Chapter 63: Wherever You Are, If You See Hu Barbarians, Just Kill Them!

In the third month of spring, grass grows and orioles fly.

Grass seeds that had lain dormant all winter struggle out of the soil.

Tender green branches and leaves unfurl to welcome the warm sunlight, blooming with their own new life.

Hands thin as chicken claws, skin wrapped over bone, reach out, grab the tender leaves and yank them up, stuffing them into mouths with the dirt still clinging.

Hair tangled like a chicken coop, bodies filthy from head to toe, dirty and withered with ribs showing, they lie prone on the ground ceaselessly searching for tender grass.

They pull out grass seeds, chew them hard, and swallow them down.

People like this are not few on the wilderness.

Their eyes are dull, like wandering corpses, searching for anything that can be stuffed into their mouths.

These people, because of war and chaos, fleeing corvée labor and tax grain, ruined families, and all sorts of other reasons, have fled into the wilderness as wild people.

They are not in the household registers, have no homes or land, do not engage in production; they are truly, in the genuine sense, vagabonds and drifters.

The wild people who have survived the winter desperately need to eat.

Grass seeds are their important food source.

On the dilapidated road in the distance, a long column appears.

Ten-odd Hu cavalry lead the way, high noses, deep-set eyes, yellow teeth, curly hair, looking pleased and self-satisfied.

County Clerks in official robes follow behind, shouting and cursing loudly, brandishing the weapons in their hands from time to time to intimidate the hundreds of women strung together by ropes.

These rope-bound women are all young women.

Their faces are fearful, eyes bloodshot, but they have long since cried their tears dry.

Shi Hu ordered the conscription of young women nationwide to fill the palace, causing countless human tragedies.

Killing husbands to seize wives, breaking down doors to bind daughters, patrolling streets to arrest.

The degree of terror is no less than "leading away oxen and tearing down houses."

This column sending women to Ye City comes from Langya Commandery in Xu Province.

Traveling hundreds of li all the way, they have not the slightest inkling that the area near the capital Ye City has already gradually become a battlefield.

The Hu cavalry on horseback loudly confer in Hu speech about how to vary their pleasures come nightfall.

Escorting this many women, they naturally ought to enjoy them properly.

Were it not for the quota requirement, more than half of these women would have been thrown into the pot and cooked by the Hu barbarians along the way.

The Hu barbarians' gazes sweep over those wild people in the wilderness, their eyes full of contempt.

These weak Han, in their eyes, are no different from mountain rabbits and rats that can be hunted at will.

Looking at those who seem like a gust of wind could blow them over, like dry bones in a grave, these so-called people.

The Hu barbarians can't even be bothered to slaughter them.

From afar comes the dense sound of horse hooves, dust flying.

The arrivals are extremely numerous; the very ground trembles for it.

The Hu cavalry's faces change slightly; they rein in their warhorses and stare intently.

Dozens of riders of cavalry come galloping from the distance.

The armor on their bodies is extremely bright, dazzlingly shiny under the sunlight.

The Hu cavalry leading this side rides forward and loudly hails and questions them in Hu speech.

However the other side gives no response whatsoever, still spurring their horses forward.

The Hu cavalry draw their weapons one after another and spur their horses to meet them; the two sides quickly engage in a melee.

The Qihuo Army's armor is extremely sturdy; even the bodies of their mounts are draped in a layer of iron ring mail.

They grip seamless steel pipes in both hands, thrusting and stabbing.

The machine-ground spearheads are extremely sharp; a single thrust can pierce the chainmail on the Hu cavalry.

Warhorses cross; fierce, piercing cries are unceasing.

In no more than the time to drink a cup of hot tea, the ten-odd Hu cavalry are all lying on the ground as corpses.

The local prefectural and county officials escorting them have long since knelt on the ground trembling in fear.

The victorious Qihuo Army cavalry look at those women with numb expressions, hollow gazes, and bodies barely covered.

They spit at the Hu barbarian corpses: "Damned Hu dogs!"

Receiving the walkie-talkie notification, Lin Dao drives an off-road vehicle, arriving at this place under the protection of a group of mounted bodyguards.

He first reaches out and points at those Hu cavalry corpses that have had their heads taken: "Erect poles and hang them, leave them for birds and beasts to peck at."

Then he points at those officials who surrendered and begged for mercy: "Skin them, stuff them with straw, mince them and feed them to dogs, then drag the dogs to the dry latrine and slaughter them."

"Master."

Liu Hu steps forward to report: "The Yellow Ear Dogs remaining in the army are few."

In the era when even tree bark has been gnawed clean, dog meat, such a fragrant meat, was killed off early on almost entirely.

Dogs in the Qihuo Army were already few to begin with.

Lin Dao still likes to slaughter dogs at every turn; there are truly very few left.

"Oh."

"Dogs are humanity's friends; we must treat them well." Lin Dao speaks thoughtfully. "This scum is not fit to feed dogs. Bring hammers, erect poles, hang them up to air-dry."

"Record their family information; when the great army marches there in the future, their families and clans will be punished together."

Whenever the Hu barbarians invade, there are always these lackeys who serve as their accomplices.

The people they oppress meet miserable fates.

Yet the majority of them are able to die peacefully.

From Qin Gui and Hong Chengchou at the top, down to County Clerks and constables, how many people enjoyed a whole lifetime and finally died of old age.

What karmic retribution, what cycle of heavenly justice.

This is probably the biggest joke in the history books.

Lin Dao, who had seen too many tragedies, had no sense of the greater good here, nor any interest in exchanging interests or making expedient decisions in emergencies.

People like this had only one fate once they fell into his hands.

Hammer them.

The rescued women numbered about three hundred.

Lin Dao stood at the front of the vehicle, holding up a trumpet: "Those of you who wish to return home will be given dry rations and water canteens; you may leave on your own."

This place was several hundred li from their hometowns.

Returning home alone in this chaotic era?

They would appear on beds, appear on dining tables, but never appear in their hometowns.

"Those unwilling to return home may be married off to soldiers in the army."

"The lads in the army are all heroes; they will not mistreat you."

Women in this chaotic era, without a man to protect them, need no further words about how miserable their fate will be.

Marrying them off to military households gives them a guarantee of safety.

It can also ease the military households' longing and stabilize military morale.

After all, no matter how realistic the silicone, it cannot compare to true carbon-based life.

The women said nothing, their eyes vacant and lifeless.

After traveling several hundred li, exhausted and hungry and tormented by the Hu captors, they were already worn out in body and spirit.

Lin Dao ordered: "Send some potato mash over; let them eat something to take to the camp."

Liu Hu first received the order, picked up the walkie-talkie to relay the command.

Then he asked: "Lord, near Ye City, the groups sending women for interception are increasing more and more. Besides military households, what about regular soldiers, civilian laborers, and refugees—can they be married off?"

The military households under Lin Dao's command received extremely generous treatment.

One could say they were at the ceiling level of this world.

Not only were they free from worry over daily food and clothing, but military merit on the battlefield could earn them enormous rewards.

Without question, they were the most sought-after catches in the marriage market.

With the increase of newly attached refugees, most of the regular soldiers and military households under Lin Dao's command had already ended their single lives.

Reserve regular soldiers, and even civilian laborers and refugees, could not compare with military households at all.

"Those who marry on their own, that is their own ability."

Lin Dao smiled on his face, but the words he spoke were without mercy: "The military households fight and sell their lives for me; giving them the best treatment, high rewards, and arranging marriages are all only right."

"Only when they receive benefits, are full and well-fed with grateful hearts, can they then continue to sell their lives for me."

"Military household regular soldiers are my own people; if I do not give preferential treatment to my own people first, who will sell their lives for me?"

The treatment Lin Dao provided to the military households was, by the standards of this era, so high as to be beyond words.

Correspondingly, it greatly reduced the possibility of the military households being incited and lured away.

To lure away his soldiers, or incite them to rebellion, they would at least have to produce better material conditions and treatment first.

Otherwise, even if the Sima Family's Emperor came personally to take people, the military households would chop him up.

Following whoever offers more benefits, experiencing it personally is the most direct; do they really think the military households are fools~~~

"Regular soldiers, civilian laborers, refugees—give them something to eat, and they will call me Lord."

Lin Dao saw clearly: "If someone else gives more, they will immediately run away."

"Before they prove their worth, raising their treatment will only draw dissatisfaction from the military household regular soldiers."

Also, dangling these benefits and treatment before them can stimulate their motivation.

If they want better treatment, they can bring back the head of a Hu captive from the battlefield.

On the road back to the camp, Lin Dao's gaze fell upon those wild people on the Cang Ye wilderness.

"They have been forced to become ghosts while still alive."

"All Hu people deserve to die!"

On the road to Ye City, everything Lin Dao saw and heard along the way was shocking.

Red-eyed wild dogs were digging for food in the fields.

They dug up bones of unknown origin, grabbed them, and ran off.

Along the way, starving corpses could be seen collapsed by the roadside; after death, not even an intact corpse remained.

The wilderness that was once good farmland was now desolate beyond recognition.

Weeds grew thick, nearly barren.

The irrigation channels that once flowed with clear water were silted up and blocked, no longer serving their former function.

The various carefully crafted agricultural tools had become toys for Hu children to play with.

The villages and settlements passed by were nearly all ruins, with foxes and rats coming and going, like a den of ghosts.

"This damnable world; it's all the fault of the Hu captors."

Lin Dao shook his head, fierce light in his eyes: "Wherever they are, upon seeing Hu captors, beat them to death!"

All the way to the temporary residence of the central army, a dilapidated county city.

The brick city wall had collapsed; the narrow moat within reeked horribly, with white bones faintly visible in the silt.

The off-road vehicle drove slowly, and the stench assailed them.

On both sides of the official road outside the city stood dozens or hundreds of wooden poles.

Hanging from them were long wind-dried heads, flies swarming around them, their expressions hideous.

"Master." Liu Hu, riding outside the car window, spoke up to report, "The Hu bandits enforce severe laws and punishments, with killings running rampant."

"They often use massacre to intimidate."

Local governance in this chaotic era, especially the Hu bandits' governance, has nothing like morality or fairness to speak of.

In dealing with commoners, they usually rely on killing to terrify.

Lin Dao said nothing, driving his carriage all the way into the city, passing through the narrow city gate onto streets paved with shattered stones and overflowing with sewage.

The dilapidated houses on both sides of the street were either long abandoned or had their doors and windows tightly shut.

At the foot of the walls, starving refugees with hollow eyes watched the endless stream of begging soldiers passing by.

The grain price in Ye City had already reached two gold cakes per peck.

In the county city not far from Ye City, let alone having gold cakes, even if one had gold cakes, one could not buy grain.

Pangu above, who knows what these people eat to survive!

Lin Dao remained silent all the way, not because he was frightened, but because he was seething with anger.

He came to Yonghe Spacetime, and most of the time he was with the begging soldiers.

Although the begging soldiers were also miserable, they still had at least some organization and a bottom line for survival.

This made Lin Dao mistakenly think that this was the bottom line of this cruel world.

Only now did he see what a true bottom line was.

How could a person of the Lord of All Things be so miserable!

Before the troops arrived, the county magistrates and officials in the city who could run had all run away.

Those who could not escape, along with those harboring侥幸 hoping to curry favor, knelt outside the yamen waiting.

Lin Dao stopped the carriage, got off, and walked toward the inside of the yamen.

Passing by those county clerks, he merely glanced at them.

After entering the county office, he spoke to instruct.

"Those clerks outside, hammer them all."

End of Chapter