thousand people in the room now is a replica of their situation back then.

Cao Ao stood beside Geng Xuan, his eyes scanning the room.

This was a special favor that Geng Xuan gave to Cao Ao; every time the Black Wind Gang recruited new members, Cao Ao would be assisted in completing the task.

With the emergence of a large number of late-stage Marrow Refinement cultivators, and even peak Marrow Refinement cultivators like Song Mingzhu and Tie Lang, Cao Ao's cultivation level also advanced by leaps and bounds. However, he still couldn't avoid falling into a predicament similar to Luo Qing's.

Cao Ao's own choices, like Luo Qing's at the time, gradually shifted him towards logistics management.

Once everyone had gathered and was fully prepared, Cao Ao shouted loudly:

"Meet the newlyweds!"

As his voice spread.

It was as if an invisible shockwave swept out.

brush!
Thousands of people knelt down in unison.

"Captain!"

The shouts of more than three thousand people were deafening and incredibly powerful.

Despite the impressive display of power, Geng Xuan remained completely focused.

His gaze swept quickly across the crowd.

His eyebrows involuntarily twitched slightly.

"There are way too many impurities in this."

"Is this karma?"

Perhaps because he had used deception first, the group of clever people below followed suit and responded with the same deception.

Verbally, everyone has agreed to join the Black Wind Gang, but looking around, only about two-thirds have actually become one of their own.

The other third, although they knelt down and mingled in the crowd calling him "leader," were still "outsiders" rather than "insiders" of the Black Wind Gang.

There are over a thousand people here!
More than a thousand "outsiders"!
Moreover, the vast majority of those who surrendered during the Marrow Refining stage were among these "outsiders".

"Sigh, this is the price of taking shortcuts," Geng Xuan thought to himself.

The reason why Wild Wolf Village surrendered so readily and sincerely was not only because Song Mingzhu was pragmatic and did ideological work for them in advance, but also because the families and relatives of the entire village were the biggest weakness of all the villagers.

So what should we do next?

Continue with the "persuasion and hospitality," and do some more "ideological work" on these bandits who haven't quite grasped the situation yet.
Thinking this, Geng Xuan shook his head slightly in his heart.

This will not only take more time, but he is currently counting down the hours.

He won't let them hold him back for too long at this stage.

That affects the speed at which the snowball rolls!

Moreover, Geng Xuan did not believe that this "ideological work" would be very effective.

Thoughts raced through his mind, and suddenly, Geng Xuan realized he had a more efficient and faster method.

The downside is that there might be a lot of "waste".

"Everyone says that bandits are the most pragmatic, I hope you really are."

Thinking this, Geng Xuan said to Cao Ao, "I'll give you some men. You bring them all out to me."

Cao Ao quickly stepped down.

A tiny, rice-grain-sized amount of energy had condensed in front of Geng Xuan's ten fingers and was flicked out by him.

These tiny dots traversed the void and hovered in front of the foreheads of each "outsider".

Cao Ao led his Black Wind Gang squads, weaving through the crowd whose movements were restricted.

Anyone with a special mark on their forehead was pulled out of the crowd by him and other Black Wind Gang members and made to kneel separately to one side. (End of Chapter)