Chapter 1380: Interrogating Prisoners of War

The battlefield had been cleared, but one could see that those people from the Jiang Surname Tribe who had already fled far away were standing still again, seemingly watching, perhaps testing to see if the Heavenly Thunder could strike as far as their position.

Shaoyin did not care about this; in this wave of attacks, he had zero deaths and only a few minor injuries, so the losses could be considered completely negligible, while the results were illustrious.

Aside from these half-dead prisoners of war, the most important thing was, of course, the intimidation they exerted on the Jiang Surname Tribe; this operation undoubtedly told them that in his own hands, he could release the Heavenly Thunder they feared most at any time—come if you dare, and see if you can win.

It also confirmed the suspicions of the high-level members of both tribes: the enemy intended to blockade their retreat route and water source. They had failed this time, but they might attack again next time, perhaps with even greater force, because once they seized the water source, they could completely besiege Huaxia and the Xuanyuan Tribe on the mountain.

But these were only suspicions for now; Shaoyin changed the weapon in his hand to a Knife and asked a prisoner, "Which tribe are you from? The Jiang Surname Tribe, or the Jiebing Tribe?"

"The Jiang Cheng Tribe!" The Soldier did not hide it, as this was something everyone knew; there were no other tribes here.

"Why did you come here to blockade us?" Shaoyin continued to ask.

The Soldier just said with disdain, "Isn't it expected that we would blockade you? Why is there any need to ask that?"

Shaoyin was not polite, moving the Knife closer to the prisoner's hand: "Do not show your courage at a time like this; you are already a prisoner. As long as you cooperate with my questioning, you can receive treatment and survive."

"Once you arrive at our Huaxia, you can even live better than in your Jiang Cheng Tribe; at the very least, I can let you eat your fill so you won't starve to death."

The prisoner looked at Shaoyin as if he were an idiot; who would believe such words? They were from the central tribe of the Shennong Clan, and even they couldn't always eat their fill. Now, a tribe he had never heard of was saying they could let them, the prisoners, eat their fill—wasn't this purely a joke?

Not eating them as prisoners would be considered quite good. Although Shaoyin was dressed so luxuriously and used such a good Weapon, everyone's inherent concept was that no matter how good things were, they couldn't be worn by an ordinary Soldier. The person in front of him must be some Noble or Leader, otherwise, how could he possess such good things?

Until many years later, those among the prisoners who survived would recall what Shaoyin said at this time; none of them thought it was true, yet he really hadn't lied to them. As for those who didn't believe it at the time, it was hard to say if they were unlucky or just to be pitied.

Shaoyin also felt that he couldn't get through to them. Although he really hadn't told a lie or made empty promises, such things, when spoken aloud, really wouldn't be believed by anyone, so Shaoyin was not annoyed.

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe it, but I can guarantee you will survive, as long as you can answer my questions."

The prisoners all had an air of resignation: "Ask whatever you want."

"What did you come here for?"

The prisoner pointed into the distance: "Isn't it obvious? We were afraid you would escape, so we surrounded you. I believe our Soldiers will continue to surround you, and then you will definitely not be able to escape."

Shaoyin countered: "You didn't come to seize our water source?"

The prisoner was stunned: "Your water source is here too?"

But he suddenly felt he had said too much, so he immediately turned his head away and stopped speaking.

Shaoyin was now basically certain that their water source had not been exposed; these people were simply here to besiege them, and it was just a coincidence that they had run into each other, but their retreat route was equally important.

"How many Soldiers does your tribe have this time?"

The prisoner no longer answered, just blindly turning his head away.

Shaoyin placed the Knife on the prisoner's neck. The prisoner felt something very sharp placed against his skin, and felt his skin being sliced open a little; the pain set in, making him instinctively dodge backward, and the fear of death made his body tremble slightly.

"You really won't say? If you don't, you won't have a chance to live!" Shaoyin threatened him for the last time.

The prisoner's legs began to tremble, as if he were struggling. The other prisoners saw this, but they were equally afraid. At this time, there were no History Books to help one keep secrets; only courage and concern for one's tribe mattered. If one loved their own life more than the tribe, they could naturally speak, as there was no such word as 'traitor' yet.

At most, one would be cursed as a coward or a rat, but what was the use if one's life was gone? Therefore, in this era, as long as the threat was sufficient, there were still many people willing to give an answer.

It was just that Shaoyin did not have that much time to let him think. Since he was unwilling to speak, Shaoyin did not make things difficult for him; he pressed the Knife down firmly and drew it across. The prisoner's carotid artery and trachea were severed, blood began to spray out, and the prisoner could not speak even if he wanted to, only blindly clutching his own neck.

Shaoyin pointed the Knife at the next prisoner. That prisoner had already been sprayed in the face with blood by the tribesman next to him, and combined with the fear of the Heavenly Thunder, he was already terrified and had no courage to resist at all.

"Then you tell me."

"I... I... I will tell..."

Shaoyin waited for the answer, but the prisoner did not answer for a long time. Shaoyin raised the Knife, and the prisoner was terrified again: "What... what should I... say?"

"How many Soldiers does your tribe have, and the other Jiang Surname Tribe, the Jiebing Tribe, tell me about the situation."

The prisoner was terrified: "I don't... know... I can't count that high... but, but, we are the same as... last year... the Jiebing, the Jiebing Tribe is just a... a little bit bigger than us..."

Shaoyin did not think he was lying, because it would be strange if someone could state the number of their own tribe and other tribes all at once. Only Soldiers like those of Huaxia, who had basically received some education and could roughly estimate numbers and had no trouble counting, could state them accurately.

It was better for tribes descended from the Fuxi Clan; according to the King, at that time, the Fuxi Clan drew the River Chart and Luo Script, which established that after counting to ten, one should carry over, counting to eleven, which is why it is called base-ten.

Some more primitive tribes that did not belong to the descendants of the Fuxi Clan did not use base-ten; they might carry over after counting to seven. Even if they could state a crisp and accurate number, it would not be the same as the accurate numbers of tribes like Huaxia.

And this was not something Baifeng was just saying, as they had already encountered such tribes.