Chapter 21 Bold Approach– Part 2 (2/2)

Another group was in panic. Some were screaming in fear. Some lost their leg strength and collapsed on their butt. Some even peed their pants.

And the last minority was a strong-will warriors. They were either ex-bandit leaders or ex-hunters. They had seen blood and had gone through live-and-death situation before, so they managed to control their emotion and remained calm.

…

Zhang Bao glanced at the corpse of Yan Zheng then swept his eyes to Tong with complicated emotion. Yan Zheng and Zhang Bao were friends for years.

But Zhang Bao knew Yan Zheng full well that he was untrustworthy, yet he recruited him because he needed manpower and his bandit subordinates.

With the sudden death of Yan Zheng, the ex-bandits which were recruited together with Yan Zheng might create a disturbance in Zhang Bao's camp.

But the disturbance that Zhang Bao expected didn't happen. The crowd was so scared of Tong that they couldn't speak a word.

Zhang Bao had a bitter smile on his face while looking at Tong. This nephew just trapped him and used his words to kill these four.

Meanwhile, Tong still stood firm. His face was solemn.

Tong swept his gazed through the shocked crowd. He laughed in his mind in satisfaction. Everything went according to his initial plan.

During the time Yan Zheng joined Zhang Bao, several bandits also followed him. Zhang Bao wanted manpower so he allowed it and put all of them under the leadership of Yan Zheng.

Tong was aware of the relationship between ex-bandit soldiers and Yan Zheng, so he cooked a plot.

Tong intentionally provoked the crowd, baiting for one of those ex-bandit fishes to take action against him. If it doesn't work out, then he would use his gun to scare them or cancel his plan.

But his plan actually worked. Three of the fishes really took the bait.

Instead of just using bare hands, those three grabbed weapons and attempted to kill Tong, which exceeded what Tong hoped for.

He allowed the three to do as they please to demonstrate his immunity from all attacks to the crowd.

Then Tong asked Zhang Bao about the military punishments, so he could trap Zhang Bao by using his words as his decree to kill Yan Zheng and the others.

The moment Zhang Bao confirmed that the punishment was execution, Tong killed the four without waiting for Zhang Bao to twist his words to save their lives.

By killing the four of them this way, Tong had achieved four goals.

One, he got rid of the backstabber who would kill his uncle in the future.

Two, he got rid of the ring leader of the ex-bandits who would lead his comrade back to its old nature, plundering and killing innocent civilians. With the leader gone, Tong could convert the bandits into proper professional soldiers later like Cao Cao did in the history.

Three, he completed the annoying mission so he was safe from the system punishment for the time being.

And lastly, he managed to put a mental pressure to all soldiers in the camp and made it easier for Tong to discipline them.

Now what he had to do next was to either con all of them, making them all submit to Tong at once, or be a nice guy and disciplined them one step at a time.

After considering his remaining times before the war with the imperial forces and the available cards he had in his hand, Tong chose a bold approach.

…

Tong raised his gun and pointed it upward to the sky. He shot his gun one more time.

*BANG*

The crowd jolted. They couldn't get used to the sound of gun shot in short period of time.

”Listen up you maggots. I know what you are thinking about.”

”I have a confession to make.”

Tong took a deep breathe, then he spoke out in firm and clear voice that could be heard throughout the camp.

”In the future, this country will face a calamity.”

”There will be famines. There will be diseases that will kill hundreds of thousands people.”

”That is the fate of the land and no one can change it!”

”Things will get worse. The emperor will raise more taxes.”

”The government officials will plunder their own citizens to fill their pockets.”

The crowd was buzzled. Some of them were confused about what Tong had tried to tell them. Fortunetelling? Propaganda?

However, the superstitious crowd's eyes sparkled. They had a hobby and clear understanding about fortune telling, so it wasn't hard for them to understand what Tong tried to convince them.

”You have already witnessed my power!”

”I am an emissary of the gods, sending here from the world of the dead.”

”They sent me here with a mission.”

”The mission is to save all of you!”

”To save you from the cruel natures.”

”To save you from the hands of crooked nobles.”

”To make sure that all of you and your family will no longer be sleeping with empty stomach.”

”I can ensure you that you don't have to disgrace your parents by becoming a bandit again.”

Tong paused to take another deep breath.

”I. AM. AN IMMORTAL!!”