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

"With our current numbers, we might not even have a chance of winning if we chase after them. Go now and gather those Liang people who have submitted to the Western Barbarians! Tell them that as long as they submit to us, we won't kill them!" Shen An instructed. "Once they submit, we'll immediately pursue them and kill them all before the Western Barbarians escape back to Qingyang County!"

Liao Bing gritted his teeth: "My lord, isn't this too easy on them? These people have betrayed our Great Liang, and they might turn against us again in the future."

"These people are certainly despicable, but there are still over a thousand of them who can be used. If we want to kill the remaining Western Barbarians, we need these people to be at the forefront!" Shen An's tone was chilling.

Standing behind Shen An, Dugu Meng, who had remained silent, also agreed with Shen An's actions.

If these people were forced to submit to the Western barbarians, she would feel sorry for them, thinking that their government was too weak and that she had let them down.

But they surrendered to the enemy willingly. When they rushed up the mountain, they thought Shen An and the others were easy targets, and they all had excited expressions on their faces.

By all accounts, they are bullying the weak and fearing the strong, trying to use the Western barbarians to strengthen their own forces.

These people are despicable! Their ultimate fate is to be cannon fodder, to make them fight the Western barbarians again.

Liao Bing wasn't stupid; he saw through Shen An's plan.

"My lord, what a brilliant plan! I'll go right away!" Liao Bing immediately led his men down.

Those who had just submitted to the Western Barbarians were terrified when they witnessed the carnage.

Upon seeing Liao Bing and his men descend, they demanded that they submit.

One by one, they immediately chose to submit!

Shen An made a decisive move and immediately dispatched all his men to give chase.

They didn't have any decent weapons before, but they had just killed nearly a thousand Western Barbarian soldiers, and they picked up the weapons and equipment and used them directly.

To encourage their initiative, Shen An announced that whoever killed a Western Barbarian would own everything on the Barbarian's body; the spoils would not be handed over and could be used entirely by the individual! In addition, a reward of five taels of silver would be given for each Western Barbarian killed!

With such a generous reward, they were all energized and chased after the pursuers like madmen.

Those Western barbarians had already expended a lot of energy by the time they arrived, and there weren't many of them on horseback.

Fifteen minutes later.

Shen An's men then caught up with the Western Barbarian infantry.

When Abudu saw that the people who had caught up with him were armed with their weapons and outnumbered them by more than three times, he dared not stay any longer.

He immediately rode away on horseback, leaving the infantry to resist.

Unfortunately, he didn't expect that Shen An had already bought two hundred horses, and he and Hei Laoliu led their men to chase after them.

Liao Bing and his men were leading the remaining thousand-plus men to deal with the nearly five hundred Western Barbarian infantrymen who remained behind.

Soon, Shen An and the others caught up with Abudu.

Abudu now only has about twenty people around him, while Shen An has more than two hundred.

This guy didn't dare to resist at all; he immediately dismounted and knelt down, shouting, "I surrender! I surrender!"

Upon seeing this, the other Western barbarians also surrendered.

"Kill everyone except the leader!" Shen An ordered.

"Huh? We surrendered, why are you still killing people?" Abudu was furious.

"If you have any objections, I'll kill you too!"

Shen An's words left Abudu speechless, and he could only watch helplessly as his men were shot to death by a hail of arrows.

He thought he was safe, but Shen An spared his life to learn more about the Western Barbarians, not to let him live a good life.

They immediately broke Abudu's legs.

"Ah! You, you Liang man, why are you attacking?!"

"You're not allowed to speak without my permission. If you disobey, I'll break your hands!"

Shen An's words left Abudu speechless once again. He realized that the young man from Daliang in front of him was even more ruthless than the Western Barbarians, and he must not offend him!

"Officer Shen, should we go back now, or go to Qingyang County?" Blackie asked.

"Let's go back first and move all the people and weapons there to occupy Qingyang County. Heishan Village is certainly good, but controlling Qingyang County will be more beneficial for our future development!" Shen An arranged.

"yes!"

After the group returned, Liao Bing and his men had annihilated all the Western Barbarians. Those Western Barbarians were indeed formidable; nearly five hundred of them died, while nearly eight hundred of them died on their side.

Fortunately, most of the dead were the Liang people who had once submitted to the Western Barbarians.

Those who were still alive were filled with regret when they saw Abudu being escorted over by Shen An.

If they hadn't taken the initiative to seek refuge with Abudu, they wouldn't be in their current situation.

But they never expected this.

Shen An had no intention of letting them go. These people were just opportunists, and since there weren't many left, keeping them around would only cause trouble.

"Liao Bing, kill them all!" Shen An ordered.

"What?! You killed them all?! We just fought for you, and you want to kill us?! How can you face justice and morality?!"

"When you voluntarily sided with the Western Barbarians to oppress the Liang people, you should have been prepared to be killed!" Shen An urged. "Liao Bing, why aren't you making your move? Do you also want to be soft-hearted and wait for these opportunists to turn against us later?"

Liao Bing seemed to instantly wake up.

Without any hesitation, he immediately ordered his men to take action!

As screams echoed throughout the mountains and forests, Abudu, who witnessed all of this, was gripped by fear.

How could Shen An be so cruel?

Even the Western barbarians, known for their cruelty, wouldn't do something like Shen An.

"My lord, there are still two people left. What should we do with them?"

"Who?"

"Liu Wenyuan, Chen Jing!"

Shen An glanced at Liu Wenyuan and Chen Jing standing nearby. He had to admit that Liao Bing was indeed capable of handling things, leaving the two of them alone.

"Bring them here!"

Upon arriving before Shen An, Chen Jing turned deathly pale with fright. He had previously thought that his voluntary submission to the Western Barbarians was an excellent opportunity to turn his life around. He believed that as long as he became their lackey, he could become an official without having to take the imperial examinations.

He even thought that the Western barbarians were brainless, and with his intelligence, he would surely thrive among them, and might even become a marquis or prime minister in the future!

This grand dream of spring and autumn hadn't lasted long before he became a prisoner in the blink of an eye.

He immediately knelt before Shen An, feigning innocence, and said, "I... I was forced! I was forced! Please, Officer Shen, spare my life! Spare my life!"

Shen An ignored the man and instead looked at Liu Wenyuan: "Was he forced, or did he do it voluntarily?"

Liu Wenyuan's expression was extremely complex at this moment.

He had always thought Shen An was incompetent, and had previously refused Shen An's offer to jointly defend Qingyang City.

And then what happened?

He himself lost Qingyang County, causing the people to be displaced.

Shen An managed to defeat these Western barbarians, whom they could hardly resist, using only Heishan Village.

The powerful weapon was unlike anything I had ever seen, nor was the intricate trap.

They are also extremely skilled at personnel management and scheduling!

He was clearly a master of warfare, skilled in both combat and weapons manufacturing.

But he looked down on Shen An at the time and rejected him!

Liu Wenyuan felt utterly worthless and didn't have the courage to look up at Shen An. He wished he could disappear into a hole in the ground.

Faced with Shen An's question, Liu Wenyuan lowered his head, not even having the courage to respond.

"If you don't speak again, I might deal with you and this guy together!" Shen An's threatening voice rang out.

Startled, Liu Wenyuan quickly looked up: "That damned Chen Jing is a traitor among traitors! He surrendered to Abudu and brought them here on his own initiative. This man must be killed!"

"Liu Wenyuan, you're talking nonsense! You were the one who brought him here! You're trying to frame me!" Chen Jing immediately retorted, "Officer Shen, you'd better open your eyes wide and don't be fooled by this man!"

"I believe him!" Shen An snapped his fingers, and Liao Bing chopped off Chen Jing's head with a single stroke.

"Why do you believe me?" Liu Wenyuan asked, confused. "I clearly schemed against you before."

"Although you schemed against me, you fool, all you've got on your mind is protecting the interests of the people. There are so many people in Black Mountain Village; you couldn't possibly bring a powerful enemy here!" Shen An chuckled. "Besides, I promised you I would create an opportunity for you to kill Zhu Shigui and the others. I haven't let you do that yet, and I won't let you die!"

Liu Wenyuan shook his head repeatedly: "Shen An, I admire you, I really admire you. Not only are you good at leading troops in battle, but you are also a man of your word. I, Liu Wenyuan, am inferior to you!"

However, Zhu Shigui and his men have already fled and will not be returning, so this opportunity is meaningless.

With you here, I feel much more at ease. Our Qingyang County can be protected!

I plotted against you before, now you've killed me, take your revenge!

"You've really seen through life and death!" Killing Liu Wenyuan was something Shen An had to do. This man had plotted against him and was doomed, but his death had to be meaningful, not just a simple killing. He needed to kill Zhu Shigui and other officials appointed by the court before he died.

"However, since I promised you, I must keep my word. You should deal with Zhu Shigui and the others before you die!" Shen An smiled. "Liao Bing, tell everyone to move all their food, clothing, supplies, weapons, and so on. We're heading to Qingyang County!"

"yes!"

One hour later.

Shen An led everyone to Qingyang County.

The once bustling place is now deserted except for a few dozen Western barbarians responsible for guarding the city.

"kill!"

At Shen An's command, they set up repeating crossbows and began firing at the city wall.

With almost no resistance, they successfully occupied Qingyang County.

Everyone was incredibly excited.

Those who had originally followed Shen An were excited about their successful rebellion, knowing that Qingyang County might become their territory in the future.

Liao Bing and his soldiers wept with joy; they had never imagined they would win back so quickly.

This feeling is like a dream.

As Dugu Meng watched all this, she also felt as if she were in a dream. If she hadn't spent so much time with Shen An, she would have really thought that all of this was just a hallucination before her death.

Looking up at Shen An standing on the city wall again, she felt that this person was extremely majestic, and his whole body exuded a captivating charm.

Only Shen An showed no excitement. This was only the beginning. Would the Western Barbarians send another large army? And what about Li Huaiyi? What would that bastard do if he found out?

To find out the true intentions of the Western Barbarians, Shen An summoned Abudu: "Tell me all your detailed plans, or you will die!"