"Xiaoyu".
Nangong Huiyu exclaimed with delight, "Husband! Everyone, follow me!"
Lu Tu said loudly, "No need, you can wait for us outside."
When he appeared before everyone, Nangong Huiyu was the first to rush over, while Song Yuxi simply came to Lu Tu's side and gently brushed the snow off his shoulders.
"Husband, why have we been delayed for so long?"
Lu Tu smiled without saying a word, then pointed to the woods behind him and said, "Look."
Seeing that Lü Tu was unharmed, the villagers who had come to search for him breathed a sigh of relief. Since he was still in the mood to keep them in suspense, they knew he must have made a great discovery.
Suddenly, a bleat was heard, followed by a chorus of sheep bleating, which was particularly clear in the dead of night.
Everyone exclaimed in surprise, "Lord Lü, was today's hunt so successful?"
Lu Tu nodded and said, "Roughly estimated, there should be over a hundred sheep."
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd. What did it mean to have hundreds of sheep?
Even the wealthy herders in Wuchuan did not have such a large flock of sheep; they had all been slaughtered during the famine.
When the slave soldiers drove the cattle and sheep down from the mountain and appeared before everyone.
The villagers were overjoyed to be able to see this large herd of cattle and sheep by the light of the fire.
Knowing that Lü Tu would definitely not treat them unfairly, they immediately began to flatter him: "Lord Lü is truly invincible! He single-handedly stopped and killed the Wuhuan cavalry, and today he even managed to hunt so many cattle and sheep. It's a miracle!"
The people present weren't fools; they could probably guess the origin of the cattle and sheep. In this year of frequent natural and man-made disasters, only the Wuhuan people north of the Great Wall could raise so many cattle and sheep.
Song Yuxi asked in a low voice, "Husband, could it have been taken from the Wuhuan people?"
Lu Tu knew he couldn't hide this from the villagers, so he simply admitted, "That's right, these are the cattle and sheep we seized from the Wuhuan people today! Now everyone, please help us get them back to the village!"
"Yes, sir!" Everyone rubbed their hands together, their hearts filled with joy as they looked at the plump, fat sheep.
They whispered among themselves, "Our leader is truly remarkable. Since ancient times, only the Wuhuan people have come to us to plunder. We've never heard of anyone venturing deep into the desert to steal the Wuhuan people's possessions."
"That's right! I've known since I was a child that our Lord Lü was destined for greatness. You don't know, but when Lord Lü was born, auspicious omens descended from the sky." A man in his forties in the crowd said proudly.
This immediately piqued the interest of those around them, who quickly asked, "What auspicious omen?"
The old man slowly raised his head to look at the sky, stroked his goatee, and slowly uttered four words: "Frost in June."
A straightforward woman immediately retorted sarcastically, "Pah! You old codger, if you can't speak properly, shut up! What kind of auspicious omen is frost in June? It means someone has been wronged!"
The old man retorted, "We are indeed wronged! Lord Lü was born to seek justice for us."
This boast was so outrageous that even Lu Tu, who considered himself to have a thick skin, couldn't help but blush with embarrassment. Fortunately, it was already late at night, so he didn't make a fool of himself.
But he still spoke up to stop him, saying, "Uncle Pang, stop talking and get to work."
"Yes, yes, ma'am."
Just as the villagers were helping to herd the sheep, a dozen or so oxcarts were also pushed out by the slave soldiers.
Everyone was stunned!
He exclaimed, "Everyone, come quick! There's so much stuff here!"
The slave soldiers were already exhausted. Every ten meters the oxcart moved forward in the dense forest required tremendous physical exertion, not to mention the thick snow on the ground. If there hadn't been enough slave soldiers to take turns pushing, the cart would probably still be stuck in the mountains.
Song Yuxi and Nangong Huiyu were overjoyed to hear the villagers praising Lü Tu, and their eyes were filled with admiration when they looked at Lü Tu. After all, what woman wouldn't want her man to be a great hero?
They didn't arrive at the village drill ground until 9 PM. At this time, no one in the village, regardless of age or gender, rested first; they all sat around the bonfires waiting.
Upon seeing Lü Tu and his entourage, all the villagers and refugees were overjoyed and rushed over, asking all at once, "Lord Lü, are you alright?"
"Sir, you scared us to death! We thought you were in danger."
"We're relieved to see the adults return."
Lu Tu was deeply moved. Who said that people at the bottom of society were all ungrateful? Even if they were unhappy, as long as they had endured the cold tonight while waiting for Lu Tu, he had to accept their kindness.
He cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to everyone and said loudly, "Thank you all for your hard work."
"It's no trouble at all, sir. You are the soul of our village. If something happens to you, we're all doomed." Someone shouted, which resonated with everyone.
Lu Tu nodded, then looked around. He recognized almost everyone, but couldn't recall their names. He gazed at the eager faces.
Lu Tu shouted, "To be honest, today I led my men to rob the Wuhuan people of their flock of sheep!"
Upon hearing this, the once noisy training ground instantly fell silent.
The only sound in the vast training ground was the howling of the cold wind. Everyone was stunned by Lü Tu's casual remark!
In the more than 200 years since the founding of the Great Yu Kingdom, only during the reign of Emperor Taizu was the Great Wall crossed and the Wuhuan people driven to the northern desert. In the many years since then, no one has been able to contend with the Wuhuan.
The people living on the border suffered even more, and could only pray every day that their luck would not be too bad and that they would not encounter the Wuhuan raiding from the south. Who would dare to imagine that one day someone would dare to steal the cattle and sheep of the Wuhuan people?
A spark ignited in everyone's eyes as they gazed at Lü Tu with intense emotion, a surge of pride welling up within them.
Suddenly, someone in the crowd burst into tears, exclaiming, "With Lord Lü here, we no longer have to fear the Wuhuan people!" This sentiment quickly spread to the others, and a wave of joyful cries filled the air.
Even Lü Tu hadn't anticipated this situation, given his previous record of killing over a dozen Wuhuan cavalrymen. The villagers, however, were simply astonished.
Unexpectedly, his raid on these cattle and sheep today had this effect.
People wept loudly in the dead of night, seemingly venting the resentment and grievances suppressed by the Wuhuan people for many years.
Song Yuxi gently squeezed Lu Tu's palm: "Husband, say a few words."
Having been married to her for many days, Lü Tu had developed a considerable understanding with her and naturally knew what Song Yuxi meant: she wanted him to use this opportunity to win people's hearts.
Lu Tu nodded, cupped his hands to the crowd, and said loudly, "What Lu Tu is doing today is not for anyone else, but because he can't stand these bastards who do evil and commit all sorts of atrocities on our land! Since they have done it, I, Lu Tu, will naturally do it too!"
"I know that everyone here has an irreconcilable hatred for the Wuhuan, and everyone has the opportunity to kill the Wuhuan people! We must unite and one day fight our way out of the Great Wall and into the northern desert!"
The emotions of the thousand people present were instantly ignited by Lü Tu, and they roared furiously, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"
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