Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

Zhuxian Village, Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

Zuo Tang rushed in, shouting, "Oh no! Brother, strategist, I've been exposed!"

Upon hearing this, the strategist Sima Yan immediately stood up and said, "Fourth brother, fifth brother, sixth brother, quickly take some men to see if anyone is following us."

Zuo Tang waved his hand and said, "Strategist, there's no need to look. I was very careful. After running out of the mine, I ran in the opposite direction for more than ten miles and turned back and forth several times to make sure no one was around before turning around and coming back. No one was following me."

The strategist Sima Yan's expression softened: "Left Chief is always careful in his actions, how could he have been exposed so suddenly?"

Zuo Tang said helplessly, "When you walk by the river, you're bound to get your shoes wet. I was unlucky this time and was caught red-handed by the guards. I had no choice but to reveal my identity and bribe that Commander Qiu with a large sum of money."

"But that General Qiu didn't take the money. Instead, he asked me to come back and tell you that he wanted to recruit us from Zhuxian Village. He said that as long as we were willing to surrender, we could discuss any conditions."

The strategist Sima Yan narrowed his eyes, pondered for a moment, and then smiled confidently: "Oh, it seems that this Qiu Bai Zong is a greedy man, not only greedy for money, but also for merit."

"If he can win over Zhuxian Village, then this Commander Qiu will gain both fame and fortune."

"Unfortunately, he's clearly an arrogant conceited man with big ambitions but little talent, and not worth fearing at all."

"If I were him, even if I wanted to release the people or offer them amnesty, I would first have to pry out the detailed situation of the Zhuxian Village from the three leaders, how many leaders there were, how many high-end combatants there were, and how many capable warriors there were."

"Unfortunately, this fool didn't even ask any questions and arrogantly released the three leaders without even sending anyone to secretly follow them. Even a dog could do a better job as the commander-in-chief."

Upon hearing this, everyone burst into laughter: "Isn't that how the privileged children of the Sword Tower are? All show and no substance, they're just pretty faces, good to look at but useless."

"The strategist is right. Even if we replaced the commander with a dog, we wouldn't have let Third Brother go so easily."

Zuo Tang was speechless, inwardly cursing the strategist and his brothers for being scoundrels. On the surface, he remained unmoved, cupped his fists, and asked Yuan He, "Brother, do you think we should accept the offer of amnesty?"

After a moment of silence, Chief Yuan He glanced at the brothers sitting around him and said nothing: "Brothers, feel free to speak your minds. After all, this matter concerns the future and fate of all of us."

The second leader clasped his hands and said, "Brother, I am unwilling to accept the offer of amnesty. We swore an oath to kill all the treacherous and powerful people in the Sword Tower. Now we are forced to bow down to the sons of the powerful and wealthy. I am not willing to accept this!"

The third leader, Zuo Tang, said, "Brother, there's nothing wrong with being recruited. We brothers are just looking out for our future. Once we become officials and take power, we'll still wipe out the treacherous officials. With us assisting the city lord, Sword Tower will definitely be better."

The four leaders said, "I think we should accept the Sword Tower's offer of amnesty. We can become officials, why should we become bandits?"

The fifth and sixth leaders shook their heads: "We are unwilling to surrender, but we will listen to our leader."

These five leaders are all cultivators at the Food Calamity Realm, and are currently the high-end combat force of the Immortal Slaughtering Village.

Chief Yuan He remained silent for a long time, rubbed his head, and waved his hand wearily: "Whether to accept the offer of amnesty or not, I need to think about it carefully. All of you, step down. Military Advisor Sima, you stay."

The three leaders, Zuo Tang and the others, rose to take their leave and departed from the Hall of Gathering Righteousness.

Only the strategist Sima Yan looked at Yuan He with a smile: "Chief, do you also wish to accept the offer of amnesty?"

Upon hearing this, Yuan He hesitated.

Of course, I wanted to dedicate myself to serving the Sword Tower.

Even being a minor official is far better than being some worthless leader of the Zhuxian Village.

A bandit is a bandit, no matter how much they try to embellish their image; they are still despicable thieves and bandits.

But an official is an official, even if it's just a minor one. They can still hold their heads high and their descendants can live with dignity. This is a great opportunity to bring honor to the family, honor one's ancestors, and change one's own and one's descendants' destiny.

"Yes, I want to be an official. I really, really want to. I'm going crazy with desire for it."

"Why do we cultivate ourselves, and why do we become bandits? It's all just to strive for a better future."

"But now my men have different opinions, so I would like to ask the strategist for advice on what to do."

The strategist Sima Yan narrowed his eyes and said with a smile, "This is not difficult. Since the chief is willing to surrender, let's use the heads of those brothers as a pledge of allegiance to the Sword Tower in exchange for high-ranking positions and generous salaries."

Upon hearing this, Chief Yuan He immediately shook his head: "No, no, no, absolutely not! We six brothers have sworn brotherhood and raised the banner of righteousness together. How could I, Yuan He, do something so faithless and treacherous?"

It wasn't easy to build the business we have today with five brothers back then.

Killing one's brothers as a pledge of loyalty is nothing, being a heartless and ruthless person is nothing either. The most abundant thing in this turbid and evil world is wicked people, but such people often fight alone and have no one to follow them.

Even if they did, the brothers would all be in danger, and in the end, the leader would be killed by his brothers.

A great foundation was destroyed in an instant.

Because nobody wants their boss to be an unfaithful, unfilial, and unjust person.

If you borrow your brother's head today, your brother can borrow your head someday.

Thus, they are trapped in an unsolvable vicious cycle, until destruction.

So if you want to be a leader, even if you're ruthless, you have to put on a human skin and pretend to be kind and righteous. Otherwise, your subordinates will become disunited and will all seek their own way out in the blink of an eye, and they won't follow you wholeheartedly anymore.

Moreover, one's loyalty and righteousness are one's bargaining chips. Killing one's brothers chills the hearts of others and destroys loyalty and righteousness, which is equivalent to losing one's bargaining chips. Without bargaining chips, one is nothing more than a soft persimmon that can be manipulated by others.

These principles were taught by the strategist. The strategist was definitely testing me when he said those things.

Yuan He said, "Military Advisor Sima, let's not bring up the matter of the pledge of loyalty again. Is there any other way?"

The strategist Sima Yan smiled faintly and flattered, "The chief is indeed unparalleled in loyalty and righteousness. I did not misjudge him, and the brothers did not follow the wrong person."

Yuan He remained silent. He didn't want flattery; he wanted to know how to resolve the disagreements among his men.

The strategist Sima Yan said with a smile, "Chief, the brothers' differing opinions prove that the time for surrender is not yet right. Besides, has the chief considered whether Qiu Qianchi truly wants to be recruited?"

"Forehead……"

"Chief, forgive my bluntness, but this so-called pacification may be a trap to lure us into negotiating with him. During the negotiations, Qiu Qianchi may be lying in ambush to capture and kill us all."

Yuan He suddenly gasped, realizing with a start: "Hiss, the strategist's words have awakened me from my dream. I was being a bit stubborn. I am willing to surrender with my troops, but Qiu Qianchi may not really want to be pacified."

The strategist Sima Yan said, "Chief, let's just forget about this."

Yuan He's face darkened; he still wasn't willing to give up this opportunity.

Shedding his bandit persona to become an official was Yuan He's obsession and the goal he strived for.

Otherwise, they wouldn't be shouting the loyal slogan of eliminating treacherous officials and assisting the city lord.

“That’s not right, Military Advisor Sima. You yourself said that Qiu Qianchi is a greedy, ambitious, and arrogant person.”

"A person like him shouldn't have such deep thoughts."

“He must genuinely want to appease them, so I think it’s necessary to have a face-to-face talk with him.”

Upon hearing this, the strategist Sima Yan immediately spoke up to stop him: "No, absolutely not!"