Volume 4: How big is the heart, how vast is the earth Chapter 121 Price
The ten-year-old boy was forced to have his head shaved and his black face, neck, arms, torso, buttocks and thighs scrubbed. Layers of old mud were brushed off with a towel heated with water and a boar-bristle brush. As he screamed in pain, the disguise of a Beggar Gang disciple gradually faded from the boy's body, leaving him with a clean little bald head.
Xiao Yun patted the kid's hairy head with satisfaction and said, "Now that's proper. Put on your clothes yourself. Put your head on here and your arms out from the sides. Next one!"
The cub, whose whole body was aching from being rubbed, sobbed as he put on clothes that were as simple as a straight sack, rubbed his eyes... and continued to squat beside him, watching Xiao Yun torment the next person with a look of deep hatred on his face.
"Don't just sit there, come and help me throw the fur into the fire and burn it. Be careful not to let lice jump onto your body, otherwise I'll have to brush your hair again." Xiao Yun would never stand for others to be idle, so he ordered them to do things without any hesitation.
The cub shivered, looked miserable, and very carefully stretched out his arms to scratch the fur...
Not to mention the tender skinned cubs, even the thick-skinned adult werewolves cried out in pain. There was nothing they could do. With so many people waiting to be scrubbed, how could they be scrubbed as gently and slowly as if they were patients? One scrub with a brush could whiten a patch of skin, but if you rub with a towel, it would take more than a dozen times to get it white.
Sai Er was stunned to see the black werewolves suddenly turn into white faces, and his worldview was shattered - were the werewolves so white? That black layer was all mud?!
He couldn't help but look down at his hands... Well, compared to the Snow Wolf Man's originally pitch-black claws, his hands looked better. At least the palm part had some flesh color, and the color was not that dark.
Saier hesitated for a moment, then used the index finger of his other hand to dip some saliva in his mouth and rubbed the "cleanest" part of his palm with a little force.
A layer of old mud was rolled into strips and rubbed by him.
Sai Er: “…”
My sight turned once again to the Snow Wolf Clan who were busy brushing. The stench of burning hair was getting stronger and stronger, and the dumped sewage gradually dyed the surface of the stream black.
Sail shuddered for no reason, stepped back silently, turned around and left.
Two hours later, Hongye, who also had his head shaved, came with a group of Snow Wolf warriors to relieve the Centaurs, and told Saier to take everyone to the stream.
Sail struggled for a moment, then gritted his teeth and went back with his ignorant tribesmen.
By the stream in the tent area, the special snow wolf cub seen earlier stood up, looked up at Sayle and the other centaurs, his brows furrowed.
Sel's heart was beating fast, but none of his tribesmen said that anyone had noticed the danger. They were curious and whispered to each other: "They have become so white? Are snow werewolves so white?"
"My head is still in a weird state."
"What are you doing boiling so many pots of water without putting any food in them?"
It was the first time for Xiao Yun to see the Centaurs. To be honest, it was quite an eye-opener... These Centaurs were very majestic, with their shoulders almost as tall as Xiao Yun. The horse's head was originally in the upper body above the waist, which was similar to a human's. The human body was properly dressed in animal skin clothing, and the tailoring looked quite good, indicating that the Centaurs had certain manual skills.
Judging from the human body, this group of centaurs includes both male and female centaurs. Their muscularity is similar to that of adult snow wolves, and the females have obvious chest curves. However, unlike the centaurs imagined by earthlings, their faces are quite "inhuman": their heads are relatively long, their foreheads are wide and their chins are short, and the part from the eyes to the mouth accounts for two-thirds of the entire face.
With such an inhuman appearance, it is basically isolated from the handsome men and beautiful women imagined by otakus on Earth... It does not exist. Not only does it completely fail to conform to human aesthetics, it can also be said to be quite ugly, as ugly as the goblins, each with its own merits.
Compared to these centaurs, the gray dwarves with strange skin colors can be considered handsome...
That would be fine, there were only a few decent-looking ones in the Snow Wolf Clan, and Xiao Yun was not in a position to be picky about appearance. What bothered him the most was the amount of hair on the Centaurs - the hair that looked like hair stretched from the top of the head to the back of the neck, to the entire spine on the back of the body, and all the way to the horse's body. He didn't know whether to call it hair or mane...
What’s even more troubling is that the horse is covered in hair…
Xiao Yun stared at them up and down for a long time with a headache, and sighed helplessly... The mane can be shaved, but is it possible to shave all the hair on the horse's body?
The Grassroots Chief also realized that the hygiene of the Centaur was difficult to maintain. He frowned and stared at Sayre's horse body for a long time but couldn't think of a solution: "What should I do, Ayun?"
"…Shave the mane and brush the horse's hair. Our insect repellent powder should be able to be used on their horses to get rid of fleas. Brushing the horse's hair clean with soap should also be able to prevent it from getting sick." Xiao Yun said.
The Grassroots Chief nodded and said, "This is the only way. Sayer, come here."
"Grassroots chief." Saier led the way forward, his eyes alertly watching the cub next to him. As expected, the other party did not surprise Saier and immediately took out the knife that was shining with cold light.
Saier: “……!!”
Other Centaurs: “???”
The grassroots chief explained: "The purpose of sanitation is to prevent diseases. Removing insects and messy hair from the body can make the body healthier. This is what our tribe does, and few people get sick."
Saier didn't quite understand the connection between doing this and whether or not to get sick, but he trusted the grassroots chieftain not to harm them. Besides, the Snow Wolves had already been shaved and brushed, so the Centaurs didn't want to ask for special treatment... Staring at the cub who was giving him a lot of pressure, Saier hesitated, turned around and nodded to the tribesmen, then took the lead by bending all four of his horse's legs and kneeling down.
"It's started." Xiao Yun rolled up his sleeves and walked forward with a serious expression.
Due to his lack of skills and the lack of professional razor, Xiao Yun could only cut the hair until there were only uneven stubbles left, and there was no way he could really shave a shiny bald head. But it was quite scary to use a sharp knife so close to the skin. It was okay for Seer who had just started and couldn't see it, but the centaurs who watched all this were so nervous that they gasped.
The sound of shaving rang in his ears. Although he couldn't see it, Sayre could feel his nerves tense...
From the top of the head to the back, all the way to the horse's body, the mane fell to the ground, and only a strange stubble was left on Sayre's head and back. The ugliness and inhumanity of Sayre increased at a rocket speed...
Xiao Yun kicked away the shaved hair, and the grassroots chief who had been waiting nearby came up with a brush and a bucket.
The body of an adult Centaur alone weighs eight or nine hundred kilograms. You can imagine how big it is. Two snow wolves stood on each side and worked together to brush Sayer. Xiao Yun brushed the human part of his body, and the grassroots chief brushed the horse part of his body.
Xiao Yun had gained experience in brushing people, so he dipped the brush in water and applied it to Saier's horse face, brushing it with moderate force. The muscles on Saier's face twitched a little, but it was not so painful that he cried out.
The grassroots chief's words were not so gentle, mainly because the horse's body was covered with hair and was difficult to brush. When the brush soaked in water was passed over the horse's body, black dirty water dripped down.
Sai Er: "..." It hurts! Don't scream!
Sayre held back, but the Grassroots Chief cried out, "So many lice, really big lice!"
"Put the insecticide powder in hot water and then brush it." Xiao Yun leaned over to take a look, and was frightened by the bean-sized fleas on the horse.
The grassroots chief sprinkled insecticide powder into the bucket and stirred it, then dipped a large brush into the water and brushed it vigorously.
Sai Er felt as if the horse's entire skin was ripped hard: "Hiss—it hurts, it hurts!"
"Be patient, it's hard to clean it." The grassroots chief brushed it a few more times.
Sai Er bared his teeth and said, "Be gentle~~"
"Don't move, or the brush will go off track." The grassroots chief freed one hand to hold the horse's butt, and brushed quickly with his hand.
Sayre's facial features were distorted, he clenched his fists and gritted his teeth to endure it.
Grassroots leader: "Ayun, there are a lot of lice in the horse's tail!"
Xiao Yun leaned over to take a look again, with a look of disgust on his face: "Tsk... the hair on the tail is too fluffy, the insecticide powder can't penetrate it, let's shave it later."
Saier: “???”
The other centaurs turned pale and retreated silently, and then retreated again...
After twenty minutes of hard brushing, Sayre was sweating profusely and almost fainted. The grass-roots chieftains and the centaurs watching did not sympathize with him at all. Instead, they opened their mouths in shock...
Xiao Yun: “Fuck!”
Ayi slept deeply and did not wake up until the next day. When he opened his eyes, although his body still felt very weak, for some reason he felt an unprecedented sense of relaxation.
With a light snort, Ayi supported himself with his only remaining left arm and sat up. Then he found that... the tent he slept in was completely different from the previous ones. The wool felt was very clean, there was no mess in the corner, the air around was very fresh, and the bed beneath him was no longer a smelly and hard animal skin, but a soft blanket.
Ah Yi blinked his eyes, raised his left hand, and looked at it over and over again... This was his hand, no doubt about it. When did his hand become so white? How come he didn't even know?
Pulling up the clean animal skin covering his body, Ah Yi touched the cloth he was wearing. He knew it was the sun cloth that Cao Gen Hong Ye and the others wore. However, he remembered that this kind of sun cloth was distributed to the gray dwarves and cubs of the cat tribe. Moreover, the clothes he wore seemed to be cleaner than those Cao Gen and the others originally wore...
Smelling the aroma of food wafting in from outside, Hajime rubbed his empty stomach, slowly stood up and walked out of the tent - and then he was stunned.
He saw his old friend Sayre.
Sai'er was about to enter the tent to see him, and bumped into him head-on. The centaur had lost his mane and tail hair, but that was not all. Sai'er's "color" had changed. In Yi's memory, Sai'er, who was the same color as tree bark, had turned snow-white. Not only was his body dazzlingly white, but the hair on his horse was also so white that it reflected light, was shiny, smooth, soft and bright...
Hajime: "Sai'er?!"
Sai Er: “…”
"Why did you change color?" Ayi thought for a long time and could only come up with this adjective.
"You too," Sayre said expressionlessly.
Ah Yi was stunned, he looked down at his arms, then lifted the hem of his clothes to look at his belly... He raised his head in astonishment: "Why did I change color too?"
Cell made way and motioned for Hajime to look at the open space ahead.
In the open space beside the stream, a row of large pots were emitting steam. A large group of snow wolves were gathered around waiting for food. Everyone was wearing sun cloth clothes, and everyone's face, neck, and arms were snow-white and clean...
Hajime suddenly realized something and raised his hand to touch his head. "I thought that only the newborn cubs of us snow wolves were white, and they would turn black when they grow up - Hey, my head? "
"Ayi, are you awake?" The snow werewolf who was passing by with firewood was surprised to see Ayi.
Hajime stared at the stubble on his fellow tribesman's head for a few seconds, which made him feel even more awkward the closer he looked. He immediately knew why his own head felt like that...
The gray centaurs turned out to be snow-white after brushing off the old mud, which Xiao Yun had never expected. But it was useless, as the centaurs proved that being in mourning could not make them look pretty, and even if they were brushed white, they were still as ugly as the goblins... After brushing white, the snow werewolves would at least have a +5 appearance, but their negative appearance could not be saved at all.
However, it is true that these guys are useful. They are natural cavalrymen and have a deep hatred for the Tiger Tribe. Knowing that the grassroots chief even brought back the Centaurs, Xiao Yun silently praised this treasure of the tribe in his heart - the more people the merrier, and the addition of Centaurs can also make up for the Snow Wolf Tribe's shortcomings in speed.
As for the negative impression that Centaurs have a bad external image, are all warlike, aggressive and stupid... that's a bullshit!
After breakfast, Xiao Yun discussed the return arrangements with the grassroots chief. The idea of more than 30,000 cattle and sheep slowing down the progress of the large army had to be rejected. Now the temperature at night dropped below and only a few degrees during the day. It might snow at any time. Once it snowed, it would be troublesome for so many people to be trapped in the snow.
"It's not necessary for everyone to follow the cattle and sheep. Select some warriors to drive the cattle and sheep, and the others can hurry up and get on the road. The sooner we get back to the tribe, the better."
The grassroots tribe leader would certainly not object to this proposal. She couldn't do so before because of food shortage and had to rely on killing sheep to maintain consumption. Now that Xiao Yun brought out supplies to support her, this problem was no longer a problem.
The chiefs of the seven central tribes had no objection to this matter. After walking on the road for several months, everyone was very tired. The deaths of a group of people from illness before made the chiefs still have lingering fears. They all expressed their willingness to leave the warriors in their tribes behind. The chief of the tribe who could see that the central region was going to be in chaos and who could resolutely make up his mind to migrate to the southwest must not be a cute guy like Huoyan.
Although the Fire Flame Tribe has not been seen yet, the fact that they were able to mobilize a support team of over a hundred people to deliver a large amount of food and supplies in just a few days is enough to prove the strength of the Fire Flame Tribe. They have come thousands of miles to merge with others, so it naturally makes no sense for them to cling to the warriors of their tribe at this time.
Xiao Yun didn't plan to use other people's men before letting them in. He just needed to take half of the warriors he brought with Hongye, Yu and the others as the rear guard. Together with the more than sixty Centaurs, that would be enough.
The large group set out immediately and traveled at full speed. Without the encumbrance of cattle and sheep, three days later in the afternoon, these guests who had come from thousands of miles away saw the buildings of the Huoyan Tribe.
"Grassroots chief, that's the Flame Tribe?!"
A chieftain of the Snow Wolf tribe from the central part of the country was so shocked that he couldn't believe it: "There are so many houses. Your tribe is the same as the royal court!"
"It seems to be bigger than the royal court!" said another clan leader.
"Yeah, there are many more houses than the royal court." Another person said.
The grassroots chief said nonchalantly: "If we have the manpower, we can actually build as many houses as we want. Last year we only had 30% of the houses we have now. The rest were built this year."
The clan leaders were silent, looking at the grassroots in awe... What the grassroots clan leader said was the truth, but to the clan leaders' ears it sounded a bit domineering.
"I didn't expect the Fire Flame Tribe to have changed so much in just over a decade." A tribe leader sighed, "When we all lived near the King's Court before, we didn't feel that the Fire Flame Tribe was so different from us."
Xiao Yun looked over in surprise: "Patriarch Feng knows Patriarch Huoyan?"
Chief Feng nodded: "More than a decade ago, the pastures of our two tribes were next to each other, and the grazing teams often barbecued together."
Xiao Yun stopped talking. No wonder the original owner had no impression of the Feng tribe in his memory.
The grassroots chief glanced at Xiao Yun. Since Ayun didn't say anything, she wouldn't mention Ayun's contribution to the tribe. Anyway, as long as they get along for a while, Ayun's edge will be hidden even if he wants to...
The soldiers patrolling the tribe had already spotted the approaching large group. Some of them ran out to see what was going on. They were so happy to find that it was their own people who had returned that they immediately sent people back to report the news. When the large group entered the tribal square, Qingcao had already led the work team and rushed over with water containers, iron pots, disinfectant, and brushes.
Electrolyzed disinfectant can effectively kill most viruses and bacteria. We didn't have the conditions to do so outside before, so we have to make up for it now. Apart from anything else, there is also a human named Thrall in the tribe. If he is infected with some germs from outside, Thrall, whose physique is worse than that of a cat cub, will be in trouble...
People just need to change into clean clothes, and the clothes and supplies they bring back must either be sprayed with disinfectant or boiled in hot water to quickly complete the "cleaning up" procedure. The guests from afar can finally settle down in the Fire Tribe.
To the people of the grassland, the buildings were absolutely spectacular, which made the group of snow wolves from the central part even more awed when they looked at them up close... With the Tiger King's Court as a reference, they had a clearer understanding of the strength of the Fire Tribe than the small tribes in the southwestern border.
The newly built dormitory was prepared for this group of people. Xiao Yun originally hoped that 500 people would come. Now, including the centaurs and goblins, there are more than 500 people in total, which can be considered to have met expectations; but the centaurs cannot live in houses with kangs, so they have to build another one for them...
The first thing to consider after the arrival of the new labor force must be on-the-job training. Xiao Yun is experienced in this. He lets most people rest for a day to recover their energy. The adults are immediately assigned to the engineering team and the work team to learn to adapt to the work rhythm, while the minors are left to Qingyan.
As for the twelve disabled cats and nine disabled gray dwarves who were not included in the plan, it was not difficult to arrange them . They were all housed in one room and assigned to Qiuqiu's wool spinning mill. Those who couldn't do heavy work could always do manual work. Those who were missing arms and hands could work with those with healthy upper limbs on the pedal-operated combing and textile machines, and they could always contribute some labor...
The emotionless Xiao Yun unceremoniously arranged all the disabled people to work, which inadvertently relieved the psychological pressure of these disabled people. It was bad enough that they were taken care of by the Snow Wolf Tribe along the way, but when they arrived at someone else's tribe, they were still a burden who ate free meals. No intelligent creature could stand this.
Qingyan took the time to rush to the Qiuqiu Woolen Mill. After entering the workshop, he soon discovered disabled people who were either working in pairs in the corner or sitting on the ground, using their intact upper limbs to spin hand-cranked spinning wheels. He walked a few steps and then stopped. He glanced at his fellow cats who were not intact and sighed with a complicated expression.
"You came just after Rosemary left." Qiu got off the loom and said jokingly, "What do you think of them when you think I can't arrange it well?"
"How could that be." Qing Yan sighed again, "I just...they...sigh."
Qiu was silent for a while, then said faintly: "It's not just you, I'm the same. When I see them, I can't help but worry about how 'they' are doing now."
The former refers to the disabled cat tribe, and the latter refers to those tribesmen who chose to rely on the tiger tribe and left.
Qingyan said nothing, but his face darkened.
Qiu smiled sadly: "In Ayun's story, everyone has to pay a price for their choices. I didn't feel it when I was listening to the story, but when something similar happened to me... I realized how cruel the word price is."
“Ball…”
Qiu turned around and waved to Qingyan: "Go and do your thing. I'm going to start working."
Qingyan turned his head again to look in the corner, bit his lip, turned around and walked out of the workshop.
“They’re going to pay the price.”
In the mobile home, Xiao Yun frowned.
Xiao Yun was so busy that he only had time to sit down and communicate with the seven tribe leaders from the central region. The information they provided surprised Xiao Yun. Unlike the five tribes that had moved here before, these seven tribes originally lived in the area near the central area along the Bulei River and knew more about the movements of the Tiger Tribe.
Without talking about geopolitics, ordinary people know that concentrating strength and striking accurately is more effective than a slap in the face. Why did the tiger tribe attack the snow wolf tribe living in a remote area and frantically attack the cat tribe? What were they thinking?
Because of Xia's tribe's attitude towards the tiger tribe, Xiao Yun originally thought that the tiger tribe was using the tactic of beating some and pulling some away to deal with the cat tribe, the most populous tribe on the grassland. He never expected that the cat tribe, the most populous tribe, had no name at all in the tiger tribe?
"There is a price to pay for doing this. The tiger tribe's population is not enough to actually rule the entire central region. If we do this now, something bad will definitely happen." Xiao Yun looked confused. "Rabbits will resist if they are pushed into a corner. Besides, even if the cat tribe is weak, they still have sharp teeth and claws. Don't the tiger tribe understand this principle?"
The clan leaders looked at each other and looked at Cao Gen in confusion. It was Cao Gen who summoned them, so why was it this cub who spoke?
Even the Fire Clan leader didn't come. How weird!
The grassroots chieftain had no time to explain to the other chieftains: "Ayun, what do you think?"
"I find it very strange." Xiao Yun stroked his chin and thought, "The Tiger Tribe's inheritance has not been broken, and now they are indeed the king of the grassland. There is no reason for them to act like they have given up... It's not like they can't make ends meet, so what are they doing?"
"Do you think there's something wrong with the Tiger Tribe's reckless behavior?" The grassroots chief thought for a moment and guessed.
"Both the Snow Elves and the Forest Elves said that the Tiger Tribe and the Centaurs had long-term friction, but the full-scale attack on the Centaurs began more than 40 years ago. The reason why our tribe migrated outward from the central part more than a decade ago was because the Cat Tribe robbed our pastures. If the Cat Tribe was coveted by the Tiger Tribe at that time, they would not have had the energy to rob our Snow Wolf Tribe's pastures. In other words, the Tiger Tribe attacked the Cat Tribe because they were too lazy to find a decent excuse, and it was after our tribe migrated outward."
After a pause, Xiao Yun narrowed his eyes and said, "These two things prove one thing. The Tiger Tribe will think carefully and weigh the pros and cons before launching an attack, instead of just starting a war on impulse."
The seven clan leaders stared at Xiao Yun in astonishment.
"That's true... More than 70% of the tribes in the central region are cat tribes. Even if the royal court sends out all its warriors, it can only attack 30% of them at most. Moreover, this will leave the royal court empty and it will not have enough manpower to control the eastern part." The grassroots chief nodded in agreement, but she still couldn't figure out the reason. "Why did the tiger tribe do this? There were many cat tribes who were willing to follow them."
Xiao Yun's heart moved, and he suddenly had a bad premonition in his mind, but this guess was a little shocking, even he himself was surprised and doubtful.
"Have you thought of anything, Ayun?" The grassroots chief's expression changed.
"Uh... I can only think of two possibilities." Xiao Yun swallowed his saliva. "The first is that the tiger tribe has powerful external aid, so they don't have to worry about the cat tribe's backlash... But this possibility is a bit untenable. If the tiger tribe has always had the ambition to return to the Far East, then they must know what too powerful external aid means. I think the tiger tribe cannot fail to see the danger of relying on outsiders for their own safety."
"The second possibility is that there is some kind of 'pressure' that forces the tiger tribe to be unable, or dare not, to bring the cat tribe that is inclined towards them under their wing."
Xiao Yun's heart skipped a beat when he said this: "If there is such a 'pressure' that does not allow the tiger tribe to win over and use the cat tribe that is inclined towards them... then it seems to explain why the tiger tribe left the ready-made grassland and insisted on 'returning' to the Far East..."
