Chapter 1582: Fear and Greed

The savages became agitated, starting to shout loudly and wanting to surround the cavalry, though their speed was somewhat slow, and they were also a bit afraid of these Huaxia Soldiers riding horses.

In the end, most of the people here were just ordinary herdsmen with no great combat capability; those with combat capability were the larger tribes. Small tribes like theirs had no advantages and were not valued, and since they had to hand over large amounts of supplies to the Shenhu Tribe every year, it was difficult for them to develop.

Handing over too much meant they had nothing to eat themselves, and failing to develop meant they remained weak; once weak, they would not be valued by the Shenhu Tribe, and weapons, salt, and better territories would not fall to them, ultimately forming a vicious cycle and becoming weaker and weaker.

Among them, Tuomao's tribe was considered relatively well-off because he had figured things out early on, handing over only a small amount of supplies each year. As for punishment, it never fell on his head anyway, because he would never go to the Shenhu Tribe in person to deliver things.

In the past, he had been to the Shenhu Tribe a few times, which was why he knew just how wealthy the Shenhu Tribe was. Now, he didn't even want to go to the Yantu Festival, just sending someone to make a token appearance; in any case, the Shenhu Tribe wouldn't care about a small tribe like his.

Now, he was also the most powerful one among these tribes gathered by Wulian, so his voice naturally carried more weight. According to his original plan, after developing for another ten years or so, he would be able to become a relatively larger tribe, and by then, he would be qualified to obtain more resources from the Wulenge Tribe.

He had no intention of being overly loyal to the Wulenge Tribe; he just wanted to obtain more resources and conduct fairer trades, which could only be done with the Shenhu Tribe, because only they could provide so much salt and better weapons. A powerful tribe could simply suffer fewer losses during such "trades," because the Shenhu Tribe still hoped that more large tribes would emerge within their own people, as that was a good thing for the entire tribe.

However, he was a bit unlucky now because he had encountered Huaxia. The plan he had painstakingly plotted for many years was about to fall through. Unfortunately, he was still unaware of this; he thought that relying on the strength of these tribes was enough to take down Huaxia, and he had even prepared to share the wealth of Huaxia with these tribes.

As for the other tribes, Tuomao didn't have any other thoughts, because they were all the same kind of people who could help each other; they were true allies, and since they were close to one another, they could manage to help each other.

What's more, Tuomao had said those words, and they had also killed Wulian's subordinates together; now they were completely in the same Boat, so they had to be even more united. As for the later distribution of Huaxia's spoils, it had to be fair enough—what was due was due. He did not intend to rely on his own strength to take advantage, as he could not let his greed ruin the great future cause.

The cavalry Small Team crested the last small hill and saw more livestock and people. Because they had heard the warning, they were already gathering, driving the livestock to other places, and the Soldiers holding Weapons were ready to fight the Huaxia cavalry.

The cavalrymen were not panicked at all, but they did draw the Changdao at their waists. This was to allow for quick attacks in case of conflict, but they acted on the principle of not using force unless necessary, because this time, they were still there to scout the situation first—to understand the population size, number of Soldiers, Weapon configuration, and distribution here. The vanguard must be fierce, but also steady.

They rode their horses, leading these people along, and they were heading toward the direction of Tuomao and his men, though they did not know who Tuomao was; it was just an unintentional act.

Watching the Huaxia people charging toward him, Tuomao was still very nervous. He did not think that the few people around him had the ability to withstand such strange Huaxia people.

Thus, they hurriedly called out to the surrounding Soldiers, letting them gather around him. Soon, dozens of people were lined up, shielding Tuomao and his men behind them, waiting in full battle array.

Such an abnormal situation naturally could not escape the eyes of the cavalrymen. Being able to gather so many people certainly meant that the place was important, so they straightened their direction, and several cavalrymen all rode in unison toward Tuomao's direction.

At the last bit of safe distance from Tuomao and his men, the cavalrymen stopped their horses. Behind them, the savages of the Wulenge Tribe were still chasing, but their speed was a bit slow and the distance was a bit far.

And those savage Soldiers did not dare to act rashly, holding Spears in their hands, pointing them at the cavalry, and taking a defensive posture.

"Hey! Is there anyone among you who can understand what I'm saying? Come out!"

The savages looked at each other, but they could not understand.

Tuomao reached out his hand from behind: "Ao ai! Which tribe are you from? Tell me why you want to come to our Wulenge Tribe's territory? With just these few of you, are you here to die?"

The Small Team leader was riding on a horse, his field of vision high, and Tuomao could not hide in the back, so he pointed at Tuomao with the cold-glinting Changdao in his hand: "You can understand, right? Let your Tribal Chief come out and speak!"

If a horse being ridden by someone brought surprise and envy to these savages, then this Changdao brought fear and greed to them. Although they knew this Weapon must be very powerful, its value was simply too high; how could they not be tempted?

It was like you holding a Hanyang-style rifle while the opponent has a golden AK, and the 24k pure gold kind at that. Regardless of whether pure gold can or is suitable for making a Weapon, just say whether it is valuable or not, and whether you are envious or not. You know your own Weapon is far inferior to the opponent's, but you also think that if you fire the Iron Sand from your Hanyang-style rifle, you might have a chance to kill him and then obtain the gold he drops, right?

The savages had exactly this mindset now; the left eye was fear, the right eye was greed. Tuomao was no exception. How could he not like such a beautiful, precious-looking Weapon?

"I am the Tribal Chief here, Tuomao! What do you have to say?"

"I think you had better put down your Weapons and give me the mountain winds you are riding. I can let you not die. Look, my Soldiers behind you have already surrounded you."

The Small Team leader was not panicked at all and even showed off his Weapon: "Oh, you like this, right? Well, what good things have you savages of the Wulenge Tribe ever seen?"

"I came here just to notify you. Our Huaxia Regiment has already arrived, preparing to attack your Wulenge Tribe and wipe you out. We accept surrender, so you can have fewer people die and suffer less."