Upon hearing this, Sun Kuang swiftly slashed off Lai Dinglong's ear with two quick cuts, and even more excrement flowed out, making it extremely disgusting!

"Brother, Zhao Wuyou of Huai Shuo has repeatedly ambushed and plotted against us. He's really gone too far!"

The soldiers beside him chimed in, "Sir, why don't we send men to storm Huai Shuo, chop off that bastard's head, and avenge our brothers!"

Lu Tu silenced the agitated crowd with a look, lowering his voice to say, "Shut up, all of you! Who the hell needs to shout about assassinating someone? Are you trying to make sure everyone knows? A bunch of pig-brains!"

It was only then that everyone realized there were refugees who had just escaped not far away, and there might be a mole among them.

After all, they were different from the two groups of refugees who had come before. The previous refugees were difficult to disguise. Not to mention that their clothes, shoes and hats could be used to cover up their true appearance, their sallow skin and thin build were not easy to fake.

The composition of this group of refugees was much more complex, including tenant farmers, wealthy farmers, and even merchants with special skills and small businesses.

Everyone quickly shut up, realizing they had said the wrong thing, and also to avoid the rest of the conversation being overheard by others.

They simply linked arms to form a human wall, trapping Lai Dinglong and the other seven people in the middle and blocking the refugees who were watching the commotion from afar.

Lu Tu stared silently at the mangled Lai Dinglong: "Zhao Wuyou, what did he order you to do? Just to kill a few of my soldiers?"

Lai Dinglong was injured in succession, and blood was still gushing from both ears, making it difficult for him to hear what Lü Tu was saying. Lü Tu then looked at the others.

After witnessing Lai Dinglong's miserable state, the others lost their previous backbone and confessed everything: "Lord Zhao ordered us to send people infected with smallpox into your village."

Sun Kuang pressed the knife against the man's neck and demanded, "Is that all?"

“It’s true, Lord Lü. I wouldn’t dare lie to you. We are also soldiers from the Huai Shuo border region, but our families are in their hands. If we don’t do this, our whole family will die.”

Lu Tu asked the crucial question: "So, the smallpox plague was also caused by Zhao Wuyou?"

The group exchanged glances, not daring to utter a single word, and simply nodded repeatedly.

Lu Tu was instantly ignited with boundless rage. This Zhao Wuyou was truly going to any lengths to deal with him.

They actually thought of spreading the smallpox plague to Wuchuan. Seeing that Lü Tu was in seclusion in the village, they even let these guys use force on him.

So, Zhao Wuyou must have many informants in Wuchuan, otherwise he wouldn't have been so well aware of Lü Tu's actions.

Why is this guy targeting him like this? Is it simply because Lü Tu disrupted his salt and iron trade with the Wuhuan?

No! There was a traitor in the village before Lü Tu rose to power, which means that Zhao Wuyou had already laid out plans in Wuchuan before that.

Lu Tu suddenly thought of a possibility, and was startled by the idea: war might break out between the six towns of the Northern Territory!

The original six towns were relatively balanced, each being an independent military stronghold. They would only unite when faced with a large-scale southward invasion by the Wuhuan.

Now, the Wuhuan have not assembled a large army to march south for three years. In addition, uprisings are constantly breaking out in various parts of the Great Yu Dynasty. Zhao Wuyou is not the only one who wants to take over the six towns in the north!

Lu Tu even had a premonition that Yun Tian had the same idea, and that he might have known about the smallpox plague all along, otherwise why would he have ignored it?

At the very beginning of an outbreak, smallpox is the easiest disease to control. Zhang Miao made a special trip to explain the severity of smallpox, yet it still could not be contained, which speaks volumes.

Given this, Lü Tu had a new plan.

The men buried in the ground wailed and begged for mercy: "Lord Lü, we've told you everything, please spare our lives!"

Lu Tu glanced at them indifferently and ordered Sun Kuang, "Release them."

Upon hearing this, not only was Sun Kuang shocked, but all the soldiers around him looked at Lü Tu with incredulous eyes: "Big Brother!"

"Brother, these guys killed more than a dozen of our brothers, are we just going to let them go back like this?"

Among these people, only a few, such as Nie Yun, Liu Hong, and Xiao Zhong, remained silent throughout the entire process.

Xiao Zhong stepped forward: "When have you ever allowed yourselves to question what the Lord has said? Do you want the Lord to be seen as a person who breaks his word?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Kuang stamped his foot in anger: "Hey!"

He then ordered his men to dig out the remaining seven people, who, after being tortured twice, were no longer able to move.

Lu Tu pointed to the shacks in the distance used to isolate smallpox patients and said, "Send them over there for one night, and get them some food to make sure they survive."

Sun Kuang persisted, "Isn't that letting these bastards off too easily? I'm not going!"

Enraged, Xiao Zhong kicked him in the butt: "You idiot, you'd better do Lord Lü's orders right now!"

Sun Kuang reluctantly led his men to escort the group over, arranged for a few people to keep watch at a distance, and then returned to Lu Tu, bowing and saying, "Brother, it's done."

Sun Meng slapped him on the back of the head: "You idiot, can't you see what your brother is trying to do?"

At this moment, Sun Kuang curiously realized: "That's right, logically speaking, you are even more righteous than me, so why did you let these guys go back to Huai Shuo today?"

Sun Meng said in a low voice, "Since their wives, children and elderly parents are still in Huai Shuo, even if they don't go back to report to Zhao Wuyou, they will secretly go back to Huai Shuo and take their families with them."

Lu Tu laughed and said, "They are all seriously injured and are at their weakest. If we put them with smallpox patients at this time, even a spit could infect them with smallpox. Since Zhao Wuyou wants to kill me with smallpox, then don't blame me for giving him a taste of his own medicine."

Hiss! Upon hearing this, the soldiers present couldn't help but gasp!

It turns out that Lu Tu didn't just let them go; he actually became even more ruthless!

Wuchuan City was infected with smallpox, and so many people died in just ten days. Moreover, Huaishuo City has a larger population than Wuchuan. If these plague carriers infected with smallpox are allowed to return to Huaishuo, who knows what kind of terrible situation will occur!

After realizing this, everyone understood the ruthlessness of Lü Tu's move and put their anger aside.

Xiao Zhong and Lü Tu walked aside and asked in a deep voice, "Sir, what we are doing is indeed correct, but once the smallpox plague breaks out completely in the six border towns, there will be no soldiers available in the north. How will we resist when the Wuhuan army presses in?"

Lu Tu shook his head slightly: "We can't worry about that now. I only have a little over 300 soldiers under my command. Let alone the Wuhuan army, we can't even withstand Zhao Wuyou's attack. Since he is ruthless, then don't blame me for being ruthless!"