Chapter 168 Jinjiang Exclusive
The Wei family members were not born into a bandit family, and they were afraid of attracting the danger of the Huo family army. They did not dare to actually commit murder, arson, burning, looting, and they did not have the ability to do so.
But the Huo family army had too many disaster victims to take care of. In places where the Huo family army could not see, the Wei family did many small things that they thought were not worth mentioning to make things difficult for the disaster victims.
The food and water that should have been shared were withheld for one or two meals;
The cloth distributed to the disaster victims for warmth was seized and not given to them under any pretext;
Using an extra portion of food as bait, they deliberately incited the victims to fight, wasting their energy and causing them to suffer unnecessary injuries.
It doesn't sound like a particularly serious matter. For ordinary people, being harassed by the powerful and wealthy in peacetime is probably a common daily occurrence, and they can just bear it and it will pass.
But in the precarious years of famine, their funny and amusing behavior could be fatal to the victims who were already on the verge of starvation and freezing to death.
Because of their obstruction, nearly a hundred victims have died directly or indirectly.
Huo Tiankuo was both angry and puzzled when he heard this. "None of these victims have ever told me about the injustice they suffered. Why didn't they tell me and other soldiers?"
If he had been told earlier, those innocent victims might not have died.
Su Ying said, "What good will it do? They didn't actually kill anyone. Could the general really turn against them just because of a little trouble from the Wei family? Don't you want the Wei family's supplies? Don't the other victims want to live?"
If things really get to that point, those victims who filed complaints will become criminals and be hated by other victims.
What's more, the victims all knew that it was not easy for the Huo family army to protect them, so everyone wanted to endure some minor problems on their own and not cause more trouble for General Huo.
The village chief and other villagers can understand this very well.
Because if they were in the same position, they would most likely make the same choice.
But it's really not worth sacrificing your life for this.
It’s not that it’s not worth considering the Huo family’s army, but it’s not worth it because the Wei family has lost the chance to survive.
Huo Tiankuo's face turned ashen, his hands clenched into fists, and he said with a gloomy look: "In the final analysis, it was still me who failed to protect them."
He had clearly promised to help them survive, but in the end he didn't even know that the victims were being mistreated unnecessarily in private. He really failed to live up to the trust the victims had in him.
Lu Xuan said bluntly: "You are indeed wrong."
"Ah Xuan!" The village chief, Mr. Zhang and others looked at him disapprovingly.
Lu Xuan, however, acted as if he hadn't heard anything and continued to poke Huo Tiankuo's heart: "Su Ying found out that those who died because of the Wei family weren't just the victims, but also your own soldiers."
Huo Tiankuo's body trembled noticeably.
"You may not know about the victims, but you cannot be unaware of the deaths of your personal soldiers."
"The Wei family was afraid of death. Whenever they encountered wild beasts, they would cling tightly to the soldiers and have them protect them closely. At the slightest sign of trouble, they would push the soldiers out to serve as shields. Many of the soldiers who died protecting them didn't need to die."
"I heard that the general loves his people like his own children. The victims of the disaster are his own children, and the Wei family is his own children. But are your soldiers no longer like them? Does becoming your personal soldier mean that even their lives are worthless? Because as your soldier, I have to endure the grievances along with you?"
Lu Xuan's tone did not contain any sarcasm, but was calm and indifferent. However, Huo Tiankuo felt as if he had been hit by a wake-up call. He felt a dull pain in his heart and was a little breathless.
Li Tie and others couldn't stand it any longer, but what Lu Xuan said did make sense.
Why is it that after becoming a soldier of the Huo family army, I have to live such a miserable life?
Because we are soldiers and we have to protect the people, we have to endure all hardships?
But they were also civilians before they were soldiers!
Lu Xuan pointed out the problem: "The Wei family may have indeed provided supplies, and the victims also benefited, but they initially followed the Huo family army, and followed you, General. Wasn't it because they were unable to protect themselves and sought the Huo family army's protection?"
After all, the supplies were nothing more than protection fees they paid to the Huo family army.
How the Huo family army decides to use the supplies is their business, and it is not the Wei family's turn to act superior and bully others by acting like benefactors who have saved people from suffering.
"The relationship between the Wei family and the Huo family army has been mutually beneficial from the beginning. General Huo doesn't need to be too tolerant of them. Don't you know that this attitude will only encourage their arrogance?"
This allowed the Wei family to become more unscrupulous in harassing the disaster victims, and even allowed them to deliberately lure away the Huo family army so that they could target Yunlu Village and dig out all their secrets and supplies.
Lu Xuan said: "It's not the general's fault for wanting to protect everyone, but sometimes people have to make some choices."
What he said in front of the Wei family about using supplies in exchange for Huo Tiankuo giving up the Wei family was a lie.
But if he wants to go further, Huo Tiankuo should indeed make a choice.
Should he choose the unpopular and evil-minded Wei family, or the disaster victims and Huo's army who are grateful and loyal to him?
It’s not difficult to choose at all, is it?
·
Inside the tent where the Wei family was imprisoned.
The mouths of the Wei family members were not gagged. Except for the dying Wei Sanhou, the other Wei family members whose hands and feet were tied up were breathing because of the wounds on their bodies, and they kept cursing in low voices at the people from Yunlu Village who attacked them.
As he was cursing, he asked Uncle Wei, who had a gloomy face, with some concern.
"Second Uncle, General Huo won't do anything to us, right?"
Uncle Wei, looking at the untreated wounds on Wei San's body with heartache, said without hesitation: "He dares!"
"Why shouldn't I dare?" Huo Tiankuo walked in with a sullen face.
The Wei family members instantly became nervous and subconsciously squirmed to hide behind Uncle Wei.
Uncle Wei also perked up and said habitually, "General, when you left the border town, you promised to protect our family's lives, and that's why we took out all our family assets.
You've used up all your supplies, yet you're turning your back on us for a bunch of outsiders. Do you think you're worthy of our Wei family's efforts?"
Huo Tiankuo stared at Uncle Wei with a serious look, which made the latter feel a little uneasy.
"I'm really sorry." Huo Tiankuo said.
Uncle Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense expression finally relaxed.
He knew that Huo Tiankuo was not the kind of person who would ignore the contributions of the Wei family.
"Then why don't you let us go--"
Huo Tiankuo said coldly: "But I'm not sorry for you, but for the people you secretly oppressed, and the soldiers who died because of you!"
Uncle Wei's face froze, and a hint of guilt and unnaturalness flashed in his eyes.
He forced himself to remain calm and said, "What do you mean by oppression or involvement? I don't understand what the general is talking about. Our Wei family has never done those things."
Huo Tiankuo's expression was grim. "There are more than 3,000 people still alive out there. Do you think they don't know what you did?"
Uncle Wei's forehead was covered with a few drops of sweat. He argued cunningly, "Even if a few people died accidentally, wouldn't there be many more people who survived because of us? Are the lives of thousands of people not as important as those few people? Bang!"
“Ugh—!”
"Second Uncle!" The Wei family looked at Second Uncle Wei who was kicked out by General Huo, their faces full of panic.
Uncle Wei hunched over, covering his aching abdomen with his hands, his facial features distorted in agony.
Huo Tiankuo retracted his foot and said in a voice so cold that ice chips almost fell off. "So? Do the people who were indirectly killed by you deserve to die?"
The younger generation of the Wei family finally felt scared at this point and begged for mercy: "General, we know we were wrong. At worst, we will just not touch other victims in the future."
Uncle Wei, who was in so much pain that he could not even stand up straight, gritted his teeth and said, "No matter what, we can never erase the kindness we owe to the Huo family army and others."
"You want to talk to me about a favor?" Huo Tiankuo said softly, "Okay, then I'll settle it with you."
"Over the past six months, my soldiers have saved your Wei family dozens of times, even paying with their lives. Debts must be repaid, lives must be repaid. I used your supplies, sold my own life to Yunlu Village, borrowed supplies from them, and paid them back. In return, you give your lives to the soldiers who died because of you. How's that? Fair enough, isn't it?"
All the Wei family members: "!!!"
Pay, pay with your life?
What’s the use of supplies for them if they have lost their lives!
Uncle Wei finally got scared and said anxiously, "No, you can't do this!"
Huo Tiankuo's face was expressionless. "Why not? You can oppress the victims, you can kill my soldiers, you can say the people of Yunlu Village are monsters and burn them to death, you can demand repayment for a favor, but I can't touch you."
Second Uncle Wei opened his mouth, wanting to say how other people's lives could not compare to theirs, but when he met Huo Tiankuo's eyes, which seemed calm but were actually burning with rage, his throat seemed to be stuck and he couldn't utter a word, nor did he dare to say anything.
After a while, Huo Tiankuo said, "I can either use the supplies the Wei family brought out in the past to pay for your lives, or I can hand you over to the relatives of the victims you killed for them to deal with. It's your choice."
Handing them over to the victims' relatives to do whatever they want? Will they still be alive?
Uncle Wei's expression was pale and pale, and he asked with a faint hope: "If you choose to live, can the previous grudges be written off?"
Huo Tiankuo's eyes became even colder.
Can a human life be written off in one stroke?
"If you choose to survive, I can let you leave the team alive."
Uncle Wei's lips trembled and his eyes were filled with despair.
Leave the team?
How is that different from sending them to die?
Uncle Wei still wanted to continue to fight for a way to survive for his clansmen, but unfortunately Huo Tiankuo did not intend to give them this opportunity. He called his personal soldiers to take everyone out.
…
The edge of the temporary camp.
More than 20 members of the Wei family who had been untied were driven out of the camp by the Huo family army, carrying a small cart of supplies.
The faces of the wounded Wei family members were filled with fear. They pleaded with Huo Tiankuo, who was looking at them coldly, "General, we really know we were wrong. We will behave ourselves and not cause trouble again. Please leave us here!"
"That's right! We'll take all the beatings and scolding, just begging them not to kick us out! If we leave the team in this kind of weather, we'll really die!"
When the time came, even Second Uncle Wei gave in, put aside all the pride of his prominent family and bowed to Huo Tiankuo, swearing that he would never seek repayment for any favors again.
Huo Tiankuo only said one sentence to him: "Leave immediately before I change my mind."
Change your mind about what?
Of course, I changed my mind about saving their lives.
Second Uncle Wei subconsciously looked at the Huo family army and other disaster victims standing behind Huo Tiankuo, but found that these people did not show any pity or sympathy on their faces. Instead, they were full of indifference and even happiness.
Uncle Wei's expression became noticeably stiffer, and he cursed the ungrateful ungrateful person in his heart!
The expressions of the villagers in Yunlu Village were more varied, but their expressions were full of regret for not being able to solve the problem personally.
Uncle Wei couldn't help but shudder when he thought of the witchcraft he had performed not long ago. He didn't dare to delay any longer and urged his fellow tribesmen who were still unwilling to give up to stagger away in the heavy snow.
Zhang Chengming and others whispered unwillingly: "Just let them go like this? They want to burn us to death. If we don't..." He made a gesture of wiping his neck.
Lu Xuan said calmly: "Don't worry, he won't survive."
The people who heard this looked at each other silently. What did this mean?
Is it that he can’t survive in the ice and snow without anyone to protect him, or... ?
·
The Wei family pushed a cart of supplies forward with great difficulty in the snow, and the younger generations of the Wei family were still very unwilling.
"Second Uncle, are we really leaving like this?"
General Huo did not embezzle their remaining supplies. This truckload of supplies was enough for them to eat for at least half a month, and the furs and thick cotton jackets could also ensure that they would not freeze to death.
But they couldn't find a suitable place to shelter from the wind and snow, and their survival crisis remained very high.
Once they encounter a ferocious beast, there will be no Huo family soldiers to stand in their way.
"Uncle, why don't we stay near the temporary camp? Maybe we can find a chance to rejoin the team?"
The worst that could happen is that you have to hold your nose and be humble for a while, which is better than dying in public.
Uncle Wei had this thought before, but an inexplicable sense of crisis reminded him to leave quickly, the farther the better, otherwise those who knew witchcraft might not let them go.
"I can't go back. Okay, stop talking. Let's go to our last place and settle down first."
They were unfamiliar with the surrounding environment and could only walk back along the same path the team came from.
But they had not been gone for an hour when someone in the team fell down with a bang.
Uncle Wei was shocked and asked, "What's going on?"
The others were also startled and rushed over to help the man up. "Maybe he was beaten too hard before—Ah! Why is his mouth purple!"
"What!?" Uncle Wei's face changed. He walked over quickly and turned the person over. He found that the fallen person not only had purple lips, but his entire face was purple, and black blood was oozing from his mouth.
"Poisoned!? How could it be!?"
They clearly hadn't touched any food that might be poisonous today, and considering Huo Tiankuo's character, it's impossible that he would say he would let them go and then secretly poison them.
But as the first person fell, the others also fell down one after another, holding their stomachs and twitching all over. The black blood they vomited was particularly glaring on the white snow.
Uncle Wei was horrified and was about to check on them when he felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and a sweet and fishy taste in his throat.
He widened his eyes in disbelief and opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, no words came out and he fell on his back into the snow behind him.
In the blink of an eye, no one in the team of more than 20 people was left alive.
A quarter of an hour later, Lu Xuan appeared in front of the corpse, which was almost completely covered by the snow and no trace could be seen.
He looked down at Uncle Wei and the others who were stiff all over, with no expression on his face. He shook his feet, and used his earth and gravity abilities at the same time to bury all the corpses and the truck of supplies more than ten meters underground.
When the turned-over land was covered with a thin layer of snow again, all traces of the black blood and the Wei family's presence were wiped away.
The audience in the live broadcast room, who were as unhappy as the villagers about letting the Wei family go, finally felt relieved.
[I knew the host wouldn't let the Wei family off so easily!]
[Poison-type abilities are indeed more difficult to defend against than other offensive-type abilities. Another day of envying the streamer.]
[It really wasn't in vain that I brought the Mei siblings along. One has a healing element, the other has a poison element. Both have awakened special elements. These genes are truly amazing!]
[Actually, I'd rather know why the host didn't just kill the person directly, but had to go through this roundabout way.]
[General Huo is an official after all. What's the difference between killing someone in front of him and committing a crime in front of the Star Police?]
[It's also good to keep a low profile, so that when you continue to interact with General Huo, he won't be wary of the anchor.]
While the audience was discussing, Lu Xuan had already returned to the temporary camp.
Zhang Chengming was a little surprised to see that he seemed to have come back from outside, "Where have you been?"
Lu Xuan said leisurely: "Take a walk."
Zhang Chengming: “???”
Several other villagers nearby: “???”
Going for a walk on a snowy day? What's wrong?
Huo Tiankuo, who had just come out of the wounded camp not far away, glanced in the direction Lu Xuan came back from, looked at him deeply, then turned around and went back to the main tent to discuss the matters of moving tomorrow with Lieutenant General Liu.
·
The Wei family left, but there were still some changes in the camp.
The supernatural people in Yunlu Village demonstrated their special abilities. It is impossible for the victims to forget the shocking scenes of wind, fire, thunder and lightning just because the Wei family is gone.
Fear and keeping a distance are understandable.
But this persistence and avoidance only lasted until the moment when the smell of bone soup filled with ingredients drifted over with the cold wind.
The victims felt their rumbling stomachs and worried for three breaths, thinking that they wouldn't starve to death if they didn't eat, and they couldn't rashly approach dangerous people whose safety was unknown.
Then, he ran to line up quickly with the bowl in his hand.
When receiving the soup, the villagers' attitude remained the same, and the bold victim couldn't help but ask carefully, "How did you get those...powers to control wind and fire?"
Is it really a witchcraft?
After this question, Miao Jinfeng and other female relatives immediately started talking.
"Don't believe the nonsense those Wei guys say. We are not monsters, and we don't use magic. We use magic from immortals, which we obtained with the blessing of the gods."
"Don't disbelieve me! We knew about the disaster long before the earthquake and spent all our money to stockpile food. Not only did no one die during the earthquake, but even from the beginning until now, not a single person in the village has died."
"During the hottest season after the earthquake, we found a large cave in the mountains to live in. There were plenty of prey in the mountains, and we had saved up a lot of supplies, so we almost never went hungry."
The women talked a lot about life in the mountains and mentioned their later trip to Yangshan County. During this time, they deliberately ignored the other high-tech products involved except the hover car that had been displayed.
Even so, the victims could still hear the constant exclamations. Even Huo Tiankuo, who was originally talking with the deputy general, couldn't help but walk to the entrance of the tent and listen attentively.
Regardless of whether the stories about gods are true or not, being able to stock up on food and prepare in advance before a major earthquake is enough to make people envious.
Why don’t they have such good luck!
·
That night, Lu Xuan did not force himself to continue sleeping in the tent. He took out the RV and placed it in a corner of the temporary camp.
The Huo family army and the victims were surprised when they saw the big guy appear out of nowhere, but they did not react excessively. They just discussed it secretly.
Lu Xuan didn't care about these and opened the system mall to buy today's blind box.
In addition to points, the items drawn from the diamond and black gold blind boxes in the past two days were all duplicates, such as a potion making device, a small aircraft, etc.
Lu Xuan didn't have much hope for today's harvest, but after actually shipping the goods, he found that he was lucky again today.
[Black Gold Blind Box Single Draw: House Energy Shield*1]
The maximum protection area can reach one thousand square meters, and there are good things in the mall worth five million points!
The audience didn't expect that he would draw such a good thing.
[House protection shield!!! Great stuff!]
[As long as there is enough energy, it can even withstand the energy cannon attacks from the spacecraft! ]
[This one item has made up for all the losses from the past few days! ]
[Today's host is European Emperor again! ]
[I got something good again after just a few days. Is it really a miracle that only one draw can produce something? ]
Lu Xuan didn’t know whether the drop rate of a single draw was really higher, but he had to admit that drawing something unexpectedly good did make him feel good.
He planned to use the house protection shield on his own villa when he returned.
The audience congratulated and gasped in excitement for a while, and finally remembered another more important thing.
[Is the streamer's consumption achievement enough? Check out the achievement rewards! ]
【After waiting for almost half a month, it’s finally over! 】
[The exciting moment is coming! This time's reward is guaranteed to give you a big surprise! ]
【By the way, we can also benefit from it, hehe. 】
Lu Xuan casually put the protective shield into the space, glanced at the barrage, raised his eyebrows, and his eyes fell on the flashing system message.
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