Chapter 272
Fan Xiaoxiao stayed awake almost until dawn.
Xiao Hei and the people he brought inspected it.
Twenty or thirty traps were stepped on.
Clearly, those people, driven by enormous profits, had no intention of retreating after someone was injured.
They only chose to temporarily retreat after they could no longer bear the losses.
Fan Xiaoxiao's face was pale, revealing lingering fear.
If even she was like this, the others were even more at a loss.
She quickly composed herself.
Xiao Hei sighed inwardly and said, "Miss Xiao, you were truly prescient."
If it weren't for Fan Xiaoxiao's efforts to overcome opposition and slow down the production of goods in order to strengthen defenses, we would have been caught off guard today.
Now, caught off guard by the excellent traps and craftsmanship, those foreigners have been caught completely off guard.
This time, Fan Xiaoxiao was not complacent. Since it concerned everyone's lives, she immediately found people who had lived in the village for many years to come and take a look.
The remaining fragments of clothing were made of cowhide and sheepskin.
Furthermore, based on the horse slaves' observations of fur dyeing and various details, it was deduced that this was a relatively large tribe located on the back side of the Tianshan Mountains.
The manor slave was called Ganda, which, in the language of the northern barbarians of the Tianshan Mountains in this world, means water melted from the snow-capped mountains.
The imagery is beautiful, but it's a pity that the characters are of low status, being captured slaves.
Upon arriving at Tianshan Village, I expected to be beaten and scolded at every turn, but to my surprise, everyone treated this teenager rather politely.
They have food and drink. They also have warm clothes to wear and a place to stay.
Gandane felt a sense of belonging to these people.
So I try my best in everything.
"I am willing to lead people to negotiate over there." Ganda gritted his teeth and knelt on the ground.
"I am a grassland native, so I understand their thoughts better."
Fan Xiaoxiao and the others were somewhat surprised.
Ganda's gaze was firm, but his body was still trembling uncontrollably.
No one is unafraid of a ruthless and malicious killer.
Fan Xiaoxiao helped him up herself, brushing the snow off his knees as she said, "It wasn't your fault that those people invaded."
Besides a blush of gratitude, Ganda's face also showed a hint of confusion: "Why..."
"I am a grassland person...they are just like me..."
Ganda's original tribe was not near the Tianshan Mountains, so he stuttered a bit in his Central Plains dialect when he got anxious.
Fan Xiaoxiao shook her head: "You're different from them. No one is the same."
"The important thing is where your heart is."
“I can’t guarantee that every person from the Central Plains is the same, but in our Tianshan Village, you won’t be treated as a foreigner.”
Ganda has always been viewed with suspicion by everyone, but today, he dares to stand up, and his thoughts are all from the perspective of Tianshan Village.
This is enough to explain the problem.
After such a long period of observation and sending some people to inquire with the herders, we know very well that...
Ganda's parents and relatives are all dead.
He was an orphan, and because he was originally a slave, he was given away at will.
For Ganda, that original tribe was more like an enemy.
At least the betrayal and melodramatic plots in TV dramas are unlikely to occur.
“We will handle the enemy's affairs. You just need to take good care of the horse and give some pointers to the others.”
"Thank you, Miss Fan!" Ganda, his eyes red, kowtowed several times before being led away.
Watching his retreating figure, Xiao Hei sighed: "Miss Xiao, those people are up to no good. Perhaps sending Ganda to negotiate would be a good idea?"
Fan Xiaoxiao tucked her hands back into her sleeves: "It's impossible to make peace."
She frowned: "These people led their troops across the Tianshan Mountains to find us."
"They just want to steal our things."
"They don't want to spend a single penny, and they're even willing to lose soldiers if they want to find our village."
"How could someone like that possibly genuinely want to make peace with us?"
"Even if they verbally agree to do business, who knows what they might do to stab you in the back later."
Human greed is insatiable; like a snake trying to swallow an elephant.
There are countless examples of this, both in history and in reality.
"Then, what do we do?" For Xiao Hei, killing was easy, but he was not good at strategy.
When it comes to making decisions, it's either the boss, Gu Zhongtai, or this lady in front of us, Xiao Niangzi.
As Fan Xiaoxiao pondered, she paced back and forth a few times. When she looked up, a slight smile appeared on her lips: "The enemy of my enemy is my friend."
"We need to do two things."
"First, we need to hide it well, and we also need to lay more traps."
"Winter is approaching, and the grasslands will not have enough fodder then. Those people will definitely come to rob us again when they are short of food and clothing."
"Not only should we not let them succeed, we should also fight them! Fight them hard."
Xiao Hei wholeheartedly agreed: "And the second one?"
"Secondly, immediately send someone to contact Mukdo."
Xiao Hei asked in surprise, "Why would we need them? They do business with us, but they're not the kind of people who would fight for us."
Fan Xiaoxiao smiled and shook her head: "That depends on how you say it."
"For example, some tribes have already declined and are robbing food everywhere, so they are bound to be unable to continue."
"Do you think they would be willing to take advantage of a crisis like this?"
Xiao Hei understood and immediately began preparations.
The two things were easy to say, but it took two days to do them.
On the third day, two pieces of news reached Fan Xiaoxiao.
Firstly, Mukdo replied that the Khan was willing to go to great lengths for his friend and sent troops to annihilate the rebellious tribe.
Secondly, the imperial army won a narrow victory, and the Tianshan Sect was razed to the ground.
The first piece of news means they are safe for now.
But the second piece of news was truly astonishing.
A bleak atmosphere enveloped the entire Tianshan Village.
The emperor's men won.
As expected.
But it was too fast.
It's so fast it's almost oppressive.
This means that the Tianshan Mountain Gate would henceforth belong to the Great Zhou Dynasty.
The tranquility of the past is gone forever.
Like all rebel forces that oppose the emperor, the Tianshan Sect will eventually go underground and become a cult.
"Any news from Boss Gu and General Yu?"
Xiao Hei shook his head.
This was the last message Xueying sent.
Perhaps due to time constraints, there was no detailed description inside.
Fan Xiaoxiao clutched her clothes tightly.
Although she sighed inwardly, she was now the backbone of Tianshan Village, the only pure land in the Tianshan Mountains.
If she's completely lost, then everyone else will be even more confused.
"Alright, go to the salt mine and the shelter there right now and call everyone back!"
More than 1,000 jin of salt have been stockpiled in the warehouses of Zuoyou Village.
Even if you occasionally go out to do some trading, it won't affect anything at all.
What I fear most now is having my whereabouts exposed.
The best approach is to fortify the walls and clear the fields.
"Yes." Xiao Hei accepted the order and left.
After thinking for a moment, Fan Xiaoxiao specially dispatched several skilled individuals to carefully patrol the areas not covered by the surrounding traps.
(End of this chapter)
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