Chapter 550: Riot |
In the territory of Mo'ao Chuan, household registration is paramount.
Although slave status and base status are at the very bottom of the six-tier status system, they are still governed by the local Administration Offices. Indiscriminate slaughter, once verified, also carries responsibility.
Those without household registration, commonly known as black households, are not entered into local status registers. Strictly speaking, they aren't even considered normal people of the feudal towns.
Logically, killing a few black households shouldn't have made Zhang Hai's mind flash with the thought, "It's over." But at this moment, he genuinely felt that things had escalated out of control.
These thirty thousand-plus laborers before him were forcibly conscripted from Tiger Tail Village and over a dozen surrounding villages by their group of managers the night before last. Zhang Hai was one of the managers responsible for conscripting the laborers.
He was well aware that ever since they arrived the night before last, these laborers had been holding their breath. After clearing snow paths continuously for fifteen hours without a single meal, the pent-up anger inside them was unimaginable.
Conscripting laborers was not the first time in Evergreen Valley, but there had never been an instance of public rioting like this before. The reason, Zhang Hai knew perfectly well, was that the number of laborers conscripted this time was simply too large.
Tiger Tail Village had conscripted over thirty thousand people at once. With so many gathered together, the law cannot punish the multitude. As long as someone took the lead to incite them, what wouldn't they dare to do?
He had dared to kill earlier because he had ten cauldrons of beast meat as backup, confident he could pacify all these people. But with the beast meat having problems, his earlier attempts at pacification undoubtedly became like putting a lid on a pressure cooker.
But the beast meat... it just had to have problems...
A large patch of sweat instantly soaked Zhang Hai's back. He remembered now. His first instinct had been to explain, but he was interrupted by a few people in the laborer ranks who spoke up to incite. Seeing the large crowd of laborers about to leave, his mind panicked, and he conceived the idea of killing to intimidate.
"There are people with ulterior motives among the laborers!"
He realized it.
Unfortunately, it was a bit too late!
"With the tenacity of frost, burn Cai's lands to ash; Resist all harsh taxes, restore our food and clothes; Smash the status system, no more high or low..."
A voice, not very loud, suddenly rose from the long-silent laborer ranks. It came from the very center of the crowd. Though not loud, it was exceptionally clear, reaching the ears of everyone nearby.
The person didn't stop after chanting it once but continued to repeat it incessantly. By the third repetition...
"With the tenacity of frost, burn Cai's lands to ash; Resist all harsh taxes, restore our food and clothes; Smash the status system, no more high or low..."
Finally, people began to join in.
"With the tenacity of frost, burn Cai's lands to ash; Resist all harsh taxes, restore our food and clothes; Smash the status system, no more high or low..."
More and more people began chanting along. The chant spread like a plague from the center of the crowd outward. Of the thirty thousand-plus laborers, nearly half were now chanting along.
It was clear that many others still looked dazed, obviously unaware of what was happening. But upon clearly hearing the content of these three slogans, their expressions jolted violently, clearly realizing something.
As for Zhang Hai, needless to say, he obviously understood what these three slogans signified. His face pale as a sheet, he looked at the crowd, trembling as he raised his hand, wanting to say something. But meeting thousands of vicious, hate-filled eyes, he was so terrified he couldn't utter a word.
"Making us work, no wages are one thing, but you won't even give us a single meal! And you slaughter us at will! Zhang Hai, Tiger Tail Village, Caiqiu, you've gone too far in bullying people!"
A furious roar suddenly exploded from within the crowd, making Zhang Hai and the group of Tiger Tail Village managers jump in fright.
"Brothers! These dog officials don't treat us as human! They kill at will! If we don't fight back, we'll be next!"
"We aren't even people of Caiqiu to begin with, why suffer this damn humiliation?"
"Even thirty thousand pigs wouldn't just stand there waiting to be slaughtered! Brothers, kill these dog officials! Tiger Tail Village's warehouse has plenty of beast meat, beast blood, and silver! Kill these dog officials, take their stuff!"
"There are so many of us, what's there to fear? I don't believe Caiqiu can send an army to capture and execute us all!"
"Caiqiu's 200,000-strong army has already marched south to fight! They might even be defeated by other feudal towns! Then the entire Evergreen Valley will change hands! We aren't Caiqiu people anyway! Rebelling now and defecting to another side is perfect timing!"
"Kill!"
………………
Zhang Hai was completely dumbfounded now. Of course, he knew of the Frost Ash Society. But this organization originated in Chencang; that was their main base. According to his father and several city officials, the Frost Ash Society in Caiqiu only had a few small-fry members, not even a single Sun Manifestation Level cultivator among them. They were utterly insignificant.
Evergreen Valley had also never heard of the Frost Ash Society causing trouble before.
How could these laborers suddenly start shouting Frost Ash Society slogans?
As his mind was a complete mess, the front ranks of the laborer crowd, over a hundred Warmth Realm cultivators, were already charging towards them.
"Rebellion? Trying to overturn the heavens with these iron picks and shovels?"
Though Zhang Hai's mind was somewhat panicked, realizing these laborers truly intended to rebel, he quickly reacted. Drawing his weapon with a furious roar, he led the hundred or so managers beside him to meet the charge.
"Quickly, kill these rebels at the front! As long as we kill them..."
If all thirty thousand-plus laborers truly rioted, forget the hundred-plus managers beside him, even if Tiger Tail Village's entire five-hundred-strong defense team were mobilized, they couldn't possibly hold them off.
As long as they swiftly killed the hundred-plus leaders at the front, it would be enough to intimidate the remaining laborers. Once they gained momentum, the problem would become enormous.
Fortunately, these laborers had no proper weapons, only the iron picks and shovels issued to them for clearing snow paths last night.
The picks and shovels were civilian tools, forged from the most ordinary ten-fold forged iron. Trying to fight them with these? How was that possible?
Zhang Hai's body charged straight forward. These thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind, a ferocious sneer appearing on his face as he opened his mouth to give orders to the hundred-plus men beside him.
Unfortunately, before he could finish speaking, a cold gleam stabbed from the side, directly interrupting him.
*Whoosh...*
A weapon appearing in a laborer's hand made Zhang Hai freeze for a moment before he quickly swung his blade to parry. However, the speed of that cold gleam was simply too fast. His blade had barely begun to rise when his chest was already struck.
*Thud!*
It was a long spear.
The cold gleam was the spear's tip. Zhang Hai wore no armor. The spear tip met almost no resistance, directly piercing through his skin membrane and plunging into his flesh. The spear wielder not only possessed terrifying strength but seemed to strike with deep-seated hatred. After landing the blow, he let out a fierce roar, suddenly increasing his force.
"Hah...!"
*Crack!*
Bone was pressed against by the spear's energy. A scent of death rushed into his nostrils. The ferocious expression on Zhang Hai's face vanished completely, replaced only by fear and panic.
"Father, save me!"
This wasn't a last-minute cry for his father. Zhang Hai knew very well that his father had been watching him from the watchtower at the village entrance. The force behind this spear tip was at least over twenty Zong. The group of managers around him couldn't react in time. At this moment, the only one who could save him was his father.
However, the father he kept thinking of did not appear to save him.
*Squelch!*
After the bone shattered, the spear tip continued forward, directly piercing through his heart and emerging from his back.
*Pssht...*
Blood sprayed from his back. Zhang Hai's body was sent flying backward. His pupils instantly flashed with a dim grayness. Though his body was impaled by the spear, he stubbornly turned his head to look towards the village entrance, wanting to know why his father hadn't appeared in time to save him.
Yet, upon turning, he discovered that at the village entrance, his father and that Huang Qingyuan from Qinghua City were already engaged in battle with someone.
"Young Master Zhang, do you still remember me?"
Zhang Hai was already on the verge of death, but hearing the somewhat slurred voice of the spear's owner, he still turned his head to look. However, even after clearly seeing the other's face, his eyes were still filled with unfamiliarity.
The spear's owner was a middle-aged man with an exceptionally horrifying face. The terror came from the seven or eight long scars crisscrossing his face, resembling giant centipedes. The sides of his mouth were also covered in healed scars. Combined with his slurred speech, this man's tongue had most likely been cut out.
Did he know this person?
As this thought flashed through Zhang Hai's mind, his throat suddenly erupted in sharp pain.
It turned out the middle-aged man opposite him, seemingly realizing Zhang Hai didn't recognize him, in a mix of anger, swiftly withdrew the spear, then thrust it forward again, directly piercing through his throat bone.
"You ruined my face, cut out my tongue, destroyed my family and my brother's, our young sons died in prison... and you don't even remember me? Dog bastard! Dog bastard! Dog bastard...!"
Nearly three years had passed. Although Hu Tiechuan's tongue had recovered, it naturally could never speak like a normal person's again.
Seeing Zhang Hai didn't remember him, the three years of pent-up rage in Hu Tiechuan instantly surged into his brain. His pupils immediately flooded with blood, turning crimson red.
Three years ago, the ordeal of removing their slave status, though masterminded by Zhang Yiqing, ultimately, the source could actually be traced back to Zhang Hai.
Zhang Yiqing's idea of not returning their wives' slave status documents was something Zhang Hai had instigated from the side. The reason? Because Zhang Hai, this young master who had just arrived from Qinghua City, had taken a fancy to his wife, Wang Qing.
In fact, the desperate act of stealing their wives' status documents was forced upon them by Zhang Hai. His wife Wang Qing and his sister-in-law Fang Jing were both Zhang family maidservants. Zhang Hai harbored ill intentions. If they couldn't promptly remove their wives' slave status, every extra day they remained in the Zhang household, they could be violated by this dog bastard at any moment.
It was laughable. After causing their two families so much suffering, causing him and his brother to lose their sons, and nearly dying in Qinghua City himself, this beast Zhang Hai actually didn't remember him!
Fortunately, fortune and misfortune always come intertwined. Now, not only had the two brothers' strength increased tremendously, they also had a powerful backer like Lord Hong Yu. As long as they could cooperate with the Headquarters Chief to successfully start the uprising, disrupt Caiqiu's army's rear, and assist the Lord in achieving victory, he and his brother could gain the Lord's favor. From then on, it would be like ascending to the heavens in a single step.
That Lord Hong Yu wasn't some mere prince; he was a feudal town ruler!
This thought flashed through Hu Tiechuan's mind, filling him with intense excitement.
Although Su Xing'er hadn't revealed too much, in his view, for Caiqiu to mobilize two hundred thousand troops south, the Lord Hong Yu they had pledged allegiance to three years ago must also be a feudal town ruler.
A Fang Bo... that Lord Hong Yu was actually a Fang Bo!
As Hu Tiechuan was feeling excited, the thirty thousand thoroughly incited laborers had long since surged forward like a tidal wave, completely overwhelming Tiger Tail Village's group of managers.
The Tiger Tail Village managers weren't stupid either. Some quickly retreated, calling out the village's defense team, trying to close the village gate's palisade doors to block the mutinous laborer ranks outside.
However, this was nothing but wishful thinking.
Tiger Tail Village's defense team only had five hundred men, with only about a third at the Warmth Realm. Adding the hundred-plus managers, that made just over two hundred Warmth Realm cultivators. The remaining three to four hundred were merely at the Digging Realm Extremes.
How could six hundred-plus people possibly hold back over thirty thousand?
As for closing the village gate? Don't even think about it!
His elder brother Hu Tiejian, with over twenty Warmth Realm cultivators, had long since surrounded Zhang Yiqing and Huang Qingyuan. Not just them, but several other officials from Qinghua City who had probably come out later were also surrounded.
Zhang Yiqing clearly had a much better memory than his son. While being forced into constant retreat by Hu Tiejian, he looked up and clearly saw Hu Tiejian's face, instantly recognizing him.
"Hu Tiejian... Hu Tiejian... How could it be you...?"
"I've waited three years. I've waited three years! Finally, I have the chance to avenge my tragically dead son and nephew! Zhang Yiqing, I swore to the heavens three years ago that one day, I would slaughter your entire Zhang clan! Today, I'll start with you!"
Hu Tiejian's three years of pent-up rage erupted violently. The steel long spear in his hand shot out, every move aimed at Zhang Yiqing's vital points.
Over three years, relying on the vast resources the Lord had left in the valley, and driven by hatred, both he and his brother's strength had advanced by leaps and bounds. They now both possessed strength around thirty-two Zong.
If they had possessed this strength three years ago, how could their young sons have frozen to death in prison? How could Tiechuan have suffered such inhuman torture!
Thinking of this, Hu Tiejian's heart burned with even greater fury. His spear seized an opportunity and stabbed viciously at Zhang Yiqing's spine.
Huang Qingyuan and the other experts from Qinghua City were all surrounded by the men he had brought. Zhang Yiqing was now in a state of isolated helplessness. With only eighteen Zong of strength, how could he contend with Hu Tiejian?
*Crack...*
The spear's energy pierced his spine. Excruciating pain flooded his mind. Zhang Yiqing's heart instantly panicked to the extreme. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he quickly fled towards the village interior.
"Dog thief! Trying to run!"
However, after only a few steps, a slurred voice sounded ahead of him, followed by a round, rolling object flying towards him.
In his current state of panic, Zhang Yiqing instinctively thought the round object was an enemy. He immediately drew his sword and thrust forward, trying to break through.
*Squelch...*
His sword tip thrust out, directly piercing through the round object.
Seeing clearly what it was, Zhang Yiqing's eyes widened, his expression froze in shock, then he let out a mournful cry.
"Ah Hai...!"
That object was actually his son Zhang Hai's head.
He had been entangled by Hu Tiejian and his men earlier, so he never had the chance to see what was happening on the official road. He had no idea his son had been killed.
*Squelch...*
During a life-and-death battle, losing focus is the greatest taboo, especially in a state of complete emotional collapse like his.
Hu Tiejian was filled with towering hatred. Seeing Zhang Hai's head only brought him satisfaction. Seizing the moment Zhang Yiqing was stunned, he immediately grasped the opportunity. Leaping up violently, his spear plunged down from a height, directly striking the spot on Zhang Yiqing's spine that had just been pierced.
The spear entered from the back of the neck, directly shattering Zhang Yiqing's spine, crushing his entire body to the ground in a kneeling position. But Hu Tiejian still felt unsatisfied. With a fierce upward jerk, he completely destroyed the spine, forcibly wrenching out five or six bloodied, shattered vertebrae.
"Ah...!"
The spine is one of the most critical parts of the human body. Even a mere blow is painful, let alone having it completely pulverized and forcibly ripped from the body.
Zhang Yiqing's mournful cry quickly transformed into a blood-curdling scream. The intense pain caused his eyes to rapidly fill with blood. In less than three or four breaths, his vitality completely drained away. His body collapsed with a heavy thud, dead beyond dead.
"You're rebelling! You're truly rebelling! The feudal town's army is currently in the valley! At this critical juncture, you dare to rebel? You're insane! You're all insane!"
Huang Qingyuan was also looking rather disheveled now. Though his strength was thirty-seven Zong, being besieged by too many people, he could only dodge and flee, trying to break out of the encirclement. The problem was, the thirty thousand laborers kept swarming forward. How could he possibly break through?
Unless one was at the Sun Manifestation Level with flight capability, for those at the Warmth Realm, no matter how strong, once surrounded by a massive number of enemies, there's only waiting for death.
Huang Qingyuan clearly realized this too. In his despair, he let out these shocked, furious curses. Though his words carried threats, the tone of bluster and underlying fear was obvious to anyone listening.
"That feudal town's two hundred thousand troops left over three hours ago! They've probably already engaged the enemy forces to the south! For this southern expedition, almost all of Qinghua City's Sun Manifestation Level cultivators were mobilized! Who's left to manage things here now...?"
Hu Tiejian spoke loudly, deliberately amplifying his voice, clearly addressing all the laborers participating in the riot.
After a pause, he continued with a cold laugh, "You don't think this Frost Ash Society uprising is only happening in Tiger Tail Village, do you? The other four villages of Red Tiger Ridge, including the laborers you conscripted in the south, all have our people! Caiqiu is going to take a massive fall this time!"
Hearing this, Huang Qingyuan's heart gave a violent lurch, his face instantly turning ashen.
"Brothers! Since Caiqiu shows no benevolence, don't blame us for lacking righteousness! What kind of life has Evergreen Valley had all these years? Everyone knows in their hearts! Rather than letting Caiqiu continue to ruin us, better to defect to another feudal town! Better than continuing to be treated like pigs and dogs by them! Kill!"
The earlier inciting voices from the laborer ranks had been Hu Tiejian's. He was burly in stature, and his voice carried a bold, hearty quality that instantly infected everyone.
"Stick your neck out, it's a sword; shrink back, it's still a sword! We've already done it, what's there to fear? Kill these dog officials! Loot Tiger Tail Village's warehouse! Kill!"
"Evergreen Valley might change masters soon! What's there to fear?"
"Brothers! Kill!"
"Tiger Tail Village's warehouse has plenty of good stuff! Kill the dog officials first, then take the warehouse! What this lord says is right! Defecting to another feudal town is better than continuing to be treated like pigs and dogs by Caiqiu!"
"Kill!"
………………
As more and more furious shouts erupted, the originally timid and submissive thirty thousand laborers had completely transformed into rioters. They raised their iron picks and shovels, charging madly into the village.
The riot had fully taken shape!