Chapter 57: The Shaman Who Spreads Wisdom

Escorting over nine thousand slaves on the road, even for the Guirong Clan, known for their elite status, it was difficult to march quickly.

Furthermore, although the Guirong Clan were elite troops of the Guifang Kingdom, only those few dozen scouts among them possessed mounts.

This was because the Guifang Kingdom had not mastered the skills for large-scale beast taming.

Those black exotic beasts had only chosen to join the Guirong Clan under the grace of the Five Directional Gods.

With these two factors combined, the Guirong Clan’s marching speed, let alone covering a hundred miles a day, could only be described as being as slow as a tortoise.

Fortunately, the Guirong Clan had already captured enough slaves on this outing, so they were in no hurry to accelerate their march.

On the contrary, the Shepherd Chief intentionally or unintentionally reorganized the formation, making the originally loose ranks appear more aggressive.

This was the consistent practice of the Guirong Clan, or rather, the Guifang Kingdom.

When encountering truly troublesome enemies, they would often drive those lowly slaves to exhaust the opponent's vital strength.

The Guirong Clan’s true main force would only strike fiercely when they caught a flaw in the enemy, breaking through the opponent's defensive line with the momentum of a thunderbolt.

From this point, it could also be seen that the young Shepherd Chief clearly did not underestimate the strength of Gaocun Town.

After all, to be able to occupy a territory in these Baidi Mountains, Gaocun Town must be hiding some secret.

"Do you think... what exactly is it that allows them to become the hub of this region?"

Although the Shepherd Chief did not explicitly name Gaocun Town, You Zhong, standing to the side, immediately understood the meaning behind the words.

"They have no gods, no priests, and not even warriors..."

"Yet they are able to become the hub connecting villages large and small for a hundred miles around; what do they rely on?"

Without waiting for You Zhong to reply, the Shepherd Chief continued speaking to himself.

"Could it be merely the prestige of that 'Shaman'? Or that ridiculous wisdom?"

With undisguised disdain in his eyes, the Shepherd Chief, born in the Guifang Kingdom, only believed in power.

"Perhaps... it has something to do with that witch from a thousand years ago?"

After hesitating for a moment, You Zhong finally voiced his speculation.

"I heard that the witch from a thousand years ago chose to settle nearby; perhaps it is her power that continues to protect this place?"

However, faced with this statement from You Zhong, the Shepherd Chief suddenly burst into laughter.

"Haha, so you believe in that kind of legend too?"

"That is nothing more than a legend, a legend that sounds utterly ridiculous!"

"A witch from the Central Plains, bringing her own tribe across most of the Central Plains, just to settle in this remote, godforsaken place?"

"If this legend were truly real, then what about that witch's tribe?"

"That was a powerful tribe capable of crossing most of the Central Plains; even if they perished, they couldn't be as obscure as they are now, could they?"

After delivering this definitive conclusion, the Shepherd Chief looked at You Zhong and said.

"In the future, stop running outside the city; those stories circulating among other tribes and mountain folk are, in the end, just baseless tales."

Just then, a commotion suddenly broke out at the front of the procession.

One could hear the scouts at the very front issuing a reprimand, followed immediately by the wailing of the slaves.

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"Grandma... my father and mother are both dead..."

"These damned Guifang people, they killed my whole family!"

"My little sister... my little sister died so miserably..."

"My mother was just because she coughed once... and then they fed her to the beasts..."

"And my little brother, he was only eight, just because he couldn't walk and wanted to rest, they dragged him until his bones were pulled out..."

It was as if they had found some kind of breakthrough.

The slaves, who had previously been dead silent, let out wails and sobs.

And opposite those slaves, the hunched-over, elderly-faced Grandma was listening silently to everyone's crying, her expression heavy and wordless.

Thus, when the Shepherd Chief and You Zhong arrived at the very front of the procession, this was the scene they saw.

"You are the 'Shaman' of Gaocun Town?"

Squinting as he sized up the old Grandma not far away, the Shepherd Chief kicked over a slave who was still wailing nearby.

Because that slave was already at the end of their rope, and now being kicked over by the Shepherd Chief, they fainted on the spot.

Seeing this, one of the slaves suddenly erupted, throwing themselves at the Shepherd Chief regardless of their own life.

As it turned out, there was no need for the Shepherd Chief to act personally this time; You Zhong, standing beside him, had already drawn the long blade from his waist.

Swish!

The blade flashed by, and a head rolled to the ground.

You Zhong expressionlessly sheathed his long blade again.

It was as if he hadn't just killed a person, but was merely chopping vegetables.

This kind of coldness stemming from human nature could never be cultivated through acquired training.

Ordinary people wouldn't be this calm even when killing a chicken, let alone killing a fellow human who was exactly like them and could speak.

"Guifang..."

Witnessing all of this with her own eyes, the old Grandma’s expression became even heavier.

"Who I am is not important; what is important is whether you know what kind of place you are about to step into?"

Doing her best to ignore the miserable state of the slaves, the old Grandma looked up at the Shepherd Chief and questioned him.

"This is the Baidi Mountains, not the territory of your Guifang Kingdom."

"Your behavior will anger the spirits of the mountains, and even the gods of the hundred lands..."

"By then, even the Five Directional Gods will not be able to protect you!"

The old Grandma’s words were not exactly righteous, but the warning within them was exceptionally intense.

Because she was telling the truth; in this world where gods truly exist, the high-level rulers of the Guifang Kingdom were not absolute masters who could act without restraint.

"Baidi Mountains?"

A faint mockery appeared on his face as the Shepherd Chief said indifferently.

"Thirty years ago, the Tufang Kingdom was also not the territory of the Guifang Kingdom..."

"But what about now? The land of the Tufang Kingdom has long since become our territory, and their subjects have become our slaves."

"Power is the truth of this world!"

"It was so thirty years ago, and it is still so thirty years later!"

Listening to this arrogant declaration from the Shepherd Chief, the old Grandma’s expression, however, became somewhat more relaxed.

"Power is truth; that is well said..."

Even though her back remained hunched, at this moment, the old Grandma gave people a feeling as solemn and grave as a mountain.

"However, have you truly grasped the 'truth'?"

As she spoke, a visible ripple of Qi appeared around the old Grandma’s body.

This ripple of Qi was so vast that the earth itself began to tremble, as if a true god had descended.

Rumble...

A continuous, small-scale earthquake spread from near to far, quickly causing panic throughout the Guirong Clan’s military formation.

The battle-hardened Guirong Clan were fine.

They were elite troops cultivated by the Guifang Kingdom, and the strong among them had even fought against gods.

But the much larger number of slaves had never seen such a scene, and for a moment, they could not help but fall into complete disarray.

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(End of Chapter)