Chapter 29 Aftermath
"I'm sorry, I was wrong this time." Wang An looked at Cao Yunmeng seriously and said, "I promise you that this will never happen again!"

"And those who offended you, I will also give you an explanation."

After Wang An finished speaking, he held Cao Yunmeng steady with both hands. At this time, Xiao Zhao hurried over with the yamen runners.

Wang An let go of Cao Yunmeng, stretched out his hand to pull the long sword from the bandit's forehead, and walked out of the door in a hurry. When he passed Xiao Zhao, he said seriously: "Protect your young lady!"

Staring at Wang An's departing back, Cao Yunmeng snorted coldly and muttered, "Humph, this is more like... like a man!"

Wang Anzhong left the government office and met up with the soldiers from Jizhou Guard. Chen Huaian's Black Armor Guards also gathered from all over the city.

Everyone joined together and once again wiped out the scattered bandits in Baicheng.

It was not until dark that the crying and wailing in the White City finally died down.

Wang An looked coldly at the dozen or so bandits kneeling in front of him. He said grimly, "How dare you, the mountain bandits, to besiege the city!"

A dozen thieves looked at each other and ignored Wang An's questions.

Wang An sneered and gave a thumbs up: "Not bad, they are a group of heroes!"

Wang An drew his sword and walked up to one of them, asking again, "How many people are there in your village?"

The man didn't answer, and didn't even look at Wang An.

Wang An nodded, and swung the sword in his hand decisively. A headless corpse slowly fell down with blood gushing out.

Wang An didn’t remember how many people he had killed today. He felt a little nauseous and retching at first, but he didn’t know whether he was born with the talent for killing or it was just a habit.

Looking at the corpse lying in front of him, his heart was surprisingly calm, even a little excited.

The thieves didn't expect Wang An to kill them as he said, and were frightened by their companion's shaking body.

Wang An walked up to a person again, staring at him with his cold eyes like a devil, and asked, "Is there a small path up the mountain?"

The thief didn't dare to ignore Wang An anymore, but he didn't answer the question immediately. Instead, he intended to use the Crescent Mountain Bandit Camp to intimidate him.

"I advise you to let us go immediately. Then we can say a few good words for you in front of the village chief..."

But before he could finish his words, everyone saw a flash of cold light before their eyes, and suddenly a headless corpse appeared in the field.

Wang An came in front of a person again, but this time he did not ask any questions. He just swung his sword, and another head flew into the sky.

One by one, Wang An waved his hands like a devil and heads flew up into the sky. The gushing blood mist filled the area in front of the government office.

When the eighth person was killed, the remaining five bandits were immediately scared out of their wits, and two of them were even frightened to the point of defecating and pissing, causing a foul smell to fill the field in addition to the smell of blood.

When Wang An came to the next person again, without Wang An asking any more questions, the man started to cry out nervously: "Don't kill me, I'll tell you everything you want to know!"

However, Wang An just stared at the man coldly. He was neither cultured nor waving the sword in his hand. After waiting for a moment, Wang An put his hand on the hilt of the sword again.

The man finally calmed down a bit, and said hurriedly, "I didn't dare to attack Baicheng, but the village chief said that the garrison troops at Shuangfeng Pass have withdrawn, and no one in Baicheng can stop us, so he let us attack Baicheng and make a fortune!"

Wang An's hand left the hilt of the sword, but his cold eyes were still fixed on the man.

The thief knew that Wang An wanted him to continue, so he began to tell all the information he knew about the Yueya Mountain Bandit Camp.

The leader of the Yueya Mountain bandit camp was nicknamed Guoshanhu, and no one knew his real name. All we remember was that he became a bandit in Yueya Mountain ten years ago.

The bandit camp claimed to have 3,000 people, but in reality most of them were the bandits' family members, the elderly and the weak, and there were only a little over a thousand bandits who were truly capable of fighting.

I brought more than 800 people down the mountain today, and nearly 300 of them were killed by Wang An. There should be less than 800 bandits left on Crescent Mountain.

Moreover, Crescent Mountain is easy to defend but difficult to attack, with cliffs on three sides, and there is only one way to go up the mountain.

Because one of the cliffs is shaped like a crescent and its cross-section is grayish white, it is called Crescent Mountain.

After several thieves spoke out all the information about Crescent Moon Mountain, they looked at Wang An pitifully and said, "We have told you everything we know. Please spare our lives, Your Majesty. We will turn over a new leaf and be good people in the future!"

Wang An nodded, "Since you want to be good people, I can help you. I hope you can keep your promise in your next life."

Before the thieves had time to be happy, they immediately realized that something was wrong with Wang An's words. Before they could ask further questions, Wang An had already nodded to Chen Huaian and said, "Kill them all!"

After Wang An finished speaking, he turned around and went back to the government office.

Not long after, Chen Huaian wiped his long sword and strode into the lobby of the government office.

"Your Majesty, those robbers have been executed."

Wang An's face was gloomy. He instructed a yamen runner in the hall, "There is a soldier named Xu Huang among the guards. He should still be outside the door. Go and call him over."

The bailiff had seen Wang An kill people without blinking an eye with his own eyes. He shuddered all over when he heard this. He did not dare to hesitate at all and immediately trotted out.

Chen Huaian looked at him strangely and chuckled, "I'm afraid that after today, Your Majesty will be known as a murderous devil."

Wang An shook his head helplessly, "Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. If it can ensure the peace and prosperity of Jizhou, it doesn't matter if I have to bear a few infamy."

While the two were talking, Xu Huang had already entered the lobby.

He bowed to Wang An and stood aside respectfully.

If Xu Huang's previous respect for Wang An was only out of respect for his status, now he is wholeheartedly convinced.

"Xu Huang, what was your original position in Jizhou Wei?" Wang An asked.

Xu Huang immediately replied: "Your Majesty, it is a minor flag officer."

Wang An frowned. The so-called small flag officer was the smallest position in the army, not even an officer. He had ten people under him and was the smallest operational unit in the army.

However, when fighting with the bandits today, Xu Huang had been charging in the front and fighting extremely bravely. Although he had no rules for his fists, feet, or weapons, he was so powerful that he killed the bandits and knocked them to the ground.

"From today on, you are a white household!" Wang An immediately decided, "There were more than 200 people on the field at that time. Those who didn't have the courage to fight the enemy were all expelled from the guard post. The remaining less than 100 people will be led by you from today on."

Xu Huang didn't expect to be promoted suddenly, and the excitement on his face was hard to hide.

After all, the small flag officers are not considered military officers at all, but they are different from the white household registration. They have official uniforms and seals, and are real sixth-rank military officers!

(End of this chapter)