Chapter 533: Prying Open One’s Heart

Along with the aboriginals occupying Xueyang City and the commoners experiencing desperation right from the start, everything was gradually calming down after Ren Baqian sent people to convey his message.

Although the people were still fearful and felt like their future was bleak, the aboriginals weren’t as brutal and ruthless as they had expected.

Although there were people who had been taken from their homes and beheaded from time to time, they were people who had hidden “rebel soldiers” in their homes. The lives of the commoners were hardly affected at all.

This made many people feel relieved. They continued their daily prayers that life would continue this way and that those barbarians wouldn’t harm any innocent commoners.

If it wasn’t for the fact that they were trapped in the city, many people would have wanted to leave the city to take shelter. Three or five months later, they would be able to see the true colors of these aboriginals.

“Sir, there are a total of 73 households which harbored rebel soldiers. Among them, six households are wealthy households.” Zuo Leng handed over a list of names to Ren Baqian.

Upon receiving the details, Ren Baqian took a quick glance before looking up and asking, “Why do you think they did this?”

“Sir, I don’t understand.” Zuo Leng spoke with his head lowered.

“Tell me, why do you think these people risked losing their heads just to hide those rebels? Unless they are closely related, it would be very rare for someone to do such a thing, right? However, if they are closely related, those rebels would know that they would definitely implicate those who shelter them. In that case, why did they still remain there?

Among these people, some would risk losing their heads just to save the lives of others, while others would rather assist their own people in losing their heads rather than give up their own lives.

From this point, it can be seen that both parties have a unanimous goal.

Still, I’m very curious as to how these two types of people think,” Ren Baqian said faintly.

Zuo Leng opened his mouth. Originally, he thought that it would be an easy question to answer. Since they were closely related, those people took the rebels in as a result!

On the other hand, when Ren Baqian explained to the end, Zuo Leng started to get confused again.

That’s right—why did those people risk the lives of their close relatives rather than give up their own lives?

“Sir, I’m starting to get confused about the situation,” Zuo Leng said.

“Is that so? Between these two types of people, one party thinks for others while the other party only thinks for themselves.” Ren Baqian began to laugh.

Ren Baqian got up and said, “Let’s go and take a look.”

Moments later, Ren Baqian brought 20 bodyguards with him and left the residence.

In front of them were several hundred baihu as well as 70 tiqi who were going to lead the way. Among them was a soldier who was very familiar with this place.

“Zuo Leng!” Ren Baqian said loudly. Immediately, Zuo Leng directed his mount and arrived somewhere behind Ren Baqian.

“Has everything been arranged? Arrest them one family at a time, and don’t let the news spread,” Ren Baqian ordered.

“Sir, everything has been arranged. They won’t be able to escape,” Zuo Leng promptly assured him.

“Lead the way!”

As their mounts galloped on the street laid with flagstones, the crisp sound of their hooves rang out. Several people couldn’t help but to step out of their houses and shiver as they looked in the distance.

Sitting on his mount, Ren Baqian swept his gaze over both sides, and occasionally, he would see figures appearing by the windows or doors. Each of their faces were fear-stricken as they looked on at this group of people.

The feeling of people being afraid of someone was a pretty neutral feeling.

If there weren’t any accomplishments, people wouldn’t looked at someone with disgust either.

After traveling for an hour in the city, they arrived at a region where many commoners stayed. They then came to a stop in front of an alley.

The team of baihu led the many tiqi and dashed into the alley. At last, they smashed opened each and every door. This clamor and the blood-curdling screeches could be heard even from a distance away.

A moment later, four people were brought in front of Ren Baqian. Several tiqi remained to keep watch while the others continued with the arrests.

Among the four, there was one man and one woman dressed in shabby clothes who seemed to be in their forties. Generally, these people seemed to be much older than they actually were because they had been defeated by life long ago.

There were also two young people, who were around 16 or 17 years old. They were brimming with youthful energy.

At this moment, they looked up at Ren Baqian with fear as a saber was held to each of their necks.

In the surrounding houses, many people stealthily looked on. Just like mice in the sewers, they didn’t dare to show their heads.

“Sir, spare our lives. Sir…”

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Ren Baqian ignore their cries and turned to ask Zuo Leng, “Which ones are the rebels?”

Zuo Leng turned around and asked a few questions before answering, “The two young ones.”

From his mount, Ren Baqian looked down at these few people and asked without any emotions, “A few days ago, I sent someone to convey a message, and I’m sure all of you have heard it, right? Why do the two of you want to harbor the rebels?”

“Sir, please spare our lives, Xiaosi isn’t sensible, but he hasn’t done anything bad.” The middle-aged man and woman pair immediately begged for mercy.

“I asked you why did you both want to harbor the rebels?” Ren Baqian repeated his question once again.

Immediately, the both of them fell to the ground and cried out loud, “He is our child!”

“Xiaosi is your kid? What about the other one?” Ren Baqian asked softly. It was natural for parents to protect their children. Unfortunately, this child didn’t reciprocate his parents’ love.

The two parents were consumed by fear and could hardly make any sound. Only after the guards moved the sabers that were pressed against the parents’ necks did the parents subsequently cry out, “He’s the one who brought the other person back…”

“Who’s Xiaosi?” Ren Baqian looked down at the two youngsters.

“I… I’m…”

“When I sent people to shout out my message, did you hear it or not?” Ren Baqian asked faintly.

The youth was filled with fear, and his body was trembling from head to toe. He was unable to speak even a word.

“Tell him that he has to answer any questions that I ask!” Ren Baqian said indifferently.

Straightaway, one of the tiqi kicked Xiaosi on the leg, and a stream of blood spurted out.

“Did you hear him or not?”

“I… heard him…”

“Why didn’t you come out? When you joined the rebel army, you must have been prepared to die. Why would you rather drag your family into this and cause them to lose their heads instead of coming out? Speak!”

Following Ren Baqian’s yell, the youth was smashed by the hilt of a saber. After his head was struck, blood was seen gushing out.

“I was… afraid…”

“This is a so-called rebel soldier?” Although Ren Baqian smiled gently, his voice was full of mockery. “When you were brainwashed, your only goal was to sacrifice yourself for all the people in the world. Now that the situation became critical, however, you would rather drag down your entire family and die together. Furthermore, you have also dragged along another comrade? It seems like you are quite loyal. Still, the price to pay will be your parents’ lives.”

“If you want to kill, then kill me!” the other youth said with a voice full of indignance.

“Good, very strong-willed. If you are this strong-willed, you should have died in battle or commited suicide in their house. At that time, all they would have to do is drag your body out and say that a rebel ran into their house. As a result, they had to kill you. If they explained it this way, perhaps they could have even kept their own lives, but you didn’t handle the situation like this. Instead, you retreated at a critical time and enjoyed the sanctification that others have given you at the expense of their lives.” Ren Baqian’s words were full of sarcasm.

“This evil spirit! Evil spirit!” The young man couldn’t take what was said and frantically wanted to throw himself at Ren Baqain. However, someone kicked him to the ground.

“Take a look at what kind of people they are! Do you see?” Ren Baqian looked up and asked.

“I’ve seen it with my own eyes, Sir.”

“Selfish, weak, timid, and ignorant. Such are the characteristics of a rebel soldier.” Ren Baqian smirked.

Just like the devil, his words, which were filled with maliciousness and sarcasm, spread throughout the ears of the people who were peeping from the surroundings.

“Kill them!” Ren Baqian said in a cold voice.

Immediately, several weapons were stabbed into the bodies of these few people.

“Let’s go to the next household,” Ren Baqian said.

This group of people left on their mounts. After a long while, the commoners finally saw a few corpses that were lying in a pool of blood. Their expressions turned dark.

After spending half the day, Ren Baqian watched the same kind of scenario play out around eight times. The reasons varied, but the final result was the same. Ren Baqian finally lost his interest and returned with the guards, leaving the people from the Rearguard Commandery to continue with the arrests.

On the journey back, one of the guards scratched his head and said, “Sir, I still don’t understand why you are doing it this way.”

“Eh, you actually know how to use your brain to think?” Ren Baqian turned over and looked at this guard in astonishment.

“I always feel that whenever you do something, a majority of the people can’t understand. It’s the same this time around. I have pondered for quite some time, but sure enough, I can’t comprehend what’s going on,” this guard continued.

“Pretty good! At least you know how to rack your brains. This is the first step in your evolution from a monkey to an adult!” Ren Baqian complimented him.

“Monkey?” This guard scratched his head because he didn’t understand what his connection was with a monkey.

“Of course!” Then, Ren Baqian slowly said, “On the one hand, I’m really curious. On the other hand, I’m also punishing those people as an example to others. At the same time, I will pry open the hearts of these commoners to show the others and so that some of them will think twice before doing anything stupid. I’m teaching them what is known as a conscience as well as how to be smart!”