Chapter 104: Mass Recruitment of Warriors and the Development of the Clan

The Su Family is recruiting Ninth-Rank martial artists!

Anyone successfully recruited will receive two Ninth-Rank ancient medicines as a reward during the first year. From the second year onward, ancient medicines will be awarded according to merit. A Sixth-Rank expert resides within the family!

The Su Family is recruiting Eighth-Rank martial artists!

Anyone successfully recruited will receive...!

The Su Family is recruiting Seventh-Rank martial artists...!

...

Throughout the streets and alleys, as well as in the marketplaces, Su Yang had set up numerous recruitment stalls to enlist martial artists. The terms were exceptionally generous, and many martial artists who had nowhere else to turn would naturally choose to come and serve him.

From this point onward, all he needed to do was wait at home.

“Husband, I have already moved into your family home. How are we supposed to hold the wedding a few days from now?” Zhang Qingshi asked helplessly.

“It doesn’t matter. We never intended to invite too many people in the first place. We can simply close the gates and hold the ceremony in the courtyard. The outside world is too chaotic, so we should be more cautious.”

In the empty room, Su Yang held Zhang Qingshi in his arms, his eyes filled with tenderness as he gazed at his adorable young wife.

Su Yang had asked several times to consummate their marriage ahead of schedule, but Zhang Qingshi had refused each time. She wished to save it for their wedding night, and Su Yang was perfectly understanding.

What woman would not want that?

Yet a woman with A-grade bone aptitude had a very high chance of giving birth to offspring with the same aptitude. Even if she did nothing at all each day, she could provide him with one hundred points of incense power daily. The temptation was simply too great, and Su Yang was eager to get Zhang Qingshi pregnant as soon as possible.

“Master, there are people from the government outside,” Wang Han reported from beyond the door.

“Qingshi, I’ll go out for a while.”

After speaking, Su Yang left the room and followed Wang Han outside. Sure enough, a squad of soldiers stood at the entrance. Their leader was one of Zhao Mangong’s deputy generals.

“Master Su, beginning today, your Su Family is officially a Black Plaque Family in Yanggu County.”

With that, the deputy general of Zhao Mangong took out a black plaque and handed it to Su Yang.

“The general asked me to pass on a message. He thanks you for your suggestion.”

“Let’s go. On to the next family.”

With a broad wave of his hand, the deputy general led the soldiers toward the next household. Holding the black plaque, Su Yang allowed a trace of delight to appear on his face.

“Is this the Su Family?”

Just then, several Ninth-Rank martial artists hurried over from outside. They looked at Su Yang timidly and cautiously.

“Have you come to serve as guards for the Su Family?”

“Yes, yes! Please go and inform your master. We want to become guards of the Su Family.”

“Ma Chao, take them into the main hall. We’ll select recruits tonight.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Ma Chao led the martial artists seeking refuge with the Su Family into the courtyard, where they waited in the main hall for the evening’s unified recruitment.

Recently, because Mind-Control Worms were far too scarce, Su Yang had been extremely troubled. Uncle Ninth had already done everything he could, but the number of Heart-Eating Worms obtained each day remained pitifully small.

Su Yang had therefore ordered his men to wander around Yanggu County, helping him locate households where someone had died so that they could attempt to lure out the Heart-Eating Worms.

In these chaotic times, many people had starved to death in their homes. Such deaths naturally counted as deaths in dreams.

That was why the number of Mind-Control Worms had finally begun to recover somewhat.

That evening, Su Yang went to the main hall, which was already packed with martial artists. He repeated the speech he had prepared earlier: those willing to stay could remain, while those who wished to leave were free to do so immediately.

In the end, more than one hundred Ninth-Rank martial artists had come, but only a little over thirty stayed.

Of the twelve Eighth-Rank martial artists, four remained.

The sole Seventh-Rank martial artist also chose to stay. He was a wandering martial artist without any backing, and with the world outside in such turmoil, it was better to find a powerful patron and serve beneath him.

The Su Family now had eighty-five Ninth-Rank martial artists, fourteen Eighth-Rank martial artists, and four Seventh-Rank martial artists.

The family’s progress was advancing rapidly. Su Yang believed that once this wave of martial-artist recruitment passed, he would certainly be able to complete the family’s mission.

Today was only the first day.

That was why so many people had come to apply as guards. The number would decrease tomorrow, and even further the day after that...!

Another five days passed.

The household now had one hundred and twenty-five Ninth-Rank martial artists and twenty-three Eighth-Rank martial artists, but the number of Seventh-Rank martial artists remained at four, which greatly troubled Su Yang.

The houses within the Su Estate had already been renovated for the most part. They should be completely finished in another ten days or so. After all, the number of commoners who had come to work had far exceeded expectations.

After successfully processing all the demon corpses he had brought back the previous time, Su Yang transported them to the military camp.

Zhao Mangong was in an excellent mood.

Thanks to Su Yang’s suggestion, the pressure on him had been greatly reduced. He had even launched several counterattacks, killing many more Black-Haired Rat Demons. In particular, there had been four Seventh-Rank Black-Haired Rat Demons, while there were even more Eighth-Rank ones. The Ninth-Rank demons were comparatively fewer.

Su Yang had hauled all of them back, intending to continue refining them with incense power before delivering them again in a few days. By taking them back and forth like this, he could make a considerable profit while supplying his own martial artists with the resources they needed to grow.

Two more days passed.

Shen Lian, an Eighth-Rank constable, came to find him.

“Brother Shen, what brings you here today?” Su Yang asked as he looked at Shen Lian and Shen Yushui behind him.

“Brother Su, I won’t hide it from you. My turn has come to serve on the city wall and defend the city. If something happens to me while I’m up there, Yushui will have no one to care for her. I fear she would find it difficult to survive in this world.”

“So I want to entrust Yushui to you. Would you be willing?”

“She can simply work as a maid in your household.”

Shen Lian looked at Su Yang with a pleading expression. In the past, he might have hoped for Shen Yushui to become Su Yang’s concubine. But Su Yang had now risen rapidly through the ranks, and his martial potential was terrifying.

Even if Shen Yushui wanted to become his concubine, Su Yang might not accept her.

After all, Shen Yushui was merely an ordinary girl.

“Very well.”

“In that case, let her stay in my quarters as a personal maid.”

Seeing that Shen Yushui did not wish to reveal her strength before her brother, Su Yang said nothing more and agreed.

After several rounds of wine, Shen Lian left, while Shen Yushui remained behind.

“I want to go protect my brother.”

Only Su Yang and Shen Yushui were left in the room. The atmosphere was quiet and heavy.

“Miss Shen, there is something I have always wondered about. Since you are a Sixth-Rank martial artist, why have you never told your brother?”

Su Yang asked.

“After our parents died, I only wanted to live an ordinary, proper life. My brother is a constable, and the silver he earns is enough for our daily expenses. If I revealed that I possessed Sixth-Rank strength, my brother’s state of mind might change, and he could cause some kind of disaster.”

“So I do not want to reveal my strength. I want him to believe that I am merely an ordinary girl—an ordinary girl who needs protection. That way, my brother will not go out and do anything dangerous.”

“Because if something happened to him, his younger sister would have no one to care for her and would suffer miserably in this world.”

A trace of helplessness appeared in Shen Yushui’s bold and spirited eyes.

“Very well. Go.”

“I will keep this matter secret for you. Be careful in everything you do,” Su Yang said.

“Thank you.”

Shen Yushui nodded, walked out the door, and disappeared from sight. With Shen Yushui secretly protecting him, Shen Lian should not face any serious danger.

...

Time passed quickly.

Another five days went by. Su Yang discovered that Taohua was already three months pregnant. More Ninth-Rank and Eighth-Rank martial artists had been recruited, but there was still no sign of the final Seventh-Rank martial artist.

Presumably, those Seventh-Rank martial artists preferred to join major families such as the Zhou Family, the Feng Family, and the Wei Family.

Although there was a Sixth-Rank martial artist in his household, she was his concubine, Bai Wanwan. Somehow, the arrangement felt somewhat improper, and that was probably why Seventh-Rank martial artists were reluctant to come and serve him.

The previous Seventh-Rank martial artist who had been willing to join him, Li Yeniu, had most likely been attracted by his generous rewards.

Since that was the case, Su Yang could only go to the city wall and try his luck there.

Preferably during an evening when the rebel army attacked the city.

He had heard that another type of demon had appeared among the rebels: a group of yellow-furred spirits. He wondered whether they were related to the group of yellow-furred spirits he had exterminated inside the city.

The Su Family residence was finally complete.

Over the next three days, they only needed to clean everything and take care of a few final details before the work could be considered entirely finished.

The walls around more than thirty residences had originally all been dismantled and connected. Even the smallest residence contained at least three or five courtyards.

The Su Family now had around one hundred and forty small courtyards, enough to house nearly one hundred masters, with one small courtyard for each person.

In addition, the rear garden had been fully constructed. It contained artificial hills, bamboo groves, peach orchards, and a small artificial lake in which several ducks were being raised.

If he had the opportunity in the future, Su Yang could look for some swans to bring back.

Su Yang moved into the largest courtyard.

The household now possessed enough martial artists to serve as guards, so there was no need for everyone to remain crowded into the two smaller courtyards. Each master of the household received a courtyard of their own.

From the Wang Family came Wang Chunxiao, Wang Xiahe, and Liu Wenxiang.

On Su Yang’s side were Su Yang, Taohua, Meihua, Xichun, Jin Pinger, Yinlian, and Qingqin.

There was also Zhang Qingshi, who had yet to marry into the family.

Of course, Huoluo received special treatment as well. She was assigned her own courtyard and a maid.

Recently, everyone had been busy recruiting martial artists to serve as guards, so the household was seriously short of maids. There were fewer than thirty in total.

Su Yang therefore summoned a slave broker and told him that whenever more women became available, he could bring them directly to the Su residence for selection.

“Master Su, rest assured. Tomorrow I will bring the more than twenty young women in my possession to your residence for you to choose from.”

“Besides that, I will notify my fellow brokers. We will all come together, and you may simply choose whoever you like.”

The slave broker gazed enviously at Su Yang’s vast estate before taking his leave.

...

Another day passed.

As expected, the slave broker arrived with a group of young women. Several other brokers came with him as well, bringing approximately two hundred women for Su Yang to select from.

They stood in a line in the Su Family courtyard.

Every one of the girls was extremely thin, just like the maids who had first entered the estate. However, their complexions had improved somewhat after being properly fed and cared for, and their emaciated bodies had filled out slightly.

Those who had been purchased and brought into the household first had already matured considerably, each one seeming to await the moment she would be plucked.

“Master Su, all the maids are here for you to choose from,” the slave broker said obsequiously.

“Your business has certainly been flourishing since the beginning of the chaos.”

“Master Su, although there are more people available since the chaos began, there are fewer customers willing to buy them. Nowadays, we hardly dare to acquire any more. Keeping them on hand means having to feed them.”

“To put it bluntly, all the elderly, the weak, and the women who are not attractive enough have been dismissed. As for the men, they were all sent to the city wall in exchange for grain. We truly suffered heavy losses.”

The slave broker wore a troubled expression.

In the end, Su Yang selected more than ten talented girls from among the two hundred. All of them possessed D-grade bone aptitude, and not a single one had C-grade aptitude.

He paid the brokers in grain.

“Oh, thank you, Master Su!”

The slave brokers were overjoyed. They led the remaining girls away, promising that if any new girls became available in the future, they would certainly deliver them directly to Master Su.

...

Yanggu County.

Inside an ordinary residence, three Sixth-Rank martial artists sat together. They were dressed in black, their eyes sharp. All three were rebels who had infiltrated the city.

Knock, knock, knock!

A rhythmic knocking sounded from outside the door.

“Come in!”

The door opened, and two Seventh-Rank martial artists entered.

“Reporting to the three sirs, we have learned everything there is to know.”

“Speak,” said one of the three Sixth-Rank martial artists, a bald man.

“The master of the White Ape Martial Academy, Bai Wanwan, temporarily closed the academy some time ago. We heard that she became the concubine of a man named Su Yang.”

“That Su Yang possesses Seventh-Rank strength and lives on Osmanthus Street.”

“The current master of the White Ape Martial Academy, Bai Wanwan, is a Sixth-Rank martial artist. She now lives in her husband’s home.”

The rebel who had gathered the information reported everything he knew.

“Oh? A Sixth-Rank female martial artist actually married a Seventh-Rank man?”

The bald man among the three Sixth-Rank martial artists was momentarily stunned. A trace of jealousy flickered through his cold eyes.

“What luck. He is truly living off a woman in style!”

“There is only one Sixth-Rank martial artist. We will make our move tonight,” another Sixth-Rank martial artist said.

P.S. Once the Su Estate is completed and Zhang Qingshi marries into the family, the latest family mission will be finished. After that, it will be time to break through the city walls. Just giving everyone a little advance hint!

Finally, brothers, I’m asking for your monthly votes! Send those monthly votes flying!