"If there are live cattle in the village, we are willing to pay for them to offset part of the cost of the sacrificial cattle..."
As for the rest, once the typhoon subsides and the merchant ships arrive, we'll buy the surplus and send it up the mountain...
If the village doesn't have any, or if the cattle have other uses, we can draw up a written agreement first, and then transport the cattle over once the wind and rain stop...
After Song Chenghou finished speaking, Lin Sen turned to his father and said, "Father! Forget about them, the Dayin people are just cunning!"
Who knows what mischief they're up to this time!
Lin Hong narrowed his eyes, remembering that the clan leader was right beside him, and clasped his hands in a fist salute to the clan leader, saying:
"Brother, instead of going through all this trouble, let's not wait for any cows, let's just kill them!"
Before the clan chief could speak, Li Sheng, the Li man who had been treated by the abbot, spoke up, "Clan chief! The abbot is a good person, and the monks also patiently treated me back then..."
I don't know about the other people from the Great Yin, but the abbot and the others are all good people!
"We can't be so indiscriminate, clan chief! Please, clan chief, consider that the abbot and monks once treated me and will show leniency!"
Li Sheng knelt down before the clan chief and villagers, kowtowing forcefully.
The villagers, who had been discussing the matter, calmed down completely.
At this moment, Miss Li Jing spoke up, "Villagers, Li Sheng is right. There are bad people and good people among the people of Dayin."
Just like among us Li people, there are good people and bad people.
We must distinguish between them; indiscriminate killing is no different from killing wild animals.
There are already enough rumors about us, the Shengli people, down in the mountains.
If that's the case, killing all one hundred people would be risky. What if a typhoon hits later, and someone like Li Sheng accidentally falls down a mountain or suffers another accident...?
Will the Da Yin people treat our villagers like wild beasts and slaughter them at will, just like they do today?
This person is right. Asking them to conjure a hundred cows out of thin air is indeed asking too much of them.
Don't say that cattle are expensive; our whole village doesn't have that many. They're willing to offer a solution, and we can see they're not intentionally trying to cheat us...
They were taken to the mountain to seek shelter from the typhoon in a cave, not because they intended to harm us...
Now the winds are picking up again, and we need to focus more on fighting the typhoon. Killing people and collecting cattle will only waste more of our time.
After Li Jing finished speaking, the people below the stage nodded in agreement.
Seeing the situation change, Lin Hong gave the witch doctor a wink.
The witch doctor said calmly, "Without eliminating the root of the problem, everything we do will be in vain."
They turned their attention back to the Song family and other outsiders.
"Alright! Let's not waste time on things we've discussed repeatedly."
Chieftain Li Guang made the final decision: "Since everyone has already accepted the method of using cattle instead of human sacrifices, there is no need to further escalate the conflict."
I agree with the first approach. The typhoon and torrential rains haven't stopped yet. In our village, many houses are still damaged, mountain roads haven't been cleared, and the injured haven't received treatment...
How about this: whoever is willing to contribute three cows can use this to buy them at a high price. Then, the shaman can perform the sacrificial ceremony on everyone's behalf, praying for blessings from the Goddess of the Nile...
We'll discuss raising the remaining cattle after the typhoon ends. For now, these people should be kept under centralized surveillance.
"Let's hurry and repair the houses and treat the wounded, shall we?"
The Li people looked at each other. Indeed, the group that came up the mountain was not carrying any weapons and could not cause any harm to the village for the time being.
As for the calamities they brought, since they could offer a cow as a sacrifice to Mother Li, they believed that Mother Li would surely protect them.
The clan chief is right. There are still so many cattle to be sacrificed. As long as the villagers aren't harmed, more sacrifices can be made for the Li Mother...
One hundred cows...
These people of the Great Yin Dynasty are not worth fearing.
The Li people suppressed their anger, and the shaman and Lin Hong saw that the long-simmering situation had been easily resolved by the tribal chief and his daughter...
The witch doctor lowered his eyes, concealing the murderous intent within them...
Lin Hong's dissatisfaction was written all over his face.
The chieftain's proposal to buy the cattle at a high price was quickly accepted.
Jiang Xinyu volunteered to take responsibility, and the manager immediately stepped forward and paid double the market price.
The villagers brought over three cows and asked the shaman to perform a sacrificial ceremony on their behalf.
Everyone's clothes were soaked by the rain, but no one cared.
The last wounded, whether standing or lying down, all wore devout expressions, their eyes filled with the joy of receiving treatment.
The Song family members, monks, and Jiang family subordinates, a total of more than one hundred people, were gathered and guarded in an empty granary.
The gate was guarded by Li people wielding knives, forming a tight encirclement.
It was called a granary, but it was just a cylindrical space made of thatched roof with triangular eaves.
Damaged by the typhoon, the place was in ruins, leaking everywhere, and bits of grass fell from the roof, making people cough incessantly.
There wasn't even a window; those being guarded could only observe the outside world through holes and gaps.
Before being taken away, the Song brothers turned around and saw the witch doctor dancing wildly on the altar. The injured people below were just waiting for the ceremony to end, and no one came forward to treat their injuries.
The ceremony wasn't over. Through the gap, they saw two wounded soldiers who had been standing suddenly collapse to the ground...
They were simply helped onto stretchers by the Li people nearby, and no one treated their injuries...
"They don't really think this will cure the illness, do they?"
Song Chengxin, the tenth son, muttered to himself.
The elder brother remained silent, but subtly reminded him with his eyes to be wary of the Li people guarding outside...
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