Chapter 63 There Has Never Been Such a Thing as Submissive Subjects

There are no submissive people

Three thousand demon soldiers surged forward like a rushing tide.

The tranquility of the small village, rendered exceptionally peaceful against the white snowfield, was shattered. When the demon soldiers were still a hundred meters away from the settlement, a female demon holding a pile of rotten grains stepped out of her door.

However, before she could even let out a gasp of surprise, a feathered arrow pierced through her throat. Fresh blood and rotten grains spilled onto the white snow, making it unclear whether it was the pristine snow or something else that had been stained.

Zhou Yu frowned. He did not agree with the slaughter of civilians. Since this was his first time leading troops into battle, he had not expected that these wild boar soldiers, who usually appeared honest and simple-minded, would unleash such intense bloodlust when confronted with civilians weaker than themselves.

"I don't think they deserved to die," Zhou Yu said.

The Colored Monkey snorted and replied, "Then who does deserve to die?"

Zhou Yu was choked by the retort and could not answer.

The wind and snow wept. The small village, comprising only a dozen households, was massacred in less than a quarter of an hour. The wild boar soldiers cheered excitedly, celebrating as if it were a festival.

With a heavy heart, Zhou Yu walked into the village. Thanks to A-Fei's intervention, the settlement had not been burned down, so everything remained relatively intact. However, not a single living soul was left. The three leopard-headed soldiers stationed in this hamlet had been swarmed and killed by the wild boar soldiers at the very outset. At that moment, their skins had been stripped off, and their corpses hung from an ancient tree at the entrance of the village.

Those vivid, crimson scenes assaulted Zhou Yu's visual nerves, and he resolved to establish some military regulations.

Yet, as he entered the village, a beaming A-Fei walked up to him, excitedly announcing that everyone had been killed, leaving none behind—children and the elderly were no exception.

A-Fei spoke with great enthusiasm, but when he noticed that Zhou Yu's expression was somewhat grim, he calmed down.

"Why slaughter the innocent?" Zhou Yu asked in a deep voice.

The feathered arrow lodged in the throat of the first woman killed had been shot by A-Fei himself.

A-Fei remained silent for a moment before saying, "Those military regulations of yours about not killing civilians and treating captives well might work among humans, but in the demon realm, they are absolute nonsense."

"Why?" Zhou Yu's mood was extremely turbulent. For any normal person from a civilized world, it was difficult to accept such indiscriminate killing—no, this wasn't even indiscriminate killing, it was sheer butchery. Zhou Yu believed that even if this were a small town, these demon soldiers would still not spare a single living person.

Cruelty was etched into the very bones of the demon race. Zhou Yu began to faintly feel that he had made a mistake in assisting the Colored Monkey.

"Because there are no submissive people among demons! All demons are unruly rabble! You only saw her holding rotten grains, but you didn't see her eating raw meat, eating the flesh of her own kind," A-Fei said.

"You don't believe it? Heh, the demon realm is barren, and survival is extremely difficult. Which survivor didn't make it by butchering their own kin? Therefore, surviving demons are nothing but recalcitrant outlaws; there are no compliant citizens whatsoever. The moment you spare one, the second they catch a chance behind your back, they will plunge a knife into your chest! I understand the demon race better than you do. The kind-hearted demons are all dead, starved to death, or killed and eaten by their own kind. You will never find a second race like the foxes in the entire demon realm," A-Fei stared straight into Zhou Yu's eyes as he spoke.

Zhou Yu waved his hand dismissively. What A-Fei said made some sense. Even among humans, the slaughter of civilians during wartime was commonplace, and in ancient times, imperial armies would even kill the innocent to claim military merit.

In the past, Zhou Yu had only heard about such things, but when they truly happened right before his eyes, he found them hard to accept for the moment.

"It's all for survival. They kill their own kind and eat the flesh of their compatriots in order to live, so they are not wrong! We kill them to prevent our movements from leaking out, so that we can survive! We are not wrong either! If we let even one escape today, it could very well lead to the annihilation of our entire army. You must know that the leopard clan is currently very short on food; they eat their own kind, so they certainly wouldn't mind eating our flesh," A-Fei continued.

Zhou Yu sighed helplessly. It seemed he was still too naive. Warfare was simply this cruel.

"I understand. It was my fault this time; I shouldn't have interfered with your command. Since I handed the demon soldiers over to you, I should trust your judgment," Zhou Yu said sincerely.

Although he still felt a bit uneasy in his heart, Zhou Yu knew A-Fei was right, so he offered a sincere apology.

A-Fei looked surprised and said, "I don't deserve such praise!"

Zhou Yu forced a bitter smile and continued walking deeper into the village.

After the troops searched the village and took a brief rest, the demon soldiers remained in high spirits, excitedly discussing the recent massacre.

An eerie murderous aura permeated the small village. A-Fei looked at the demon soldiers and nodded with satisfaction.

"Become executioners, my soldiers!" A-Fei muttered under his breath.

Before long, three silver foxes appeared in the distance. Racing across the snowy ground like three sharp arrows, they soon reached the Colored Monkey.

A-Fei stepped forward upon seeing them.

One of the silver foxes reported, "Great King, there is a small village about ten miles ahead, roughly three times the size of this one. There are a dozen leopard-headed soldiers stationed inside."

"How many exits does the village have?" A-Fei asked.

"Three."

"Good, got it!"

The Colored Monkey waved his hand, and the three silver foxes sped away once more.

A-Fei summoned the minor chieftains, assigned forces to guard the exits, and dispatched the main force to launch a frontal assault on the village, ordering them to slaughter every living soul without letting a single one escape.

After giving his instructions, A-Fei exchanged opinions with the Colored Monkey, and once they reached a consensus, the troops resumed their march.

Upon leaving the village, the troop split into four paths, three of which moved ahead in advance to secure the exits.

This time, it was another complete extermination, save for two wild boar soldiers who sustained minor injuries.

The slain leopard-headed soldiers and villagers were all hung from the trees. Zhou Yu watched silently from a distance without uttering a word.

Suddenly, a rustling sound pierced Zhou Yu's ears.

Following the noise, Zhou Yu looked over and saw a young leopard cub shivering beneath a boulder.

Not far away, the Colored Monkey's eyes were fixed on the village, but his attention was actually focused entirely on Zhou Yu.

That little leopard cub had been deliberately let go by the Colored Monkey and A-Fei, specifically to make Zhou Yu kill it with his own hands.

The little leopard was already injured, whimpering as it licked its wound beneath the rock. Suddenly, a shadow fell over it, and Zhou Yu stood behind it, looking down.

Turning its head, the cub's large eyes were filled with terror, bright tears swirling within them.

The little leopard suddenly began to kowtow to Zhou Yu.

Zhou Yu stared at it in a daze.

A moment later, Zhou Yu emerged from beneath the boulder with an expressionless face.

The Colored Monkey walked up to him, patted his shoulder, and asked, "Zhou Yu, what's wrong with you? You look a bit off!"

Zhou Yu smiled faintly and shook his head to indicate he was fine.

The Colored Monkey gave A-Fei, who was not far away, a subtle look. Once Zhou Yu and the Colored Monkey had walked away, A-Fei led two wild boar soldiers to encircle the boulder.

Peering cautiously beneath the rock, A-Fei froze in astonishment.

The little leopard's head was gone, leaving behind a pulpy mess on the stone.

Zhou Yu walked with his hands clasped behind his back, thrust deep into his sleeves. His fists remained tightly clenched. Though he tried his utmost to maintain his composure, tempestuous waves raged within his heart.

When he had pulled a piece of dried meat from his tunic and offered it, the little leopard—which had been kowtowing on the ground with tears in its eyes—had suddenly exploded into action, lunging forward to sink its teeth into his hand.

The dried meat had dropped to the ground, and Zhou Yu had shattered the little leopard's head with a single punch.

Zhou Yu's physical body was exceptionally formidable at this point. Even though that young leopard could easily pierce iron plate, it failed to leave a single scratch on Zhou Yu's hand.

The reason Zhou Yu felt so foul was that he could not accept that his kindness had been met with an attack, especially after the cub had bowed to him just moments before.

This gave Zhou Yu a sickening sensation, akin to swallowing a fly.

The feeling of having one's kindness repaid with malice and betrayal nearly drove Zhou Yu mad; he could only tighten his grip into a fist.

Suddenly, Zhou Yu recalled how on Earth, some people who helped fallen elderly folk ended up being sued by them, and his mind suddenly cleared.

If humans could be like that, how much more so for the demon race? His kindness was not wrong, but he could not assume everyone else was as kind-hearted as he was.

Otherwise, the one who would suffer and get hurt would be himself.

Seeing that Zhou Yu's expression had relaxed, the Colored Monkey felt at ease and went off on his own to inspect the military situation.

Not far away, the Colored Monkey and A-Fei converged.

A-Fei recounted what had happened beneath the boulder.

The Colored Monkey smiled and said, "Just as I expected. Zhou Yu must have been attacked by that little leopard cub; otherwise, given his temperament, he wouldn't have killed it. Pitying the weak—what a ridiculous worldview."

A-Fei, however, held a different opinion. "Actually, this was inevitable. After all, our living environment is different from his. In our demon realm, pitying the so-called weak is indeed a very foolish thing. But among humans, the responsibility of the strong is to protect the weak. I've heard a very popular saying over on their side: 'With great power comes great responsibility.'"

The Colored Monkey chuckled. "I don't have such lofty enlightenment. In my view, whoever treats me well, I treat them well. Whoever is my friend and my subordinate, I will protect them. As for everything else, it's none of my damn business!"

A-Fei remarked, "For the Great King to hold such a view is truly our blessing. Surviving in the demon realm requires precisely this mindset!"

Talk of the people's will or benevolent policies was all bullshit in the demon world, for this was a realm where the strong were supreme.

If you were strong enough, others would fear you and naturally obey your commands.

For three consecutive days, they slaughtered seven villages without letting a single living soul escape.

When they reached the canyon A-Fei had mentioned, almost every demon soldier had blood on their hands.

A-Fei was extremely satisfied with this state of affairs. The demon race was inherently bloodthirsty; only with hands stained in blood could their strength and wildness be fully unleashed.

After surveying the canyon's terrain—and with the silver foxes of the fox clan acting as scouts—Zhou Yu, the Colored Monkey, A-Fei, and the others set up traps within the canyon with complete peace of mind, fully equipped with rolling logs and boulder drops.

A-Fei was a military genius. Though Zhou Yu had only explained these concepts to him verbally, A-Fei had executed them to perfection.

After spending a day in the canyon, the silver foxes returned.

"Is there any situation?" the Colored Monkey asked.

"Great King, there is no unusual situation. The leopards are all holed up inside, and practically none of them are wandering outside," the silver fox reported.

A-Fei thought for a moment and nodded.

The silver fox retreated.

"Two Great Kings, it seems it is just as those two leopard-headed soldiers said. The leopard clan is facing a severe food shortage. Aside from the leopard-headed soldiers sent out to borrow grain, the rest are huddled inside to conserve their physical strength," A-Fei stated.

"What are your thoughts?" the Colored Monkey asked.

"Two Great Kings, we should go out and lure the enemy," A-Fei replied.

Without a second word, the Colored Monkey hoisted his golden staff onto his shoulder and strode out of the canyon.

Zhou Yu followed closely behind. Having no weapon at the moment, he casually grabbed a thick wolf-toothed club and slung it over his shoulder, not caring about its lethality, merely wishing to look imposing.