69novels Page 203
Page 203
Lu Mingfei offered no explanation, instead turning to the silent village chief and posing a pointed question:
"Till, village chief, have you thought about this?"
"Why is it that after the Dawn Queen left and her confidants were purged, the city of Uru, founded by the infected, has been able to exist on the frozen ground to this day, and even develop patrols to exploit the surrounding villages?"
He paused, then asked an even more fatal question:
"Also, village chief, was the internal strife back then really just a power struggle among the infected?"
The old village chief's scaly body visibly stiffened.
He looked at Lu Mingfei in disbelief, then quickly glanced at Till.
His withered lips moved slightly, but in the end he only gripped his cane tighter, lowered his head, made muffled sounds, and fell completely silent.
This silent response is more powerful than words.
The air inside the stone house seemed to freeze.
Hina huddled in the corner, barely daring to breathe.
Lu Mingfei understood when he saw the old village chief shrinking into his tortoise shell.
He revealed the answer to the mystery for the elderly man who couldn't speak:
"The internal strife forty years ago was probably orchestrated by Shengyang City."
"Otherwise, how could the Queen's trusted confidants be so easily purged by 'ordinary' infected people?"
"Only the intervention of Shengyang City can explain why Uru City was able to survive and even grow stronger after its betrayal."
He paused, then said, "Village chief, I understand your concerns. You fear the power of Holy Sun City and are afraid of getting burned."
“You cower here, barely surviving, turning a blind eye to the atrocities of Uru, offering tribute to protect yourselves.”
“But even so,” he stood up and sighed, “it’s just a slow death.”
"They sacrifice their women, labor, and resources, exhausting the village's vitality, waiting for the day they are completely turned into beasts or disposed of at will."
"Sacrificing a minority for the temporary security of the majority? Such security cannot last long."
"Teer, let's go!" Lu Mingfei said no more, turned around and pushed open the creaking wooden door.
A biting wind, carrying snowflakes, rushed in. He didn't turn around, but stepped straight into the snowstorm.
A glint flashed in Teal's eyes, and she followed Lu Mingfei without hesitation.
The stone house was deathly silent. The sound of wind and snow pounding against the doors and windows was mournful.
Lu Mingfei's final words, "slow death," pierced the old village chief's heart like a sharp awl.
He stared intently at the tightly closed wooden door, as if he could see through the wood and into the snow to see the two figures standing there without stopping.
"Grandpa..." Sheena cried, her little hand clutching the village chief's sleeve, her eyes filled with fear and confusion, "What...what do we do?"
The old village chief did not answer immediately.
His fingers were deeply embedded in the head of his cane, his knuckles were white, and his hands, covered in scales, trembled slightly.
The massacre of forty years ago, the despair of fleeing, the humiliation of the past forty years, and the pain of witnessing generations being sent away... images churned in his eyes.
Lu Mingfei's words were like a carving knife, tearing open the scars wrapped in his fear and compromise.
Slow death... Yes, he knew it better than anyone.
Every time the list of tributes was handed over, every time the villagers were taken away, it dragged Liushu Village into the abyss.
Lu Mingfei's words and actions were a subtle dig at him... the old village chief realized.
Lu Mingfei's displayed power was enough to wipe out the patrol team and even shake Uru City.
But what happens after that?
If this village chief, this old man who had experienced betrayal and escape, had no more fire of resistance in his heart.
So what's the point of Lu Mingfei overthrowing Cohen?
The fate of Willow Village will not change; the infected will remain scattered and disorganized.
What Lu Ming really wanted was a spark that could truly ignite the infected's will to resist and continue to burn after he left!
This spark must be ignited in the most desperate places, by the hands of the most oppressed.
The old village chief's hunched body swayed slightly.
He suddenly looked up, his cloudy eyes filled with fear and struggle like boiling lava.
But a spark that had been suppressed for forty years finally pierced through the dust!
He saw Sheena's face, a mixture of fear and bewildered hope.
If this compromise continues, Hina might be taken away one day.
“Heh…heh heh…” A hoarse, dry laugh squeezed out of the old village chief’s throat.
"Grandpa?" Sheena's voice trembled.
“Slow death…slow death…” he murmured repeatedly, each word like chewing on a bleeding wound.
"Lord Lu Mingfei is right. We can hide here, bury our heads in the snow, and pretend we can't see the butcher's knife... but that knife will come down sooner or later!"
"It doesn't matter if it's cut on my old bones, but my Sheena, the children of the village, are they going to be dragged away like livestock?!"
His voice suddenly rose, hoarse, and an unprecedented fierceness flashed in his cloudy eyes!
"We can't wait any longer!" He slammed his cane down heavily, his withered arm trembling with emotion.
"Xina! Go tell the villagers."
"Tell them... that from today onwards, our Willow Tree Village will no longer pay tribute!"
He roared out, his voice carrying forty years of pent-up blood, tears, and humiliation, and a resolute determination that shook the stone house.
Sheena was stunned, her bear ears standing up, staring blankly at her grandfather, whom she had never seen before.
But deep down, something was touched.
"Go now!" the old village chief urged sharply, his eyes bloodshot. "Tell everyone! We must live like human beings!"
Sheena was shocked by the madness and determination in her grandfather's eyes.
She nodded sharply, her small body bursting with speed as she rushed out of the stone house and into the snowstorm, her clear shouts echoing through the village:
"Tiger Brother! Bear Brother! Dog Brother! Grandpa Village Chief said...we're not paying tribute anymore!"
The sound echoed in the wind and snow, penetrating the tightly closed doors and windows.
Inside the stone house, the old village chief was breathing heavily; his words had exhausted his strength.
He leaned on the stone table, slowly sat back down on the stone bench, and looked out the window at the wind and snow, and at the direction where Lu Mingfei and Teal had left.
In his clouded eyes, the spark did not go out; instead, it burned even brighter and more frantically in the ashes of despair.
Outside the village, where wind and snow are everywhere.
Lu Mingfei's steps were steady and firm, and his Taixu Youlong Step made him seem to blend into the wind and snow.
Teyle followed closely behind, her golden hair motionless in the wind.
Deep within her indifferent eyes, however, turbulent emotions surged.
The old tortoise-man's roar inside the stone house and the little girl's cries, signaling her resistance, pierced the wind and snow, reaching her senses.
She looked at Lu Mingfei's unmoved back, her golden pupils narrowing slightly.
"You... you foresaw this all along?" Tyr's voice trembled slightly.
Lu Mingfei did not turn around.
"My master once told me that the only way to change one's destiny is to change one's mindset."
"The same applies to these infected people. I can save them temporarily, but I can't save them forever."
"They need to fight for their future, to resist, and to overthrow the tyranny of Uru."
"Your master?" Tyr asked, puzzled.
"Yes, a super strong person who is tough on the outside but soft on the inside." Lu Mingfei's voice was tinged with nostalgia.
Since the timeline was rewritten, Master has never appeared again.
I don’t know what’s going on now.
"How strong?" Teal asked.
Lu Mingfei thought for a moment and gave an answer that was within Teal's comprehension:
"In the blink of an eye, the holy sun can be reborn, and the frozen soil will cease to exist."