On September 7, the 16th year of Yuanping in the Han Empire, in the Gulang grassland, the Black Jie people’s camp…
The continuous camp is close to Qiyun Mountain, more than ten miles long. In the camp, tents are built with the bones of some giant beasts as supports, and the outside is covered with mottled fur. Walking into the camp, looking around, there are white bones everywhere. Even in broad daylight, it looks very creepy. From the first day of the establishment of this camp, there has always been a large group of vultures representing death and decay circling in the sky above the camp...
Next to the camp was a lake. The melted snow on Mount Qiyun turned into streams and flowed into the lake. From a distance, the Black Jie camp looked like a giant black python entrenched at the foot of Mount Qiyun, opening its huge mouth and facing the direction of the Gulang Grassland...
From time to time, teams of Black Jie cavalry rushed in and out of the camp.
…
“No, no, let me go, let me go…” A shackled, terrified Shatu man struggled and was grabbed out of the cage containing prisoners by several burly Black Jie warriors with ferocious faces and snake tattoos. He was dragged by the hand and walked towards a tent not far away. The Shatu people in other cages, seeing people being captured, became silent and trembled in their cages.
Seeing the black tent not far away, the face of the Shatu man who was caught from the cage turned pale all of a sudden. He knew what the black tent meant to him. In these days, he had seen the fate of many people who were caught here like him after being dragged into the tent - no one came out alive, and all of them had their chests cut open and their hearts taken out when they were dragged out. They died in an extremely tragic way.
The Shatu man was so frightened that his tears and nose were all running. His strong desire to survive made him burst out with tremendous strength at this moment. While the Black Jie warrior who was holding his left hand was not paying attention, the Shatu man bit the arm of the Black Jie warrior. The Black Jie warrior groaned and cursed, but did not let go. Instead, another hand reached out - with a click, the Shatu man's jaw was crushed amidst a scream.
The Shatu man was taken to the tent and fixed on a cold iron table. His hands and feet were tied, making him unable to move. Then, he saw an old black man with only skin and bones on his body, like a hyena with no hair. He came to him with a bunch of strange knives and hooks, stretched out his bony left hand, pressed on his chest, armpits and stomach a few times, as if checking, with a sinister smile on his face...
…
Two minutes later, a sharp scream was heard from the tent. The scream lasted for about ten seconds and then stopped abruptly. After a while, a black Jie man walked out of the tent with an exquisite silver tray in his hand, and then walked quickly towards the largest bone tent in the distance.
Outside the bone tent were many Black Jie warriors standing. When the silver tray was passed here, it was taken by a warrior guarding outside the bone tent and passed into the bone tent.
There were two people in the bone tent at the moment. One of them was two meters tall, with a burly figure like a giant bear. He was leaning on a bone chair covered with tiger skin and made entirely of bones. This person was bare-chested, with black chest hair all over his chest and lower abdomen. He wore several pure gold snake-shaped armbands on his thick arms, and held a wine glass made of a human skull inlaid with gems in one hand. He was drinking the wine in the glass while looking at another person as thin as a bamboo pole who was standing in front of a huge map in the bone tent and talking about something.
The person standing in front of the map was an old man with gray hair and wearing a gorgeous black robe. The old man had sunken eye sockets and high cheekbones, and his eyes were flashing like two green ghost fires in two dry wells, which made people shudder.
Of the two people in the bone tent, the giant bear-like man is Prince Temiba of the Black Jie Snake God Tribe, and the other old man is Kadar, the war priest of the army sent by the Snake God Tribe to invade the Gulang grassland.
Kadar's hoarse and low voice echoed in the bone tent.
"Your Highness, a fresh person has arrived..." The Black Capricorn warrior who came in with a silver tray placed the tray respectfully in front of Temiba, then retreated.
"… Last month, the newly appointed governor Qi Yun of the Han Empire personally led his troops to annihilate a small tribe called Tuli under the Tulang tribe among the seven tribes of Shatu, and hung the head of the chieftain of the tribe at Baishi Pass. Since September, the wool of the seven tribes of Shatu can no longer be transported to Baishi Pass…" Kadar said, pointing to the place where Baishi Pass was located on the map.
"What's the matter? Is it that Governor Qi Yun who forbids the caravans from the seven Shatu tribes to enter the pass again?" Taimiba spoke, his voice was like two pieces of rusty iron rubbing in his throat, making people feel unspeakable discomfort when they heard it.
"It's not that Governor Qi Yun forbade the caravans of the seven tribes of Shatu to enter the customs again, but that Governor Qi Yun issued a decree that wool was a monopoly. All caravans of the seven tribes of Shatu could no longer enter the customs to sell wool. They could only sell wool to an agency under the Governor Qi Yun's office. The price was very low, about ten copper coins per pound of wool..."
"Hahaha, that Han Chinese governor Qi Yun is greedy and ruthless, I like him..." Taimiba laughed, then drank the wine in the human head cup, "What should we do with those Shatu people now?"
"A large number of Shatu caravans have gathered outside Baishi Pass and have not yet passed through. The Shatu people have tasted the sweetness of wool, so they will naturally not be willing to sell their wool to the Han people at such a low price. The two sides are now in a stalemate!"
"Isn't that Governor Qi Yun afraid that those Shatu people will cause trouble?"
"According to our spies, since the newly appointed Governor Qi Yun of the Han Empire destroyed the Tuli tribe last month, Baishi Pass has begun to be repaired and reinforced. Governor Qi Yun has people build a large rock fortress on the hillside next to Baishi Pass. Once this rock fortress is built, it will form a horn with Baishi Pass. The defense capability of the entire Baishi Pass will be stronger and more difficult to conquer. It seems that the Han Governor Qi Yun has made preparations to turn against the Shatu people and is not afraid that the Shatu people will send troops to attack Baishi Pass..."
"So, Kadar, now is the chance for our Snake God Clan to seize the Gulang Grassland!" Taimiba's eyes flashed, "If we take action, the Han people will definitely not help the Shatu people anymore..."
"Yes, a few months ago, the Han Empire wanted to organize an army to enter the Gulang Grassland and fight alongside the Shatu Seven Tribes. But now, the Han people have undergone a major change and are experiencing great turmoil. Their prime minister was assassinated, and it is said that their capital may also be destroyed by a natural disaster next year. The Han people are panicking and can no longer take care of themselves. Their army has already withdrawn. The newly appointed Qi Yun Governor seems to be completely different from the Shatu Seven Tribes. The relationship between the two sides is very tense, and they are almost at war. So Your Highness does not have to worry that the Han people will send troops to intervene in the affairs of the Gulang Grassland again. Once the caravans of the Shatu Seven Tribes cannot do business with the Han people, more than half of the supplies of the Shatu Seven Tribes will be cut off, and there will be no external aid. Your Highness, this is the opportunity given to us by the great snake god. As long as we defeat the Shatu Seven Tribes, the entire Gulang Grassland will be ours..."
Taimiba's eyes were fixed on a certain area in the Gulang Grassland on the map, and his tone became cold, "How is the blood poison of the Snake Temple prepared?"
The Black Jie war priest bowed slightly and said, "The blood poison of the Serpent Temple is half ready, but the area to be poisoned this time is very large, and more blood poison is needed, so it will not be ready until early next year!"
"Send the message back and ask the Serpent God Temple to speed up the preparation of the blood poison!"
"Yes, Your Highness!"
"The blades of the Snake God's warriors haven't seen blood for a long time these days. If they don't move, they will rust. Tell Lazu that within ten days, I want him to push the front line of Baicao Lake forward a hundred miles. I will go to Baicao Lake in ten days to sacrifice to the Snake God. When I arrive, I want to see him piling up the altar for me with ten thousand Shatu people's heads by the lake..." Taimiba said, and he opened the cover on the silver plate in front of him. Under the cover, a bloody and red "human fruit" was still beating. Taimiba grabbed the "human fruit" and put it in his mouth and bit it. Blood splashed out of his mouth. As soon as the "human fruit" was eaten, two blood lights lit up in Taimiba's eyes, and a blood-red breath appeared behind him, rolling and circling like two snakes. His voice became deep, "Of all these human fruits, the Han young man is the most delicious. I heard that the Han Chinese governor Qi Yun is a young man. Tsk tsk..."
(End of this chapter)