In a chaotic and famine-stricken era, I picked up an empress to be my wife.

"Yuwen Qin, didn't you say that your men searched within a hundred miles and found no troops? How did they appear?" Li Huaiyi questioned.

Yuwen Qin then looked at Zhang Chi: "Didn't you send people to investigate multiple times? How did they get here?"

Zhang Chi was also completely bewildered.

He clearly sent people to search everywhere. If there were an army of 20,000 men within a hundred miles, how could they possibly hide?

"Hmph, you bunch of good-for-nothings have no idea just how capable our lord truly is!"

Wang Junfeng stepped forward, holding a long spear, his tone filled with admiration for Shen An.

He originally thought Shen An was just a charlatan with magical weapons and a knack for scheming.

But to his utter surprise, Shen An was also an expert in concealment. By changing his clothes, he made 20,000 people disappear without a trace, thus evading their detection.

This completely won him over.

Wang Junfeng's words were also widely agreed upon by the other soldiers, who admired Shen An to the extreme.

In reality, it wasn't difficult for Shen An. The area was mountainous and rocky, which provided good cover. By splitting into several groups, they could avoid detection. It was far less difficult than when he was on a mission in his previous life, where he not only had to hide from weapons that could blow his head off at any moment, but also from infrared detection. The difficulty was on a completely different level than it was now.

"Don't be confused, all of you. You've all witnessed the strength of my city defense battalion. I don't want to kill people indiscriminately anymore. If you're willing to surrender, I can spare your lives."

"Especially you soldiers, what difference does it make who you serve? As long as you surrender, you will be my soldiers, Shen An's soldiers! Not only will you be useful in the future, but you will also achieve great things like them!" Shen An looked down at the crowd and said.

His words were extremely tempting to ordinary soldiers.

Having fought to this extent, they were already physically and mentally exhausted and had no desire to continue fighting.

Now, Shen An will not only forgive them, but will also bring them under his command.

They don't seem to need to work so hard.

"A bunch of idiots! Do you think you can believe Shen An's words? Don't forget, you're all enemies. Once you surrender, you'll be lambs to the slaughter, and none of you will live!" Li Huaiyi shouted. "Don't forget, Shen An was my subordinate, and now he's turned against me! Don't believe a single word from this ungrateful scoundrel!"

"Yes, none of you should believe Shen An's words. He's a bloodthirsty killer. Have you forgotten how those 20,000 brothers died under the walls of Qingyang City?" Zhang Chi shouted.

"Gentlemen, you should know what kind of person Li Huaiyi is. I was forced to oppose him."

As for the 20,000 people who supposedly died under the walls of my Qingyang City?

Brothers, you've attacked me, how can I not kill you?

Besides! If you submit to me, you will have the power to kill others!

You two are far superior to these two when you follow me to achieve great things!

"For your lives, for your future, surrender!" Shen An said.

Wang Junfeng and his soldiers echoed his sentiments.

"Surrender! Surrender, or we'll kill you!"

Their imposing presence was awe-inspiring.

Just from their imposing aura, Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Qin could understand that they were at the height of their power, while they were already at their limit.

I couldn't even beat him in a one-on-one fight before, let alone now?

"Come on, those who are willing to surrender, throw down your weapons and stand aside."

I'm giving you fifteen minutes to consider. If you refuse to surrender, then you will die!

Shen An's voice trailed off with a chill.

In the face of life and death, a person's loyalty becomes extremely weak.

Before Shen An finished speaking, someone stepped out from Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Qin's group, threw down their weapon, and stood at the question Shen An had designated.

"You bastards, you dare to surrender? You're tired of living! Get back here right now!" Li Huaiyi roared.

"Don't surrender! Shen An can't be trusted!" Yuwen Qin said with great distress.

But their words were of little use. Everyone wanted to live, and everyone wanted a bright future. Following these two exhausted men would only lead to their deaths.

Even the local people chose to take sides.

Although Yuwen Qin was their superior, what was more important than their own lives?

A quarter of an hour.

Li Huaiyi only had a little over a thousand men left, while Yuwen Qin had more loyal followers, with five thousand remaining out of eight thousand.

"You've made your choices. From this moment on, you belong to me, Shen An. Just stand there!" Shen An ordered. "Where is Wang Junfeng?!"

"Your subordinate is here!"

"Except for Li Huaiyi, Cui Tianhe, Yuwen Qin, and Zhang Chi, kill everyone else, leave no one alive!"

"yes!"

Upon hearing this, Li Huaiyi and Yuwen Qin's faces turned extremely grim. The few men they had left were simply not enough for Shen An to kill.

"Brother Li, our only way out is to venture into this miasma-filled mountain. Let's go together! There's still a glimmer of hope!"

"Charge!"

There were still soldiers in Li Huaiyi's stronghold, and he didn't want to be controlled by Shen An, so he immediately led his men straight into the mountains.

Yuwen Qin dared not show weakness and immediately fled.

His men were truly loyal, leaving a thousand to hold the rear, giving the rest time to escape.

"You are indeed loyal, but your loyalty has been given to dogs! Kill them!"

Under Wang Junfeng's leadership, a thousand people were as easy to deal with as cutting melons and vegetables.

The surrendered soldiers and civilians all wore expressions of relief.

If they hadn't surrendered, they would have certainly met the same fate as these people.

By the time Wang Junfeng had dealt with these people, Yuwen Qin and the others had already escaped into the mountains.

Shen An called for a halt again: "Stop chasing! The miasma in this mountain is too heavy. Entering would be extremely dangerous. The most urgent task now is to take this opportunity to control all the territory in this state!"

"yes!"

"If I give you an army of 10,000, can you pacify all the counties within seven days?" Shen An asked.

"Can!"

"Okay, go ahead!"

Shen An waved his hand, and Wang Junfeng, determined to achieve this, set off immediately without hesitation.

Shen An assigned the remaining 10,000 men to guard the surrendered soldiers.

Among these people are many scoundrels, those who commit arson, murder, and looting, and Shen An will absolutely not spare them.

He gathered the people of the city together and asked them to identify who was burning, killing, and looting.

Shen An did not completely obey them, but told them that if they dared to kill indiscriminately, they would die just the same!

After interrogation, it was found that about 80% of Li Huaiyi's soldiers had participated in the burning, killing, and looting.

Shen An will not spare these people; he will kill them all!

Seeing Shen An go back on his word, the others trembled with fear and were filled with regret.

"You haven't committed arson, murder, or looting, so I won't kill you. I'll give you two choices! Either stay and serve me, or go home and farm! I can give you a day to consider."

After Shen An finished doing all that, he began collecting the spoils of war.

He wanted to see just how much benefit this war had actually brought him!