Under Yan Xiao's surprised and suspicious gaze, the refugees were clearly panicked, but dared not make any rash moves.
A few individuals with ulterior motives hiding among the refugees, upon seeing the people bound together by Shen Muzhi, instinctively wanted to retreat.
Unfortunately, Shen Muzhi would never give them that chance.
They glanced at the cavalry surrounding them, exchanged a look, and made their decision. Then someone shouted:
"General Shen, what do you mean by this? Are you trying to kill us? We are just looking for a way to survive. How can you have such murderous intentions? Aren't you afraid of being scorned by the world?"
As soon as that voice rang out, the refugees seemed to have found their anchor, and they began to shout:
"Yes, we came to seek refuge with you because we heard that you treat people kindly. Why are you treating us like this?"
"We're not convinced. We just want to survive. What's wrong with that?"
"We refuse to accept this, so why won't you give us a way out?"
Shen Muzhi sat steadily on his horse, looking down at the shouting crowd before him, a faint smile slowly creeping onto his lips.
But the smile didn't reach his eyes, leaving those who met his gaze feeling a chill in their hearts.
The next moment, under everyone's gaze, Shen Muzhi extended a hand with distinct knuckles to his subordinates.
The man immediately understood Shen Muzhi's meaning and handed the bow and arrow in his hand to Shen Muzhi.
Upon receiving the bow and arrow, Shen Muzhi did not hesitate at all and quickly fired an arrow at the group of refugees.
With a "whoosh," the arrow pierced straight into the chest of a man dressed as a refugee.
The man who had been shot looked down at the arrow in his chest, his eyes filled with confusion, as if he didn't understand how all of this had happened.
He looked up and stared wide-eyed at Shen Muzhi, who was riding on horseback, as if he wanted to say something. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he spat out a mouthful of blood and then fell straight to the ground.
Those around him were stunned by the scene and took a step back. When they came to their senses, they saw that Shen Muzhi had already nocked the second arrow.
Then, with another "whoosh," another person fell to the ground from the other direction.
The refugees panicked completely, and a cacophony of cries and screams erupted.
"Murder! Murder!"
"This is outrageous! They're not letting us live! This indiscriminate killing of innocent people is intolerable!"
Shen Muzhi acted as if he hadn't heard the wailing, expressionlessly nocking the third arrow. He looked as if he would send anyone he didn't like to their death immediately, scaring anyone who met his gaze into silence and back away.
At this moment, Shen Muzhi finally spoke his first words:
"Anyone who colludes with the Miao people shall die!"
"Miao ethnicity? What does that mean?"
The refugees who suddenly heard these words looked somewhat bewildered, but their cries involuntarily subsided.
Shen Muzhi showed no intention of explaining himself. He gave a wink to his men, who then pulled the gagged and tied-up men to the front and shouted:
"Fellow villagers, what you are doing now is aiding and abetting evil and associating with the Miao people."
The Miao people, cunning and treacherous, infiltrated the city, intending to use their poisonous arts to coerce the city's inhabitants into working for them, and even to take the opportunity to infiltrate our Jiangbei soldiers.
They are willing to stop at nothing to achieve their goals, and they tried to use you to distract us. Now all of their Miao accomplices have been arrested and have confessed to their crimes.
There are still Miao people among you, and the two that the general just shot were two of them.
Do not panic, and do not remain stubborn. Considering that you have been misled, we will release you after our army has captured all the Miao people.
If you remain obstinate and choose to continue causing trouble with the Miao people, then we will have no choice but to execute you on the spot as accomplices of the Miao.
The man's words caused an uproar among the already somewhat agitated refugee group.
They all looked at the strangers around them, their eyes filled with fear and suspicion, and then tried to keep their distance from each other as much as possible.
Meanwhile, the Miao people mixed in with the refugees, seeing their bound accomplices and the two who had just been shot dead by Shen Muzhi without hesitation, completely lost their composure.
Several people standing in the crowd exchanged glances and then shouted out:
"Don't listen to their nonsense. There are no Miao people here. They're just looking for an excuse to kill us. If you don't want to die, run!"
As soon as the words were spoken, someone rushed out of the crowd and ran towards the edge of the encirclement.
Some refugees, seeing this, didn't even have time to process it before their survival instincts kicked in and they ran after them.
However, their speed was no match for the speed of the arrows. The first person to lead the escape was shot dead by a hail of arrows as soon as he left the crowd, causing the refugees who had just lifted their legs to run to collapse to the ground in fear.
Some of the more timid refugees, terrified, immediately knelt on the ground and begged for mercy.
"General, spare us! We knew nothing about this!"
With someone taking the lead, even more people started begging for mercy.
"Please, General, spare us! We really don't know anything about Miao people. We just want to live."
Shen Muzhi's expression remained unchanged. After glancing indifferently at the dense crowd in front of him, he turned to look at the young man wearing a silver mask beside him:
"I'll leave the cleanup to you. Any problems?"
Upon hearing this, the boy immediately perked up and patted his chest, assuring everyone:
"General, don't worry. I can spot any Miao person just by their scent. I guarantee there won't be a single one who slips through the net."
Lou Guyu wasn't bragging. Miao people start raising Gu (a type of poisonous insect) from a young age, and some even have a natal Gu that is connected to their life.
Lou Guyu, as the former "Holy Maiden" with a special physique, can easily sense whether the other party has the aura of Gu worms by using her special physique.
"Um."
Having received the assurance, Shen Muzhi nodded and gave instructions to his subordinates:
"You all stay here and follow Lou Xiaoduwei's orders. Do not let a single Miao person escape."
After he finished speaking, he had no intention of staying any longer and turned his horse around to return to the city.
Yan Xiao, who had witnessed the entire event from the city wall, had a pretty good idea of what had happened after Shen Muzhi appeared with Lou Guyu and, without hesitation, shot down two people who were stirring up trouble in the crowd.
After the soldier finished speaking, and combined with what she knew about the original plot, she was able to guess the course of events with pretty much the same accuracy.
In the original storyline, Miao people infiltrated Jiangbei City. These people used Gu poison to control a group of people with certain status, and then slowly infiltrated the military camp, causing considerable trouble for Shen Muzhi.
Fortunately, the female lead happened to appear in Jiangbei with Lou Guyu at this time, which finally resolved the matter.
Now, Lou Guyu has appeared ahead of time, and by some twist of fate, he has sent a Miao person to Shen Muzhi, making him wary in advance.
Before the Miao people could even carry out their operation, they were all wiped out in one fell swoop. The people responsible for the rendezvous outside the city must have received some information and wanted to use the refugees to distract Shen Muzhi, giving their own people a chance to escape.
Unfortunately, it was too late, and he ended up getting himself killed as well.
As Yan Xiao was lost in thought, a soldier approached her, saluted, and said:
"Madam, the general is waiting for you in the carriage."
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