My Cultivation Starting from Archery

...

Chen Sansi rushed over upon hearing the news.

"General Deng should have done this earlier, why endure such torments for so many days?"

He stepped forward and personally pulled out iron nails thick as baby's fists from the other's body, unlocked the python-like Mystic Iron Chains, leaving behind one bloody hole after another.

"You?"

Deng Feng's forehead veins throbbed, but he did not wail in the extreme pain; he weakly fell from the crucifixion stakes, almost stumbled and fell down, and after struggling to steady himself, he said, "I've said nothing, yet you release me; are you not afraid I will rise against you and kill you?"

"If you hadn't changed your mind, why bother calling me over to no avail?"

Chen Sansi said, "The battle is not yet over; with General Deng's assistance, how can our chances of victory not increase by more than just a little?"

"First things first!"

Deng Feng did not deny it: "I do not surrender to Sheng."

"Speak."

Chen Sansi asked, "What are your conditions?"

"I will help you,"

Deng Feng slowly said, "Just as you said, advance, and then I will wait and see how you sweep the scum of the world away. If one day, you achieve great success and forget today's words, I shall surely take your head!"

"Fine!"
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Chen Sansi agreed without hesitation.

"Thump!"

Unexpectedly, Deng Feng kneeled down on one knee: "Deng Feng, at your service, Commander!"

"General Deng."

Chen Sansi helped him up: "There's no need for such grand gestures; you are my senior and also a Martial Artist who has achieved Great Success in the Xuanxiang Realm, I cannot accept such honor."

"Times change!"

Deng Feng's voice was even regaining its strength: "Before I agreed, I could call you by your name no matter what, but after nodding in agreement, I must recognize my position, it's the rule, nothing else."

"Very well."

Chen Sansi did not refuse further.

"May I, Deng Feng, be informed of the current situation?"

Deng Feng paused, "If not, then forget it."

He knew very well that being a newly surrendered enemy General, if he wanted to continue mixing in the military, he would need to work hard to redeem himself and prove his loyalty.

"What could be the problem."

Chen Sansi shared the details of the current situation as if on a platter.

Trust those you use, and use those you trust.

"Hulaoguan."

Deng Feng mused, "Three thousand men to defend against one hundred thousand, and to hold out for three months, does the Emperor of the Sheng Dynasty yearn for Ziwei Mountain so badly? Well, if you think it can be held, then hold. Please, have someone fetch the other set of Armour from my residence, as well as the Weapons that were previously confiscated."

"Shouldn't General Deng rest and recover for a few days?"

Chen Sansi eyed his bloodied body: "Your injuries are not minor."

"It's fine."

Deng Feng replied, "Deng is of the Body of Undying Primordium, and without vital injury, I will recover my combat strength before long!"

Body of Undying Primordium.

One of the Bodies of Innate Martial Saint.

Its special feature is resilience; under normal circumstances, as long as one doesn't die, the recovery speed is much faster than that of other people.

"Good!"

Chen Sansi took out several healing treasure medicines that the court had given him.

Deng Feng was not polite and swallowed them all at once: "This medicine is indeed valuable. Once we reach Hulao Pass, I should recover quite a bit!"

Very soon.

Zhao Kang and the others brought armor, weapons, and clean clothes.

After getting dressed, Deng Feng once again looked imposing, and followed Chen Sansi out of the tent.

Sha Wenlong almost doubted what he was seeing.

"This..."

Fang Qingyun watched the scene before him, equally surprised.

He had memorized the dossiers of well-known generals from Lai State before the war had even started, which naturally included Deng Feng. According to reason, someone like him, even if he had faced the disaster of having his entire clan executed, would not have surrendered.

It was truly unbelievable what kind of rhetoric or methods his junior brother had used to even bring such a person over to their side.

"General Deng, I've been looking forward to meeting you."

Fang Qingyun greeted with a fist and palm salute: "Having General Deng's assistance in the battle of Hulao is indeed a stroke of great fortune!"

"You must be General Fang."

Deng Feng returned the greeting: "I've long admired your name!"

"In that case, let us not waste more time here."

"Pass on the order!"

"Move out!"

"To Hulao Pass!"

...

Tongnan Prefecture.

It was March, the time for spring plowing in the eastern regions.

Farmers with their families started to get busy in the fields.

"How was last year's harvest, did you have any money left over?"

The Crown Prince, dressed in rough hemp clothes and leaning on a cane, stood on the ridge of the field and asked an old farmer.

"Last year our Tongnan Prefecture had a good harvest, but what's the use?"

The old farmer stood in the mud: "First there was the spring tax, then the autumn tax, and there were two additional rounds of tax collected in between. Come winter, with the war going on, more grain was conscripted. These were at least explicitly stated taxes. Then there were the inexplicable ones: bridge-crossing tax, hunting tax, firewood tax, straw sandal tax, even for raising chickens, ducks, and geese, one had to pay tax, on top of various compulsory labor tasks...

"Even in a bumper year, we barely managed to survive, let alone save a single copper coin.

"If there's a drought like in the northern part of Lai State, in Qing Country, we might starve to death!"

In many places, water conservation was not developed.

Therefore, it was possible for one state to suffer drought or flooding while the adjacent one remained unaffected.

"Wait a minute."

The Crown Prince grew serious: "Fellow villager, what did you just say about tax? There's a tax for raising chickens, ducks, and geese? I don't recall such a tax in the Great Sheng Dynasty?"

"How can there not be!"

The old farmer said angrily: "For every chicken raised, we have to pay! They even begrudge us the eggs a hen lays!"

"Absurd, utterly absurd!"

Rage appeared on the Crown Prince's face.

He leaned on his cane and shakily moved to the side, addressing his attendant guards: "The firewood tax and hunting tax in the southeastern region, I remember they were abolished four years ago, right? And what's this tax for chickens, ducks, and geese; where did it come from! Not a single copper coin has entered the state treasury! Which local official has the audacity to do this! Go check for me, check... cough cough cough..."