Chapter 451: Is Baoxi Dead?

Xiong and his group began their journey early the next day, determined to reach New City by nightfall so they could have a good sleep in the city; they all missed the comfortable heated kang and stoves, and did not want to camp out in the wilderness anymore.

At a pre-arranged meeting point along the way, Xuanyuan received the grain that the Soldiers had traded for. Facing the Soybean Oil, Xuanyuan was also somewhat confused, but after the Soldiers explained it multiple times and Xuanyuan tried it himself, he concluded that they had not been cheated. To make it easier to carry on the road, they transferred all the Soybean Oil into Bamboo Tubes and gourds, and then Xuanyuan continued his journey without stopping.

Although Zhishou was old, his pace was not slow at all. He could lead Xuanyuan and his group through the wilderness at a very fast speed; as long as Xuanyuan avoided the Suiren and Huaxia people and remained undiscovered, there would be no problems.

By nightfall, Xiong finally saw the gates of New City. If it weren't for the fact that they had already traveled for a long time and were lacking food, they could have reached Huaxia even faster.

After entering the city, Xiong and his group found the receptionists with ease and settled their team. The others who had newly joined Huaxia were still immersed in the shock that New City had brought them, unable to extricate themselves. That night, everyone, including the two tribes that had followed them, ate the first full meal of their lives—and not the kind that was just water-filled. Everyone was so happy they cried, believing that their choice was truly not wrong.

However, Xiong still told them to continue camping at the Threshing Ground for the night and that they would have to continue their journey to New City tomorrow; this was not their final destination, as their true destination was an even larger city.

Upon hearing this, everyone exclaimed in surprise. A city like this already made them feel it was too incredible, something they couldn't even imagine, yet there was actually an even larger city.

The government of New City had no authority to dispose of these newcomers; they had to go to the Ministry of Revenue in Old City to register first, and then be assigned according to each person's abilities.

Those women they had traded for from the Jiangshui Tribe would, in any case, be able to have a good home. Although Huaxia was still in a situation where there were more women than men, they would not dislike having more women. More women meant that the population growth rate would be faster, whereas having more men would not play a significant role in population growth.

Because these women were all in the middle age range, the older generation of Huaxia would likely be unable to be matched with them. However, the younger generation had not yet fully grown, and their marriage partners would be women of their own age; because they were all educated, their offspring would only be more outstanding.

As for the middle age range in Huaxia, there was a gap of nearly ten years. How these women would be distributed would be left to Baifeng and the Ministry of Revenue to handle. For Xiong, as long as he brought the people, it was a merit.

With Xiong as a guarantor, the people of the Twelve Tribes and the other two tribes were accepted, and they could join Huaxia as ordinary Citizens. As for the two tribes that followed, they would one hundred percent be turned into Slaves. There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world, but it allowed Huaxia to exchange for a group of laborers who could be utilized to the greatest extent at the lowest cost.

And those people were completely ignorant of their future fate; they were still immersed in the happiness brought by a full meal.

Xuanyuan had already reached the territory of the Suiren through waterways and then by land. This place was infinitely close to the territory of Huaxia, so Xuanyuan acted with extra caution, because he believed that after the great battle between Huaxia and the Suiren, there would definitely be many Soldiers patrolling here.

The Suiren had not yet had the chance to question the Xuanyuan Tribe, so how did they know that the war between Huaxia and the Suiren had ended? There was no other reason; it was just that in the section of the Dahe within their borders, there were many, many corpses drifting every day, bloated from soaking, feeling like they could burst at any moment, while some were incomplete from being gnawed on by creatures in the water.

Even though the Soldiers of the Xuanyuan Tribe were accustomed to war and used to seeing the dead, seeing such a gruesome scene still left them not daring to go near the river for many days. After all, the impact of a normal-looking corpse versus a bloated corpse was not on the same level at all.

The water in the river also left them with a shadow. For the next year, no one dared to drink the water from the river. This indirectly led to a massive decrease in the number of people in the Xuanyuan Tribe suffering from stomach aches and various strange illnesses. All of this was observed by a man named Qibo, and this phenomenon was also observed by him.

Since childhood, Qibo had been studying various phenomena of the human body and was also obsessed with learning from Shennong. He also often tasted various Grass, which allowed him to notice some different things.

After the corpses gradually stopped appearing, Xuanyuan determined that the war between the two tribes had completely ended, and the corpses were all from the Suiren; he did not see a single person from Huaxia. Although Xuanyuan was already clear about the combat power of Huaxia, this result still surprised him greatly; he had thought that Huaxia would at least suffer relatively large losses.

Qibo was also in this team looking for Guangchengzi; he also wanted to learn about the "Dao" to see if he could resolve his own confusion.

After reaching the border, Xuanyuan slowed down his pace, and Soldiers had to scout the path first; only after confirming there was no danger would they continue to advance.

But after advancing for half a day, they all heard very noisy sounds. So, without seeing anyone, they immediately climbed up trees and broke off some branches to block themselves. Although the branches had no leaves now, it was better than not covering themselves at all.

Soon the sound grew closer, and in their field of vision, a team of Suiren people appeared. They were acting in a flustered state, without any of the composure that a qualified Soldier should have.

Xuanyuan thought that the Suiren and Huaxia had clashed at the border again, but a person being carried in the team caught his attention. However, limited by distance and line of sight, he did not see clearly who was being carried.

After the Suiren team moved away, the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe climbed down from the trees one after another, and Xuanyuan asked the surrounding Soldiers: "Did any of you see who that person they were carrying was?"

Xuanyuan's great general Limu quickly said: "Tribal Chief, I saw it. It is Baoxi, and looking at his state, it seems he is dead!"

Xuanyuan was shocked: "Dead! Are you really sure that Baoxi is dead?"

Limu nodded very firmly: "I am sure it is Baoxi. He was tied to a chair with rattan and carried, and he didn't react at all; he is definitely dead."