Chapter 38: The Slaughtered Village, Reencountering the Northern Barbarians

Right at this moment, within Peach Blossom Village.

Not long ago, this had been a peaceful and serene village.

However, ever since a troop of Northern Barbarian cavalry forced their way in, all that peace and tranquility was completely shattered.

"H哈哈哈! Little ones, kill and pillage everything in sight! Slaughter all the men, but leave the women alive for me!"

A cavalry commander wearing Northern Barbarian armor laughed out loud before shouting instructions at his subordinates.

"H哈哈哈! Women, here I come!"

"I'm going to kill ten this time."

"The people of Daqian are weak. Ten is nowhere near enough! I can kill a hundred."

"Then let's have a contest to see who kills more."

"A contest it is! Who's afraid of you?"

Accompanied by the ferocious laughter of the Northern Barbarian cavalry, panic spread among all the villagers of Peach Blossom Village as they began to run about in terror.

This reaction only excited the Northern Barbarian cavalry even more.

Shouting at the top of their lungs, they drew their long sabers and began a brutal massacre of the unarmed villagers. In an instant, the entire sky above Peach Blossom Village seemed to be draped in a layer of blood.

In a narrow alleyway.

A plain-looking man, his face tense with anxiety, shielded his wife and son as they hurried through the winding path.

"Ha! Look, three little mice right here."

Suddenly, a voice made the three of them freeze in terror.

From the side of the alley, a Northern Barbarian cavalryman was leering at them, dragging his saber along the ground.

"My wife, run with the child! I'll hold him off!"

Overwhelmed by despair upon seeing the Northern Barbarian, the man hurriedly pushed his wife and child behind him and shouted.

"But dear..."

Weeping, his wife clutched their child, paralyzed by grief and reluctance. Having never faced such a crisis before, she stood frozen, completely at a loss.

Thinking of his wife and child, the man looked at the slowly approaching Northern Barbarian, and a sudden surge of courage welled up in his chest.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Snatching his usual farming sickle from his waist, he charged directly at the Northern Barbarian.

If he could just kill him—kill him, and he could escape with his wife and child.

"Hehe."

The Northern Barbarian didn't take the man's charge seriously at all, a mocking grin plastered across his face.

*Swish!*

The man raised the sickle, gritting his teeth, and swung with all his might.

However, the Northern Barbarian merely stepped back, and the man's attack missed completely.

Carried by his own momentum, he tumbled directly to the ground right at the feet of the Northern Barbarian.

"Dear!"

Seeing this, the wife not far behind covered the child's mouth, a look of horror washing over her face.

"Hmph, useless Daqian weakling."

The Northern Barbarian sneered contemptuously, drawing the saber at his waist.

"Go to hell."

"No!"

The wife, standing not far away, watched helplessly as the bright white blade pierced her husband's chest, her eyes filled with utter despair.

"Not a bad-looking little dame. Come back with me."

The Northern Barbarian glanced at the woman nearby, his eyes lighting up as a lewd smile crept across his face.

The next second, his expression shifted. Looking down, he realized the man wasn't dead yet; a bloodied hand had locked onto his shin with a death grip.

"Run! Run away!"

Using his remaining strength, the man screamed at the top of his lungs to his wife.

"Hmph."

The Northern Barbarian snorted coldly and swung his saber down without a shred of mercy.

*Slash!*

The man's eyes widened as his final breath faded away.

"Dear!"

Where she found the courage, nobody knew. Just moments ago she had been terrified, but now, her eyes reddened with hatred, she gritted her teeth and glared at the Northern Barbarian who had murdered her husband.

"I'll fight you to the death!"

Forsaking even her own child in her blinding rage, the wife charged at the Northern Barbarian just as her husband had.

"Ha, another one walking right into my arms."

Before the wife could even reach him, the Northern Barbarian took a step forward, catching her in a full embrace.

"Woman, isn't it a bit too early to throw yourself at me?"

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly let out a sharp cry of pain.

The woman had seized the moment to clamp her teeth down hard onto one of his fingers.

"Let go! Let go of me right now!"

The excruciating pain caused the Northern Barbarian to rain punches and kicks down upon the woman.

Yet at that moment, the woman had eyes for nothing else. Enduring the agony, she bit down even harder on the finger trapped between her teeth.

"You—!"

The Northern Barbarian was about to retaliate further when he heard a voice.

"You hit my mom! I'll fight you to the death!"

Before he knew it, the little boy had run up to the Northern Barbarian, latched onto his thigh, and bitten down viciously. The renewed agony sent another jolt of searing pain through him.

"Just die, all of you!"

Consumed by rage and casting aside all thoughts of beauty, the Northern Barbarian raised his blade and slashed straight down at the child clinging to his leg.

With that single strike, the boy instantly went limp, his breathing stopping forever.

Witnessing this, the woman's heart gave a violent wrench, and a new surge of strength flooded her body.

*Crack!*

The Northern Barbarian's expression twisted dramatically. The woman had released his hand, but he was now missing a finger.

"Give me back my finger!"

Suddenly realizing that a severed finger could potentially be reattached if preserved properly, the Northern Barbarian yelled frantically at the woman.

With disheveled hair and eyes burning scarlet, the woman suddenly cracked a wide grin and began to chew.

As if wanting to make sure the Northern Barbarian saw it clearly, she opened her mouth wide, forcing him to watch in horror as his own finger was chewed into a bloody pulp.

"Ahhh!"

Infuriated by the sight, the Northern Barbarian swung his blade down blindly.

*Slash!*

With a crazed smile on her face, the woman collapsed to the ground.

"Damn crazy bitch."

Instinctively glancing down, the Northern Barbarian saw that even in death, the woman's eyes remained locked onto him, as if she intended to carve his image into her soul for eternity.

"Bastard."

That piercing glare sent a chill straight through his heart. Overwhelmed by a sudden, irrational terror, he began hacking mindlessly at the woman's corpse with his saber.

Finally, only when her face was completely unrecognizable did he stop.

"Hoo."

Exhaling deeply and listening to the distant sounds of screaming and fleeing villagers, he decided to find another woman to properly vent his frustrations.

At this moment, it wasn't just this alleyway; similar tragedies were unfolding all over Peach Blossom Village.

Along a wide main street, a group of Northern Barbarian cavalrymen were hunting a group of women for sport, having already slaughtered the men, elders, and children.

They galloped around, cutting off all escape routes, deriving perverse pleasure from watching the women run in utter despair, as if this satisfied the deepest malicious urges within them.

"H哈哈哈! Where are you running to, little beauties?"

"Hehe, this way is blocked. Won't you come into big brother's embrace?"

"I'll give you a chance: strip naked and run, and I'll let you go."

"... "

Surrounded by the ring of Northern Barbarian cavalry, the women huddled tightly together in the middle of the road, their eyes filled with terror and despair.

Especially those who had watched their own families brutally murdered right before their eyes—their hearts were racked with unimaginable agony.

At that moment, one of the Northern Barbarians stepped forward and said, "Alright, playing around is enough for now. Don't forget, we are still on Daqian territory. Quit while we're ahead; if Daqian's regular army discovers us, it won't be fun anymore."

Hearing this, the expressions of the others subdued quite a bit.

However, the Northern Barbarian who had just spoken suddenly smiled again and said, "Don't be discouraged, everyone. Today is just a minor warmup. In a little while, you'll be able to ravage this entire land as much as you please. When that time comes, you can play however you want, and nobody will stop you."

Instantly, excitement lit up the faces of every single Northern Barbarian cavalryman, their minds already projecting that glorious scene.

"Alright."

The minor leader among the Northern Barbarian cavalry looked at the group of women and commanded, "Find some rope and tie them all up first. Once the others finish cleansing this place, we'll pull out."

Just then, a carriage slowly rolled into view from the other end of the main street.

"Squad leader, look! There's a strange carriage coming this way."

Spotting it, a Northern Barbarian cavalryman hurriedly reported to his commander.

In an instant, the dozen or so Northern Barbarian cavalrymen turned their gazes toward the main street and spotted the carriage.

One of the cavalrymen with sharp eyesight suddenly pointed at the carriage in pleasant surprise, shouting, "Captain, look! There's an absolute beauty inside that carriage."

"Oh?"

The cavalry commander's eyes lit up. Following his subordinate's gaze, he spotted her as well, but he also noticed the man sitting right beside her, causing his brow to furrow.

He immediately issued an order: "Someone go kill that man and bring the woman over."

"I'll go!"

Someone volunteered eagerly. Even though he knew such an exquisite beauty wouldn't end up in his hands, getting to touch her during the capture still had its appeal.

As for the man beside the woman, he didn't even bother to take him seriously.

The man had the frail build of an ordinary Daqian civilian, a far cry from the sturdy physique of Northern Barbarian men. He looked like nothing more than a pampered pretty boy whom he could kill with a single slash.

...

Meanwhile.

The two occupants seated in the carriage were none other than Li Dao and his loyal personal maidservant, Jiu'er.

"Young Master, who are they...?"

Since Jiu'er had spent her entire life in the imperial capital and this was her first time visiting the eastern region of Daqian, she had never seen Northern Barbarians before and knew nothing about them.

During his past missions in the death-row camps, Li Dao had dealt with the Northern Barbarians time and time again; he recognized their attire at a single glance.

"They are Northern Barbarians."

"Northern Barbarians?"

Jiu'er asked with innocent confusion, "Why are Northern Barbarians here?"

"Because they are scum."

Before even entering the village, Li Dao had already caught the faint scent of blood in the air and heard the distant clamor through his heightened senses.

Furthermore, upon entering the village, the stench of blood had grown overwhelmingly thick, and the commotion had gradually died down.

Seeing the Northern Barbarian cavalrymen up ahead, how could he not understand what tragedy had transpired in this village?

Especially now that he saw a group of women surrounded by Northern Barbarian cavalrymen, it was painfully obvious that a horrific massacre had taken place here not long ago.

At that moment, Jiu'er noticed a Northern Barbarian cavalryman riding toward them.

Frightened, she instinctively clutched her young master's sleeve. "Young Master, he's coming over! What should we do? Should we take a detour?"

"A detour?"

Li Dao shook his head and spoke in a gentle, reassuring tone, "Don't worry, it's fine."

Jiu'er obediently nodded, placing absolute, unconditional trust in her young master.

Soon, the Northern Barbarian cavalryman arrived right in front of them.

Without a shred of courtesy, he sneered derisively at Li Dao, "Daqian pretty boy, thanks for delivering such a fine gift right to our doorstep. As a reward, Grandpa here has decided to let you die a quick death. Aren't you going to get down on your knees and thank me?"

Seeing such an exquisite beauty sitting so close to this pretty boy irritated the Northern Barbarian, especially that handsome face of his. He desperately wanted to see this pretty boy groveling in humiliation before him.

"