After the aboriginals occupied Xueyang City, the people in the city experienced despair at the beginning. After Ren Baqian got people to shout throughout the city, they gradually calmed down after a few days.
Although they were still afraid and at a loss for the future, it seemed that these barbarians didn't kill anyone on sight as they had previously thought.
Although there were still people who were captured and beheaded from time to time, these were the people who had hidden "rebel soldiers" in their homes. The ordinary people weren't affected much.
This made many people heave a sigh of relief. They prayed every day that such days would continue and that these barbarians wouldn't become beastly and raise their butcher knives against the commoners.
If it wasn't for the fact that they couldn't leave the city, many people would have wanted to leave the city to hide. After three to five months, they would be able to see clearly.
"Sir, there are a total of 73 households harboring rebel soldiers, and six of them are wealthy families." Zuo Leng handed a list to Ren Baqian.
Ren Baqian took it, scanned it, raised his head, and asked, "Why do you think this is so?"
"Sir, I don't understand." Zuo Leng lowered his head.
"Why do you think these people risk their lives to shelter the rebel soldiers? Unless they are close relatives, it would be very difficult for them to do so, right? But if they were close relatives, why did these hidden rebel soldiers stay there even though they knew that doing so would implicate those who protected them?
Some of them would rather risk their lives to protect others, but the others would rather help their own people risk their lives than give up their lives.
From this point, it seems that both parties have the same goal.
However, I'm very curious about what these two types of people are thinking, "Ren Baqian said faintly.
Zuo Leng opened his mouth. At first, he thought that this was an easy question to answer. Because they were close relatives, they were sheltered!
But as Ren Baqian spoke, he began to be puzzled. Right, why would those people risk their lives and not give up their lives to come out?
"Sir, I also don't understand," Zuo Leng said.
"Is that so? One side is thinking for the people of the other side, while the other side is only thinking for themselves. "Ren Baqian laughed.
"Let's go and take a look." Ren Baqian stood up.
A moment later, Ren Baqian left the residence with 20 bodyguards.
There were a few baihu and dozens of tiqi leading the way in front. Among them, there was even a strong man who was familiar with this place.
"Zuo Leng!" Ren Baqian shouted. Zuo Leng immediately steered his mount to the back of Ren Baqian.
"Have you arranged everything? Arrest them one by one. Don't let some of them run away after hearing the news," Ren Baqian said.
"Sir, everything has been arranged. They won't be able to escape," Zuo Leng immediately guaranteed.
"Lead the way!"
The horses galloped on the stone road, and the crisp sound of hooves could be heard. A few commoners who had no choice but to come out of their houses saw them from afar, and they shivered and hid at the side.
Ren Baqian sat on his mount and looked to both sides. Occasionally, he could see figures appearing by the window or the door, looking at them with fear.
The feeling of being feared could not be said to be good or bad.
There wasn't much sense of accomplishment, but it wasn't too disgusting either.
After walking for an hour in the city, they arrived at a civilian area and stopped in front of an alley.
The baihu led the tiqi and rushed into the alley. Finally, they smashed open the doors of each house. The noise and two screams could be heard from afar.
After a while, four people were escorted in front of Ren Baqian. A few of them stayed behind to guard the place while the others went straight into the distance to continue the arrest.
Two of them looked to be in their forties. They were a man and a woman in tattered clothes, and they gave off the vibe of old age. Generally, people like them looked much older than they actually were. Life had already dragged them down.
The other two were 16 or 17 years old youths who were full of youthful vigor.
At this moment, the four of them had a knife on their necks. They looked up at Ren Baqian with fear.
Many people in the surrounding houses were spying on them in the dark. They were like rats in the sewers and didn't dare to show their heads.
"Sir, spare us, Sir …"
Ren Baqian ignored the cries of the people below him, turned around, and asked Zuo Leng, "Which one is the rebel?"
"The two younger ones," Zuo Leng replied after turning around and asking a few questions.
"A few days ago, I sent someone to shout. Did you all hear it? Why are you harboring the rebel? "Ren Baqian looked down at them from his mount and asked.
"Sir, spare us. Xiaosi is immature and has never done anything bad." The middle-aged man and woman immediately begged for mercy.
"I said, why are you harboring the rebel?" Ren Baqian repeated.
"That's our child!" The two of them immediately fell to the ground and cried.
"Is Xiaosi your child? What about the other one? "Ren Baqian asked softly. It was natural for parents to protect their children, but unfortunately, this child didn't live up to expectations.
The two of them were so overwhelmed with fear that they couldn't make a sound. After being reminded by the knife on their necks, they cried and said, "He was the one who brought him back …"
"Who's Xiaosi?" Ren Baqian looked down at the two young men.
"I … I'm …"
"Did you hear what I sent someone to shout?" Ren Baqian asked.
The young man was terrified. His body trembled, and he couldn't say a word.
"Tell him that he has to answer what I said!" Ren Baqian said.
One of the tiqi immediately kicked Xiaosi, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.
"Did you hear that?"
"Yes … Yes …"
"Why aren't you coming out? When you joined the rebel army, you were already prepared to die. Why would you rather drag your family of three to death than come out? "
"Speak!"
Following Ren Baqian's shout, the young man's head was hit by the hilt of the knife again, and his head was bleeding.
"I'm … scared …"
"Is this the rebel army? Is this the so-called rebel army? "Ren Baqian chuckled, and his voice was full of mockery. "When you were bewitched by others, you became hot-blooded and wanted to shed your blood for the people of the world. However, when things came to a head, you would rather drag your entire family to death and even bring along a good comrade? It seems like you're quite loyal, but the price is the lives of your parents. "
"If you want to kill me, then kill me!" the other young man roared angrily.
"Well, you're very strong-willed. If you were strong-willed, you would have died in battle long ago. At the very least, you should have committed suicide in their house. They would then drag your body out and say that a rebel army broke into their house and killed you. This way, you might have been able to escape with your life. However, you didn't do that. Instead, you retreated at the critical moment and enjoyed the protection that others gave you at the cost of their lives. "Ren Baqian's face was full of sarcasm.
"You evil ghost! Evil ghost! " The young man couldn't bear the meaning behind Ren Baqian's words and frantically tried to pounce on Ren Baqian. However, he was stepped on by someone.
Ren Baqian raised his head and asked, "Did you see what kind of people these people are?"
"I saw them, Sir."
"Selfish, cowardly, cowardly, and ignorant. Such people are the rebels." Ren Baqian chuckled.
Like a demon, his voice was full of malice and mockery and spread to the ears of the surrounding people who were covering their mouths and peeping carefully.
"Kill them!" Ren Baqian said coldly after laughing.
A few weapons were immediately inserted into the bodies of these people.
"Let's go and take a look at the next one," Ren Baqian said.
The group of people left on their mounts. After a long time, some people came out of their houses to look at the corpses lying in a pool of blood. All of them looked dejected.
After spending half a day, Ren Baqian had seen the same show seven or eight times. There were various reasons, but the final result was the same. Ren Baqian finally lost interest and went back with the guards, leaving the people from the Rearguard Commandery to continue the arrest.
On the way, the guard scratched his head and said, "Sir, I still don't understand why you did this."
"Eh, you actually know how to use your brain to think about why?" Ren Baqian turned his head and looked at the guard in surprise.
"I always feel that people can't understand the way you do things, and it's the same this time. I thought about it and really didn't expect it," the guard said.
"Very good. Knowing how to use your brain is the first step for you to evolve from a monkey to a human!" Ren Baqian praised.
"Monkey?" The guard scratched his head and didn't know what relationship he had with monkeys.
"Of course!" Ren Baqian then slowly said, "On the one hand, I'm really curious. On the other hand, I also wanted to make an example out of these people. At the same time, I wanted to expose their hearts to others. This way, some people will think twice before doing something stupid again and see if it's worth it."
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