Chapter 208

Lu Yan sat on horseback, watching these people with a scrutinizing gaze.

Yuan Meng and the others remained silent, waiting for Lu Yan's decision.

As Lu Yan stayed silent, the group of people kneeling on the ground became increasingly uneasy.

The reason they dared to express their thoughts to Lu Yan was because they heard that the Yu Village had taken in many people from outside villages, and their lives were saved by the Yu Village. So, they would rather become slaves to the Yu Village than be trampled by the people of Mang Village and Da Ji Village again.

The young man leading them lowered his head deeply and said again, "If you take us in, we are willing to do anything for you and for Yu Village."

Yuan Meng and the others could feel that these people were sincere. Seeing that Lu Yan had not spoken yet, they grew a bit anxious. After all, this group of people were all young and strong. After this incident, they had shown loyalty to Yu Village, making them much more useful than the outsiders who still needed verification.

Just when everyone was a bit impatient, Lu Yan finally spoke, "What if my command leads you to your death?"

The leading young man said, "If it weren't for you, I would have died here today. So, I am willing to pay the price of my life for your command."

Lu Yan swept his gaze over the others, "Are you all the same?"

Those people knew this was an opportunity, and almost simultaneously answered, "We are willing!"

Lu Yan said, "Remember what you've said."

The people kneeling on the ground raised their heads, looking at Lu Yan with joy.

Lu Yan turned to Yuan Meng, "Take them with you."

Yuan Meng excitedly said, "Yes."

Others were also somewhat excited. There were over a thousand people here in total.

The total number of warriors in their Yu Village did not add up to this.

These young and strong individuals were all good seedlings from the Warrior Camp.

Yuan Meng said to those people, "Get up and follow us."

The young man leading the group stood up first, and the others gradually stood up.

Yuan Meng noticed that some of them were injured, and many couldn't walk. He ordered someone to check the situation of these slaves.

He walked to the front of the young man and asked, "What's your name?"

The young man was a bit nervous, "My name is Xia Bai."

Xia's surname? Yuan Meng remembered. It seemed that among the outsiders who sought refuge in Yu Village, there were a few with the Xia Village surname. He didn't know the relationship with Xia Bai.

"Are you from Xia Village?"

"Yes, I was one of the earliest slaves captured."

"You're doing well to have held on until now."

Xia Bai was taken by Mang Village. When Yuan Meng went to Mang Village that day, he was present and witnessed Yuan Meng beheading the leader of a Mang Village squad. Xia Bai admired Yuan Meng a lot, so he didn't hide anything about what he had done, "To survive, I killed quite a few people."

He was somewhat worried that Yuan Meng would blame him, but Yuan Meng did not.

Yuan Meng said, "It's not your fault. Blame Mang Village and Da Ji Village for bullying people too much. If you didn't fight back, you would have been the one dead."

Tears welled up in Xia Bai's eyes.

Yuan Meng patted his shoulder, "This won't happen again in the future. Since you understand these people better, go help check their conditions."

Xia Bai nodded, "Yes!"

After finishing speaking, he immediately went to help.

Yu Meng felt he was quite obedient, a seedling that could be cultivated. As for the Xia village matter, he temporarily didn't mention it. In case Xia Bai and those people were unrelated, it would be giving false hope and disappointment. When back in the village, they would see.

An hour later, Xia Bai and his team assisted the cavalry in roughly treating the injuries. About ten individuals with severe injuries couldn't travel for now.

Yu Meng looked at Lu Yan, "Leader, these dozen people can't travel conveniently. We should let them rest temporarily and give them Purple Cloud Grass Ganwu Soup."

Lu Yan frowned slightly and said after a moment, "Then we'll set out in two days. You're responsible for treating their injuries."

"Yes."

After entrusting the matter to Yu Meng, Lu Yan whistled, summoning the messenger hawk.

Though they brought voice-transmitting symbols, the content was limited. Lu Yan had a lot to say to Yu Su, at least enough to fill a whole page.

They were in an open camp, fortunate for the absence of rain these days.

Yu Meng set up a makeshift platform for Lu Yan, adding a layer of corkboard, serving as a desk.

Lu Yan took out pen, ink, and paper from a leather bag, sitting cross-legged on the ground, writing a letter to Yu Su.

The messenger hawk obediently crouched in a corner of the table, watching Lu Yan write.

The cavalry was used to it; their leader wrote to Lord Yu Su every day, as if a day without writing made him uncomfortable.

On the other hand, Xia Bai's group was surprised; they had never seen such magical things.

Seeing Lu Yan dip the brush in ink and start writing, they watched with curiosity.

"What is that thing? Never seen it before."

"Looks like witchcraft."

People in this land called the circulating script at this time "witchcraft," but true witchcraft, like the one on the barrier of the Source Witch Department, was quite different. It was a special script with magical power.

"That's pen, ink, and paper," a cavalry soldier said, approaching. "Haven't seen them, right? These are created by our Lord Yu Su; only our Yu Village has them."

Magical things exclusive to Yu Village.

Xia Bai's group became greatly curious about Yu Village, especially about the rumored witch doctor, Yu Su.

"When you arrive in Yu Village and behave well, you can go to the academy to learn those writings," the cavalry soldier dropped another bombshell.

Xia Bai and his companions were shocked; they couldn't believe it. "Can we all learn, sir?" Xia Bai asked in amazement.

It's understandable they were astonished; at this time, the control of writing was in the hands of the witch doctors and village leaders. Ordinary people couldn't even touch it, let alone learn it privately without facing punishment.

The cavalry soldier proudly laughed, "Our Yu Village is different from other villages. Our Lord Yu Su said the gods didn't forbid ordinary people from learning writing. The class controlling the script forbids it. Most ordinary people are deceived."

A large group of people, upon hearing this, were particularly shocked.

Xia Bai's gaze flickered. He knew some of this because of his position in Xia Village, aware of things that ordinary people didn't know.

But he didn't expect that Yu Village would actually reveal these secrets to everyone.

Could it be that the witch doctor in Yu Village wasn't afraid that ordinary people, once versed in writing, wouldn't obey?

This was something he overheard the witch doctor and the village chief discussing. There were people in Xia Village who secretly learned to write, and after being caught, they were beaten to death alive. At that time, he overheard the witch doctor telling the village chief that ordinary people must not be allowed to learn witchcraft, or else they wouldn't be obedient.

At that time, he vaguely sensed that something was different from what he had in mind.

What kind of person was the witch doctor in Yu Village?

"Lord Yu Su is the best witch doctor in the world, the most respected person for us," the soldier said.

It was then that Xia Bai realized he had unintentionally voiced his inner thoughts.

At this point, Lu Yan had also finished writing the letter. After studying for more than two years, basic reading and writing posed no problem. The written characters had a distinct personal style, with sharp strokes and a bold font.

Now, he had written two full pages. After carefully drying the ink, he folded them up, put them in a bamboo tube, sealed it, and tied it to the foot of the messenger hawk.

Lu Yan fed the messenger hawk a large piece of meat. After finishing the meat, the hawk spread its wings and flew high, heading towards the direction of Yu Village.

...

The messenger hawk flew quickly in the sky. Combined with occasional pills fed by Yu Su, these hawks were particularly robust, not only spiritually connected but also exceptionally fast.

The hawk flying back to Yu Village from the eastern plains soon delivered the letter.

While hovering over the village, many people saw it.

"Oh, isn't it Leader Lu writing a letter to Lord Yu Su again?"

"Definitely, the messenger hawk flies back every day. Only Leader Lu misses Lord Yu Su so much, just like that thing Mr. Chi taught, 'A day without seeing is like three autumns.'"

"Hahaha."

Everyone teased Lu Yan quietly.

Yu Su was in the middle of discussing the resettlement of outsiders who sought refuge when he heard the hawk's call. He immediately stopped the topic, walked out, and beckoned the hawk down.

As soon as it saw its master, the hawk happily descended.

Just as it was about to rush to Yu Su, a small yellow ball suddenly flew out, chirping twice.

The descending messenger hawk was startled, almost falling from mid-air.

Yu Su: "..."

He looked at the little black bird. "Why did you scare it?"

Little black bird: "I didn't scare it; it's just timid."

The little black bird was a divine bird, a sky dominator. The bloodline power on its body made all birds fear it, let alone the small messenger hawk.

But it really didn't mean to scare the messenger hawk. It came back from playing with its little brothers outside and was resting. After resting, it planned to join its little brothers again in the small forest.

Its little brothers told it that the small forest was lively at night, so it was ready to join the fun.

Yu Su didn't know where it planned to cause trouble at night. Watching it enter the house, he beckoned the messenger hawk over and took the bamboo tube.

Knowing that Lu Yan had sent a letter, and understanding that Yu Su temporarily didn't have time for other matters, Yu Feng tactfully took his leave.

Yu Su took the bamboo tube into the house. After opening it, he took out two large sheets of paper covered in writing.

The little black bird jumped over to take a look, seeing the pages full of words, it suddenly felt a bit dizzy. It quickly jumped to the other side, saying, "You humanoids are really something. Can't you get dizzy from writing so many words?"

It couldn't understand why Lu Yan, a character who would rather take action than waste words, would engage in such elaborate writing. It was truly surprising to the bird.

Yu Su smiled, happily looking at the letter. "You wouldn't understand."