Reclaiming Wasteland: Carefree Mountain Farmer

Chapter 78 Rules
When Beijiwu and the young mistress of the Wen family were being affectionate, it was only one or two o'clock in the afternoon outside.

We started playing at nine o'clock in the morning, and after two hours we finished the game and everyone left.

Cleaning up the battlefield was far more troublesome than fighting a war. Fortunately, five or six hundred people from Hutou Town and the Shannong ethnic group helped out, and it wasn't until five o'clock that they were able to move the dead people together.

Ögedei hastily disposed of a severely wounded soldier, adding another corpse to the list.

"Kill all those who can't stand up on their own!"

The forty-year-old Wokoji had a set of common solutions used in the military.

The nearby prisoners dared not say a word, letting Ögedei Khan deal with their companions as he pleased.

The survivors gathered together, and more than two hundred soldiers sat on the ground to rest after finishing their work.

Fifteen-year-old Lang Wubing wiped the sweat from his face and squatted down next to his uncle, who was in his twenties.

"Uncle, what do we do next?"

Meng Hetong looked at the Hu people riding horses on the road, and then at the old women and women nearby who were folding and choosing clothes.

"Let's wait and see. Ten bushels of grain isn't expensive. I don't think that person intends to keep us alive or kill us."

An old man nearby nodded and said, "That must be it. That killing god killed a thousand of our squads in an hour. We two hundred men stood still, and he could kill us all like harvesting wheat."

There are many more city legends about Beijiwu.

A man nearby chimed in, "I heard he can harvest a hundred acres of wheat a day! He never gets tired no matter how much work he does!"

If it were yesterday, everyone would have just thought he was talking nonsense.

They were all people who had done farm work before. They were so tired from harvesting just one acre of wheat that they could barely stand up straight, let alone one hundred acres.

However, after encountering Beiji Wu this morning, and being single-handedly charged from the front to the rear, slaughtering thousands of people, some people would believe even if the story was exaggerated.

Two hundred men were no match for Beijiwu. Not to mention Beijiwu, even the fifty-odd Hu people nearby could have killed them.

After sitting for half an hour, they saw three donkey carts approaching from a distance.

One cart went to the Hu people, one went to the Shan Nong people, and the last one finally reached the prisoners.

Ögedei Khan was alarmed when he saw the approaching donkey cart and was greatly alarmed when he saw the Hu people driving it.

"Arughtai, you're still alive?"

When Arutai heard someone call his name, he looked at the person and showed a happy expression upon seeing them.

"Brother, what are you doing here?"

Wokoji hadn't seen his sister's husband for several years. Now that the relatives were reunited, he quickly approached and grabbed the other's arm.

"Hahaha! I originally surrendered to the Wenchao army, but today I was impressed by the chief of the Shannong tribe and joined the Shannong tribe. Why are you here? I heard that the Wudehan tribe was massacred, and I thought your whole family was dead."

Arutai replied happily, “Your sister and I survived, but only one of our children survived. We have been working as slaves in the north for many years. Some time ago, the mountain farmers married women from outside the tribe, and the three of us came here as slaves.”

"The clan chief restored our identities, made us work for him and take care of the cattle and sheep, gave us two acres of land, and helped our family build a house. Now we eat what the clan chief provides."

Upon hearing this, Ögedei laughed and said, "Good! This is good news! It is the Eternal Heaven that has brought us together again!"

Arutai was deeply moved to see his long-lost relatives and to reunite with them, but the bloodstains along the way also made him worried.

"We're now fighting with the Wen Dynasty's army. Will something bad happen to us?"

Ögedei Khan was not afraid of the imperial army at all.

"Nothing will happen. At worst, we'll fight our way out! With the chieftain and us warriors here, even if we can't get into the city, we can still get back to the grasslands!"

Arutai felt a little relieved and began distributing steamed buns and porridge to everyone, as well as salt for roasting horse meat.

When Arutai's family came down from the mountain village to reunite with their relatives, Tuesday and several other people from Zhoujia Village also came to distribute meals.

"time to eat."

On Tuesday, I carried a wooden bucket down and picked up a wooden ladle to serve the soup.

The nearby villagers distributed more than a hundred ceramic bowls to the soldiers.

"If you don't have a bowl, wait a bit until others have finished eating. There's plenty of food; the village is still cooking."

The prisoners stood up and scrambled for the food that had been sent to them.

Bei Gong Dingbian shouted, "No scrambling! Line up! The tallest go first! For those who are about the same height, the fattest one comes first!"

In an order where strength determines priority, the more than two hundred people quickly used their weight and pushing force to push others aside and stand in an advantageous position.

Where absolute power reigns supreme, order is easily and quickly established.

The Arctic martial arts, possessing absolute strength, are naturally arranged in order of strength and weakness.

This kind of order is more stable than any age or ladies-first policy; whether someone is strong enough or not is immediately apparent.

By this time, the women of the mountain tribe had already gone home to help. On their way back, they also took away a large amount of armor, weapons, and clothing in oxcarts. The men were left to guard the corpses and soldiers.

The men of the mountain peasant tribe all look rather weak...

Fortunately, Arctic Wu's deterrent power was strong enough. Everyone knew that Arctic Wu was resting nearby, and they also knew that even if they overthrew the order maintained by the villagers, no one would survive once Arctic Wu came out.

The more than two hundred people maintained a well-behaved order; no one ran away, nor did anyone attempt to resist or organize.

Meng Hetong is not tall and does not look strong.

The same was true for his nephew, Lang Wubing; both of them were placed in the middle to the back of the line.

By the time the two arrived, the five buckets of thin porridge were long gone, and the steamed buns in the basket were also gone.

Seeing this on Tuesday, he said, "Wait a minute, the cafeteria will bring the food soon."

Upon seeing this, Meng Hetong asked, "Brother, where will we sleep tonight?"

Tuesday was originally an ordinary villager, but now, because of Arctic Martial Arts, he's on a pirate ship and can't escape.

Seeing that Meng Hetong was a young man, Zhou Er kindly said, "I heard that you are to sleep in the field for one night. I will bring you some straw to keep warm. You will be released when the imperial court sends grain. Don't be afraid, kid. The clan chief only wants grain and will not kill people."

Meng Hetong nodded and said, "Okay."

Before long, Bei Jiwu emerged from the Wen family home with a beaming smile, then rode his horse closer to inspect the area. Upon seeing Bei Jiwu, everyone quickly knelt down to greet him.

"Chieftain!" The Hu people and the Shan Nong people all knelt down to pay their respects.

The nearby soldiers sat motionless, but also kept their heads down, trying to avoid eye contact with the man.

Beijiwu dismounted and walked to the edge of the wasteland, asking, "Have all these people eaten?"

Meng Hetong looked at Beijiwu, and then quickly lowered his head as well.

Lang Wubing, standing behind him, glanced at Beijiwu and then lowered his head.

Zhou Erman said, "Chieftain, there isn't enough food here. I'm waiting for the mess hall to deliver food."

Beijiwu was in a good mood and said with a smile, "It's more than 20 miles from here to the mountain. Sending food is too slow. Have someone ride back and bring five iron pots so they can cook for themselves."

"We have grain and iron pots, and there's a river nearby. We can just get some salt and share it with two or three dead horses, and that'll be enough to feed them."

Arctic Martial looked at the soldiers again.

"Stop being lazy. I don't have enough food to feed you all. Cook your own meals today. We'll let you go when the county delivers the food tomorrow. Anyone who sneaks away will have to bear the consequences if they get caught."

Ögedei rode closer on horseback and called out from a few meters away, "Chieftain! I have already had people retrieve the horses that had run away nearby, and I have recovered more than two hundred good horses!"

Arctic Warriors discovered that they could now assemble a cavalry unit.

With over three hundred warhorses, the mountain farmers were like having four extra wheels, gaining extremely strong mobility.

The mountain farmers now have the ability to migrate, and can easily leave their villages to go to more suitable grasslands.

Beijiwu immediately said, "Okay, let's take another look. I remember there were at least five or six hundred cavalrymen at the time, but I didn't see many infantrymen."

Ögedei hurriedly replied, "Yes! In addition to the warhorses, we also obtained two hundred bows and arrows, and thousands of arrows!"

Upon hearing that there were also bows and arrows, Beijiwu felt that his side's fighting strength was sufficient to arm a cavalry archer unit of two or three hundred men.

This region has no shortage of soldiers skilled in mounted archery.

"Okay, let's search more carefully!"

"Yes!"

After giving his instructions, Beijiwu planned to leave.

At this moment, the young Lang Wubing quickly stepped forward and knelt directly on the ground.

"My lord! Please kill me!"

Zhou Er and Mu Chuanliang stared at the person in astonishment, and became even more puzzled when they discovered that he was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy.

The Hu people and Han people nearby were all watching him.

Meng Hetong hurriedly knelt on the ground, "Sir, please spare this child, he has mental problems!"

Beijiwu asked curiously, "Are you his brother?"

Meng Hetong replied, "No, I am his uncle."

Beijiwu nodded. "Don't worry, I'm not the kind of person who does whatever others tell me to do. Don't say anything yet."

Beijiwu looked at the boy who was begging for death, "Boy, why are you begging me to kill you? Give me a reason."

Lang Wubing raised his head and looked at Beijiwu. "If you kill me, my father and mother won't have to come to this war-torn borderland. If I'm still alive, my family will be forcibly relocated here by the court to suffer!"

When Meng Hetong heard that his nephew had asked for death for such a reason, he was filled with grief.

Beijiwu laughed and said, "Then why didn't you just run away? Or you should have fought me back then. It's not hard to die if you want to."

Upon hearing this, Lang Wubing hesitated for a few seconds before acting impulsively, standing up and running quickly toward the county town.

Seeing that Lang Wubing had run away, everyone else looked at him and also at Beijiwu.

one second...

Ten seconds...

Half a minute later, Arctic Martial remained unmoved.

Just when everyone thought that Beiji Wu could shoot a thousand-meter-long divine arrow to kill Lang Wubing, Beiji Wu smiled.

"I have plenty of men here, so I might as well spare his life. But what about my food if the rest of you run away? I don't have a habit of eating people, I just want food!"

Seeing that his nephew had run away and that Beijiwu had no intention of making things difficult for him, Meng Hetong quickly spoke to buy time.

"May I ask, sir, what should we do if the commander refuses to send grain to ransom us?"

Meng Hetong's worries made the other soldiers watch Arctic Wu with tension.

Cannibalism is common in this world. During centuries of famine, many places have experienced several major disasters that result in complete crop failure.

In addition, there were frequent incidents like today where large numbers of civilians were captured. The Hu and Han people ate their own food, but the civilians and prisoners were forced to eat each other, which numbed some people's thoughts of resistance and turned them into cannibalistic bandits.

“If the imperial court refuses to spend ten bushels of rice to ransom you,” Beijiwu chuckled, “I will lead you back to fight! If you are loyal even to officers who don’t take you seriously, then you deserve to die.”

"Love yourself before loving your family and others. If even those who force you to separate from your family and to die don't realize this, then they deserve to die."

"Think carefully, who made you live such a miserable life? Was it me who sent you here? Or was it those people behind you!"

"Go boil water and cook. There's rice and horse meat here, and wild vegetables are everywhere. Anyone who dares to eat people will die!"

"The mountain farmers have their own rules, which forbid cannibalism. Whether it's one of our own or an enemy, everyone should be buried in peace!"

Arctic Martial Arts set the first rule for everyone: no cannibalism.

After running several hundred meters and seeing that no one was chasing him, Lang Wubing waited in place for a few minutes and then walked back on his own.

He wanted to keep running, but he was afraid that his uncle would be abused by those people, so he had no choice but to come back. Anyway, if he died, he would die and it wouldn't implicate his family.

Since he's back, neither Beiji Wu nor Wokoji made things difficult for him.

The others also abandoned any thought of escaping and obediently cooked and boiled water, waiting for the imperial court to redeem them.

(End of this chapter)