Chapter 450: Clear Eyes, Kind Hearts

Wu Wu Pifu felt he was truly a fool. He had actually expected to see a battle involving over a hundred thousand troops, forgetting that this Mado Wing God was merely a city-state deity with a dozen or so villages under its domain. Even if they disregarded everything else—livelihoods, logistics, and the future—it was impossible for them to muster five thousand soldiers. A thousand troops would likely be the entire armed force of the whole territory.

Impossible. Five thousand would be a stretch.

With such a population, unless they abandoned all considerations for livelihood, logistics, and the future, they could perhaps scrape together five thousand troops. Otherwise, a thousand soldiers was likely the absolute limit for the entire territory's armed forces.

Wu Wu Pifu arrived at the front line and took a quick glance. He saw about five hundred people belonging to the city-state, and that included the logistics personnel and those transporting grain. The actual combatants numbered around three hundred, with about two hundred logistics and transport staff. Beyond that, there were roughly two hundred scattered "barbarians."

Wu Wu Pifu finally understood why he was mistaken for a barbarian; he truly resembled them.

Tall and sturdy—though none reached his height of nearly two meters, they were generally over 1.8 meters tall—and all were muscular. Furthermore, these barbarians were almost all covered in scars, naked, and filthy. The only difference between them and wild men was the abundance of tattoos on their bodies.

And Wu Wu Pifu?

Tall and sturdy, nearly two meters tall. Although his frame had thinned and his fat was almost entirely depleted, his muscles still stood out in clumps. He was also naked, covered in scars, and filthy from his days of wilderness survival and extreme weakness.

There was no need for a disguise. The barbarians themselves considered him one of their own. As he walked into the camp, barbarians began calling out to him, while the city-state troops didn't even spare him a glance.

Wu Wu Pifu was speechless, but he didn't mind. Carrying the three small animals, he arrived at the barbarian encampment and immediately realized there was a hierarchy even among them. Those like him, who were tall but perceived as weak, could only stay on the periphery. The prime spots in the camp were occupied by a dozen or so barbarians who possessed supernatural spiritual light and were accompanied by their contracted magical beasts—ranging from eagles to beasts, reptiles, and even a giant spider.

If not for their human appearance, Wu Wu Pifu might have thought he had arrived at a Troll encampment in World of Warcraft.

These Trolls—no, these barbarians—had no interest in talking to Wu Wu Pifu. They weren't even interested in talking to their own kin, preferring to be noisy, meditate, talk to their beasts, organize their gear, or get into brawls.

Lacking discipline and order, they stood in stark contrast to the city-state army, which was organized with reasonable camp layouts and divisions based on troop type, rank, and duty, complete with patrols and enforcement squads.

None of this mattered to Wu Wu Pifu. He only wanted more food, a safe place to stay, and to perform well enough in this war to secure a position as a patrolman or guard. That would allow him to slowly familiarize himself with this world, heal his body, treat the three small animals, and recover his strength...

A perfect plan!

Especially since he had obtained an "identity" in this world. He had slipped in without anyone suspecting a thing. It was simply brilliant.

Wu Wu Pifu sat down with peace of mind, silently circulating his Qi and blood to repair his numerous hidden injuries while keeping a constant watch on the three small animals.

Along the way, he had given the animals water and fed them small portions of soaked flatbread. However, the nutrition was insufficient. He needed meat, and he couldn't stop the treatments for the three animals...

Just as Wu Wu Pifu was sitting there lost in thought, a barbarian walked up to him, noticed Daphne in the rags, and looked at Wu Wu Pifu. He chuckled, muttered something, and reached out to grab Daphne.

Wu Wu Pifu reached out a single hand and caught the barbarian by the web of his palm. The barbarian's eyes widened, and he started to shout while swinging his other fist toward Wu Wu Pifu's forehead.

In the next instant, Wu Wu Pifu's palm gave a light vibration. The barbarian slumped down beside him, his eyes bulging. If one looked closely, they could see he was paralyzed, and a sensation of extreme soreness and numbness was erupting from his skin, muscles, and even his bones. Within seconds, tears and snot were streaming down his face, and sweat was pouring from his skin.

"I can let you go, but sit quietly beside me. If you don't, the next time will last several times longer," Wu Wu Pifu said calmly before releasing his grip.

The barbarian shuddered and nearly tipped over. He immediately scrambled to get up and move away, his mouth opening to scream.

In the next instant, Wu Wu Pifu's hand landed on him again. With a slight movement of his palm, the barbarian was forced to sit still once more, though his skin and muscles continued to tremble.

This time, it lasted for a full twenty seconds. The barbarian's eyes rolled back, and white foam bubbled from his mouth. Wu Wu Pifu released him and tapped the center of his forehead. The barbarian woke up, and though he tried to scramble away again, he stopped the moment he heard Wu Wu Pifu's voice: "Sit quietly."

The voice was soft, audible only to the barbarian. To him, it sounded like the most terrifying demon in existence. His consciousness was screaming, but his body sat obediently, trembling uncontrollably without making a sound.

"See? You can do it, right?"

Wu Wu Pifu smiled lightly at the barbarian and said, "Sit here obediently. When it's time to eat, I want half of your food. What do you think?"

The barbarian nodded vigorously, his eyes clear and bright, devoid of any resentment.

During those twenty seconds, he had seen his deceased father and mother waving gently at him from across a great river...

It was a sensation he never wanted to experience again, not even in death!

Wu Wu Pifu had arrived at the front line at noon. The sun was beating down, with temperatures around 35 degrees Celsius. It was too hot for battle, so he wasn't in a rush. He sat there while Daphne, lying on the rags, looked plump and delicious. The law of the barbarians was simple: might makes right.

As other barbarians passed by and saw Daphne, then looked at Wu Wu Pifu, almost all of them thought, *What a weak tribesman, * and considered seizing his prey. Then...

By around 3:00 PM, eight barbarians were sitting quietly beside Wu Wu Pifu. They looked at him with clear eyes, looked at Daphne on the rags, and then glared like wolves at the other barbarians who were curiously watching them, ready to fight anyone who approached. The other barbarians assumed the nine of them were a team, so no one dared to bother them again.

At this time, people pushed wooden carts from the city-state camp, loaded with flatbread and large buckets of gruel. As the dozen or so carts and hundreds of logistics personnel arrived, the barbarians cheered and rushed forward. Just as a brawl was about to break out, a white light rose from the city-state camp. Seeing this light, the barbarians felt fear, caution, and envy, and despite their greed, they dared not seize the food, allowing the logistics staff to distribute it.

The city-state had a recording system; the food ration for each barbarian was fixed. The elderly and weak received three pieces of bread and two bowls of gruel. The strong, like the eight sitting beside him, received five pieces of bread and three bowls of gruel. As for the dozen or so strongest barbarians, they received seven pieces of bread, five bowls of gruel, and a fist-sized piece of meat.

Wu Wu Pifu only received three pieces of bread and two bowls of gruel. However, he had eight "kind-hearted" barbarians beside him. They all offered half of their bread and gruel to Wu Wu Pifu with genuine kindness, looking as if they would cry if he refused.

Seeing this, Wu Wu Pifu didn't stand on ceremony. He praised the eight barbarians, making them tear up with joy, and began to feast. He consumed most of the food—enough to stuff two or three barbarians—leaving one piece of bread and one bowl of gruel, which he carefully fed to Jiu Jiu, Daphne, and Beelzebub.

About half an hour after eating, he saw the eight barbarians preparing their weapons. They looked at Wu Wu Pifu simultaneously, and the one who had sat beside him first muttered, "Leader, how shall we fight next?"

Wu Wu Pifu asked, "How do you usually fight?"

The eight barbarians looked at each other, and one said, "We follow the charge and hack at whoever is numerous and weak. We don't need to cut off heads; the Shaman in the city knows how many we've killed. One head gets us more bread and gruel next time. If we get more than three heads, we get a bag of grain and two pieces of meat."

Wu Wu Pifu nodded slightly. He watched the city-state army begin to assemble and stood up. "Stay by my side and help protect my three animals. I will ensure each of you gets at least one head. But if they are harmed... you will experience that extreme pain until you die."

The eight barbarians shuddered. They looked at each other and then at the three animals on the rags with incredibly clear eyes. Being kind-hearted, they couldn't bear to see animals die, so they would certainly protect them with all their might.

"Very good. You see, outsiders say we barbarians don't like to communicate or unite—that must be a prejudice!"

Wu Wu Pifu smiled and said, "You have convinced me that we barbarians can indeed communicate and unite."

(End of Chapter)