bestfiction Chapter 581 The Conflict Begins
Chapter 581 The Conflict Begins
Each village organized people to patrol day and night, never daring to let their guard down.
However, they couldn't withstand the sudden arrival of this group of people, who started hacking without saying a word. By the time the village patrol rushed over, seven or eight people had already been killed.
The villages were some distance apart, and they only realized the devastation of Yuhua Village after the fire started; by then, everyone was already dead.
But at that very moment, in broad daylight, while the villagers were still eating, they were suddenly struck by disaster.
The knives of those men were still dripping with warm blood!
How is this any different from being a bandit!
The Miao people were immediately filled with rage and charged forward, grabbing whatever weapons they could find.
The two sides quickly became entangled in combat.
The group of men sent by Manager Liao were originally bandits. They had recruited and incorporated them into the army, but because they lacked proper training, they still retained their bandit-like mannerisms and didn't take these ordinary villagers seriously at all. Instead, they became unusually excited when they saw the villagers rushing towards them.
The people in the Miao village were quickly injured.
However, their anger was also provoked by the other party's actions. Miao territory has always been special, not only because of its terrain, but also because of its Gu (poisonous insect) techniques. Outsiders have only heard of them and do not know what Gu techniques are, especially these bandits, who could not possibly take a few small insects seriously.
But they soon found out who they had messed with.
In the midst of the fight, screams of agony soon rang out.
Then, this group of people who had been so arrogant just moments before collapsed one after another, screaming in agony.
The leader collapsed to the ground, struggling to breathe, his body stiff, his eyes bloodshot. He screamed hoarsely, "What have you done? You bunch of arrogant bastards! Do you know who we are? How dare you lay a hand on us! You're all dead! Quick, give us the antidote...!"
Before he could utter the next two words, his eyes bulged out and he stopped breathing.
The others weren't much better off; in no time, the group of about twenty people were all convulsing and motionless.
When the people who had come to meet them saw this, none of them dared to go forward and turned to run away.
A pile of corpses lay scattered on the ground, but the Miao people were also dead or wounded; it was a truly tragic scene.
The Gu magic of the Miao region can kill people, but for these ordinary people, they have never used Gu magic as a tool to kill. They have lived in peace and contentment for so many years and never thought that this scene would happen.
The villagers were filled with anger, panic, helplessness, and utter confusion.
News of the incident in the village spread quickly, and Chief Li received the news almost immediately. While the other chiefs returned to organize defenses, the elders remained in the council hall. Upon hearing the news, the Fifth Elder was the first to lose his composure: "Damn it! We agreed on three days, but these people are so uncivilized, attacking anyone they see! Are they bandits?! I'll go and kill them right now!"
Miao territory is not without its own strengths. The Miao people's Gu techniques were used to intercept Granny Yin, and they can also be used to deal with these scoundrels!
The old folks of the entire Miao village stood up against the enemy's three thousand men, which was enough to buy the young people time to escape!
The reason they hesitated to make a decision was that once the war started, there would be no turning back in Miao territory, and those young people would find it difficult to set foot in the territory of Da Zhao in the future, and could only wander in some small countries around them.
However, those small, uncivilized countries in the surrounding area are not civilized. If they go there, they will not only be unable to settle down, but their lives will only be more difficult!
So unless absolutely necessary, none of them want to take that path!
But if we don't do this, do we really have to compromise with these people?
Not only the Fifth Elder, but also the other elders, even the most stubborn First Elder, all had gloomy expressions at this moment. Clearly, he could not accept that Miao territory would be subject to the control of others because of this!
“Elders, this is just a show of force to intimidate us since we disagree. They'll make their move before the three-day deadline is up. You can imagine what will become of Miao territory if we're used by them. They can kill us at will. If we compromise, we'll be worse than slaves! Miao territory has been passed down for hundreds of years. If we act so cowardly, what difference is there between us and destruction?” Chief Li had calmed down by this point. Regardless of whether Li Feng could find reinforcements, he remained firm in his belief: “Miao territory is now under our control. We only have two paths left. One is to completely surrender to the Great Zhao government and try to survive. The other is to retreat from the dense forest and never set foot in Great Zhao again.”
The elders who had been clamoring just a few days ago to resolutely oppose handing over the salt wells were now all silent.
The Fourth Elder spoke up, saying, "Even if we had that thought, how could we escape this predicament? If we fight, what if we are later accused of treason? How would we deal with that?"
Those people from Crescent Moon Mountain are the Crown Prince's men. If war breaks out, the Crown Prince could simply order an investigation into the Miao people's alleged treason, only to be met with fierce resistance, and they would immediately be at a disadvantage. If they don't fight, their current predicament remains unresolved. With so many Miao people surrounding them, how could they afford to be killed so easily?
Just then, someone outside the door reported: "Chieftain, Elder, Li Feng has returned."
Li Feng came with Chen Shi. In order to gain Chen Shi's trust, he never left Chen Shi's sight the whole way.
Chief Li immediately ordered his men to bring them in.
Li Feng hadn't slept for the past two or three days, and was now at his limit, but he still forced himself to kneel down excitedly. "Grandfather, elders, I, Xiao Wu, have successfully fulfilled my mission and informed General Mu of the news that Miao Jiang was besieged by bandits. General Mu has already led his troops to suppress the bandits. This young general Chen is one of General Mu's men!"
Upon hearing Li Feng's shout, Chief Li immediately reacted, quickly pulling Li Feng up. Then, he excitedly bowed to Chen Shi, saying, "Greetings, Young General Chen. I am the chief of Miao territory. Crescent Moon Mountain was besieged by bandits, and we are just unarmed civilians who were powerless to resist. Thank you for your great kindness, General Mu!"
Seeing that the chief was so agitated, Chen Shi did not dare to be negligent and quickly helped him up. "Chief, you are too kind. Suppressing bandits is the duty of our Jinzhou army! General Mu has already led a large army on his way and will arrive by tomorrow morning at the latest. We heard on our way here that something happened. Chief, could you tell us what happened?"
With tears in his eyes, Chief Li clenched his fists and spoke angrily: "Those bandits slaughtered our entire village a few days ago, more than a hundred people, all gone. Now they've come to our doorstep again, and today they even led men down the mountain to kill anyone they saw, which is why some conflict broke out! Fortunately, Young General Chen arrived in time, otherwise we really wouldn't know how to deal with it!"