This time, Zhao Zhilan was the first to discover the inn.
The main building is located on the south bank of the bend, with long, low side rooms extending over the river as if to embrace passing travelers.
The inn's ground floor was built of stone, while the upper floors were made of wood, and the roof was covered with tiles.
It has stables and a gazebo covered in vines.
Wisps of smoke rose from the chimney, and a carriage was half-hidden behind the stable.
There were people there. Zhao Zhilan bit her lower lip. So far, all the places they had passed through were deserted and in ruins, whether it was farmland, villages, or inns.
This phenomenon is caused by two factors: firstly, the new policies of Regent Lin Mo, and secondly, the fact that Dong Pan Ge's army has been assembling on the eastern border of Ji and will soon launch a full-scale invasion.
Upon hearing the news, large numbers of people fled with their families to seek refuge near the capital.
The chaotic situation bred countless bandits and traitors. Many Dongpan Go ronin joined forces with the traitors of Daxia and invaded Jidong ahead of the Dongpan Go regular army.
At this time, the Great Xia army had to be wary of Dongpan Ge's main force and had no choice but to abandon its territory, allowing the bandits to run rampant.
The Dongpango ronin burned and killed as much as they could, even setting fire to forests everywhere. Fortunately, the leaves were still green, and it had recently rained, so the fire did not spread.
“If the lake water could be used to start a fire, they probably wouldn’t let it go,” Tang Ying said, and Zhao Zhilan knew he was right.
She remembered that the night before last, the raging fire in a certain town was reflected brilliantly on the water, as if the lake was really on fire.
The following night, Zhao Zhilan finally mustered the courage to sneak back to the ruins of the town. All that remained were charred ruins and corpses scattered everywhere, with some ashes still emitting pale wisps of smoke.
The sky was filled with birds, mostly crows. They circled and fluttered above the thatched huts, appearing no bigger than flies from a distance. To the east, Shenyan Lake looked like a patch of blue struck by the sun, dominating half the world.
"Did the people from Dongpango make this?" Zhao Zhilan asked.
“That’s right,” Tang Ying replied. “A bunch of heartless, mad dogs.”
"But you're also from Dongpango, aren't you? Why would you call people from your own country mad dogs?"
“There are good people and bad people in Great Xia! And these mad dogs are called ronin in Dongpango.” Tang Ying said, “The so-called ronin are those down-on-their-luck warriors who have lost their titles and stipends and have left their masters to wander around.”
Besides these ronin, there are also some villains from the Great Xia Dynasty who, in cahoots, commit atrocities everywhere in eastern Ji!
Zhao Zhilan abhorred these things. She gritted her teeth and said, "If my mother were still alive, she certainly wouldn't sit idly by!"
"Your mother?" Tang Ying laughed. "Everything the people of Jidong have suffered is thanks to your mother!"
"What did you say?" Zhao Zhilan asked in surprise. "Explain yourself clearly!"
"Hmph!" Tang Ying snorted coldly, then said, "It was your mother who forbade the border soldiers from resisting. She let them run rampant in order to deal with Lin Mo!"
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhao Zhilan screamed. "It was that damned Lin Mo! He killed my mother, which led to this tragedy. He's the one who deserves to die!"
“Your Highness, you have wronged the Regent!” Tang Ying explained. “I believe it won’t be long before the Regent leads his troops to wipe out these bastards.”
“Him?” Zhao Zhilan retorted, “He’s a butcher, a butcher with blood on his hands.”
"The butcher? Your Highness, who were the people he killed?" Tang Ying asked her.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhilan froze for a moment.
"Can't answer? Then I'll answer for you," Tang Ying said. "He killed tens of thousands of bandits in Shu."
"He killed over 100,000 enemy invaders from the Doskago tribe who had invaded Shu!"
“He killed Yang Fei and his men, who were colluding with the Dos people on the border and plotting a rebellion.”
"He killed the 100,000 Crimson Flame Army soldiers who had betrayed Great Xia and joined the Dos,"
"He killed hundreds of thousands of Dostoevsky soldiers."
At this point, Tang Ying deliberately paused, "May I ask, Your Highness, who are these people?"
Should these people be killed?
Should I die?
When Zhao Zhilan couldn't answer, she started throwing a tantrum.
"Why do you always side with that villain?" she said angrily. "And where did he hide? Why hasn't he shown up yet?"
"Your Highness, who I am is not important," Tang Ying replied. "What is important is that you feel no anger at all when you see the people of Great Xia being wantonly slaughtered by the scum of Dongpange?"
"You still want to go to Dongpango to help their emperor eliminate the regent?"
"I..."
"Hmph!" Tang Ying snorted again. "What, does Your Highness believe that everything you saw was orchestrated by Regent Lin Mo?"
"I don't know, I don't know!" Zhao Zhilan shook her head helplessly.
After saying that, she strode towards the inn without looking back.
At that moment, a stench wafted over, growing stronger the closer one got to the inn. She felt it didn't smell like dead fish; in fact, it was far more foul and unbearable. Zhao Zhilan couldn't help but wrinkle her nose.
Every few steps, Tang Ying would stop and listen intently. On the third time, she heard the neighing of horses and human voices, and the smell became even more unbearable. It was the stench of a dead man, it must be.
The lake water gently lapped against the shallows, and a long row of torture racks, all made of newly felled trees, stood on the shore.
The corpse, no longer recognizable as human, hung upside down on the rack, its feet chained, allowing crows to peck at it at will.
Crows flew from one corpse to another, each accompanied by hundreds of flies.
If a gentle breeze blows across the lake, the corpse on the rack will sway slightly, as if trying to break free of its chains.
Zhao Zhilan took a closer look and saw that the faces of the corpses had been mostly bitten off by crows or some other unidentified animal of a larger size, and the corpses were already badly mutilated.
Upon seeing this, Zhao Zhilan felt nauseous, but she did not vomit.
She had gradually grown accustomed to these creepy scenes without realizing it.
She forced herself to look at one corpse, then another, and another, while constantly telling herself to be as hard as stone.
Suddenly, a loud shout rang out.
Several Dongpango ronin immediately rushed out of the inn.
They were short in stature, had strange hairstyles, wore blood-stained leather armor, and carried the distinctive swords of the Dongpango at their waists.
Zhao Zhilan's first reaction was to run away, but when she turned around, she found that Tang Ying was not by her side.
She was terrified and turned pale. She tried to escape quickly, but found that she couldn't outrun the Dongpan Goro.
Finally, someone grabbed her clothes.
In her haste, Zhao Zhilan drew her short sword and swung it at the nearest person, but the person blocked it with their saber. Then someone rushed up and pulled her to the ground, while another person snatched the short sword from her hand.
She opened her mouth to bite, but what she bit into was a cold, dirty, and smelly leather glove.
The man spoke in a language Zhao Zhilan couldn't understand, and then punched her in the face, almost knocking her head off.
She lay on the ground in pain, and they talked beside her.
Soon after, a tall man appeared and said in the Great Xia language, "Boy, you are our servant now!"
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