In the dense forest,
killing intent filled the air.
Before the ragged Yellow Turban rebels stood a burly man, eight feet tall.
"Pah!"
"You dogs of the imperial court!"
Seeing the cavalry halt, the burly man raised his great saber.
"If you know what's good for you, pay the toll. Otherwise, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
"..."
Facing the man's provocation, the Xuanjia Cavalry remained silent.
If there was one thing to dislike about system soldiers,
it was perhaps this!
Except for those with authority, the soldiers generally adhered strictly to their duties.
What duties?
That was, they would not act on their own initiative without Ye Feng's orders.
Therefore,
the man's provocation was directly ignored. They continued to stare ahead expressionlessly.
Dare to attack?
Come on!
Try it?
Let's see who's faster, our blades or yours?
And indeed!
If it had been an ordinary Yellow Turban rebel, seeing so many cavalry, let alone robbing them, they would have wished their legs were longer when running.
But the man before them was different!
Not only did he step out to rob, but he dared to initiate an attack.
Seeing that the cavalry ignored him, the burly man's face instantly turned red.
"Damn it!"
"You lackeys ignore me so, then don't blame me for being impolite!"
"Take this!"
Saying so, the burly man lunged forward several steps and swung his three-foot-long saber.
"Seeking death!"
The Xuanjia Cavalry, who had been waiting for orders, now drew their sabers and charged.
"Clang clang clang..."
With the sound of fierce metal clashing, the burly man and several Xuanjia Cavalry engaged in a fierce battle.
However,
to Ye Feng's surprise as he arrived from a distance, the burly man was holding his own against five opponents?
"My Lord~!"
Seeing Ye Feng arrive, the Xuanjia Cavalry beside him saluted.
Even the Xuanjia Cavalry surrounding the burly man temporarily withdrew.
The burly man, seeing the main figure arrive, instead of retreating, charged towards Ye Feng.
"Heh heh, pretty boy, you'll have to bear with me, I, I..."
"..."
As a dark iron halberd was placed at his throat, the burly man's smile froze.
W-What was happening?
Was he hallucinating?
The pretty boy had nothing in his hands just a moment ago, how did an iron halberd appear in the blink of an eye?
And that wasn't the crucial part!
The crucial part was,
the burly man felt the aura of death emanating from that dark iron halberd.
He was certain,
if he dared to move, his head would be gone in the next instant.
"Damn it~!"
"I misjudged him!"
The burly man cursed inwardly, then put on a defiant look and glared at Ye Feng.
"Sneaking up on someone isn't the act of a hero! If you dare, let's have a one-on-one fight!"
"Heh heh..."
As the burly man's words fell, bursts of laughter echoed around.
Duel with their Lord?
Such courage!
Although these Xuanjia Cavalry didn't know their Lord's exact combat strength,
that didn't stop them from knowing how terrifying their Lord was!
Who knew how such terrifying strength was contained within that not-so-burly physique?
Duelling with him?
That would be better than being besieged to death by them, at least it would be a valiant death.
And Ye Feng?
He saw through the burly man's little trick at a glance and chuckled, withdrawing his Overlord Halberd.
Seeing this,
the burly man rejoiced and instinctively retreated several steps, shouting loudly:
"He's a tough one, retreat, retreat, retreat..."
"Trying to retreat now?"
Hearing the burly man's roar, Ye Feng's expression remained unchanged. He chuckled and warned,
"If you dare to run today, I'll kill all your brothers!"
Saying so, Ye Feng took a strong bow from behind him, drew an arrow, and aimed at the fleeing Yellow Turban rebels.
"Whoosh~!"
With a piercing sound of air being cut, an arrow carrying immense power pierced through a man's scalp and embedded itself in the tree trunk in front of him.
"This..."
The burly man, catching a glimpse of this out of the corner of his eye, paused.
Especially,
when he saw that the Xuanjia Cavalry were also taking out their bows and arrows, his scalp tingled.
"Stop, stop, stop..."
He quickly waved his hand at the Xuanjia Cavalry and, looking dejected, knelt before Ye Feng with a thud.
"Sir, this ambush was my idea. You can kill or torture me as you wish, but I beg you to spare them!"
"Spare them?"
Ye Feng placed his long halberd on the burly man's head, his voice indifferent,
"You want me to let them go, and then let them go on to rob other villagers?"
"No, no..."
Hearing Ye Feng's words, the burly man was taken aback and quickly waved his hands in denial,
"Sir, we are Yellow Turban rebels, we only rob officials, not civilians!"
"Is that so?"
Ye Feng's interest piqued, and he retorted,
"With just the few of you, you can rob officials? Are those officials just eating dirt?"
"This, this..."
The burly man didn't quite understand Ye Feng's meaning, but he still scratched his head and explained:
"Those officials are very timid. As soon as we show up, they run away."
"???"
Ye Feng listened, utterly bewildered, and instinctively looked back at the Xuanjia Cavalry beside him.
"Is he talking about Han dynasty officials?"
"???"
The Xuanjia Cavalry was also confused by Ye Feng's question and quickly shook their heads, indicating they didn't know.
"Sir, I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, go ask my brothers!"
Seeing that Ye Feng seemed unconvinced, the burly man became anxious.
"Stop, stop..."
Although still somewhat doubtful of the burly man's words, Ye Feng didn't dwell on the issue.
"Since you know you're Yellow Turban rebels, why aren't you joining the main force? Why are you bandits in this desolate place?"
"We, we wanted to..."
The burly man hesitated for a moment and then beckoned to someone not far behind him.
Soon,
dense figures emerged from the forest and appeared before Ye Feng and his men.
However,
unlike the earlier Yellow Turban rebels who were all able-bodied men, these included the old, weak, sick, and injured.
"This..."
Ye Feng's brows furrowed as he looked at the women and children with gaunt faces.
"Did you capture these people?"
"No, no!"
Hearing this, the burly man quickly waved his hands and explained helplessly,
"These are all with us. We were preparing to join the main force!"
Saying this, the burly man looked a little embarrassed and glanced sheepishly at Ye Feng.
"It's just that we were short on travel expenses on the way, and then we happened to see you passing by..."
"..."
Ye Feng's mouth twitched slightly. He wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.
These few old, weak, sick, and injured people, and they still wanted to join the Yellow Turban main force?
What for?
As cannon fodder?
Given the state of the Zhang brothers, these people would be the first wave in any assault.
For their dream of a Yellow Heaven empire, what was such a sacrifice?
Forget it!
They were all pitiable people.
If he hadn't seen them, it would be one thing. But now that he had, how could he ignore them?
What?
You say I'm thinking this way because You Province is short of people?
You, you know too much!
With that thought,
Ye Feng took a deep breath and waved his hand at the kneeling crowd.
"Get up, all of you!"
"Yes, yes..."
Hearing this, the burly man felt relieved, knowing their lives were saved.
As he quickly got up, he didn't forget to instruct the subordinates behind him:
"Hurry up and thank the sir for sparing your lives!"
"Thank you, sir, thank you, sir..."
"..."
Listening to those numb yet weary voices, Ye Feng's heart ached again.
"How about this!"
Meeting the burly man's confused gaze, Ye Feng, having made up his mind, said directly:
"Don't go be Yellow Turban rebels anymore. Just follow me for now."
"Wh-what?"
Before Ye Feng could finish speaking, the burly man exclaimed in astonishment.
"Sir, follow you?"
"Let me finish!"
Ye Feng glared at the burly man impatiently and then introduced himself:
"I am Ye Feng, the Provincial Governor of You Province. If you follow me back to You Province, I can't promise anything else..."
"What?!"
Perhaps too surprised, the burly man suddenly stood up.
"You, you are the Provincial Governor of You Province? Ye Feng, Lord Ye?!"
"..."
Ye Feng, having been interrupted again, felt very tired.
If it weren't for the look of reverence in the burly man's eyes, he would have had the urge to run him through with his halberd.
However,
faced with his little fanboy, Ye Feng really couldn't bring himself to do it.
"I am indeed Ye Feng!"
He ran a hand through his messy bangs and pretended to be nonchalant,
"You must have all heard of me, right?"
"Heard of you, heard of you..." The burly man nodded repeatedly,
"You are a hero of our Yellow Turban army, and the most successful leader among us!"
"???"
As the burly man's words fell, Ye Feng pointed at himself in confusion.
"Me?"
"Leader?"
"Yes!"
The burly man nodded affirmatively and then helpfully explained:
"Since the two leaders of You Province passed away, you have been acclaimed as the new leader of You Province!"
"Hiss..."
Ye Feng gasped and quickly opened his attribute panel.
As expected,
in the identity section, in addition to Provincial Governor of You Province, there was also Yellow Turban leader.
"No way?"
Frowning and scratching his head in annoyance, Ye Feng complained speechlessly,
"Damn system, come out and explain this mess!"
"When the hell did I become a Yellow Turban leader?"
"How come I don't know?"
"Could it be..."
"Do they not even need to ask the person involved to appoint Yellow Turban leaders anymore?"
"This..."
Listening to Ye Feng's soft murmurs, the system chuckled and explained in his mind:
"Host, in the current situation, it's actually like that!"
"As long as the ruler of the faction passes the resolution, you will automatically gain the identity!"
"Of course!"
"If you are not satisfied, you can also take action to counter it!"
"Oh?"
Hearing the system say this, Ye Feng's eyes lit up, and he quickly asked,
"Quickly tell me, how do I counter?"
"Open rebellion!" the system's answer was simple and direct.
"As long as you openly raise the flag of rebellion, this system will default to your rebellion, and you will naturally break away from that faction's allegiance."
"..."
As the system's words fell, Ye Feng fell silent again.
Damn it!
I just tricked the Yellow Turban rebels and the imperial court into fighting each other, and now you want me to raise a rebellion against the Yellow Turbans here?
Wouldn't that cause the Yellow Turbans to collapse immediately?
No!
Absolutely not!
Even if he temporarily accepted the identity of a leader, he couldn't let the Yellow Turbans collapse so early.
Hmm?
Wait a minute!
Why does it feel like I've been tricked by this damned system again?