The bandit army arrived at Jade Hill Town; a shapeless mass of people, animals, and material. The town gates were tightly shut and rows of defenders stood atop the walls. The surrounding hills were deserted. Some fields had been hastily harvested while others had been burned.

Gray was near the rear of the prisoners which were behind the army. From this distance, he could still distinguish the individual defenders which numbered close to three hundred. He thought he saw Harsh Patel but he wasn't sure. At almost a thousand paces from the wall, it was hard to tell even for his eyes.

Both sides stared at each other for some time. The only thing that could be heard was gusts of wind and the shuffling of nervous feet. Even with three thousand warriors, the town was too large, the walls too long. It was impossible to encircle. They could barely even cover the western side.

Gray questioned the bandits' sanity, especially those old-as-dirt elders. How were they supposed to take the town? He had seen those walls, had climbed them with difficulty. Nobody could jump over them and a lesser man than Gray could not climb them. Using rope would be a slaughter. There weren't any trees around here to make ladders from either.

Even if they wanted to siege the town, they had no way to block off all four gates. Jade Hill Town would still be able to send out requests for help and receive supplies. The bandits only had the supplies they carried with them while the town had everything it needed to survive for a long time. It was clear which side would starve to death first.

One of the elders finally acted and rode forward. He stopped only a couple hundred strides in front of the west gate.

"Jade Hill Town! I am Xing Duanmu, First Elder of the Duanmu Clan and leader of the elder council of Abundance Town! Come out and speak to me, Jade Hill Lord!” He yelled.

“Come out, Jade Hill Lord! Come out, Jade Hill Lord!” The army chanted behind him.

A brief moment passed and the west gates opened ajar. The diminutive lord rode forward alone. He wore a form-fitting outfit made out of some kind of leather along with a graceful hooded cloak and a face veil.

Gray furrowed his brow in confusion. Alisha had worn something similar before. He couldn't fathom why the lord also liked this kind of getup. It made sense for Alisha because of her beauty but for a man, this level of shyness was beyond strange. For someone to be so stingy about their appearance, perhaps they were born with ugly deformities...

The two leaders met and squared off. Spiritual energy surged out of their bodies in an invisible clash of wills.

Xing Duanmu spoke first, "Lord Reddy, we finally meet again. Take a look behind me, at a thousand of your people. Their lives are in my hands. What will you choose to do?"

"We don't have to fight." The lord responded with a calm voice that rang clear in everyone's ears. "If it is wealth you seek, I am willing to exchange each prisoner for the price of one hundred gold coins. With that money, you can right the wrongs from the past and lead your clan out of the abyss. In exchange for this ransom, you must cease all bandit activities and swear to a spiritual oath for peace."

Xing Duanmu burst out laughing. But only the elders and few other bandits joined him. The sheer amount of gold offered was enough to sway some hearts. But the intention of the elder council was war and they could not be denied.

"Peace! There can be no peace!" The first elder thundered, "The Broken Wood Plateau belongs to the Duanmu Clan!"

The lord shook their head. "If you attack, you will fail. I will break your army before these walls and the Duanmu Clan will be no more."

Before Xing Duanmu could respond, the bandit army erupted in anger. It was hard to make out what any individual was saying out of three thousand but their combined fury was clear. How dare the Jade Hill Lord talk like this in the face of their entire clan, their combined might?

The first elder waved his hands to quiet his people and spoke, "Lord Reddy, let's stop the charade. I will be the only one making demands here. I will give you one opportunity. Surrender now and I won't need to take anyone's head if you follow my conditions..."

“You dare!”

“Go die!”

This time, angry shouts rained down from the walls. The guards that swore their lives to the lord and their town absolutely could not surrender, especially to their hated enemy.

“Quiet!” The lord’s sharp voice cut through the noise and silenced everyone.

The elder continued, "As I was saying, my conditions for the surrender of Jade Hill Town... Lord Reddy and the Southern Seas Trading Company will be expelled from the plateau and their assets will be seized. Ordinary families will take Duanmu as their surname from now on. As for the Patels and other major families, they must all swear a spiritual oath of loyalty to the Duanmu Clan. They also must all have their daughters marry Duanmu men for the next three generations. And lastly, Alisha Patel must marry my grandson Tang Duanmu!”

“Bison shit!”

“Dream on!”

“Go screw a demon!”

A furious storm erupted on the walls as he finished speaking. Even some of the prisoners joined in. These conditions were disgusting and impossible to accept. Marrying one's daughters to the Duanmu Clan for three generations was despicable. Nobody wanted to see their town’s princess married off to a bandit either. Their lives were on the line but so were their dignity and honor. If given the choice, many would rather die.

“Do not surrender!”

“No surrender!”

“No surrender!"

The town guards all settled on that single chant. Their voices united and so did their resolve.

In response, the bandit elders started their own chant. They were unwilling to lose out against a force much smaller than them.

"Duanmu Clan!"

"Duanmu Clan!"

The air filled with competing shouts, both sides stirring themselves into a frenzy. The first elder and the lord still seemed to be conversing calmly but Gray could no longer make out what they were saying.

But then, the lord raised a slender hand and chaos ensued.