Huo Chengche watched his retreating figure, then glanced at the villagers around him whose faces looked grim, and offered words of comfort, "Don't worry, folks, everything will be alright."
Tong Youlin saw the government officials in the mountain valley. It would take them some time to carry their things around and come in, which would give Tong Youlin enough time to go find them.
"Little immortal, you don't know, what we're really afraid of isn't those few poisonous snakes the government brought!"
A burly man with a black beard spoke first. His face was pale, and he must have thought of something that deeply terrified him. His voice was trembling.
"Perhaps we can stop those few poisonous snakes brought by the government, but if they throw that minced meat into our village first, we're doomed just the same!"
Seeing his fearful expression, Huo Chengche immediately recalled the strange words the villagers had just spoken.
Sure enough, what these people were truly afraid of wasn't the government's venomous snakes. That's why when the villagers heard Tong Youlin's words, their first reaction was to completely ignore the snakes and focus only on the minced meat!
"Why is that?" Huo Chengche asked, frowning.
The burly man with the black beard sighed heavily. "You probably don't know why, even though there are only a few of us, we've managed to sneak into these mountains, but those damned officials don't dare to send in more men to surround and annihilate us."
Actually, what the big, black-bearded man said was somewhat incorrect. Although the county government had its own constables and yamen runners, their manpower was limited. For operations like this, which involved suppressing bandits, the county magistrate would report to the state government and request troops to be dispatched.
Therefore, although the county government did not have many people, each prefecture had a garrison of several thousand to tens of thousands of troops, which was more than enough to wipe out a village formed by a rebellion of villagers.
However, these ordinary people couldn't distinguish between them. Since they were brought by the county magistrate, they assumed they were all from the county government.
So when the big, black-bearded man spoke, Huo Chengche understood what he meant.
The strongholds that can withstand the government's siege for so long and remain intact must be full of ruthless bandits or those in cahoots with the government. How could they be like this stronghold, which is full of honest and simple villagers who are so irreconcilable with the government?
When Huo Chengche heard someone bring up this matter, he asked, "So, why is that?"
"Because there are snakes on this mountain!"
"Yes, yes! And they're all poisonous snakes! The poisonous snakes in our mountains are really dangerous! Those damned officials don't really dare to come in; they always leave much faster than they came!"
"Yes, those snakes are really fierce. Some are as thick as tree stumps! They dart around in the forest and can swallow a child whole in one gulp!"
...
The burly man with the black beard started it, and the people around him immediately chimed in, each one adding their own comments, their faces filled with terror. Their already pale faces had turned even bluer.
but……
"Snake? Snakes are delicious! Niannian likes to eat snakes!" Upon hearing about snakes, the little boy swallowed hard, clapped his hands happily, and said in his childish voice.
Everyone: ...
Huo Chengche looked down at the happy little glutton in his arms, smiled helplessly, and his forehead twitched.
This time, without him saying a word, the villagers, whose faces had turned horrified, immediately began to offer their advice.
"Little Mountain God, you mustn't eat those snakes; they're all highly poisonous!"
"Yes, yes, you can't eat it! Just make sure it doesn't eat it!"
"Yes, yes, yes, a wandering Taoist priest passed by before and said: This snake doesn't seem like a common creature from the mountains; it's probably possessed by demons! Little Mountain God, you still have to protect the people in these mountains; we can't let this filthy thing harm us!"
...
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