Chapter Thirteen: Slaughter of Captives

  Ye Jiajun's forces have won a crushing victory this time, and everyone is excited, but now it's also time to judge the prisoners.

  Through the interrogation of Sun Yu and Zhao Jie, combined with Su Zhong's identification, several small leaders among the remaining 30 or so people were quickly picked out by Ye Xuan. There were four people in total, and these four people were undoubtedly not evil spirits, but they had done many things that would make one lose all sense of morality. Ye Xuan coldly scanned them, just like God scanning ants.

  ……

  Ye Xuan habitually touched his chin, and Sun Yu and Zhao Jie immediately understood that whenever Ye Xuan touched his own chin, it was a sign that he was about to make a decision.

  As expected, the next moment Ye Xuan waved his hand and made a decisive decision: "These 4 people are also a scourge on earth, kill them all."

  Killing people was a familiar path for Ye Xuan, and in his previous life, the number of criminals who died at his hands was countless. So killing had long been a feelingless act for him. Moreover, he was originally a soldier, and he instinctively hated these evil-doers who harmed innocent people. Perhaps this hatred was a common trait of Ye Xuan's two lifetimes, making it an intense and deep-seated emotion.

  Perhaps according to the Jianghu code of conduct, when two gangs clashed, as long as one side surrendered, the other side would generally absorb the prisoners of war instead of killing them.

  But in his view, these people must die. Firstly, none of them are good people and joining their own army will only corrupt their subordinates. Should they be released? Don't be ridiculous! If released, would they not continue to harm the common people? Moreover, using the heads of these four people can boost one's prestige, intimidate the remaining captives and one's own subordinates - a move that achieves multiple goals, why not do it?

  At this time, Zhao Jie finally couldn't bear it anymore and opened his mouth: "Big brother really killed them?"

  Ye Xuan looked at Zhao Jie calmly and said, "These people are also a scourge if they are released. This time they fell into our hands, it's their bad luck, just kill them!"

  Zhao Jie listened stupidly and then said: "But this way, it doesn't conform to the Jianghu code of conduct, I'm afraid..."

  Upon hearing this, Ye Xuan furiously roared and pointed at Zhao Jie's nose, sternly saying: "Zhao Jie, don't you forget your own identity! The Ye Family Army is not a bandit group now. Don't forget the military discipline of the Ye Family Army! You're discussing chivalrous codes with this kind of person? Hmph! Do you have any regard for laws and military discipline in your eyes?"

  Seeing Zhao Jie still in a daze, Ye Xuan gritted his teeth and handed over a box of silver to Zhao Jie with a cold tone: "If you still can't understand, then take this box of silver and leave." After that, he ignored Zhao Jie.

  Zhao Jie, after a brief mental struggle, gritted his teeth and threw the silver away. He knelt down and kowtowed heavily to Ye Xuan: "I was wrong, I don't want the silver, I'm willing to follow General, hoping General will forgive me this time and not drive me away."

  He said, knocking his head repeatedly.

  Yeh Hsuan was overjoyed upon hearing Chao Chieh's words, and immediately helped him up, laughing as he said: "I really haven't misjudged you; from now on we'll be good brothers who share both fortune and hardship!"

  At the same time, he picked up the silver on the ground and put it in Zhao Jie's hand, smiling: "How can you not want this silver? As the captain of Xuan Yuan, your contribution to this battle is undeniable. This was originally yours."

  Zhao Jie was extremely excited after hearing Ye Xuan's words, tightly grasping the silver in his hand and saying in a low voice: "Thank you, General."

  Sun Yu also came over and patted Zhao Jie's shoulder, solemnly saying: "Good brother!"

  ……

  These four people immediately burst into tears and wailed, some crying loudly for mercy, others scolding Ye Xuan for not following the code of chivalry, while others begged Su Zhong to plead with Ye Xuan.

  Ye Xuan looked at Su Zhong's pale face and knew that he still couldn't bear to watch his former comrades die one by one in front of him. He patted Su Zhong's shoulder and said, "I know you can't bear it, so go out first. But remember, from now on, the old Su Zhong is dead, only the Su Zhong of the Ye family army remains. You and Hu Shanpo have nothing to do with each other anymore!"

  Su Zhong looked at Ye Xuan with gratitude and then left...

  As Ye Xuan gave the order, Sun Yu rushed forward, casually swinging his sword twice, one for each person. Zhao Jie hesitated slightly before walking forward with his knife and said to the remaining two captives kneeling on the ground: "Don't blame me, friends, don't be a thief again in your next life, rest assured I'll make it quick, you won't feel any pain." As soon as he finished speaking, his knife rose and fell, and two more heads hit the ground.

  ……

  Suddenly, four headless corpses appeared on the ground. Ye Xuan's icy gaze swept across the crowd, and at this time, the remaining captives didn't even dare to move, let alone look back at Ye Xuan. Some of them were so scared that they urinated, while others began to sob quietly.

  He paused for a moment, then continued: "I'd say you all deserve to die, but I think you're all being forced into this by circumstance, so I'll just kill your leader as a warning. Today, I won't bother with the rest of you, but if anyone dares to harm innocent people again in the future, don't blame me for being merciless."

  "I ask you all, are you willing to follow me and the Ye family army to eliminate evil and bring peace from now on?" Ye Xuan asked loudly again.

  As soon as they heard that they wouldn't be killed, everyone let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground. After hearing Ye Xuan's words, everyone felt that this was almost like nonsense. If they didn't listen to them, haha, the four people in front would be their example! Moreover, following the legendary Ye family army, the benefits that would come later were self-evident.

  Everyone immediately knelt down and said: "We are willing to follow the general and work for the general like a dog or horse!"

  However, what happened next was beyond everyone's expectation. Ye Xuan did not say something like "sharing the same life and death" or "sharing the same fortune", but instead condemned these surrendered soldiers, making them reflect on why two branches of troops with the same number of people, standing in a favorable position, had such little combat effectiveness and easily surrendered. In the end, he concluded that this was because there was no discipline and training, and that to achieve success, one must strengthen training and establish strict discipline.

  Everyone was also very convinced and even more firmly followed the decision of the Ye family army.

  ……

  After finishing the inventory of all the spoils, Ye Xuan thought to take everyone back to the main camp of the Ye family army in Tianlong Village. However, one thing made Ye Xuan extremely surprised, because suddenly a soldier appeared before his eyes, and Ye Xuan recognized him as the squadron leader of the Ye family army's Heavenly Punishment Squad. His words made Ye Xuan, who was originally overjoyed, immediately become serious...

  All he heard was him shouting loudly: "It's not good, the two other troops of General Ye's family are taking advantage of the weakness of the main camp's defense to launch a surprise attack on Tianlong Fort in alliance with the enemy!"

  ……