180: Chapter 180 Triumphant Return

He knelt on one knee on the ground, gasping for breath heavily, covered in blood, looking extremely disheveled.

But he smiled.

“Next time? Next time, I'll chop off your other claw too.”

Su Bai quickly walked over with Ma Lie, helped General Qin Bei up, and said worriedly:

“General Qin, are you alright?”

General Qin Bei waved his hand, grinned, and said, “I won't die. It's just a pity that I let that beast escape.”

Su Bai shook his head and said:

“Being able to repel it is already good enough. A Golden Core Stage flood dragon is not that easy to kill.”

General Qin Bei nodded, looked at the Demon corpses scattered across the battlefield, then at the soldiers behind Su Bai, a hint of emotion flashing in his eyes.

“This battle was won beautifully.”

Su Bai smiled and didn't say much more.

He turned around and looked toward the city gate.

There, Zhu Chen was huddled in the city gate passage with his troops.

Each of them was covered in dust, not even daring to breathe loudly.

Just moments ago, they had tried to snatch military merit, but Su Bai had shattered their Xuanhua Axe with a single strike, sending them scurrying back in disgrace.

Now that the battle was over, they didn't know what to do with themselves.

A cold glint flashed in Su Bai's eyes as he strode over.

When Zhu Chen saw Su Bai approaching, his face instantly turned pale, and his legs began to tremble.

“Gen... General Su...”

He stammered, wanting to explain something.

Su Bai ignored him and walked straight past him, facing all the guards at the city gate who had just attempted to snatch military merit.

He spoke loudly to them:

“I know that among you, some are not convinced.”

“You think, why should I, Su Bai, who came from humble beginnings, sit in my current position.”

“You think, why should my soldiers eat the best food and use the best weapons.”

“It's because my soldiers are always the first to charge when fighting, and because my soldiers never snatch others' military merit.”

Su Bai's voice grew louder and louder, until he was almost roaring by the end:

“I don't blame you. People have their own selfish motives.”

“But—”

“Today, you wanted to snatch military merit on the battlefield; I can act as if it never happened.”

“However, if next time you play dirty tricks on the battlefield or stab someone in the back...”

Su Bai raised the long saber in his hand, its blade still dripping with blood.

“Then don't blame me, Su Bai, for showing no mercy.”

The entire area fell into a dead silence.

The faces of those guards turned pale, and none dared to even breathe loudly.

Su Bai was silent for a moment, then suddenly changed his tone.

“However, I, Su Bai, am not an unreasonable person.”

“If any of you are still willing to continue working hard for my Great Zhou, I can let bygones be bygones and distribute rewards according to military merit.”

“But if you still harbor divided loyalties, then don't blame me for being ruthless.”

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the guards instantly became quite varied.

Some were pleasantly surprised, some hesitated, and some breathed a sigh of relief.

Zhu Chen was the first to react.

With a thud, he knelt on the ground and shouted at Su Bai:

“General Su! This subordinate general is willing to serve you with the loyalty of a dog or a horse! From now on, if the General says go east, This subordinate general will never go west!”

The guards behind him also knelt down one after another.

“This subordinate general is also willing!”

“This subordinate general swears deathly loyalty to General Su!”

“General Su, have mercy! We won't dare do it again!”

For a moment, a large, dense crowd knelt at the city gate.

Su Bai looked at these people and nodded.

“All of you, stand up.”

He turned to Ma Lie and said seriously:

“Ma Lie, I'm handing these people over to you. Break them up and integrate them into the Yunzhou Army.”

“Yes!”

Ma Lie responded loudly.

He understood clearly that Su Bai intended to completely absorb these people and not give them a chance to form their own cliques.

Zhu Chen and the others didn't dare to object and obediently followed Ma Lie away.

...

That night.

Su Bai returned to the Generals Mansion, still carrying the scent of blood from the battlefield.

As soon as he stepped into the backyard, he saw an interesting scene.

Li Qing and Ma Zhenhua were sitting opposite each other at a stone table in the courtyard, staring at one another.

Li Qing was Zhou Qingying's personal maidservant and had later been taken in by Su Bai; she had a gentle and virtuous personality and usually didn't speak much.

Ma Zhenhua was the daughter of the Bandits leader Ma Liu; she had grown up in a bandit's den and had a wild nature, naturally carrying a fierce Aura.

With the two of them sitting together now, the scene was truly a bit subtle.

Although Ma Zhenhua had changed into clean clothes, the Aura she had cultivated since childhood remained; she sat there with her back straight, her almond-shaped eyes slightly upturned, looking quite sharp no matter how one viewed her.

Li Qing sat quietly opposite her.

Su Bai was in no hurry to go over; instead, he stood under the corridor, watching with interest.

Li Qing picked up the teapot, poured a cup of tea for Ma Zhenhua, and handed it over.

“Sister, have some tea.”

Ma Zhenhua was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly stood up, took the teacup with both hands, a flash of embarrassment on her face, and then said somewhat stiffly:

“Elder Sister, this... how can I accept this. By rights, I am the younger sister; I should be the one pouring tea for you.”

Li Qing smiled slightly and shook her head.

“It's fine, we are both going to serve the Young Master together anyway. It doesn't matter who pours tea for whom.”

At these words, Ma Zhenhua's face turned beet-red instantly.

Although she had a wild nature, she was still a young woman after all; hearing words like 'serving the Young Master together' still made her feel shy.

With a flushed face, she gave a giggling smile and proactively introduced herself: “Elder Sister, my name is Ma Zhenhua.”

Li Qing nodded: “My name is Li Qing.”

The two women looked at each other and both laughed.

The atmosphere suddenly became much more harmonious.

Seeing this, a smile curled at the corners of Su Bai's mouth, and he stroded over.

“What are you chatting about? You seem so happy?”

Both women looked up at the same time, and seeing Su Bai return, they both stood up.

Li Qing gave a gentle bow and said, “Young Master is back.”

Ma Zhenhua, on the other hand, called out openly:

“General, you're back.”

Su Bai nodded, sat down on a stone stool, and casually pulled a cloth bag from his robes, dumping it onto the stone table.

“Clatter—”

A pile of gold, silver, and jewelry rolled out of the cloth bag, shimmering with dazzling light under the moonlight.

There were gold ingots, silver ingots, pearls, agates, jadeites...

The table was piled high with them.

These were all spoils of war that Su Bai had captured from the battlefield today.

Although the Demon army was poor, the nests of several Foundation Establishment Stage Yao Beasts still contained quite a few good things.

“Come, pick what you like, take whichever you want.”

Su Bai waved his hand and said very generously.

Li Qing glanced at the gold, silver, and jewelry on the table and gently shook her head.

“Young Master, this servant has no use for these. I have no lack of food or clothing in the residence, and there's nowhere to spend money anyway. It's better to keep them for the Young Master to reward the soldiers.”

Su Bai knew Li Qing's nature; she was always one who didn't fight or grab, and she kept to her place.

He nodded and then looked at Ma Zhenhua.

“What about you? Pick whatever you like.”