Chapter 219: Chapter 150: Cleaning and Questioning_2
Translator: 549690339
No need to say more.
Those who knew better would obediently surrender.
Those who didn’t, would face a barrage of haphazard arrows, not even the
Martial Arts Expert could survive.
Thus, the cleaning up work in Linwu county town proceeded methodically.
At midnight, Lu Yuan still didn’t enter the city, and the army also remained outside, sealing off the entire city.
The search inside the city hadn’t yet fully finished, but it was nearing its end. It was estimated that it would be completed tomorrow morning.
As for the reorganization of the surrendered soldiers, there was already a result at this time.
In the commander’s tent, the lights were still bright at this moment.
Lu Yuan sat in the chief position, with several officers from the army standing in two rows below, holding a small meeting.
“Master, the surrendered soldiers have been counted.”
An officer stepped forward, saluted, and reported: “Including those caught during the day from the city, a total of 3,571 surrendered soldiers have been recruited, ranging in age from twelve to over seventy.
These people have now had their weapons confiscated and have been divided into seven camps, each guarded separately.”
Hearing the number, Lu Yuan frowned slightly: “Why are there so few? I remember that Linwu County is a large county, with a population of over ten thousand. The whole county has around fifty to sixty thousand people. There shouldn’t be such a small number of men, right?”
Hearing the question, the disciple below immediately replied: “Master, the surrendered soldiers said that during the Seven Star Sect rebellion, about five thousand men from Linwu County had joined the Enemy Army.
Some time ago, when the Seven Star Sect rebels fled back to Fu City, they sent people to Linwu County to temporarily recruit another batch of soldiers, adding more than two thousand people.’
After several twists and turns, only a little over three thousand men were left.”
Lu Yuan asked: “So, there are quite a few family members of the rebels in Fu
City who have been captured by us?”
The disciple nodded: “Yes. I estimate that at least three thousand of the rebels in Fu City are from Linwu County. Now that this county has been captured by us, their family members are naturally under our control.
In fact, not only the rebels in Fu City, but even those in our First Camp, also have many people from Linwu County. Their family members are also under our control.”
“Is that so?”
Upon receiving this reply, Lu Yuan’s eyes flickered and then said: “Let all 3,500 surrendered soldiers join the First Camp. Then pick out those from Linwu County who were in the First Camp previously and put them together with the surrendered soldiers in a separate camp.
Tell them that their family members are in our hands now, and if they want their families to be safe, they must obey our orders.
In the future, they will redeem their sins on the battlefield to secure forgiveness for their families.”
After thinking for a while, Lu Yuan continued: “On top of that, screen the captured family members and pick out those whose relatives are in Fu City as rebels. Send them all to Fu City.
The traitors from Linwu County were able to surrender and turn back because of their families.
Perhaps we can use the family members as a threat to force the rebels in Fu City to surrender.
Even if this doesn’t work, when they learn that their families are under our control and they have lost their rear support, these rebels will inevitably be shaken and lose their fighting spirit.”
“Yes!”
The disciple took the order and left.
After discussing the handling of the surrendered soldiers, it was finally time for the main event. Lu Yuan suppressed his eagerness and said, “Bring the high-ranking members of the Seven Star Sect that we captured this time.”
Soon after, four disheveled figures were escorted by soldiers outside the tent.
This time, a total of seven high-ranking members of the Seven Star Sect were discovered in Linwu County town, all of them were high-level martial artists in Jianghu.
Of the seven, three stubbornly resisted to the end, refusing to surrender, and were killed on the spot. The remaining four either surrendered or were captured, and were brought in with their inner strength and meridians sealed.
As the four men entered the tent, they looked around and saw the contemptuous, disdainful, mocking, or ridiculing expressions on everyone’s faces. Finally, their gazes settled on Lu Yuan in the front.
Their eyes immediately revealed a mixture of hatred, anger, fear, and despair.
“Tell me, where did you hide the Seven Star Sect’s heritage martial arts and the Pure Water Xuan Niu?”
Lu Yuan ignored the gazes of these defeated subordinates; he just swept his eyes over them and directly asked, “You are all elders of the Seven Star Sect, or true disciples. You should have some clues about the whereabouts of these two things, right?”
“Pah!”
As soon as the words were spoken, one of the Seven Star Sect’s elders immediately cursed, “Imperial dog, you dare to covet our inheritance? In your dreams! Even if I die, I won’t let you succeed.
Ha-ha, just wait. Today you’re arrogant, but someday someone will kill you.
I’ll wait for you down there. Ha-ha-ha…”
Lu Yuan frowned and looked at him, and said indifferently, “Take him away, and use torture to interrogate him.”
After saying that, he seemed to remember something and continued, “Oh, by the way, I remember he has an old mother, two children, and a wife who were also captured, right?
Bring them too, so that they suffer the same punishment.
I want to see if you, a Jianghu hero, can keep your mouth shut for the sake of the sect.”
The elder who had just been defiant burst into rage when he heard Lu Yuan’s words: “You despicable scoundrel! Have the guts to face me; what kind of ability is there to bully orphans and widows? Jianghu rules say that misfortune should not befall family members; are you not afraid of…”
However, no one was willing to listen to him anymore.
Hearing Lu Yuan’s order, the two soldiers who were previously escorting him in forcibly dragged him out of the camp.
Along the way, the elder kept cursing. It seemed that a soldier behind him had enough, raised his foot and kicked his face twice, silencing him, and the surroundings became quiet.
Having witnessed this scene, the expressions of the remaining three Seven Star Sect higher-ups changed dramatically.
Lu Yuan looked at them and said coldly, “Gentlemen, I am an imperial general, not a Jianghu person. The imperial court doesn’t follow the rules of not involving family members; we only know that those who plot rebellions against the court should be executed along with their entire families.
Just now, that guy was stubborn, so I have his whole family tortured together.
Think about your families and your entire clan; are you ready to follow suit?
Just tell me the clues I want, and not only can I pardon your treason, but I can also spare your families and protect your property.
Isn’t it better to live a good life?
There are plenty of wealth and glory in the world, and a great future awaits you all.”
What kind of Jianghu chivalry and not involving family members does Lu Yuan believe in?
You have killed other people’s parents and children, creating deep enmity; do you not eliminate the root of the problem while you can, or do you wait for others to improve their martial arts skills and come for revenge?
So-called Jianghu chivalry is just nonsense.
Over the years, although Lu Yuan has not been involved much in the Jianghu affairs, he has always been the highest-ranking military officer in the region, and he has many channels for information.
In his jurisdiction, he has witnessed many Jianghu people being wiped out due to personal grudges.
Among the current Seven Star Sect high-level leaders, few are clean.
Some of them might have even exterminated a whole family.
To deal with this kind of person, you must be ruthless, poisonous, and instill fear in them; this will make them cooperate obediently.
Sure enough.
After witnessing the fate of their companion and hearing Lu Yuan’s veiled threats, someone could not hold back any longer.
“General, spare my life; I will tell!”
Among the four, an old man with white hair, the oldest of them all, knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly.
The older one gets, the more afraid of death they are.
The older they are, the more family members they have.
The old man had seven beautiful wives, the youngest only fourteen years old. He also had six sons and four daughters, as well as twenty to thirty grandchildren.
He owned several shops in the city, hundreds of acres of fertile farmland outside the city, and all the property belonged to him.
With so much, how could he give it up?
Lu Yuan watched the scene and looked at the other two people with obvious signs of wavering on their faces, and couldn’t help but smile in his heart.
He knew that the inheritance treasure of the Seven Star Sect was already beckoning him..
