After seeing these people off, Shan and the others were very worried.

Although they were worried before, they felt at ease when Qiao Yu was with them. Now that Qiao Yu didn't go with them and let them go out on their own, they still felt uneasy.

"There are so many people here, what are you afraid of?" Qiao Yu said, "It's snowing heavily, and the people from the Sun Tribe aren't out strolling. As long as we don't run into them, we'll be fine."

Everyone thought the same thing and changed the subject: "As for the prisoners, do they want us to do ideological work on them?"

"Not for now," Qiao Yu said. "Don't get close to them. Stay in the residential area. It would be troublesome if they took you hostage."

Everyone was shocked when they heard this: "No, no way?"

"In the past, the Stone Tribe was helpless after being captured. If they escaped, they would become exiles. If the people of the God Tribe escaped, they could go to the Sun Tribe and tip them off. Then both our forces would be attacked," Qiao Yu said. "Nothing can happen in the tribe until they return."

As soon as these words were spoken, the elders did not dare to approach the place where the prisoners were held, and they also strictly controlled the women and children, not allowing them to get close to there.

Fifty men guarded the place day and night. Even when they needed to rest, they would sleep in the next room and not return to the residential area. Qiao Yu also moved into an empty room there.

The number of guards remained about the same; the captives had no idea so many members of the Dragon Tribe had left to retrieve their wives and children. They were confined to their rooms, and although they had little to eat—only a bowl of yam soup morning and night—it was quite tasty, with a little dried meat and ginger in it. Drinking it hot, it warmed them to the bone.

Fearing they might start a fire, Qiao Yu didn't dare to make them a charcoal fire, but the tribe had plenty of rabbit and goat skins, so he gave them some. Together with the bedding they brought with them, it was enough to get them through the cold nights.

Therefore, apart from being half-hungry and half-full, their lives were not that difficult.

The only thing they missed was their wives and children in the tribe.

On the second day of captivity, someone finally couldn't help himself and said to the person who brought him food, "What are your plans for our wives and children? Don't you want to take them in too and increase the population of your tribe?"

Qiao Yu had the doors of each cell locked with wood from the outside and usually did not allow the guards to enter the room.

The only close contact was when they were distributing food. Fearing some might overeat and starve to death, Qiao Yu required the distributors to simply pour the soup directly into their own wooden bowls. Whenever this happened, three men would point bows and arrows at the queue. If anyone moved, they would be shot.

Therefore, these are the only people the prisoners can come into contact with every day, and they can only express their demands to these people.

Dian and Qiang were both highly regarded by Qiao Yu for their military talents. Dian had proven his abilities, so Qiao Yu asked him to accompany him to the Divine Tribe to retrieve the troops. Man became the team leader, while Liushui and Dian became deputy team leaders.

Qiang stayed in the Dragon Tribe and became Qiao Yu's deputy.

Qiang did not rely on anyone else, but distributed the food himself and also did ideological work for the prisoners.

"We don't know about this. The chief didn't tell us." Qiang said, "We are only guarding you. We don't know anything else. But I will bring your words to the chief."

Of course, simply denying hope is not going to work. So the next day, when these people brought up the matter again, he said, "Our leader is ready to send someone to pick up your wives and children. He said your wives and children will be treated the same as you. You are captives, so when they arrive in the tribe, they will only receive the same treatment as the families of captives. You are tribal members, so they will receive the same treatment as everyone else."

He tapped the barrel with a wooden spoon and said, "See? Everyone in our tribe eats this kind of food. Of course, we put more meat, more yams, and chestnuts. The broth tastes better. And even the poorest people in the tribe can eat their fill."

"Also, we have a kang. What is a kang? It's a place built inside a house for sleeping. A fire is burned underneath, and the heat flows through the passages to warm the entire kang. Even without animal skins, it's still very warm. Sometimes you'll sweat when you sleep on it in the snow."

"Is this how you lived in the God Tribe? Now that you've been taken captive, what are you still thinking? We in the Dragon Tribe are not like the God Tribe. We take people captive and treat them differently, oppressing and enslaving them even if they behave themselves. Here, we treat everyone the same."

As he spoke, he pointed at the man holding an arrow pointed at everyone and said, "Look, do you recognize him? He's from the Stone Tribe. His tribe attacked the Valley Tribe and was captured by them. After that, they surrendered honestly and willingly became members of the tribe. Now they live in the same houses and eat the same food as everyone else. Those who are capable have even become team leaders."

"Oh, by the way, being a team leader here isn't based on connections, but on ability. In other words, everyone earns their living based on their own abilities. I'm an example of this."

He then listed all the people who had become team leaders from the Stone Tribe and the Shanyin Tribe to prove that what he said was true.

The people of the larger tribes had always disdained to associate with the smaller tribes, and didn't care who they were. Therefore, they were unfamiliar with the names Qiang mentioned. However, the captives now knew that the Dragon Tribe was composed of the Valley Tribe, the Stone Tribe, and the part of the Shanyin Tribe led by Ming.

Someone asked curiously, "When the Shanyin tribe came to the Long tribe, what kind of treatment did the Long tribe give them?"

A member of the Sanyin tribe, holding a bow and arrow, said, "We are not captives. We joined voluntarily. Therefore, there is no observation period. However, we still have to rely on our own abilities to make a living. We built our own houses, and we must participate in all kinds of tribal labor to have food. Even the Ming people did the same."

Qiang then told them about Ming, Heiye, and Hui. By then, the food in the bucket had been distributed, so he didn't waste any words and simply turned around and left the cell, locking the door.

"Hey, we want to..." Before the people of the Divine Tribe could finish their words of surrender, they were separated from the house by the wooden door.

Of course, even if they finished speaking, Qiang would pretend not to hear.

The tribe is now empty. If we release them, seeing the Dragon Tribe's lack of warriors, they'll surely harbor evil thoughts. Whether they surrender or not is a matter of words, and shouldn't be taken seriously. We need to use this time to temper their tempers and wear down their tribal arrogance before they can be tamed.