Chapter 322: Chapter 271: Promised Land
Among these people from the west—of course, they wouldn’t call themselves barbarians; they refer to themselves as the divine chosen people, favored by God. And in the words of these divine chosen people, they are destined to reach that land flowing with milk and honey, their original homeland and eternal abode.
There will be no famine or disaster on that land; they can freely multiply and live, doing whatever they desire. That land flows with milk and honey, so sweet and wonderful, it is practically a dream home for everyone.
Of course, these divine chosen people are not foolish enough to publicly declare their ideas within the borders of Dengzhou, but as the overseer of Dengzhou, Bai Wujiu doesn’t rely solely on local intelligence. Soon, spies heading west brought news of these barbarians from the desert.
"Is there such a place in Southern Chen? How come I didn’t know?"
After reviewing the reports submitted by his subordinates, Bai Wujiu also understood the true desires of these barbarians — although such matters seemed to him like a fool’s dream. How deteriorated Southern Chen has become; isn’t he aware?
Coming to Southern Chen looking for a "land flowing with milk and honey," clearly something is wrong with their heads. But it doesn’t matter; the Evil Qi lunatics and mutated monsters will teach these barbarians a lesson.
Compared to these insignificant barbarian caravans, he had more important matters to attend to, like Southern Chen, the grassland people, and Forget Sorrow Village.
The reaction of Southern Chen remains sluggish, like a headless zombie devoid of reasoning. But it is precisely this sluggishness that leaves Bai Wujiu at a loss for action — a chance for rebellion was wasted once, and who knows when a good opportunity might arise again.
As for the grassland people, though they lost their Khan, who served as their mind, they still seem like an undying centipede. All the chieftains are eyeing the Khan’s position, but after so long in a standoff, some have developed ulterior motives. For example, the Copper Bull Tribe, near Dengzhou, directly sent emissaries indicating their intent to cooperate, stating they didn’t mind the previous caravan being intercepted as long as they could collaborate.
"How did they just get wiped out?"
Bai Wujiu couldn’t comprehend what was being said for a moment, given he was planning to observe the situation further, how did that grassland caravan suddenly die off?
It shouldn’t be his doing, nor his subordinates’, and currently, there seems to be no force within Dengzhou capable of eliminating those grassland people.
"Could it be Forget Sorrow Village?"
Bai Wujiu pondered for a while before arriving at a plausible answer.
Being able to, within the bounds of Dengzhou, in complete secrecy, wipe out a caravan disguised as grassland riders seems like something only Forget Sorrow Village could achieve — after all, it’s easy for them to wipe out five hundred archers of Dengzhou; eliminating some grassland riders is as simple as eating and drinking.
"These grassland riders must have resumed their old ways, no wonder the Copper Bull Tribe is apologizing."
Bai Wujiu shook his head; such occurrences are not unusual. After all, in such a northern vicinity like Dengzhou, half of the bandits are disguised grassland people, and the other half are Chen people disguised as grassland people — in the city, everyone seems to conduct business properly, but in the wild, most would readily draw their blades.
If someone dies, they say it’s the work of Evil Qi monsters; who can question an Evil Qi monster for testimony? No one can.
"In any case, the next time a caravan from Forget Sorrow Village comes through, remember to apologize to them, and send the Copper Bull Tribe’s compensation as well."
After a moment of thought, Bai Wujiu made this decision.
Throughout the whole process, he didn’t consider those barbarians or the land flowing with milk and honey.
After all, such a place couldn’t possibly exist. Instead of wasting thought on a fool’s dream, it would be better to focus on pressing business.
But, does it really not exist?
"Who mentioned wanting milk and honey earlier? Step forward."
In Forget Sorrow Village, below the academy’s hill, a visibly angry Du Chengfeng was calling out names.
Under Du Chengfeng’s scrutiny, several villagers hesitantly stepped forward with embarrassed expressions.
"Anyone else?"
Du Chengfeng didn’t stop there, continuing to scan the crowd in front of him.
Hence, Liu Bolun also shamefully stepped forward.
"I just wanted to brew some mead and milk wine..."
"A great idea indeed."
Du Chengfeng sneered, then pointed at two springs not far away.
"So as agreed before, you’re responsible for drinking them."
"I..."
Liu Bolun was at a loss for words.
Before him, one spring gushed a sweet liquid resembling milk, while the other overflowed with dense, sticky honey — just the aroma wafting from afar made one’s fingers twitch, almost irresistible enough to rush forward to feast.
But, that was just a few days ago.
As for now, the aroma is overwhelmingly strong, with the sweet scent concealing a hint of decay.
Indeed, decay. After not being harvested for days, the milk and honey around the two springs began to spoil, attracting a mass of flies, buzzing incessantly—the sweet scent still serves as a distant reminder of what’s there; otherwise, people might mistake it for two open-air latrines.
"I... sigh."
With a sigh, Liu Bolun eventually lowered his head.
"I have disappointed Ruan Master’s protection."
"It’s good you understand."
Shaking his head, Du Chengfeng took out Ruan Shantao’s ashes once more.
Thus, under the prayers of Du Chengfeng and the villagers, the two springs made with Ruan Shantao’s ashes finally disappeared.
Effectively wasting two sets of ashes, which naturally enraged Du Chengfeng. What infuriated him more was that similar suggestions had been made more than once, like trees that directly grow noodles or pigs with infinite meat — evidently, having relied on Old Man Ruan’s protection for so long, everyone developed a sense of complacency, hoping something would magically appear with his blessing.
"Let this be another lesson from the Old Man for you all."
Saying this, Du Chengfeng asked Carpenter Li to fence off the spring locations and set up a sign to remind the villagers not to act foolishly.
Such matters, the villagers naturally wouldn’t spread, as the saying goes, "an innocent man gets into trouble because of his wealth." After being refugees for so long, they at least had the basic awareness of danger—once outsiders learn that life in Forget Sorrow Village is so carefree and bountiful, war would likely follow.
Yet at this moment, they all forgot that there was someone who was not a villager, who was also there.
Comments