Chapter 105: Intimidation

“Hurry up!” Hal Griffin, the new sheriff of Esola City, commanded loudly, pushing the soldiers around him into action.

He was incensed that the mercenary groups dared to covertly attack the Elmons Mine. It was an audacious act, defying all norms.

To his disbelief, they had even secretly colluded with the merchant guilds. The arrangement they concocted was outrageous: all spoils for the mercenary groups and the mining rights for the guilds. The audacity!

Their actions were a blatant disrespect not only to him but also to Lord Baines, the new city protector, and the city’s garrison. Did any mercenary group dare to be so bold when Gilgood was the sheriff?

All of them were nothing but ignorant and uncultured brutes, Griffin thought angrily.

How dare they contemplate keeping everything to themselves. They all deserved death for such greed.

The spoils should be at least halved, with a portion handed over to the authorities. Otherwise, he would never shield them from the consequences of their crimes.

And as for the Elmons Mine, he would never allow it to fall into the hands of any of these groups. Given the time that had passed, Tagraedi must have made considerable progress. Hence, claiming the mine as a direct territory of Esola City seemed like a viable option.

However, Griffin pondered, who should bear the brunt of the blame for this fiasco?

After all, it was the mercenary group appointed by Lord Osaga himself. 

Though Griffin held no responsibility for this incident, lacking a plausible explanation could invite Lord Osaga’s wrath, something not to be taken lightly. Thus, he resolved to find a scapegoat among those who failed to see the bigger picture.

With these thoughts, Griffin pushed his mount and subordinates onward, but as they rounded a mountain pass, the sight that met his eyes caused him to sharply inhale in shock.

This area should be part of the Elmons Mine territory, as indicated by an aged road sign at the roadside. But what were those objects hanging there?

Griffin’s mind went numb. Seconds later, his stomach violently revolted, and he vomited uncontrollably.

The trees lining the road were grotesquely decorated with decapitated corpses, stretching from the Elmons Mine signpost all the way to the end of the hills.

Crows, feasting on the bodies, cawed noisily. The approaching group startled them into flight, forming a dark cloud in the sky, but they soon resettled on the corpses to continue their grim feast.

Their pecking dislodged more pieces of flesh and blood, raining down below.

“Sir…” The soldiers, initially eager for the prospect of plunder, were now utterly unnerved by Griffin’s undignified state, as they too were struck with terror.

Griffin, struggling to dismount, collapsed by the roadside, consumed by violent retching. It took him a considerable time to regain his composure.

At least two to three hundred people. Could this be the work of Tagraedi? The audacity of it was shocking. But didn’t Tagraedi only have a little over a hundred subordinates?

“My lord?” asked a squad leader, his face ashen. “Do we continue forward?”

What had seemed a lucrative and sought-after assignment now appeared to be a shortcut to hell itself. Who could muster the courage to walk down a road festooned with hanging corpses? Moreover, who could guarantee that the one responsible wouldn’t add them to the ghastly collection?

The squad leader seemed to envision his own body swaying from a tree branch, becoming a feast for crows.

“Go forward?! Have you lost your mind?” Griffin bellowed in anger. “Back to the city. Now!”

Unexpectedly, they encountered Wu Qingsong at the crossroads to Greg Mine.

“My Lord, you’ve arrived just in time,” Wu Qingsong declared.

Griffin’s face involuntarily twitched. Looking at Wu Qingsong’s guileless expression, who could associate him with the hundreds of corpses they had just seen? 

What did Wu mean by ‘just in time’?

Could it be… Griffin’s legs began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Last night, our territory was attacked by a band of bandits,” Wu Qingsong elaborated. “Fortunately, under the protective reputation of the lords and your esteemed self, we managed to defend our camp and fend off those villains and made them pay somewhat for their audacity. I was actually on my way to the city to report this incident. I didn’t expect you, so dedicated and proactive, to have already come so early. Esola City is truly fortunate to have you at the helm.”

Griffin, caught between embarrassment and quick thinking, was processing the subtext of Wu Qingsong’s words. Then he was startled by Wu’s next statement: “Sadly, not everyone made it through the ordeal. We’ve just returned from Greg Mine, my lord, and the scene is horrific. Everyone was brutally slain by those bandits.”

“What?!” Griffin almost jumped off his horse in shock.

He was well aware of who the so-called ‘bandits’ were, particularly the active involvement of Greg Mine’s new ruler. Firm in his belief that the Thirteenth Mercenary Group had pilfered the wealth rightfully belonging to this place, his resentment towards them was intense.

Griffin was certain some of his men were among the bodies strung along the road. Yet here was Wu Qingsong, calmly informing him that everyone at the site had been massacred by bandits?

“Your timing is impeccable, my lord. I leave these heads in your charge,” Wu Qingsong asked with an air of innocence. “My land is now in utter disarray, and I must figure out a way to restore order. Oh, and lord, in light of such an ordeal, will there be any sort of financial aid or compensation for us, the victims?”

Just then, Griffin noticed the two horse-drawn carriages behind Wu Qingsong, laden with nearly spherical objects. Blood, despite the passage of several hours, was still slowly dripping from the rear of the carriages. His stomach churned violently again, nearly causing him to tumble off his horse.

“These are the bandits who raided my territory yesterday and were killed. However many managed to escape. It appears they fled from my land directly to the Greg Mine, where they looted it completely. Such a misfortune.”

Never had he encountered someone of such unashamed audacity and cold-blooded cruelty.

But Griffin was at a loss for words. Although Wu Qingsong’s current force was small, Griffin himself didn’t have much manpower. How had Wu Qingsong managed to eliminate so many attackers? And then to go on and slaughter everyone at the Greg Mine?

His own men were likely not much stronger than those attackers, making him feel totally insecure in the presence of Wu Qingsong and his followers.

“This… Lord Tagraedi, I’m relieved to see you unharmed, truly. Your safety is reassuring. The intelligence you’ve provided is crucial. I’ll report back to the city protector immediately. So, I shall take my leave.”

“My lord, what about these heads?” Wu Qingsong asked.

But Griffin had already scurried away in a state of disarray, like a dog that had lost its home.

“Beck, take these heads into the city, and make sure everyone sees them,” Wu Qingsong directed. “Observe their expressions and reactions carefully, and relay every detail to me when you return.”

“Yes, my lord.”

With that, Wu Qingsong led his remaining men back to the Greg Mine. The scene there was still in disarray, with the mine’s resources and slaves not yet fully evacuated. Frankly, if Griffin had really agreed to come for an inspection, it would have been quite a predicament for Wu Qingsong.

Luckily, the greedy and inept Griffin lived up to his expectations, not daring to confront the intimidating display of corpses hanging from lampposts and two carts brimming with heads. 

Yet, Wu Qingsong sighed internally.

The decision to take such drastic action was a spur-of-the-moment response fueled by intense anger.

Nearly fifty of his houndmen had fallen in battle, with more than a dozen gravely injured. Six pigmen had also perished, and the massive fire had nearly razed all of Orgrimmar. Part of the blaze was undoubtedly his own doing, but without such extreme measures, the forces at his disposal at the time wouldn’t have been sufficient to obliterate the bandits’ reinforcements.

By then, Liuli had succumbed again to her deep slumber. While relying on Ling and Feya’s abilities would have assured victory, it would also have meant exposing their secrets, forcing him to abandon his hard-won base and begin a life of relentless running.

The soldiers now visibly feared him, and the same was true for the civilians and slaves taken from Greg Mine. 

Wu Qingsong wasn’t sure how he was now perceived in their eyes, but this had an unexpected side effect. His authority had significantly increased, especially among the civilians. Orders that were once met with hesitance and lackadaisical attitudes were now executed with efficiency and obedience following the grim display of hanging hundreds of bodies from the street lamps.

Was this the added influence of being seen as brutal?

Though he had some regrets, Wu Qingsong decided to fully leverage the situation. 

“Fifty-two soldiers dead, nineteen gravely injured, and thirty-five civilians killed, with over two hundred wounded,” Harold finally presented the grim tally.

The initial attackers in the city were the cream of the mercenary groups. Wu Qingsong’s houndmen and pigmen, having been mercenaries for less than a year with only experience in combat against insectoids, were caught completely off guard. Many soldiers, startled awake, had rushed out half-armed, leading to a devastatingly lopsided slaughter.

Thus, the Thirteenth Mercenary Group had suffered a catastrophic loss, more than halving its combat strength in a single stroke.

“The entire city has been razed, but luckily, we managed to move all the money and machinery before setting the fires. We also salvaged most of the food. Mainly, it’s various goods and raw materials that got burned. The iron ingots are intact as they can’t burn, so we’ll just need to dig them up later.”

“And what about our haul?” Wu Qingsong, feeling increasingly disheartened by the report, hurriedly asked.

“It’s substantial,” Harold replied, his face finally showing a trace of satisfaction.