Chapter 397: Seeking Death

The Soldier used his Knife to prop himself up on the ground, looked at the few people who were incredibly weak, sighed, and asked, "Then what is your solution? Do you expect us to assemble a large force to go and hack at the Suiren Clan and rescue those villagers?"

The Village Chief shook his head, stared at the Knife in the Soldier's hand, and said, "It's very simple. Lanzai must be very clear on this too: with just us few, it is impossible to kill fully armed Soldiers like you, so it is normal for us to die. Therefore, our idea is for you to kill us, take our heads, throw them in front of Lanzai, and tell him that we have been killed by you, and you must act very angry. In that case, Lanzai will at most curse us for being incompetent, but he won't call us traitors. Only in this way can our clansmen obtain safety."

After hearing this, the Soldiers' eyes widened, feeling it was somewhat absurd, yet it seemed credible. However, these people were now considered their allies, and they could not bring themselves to take action against them. Thus, they subconsciously said, "This method won't work, let's think of another way. There must be a better method. If it really doesn't work, we'll go back and ask the King; the King will surely be able to think of a suitable method."

But the few Village Chiefs all had sorrowful expressions, yet they were not afraid at all: "It's useless. This is the best method. Even if the King of Huaxia has a better way, it's too late now. If you take our heads and rush over now, you should still be in time to save the people. If you dawdle any longer, I fear we will all have died in vain."

Upon hearing this, the Soldiers were still somewhat unwilling. The lead Soldier was moved after hearing it, but now they could only proceed according to the Village Chief's method. He drew his Changdao from the dirt, but he was not very willing to do it.

The Village Chief saw his struggle, so he stepped forward directly, used his last bit of strength to grip the back of the blade, placed the Knife against his own neck, and simultaneously thrust his neck forward. His throat was severed instantly, blood began to spray out, and it splashed all over the Soldiers in front.

Seeing that the first one had already gone, the remaining Village Chiefs also stood up, let the Soldier closest to them do it, and instructed them to be quick so they would suffer less pain.

The Soldiers had no choice but to let the Village Chiefs get what they wished for; they raised their Long Swords high and cleanly chopped off their heads.

Only the last Village Chief stopped the Soldier who intended to act against him. Everyone thought he was a coward who wanted to go back on his word at the last minute, and they all intended to just do it directly, regardless of whether he was willing or not.

As a result, he said, "Don't kill me yet. Kill me in front of Lanzai, and the method must be cruel. Only then can Lanzai be completely put at ease. It doesn't even matter if you nail my corpse to a tree; use me to insult the Suiren Clan to your heart's content."

After hearing these words, everyone's hearts were struck once again. They never expected that these people could go to such lengths for their own clansmen.

The Soldiers said no more, pulled him up, and then gave him water and food so he could eat his fill; only then would he have the strength to keep up with the forced march that followed.

The Village Chief did not decline; he ate and drank heartily. After he was full, he looked at the several headless corpses on the ground with a self-deprecating tone and said, "I am smarter than you all; at least before I died, I ate a full meal."

After saying this, he waved his hand and let all the Soldiers follow him; he knew the way they had come.

But after walking only two steps, he was pulled back: "Just tell us the direction they are in; we are the most familiar with this place and know the shortest way to go."

The Village Chief came to his senses; that was true, this was Huaxia's territory, and he couldn't possibly be more familiar with it than they were. Thus, he pointed out a direction and said that Lanzai was stationed there.

The Soldiers knew the direction, so they had the team carry the few heads and began a forced march. Because they were sufficiently familiar with this area, they even dared to run through the night until they reached a rest point.

Everyone ate a little something simple and then took turns resting. Before dawn on the third day, they set off again. The morning dew was heavy, soaking everyone's feet, but no one cared at all; they only cared about the time.

When they arrived, they discovered a large group of people on the opposite bank of the river, being driven along the riverside. However, the guard was not strict. The Village Chief excitedly said that these were the people from their villages, and they were not in danger yet; they were so lucky.

However, after observing from the outside, his expression turned grim again because he discovered that there were more and more people from the Suiren Clan; perhaps another batch of Soldiers had gathered. The current Suiren Clan's power was truly too great; for Huaxia, it was no different from a disaster.

Seeing that the time was about right, the Village Chief directly had the Huaxia Soldiers take him into custody, told them to be rougher, and then had them walk out.

Sure enough, just after they left the woods, the Suiren Clan's Soldiers discovered this group, so they immediately shouted loudly to pass on the news.

Lanzai, having heard of the enemy situation, also hurriedly left his hut and looked toward the Huaxia Soldiers. Wherever his gaze landed, besides the Huaxia Soldiers, he also saw the heads carried in the Huaxia Soldiers' hands, as well as a person being held in custody.

Before Lanzai could even open his mouth, the Huaxia side started cursing: "Hey! You Suiren Clan are pathetic. Such a large tribe, and you only sent these few people to attack our Huaxia? What were you thinking? It's perfect now; what I'm holding in my hand are the heads of your Soldiers, and there's a live one here too. Do you want to see how we torture him?"

Lanzai had a temper too: "Huaxia people, don't go too far. These pieces of trash are dead, so what? What is the meaning of you dragging him here, and carrying these dead men's heads? What do you want to do? I have tens of thousands of Soldiers behind me who can wipe out you Huaxia people at any time!"

The Huaxia Soldiers were not afraid at all; after all, there was still a river between them, and it wouldn't be easy for the Suiren Clan to cross. Moreover, even if they all crossed, they would still have time to run. Attracting the Suiren Clan toward the Old City was also one of their main tasks.

The Huaxia Soldiers saw that there were no problems now, so they didn't intend to torture the last Village Chief anymore; they planned to let him die quickly and painlessly. In any case, the goal had basically been achieved.

They pulled the Village Chief over, facing Lanzai, and without caring at all about his verbal abuse, they slowly drew their Knife. Just at the moment they were about to strike, the Village Chief shouted to the crowd: "Don't be afraid!"

This shout startled the Huaxia Soldier, and the Knife stopped without striking. Just as he was puzzled, the Village Chief whispered: "Hurry and strike, what are you waiting for!"