Born to Be a General!

Bian Feng was dead. Copper Coin Assassin was dead.

Phoenix had wiped out more than half of the Flame Army by herself. While they had still been organized, they had been able to mount coordinated resistance. Round after round of volleys had been fired at her; even Phoenix had not dared take such risks lightly.

Once Phoenix swiftly broke up their formation, the Flame Army was left fighting on their own and became nothing more than ordinary gunmen.

Phoenix took them down one with every lash, then a whole group with every lash—savage and satisfying.

The Predators' members were the first to realize something was wrong. They were truly ruthless when killing, and truly quick when running.

When they saw Tang Fei kill Bian Feng and the Flame Army suffering grievous casualties, they turned and tried to flee the battlefield.

"Run! Run! The Flame Army is finished! White Robe is dead!"

"Brothers, retreat! Don't get yourselves killed here!"

"Brothers of the Fierce Tiger Society, follow me into the mountains!"

--

Once they started shouting, the gray robes, who had never had much ability to resist in the first place, fled along with them.

When Bian Feng and the Flame Army had still been alive, they had not dared run. They had feared the Flame Shrine settling accounts afterward; that would have been worse than death.

Now that Bian Feng and the Flame Army were finished, naturally, protecting their own lives came first.

"Not one of you is getting away!" Tang Fei roared hoarsely.

Teacher was dead. So many innocent civilians were dead. Every last one of them was a murderer.

Tang Fei charged ahead, Dogleg Knife in hand, pursuing and intercepting them.

Little Fatty followed Tang Fei's lead in everything. If his big brother said not one of them could escape, then he would chase them to the ends of the earth and hammer them down.

In no time, the situation became completely one-sided.

The Flame Shrine had initially arrived in overwhelming force, with Bian Feng and Copper Coin Assassin, two high-level Cultivators, holding the line. They had the fully armed Flame Army, several hundred gray robes, and over a thousand Predators members. They had surged in so massively that they had nearly packed the village full and trampled it flat.

No one had expected them to lose so quickly, or so miserably.

Kill!

Kill!

Kill!

They killed until the sky darkened and blood flowed like a river.

Phoenix and Old Man had also heard Tang Fei's grief-stricken roar of "Not one of you is getting away!" Old Man naturally had nothing more to say. Since that little bastard said no one could escape, then everyone would stay behind to accompany the dead.

Phoenix had been taught to "value harmony" and "never kill prisoners." But this had begun because of her, and these people had come because of her. When she saw Bian Feng order the Flame Army to fire upon unarmed civilians, one firm thought took root in her heart: these people were not human. They were beasts. They were animals.

Since they were beasts and animals, then kill them all.

Nothing healed better than killing, nothing felt warmer than blood.

Tang Fei was wounded. She needed healing too.

In a world like this, mercy and kindness could not keep one alive.

Be kinder to the good, and crueler to the evil.

No one knew how long they had been killing. The Dogleg Knife Tang Fei had only recently sharpened had already chipped along the blade.

Only when Little Fatty smashed the final head did the battle finally come to an end.

Bian Feng was dead. Copper Coin Assassin was dead.

The Flame Army had been completely annihilated, and not a single gray robe had been left alive.

Bodies covered the road, the edges of the mountain hollow, and the woods.

Severed limbs hung from branches and walls.

Tang Fei was drenched in blood, and the clothes on his face were nearly dyed red. Standing amid a heap of corpses, he looked like death itself descending.

The lucky villagers who had been rescued stared in stunned disbelief, their faces drained of color with fear.

Others lay there, vomiting violently.

They had hunted before, and perhaps killed people too, but they had never seen such a horrific sight.

Was this hell?

If this was not hell, then what was?

Silence!

A deathly silence filled the scene.

There was only the howling wind, the sound of vomiting, and the miserable cries of those mourning family members who had died.

Bad people died. Good people died too.

"I'm not dead!" Monkey crawled out of a pile of mud, touched his head, then his chest, and jumped up in delight, shouting, "Little Fatty, I'm not dead! I'm not dead!"

A bullet had struck his shoulder, and the intense pain had knocked him unconscious.

In his daze, he had thought he was about to meet King Yama. He had never expected to wake up still a living, breathing man.

Little Fatty ran over, checked his wound, and said, "You're fine. You won't die."

"I'm not dead either."

"I'm still alive."

"Dad, Mom."

Tang Fei walked over to Teacher and dropped to his knees with a thud.

"Teacher."

Tang Fei's eyes reddened, and his voice choked with emotion.

Teacher had always been like this, always liking to reason with people.

Tang Fei had told him many times, "Teacher, don't always try to reason with people. In this world, nobody lives by reason."

Teacher never listened. He would say, "But aren't you quite reasonable?"

Tang Fei would say, "I only reason with good people. When I meet bad people, I don't reason with them either."

Teacher would smile and say that was the way to be human.

Teacher, I hope you went somewhere people could be reasoned with, somewhere people would be willing to listen to you reason with them.

"Big Brother." Teacher's younger son, Huang You'an, crawled out from the pile of corpses. His eyes were wet as he looked at Tang Fei and said, "Big Brother, my dad's gone. My brother's gone too."

When the first volley began, his elder brother had knocked him down to protect him, then covered him with his own body to shield him from the bullets.

"It's okay. It's okay." Tang Fei stepped forward and hugged Huang You'an. "From now on, you'll live with us."

Huang You'an had a gentle nature and was clumsy when it came to fighting. Every time he went into the mountains, it was hard for him to bring back any prey.

Ever since his brother Huang Yousheng injured his leg, the family had lived a very difficult life, often unable to count on their next meal. If Tang Fei had not kept helping them, they would likely have starved long ago.

Now Teacher was gone, and Huang Yousheng was gone too. Huang You'an would find it difficult to survive alone on Old Earth.

Huang You'an was not the only one who would struggle to survive. There were many elderly, children, sick, disabled, orphans, widows, and mothers without husbands.

They had stepped forward for Tang Fei, so Tang Fei had to give them an answer as well.

The road ahead was long and heavy!

Now was not the time for grief. Tang Fei stood up and shouted, "Neighbors! Fellow villagers! The Flame Shrine is gone, and the Predators in the Hate Mountain region are gone. Better days are coming for us!"

To save people, he first had to save their hearts.

He had to give them hope, something to look forward to.

He had to let them know that although they had suffered through something terrible and paid a terrible price, they had also gained enormously.

Sure enough, after hearing Tang Fei's words, hope lit up the eyes of those who had looked lost or utterly despairing.

That was right. After this war, the Flame Shrine was gone, and so were those damned Predators. The two great mountains that had weighed upon them had been removed by Tang Fei in one stroke.

"Is the Flame Shrine really gone? No one will come collect protection money from us anymore?"

"My god, the Predators are gone too! No one will steal our food anymore! No one will hide in the mountains and kill people whenever they please anymore!"

"My son was ambushed by them while hunting. Those damned animals! They were killed well! They deserved to be sliced into a thousand pieces!"

--

Seeing some life return to the villagers who had escaped death, Tang Fei shouted again, "Now, there are three things we need to do. First, we need to bury the bodies of our own family members. Let the dead rest in peace. Even in death, they should leave with dignity. Don't you agree?"

The second step was to set goals and solve problems. The key was still to gather people's hearts, bind everyone into a single rope, and direct all their strength toward one point. More people meant more strength, and problems could be solved faster.

"Yes," everyone answered.

Returning to one's roots and being laid to rest in the earth was an obsession deeply rooted in everyone's heart.

They believed in souls and another life. Only by building them a proper "home" could they live comfortably below.

"For this matter," Tang Fei said, looking around, "Huang You'an, take all the women in the village and handle it. Do you have confidence?"

"Yes, yes. I guarantee I'll complete the task." Huang You'an had not expected Tang Fei to assign him a task and hurriedly agreed.

"The second matter is dealing with the bodies of the Flame Army and those gray robes." Tang Fei's gaze turned icy as he said viciously, "What did their White Robe say before the battle?"

"He said roasting one person was roasting, and roasting a group was roasting too," someone answered.

Sure enough, everyone held grudges.

Given the chance, they would let their hatred loose.

"Good. He wanted to roast us, so we'll roast them too." Tang Fei said, "Dig a large pit, pile all their bodies inside, then light it. Dig the pit bigger, and make the fire burn hotter."

He looked around and said, "Little Fatty will lead people in handling this."

"Big Brother, don't worry. I'll make sure they roast up nice and fragrant." Little Fatty grinned foolishly, his face and body covered in blood.

Because he was so fair and plump, the blood staining his face and body looked even more glaring.

Tang Fei felt a little uneasy. This glutton...

He had better control himself.

"The third matter is food." Tang Fei said, "The Flame Army is gone, the Flame Shrine has suffered heavy losses, and the Predators are gone too. Their bases must have large stores of food and valuables, so we need to find their hideouts and bring all their food and valuables back."

"I promise everyone here: no matter how much food we bring back, no matter how many valuables we bring back, every household will get a share, divided equally according to the number of people in each family."

"If anyone performs outstanding service or voluntarily reports the Predators' nest, we will reward them handsomely."

--

Old Man watched Tang Fei deliver his impassioned speech among the crowd, arranging every task clearly and methodically. With absolutely no manners, he spat on the ground and said, "This brat was born to be a general."

"(.!)"

Phoenix looked over in surprise. She suspected this Old Man knew her ideals and aspirations.

She wanted to become a general—the war god of the Phoenix Empire.

(P.S. Old Liu saw everyone's suggestions and comments. Some content was added at the end of Chapter 15, "Seed." Interested readers can go back and take a look.

Also, please give a little more encouragement and tolerance to a new Lv. 5 author who has just entered the industry. Old Liu is confident he will write better and better.

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If you don't vote soon, the double-ranking monthly ticket event will end, and the magic that turns one ticket into two will stop working!)