Chapter 779

The first gray-white sunlight of dawn struggled to pierce through the thick, inseparable fog outside Xia Prefecture city, slowly waking the hundreds of thousands of refugees in the resettlement camp from their light sleep.

The first to scream was a woman holding a child and going out of the tent to relieve herself.

The moment she raised her head, her eye sockets, which were sunken due to long-term hunger, were instantly stretched to the limit by fear, and the child in her arms was scared to cry loudly.

On the open ground in the center of the camp, twelve newly shaved white wooden flagpoles were lined up in the morning mist, and each pole was tightly wrapped with thick iron wire at the top with a corpse that had shriveled into a shape that was no longer human.

The abdomens of those corpses were sunken like empty skins that had been drained of all internal organs, and there was still a layer of yellow-green filth that had already dried into scabs at the corners of their mouths, and their facial expressions before death were twisted into a hideous appearance that was nauseating due to pain and fear.

These dead people hanging on the poles were wearing the same tattered cotton-padded jackets as everyone else yesterday, lining up in the same queue and holding coarse porcelain bowls to drink porridge.

Panic spread and exploded in the dense tent group like ice water falling into an oil pan.

The crowd began to stir, and the low discussion soon evolved into loud questioning and crying; that frightened-bird mentality, which had only been barely suppressed after being slaughtered and chased for hundreds of miles in the Qi State, was completely activated at this moment.

Just in the gap where this panic was about to spread uncontrollably in all directions, in the shadow of a tent group in the most crowded southeast corner of the camp, three disheveled figures were crouching tightly under a dilapidated cart.

These three were the last remnants of the Shadow Department, who had luckily escaped the strangulation of the Mingjing Si last night; looking at the miserable death of their companions on the poles, there was no sadness in their eyes, but a crazy obsession like a gambler.

The leader bit his lip and spat out a few words in a low, hoarse voice to the two people beside him.

"The plan hasn't changed. Wu Duo is dead, but as long as these hundreds of thousands of people are in chaos, our lives won't have been lost in vain."

He took a deep breath, took advantage of the chaos of the crowd starting to run around everywhere, was the first to dash out from the bottom of the cart, and squeezed into the most dense refugee crowd.

"The Xia Prefecture government poisoned people to death!"

This roar was like a sharp knife, accurately stabbing into the most fragile fear center of the hundreds of thousands of refugees.

"They think we eat grain and want to poison all of us Qi State people to death to save grain!"

The second voice followed closely, exploding from the other side of the crowd, forming a terrifying echo that made it impossible for people to distinguish the source.

"Look at the stomachs of those corpses, they were all poisoned to death; there is poison in the porridge, and there is poison in the well water too!"

The third voice was like the last straw that broke the camel's back.

"Run, if you don't run, it will be too late!"

The refugee crowd, which was originally just panicked, fell into complete madness under the repeated bombardment of these three carefully designed rumors.

Thousands of people began to rush toward the exit of the camp regardless of everything; the crying of women and children and the angry scolding of men were mixed together, and several elderly people who fell to the ground were instantly submerged by the trampling crowd, emitting shrill screams.

The Xia Prefecture soldiers maintaining order at the edge of the camp tried to block and intercept with long spears, but were pushed back repeatedly by the desperate crowd; a destructive trampling event that could cause tens of thousands of casualties had already taken shape in these few dozen breaths.

Just at this critical moment, a scarlet afterimage flew out from the high wooden canopy of the Talent-Recruitment Platform.

Red Leaf.

Her slender figure stretched like a crane in mid-air, and every time her toes landed, they stepped accurately on the shoulders and skulls of the crowded crowd; the trajectory of borrowing force to move was like a taut red silk thread, approaching the source of the three roars at a speed that ordinary people could not react to at all.

The first rat was executed first.

Red Leaf's right hand turned in mid-air, and five slender fingers, like eagle claws made of fine steel, buckled the back of the neck of the spy who was still roaring from a distance of three paces.

That spy didn't even have time to shout half of the word "poison," and his whole body was forcibly lifted from the crowd by an irresistible giant force, and a suffocating sound of "he-he" emitted from his throat.

The second one.

Red Leaf tapped her toes on the shoulder of a refugee, her body flew horizontally for more than a zhang, and the short blade in her left hand patted accurately on the temple of another spy who was trying to mix into the fleeing crowd, and that person rolled his eyes and softened.

The third one.

The last remnant of the Shadow Department saw his companions captured, turned around and wanted to flee into the snow outside the camp, Red Leaf casually touched an iron sleeve arrow from her waist, shot a cold light between her wrist movements, and the sleeve arrow nailed into the calf of the runner without any deviation, nailing him to the snow with a scream.

From the first rumor exploding to all three spies being captured, it was no more than a dozen breaths.

Red Leaf carried the spy leader who was still struggling with one hand, jumped to the highest point of the Talent-Recruitment Platform like carrying a dead chicken, and threw the three living captives heavily onto the wooden boards.

Following that, heavy and neat footsteps rushed from the end of the main passage of the camp.

Chen Yan, wearing that dark python-patterned cloak that fluttered in the morning wind, boarded the Talent-Recruitment Platform with long strides, surrounded by hundreds of fully armed Mingjing Si Embroidered Attire Envoys.

He didn't rush to speak, but stood at the edge of the platform, his dark, bottomless eyes slowly sweeping over the chaotic sea of people below.

Just this one action of sweeping his gaze, those refugees who were running away were like being strangled by an invisible giant hand, their steps gradually slowed down, and finally stopped.

Gao Jiong walked out quickly from behind Chen Yan, holding a copper tray covered with red cloth in his hands.

On the copper tray, all the physical evidence seized from the bosoms of those spies was neatly arranged.

Three fine copper waist badges engraved with the secret runes of the Shadow Department of the Qi State, a top-secret order stamped with the secret mark of the Qi State imperial jade seal, and two packets of white croton powder that had not yet been poured.

Gao Jiong held the copper tray high above his head and walked slowly to the most conspicuous position in front of the platform, so that the hundreds of thousands of terrified and confused eyes below could see those things clearly.

Only then did Chen Yan speak.

He operated his Qi to send out his voice, and his thick voice boomed like a giant bell ringing over the camp, every word smashing into the eardrums of everyone present.

"All of you, open your eyes and see clearly."

He reached out and pointed to the Shadow Department waist badge of the Qi State on the copper tray in Gao Jiong's hand, his knuckles turning slightly white due to anger.

"What is this? This is the Shadow Department of your Qi State Emperor Gao Jiong; only his secret assassins are qualified to wear this waist badge."

Hundreds of thousands of people below were silent, with only the cold wind whimpering.

Chen Yan took a step forward, the hem of his cloak was rolled up by the wind, and he pointed to the corpses with shriveled abdomens hanging on the poles.

"These things hanging on the poles are not refugees; they are assassins specially sent by that high-and-mighty Qi State Son of Heaven to kill you at a great price."

He paused for a beat, the tyrannical firelight that wanted to burn the entire Qi State court into ashes rolling in his eyes.

"What did they want to do last night? They wanted to poison the well you drink from."

Chen Yan grabbed the packet of croton powder on the copper tray, held it high, and let the powder drift a few wisps in the wind.

"They used this kind of thing. Once they succeeded, tomorrow morning when your children drank the first mouthful of water, they would die of diarrhea and dehydration within half a stick of incense."

He smashed the poison packet heavily on the wooden board, and the powder splashed.

"Your Qi State Emperor, because you ran to me and ate a few mouthfuls of his grain, wants to poison you all to death."

Chen Yan turned around slowly, pointing to the three living spies who were still groaning on the ground, thrown by Red Leaf.

"What were these three rats that weren't caught clean shouting in the middle of you just now? They shouted that the Xia Prefecture government poisoned people to death."

A cold sneer rose to the corner of his mouth to the extreme.

"A good trick of a thief calling to catch a thief; he sent people to kill you, but instead pinned the blame on me."

Dead silence.

The entire resettlement camp fell into a terrifying dead silence.

Hundreds of thousands of people instantly understood everything, and the suspicion and panic toward Xia Prefecture vanished at this moment, replaced by a monstrous hatred for the Qi State imperial family that surged from the depths of their bone marrow.

Someone in the crowd didn't know who it was who first emitted a heart-rending roar.

"Qi State dog emperor, he doesn't even let go of us refugees!"

Following that, an old woman fell to the ground, beating the cold mud with her fists, crying bitterly.

"The old woman's three sons were all conscripted by the Qi army and died on the border, and now even fleeing for a way to survive, I have to be poisoned by him. Is there any law in this world?"

More crying and angry roars gathered together, surging over the camp like a bursting flood.

The last trace of attachment that those refugees had for their hometown in the Qi State shattered into powder all over the floor the moment they saw that waist badge representing the imperial power of the Qi State.

Chen Yan stood on the platform, looking down coldly at this ocean of emotions.

He didn't go to fan the flames, didn't even say another word, just quietly waited for this power to ferment to its fiercest on its own.

Finally, a refugee man covered in scars at the very front of the crowd slammed his knees heavily onto the ground, his forehead hitting the mud with a dull sound.

"From now on, my life is the Pillar of State Chen's; whoever dares to touch a blade of grass in Xia Prefecture, I will be the first to fight him to the death!"

This shout was like a spark falling into a dry firewood pile.

Hundreds of thousands of people knelt down in a black mass toward the direction of Chen Yan, the dull sound of kowtowing connecting into a piece, mixed with heart-rending crying and angry roars.

"Pillar of State Chen is the blue sky for ten thousand generations!"

"Willing to die for the Pillar of State!"

The waves of sound were higher than one another, shaking the gloomy sky above their heads slightly.

Chen Yan stood above the kneeling crowd like a mountain and a sea, his cloak spreading like wings in the wind, and a trace of extremely satisfied cold light finally appeared in his dark, bottomless eyes.

From today on, these hundreds of thousands of lives were firmly welded to the wheel axle of this war machine of Xia Prefecture by him.

He turned around, looked at Zhang Wenqian and Gao Jiong, who were waiting on the side, his low voice filled with an iron will that could not be questioned.

"Zhang Wenqian, immediately start talent diversion; Old Song and his batch of artisans must all enter the Weaponry Bureau to start work today, and Pei Qing will lead his scholars from humble backgrounds to sink into every resettlement point to register and make a list; not a single idler is allowed to stay in the camp for me."

Zhang Wenqian cupped his hands, his voice trembling slightly due to excitement.

"Your subordinate obeys the order, and guarantees that all labor will be allocated within three days."

Chen Yan nodded slightly, his gaze crossing the fence of the camp, throwing toward the depths surrounded by the mountains.

His next move was hidden there.

A steel torrent that was being secretly forged.