Chapter 913 - 758: Selling Heads

Outside Jingjiang County, the pirates tried several times to set up ladders to climb the city walls, but were stopped by Yuan Xi and others. As soon as the pirates set up a bamboo ladder, Yuan Xi could easily overturn the ladder and the pirates on it with his bare hands.

The pirates originally brought over thirty bamboo ladders to breach the city, but now, after an ambush by the Anti-Japanese Army pulling away their ladders, they could only hastily retrieve the remaining five or six from the ships, which was of no help.

Inside Jingjiang County, the Anti-Japanese Army fought fiercely against the pirates from behind cover. Jiang Chai, Zhou Chang, and Chen Ji fixed weaknesses here and there, barely managing to hold off the pirates.

At this moment, Yuan Xing’s angry cursing came from outside the cover. Everyone on the walls and below turned their heads, only to see a figure rushing directly towards the Japanese Chief.

Zheng Jiye saw the armored Japanese Chief and was immediately terrified. He saw the Japanese Chief wearing a full set of Do-maru Armor with a horrifying bronze face mask.

He immediately shouted at the top of his lungs, "Be careful, that’s the Japanese Chief, he should be a Seeking Dao Realm Official!"

Yuan Xing sneered, "What are you blabbering about as if no one else here is in the Seeking Dao Realm?"

It was only then, as Yuan Xing broke through the thick fog, that the Anti-Japanese Army saw him carrying a house beam as thick as a small leg, clutched in his arms.

Without riding a horse, Yuan Xing tucked the beam, using it like a Big Halberd, under his arm. The beam, twelve feet long and weighing over a hundred pounds, wielded by him, was as agile as an ordinary Big Halberd.

Seeing this scene, Zheng Jiye muttered in awe, "Damn, Seeking Dao Realm..."

While speaking, he couldn’t help but glance at Chen Ji, but Chen Ji didn’t pay attention to him, only taking advantage of the moment when everyone was stunned to methodically kill the pirates inside the cover.

When Yuan Xing rushed to within one foot of the Japanese Chief, he swung the beam horizontally with great force, creating a roaring sound in the air.

Two pirates stepped forward to block, but the beam was heavier than they imagined.

As soon as the four hands met the beam, the sound of broken bones and torn muscles could be heard. The bones of their forearms pierced through their skin at the elbows, yet the beam continued unabated, crashing into their chests.

Hit suddenly in the chest, the two pirates spat blood and flew backward.

Yuan Xing swung the beam at the armored Japanese Chief again, the wind stirred by the beam causing the flames and ashes in the air to swirl violently.

The Japanese Chief dared not resist and hurriedly retreated.

Yuan Xing sneered, "I really thought you were a Seeking Dao expert, but you’re just full of false reputation!"

When he swung the beam again, the Japanese Chief couldn’t dodge, taking a solid hit to the chest, and was sent flying backward. The bamboo pieces on his Do-maru Armor scattered in all directions, along with his helmet and face mask.

This blow seemed to scatter the Japanese Chief to pieces.

Yuan Xing took a few steps forward, discarding the beam, and dragged the Japanese Chief like a small chick in his hand, shouting, "The enemy leader has been slain!"

The first merit goes to those who bravely enter the formation to kill generals and seize flags!

The pirates were already terrified.

Without the constraint of military orders, they stopped attacking the South City Gate and instead scattered towards other gates.

The Anti-Japanese Army was about to give chase in haste, but Jiang Chai leaped out of cover, shouting, "Don’t you dare rashly pursue them, follow my orders! Li Si, Zhou Chang, you two go block the North Gate. Don’t engage with the pirates on the way; make sure you get to the North Gate before them and seal it off!"

"Ah Xi, go block the West Gate! I want you to seal these two gates tightly; rest assured, they won’t dare force their way through. Like dogs with nowhere to go, they’ll find another route to escape. Just herd them towards the East Gate!"

"Ah Xing, they’ll herd the pirates to the East Gate, and you and I will set an ambush there. Don’t let a single one escape!"

In just a few words, Jiang Chai outlined the strategy. Several people led the Anti-Japanese Army out in different directions, disappearing into the alleys to carry out their tasks.

Old Ears looked at Chen Ji, whispering, "Tsk tsk, these noble children stayed in the Imperial Academy and the Martial Arts Hall, each of them having their ambition thwarted, and ended up with you. Especially this Jiang Chai boy, he’s a general talent. Quite strange, how did they shamelessly accept you as their godfather?"

Chen Ji glanced at him, "Jealous? Maybe later I’ll have them recognize you as their godfather too."

"Get lost," Old Ears retorted sourly. "Where are you going? How about helping them bag at the East Gate?"

"Ah Xing is enough," Chen Ji replied, clearing obstacles from in front of the South City Gate. Once the gate was opened, he mounted his horse, heading alone towards the five large pirate ships outside the city with his Tachi.

Seeing the South City Gate finally opened, the pirates outside charged towards Chen Ji with a howl. Zheng Jiye was about to help but saw Chen Ji swinging his Tachi, sending pirates and horses tumbling.

In just a few breaths, the pirates left over a dozen bodies and turned to flee towards the ships.

Zheng Jiye watched helplessly as Chen Ji chased dozens of pirates by himself. Turning to Old Ears, he clasped his hands in respect, sincerely exclaiming, "Old man, it seems I underestimated Taishan before... I never expected that besides you, they are all experts too."

Old Ears laughed angrily, "Good, good, good, good, good..."

...

...

The Anti-Japanese Army encircled the pirates in the city from three directions, forming a bag, herding them toward the East Gate like sheep.

At first, the civilians hid in their homes but, seeing the official army chasing the ruffians down every alley, they picked up their rakes and hoes and joined the chase.

By 3 AM, all the townsfolk had come out. Some were fighting fires, some were looking for relatives, some were chasing the pirates. The entire county was filled with the sound of battle cries, with thousands chasing the pirates.

The East Gate had been opened early; seeing it from afar, the pirates were overjoyed, completely losing any will to fight, and ran towards the East Gate.

However, just as they arrived at the East Gate, they saw Jiang Chai leading the young and strong Anti-Japanese Army appearing on the tower gate, using the picked-up Japanese Bows to shoot a rain of arrows.

The arrows of the Anti-Japanese Army were not accurate, yet they scattered down like water, knocking down the pirates one by one.

At this moment, a pirate looked up at the tower gate, seeing the Anti-Japanese Army struggling to even reload their arrows, instantly let out an angry roar and charged with full force.

But before they reached the gate, they saw Yuan Xing carrying a house beam blocking in front of the city gate, trapping the pirates inside Jingjiang County.

The pirates looked at Yuan Xing ahead, then turned to see the dark masses of commoners, unsure of where to go.

Suddenly, one of the pirates knelt on the ground, shouting in Han language: "Spare me, spare me, little man was forced by the pirates to do things, it’s none of my business!"

An old Anti-Japanese Army soldier spat curses: "Surely it’s this dog that brought the pirates to Jingjiang County!"

Thousands of commoners gathered around, Jiang Chai shouted angrily: "Keep this one alive!"

Until dawn, Jingjiang County gradually calmed down.

Only then did Yuan Xing lead the Anti-Japanese Army back to the South Gate.

The crowd looked exhausted, yet their eyes glistened with excitement, especially the fourteen or fifteen-year-old Anti-Japanese Army, who were jumping up and down with excitement, carrying the captured Japanese Sword, swinging it in the air, and chasing after each other playfully.

Some commoners pushed wheelbarrows, helping them pile the pirate corpses together in front of the South Gate, forming a small hill.

Yuan Xing looked around: "Where is my godfather?"

As he spoke, he saw Chen Ji returning from outside the city on horseback, blood on the saddle and Tachi. Yuan Xing looked into the distance and saw a big ship slowly sinking into the Yangtze River, while the remaining four ships were nowhere to be seen.

Chen Ji sat on the horse calmly and asked: "How did it go?"

Yuan Xing clasped his fists and said: "Godfather, thankfully not humiliating the mission, I killed sixty-two enemies in the fight."

Yuan Xi also imitated and clasped his fists to report: "Godfather, I killed twenty-seven enemies."

Several people stood in a row, reporting achievements one by one, Zhou Chang said: "Godfather, I killed thirty-one enemies."

Li Si: "Godfather, I killed..."

Jiang Chai: "Godfather, I..."

After Jiang Chai reported, Zheng Jiye at the end hesitated for a moment, then clasped his fists and said: "Godfather..."

Jiang Chai kicked him in the crotch, knocking him to the ground: "Get out of here, you’re quite good at cozying up, aren’t you?"

Zheng Jiye crawled up, patting his buttocks grumpily: "I just couldn’t help it."

Chen Ji dismounted and threw the reins to Yuan Xing, looking at Zheng Jiye: "How are the military achievements of the Anti-Japanese Army calculated?"

Zheng Jiye was startled for a moment: "The pirate’s heads are not worth much, the Governor Mansion deliberately set the bar high to stop us from getting promoted; ten heads for a small flag, fifty heads to become a household leader, households depend on relationships, if the connections are strong, just a set of the Japanese Chief’s armor can lead to promotion...but it’s always tough for us to report military achievements, as the Jinling Central Army Governor’s Mansion never recognizes them."

Chen Ji frowned: "Why don’t they recognize them?"

Zheng Jiye complained: "Technically, the Merit Officer needs to accompany the army for it to count, but we barely see any pirates all year round, and even if we did, we can’t beat them, sometimes killing one or two, the pirates would snatch the bodies back...So the Governor Mansion wouldn’t send a Merit Officer along with us, not even a supervisor."

Zheng Jiye continued: "Later, even if we killed pirates and kept the bodies, because the Merit Officer didn’t accompany the army, the Governor Mansion didn’t recognize it...We could only resign ourselves to bad luck. I am absolutely not trying to steal your achievements, that is the truth."

Chen Ji looked at him: "How did you get promoted to household leader?"

Zheng Jiye quickly explained: "That was self-appointed."

Chen Ji couldn’t help but laugh: "Aren’t you afraid of losing your head?"

"The Anti-Japanese Army is like a neglected child, no one cares," Zheng Jiye cautiously observed Chen Ji’s expression: "Are you thinking of reporting achievements to get promoted? Then, I’m afraid you’d have to go to Jinling and grease some wheels, in Jinling as long as the silver and connections are in place, everything is negotiable."

Chen Ji shook his head: "We’re not planning to get promoted, just being a small soldier is fine. You send someone out, go find nearby gentry to ask..."

Zheng Jiye was curious: "Ask what?"

Chen Ji calmly replied: "Ask them if any noble children want to buy military achievements, this is far easier than the Imperial Examination. Spread the word, one head for fifty taels of silver, the heads here are enough for about ten households."

Zheng Jiye’s eyes lit up, then he pointed at the Do-maru Armor on the ground: "What about this?"

Chen Ji shook his head: "Not selling this. Wait for the reputation to spread and for wealthier officials to come knocking. For the silver from selling heads, we take nine, the Anti-Japanese Army takes one."

Zheng Jiye calculated silently for a moment but couldn’t figure it out, just knowing it was a lot of silver, he excitedly went off to find familiar gentry to sell the heads.

Chen Ji called out to him: "Come back."

Zheng Jiye turned around: "What’s wrong?"

Chen Ji said meaningfully: "Remember, all pirates were killed by you leading the Anti-Japanese Army, none of us had any part in it."

Zheng Jiye’s face lit up with joy: "Is there really such a good thing?"