Chapter 395: Coercion

As for the villagers, the able-bodied men were drafted into the army, while everyone else became forced laborers serving the entire army, using Stone Axes to endlessly chop wood to provide firewood for the troops.

The teams that found the villages reduced to ashes hurried to Lanzai and reported the matter to him; Lanzai was extremely shocked, because their plan to attack Huaxia had been decided and launched almost without delay, and even these villages had only been informed one day in advance; in this era of closed communication, intelligence could not have leaked out, unless...

Lanzai immediately ordered someone to summon the village chief of this village, while he himself sat brazenly on the ground, roasting himself by the roaring fire.

The village chief came over; from the moment he was roughly called out, he had already guessed that it definitely wouldn't be anything good, and the greatest possibility was that the secret had leaked out; all he could do now was try every possible means to protect the safety of all the villagers.

The village chief was shoved in front of Lanzai, who was barefoot, resting his feet near the fire, from which a white substance—whether smoke or mist—was rising.

"Have you seen anyone from Huaxia in the last few days?"

The village chief's heart tightened, but he kept his head lowered, controlling his expression so as not to show fear: "I have not seen any."

Lanzai lifted his feet a little higher: "Do you know that several villages like yours in the surrounding area have already been reduced to ashes, with not a single living person left? Tell me, how did this happen?"

The village chief was stunned; his first thought was actually that they had been killed by Huaxia, but upon closer reflection, this was absolutely impossible; it must have been that they had acted swiftly, destroyed all the evidence themselves, and then fled to Huaxia with everyone, but unfortunately, he had not had the heart to do so.

The village chief asked with a questioning expression: "Were they all slaughtered by the people of Huaxia?"

Lanzai said with a half-smile: "That goes without saying; otherwise, could they have abandoned everything and fled? Our tribe just announced we were going to attack Huaxia, and in the blink of an eye, several villages were slaughtered, not even a single log left behind; tell me, how did this Huaxia know the news?"

The village chief's legs began to tremble, but he strained to keep them straight, not wanting Lanzai to see any flaws, even though he truly hadn't leaked the news to Huaxia, even though he had considered it.

"Leader, I... I don't know about this; you have seen it yourself, our village has been hit so hard by Huaxia that we don't even have food for the Winter now."

Lanzai still did not stand up, only saying coldly: "How about this, I will give you a chance to prove yourself; you go to Huaxia's territory and kill one of their Soldiers and bring them back; if you succeed, I will believe you; if you go and do not return, then I will deem you a traitor, and these villagers of yours will also be deemed your accomplices, not one left alive; I only give you three days, do you understand?"

Three days was the assembly time for the second batch of Soldiers estimated by their Suiren clan; regardless of the situation then, they would launch an attack.

The village chief was shocked by Lanzai's viciousness, but he was also thinking of a countermeasure; however, for him to enter this forest alone, the chance of even living to see a Huaxia Soldier was very slim.

"Leader, but if I am alone, I am afraid I won't even be able to survive the journey to Huaxia's territory; you are aware of this yourself."

Lanzai waved his hand, and the Soldiers below immediately understood and trotted away.

"You can rest assured about that; there is more than just your village here; with so many villages, each one has the possibility of sending messages to Huaxia, and I don't have the time to test them one by one; this time, let all these people go; whoever doesn't return, I will kill that village, unless one of you brings back the head of a Huaxia Soldier, only then will I consider sparing you."

After listening, the village chief could only lower his head and agree; he had no choice, and if enough people went together, they could discuss countermeasures; they already knew among themselves that others had been in contact with Huaxia, so everyone was a grasshopper on the same rope.

Not long after, the village chiefs of three more villages arrived; the other villages were still some distance away, and it would take time for them to come.

It wasn't until nightfall that everyone had arrived; Lanzai ate roasted meat and, for the few who were already so hungry their stomachs were growling, restated the rules, and after threatening them again, he let them go to rest.

The few village chiefs didn't say a word to each other on the way, because they were surrounded by Suiren clan Soldiers; if they said one wrong word, it would likely cost them their lives.

But everyone knew it in their hearts, and in their minds, they were all constantly searching for a way to change things.

Early the next morning, they were forced to hold a log and began to swim across the cold river toward Huaxia's territory; fortunately, the water volume was not high now, and the current was relatively gentle, otherwise, they would have all drowned in the river.

Their villagers had already been gathered, and they were sent into the river under the eyes of all the villagers; not one of them thought of running away, because they truly could not let go of those villagers, among whom were even their own children.

The few were carried by the current far downstream before they were able to crawl ashore, and then, after glancing at the spot where people were no longer visible, they collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

"What should we do now? So many people are waiting for us to save their lives."

Everyone remained silent, not knowing what to do; after a long while, someone finally spoke: "Are you afraid of death?"

The others replied: "We are all Soldiers, so naturally we are not afraid, but it depends on what we die for; if it is for the Suiren clan, I am certainly unwilling."

The one who had an idea said: "Only if we die can our clansmen live, do you understand?"

Even if they didn't understand at first, as soon as they thought about it, they understood what it meant; everyone sat blankly for a long while, and then someone said: "It's decided then; if we've made up our minds, let's go now, otherwise there won't be enough time; if we are late, our clansmen will also die, and besides, a person like Lanzai is likely even more outrageous than what he told us."

Everyone responded and moved, rising one after another, and began to act along the patrol routes of the Huaxia Soldiers from the past; they first had to find the traces of the Huaxia Soldiers, otherwise, they could wander in the forest for days and find nothing.

Baifeng received the news in the city and subsequently issued an order for all of Huaxia to enter a state of full combat readiness; whether it was the New City or the Old City, all matters now had to revolve around the war.