In the quiet of the night, Zhao Zhilan would silently recite their names in her mind.

"Kato Hidenari, Takaki, Takashi Daisuke!"

She had to remind herself that these people deserved to die!

Day after day, I traveled along the lake shore, rushing by during the day and reciting my name at night, until finally the trees thinned out and rolling hills, winding streams, and sun-drenched fields appeared before me.

On the plain, the charred skeletons of several villages stand like blackened, rotten teeth.

After walking for another whole day, they finally caught a glimpse of the city gate of Wuzhong City standing on the blue lakeside.

"We've arrived at our destination!" Zhao Zhilan thought to herself.

The prisoners comforted each other, saying things would be better once they reached Wuzhong City, but Zhao Zhilan wasn't so sure.

She remembered the books about the city in the palace, and she had reason to believe that when war broke out, Dongpango's army would definitely use this place as a stronghold to confront the Great Xia army.

That is indeed the case.

They traveled for another day and finally reached the edge of the camp of the army under Kato Hiroaki of the East Pango Central Army, the western fortress of Wuzhong City.

From a distance, Wuzhong City can be misleading because it is so enormous. A massive wall rises abruptly from the lakeside, steep and precipitous like a cliff. Numerous flags are planted along the lake, atop the tents of the Dongpango soldiers.

The city gate tower of Wuzhong City is larger than the city gate of the capital, and the stone walls are cracked and faded.

Looking up, the place exuded a chilling terror.

"Will I be able to get out of here?" Zhao Zhilan couldn't help but wonder as she crossed the city gate.

~~~

On the afternoon of their first day in Wuzhong City, all the boys received a bamboo sword for training.

The Dongpango people believe that the adults of Daxia are difficult to tame and that it is risky to keep them around.

Since the minds of the children are not yet fully developed, with a little training they can be made to fight on their behalf against the Great Xia army.

Another advantage is that the Great Xia soldiers find it difficult to kill these child soldiers!

Zhao Zhilan could guess how the other women and children were treated: washing clothes, cooking, and cleaning during the day.

In the evenings, certain services can be provided to relieve the stress on the Dongpango soldiers!

As for the elderly people of Daxia, Zhao Zhilan also learned the truth from the other prisoners.

Many of the new recruits in Dongpango had never killed a living being, so frail elderly people were undoubtedly the best candidates for live training.

They would be driven somewhere to train unarmed with the Dongpango soldiers.

A training exercise that determines both victory and defeat, and life and death!

"Strike the face!"

"Striker!"

"Throat stab!"

"Strike the surface and cut back!"

"Body contact!"

The Dongpango warriors, responsible for training them, wielded their swords, while Gao Hui served as the translator.

Training sessions often last a long time, from sunrise until late at night.

According to the Dongpango people, these new recruits will soon be sent to the battlefield to fight against the Great Xia army.

For this reason, Gao Hui endlessly recounted the evils of the Great Xia rulers.

“Your emperor, Wei Maozhen, is a vicious and wicked woman!” Gao Hui shouted. “In order to ascend the throne, she did not hesitate to poison the former emperor and her own husband.”

In her early years, when she was still a concubine of the late emperor, in order to rise to the position of empress, she strangled her own daughter and framed the former empress.

"Do I have another younger sister? How come I didn't know that?"

Zhao Zhilan scoffed at this.

"The reason why our Emperor's troops were able to come here and enter as if there were no people is all thanks to this wicked woman!"

The traitor continued shouting, "She secretly made a deal with our Emperor that as long as Shu King Lin Mo is killed, Jidong will be ceded to Dongpan Ge!"

Such an emperor is utterly degenerate, a disgrace to the Great Xia Dynasty!

Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhilan fell silent.

Lin Mo's subordinates claimed that his mother had betrayed the country, but she absolutely did not believe it!

The people of Jidong accused her of betraying the country, but she still refused to believe it.

And now, the enemy state of Dongpango is saying the same thing...

"No, my mother is not that kind of person!" Zhao Zhilan tried to comfort herself, but what she saw and heard made her heart waver.

"Our Emperor Dongpango is not here to invade and ravage our Great Xia, but to eliminate Lin Mo, this Demon Lord!" Gao Hui shouted loudly. "This Lin Mo has no gods or Buddhas in his heart and has slaughtered hundreds of thousands of the gods' people."

Not only that, he also killed his own king, the Empress of Great Xia!

Therefore, our wise and mighty Emperor Dongpango must eliminate this evil tyrant and establish a new order.

And these demon's followers, his henchmen who aid and abetted his evil deeds, we must also eliminate them, strip them of their demonic skin, and let the radiance of Susanoo illuminate their hearts, purifying all corruption!

Zhao Zhilan was stunned by such remarks. "To skin the people alive, and yet they talk about it so grandly?"

The evil of human nature can be so extreme!

"You are fortunate to have met His Majesty the Emperor's warriors; it is a great blessing in your unfortunate lives."

From this day forward, you are no longer ordinary people, but His Majesty the Emperor's newly recruited samurai.

You should heed the call of the gods and Buddhas, take up the swords and weapons bestowed by them, and cleanse the world of all evil on their behalf!

cut!

kill!

Purge the sins!

The brainwashing-style shouts never stopped, constantly ringing in Zhao Zhilan's ears.

"You are the ones who deserve to die, you are the ones who should be purged!" she thought to herself.

No matter how much they brainwash her, Zhao Zhilan will never consider those scum who skin the people alive as good people.

Training went on until late at night, and everyone returned exhausted to their pre-arranged lodgings, a small corner under the massive vaulted ceiling of the city tower, where there was a bed made of straw. She could take a bath anytime and had even been given some soap.

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