Chapter 62: Scapegoat
At this time, the Lian tribal clan Patriarch compound.
“What!? This bitch Jiang Xiaorou had ran off?”
Upon hearing the news, the teacup in Lian Chengyu’s crumbled!
“Pa!”
The hot tea splattered, giving Zhao Tiezhu a shock.
He did not know why Lian Chengyu had worked up such a temper. In fact, Lian Chengyu had an inferiority complex but was also a proud man. In front of the large tribe’s elites, he had to be inferior, but in front of the poor people of the Lian tribal clan, he would not allow anything that was detrimental to his pride.
For example Jiang Xiaorou, although Lian Chengyu wanted Jiang Xiaorou, he had never expressed such a desire in front of his subordinates. It was like an emperor taking a liking to a small court girl. He would only visit, but never chase.
How could a cheap commoner be worthy of his pursuit?
That was the reason why Zhao Tiezhu did not know about Lian Chengyu’s designs on Jiang Xiaorou. Even now, he was still at a loss, why would Lian Chengyu be so angry with Jiang Xiaorou running away?
“Leave!” Lian Chengyu waved his hand. His expression was gloomy. I did not expect the bitch to be that stubborn, willing to die than to be possessed by me!
One of the reasons Lian Chengyu was so angry was because he coveted Jiang Xiaorou’s exceptional temperament and looks.
The second reason why was the key reason. Lian Chengyu, having lived in the resource poor Lian tribal clan, had always been able to get anything he wanted. But he had to bend over just to obtain a discarded piece of resource from a large tribal clan. This accumulated to the point of him having an extreme desire in his heart.
He wanted to obtain things that did not belong to him, and if it belonged to him, no one could touch it.
To Lian Chengyu, Jiang Xiaorou belonged to the Lian tribal clan, so she was exclusively his.
It was alright if he couldn’t obtain the things of others, but the things in the Lian tribal clan was his and his family’s. So there was nothing that made him angrier than her escaping!
“This bitch might already be dead.”
A fifteen year old girl had to have a lot of courage to escape into the vast wilderness alone as it was equivalent to suicide.
And to send men to find her was impossible. The vast wilderness was so large, who would know which direction Jiang Xiaorou escaped to?
And sending dozens of his men from the warrior preparation camp would probably lead to some deaths. It was not worth it.
Very soon, Lian Chengyu received a second piece of news.
The men who had taken the Blood Thinning Pill had finally fallen ill! Actually the time for them to fall ill had already been delayed from Lian Chengyu’s original estimate.
They were all extremely weak and each cough coughed up blood.
These ill men were all the pillars of their family. They had originally hoped to earn some additional food for their family by refining the bones.
But now, the pillar was gone!
These few days, because of the lack of food, there were already a few people who had died of hunger and cold.
The first who died were the ill and the elderly.
The families with able-bodied men could barely make do, but without their men, their days ahead were unimaginable!
And for this, the Lian tribal clan upper echelon no longer came forward to provide assistance. They did not hand down food because Lian Chengyu had decided that these people would not last long, and had lost their value.
With the meagre amounts of food left in the tribe, they still had to carry on recruiting able-bodied men to refine the desolate bones.
Of course, after the best batch of fit men were maimed, the second batch were a bunch of mediocres. But it didn’t matter since the desolate bones were almost done refining.
Despite the Lian tribal clan’s upper echelon being so cold and heartless, the people were left in the dark. They did not know the truth, because it was all Yi Yun’s fault.
The desperate family members of the able-bodied men came to the Lian tribal clan Patriarch compound, hoping to be given some food, and hoping they could obtain a Blood Thinning Pill that had “saved” their men’s’ lives.
Of course in the eyes of the family members, that was a life-saving “miracle drug”.
But the Lian tribal clan upper echelons dismissed this requests. There were limited numbers of Blood Thinning Pills, and since it overdrafted on a person’s life force, why would they waste it on these people who had no chance of surviving?
As a spokesperson, Zhao Tiezhu arrogantly stood on a dais and gave a disdainful glance at the family members of those able-bodied men.
He was once a member of the poor, but now Zhao Tiezhu felt he was no longer poor. He had escaped the realm of the poor, and was different from the ant-like inferior creatures.
He was now a subordinate of Lian Chengyu. When Lian Chengyu becomes a Tai Ah Divine Kingdom warrior, or even a “Kingdom Knight”, he would be one of the servants of a Kingdom Knight!
You know how great is a Kingdom Knight? A watchdog of a prime minister’s house was equivalent to a grade three official, when that happens, Zhao Tiezhu would be able to have multiple wives, and become successful! How could he mix with these scrounging poor?
“What are you making a din for? What are you making a din for? You bunch of bumpkins still want a miracle drug to save lives. How many of these miracle drugs do you think our tribe has? Do you know the cost of refining a miracle drug?”
Zhao Tiezhu looked despicably down at the ragged bunch of women and children.
But seeing that they had been stunned by his words, he felt like he was now a person of the upper echelon, “If I were to say it bluntly, all you bumpkin lives added up would not be enough to exchange for a miracle drug!”
“You want food? You want miracle drugs? Give up hope!”
“The tribe has previously saved your men’s lives once, and you still expect a second? It was your men who got infected by the plague accidentally. It has nothing to do with the tribe. Too bad for your luck? If you want to blame, blame it on that kid Yi Yun. It was he who got infected and spread it to you. That bastard, even in death he is harming others!”
Zhao Tiezhu had the ulterior motives to fan the flames.
And at this time, someone with a mean voice rang, “Soldier Zhao is right, it’s all because of that jinx Yi Yun!”
This was Lian Cuihua’s voice. She had been mixed within the crowd and had waited for the opportune time to steer public opinion.
“Also that Jiang Xiaorou that seductress! Our Lian tribal clan had kindly accepted that troubled family, giving them food and a place to live, and not only did they not repay us, they even brought disaster on us!”
“Fellow villagers, if you want to blame, blame those two jinxes!” Lian Cuihua shouted at the top of voice, and the family members of the able-bodied men were unable to tell right from wrong in their state of desperation.
Besides, the truth was too complicated for them, making it too hard to understand.
Now with that bitch Jiang Xiaorou gone, she had absconded to avoid punishment! Let’s burn their house! Let’s make sure that she will freeze to death even if she returns! Starve to death!”
“Burning their house is also a form of exorcism, let’s go fellow villagers!” Lian Cuihua took off her tattered cloak and jumped up the stage only with a top and began waving her coat, as if it were a small flag.
People had a tendency towards mass behavior, so they were easily led.
Besides, in their hearts, it was really Yi Yun who had caused their able-bodied men to collapse, causing them to have desperate times ahead. They were most likely going to starve or freeze to death.
Under Lian Cuihua’s instigation, the people besieged Jiang Xiaorou’s house again.
These people were either really angry, or simply following the herd. There were some who did not have the heart to do so.
But the outcome did not change, ten torches were thrown towards Jiang Xiaorou’s dilapidated hut filled with cow dung.
The flames reached the sky.
The crackling sounds were like the cries of the demons. As the tongues of the flames leaked the sky, thick black smoke rose, dying the beautiful red sky black……
From a distance, Lian Chengyu was watching this scene without expression. Burning Jiang Xiaorou’s house was not enough to appease him, it only mattered if Jiang Xiaorou was found.
He calmly said to the Zhao Tiezhu who was standing behind him, “Send down the order, do not affect the desolate bones refinement. Also, when out hunting, if you find Jiang Xiaorou, bring her to me. There will be a reward!”
“Yes, Young master Lian. I will guarantee that it will be done!” Zhao Tiezhu accepted the order before leaving.