C58 (2/2)
Xiu'er ordered the two Red Camp Knight s to escort the few of them back, then ordered the other Knights to inform Chen Chu, Qu Feizhi and strong man, telling them to stop this kind of thing from happening.
In the end, Chen Chu, Qu Feizhi and strong man had joined hands to stop the chaos. First, Chen and Qu brought a team of Fire Phoenix Knight s out from the city gate, following the left and right walls to surround the city. Along the way, whenever they saw soldiers of the battalion, they would shout first, and if they listened to their orders they would throw away their weapons and squat there, waiting for strong man and the guards formed of pure Wulian Border Army to bring them back to the city gate to check. Anyone who dared to disobey the order, Qu Feizhi and Chen Chu would mercilessly use their own methods to deal with them, and would immediately be killed by the enemy.
It was only when the sky turned dark again that the farce finally came to an end. In the empty space in front of the city gate knelt a dense group of people, surrounding Red Camp Knight who were holding torches and the officers and soldiers of the first battalion. Not a single person in the large group said a word as they all stared at the serious looking girl standing at the bottom of the city gate.
Xiu'er looked at the group of people kneeling in front of her with an ashen face. During this extermination, thirty-five people were killed on the spot by the Red Camp Knight, and forty-two people were found to have harassed the citizens of the city after they surrendered. And what the Xiu'er found the most unacceptable, was that among the seventy-seven people on the list, there were actually seven Wulian Border Army soldiers present!
Allowing the battalion's troops to plunder, this was something that the senior officer allowed them to do. If they wanted them to change from being rebels, they would have to pay a price. However, they never expected that the Wulian Border Army soldiers who were originally sent in to restrain and train them, would actually be in cahoots with them!
Xiu'er took a deep breath and said in a deep voice, ”I, am guilty.”
When these three words came out, the expressions of Chen Chu, Qu Feizhi, strong man and the Fat Cui all changed. They all knelt down in front of Xiu'er at the same time as strong man asked in a terrified voice, ”Lord Xiu, please take these words back! This lowly general is guilty! This lowly general has failed in her duty and caused this subordinate to commit such a mistake. This lowly general deserves to die! ” The Fat Cui didn't dare argue, and followed behind strong man, begging for forgiveness.
The Xiu'er ignored them, and continued to speak to the officers and soldiers of the battalion. ”I thought that the officers and soldiers of the battalion would abandon their darkness and join me in killing. As a principal, I should give everyone some rewards. Thus, they agreed to plunder the city, and Wolf Drinking Town was the first. There were a few civilians dying and injured at that time, but I still felt that death and injury were inevitable, so I didn't pursue the matter. But because of Wolf Drinking Town, I let my guard down, because I thought that Tiger Running City would also be the same. It wouldn't be too much if they worked hard to take over the city and loot some gold, silver, and jewelry. But I never expected that there were some people I didn't even know if I should call them people or not, because they have already crossed the line! ”Deliberately robbing houses, killing and arson, and bullying girls!” Speaking up to here, the Xiu'er's voice increased by a few notches, ”More than three hundred people. You killed more than three hundred unarmed citizens. It might be too much to fight for justice now, but as warriors, can you really bear to swing your butcher knives at these unarmed civilians? As warriors, can you really bear to bully those orphans and widows? If the initial massacre was to intimidate and frighten others, then what was the purpose of the slaughter after the destruction of the city? ”
The young girl's mournful voice echoed in the square. No one answered, and no one dared to. She had already scolded everyone, including Chen Chu and Qu Feizhi. Especially Chen Chu, who was kneeling on one knee, smiling bitterly with his head lowered without a sound.
Xiu'er lightly lifted her hair that had fallen in front of her forehead due to her excitement, as she turned to the bound forty-two battalion soldiers and continued, ”I know, war, war, death or injury is inevitable. I disapproved of certain acts of looting and killing, but I allowed it. But what I don't understand the most is why you ex-citizens of Moqiu State raise up your butcher knives to your own compatriots. Are you afraid of being called a traitor? Since that was the case, she should put on an honest show! Let everyone see that all of you are dark and bright, all of you are divine weapons from heaven. You are truly here to save them, not to harm them! ”Maybe I shouldn't talk about such things, and you don't want to listen to such things. But in the end, I still want you to keep your bottom line as a human, even if it's just to get rich and fight in wars!”
After venting, the angry girl paused for a while, and her voice and attitude calmed down, ”I was the one who led the people to this city to destroy it, and I also agreed to the raiding. If I'm guilty, I'm as guilty as you are. But now, I am not going to kill you for the sake of plundering, but for the sake of the things you did not obey the orders of the military. ” After saying that, the Xiu'er raised her hand and waved, ”Let's do it!”
Hearing her command, the burly men who were already standing behind those forty-two raised their swords and swung them down. There were no screams of pain or pleas. There was only the sound of the blade chopping down on the neck and the dull thud of a head hitting the ground.
Following that, strong man, as the dual commander of Wulian Border Army and the first battalion, was punished with twenty military batons, and the Fat Cui was punished with fifteen military sticks, to be executed in public. During the execution, neither of them said a word.
After returning to their residence, Chen Chu and Qu Feizhi came over to find Xiu'er to beg for forgiveness.
Xiu'er gently waved his hand, ”I was the one who said it previously. How can the battlefield not be filled with death? I understood that some of the killings were to intimidate the enemy. I just could not accept that they could be so cruel to their former brethren. This has nothing to do with the two generals.
Chen Chu was slightly taken aback. He first thanked Xiu'er for his understanding and then changed the topic. ”I wonder how is your injury?”
Xiu'er smiled bitterly: ”Looks like I overestimated myself. I never thought that this handheld crossbow was this powerful. But it's still okay, they're all flesh wounds, it'll be fine in a few days. ”
”Is the girl well?” Qu Feizhi asked. He and Chen Chu guessed that Xiu'er was suddenly furious. Firstly, it was because she had been suppressing her for too long, and secondly, it was because of that girl. After all, the two of them had no parents, so Xiu'er didn't want the girl who was suffering the same fate as him to be bullied again.
Xiu'er laughed, ”Fortunately, I just found out that she has read a lot of books.” As she spoke, she called the girl out.
The girl had already been cleaned up and was no longer in a sorry state. She was slightly smaller than the Xiu'er and not too tall. With a face full of elegance, coupled with the Red Camp Knight's cape on her body, she seemed even weaker.
Two girls who were of a similar age stood together, and Xiu'er's expression was even more heroic, even ancient. Chen Chu sighed in his heart. Lord Xiu was not even eighteen years old yet.
Xiu'er laughed and introduced Chen Chu and Qu Feizhi to the girl, then casually asked: ”We still don't know your name.”
The girl blushed and replied softly, ”Reporting to the lord, I don't have a name, but my mother calls me by my nickname.”
”Oh? ”What's my name?” Qu Feizhi deliberately asked.
The girl's face became even redder, and her voice started to become hoarse, ”My mother called me Xiao Qi.”