On the great plains of central Ansan, a middle-aged man wearing a hat was galloping through the wilderness, and after going up a slightly raised mound, he saw a camp of considerable size in the distance, which on the surface looked no different from the indigenous tribes living on the plain.

But outside the camp was a flag with a simple scale.

He lifted the water bladder and took a sip of water, and then examined the swords and crossbows and arrows he carried with him, and then slowly drove his horse forward, and only when he came to the vicinity of the camp, a group of barbarians rushed out, and shouted at him, and at the same time pointed the crossbow arrows and fire guns at him, and asked him to identify himself in barbarian language,

The middle-aged man took out an iron plaque from the crack in his chest, with a symbol of a balance on it, and when these people saw it, they relaxed and scolded and got out of the way.

The middle-aged man got off his horse and led his horse into the camp, which was no different from the indigenous tribal camp he had seen before, with tents in disarray, cattle and horses and other livestock mixed with people, filth everywhere under his feet, and a few earth dogs churning in the dirt, buzzing and crawling mosquitoes and insects.

There were about two or three hundred people here, some native, some mixed-race, and some An, but it was obvious that none of them were from the same place, but each one of them was heavily armed and looked extremely strong.

He hadn't gone far when he heard a shout in his ears.

"Lao Yu, here. ”

He followed the sound, and saw a short old man greeting him at the edge of a fairly clean tent, surrounded by four or five young men with rough skin, all looking at him with curious eyes.

The middle-aged man looked, led the horse over, and sat down on a stake in front of the tent.

The short old man whispered, "Why are you here so late?"

The middle-aged man didn't answer this question, just looked around and said, "Who are they?"

The short old man replied, "Most of them are believers in the God of Scales. ”

The middle-aged man snorted, he was not interested in any god believer, he just took money to do things, of course, if the things he did did not suit his wishes, he would not do it.

He asked, "Do you know what happened this time?"

The short old man leaned over a little and said, "I heard that this time we are gathering people to attack a garrison town. ”

The middle-aged man looked at him and said, "There are firearms and artillery in Tun Town, all the men have been trained, and they have been fighting with the natives of the wasteland all year round, with these rabble, it is impossible to win, if this operation is for this matter, then I will leave immediately." ”

"Don't worry. The short old man looked outside, and gave an order, and four or five teenagers understood, and ran to a farther place to sentry, and then he whispered: "Old Yu, do you know that the God of Scales has been resurrected, and one of his sustenance bodies will come here at night and act with us." His face was full of excitement, "That's a god." A god who does it himself, where can he lose?"

When the middle-aged man heard that the gods were coming, his eyes moved, but he still said calmly: "But what's the point of this? If the garrison town is defeated, the Duhu Mansion will definitely levy militia to recruit, even if it is a god, it will not be able to fight against the Xuanfu and the Shenwei army." ”

The short old man shook his head and said, "Then I don't know, but I don't think the gods will do useless things, right?"

The middle-aged man pondered for a moment, and suddenly looked like something, his expression tightened, and then he suddenly stood up, took the horse and walked out, and said, "I think of something, I have to deal with it first, don't wait for me." ”

The short old man saw that he was walking in a hurry, got up and chased after him two steps, and said, "When will you come back?"

The middle-aged man did not answer him, but walked all the way out, and when he reached the exit of the camp, two natives tried to stop him from being interrogated, and he knocked down two of them, then turned over and saddled, and quickly left the camp, and rode away.

The southern region of the capital protection province, the strong-claw tribe station.

The original rudimentary civil buildings had been bulldozed last year, and now the neatly laid out brick and wood buildings stand here, and the roads outside have been tamped and smoothed, and now the tribal people on the road are all dressed in gorgeous woven clothes.

Although the overly bright clothes on these stout and swarthy natives have a sense of disobedience, they are not the original and barbaric appearance before after all.

In the largest mansion in the station, the Grand Chief Ekuru was receiving a woman wearing a mask, and he touched his chin and said, "You mean, you can help 'Toroti' quickly regain his strength, and you can also provide 'Toloti' with a good body to sustenance?"

"Yes, Great Chief. "The woman's voice is very unique, there are no ups and downs, and no matter how the narrative is questioned, there is no trace of emotion in it.

Akuru asked curiously, "Then why are you doing this?"

The woman replied, "Let all things be under the rule of the gods, this is the order that the world should have, and this is also what we seek from the Restoration of God Society, and I think our interests should be the same." ”

Akuru shook his head, "But I don't think so, and I don't think you're right. ”

The woman said, "Great Chief Akuru, don't you notice that your tribe is losing control?

Your people are yearning more and more for life in Ruiguang City, they like the gorgeous clothes of the Eastern Court, enjoy the delicious food of the Eastern Court, and are willing to accept the command of the Eastern Court people, and they are beginning to look less and less like a pure warrior of the Claw Tribe. ”

She pointed to the steaming teacups on the table, "Including the things you entertained us, these are all from the Eastern Court, and everything that is old in the Clawed Tribe is fading." ”

She looked at Akuru again, "Your warriors are losing their faith, and helping the gods of the Strongclaw tribe will help them regain their faith,"

Akuru met her gaze and said, "My warriors fight the battlefield, so when they have the time to spare, they have the right to enjoy these, to wear gorgeous clothes, and to taste delicious food, this is their right, and I don't think there is anything wrong here." ”

The woman said, "No, Great Chief, when the warriors find out that they don't have to rely on you to get these things, then what is the purpose of your existence, Great Chief?"

They no longer see you as the embodiment of power, they no longer worship the gods of the tribe, they are still learning the words and language of the Eastern Court, they may not be able to see it in front of them, but the next generation, and then the next generation, maybe the Strongclaw Tribe will disappear, because they have all become the people of the Eastern Court. ”

Akuru laughed and said, "I'll admit you have some truth, but there's nothing wrong with a Hardclaw tribesman becoming a Dongting person," he picked up an apple and nibbled on it, "they'll be able to treat us as their own." ”

"Then I ask you," said the woman, "then your people get what they want, and what do you get, Great Chief?"

Ekuru's expression became serious, and he said seriously: "I have gained a lot of things, righteousness, faithfulness, civility, etiquette, with these, even if I am wearing animal skins, I am no longer a barbarian. ”

The woman looked at him and said, "If you believe in these, then your gods will abandon you." ”

"Then let it go," said Ekuru without hesitation, it is now that it needs us, not that we need it." ”

The woman nodded, she stood up and said, "I know what the Great Chief means, if the Great Chief changes his mind, he can come to us again." She placed a delicate bronze medal on her desk.

"Take your stuff back," Ekuru also stood up, "I won't need anything like this anymore, and besides, you can call me my current Tianxia name, Ai Chengjian!"

The woman didn't take the bronze medal back, glanced at him, and walked straight out.

The Kamo priest, who had been sitting on the side without saying a word, showed a worried look and said, "Great Chief, we rejected her, is this really good?"

Ekuru said, "Kamo, do you think the current days are better, or the old days?"

Kamo replied cautiously: "Under the rule of the Great Chief, I think it's all good, but ...... Now it's a little better than before. ”

Akuru walked to the door of the mansion and said, "What did we see in the old Hardclaw tribe? A group of wild beasts, who don't know anything but hunt and breed all day long, don't understand anything, and their minds are full of blood and killing, even I used to be like this.

Oh, maybe there's a god, but what can he bring us other than keep asking for it? Regain faith? Hmph, let's turn us into beasts again, right?"

Kamo said cautiously, "But the gods have sheltered us after all......"

Akuru immediately denied, "No, to be precise, we hired it, we sacrificed it, and it was responsible for protecting us, just as the people in Ruiguang City hired our warriors, without it, we could have something else to do instead." ”

He looked at the Kamo sacrifice and said, "Kamo, you should know very well that your strength has never been given by the gods, but you yourself pray for all things day after day, what the gods need is for you to dedicate your hard-earned strength again, although he will give you a little sweetness, but it is far less than your contribution, do you think this is fair?"

He looked outside and said, "I think the people of the Eastern Court have a good saying, we don't need gods, because we are gods ourselves." ”

The Kamo priest asked, "...... Natoloti?"

Akuru walked through the gate, looking at the crowd walking in the sunlight, everyone's face full of hope, not as muddy as before.

"Now, we don't need it anymore," he said. ”

The masked woman left the strongclaw station and rode south, and after half a day she stopped in front of a wooden shed under a hillside, with a wooden pole stuck in front of the door, on which a dyed horsetail fluttered in the wind.

The curtain of the hut was lifted, and an old priest came out, and said, "How is it? I said a long time ago, Akuru will not approve of you, he is no longer the chief of the Strongclaw tribe, he is already a foreigner. ”

The woman said, "So would you like to cooperate with us?"

The old priest said, "I have received an oracle from Toloti, and I will be instructed to control my people and do what you want. ”

The woman said, "Your choice is correct. ”

The old priest said, "The choice of the gods should not be judged by us mortals. ”

The woman said, "Then what are you going to start with the sacrifice of Toloti?"

The old priest was about to speak, when suddenly a listening expression appeared on his face, and then he said, "The sooner the better, the great god of killing can't wait to share in the feast of the gods." ”

......

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