September 25th.

After a ten-day march, the Roman army had advanced more than 300 li eastward, and was less than 400 li away from the Parthian capital.

During this period, although most Parthians fled the city, nearly four thousand villages and towns, as well as four cities, were sacked by the Romans, and nearly three million Parthian farmers became refugees.

Marcus Aurelius and his companions paid little attention to these refugees; sparing their lives and providing them with some food was already an immense act of kindness.

As for what became of these refugees, that was a matter for the Parthians, who naturally couldn't be bothered to care.

On this day, a gladiator team of a thousand people arrived not far to the west of a village.

From a distance, the village appears small, with only about two hundred households.

However, the officer in charge did not rush to lead his men there. Instead, he went to a high slope and began to observe the situation in the village.

After just one glance, the officer frowned.

"Master, what's wrong?"

Seeing the officer suddenly frown, a soldier stepped forward and asked.

Judging from his title, the officer was clearly a follower of the Taiping Religion.

The officer narrowed his eyes slightly: "It's almost noon, the time for cooking, but there's not a single wisp of smoke coming from the village. That's really unusual."

Moreover, there's a strong smell of blood in the air!

"You mean, someone committed murder in that village?"

Upon hearing the officer's words, the soldier couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

"Hmph, that must be it!"

The officer snorted coldly, a flash of anger in his eyes.

Today, in the Roman army, looting without killing is a tacit rule, and these followers of the Taiping Church regard it as military law.

To think that someone would dare to do such a thing right under their noses is blatant disregard for the Taiping Sect and a naked provocation.

The officer looked at his men and said coldly, "Let the brothers go up there. I want to see which bastard dares to do such a thing!"

"yes!"

The subordinate agreed and quickly left.

Soon, the officer arrived in the village with his men. Seeing the corpses lying haphazardly on the village roads, the officer's face darkened.

"Search carefully and see if there are any survivors!"

"yes!"

At the officer's command, the soldiers began entering each household and started a thorough search.

A short while later, several soldiers brought two children, who looked to be around ten years old, to the officer.

Looking at the trembling child, the officer spoke gently in Anathapindika:

“Child, do not be afraid. We are the guardians of the One God. Tell me, who killed the people of your village?”

"Guardians of God?"

Upon hearing the officer's words, the two children looked up and, seeing his gentle expression, their fear subsided considerably.

An older child, with red eyes, said, "It was the border troops! It was the border troops who came, stole our food, and killed our parents!"

"Border troops?"

The officer was slightly taken aback: "You mean the Parthian border troops?"

"It was them. My father had questioned them before about why they did this."

But they said that if their border troops all starved to death, they, the lowly people, would have no one to protect them and would die at the hands of the Romans sooner or later. They might as well give all the food to them!

My father disagreed, and then they killed him…!

In the end, the child couldn't help but cry. He didn't know if what the border guards said was true, but he knew that his father had died by their swords.

"Hmph, these guys are really good at talking big. What value does an army have if it can't even protect the common people?"

After hearing the child's account, the officer couldn't help but snort coldly, his words filled with disdain for the Parthian border troops.

The officer looked at the child and said gently, "Child, don't worry. We will avenge your parents and the villagers for you. Just tell me when those guys left and where they went."

The child thought for a moment, "Those people left an hour ago. They said there's another village to the north!"

The officer nodded, then ordered his men, "Leave a hundred men to bury the bodies in the village. The rest of you, come with me to chase after them!"

"yes!"

Soon, the soldiers in the group assembled and then rushed north.

About 15 minutes later, the team arrived near the target village.

As soon as they approached the village, they heard cries and screams coming from within.

After briefly observing the village, the officer instructed his men, "Judging from the size of this village, there shouldn't be many Parthian soldiers inside. Have all the archers block the village exits, and the rest of you follow me and charge in!"

"yes!"

Upon receiving the order, the two hundred archers in the team were divided into four groups and circled around the village in several directions.

"Brothers, follow me and kill!"

The officer drew a special dagger belonging to the Taiping Cult from his waist, roared, and charged into the village.

"Kill them!"

The seven hundred gladiators behind them roared and followed suit.

As for why they didn't launch a surprise attack silently, but instead charged in with a lot of shouting, it was simply to tell the Parthian army who were looting the village that the enemy was coming, and to stop their criminal activities and run away as fast as they could.

Sure enough, upon hearing the roar of the Roman soldiers, the Parthian troops who were killing, looting, and raping women in the village also panicked, grabbed their weapons, and prepared to flee.

Unfortunately, they had barely escaped from the people's homes when they were met by gladiators charging in.

Faced with the gladiators, whose combat power was off the charts and who were also blessed by the Taiping Religion, the Parthian border troops in the village had almost no ability to resist and were quickly slaughtered.

Occasionally, some who managed to escape to the outside of the village were shot and killed by archers lying in ambush by the roadside.

The entire battle lasted no more than a quarter of an hour, during which the five hundred Parthian soldiers who had plundered the village were all killed.

The surviving villagers all came to the soldiers with tears of gratitude, kowtowing to express their thanks.

The officer leading the group also revealed his identity as a Taoist priest of the Taiping Sect and began to promote the glory of "our lord".

Although I don't quite understand what kind of god Taiyi is, since the god's guardian saved me, he must be a good god.

Immediately, the rescued villagers began to praise the One, the Lord.

"Master, should we still keep the supplies in the village?" A soldier asked hesitantly as he looked at the villagers who were piously praising our Lord.

"Alright, we don't need the things from these two villages. We should report the situation to the Celestial Master and His Majesty as soon as possible!"