Chapter 588 Ba Ke
Wuerzhai, wine cellar.
Sun Shaozong reached out and opened the huge steamer in front of him. He glanced inside expressionlessly and asked without even turning his head, "Is it steamed in here?"
"Reporting to the Lord."
Shen Lian's face was even darker than the black ash at the bottom of the pot. He bowed and clasped his fists and said, "Several Han women who angered the head of Wuer Village were steamed to death in here!"
After a pause, he gritted his teeth and added: "And after they died, their skin and flesh were stripped off and fed to other captured Han women as food!"
It was precisely because they had been forced to eat human flesh several times that the women subconsciously chose to take revenge by eating them alive.
Bang!
Sun Shaozong retracted his hand, and the lid of the steamer fell down with a bang. He tapped the steamer a few times with his fingers and suddenly said, "This steamer doesn't look like the work of a barbarian."
Shen Lian had not noticed this before, but now that Sun Shaozong had pointed it out to him, he took a closer look at it and compared it with the surrounding objects.
really!
Not only the steamer, but even the stove underneath is very different in style from other utensils.
Shen Lian quickly winked at Yin Cheng, who understood and retreated. Not long after, he came back with a barbarian.
"Sir, please spare my life! Sir, please spare my life!"
When the barbarian saw Sun Shaozong, he immediately kowtowed like crazy, but spoke proper Mandarin.
Hearing that he could speak fluent Mandarin, Sun Shaozong asked with some curiosity: "Who are you?"
The barbarian was very alert, knowing that his life or death depended entirely on the evil star in front of him, so he hurriedly said, "I am Ba Ke, a merchant in Wuer Village. I am responsible for all the business in this village on weekdays."
"I am not only familiar with the situation of each village of Tongxi Man, but also the local customs and habits of Kangxi, Daixi, Huaxi, and Xunxi!"
" If you are willing to spare my life, I will serve you and your army, even if it means my death!"
These words really made Sun Shaozong feel a little moved.
After all, the Wuxi barbarians have always been closed, and the so-called Han guides only have a better understanding of the most civilized Tongxi barbarians.
If they want to go deep into the mountains and attack other barbarians, the more guides like Ba Ke the better.
However, Sun Shaozong did not rush to agree. Instead, he pointed at the steamer and asked, "Did you make this steamer yourself in Wuer Village?"
Ba Ke looked at the steamer and immediately shook his head like a rattle: "Although there are craftsmen in Wuer Village, they can't make such exquisite things. I heard that at the end of the Song Dynasty, some Han craftsmen fled to the mountains to avoid disaster and made some wine-making utensils for the village."
"It is thanks to these utensils that the production of Tongxi wine produced in the village has greatly increased, which has brought us today's prosperity ."
At this point, Ba Ke knocked his head to the ground and said with deep sorrow: "Every time I think of this, I am grateful for the kindness of the Han craftsmen and deeply hate Qiaxi and others for repaying kindness with enmity!"
This guy is really good at distancing himself.
Sun Shaozong stroked the steamer, imagining the feelings of the Han craftsmen when they made this thing more than a hundred years ago; he imagined the tragic scene of the Han woman wailing and dying in it a few months ago.
After a long while, he asked calmly, "There are still many people hiding in this village. Do you have a way to find them out?"
Ba Ke's prostrate body trembled suddenly, and then he said decisively: "I will do my best!"
“It’s not about trying your best, but about making sure you do it.”
Sun Shaozong said, turned around and walked outside, without looking back, saying: "I don't care what method you use, in half an hour, there must be at least two hundred men in front of the village gate."
Although the massacre in front of the village gate completely crushed the fighting spirit of the barbarians in Wuerzhai, only sixty or seventy people actually died under Sun Shaozong's sword.
Later, when Lu Jianxing and Shen Lian led their teams to set fire, they killed more than a hundred people.
But all added together, they only account for about 30% of the young and strong people in Wuerzhai .
This does not conform to Sun Shaozong's original intention of destroying the enemy's vitality.
However, continuing the search might delay the opportunity for retreat; secondly, the enemy was in the dark and we were in the light, which would inevitably lead to more casualties among the government troops.
That's why he arranged such a trial task for Ba Ke.
No matter what extent Ba Ke can finally complete the task, the government troops will have to set off down the mountain after half an hour.
After leaving the wine cellar, Wang Zhen hurriedly took a few personal guards with him, holding up Teng shields to protect him on both sides to prevent them from being attacked by hidden arrows from the barbarians on the way.
Sun Shaozong ignored them and walked silently to the gate of the village. He saw that a lot of women, children, the elderly and the weak had gathered on the open space to the left of the arrow tower.
Seeing Sun Shaozong coming back with his personal guards, the barbarians, women, children, the elderly and the weak were a little uneasy, but after a long commotion, they saw that he was just standing by and didn't do anything special, and then they gradually returned to the deathly silence.
I have to say that Ba Ke does have some skills.
Sun Shaozong waited at the foot of the arrow tower for a while before he saw young and strong barbarians being escorted in one after another.
Of course, most of those escorted here were the elderly, the weak, women and children among the barbarians.
Nearly half an hour later, there were already six or seven hundred barbarians crowded in front of the gate, of which about 20% were young and strong adults. There were definitely more than a hundred people, but still a long way from the standard of two hundred.
"Sir!"
After being escorted here by Shen Lian, Ba Ke knelt down from a distance, crawled on her knees to Sun Shaozong, and begged with tears streaming down her face: "Please give me some more time, Ba Ke will definitely find more men!"
"No need."
Sun Shaozong took off Frost Sorrow from his back, handed it to Ba Ke and said, "Put this sword in the ground. Anyone taller than the hilt will be treated as a young and strong man and killed without mercy!"
Ba Ke slowly got up from the ground and took the giant sword tremblingly.
Although he guessed that the sword would not be too light, looking at Sun Shaozong's relaxed look, he still underestimated the weight of Frostmourne.
I caught it in my hand and dropped it, almost spraining my waist.
Ba Ke quickly leaned the sword against the ground and saw that the tip of the sword was stuck in the ground , but the hilt was still slightly higher than himself. He couldn't help but secretly breathe a sigh of relief.
Based on his own height, at least half of the young and strong adults present would still be left.
Who knew that just when I thought of this, I heard Sun Shaozong add: "If there are less than 200 people taller than the hilt of the sword, you will pay with your own life."
The blood color on Bake's face faded away in an instant. If he had not been leaning on Frostmourne, he would have collapsed to the ground.
No matter how you count the young and strong barbarians present, there is no way that the number can reach two hundred. Doesn't this mean that I am doomed?
At this time, Sun Shaozong called over two guides who were fluent in the barbarian language and repeated what he had just said to Ba Ke to the barbarians present in the barbarian language.
While the barbarians behind were in an uproar, a glimmer of hope suddenly flashed through Bake's heart!
If this official wanted to save my life, why would he go through so much trouble?
Could it be...
Ba Ke looked back at his tribesmen who were still making noises under the suppression of the officers and soldiers. A hint of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes. Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and thrust Frostmourne hard into the ground.
After confirming that the giant sword would not fall for the time being, he found a small piece of log nearby, held it high with both hands, and smashed it hard on the hilt!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
One, two, three times...
At first, the barbarians behind were still a little confused about the situation, but as less and less of the sword was exposed, people gradually realized his purpose.
This Ba Ke clearly wants to take the lives of the little guys in the village!
Suddenly, the whole place was filled with curses, cries and begging!
Some mothers with teenage children even began to attack the government troops' defense line without regard for their own safety.
However, Ba Ke turned a deaf ear to them and just lifted up the log again and again, hammering the sword into the ground until it reached the height of the hilt...
Less than three feet!
