“Two million taels, just two million taels, my good man, you can’t kill me!” Lei Shenbao tilted his head up, looking at Yu Jingfeng.

He looked as though he were pleading, but in the depths of his eyes was a trace of contempt for someone who hadn’t seen much of the world.

“My good man, two million taels of silver can’t be raised any higher. If you raise it further, I won’t be able to afford it!”

“Let me go, and in a single day — just one day — I can gather it all for you. Alright?”

“You — what’s that look in your eyes?” Yu Jingfeng glared at Lei Shenbao, somewhat displeased.

“How am I supposed to know whether you’re deceiving me or not?”

Yu Jingfeng felt helpless too. For someone as clever as him, pretending to be foolish was truly a struggle.

“I have no particular look in my eyes!” Lei Shenbao shook his head. “My life is in your hands right now. How could I possibly deceive you?”

Lei Shenbao truly looked down on Yu Jingfeng.

A mere one or two million taels of silver meant nothing to Lei Shenbao at all — could this man really never have seen real money before?

Yu Jingfeng and Lei Shenbao were thoroughly displeased with each other right now!

“Don’t think I wouldn’t dare!” Yu Jingfeng turned his cool-edged sword, his brow furrowing.

“Have your men…”

“Trouble! Trouble!” A guard came running from not far away.

“Trouble! There are many enemy soldiers in the forest, and they’ve all come down.”

Everyone looked in the direction the guard pointed, and indeed saw people there.

“How could this be? Why hasn’t the poison mist been lit?” Someone only now realized that the mountain didn’t have the white smoke they had expected.

“I don’t know what happened either. There’s no poison mist, and the enemy has already come down.” The guard who’d run over shouted.

Although the distance was fairly far, Lei Shenbao still heard that exchange clearly.

He turned his head and met Yu Jingfeng’s gaze.

“You were stalling for time?”

“What did you think I was doing?” Yu Jingfeng raised a thick brow, looking a little smug.

“Lei Shenbao, you pervert! Didn’t expect this, did you — that this day would come for you too!”

Yu Jingfeng recalled the moment this man had leered lecherously at their Ninth Miss, and with the leg he had free, kicked hard at the man’s most vital place.

“Ah—!” Lei Shenbao let out a scream of agony that spread through the entire valley.

The thousand guards, seeing this, exchanged glances with one another, not knowing what to do.

Soon, someone recognized who the newcomers were.

“It’s them — Yang Sheng, and the He brothers.”

“It’s them, all of them used to be our brothers.”

“Yang Sheng has come. Could it be that he’s…”

“Why is it our former brothers? Why must kin turn on kin?”

“I don’t want to fight this battle anymore.”

“Neither do I…”

The murmuring among the guards grew louder and louder, gradually reaching Lei Shenbao’s ears.

“Yang Sheng has turned traitor — do the rest of you want to be as disloyal and unrighteous as him?” Lei Shenbao roared.

“They’re all disloyal, unrighteous fools. Kill them, kill them, and I’ll give you the antidote.”

“Hurry and kill them, save me! Quickly!”

Yang Sheng and the others rushed over.

The thousand guards had no impulse to fight — they were all afraid of dying.

But now, whether they went left or right, death awaited them either way.

Since death was inevitable regardless, some began to follow their own hearts.

Everyone had been brothers who’d faced life and death together for so many years — were they really going to fight each other now?

No! No one wanted that.

The thousand guards made no move at all, and the men Yang Sheng had brought quickly surrounded them.

Yang Sheng, leading the group, came before Yu Jingfeng, which made it unavoidable that he would also come face to face with Lei Shenbao.

“You disloyal, unrighteous man! May you die a terrible death!” Lei Shenbao shouted weakly.

Yang Sheng suddenly lowered the sword in his hand and, with a thud, dropped to his knees.

He bowed three times toward Lei Shenbao before standing back up.

“Master Lei, I know you’ve shown me kindness, but — I’m sorry! I don’t want to keep acting against my conscience anymore.”

“Even more, I don’t wish for my future children to become mere puppets.”

“So, even knowing it’s disloyal and unrighteous, I’ve made this choice. If there’s to be punishment, let heaven punish me — I will never regret it.”

“Master Lei, this is the last time I’ll address you with respect. From now on, our ties of gratitude and loyalty are severed!”

Yang Sheng held his sword and bowed solemnly to the man lying on the ground.

When he raised his eyes again, there was no longer any trace of guilt in them.

“My lord Yu, what should we do now?”

“Beast! May you die badly! Beast! Fool! May you die a terrible death!” Lei Shenbao trembled with rage.

“You scoundrel! May you die badly! And you claim to have a son — may you die badly!”

Lei Shenbao had never felt so utterly hopeless.

There wasn’t a shred of strength left in his hands or feet — his tendons and bones must surely be broken.

How could Jiu’er be so cruel? How could she deal so harshly with a man who wholeheartedly wanted to marry her?

Now, the part of him that had always made him proud was aching so badly that he was breaking out in a cold sweat — there might well be lasting problems because of it.

Ah! What a pity — the men he had raised were, every one of them, useless as rice buckets, and now he had to rely on these very rice buckets to save him. How pathetic!

Before Yu Jingfeng could speak, someone among the thousand guards stepped forward.

“You’re the beast! Feeding us poison all this time — did you ever even consider us human?”

“You’re the scoundrel! That’s why, after all this time, you don’t even have a single child!”

“Surnamed Lei, we’ve put up with you for far too long! Since we’re going to die either way, why should I keep risking my life for you?”

“I quit!”

“I quit too! Going back to wait for death — at least that way I might live another couple of months.”

“I quit too! I won’t fight anymore!”

“No more fighting! Either way it’s death, there’s nothing worth fighting for!”

“Beat him to death! He’s the one who ruined our whole lives — beat him to death!”

“Right, it’s all him! He’s destroyed us — beat him to death!”

A dozen or so men rushed up at once. They paid no mind at all to Yu Jingfeng or Yang Sheng, and went straight at Lei Shenbao with a furious beating.

“Ow! Ouch… you ungrateful wretches, ow! It hurts so much…”

“Stop! I’ll kill every one of you, I’ll kill you all… ow…”

When Feng Jiu’er and Qiao Mu came out from inside, the leader of the thousand guards knelt down facing them.

“Miss Long,” the leader said, raising his eyes to look at Feng Jiu’er, “we wish to join your ranks.”

“Whether or not there’s a tomorrow for us, we don’t want to keep living like this. Please, let us join.”

No one knew exactly who Feng Jiu’er was.

But everyone present knew, and respected, the kind of person Yang Sheng was.

Over the years, he had been the only one who dared to defy Lei Shenbao’s orders.

Yang Sheng not only dared to speak up but also often helped others — young as he was, he was beloved by many.

Yang Sheng turned back to look at his brothers for a moment, pressed his lips together, then turned back and met Feng Jiu’er’s gaze.

“Decide for yourselves — I still have matters to attend to.” Feng Jiu’er had no wish to get involved in this.

She trusted that Yang Sheng was capable of handling it.

If he hadn’t had that capability, she wouldn’t have placed such trust in him.

Yang Sheng bowed toward Feng Jiu’er. “Jiu’er, thank you for your trust.”

“Mm.” Feng Jiu’er nodded, her gaze settling on Lei Shenbao.

“Don’t kill him yet. Bring him along — he’s still useful.”