sbdcsierra Chapter 565 and around it are all death.
Chapter 565 and around it are all death.
Chief Li barely slept all night.
The next morning, he had several respected elders and other Miao village chiefs invited to the council hall.
These days, because of what happened in Yuhua Village, the whole Miao region is in a state of panic, worried that Yuhua Village is just the beginning and who knows when it will be their turn.
The thirteen Miao villages together have more than a thousand households, but the largest, Qianli Village, has three or four hundred households. There are also a few other villages with about a hundred households each, which can be considered large villages. However, in more remote areas, there are a few smaller villages with only a few dozen households each. Yuhua Village is one of them.
This is also what those village chiefs are worried about. More than a hundred people in Yuhua Village were wiped out overnight, so what about them?
Since the incident at Yuhua Village, although the village has sent out patrol teams to patrol day and night, and each village has also organized people to keep watch at night, they cannot rest easy until there is any progress in the matter at Yuhua Village.
Chief Li summoned them early this morning, and before they could even sit down, someone couldn't help but speak up.
"Chief Chief, is there any progress on the matter of Yuhua Village?"
"Yes, Chief, everyone in our village has been up for days and can't sleep well. What's going on? We heard that some outsiders have come to the village. What are they doing here?"
"Chief, why don't we report this to the authorities? If the government comes, it will at least make the murderer think twice."
"Yes, Chief Chief, we can't just keep waiting like this!"
Once the group started talking, they seemed unable to stop.
The Fifth Elder slammed his hand on the table: "Alright, stop arguing. This matter is already in progress. I called everyone here today to discuss it."
These words excited the crowd even more, but before they could speak, Chief Li called Li Shisan in.
"Thirteen, you tell us what you discovered last night. Tell everyone what you found out last night."
Only then did everyone notice that a junior had appeared during their discussion.
Li Shisan also had dark circles under his eyes and had barely slept all night. After leaving Hua Rui and the others last night, he wanted to tell Chief Li about Ming Ruo and the others being from the Salt Gang as soon as possible. However, when he returned, he was told that Chief Li had already gone to bed and would not see anyone. He had no choice but to go back. This morning, before he could even say anything, he was pulled over again.
Things had come to this point, and he could no longer wait to report it privately, so he simply told everyone about Xueyan and the Salt Gang.
“Everything I said is true. Although I don’t know the identity of that Miss Lu, she must be quite extraordinary to have made friends with someone like the Salt Gang.”
The council chamber immediately erupted in chaos.
"No, absolutely not! The affairs of Yuechuan Kingdom must not be exposed, as this will implicate the entire Miao region!"
"Does staying out of the spotlight mean we won't get involved? Are the Salt Gang people easy to mess with? I heard that the Salt Gang leader is just a bandit chief with more than a hundred men under his command. Plus, the Salt Gang is incredibly wealthy. If he gives the order to cause trouble, how can we handle it? Even if they don't come, just reporting it to the authorities will surely cause trouble."
"What should we do? If this is truly the work of His Highness, and if His Highness... hasn't returned, wouldn't Miao Jiang be the first to suffer?"
His words served as a reminder to everyone.
Over the years, these people have only known about Yuechuan Kingdom, but have never been there or seen it.
That was their faith, but their connection with the Moon River Kingdom was only through the high priest and the holy maiden sent there.
Every three years, the Miao people select a Holy Maiden, aged between ten and twelve. Three years later, when the Holy Maiden comes of age, she is sent to the Yuechuan Kingdom to marry a nobleman in order to continue the bloodline of the Gu God.
This has been a long-standing custom in Miao territory. As for the holy maidens who went to Yuechuan Kingdom, they have never returned.
The girls of Miao territory are proud to become saintesses because Yuechuan Kingdom is the place where the Gu God is incarnated, and it is a sacred place in the hearts of the Miao people.
The high priest once said that the Gu techniques practiced in Miao territory are less than one-tenth of those in Yuechuan Kingdom. Everyone in Yuechuan Kingdom knows Gu techniques, and a single Gu worm can destroy a city. To be able to go to Yuechuan Kingdom to learn Gu techniques is the dream of every Miao person.
Therefore, the Miao people never forced the selection of holy maidens. On the contrary, girls who wanted to become holy maidens had to participate in the competition from a young age, and only the most spiritual ones could become holy maidens.
But for most of the Miao people, the Yuechuan Kingdom was just a legend.
It contains the legend of the Gu God.
Therefore, the Yuechuan Kingdom is also sacred and cannot be violated by human power.
If, if His Highness really went to Yuechuan Kingdom and something happened to him, Miaojiang would be the first to suffer.
Everyone panicked immediately.
"What should I do?"
"I think the one who deserves to die the most is Xueyan. Over the years, we haven't stopped these young people from going out to Miao territory because we hoped they could see the outside world. But instead, we've attracted such a wolf!"
"What's the use of saying this now? That girl has already climbed up to the Crown Prince. Destroying Miao territory is just a matter of a word for her!"
"Didn't that girl Hua Rui walk right into our trap? Why don't we use her to threaten Xue Yan? Surely Xue Yan won't just stand by and watch her die!"
"Pah! Naive! That girl is so heartless that she wiped out 154 people from Yuhua Village. Would she care about one younger sister? The sisters lost their parents at a young age, and Yuhua Village took good care of them, didn't they? If she had even a shred of conscience, would she have done such a thing?"
"This won't work, that won't work either. We can't just tell them the location of Yuechuan Kingdom and make them go there!"
"I think we should go back there; the Gu God will always protect us!"
"Are you crazy? If people find out that we are loyal to the Yuechuan Kingdom, that's treason. Who will protect Miao territory then!"
"Then what do you suggest we do? We're going to die either way, are we just going to sit here and wait to die?!"
The group was arguing fiercely.
But arguing like this wouldn't lead to anything. Everyone was getting anxious, their faces flushed, and finally they all looked at Chief Li and the elders. "Chief Li, Elders, if we don't come up with a safe solution, Miao territory might be lost!"
Chief Li looked at the elders and asked, "What are your thoughts, elders?"
The elders of Miao territory were all highly respected elders from several large villages. The eldest elder was already over seventy years old. Hearing the commotion, he merely opened his eyes and said calmly,
"The affairs of Yuechuan Kingdom must not be revealed. Let's deal with that little girl first."
"Who?" someone asked instinctively.
The person next to him quickly pinched him, signaling him to be quiet.
Li Shisan's expression changed drastically, and he knelt down with a thud: "Elder, please spare Hua Rui, this matter has nothing to do with her!"