Chao Qiu City, City Lord's Residence.
City Lord Chao Wen felt his eyelids twitch early in the morning. He had a feeling that something big was about to happen, but he could not figure out what it was. However, as the lord of a city, even if he was frustrated, Chao Wen still appeared as calm as usual. He even walked around the garden and looked at the precious flowers and trees that the slaves had taken care of so carefully.
The flowers and plants in the garden gave off a refreshing fragrance that calmed the mind. That was why Chao Wen liked to think in the garden.
Smelling the familiar fragrance, Chao Wen's uneasiness faded. However, he did not dare to be careless. To be able to become the City Lord of Chao Qiu City and keep it safe until now, he naturally had the ability. He trusted his instincts.
What was going on?
Chao Wen lowered his head and looked at the lush greenery in front of him.
Just as he was thinking, there was a sudden shout.
"Not good! Not good, Father! "
A well-dressed young man panted as he rushed over.
Chao Wen frowned. He had always taught his children to be calm and collected. His children usually behaved well, so why were they so rash today?
"Why are you panicking?!" Chao Wen's voice was not loud, but his tone was stern. He was clearly unhappy with this person's behavior.
The one who rushed over was Chao Wen's eldest son, Chao Chuan, who had the highest chance of inheriting the position of City Lord in the future. Normally, Chao Chuan would do his best to leave a good impression in front of his father, mimicking his father's mannerisms to a certain extent. But today, he was too shocked. His usual calmness was nowhere to be found. However, Chao Wen's tone brought him back to reality.
Pausing, Chao Chuan took a deep breath and quickly said, "The sentries sent word that someone is coming!"
Ever since the situation had changed, Chao Wen had sent a group of sentries to keep an eye on Chao Qiu City's surroundings. The moment there was any movement, they were to report it immediately. A few things had happened during this period, but they were all small problems.
Hearing Chao Chuan's words, Chao Wen's brows twitched. Could this be the reason for his uneasiness this morning?
"Who are they?" Chao Wen asked.
"I... I don't know."
Seeing Chao Wen's frown, Chao Chuan hurriedly continued, "Although we don't know who they are, the sentry said that they might … might … be from that direction!" He pointed in the direction of the sea.
"Where are they from?" Chao Kong asked curiously. "Are they tribesmen like the Longboat tribe?"
From time to time, the Longboat tribe would come to Chao Qiu City to trade. Chao Wen knew this, but until now, he only knew that the Longboat tribe was an exception. He heard that the tribes on the other side of the sea were very weak, and the Longboat tribe was the strongest tribe there.
The Longboat was the strongest. This was actually a boast made by the Longboat tribe when they first came. Moreover, for a long time, only the Longboat tribe traveled between the two continents, so many people gradually believed it.
Chao Wen also knew that due to the influence of the war and the situation, as well as the fact that many places had begun to build cities, the slave masters and nobles had begun to buy slaves in large quantities. Some of the small and medium-sized tribes that originally lived inland had been forced to flee deep into the mountains and forests. It was difficult to find them, and the difficulty of capturing slaves had increased. Therefore, many slave trading organizations had extended their hands to the other continent, such as the largest slave trading organization, Bi.
This also made Chao Wen believe that the tribes on the other side of the sea were a bunch of people who were about to become slaves. When navigation technology matured and trade became more stable, Chao Wen wanted to reach out and enslave the people on the other side, taking the gemstones and salt for himself.
But now, there were people other than the Longboat tribe here?
Why not just enslave them?
"How many?" Chao Wen asked.
"Four... four to five thousand." Chao Chuan stammered.
"How many?!" Chao Wen raised his voice in disbelief. "Four to five thousand?!"
Chao Chuan nodded vigorously. "The sentries said... said... said they were all quite strong. It didn't seem like they were migrating, more... more like... they were moving with a purpose."
Chao Wen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but suddenly seemed to be stuck. His expression changed rapidly.
This number, in the current environment, was indeed not a small number.
Four to five thousand people, and not all of them were fleeing or migrating. They were all quite strong. Chao Wen came to the conclusion that they were about to attack the city!
Chao Wen could not remain calm. He pushed Chao Chuan aside and ran out of the garden like a gust of wind.
In Chaoqiu City, the trading team that had come from afar was busy. They were already familiar with the trading methods here. Whether it was the streets full of shops or the free trading area designated by the City Lord, they could walk there with their eyes closed. They were very familiar with the daily activities and where they could hear the gossip.
But something happened today.
The gold-plated gates of the city lord's residence opened with a series of clanking sounds. A group of a hundred cavalrymen charged out. The person in front waved his long weapon mercilessly, shouting and chasing away those in his way.
Those in the city who reacted quickly retreated to the sides.
"What's wrong?"
"Those are the city lord's personal guards! The Chao family! "
"Look at the two in the middle!"
"Is that the city lord?"
Among the group that came out of the City Lord's Mansion, there were two people who were dressed differently from the rest. They were brighter and more exquisite. They were Chao Wen and Chao Chuan. Usually, Chao Wen would take a carriage, but now that he was in a hurry, he rode a horse.
"They're heading towards the city gates!"
"What's the city lord doing there in such a hurry??"
Looking at the group of people rushing over, anyone with a bit of foresight could tell that something was about to happen.
Something was wrong!
After reaching the city gates, Chao Wen climbed up the tower and looked into the distance. His heart tightened. Although he could only see a few black dots, he knew that Chao Chuan was right. There were also some suspicious figures in the air.
"Close the city gates!" Chao Wen shouted and ordered the archers to get ready. Those figures in the air were not ordinary birds.
Rumble — —
The heavy city gates were closed.
There was a group of people who had just arrived outside the city. Before they could enter, they were stopped outside. No matter how they shouted, begged, or bribed, the city gates would not open. The city lord was personally guarding it, who would dare to open it?
Not only the people outside the city, the people inside the city were even more confused. The groups that wanted to leave the city were all stopped.
The onlookers also came closer to the city gates. If not for the Chao family blocking them, they might have already gathered in front of the city gates to see what was going on.
"Why are they closing the city gates in the middle of the day?" Someone was unhappy.
"That's right, even if something happened, we have to know." It would be easier to escape if we knew! " Everyone thought.
"This doesn't look good. Should we think of a way to leave first?"
"Climb out? Everywhere is heavily guarded at this time. "
"We can hide first."
"Don't guess blindly. Let's wait and see."
However, these discontent and discussions stopped in the next moment.
"Awooo — —"
A wolf's howl came from afar.
The crowd fell silent, then burst into an even louder discussion.
"Wolf! It's a wolf! "
"It doesn't sound like an ordinary wolf. I can hear it!"
"We heard wolf howls when we were traveling, but why does this sound like …" The person who spoke shuddered.
"Ferocious beast!" An older traveler said with certainty. Their group came from deep in the mountains, so they knew the difference between the howls of wild beasts and ferocious beasts. That howl could only be made by ferocious beasts. Ordinary wild beasts would not be able to make one's hair stand on end. It was as if every nerve in one's body was tense.
"Caw — —"
High up in the sky, a few eagles flew past and circled above Chao Qiu City.
"It's too high. It's not easy to shoot," an experienced archer said. Even if they could hit it with enough force, the distance was too far. By the time the arrows reached it, the other party might have already flown away. Judging by their reaction speed, it was clear that they were not easy to hit.
"That... is also a ferocious beast!"
"What's going on? What the hell happened? Is someone attacking the city? "
The crowd had their own guesses, and their thoughts were like wild horses that had broken free of their reins, running in all directions.
At this moment, Chao Wen stood on the city gate tower, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could snap tree branches.
Chao Chuan had already received orders to mobilize his men. Chao Wen looked at the approaching group, trying to guess their identities and what to do next.
There were three large flags in the approaching group. Chao Wen recognized two of them. One was the flag of the Longboat tribe, while the other made Chao Wen's heart ache.
"Yanjiao!"
He recognized Yanjiao's totem because the Royal City had issued an order to hunt down Yanjiao's migration team. The order had drawn Yanjiao's totem on it. Later, Chao Wen had done some research on Yanjiao.
Back then, when the Royal City had asked for reinforcements, Chao Wen had deliberately delayed. It was not that he wanted to help Yanjiao, but that he did not like to waste his own forces. If the Royal City wanted to fight, so be it. All Chao Qiu needed to do was pretend.
However, Chao Wen did not expect to see Yanjiao's totem again at this time. They really did come from the other side!
Other than Yanjiao and Longboat's totem flags, the third flag was very unfamiliar. There was a strange symbol on the flag that looked like a snake. He had never seen it before, so he didn't know which tribe it belonged to.
No matter what, Chao Wen only had one word in his mind — this was bad!
As for the flag that Chao Wen found unfamiliar, it was not the totem flag of a tribe. It was a new flag. "New" did not mean that it was made of new material, but rather that it had only been made recently.
Before the Yanjiao team left, all the tribes in the Flaming River Basin had received the news and rushed to the trading point. When the tribes were preparing their totem flags, Shao Xuan suggested making a flag that belonged to the Flaming River Basin Tribal Alliance.
As for the totem patterns on the flag, because the Great Alliance was not an alliance of just one tribe, there were many of them and there would be more in the future. It was impossible to use a tribe's totem on the flag. Even for the Flaming Horn tribe, using the Twin Horn Totem would attract strong opposition from other tribes. When it came to totem matters, tribesmen were very stubborn and would not agree even if you killed them. That was why Shao Xuan used a familiar symbol that no one had ever seen before — a dragon.
The dragon was based on the general shape of the Flaming River that Shao Xuan was familiar with.
The Yanjiao people did not object to Shao Xuan's decision. They also thought that Shao Xuan's suggestion was very good. The other tribes who came later also had no objections. Since the flag was based on the Flaming River, of course they agreed. When Shao Xuan mentioned that he would put the totems of all the tribes of the Flaming River Alliance on the dragon flag, they couldn't wait to put their totems on it. However, time was tight and they were very cautious about totems. They wouldn't draw a totem on a flag with symbolic meaning without any ceremony or preparation. That was why until now, there was only the dragon in the shape of the Flaming River on the Flaming River Dragon Flag.
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