That night, both sides were busy. They knew that the other side was about to take action, but they were not sure of the specific time. That was why they were even more nervous because a crisis could happen at any time. They had to race against time to gain the upper hand.
Falu Village, like the Ge Village, was one of the seven guardian tribes of the Deity Temple. The reason why these seven tribes had the special status of guardian tribes was not because they were the largest and most powerful among the tribes in the mountain, but because they were closest to the Deity Temple and had the longest history.
When the Deity Temple was first built, a total of seven tribes moved here with the Venerable. They surrounded the Deity Temple and found a place to live, where they put down their roots. The Gu God Sect had been passed down for more than one thousand five hundred years, and they had also continued in the mountain for more than one thousand five hundred years.
Due to the harsh natural conditions in the mountain, there were few people who lived long lives, and many died young or died of diseases. That was why the population of their tribes did not increase significantly. Otherwise, after one thousand five hundred years of development, any one of these seven tribes would have the population of a small country today.
Hearing that the second elder of the Deity Temple, Gedwa, was coming, the chief of the Falu Village, Shiti Lin, hurriedly brought the elders of the village and a few of his right-hand men to welcome him. As soon as he saw Gedwa, he greeted him enthusiastically, "Respected elder Gedwa, what brings you here?"
Gedwa's face darkened, "Let's talk in the village!" After saying that, he took the lead and walked into the village. Shiti Lin and the others saw his serious expression and quickly wiped their smiles, following closely behind him. Gedwa was familiar with everything in Falu Village. He went straight to the hall and walked up a few steps. Suddenly, he turned around and said in a deep voice, "The Venerable has a decree!"
Shiti Lin had seen his stern expression along the way and was already worried. When he suddenly heard the words "Venerable One's decree", he was even more shocked. He subconsciously knelt down and placed his hands on the ground. He nodded and said, "I respectfully accept the decree!"
Gedwa said sternly, "The Ge Village refused to obey the orders of the Deity Temple and refused to move away from their original location. Moreover, because the Venerable took away their position as protector of the Ge Village, they still hold a grudge against the Deity Temple. Today, they brazenly sent out their troops to surround the Deity Temple, intending to harm the Venerable. The Venerable decrees that you immediately lead troops to rescue the Deity Temple. "
Lin Shiti was shocked. "Second Elder, you're saying … You're saying that Gedor has betrayed the Venerable One and is trying to harm him?"
Gedwa nodded and said angrily, "Every few decades, there would be one or two bold enough to offend the Deity Deity Temple. In the end, they had to be killed with thunderous methods in order to obtain a few more decades of peace. Such a cycle was not strange at all.
But the fact that the Ge Village betrayed the Deity Temple as a protector and did such a thing, this is the first time in our mountain! Especially this time, they used the convenience of being close to the Deity Temple to launch a sneak attack and trap the Venerable. Their crime is unforgivable. If the Ge Village is not annihilated, I will not be able to vent my hatred. "
An elder of Fa Lu Village could not help but say, "Second Elder, you are saying that Gedore has already trapped the Venerable?"
Gedwa nodded heavily, "That's right! But after the Venerable heard the warning, he had already set up the Ten Gu Immortal Execution Formation to protect the ninth floor of the Deity Temple. If Gedore's men can't charge up, the Venerable can't come out either. We need to repel the Ge Village's soldiers to save the Venerable! "
Lin Shidi did not dare to hesitate after hearing this. At this moment, Chief Lin thought that the Second Elder wanted him to lead the troops to the Deity Temple to rescue the Venerable. Thus, he jumped up without saying anything and shouted at his village leaders, "What are you waiting for? Immediately gather all the strong men in the village and follow me to the Deity Temple to protect the Venerable!"
Seeing this, a complacent smile suddenly flashed on Gedewa's face. On the way here, he had carefully considered how to tell Lin Shidi. The two reasons Gachailao gave out in anger were full of loopholes and could not stand up to scrutiny.
After thinking about it, he finally decided to use the story of Ge Ma old man leading people to surround the Venerable's palace and the Venerable setting up the Thousand Year Kill formation to protect himself. Of course, if he just led Lin Shidi to the Divine Mountain, he would still be exposed. But things had to be done step by step. If Lin Shidi mobilized his troops to the Divine Lake, he did not want to return empty-handed. He could think of a way to change the direction of his attack.
But when he thought of how it was so difficult for him, the Second Elder of the Gu God Sect, to mobilize the troops of a tribe and spend so much effort and had to find so many reasons, Gedwa immediately understood the gap between him and Ge Ma old man.
They were both elders, but Ge Ma old man had faced the old Venerable who had been in charge of the sect for decades and had sat firmly on the altar for his entire life. Although he was about to die and people were tempted, his majesty was still deeply rooted in people's hearts. Ge Ma old man actually dared to surround the Deity Temple and his men were willing to work for him. If not for the Thousand Year Kill formation, Ge Ma old man's scheme might have succeeded. On the other hand, he could only rely on deception …
Gedwa stood in the meeting hall and thought sadly. The more he thought about it, the more unwilling he became. He suddenly had a trace of desire for power.
…
The sky had just brightened when a new busy day began in Golden Sand Valley.
The women got up very early. They knelt in front of the stove and carefully lit the fire. They then lowered their heads and blew into the stove until the firewood crackled and burned. Then they jumped up and dusted their hands. Without washing, they grabbed a peeled branch and stirred it in the pot.
The pot was half filled with water. The water was filled with brown rice, nuts, and dried meat from some unknown wild beasts that had been soaked in the water since last night. When the large pot of minced meat was almost ready, they threw in all kinds of wild vegetables that they had gathered. Finally, they carefully sprinkled some salt in.
It was time for the men to get up. Their hair was unkempt, their faces dirty, and their teeth yellow. Here, there was no such thing as washing and cleaning. They lived like a doghouse and ate like pigs. Even if he used to be a superior man, it was an extravagant wish to live like a human now.
The men would pick up a bowl of porridge with rice, meat, vegetables, and soup, or squat in front of their own houses, swirling the rim of the bowl and slurping the porridge. Or they would walk to the door of their neighbor's house and squat together in groups of two or three. Occasionally, they would whisper a few words, but they were all simple mens and ahs. It was rare for them to say more than three words.
Most of the time, they did not say a word. They just walked over with their bowls and silently squatted next to the other men. Everyone squatted in a row and slurped the porridge.
"Let's … work …"
Following a drawn-out cry, the sound of the gong rang out. The two sides of the valley were too high. The sunlight could not shine in until it was near noon. Therefore, the residents of the valley almost never saw the sun. Naturally, they could not judge the time. Every day, when they went to work, they could only roughly estimate and wait for the call.
When they heard the gong, they had already eaten breakfast. They sent the bowls back to their houses and set off in the same direction.
One person, a few people, more people met each other. Most of them just said a few mens and ahs to show etiquette, and there was a rare smile on their faces. Their eyes were dull, their expressions were dull, and their movements were lifeless. It was more appropriate to call them the walking dead.
They were all leaders of tribes, and some of them were even important figures in the Divine Hall. They used to be insufferably awe-inspiring, but ever since they were sent here, they only had to live. Living for the sake of living. There was no meaning in living. Weren't they just walking corpses?
Every morning, they would fill their stomachs and rush to the mine. Under the supervision of the supervisors and warriors, they would get pickaxes and baskets and drill into the mine. Gold ore and gold sand were dug out by them with a shovel and a pick, and then carried out baskets by baskets.
Others were like donkeys, pushing the millstone back and forth. The mining undead walked in front of the undead pushing the millstone. "Ah!" "Ah!" They said a few greetings. The mining undead poured the ore and coarse ore into the funnel-shaped hole in the middle of the millstone, and then staggered away with the empty basket.
The undead pushing the millstone mustered their strength. Sometimes they would stop, climb up the millstone, and use the stone pestle to pound the ore. The ore was ground into fine sand, and then loaded into a cart and sent to the river. At this time, it was time for the women and children to appear.
At this time, it was not early, but because the sun did not shine in, the fog at the bottom of the valley was still very heavy, and the water was also very cold. The women and children went to the cart to take the gold sand, put it in a basket, carried it into the cold river, and bent down to start panning for gold.
The place where these women and children gathered was a bit more lively. At least they could hear some more than three syllables of dialogue, and … the occasional laughter, although very short.
There was no one to watch over the women and children because there was no need to. There was no need to worry about them secretly hiding gold sand. Their fate was destined to end here. Gold meant nothing to them. What they needed was more gold in exchange for a better piece of cloth, a bag of rice that was not moldy, and two more pieces of salt. It would be best if they could be given some medicine.
The people in the mine and responsible for grinding the sand were guarded, but the purpose was not to worry about them stealing, but to worry that they would escape with the tools in their hands.
Although the terrain of the Golden Sand Valley was too dangerous, and there were guards on high ground, one person could guard the pass, but for the "miners" who were living a life worse than death, they did not need to feel that there was hope to rush out. As long as their endurance reached the breaking point, and they felt that it was better to die than to continue living like this, they would rush out madly to create a glimmer of hope for themselves.
Today did not seem to be any different from yesterday. The miners only needed to work from dawn to dusk, drag their tired bodies back to their kennels, eat a big bowl of pig feed, and then sleep like pigs until the next morning to continue their life of darkness.
During this period, perhaps the only happy thing was that the women and children panned out a few more grains of gold sand, so they could fight for a little more necessities for their families. However, this day was destined to be different from the past, because their Venerable One was going to spread his gospel to the 18 levels of hell.
Old Dewang, the minister of Tate, who carried the Venerable's decree, led his tribe's 1,200 brave warriors in four different directions and quietly rushed to the Golden Sand Valley. After the four routes of troops quietly laid in ambush and made preparations to attack the defenders of the Golden Sand Valley if they resisted the decree, Dewang himself led eight guards and proudly climbed up the mountain.
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