Astral Apostle

Chapter 418: Submission; Interlude (1)

Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Seeing that the two leaders had submitted and were begging for mercy, the remaining bandits around them also threw away their weapons and knelt down. They quickly raised their hands in surrender.

Only then did Zhou Jing put away his iron spear and retract his murderous aura. He nodded and said, “In that case, we’re friends and not enemies. The two of you can get up.”

Seeing that their lives were saved, Peng Jin and Li Pei finally heaved a sigh of relief. They hurriedly got up and stood awkwardly.

Zhou Jing looked around at the terrified bandits and shouted, “Don’t kneel anymore. Get up.”

“Th-Thank you, hero…”

The bandits stood up hesitantly.

Zhou Jing retracted his gaze and looked at Li Pei again.

Li Pei jolted and cupped his hands to curry favor, “Brother is so brave, like a heavenly general. I admire you so much. If Brother doesn’t abandon me, I’m willing to follow you!”

“Who’s the brother of someone like you who shoots hidden arrows? Don’t call me brother so casually!”

Zhou Jing glared at him and shouted.

Li Pei was shocked and quickly shut his mouth. He remained silent and panicked again.

Zhou Jing snorted, “I’m fighting against someone, but you didn’t announce your entrance and immediately shot arrows at me. If it were me, I would kill you! However, I’m fighting on behalf of Red Cloud Mountain today, and your Chief is willing to submit. I’ll spare you this time.”

“I was possessed for a moment. I just wanted to save Brother Hong. Thank you for not killing me… No, no, thank you!”

Li Pei hurriedly responded and apologized repeatedly. In his fear, he did not dare to get close to him again and was instead filled with even more reverence.

At this moment, Guo Haishen and Fang Zhen finally rushed over. When they saw the hole in the village gate, their throats could not help but tremble.

Previously, when they saw Zhou Jing breaking through the formation alone, they hurriedly brought their troops up to receive him. However, halfway through, they realized that Zhou Jing did not need any help at all.

Zhou Jing alone broke through the formation of more than a thousand bandits, as if he was walking through an uninhabited place. With a few more attacks, he smashed the stronghold gate. He was incomparably domineering, scaring all the bandits out of their wits.

There were not many casualties among the thousand mountain bandits, but their morale directly collapsed. They no longer had the will to fight and threw down their helmets and armor, surrendering on the spot.

Guo Haishen and Fang Zhen watched the entire process from the outside. They were also so shocked that their jaws could not close.

Although they were sworn brothers and they had always known that Chen Feng was an outstanding martial artist, this was still beyond their understanding.

He was simply a human siege vehicle!

“Second Brother! Are you alright?” Guo Haishen composed himself and came over to ask anxiously.

“I’m fine.” Zhou Jing waved his hand.

Only after hearing the reassurance did Guo Haishen relax. He turned to look at Peng Jin. After pondering for a moment, he cupped his fists and said, “Chief Peng, my second brother has a violent temper. I apologize for offending you.”

“No, no, no. We don’t know what’s good for us. We tried to be punks in front of a true hero!”

Peng Jin did not dare to act rashly in front of Zhou Jing and quickly waved his hand.

He turned to Zhou Jing and bowed with cupped hands, speaking with equal parts sincerity and fear,

“I’ll inform the entire stronghold that from now on, I’ll abdicate and hand over the position of the Chief to you. However, this is not a place to talk. Brother, why don’t you follow me into the house to eat and chat?”

“Yes, that’s good.” Zhou Jing nodded. Then, he looked at Fang Zhen and said, “Third Brother, go and release the two leaders I captured. Let’s go up the mountain for a drink.”

“Understood.”

Fang Zhen nodded and accepted the order to let them go.

Not long after, Hong Dingxian and Shi Dong came over. When they heard that the village chief had already submitted, they did not say anything and bowed on the spot.

When they fought just now, the two of them had already been convinced by Zhou Jing’s martial arts. They admired him in their hearts and naturally did not have any resistance.

After the four leaders surrendered one after another, the atmosphere finally eased. The bandits of Tiger Head Mountain finally relaxed and picked up their weapons to clean up the battlefield.

The group surrounded Zhou Jing and passed through the mountain pass into the stronghold. They asked the lackeys to bring over some wine and meat before sitting down.

Peng Jin respectfully invited Zhou Jing to sit in the main seat, while he sat down at the side.

In front of Zhou Jing, Peng Jin directly called over the leaders of the bandits and claimed that he was no longer the chief and had submitted to Zhou Jing. From now on, he would join Red Cloud Mountain. He expressed his loyalty on the spot, indicating that he would not go back on his word.

After doing this, the group began to eat and chat.

“Brother, your iron spear is like a mountain. I finally know that in this world such martial arts actually exist. I’m really convinced.”

Hong Dingxian toasted Zhou Jing, his tone regretful.

Zhou Jing clinked bowls with him and downed it in one gulp. He smiled and said, “Brother Hong’s martial arts are not bad either. If you go to the battlefield, you’ll still be a tiger general.”

“Brother, you flatter me.”

When Hong Dingxian heard this, he felt ashamed and hurriedly refuted, not daring to take the praise.

“Since Brother has already said so, Brother Hong, there’s no need to be humble. Your saber techniques are superb. You’ve always been the number one expert of our Tiger Head Mountain.”

On the other side, Peng Jin also spoke in an encouraging tone.

At this moment, his mentality had already stabilized. Although he was unwilling to give up his position of Chief to someone else, he knew that it was already done. He could only accept it. If he went back on his word, he was afraid that he would not be able to escape with his life and would be stabbed to death.

Moreover, Chen Feng’s bravery was rare in the world. In the future, his name would shake the Green Forest. It was not embarrassing for his Tiger Head Mountain to be taken down by such a hero.

However, he was used to being the chief after all. Peng Jin did not want to lose his status after merging with Red Cloud Mountain, so he had the intention to rope in the current leaders of Tiger Head Mountain and unite the four of them as one entity.

As for Hong Dingxian, his martial arts were extraordinary and would definitely be placed in an important position, so Peng Jin was quite enthusiastic when he spoke.

However, Hong Dingxian first glanced at Peng Jin before ignoring him with a perfunctory expression.

When he was captured by Zhou Jing just now, Peng Jin had ignored the fact that he had fallen into the hands of the enemy and decisively ordered the entire army to attack. He did not care about his life at all, making Hong Dingxian quite dissatisfied.