Dragon Tamer

Hu Chongming once again looked at the City Ownership Deed in Zhu Minglang’s hand.

To those forces occupying Runyu City, this deed was indeed nothing but a worthless piece of paper, but for the Hu family, it was an object tied to their dignity.

As the Hu family recruited soldiers and purchased horses, they naturally encountered opposition and ridicule from some established families, among which the most humiliating was having to sell the city and not having the land title or city seal in hand.

To revive Runyu City while bearing the name of a banished dog that had been swept out of its home!

This was something the Hu family could not accept by any means.

“Alright, as long as we can expel all those villains occupying Runyu City,” Hu Chongming nodded.

They were the true owners of this city!

“Then, here’s to a pleasant cooperation,” Zhu Minglang said with a smile.

“I need to explain the situation here to you beforehand. Apart from those bandits and warlords, the Mourning Dragon Clan has appeared once more. They seem to be searching for something. This land is soaked with the blood sacrifices of Mourning Dragons, burying countless corpses of their kin…” Hu Chongming said.

“Easy to say, as a Dragon Shepherd, capturing demons and slaying dragons is but a trivial matter for me!” Zhu Minglang declared.

Hu Chongming first settled his subordinates.

To Zhu Minglang’s surprise, his subordinates were not mere ordinary soldiers, but were all Dragon Shepherds. Although their cultivation base wasn’t particularly high, a team of one to two hundred Dragon Shepherds was indeed not inferior to those armies with thousands of troops.

It seemed that the Hu family siblings were truly determined to reclaim Runyu City!

All the better, Zhu Minglang himself was not very adept at matters of the battlefield, so having a true leader present would make things much easier.

Hu Chongming wasn’t a complete ignoramus when it came to the Jianghu; he could naturally tell that Zhu Minglang and his few companions possessed high cultivation bases.

What his team lacked was exactly such an independent and capable Dragon Shepherd Team, especially near Runyu City, where too many military financiers kept powerful Dragon Shepherds and even the commanders themselves were Dragon Shepherds.

Night had just fallen, and the room without oil lamps was pitch-black. Zhu Minglang was not accustomed to sleeping so early; he walked out to the courtyard, where others also sat by the bonfire that had been lit. Fang Niannian was warming up some delicious meat over the fire.

Fang Niannian had not learned other skills, but she had pilfered the skill of roasting meat.

The Hu family siblings were also sitting there, along with the mustached Think Tank who was eating with a face full of grease, constantly inquiring Fang Niannian about her techniques.

Suddenly, screams echoed from the street outside the house. Zhu Minglang looked over and saw the silhouettes of several Fierce Dragons, as well as some armored soldiers standing on the rooftops, their expressions stern and austere.

“What’s happening?” Zhu Minglang asked, pointing outside.

“Some scoundrels, they wanted to snatch the territory we had cleaned up to nest in. It just so happened that some of them had bounties on their heads. I had my men kill them. Exchanging the bounties can supplement some military supplies,” Hu Bailing said with a mix of disdain and disgust.

“This place is truly chaotic; bandits are brazenly grabbing territories.” Zhu Minglang also sat down and started to roast a skewer of chicken breast for himself.

The company managed to harmonize well enough; Fang Niannian provided the meat, the Hu family supplied the wine. Despite being in the midst of a city, it felt as if they were in the wilderness…

“That’s why I suggest we first clean out all those reckless bandits from Runyu City. Otherwise, ordinary people simply won’t dare to come to this city. We must first restore the livelihood of the people,” Hu Chongming said.

There were no shops, no markets, no craftsmen, no agriculture; calling Runyu City a city was a stretch—it was completely a well-located ruin.

“Hmph, those bandits cause chaos on the Tea-colored Ground, and half of the wealth they acquire has to be handed over to the local army. These bandit groups are nothing but foul-smelling flies. Isn’t it the army’s trash that has really turned Runyu City into this state!” Hu Bailing said.

“We must take things one step at a time,” Hu Chongming said.

“There are so many bandits, how can you possibly eliminate them all? The whole table of dishes has gone rotten, attracting countless flies. Instead of throwing out the rotten dishes, you’re trying to drive away the flies?” Hu Bailing criticized without holding back.

“Bailing, how many times have I told you not to talk back to your brother like this in front of outsiders? Am I not discussing strategies properly? Problems are always raised first, then slowly resolved,” Hu Chongming said with a wry smile.

“Slowly resolved? By your method, we’ll all be in coffins by the time there’s any change in Runyu City!” Hu Bailing didn’t give Hu Chongming any face.

The Think Tank by their side continued to inquire about the method of roasting meat, treating the squabbling between the Hu Family siblings as normal.

After a fierce argument, neither sibling agreed with the other.

Left with no other choice, Hu Chongming turned to ask Zhu Minglang for his insights, to see if the new City Lord had any brilliant ideas upon taking up his post.

Zhu Minglang touched his chin, his mind a complete muddle.

Commanding armies, governance, offense, and defense… he knew nothing about these!

How great it would have been if a Zheng Yu could have parachuted in right now, with his talent, he could have turned Runyu City into a trade paradise in minutes…

After Li Chuan established its nation, Commander Cheng became the Monarch, Li Yunzi the State Preceptor, while Zheng Yu and Zhang Tuo both became National Aids.

That decisive battle seemed to be when Zheng Yu led an army to find another crack in West Cliff and along the way figured out a path to reach the Rui Nation Capital without attracting attention.

So, while Rui Nation was gathering its large army, intending to break through Long Gorge’s defenses in one fell swoop, Commander Cheng and Zhang Tuo abandoned and destroyed Long Gorge, delaying the Rui Nation’s large army from entering Li Chuan. At the same time, Li Yunzi led her Army Guards to join forces with Zheng Yu’s troops, taking advantage of the Rui Nation when its national military strength was stretched thin, and directly captured the Rui Nation Capital.

Li Yunzi was known for her bravery and skill in battle across the Li Chuan Continent, and Zheng Yu’s innovation was also indispensable!

Whether to first exterminate the roving bandits or purge the Dark Army warlords, Zheng Yu would likely have a clearer choice, after all, he always saw further than others.

“I’m not very skilled in this area, as for how to handle it…” Zhu Minglang shook his head, indicating he wasn’t in charge of devising strategies.

“Issue a Dao Method order that all armed forces in the city, except for the Hu Family Army, are to be regarded as rebel forces and should be executed without exception,” said the woman next to Zhu Minglang.

Zhu Minglang was taken aback.

In his impression, this auntie who usually spoke as a Prophet didn’t carry such a heavy undertone of hostility!

Could it be Nan Lingsha?

“Who would obey such an order?” Hu Bailing laughed, finding the method mentioned by the other party to be naive.

“After the order is issued, kill all the bandits using this place as their stronghold, trace the connections to deal with the Dark Army warlords, and create a false impression of execution without exception for the armed forces in the city. Some armed forces that do not want to provoke unnecessary conflicts will leave on their own,” the woman continued.

“That’s a good method!” Hu Chongming’s eyes immediately lit up.