After a moment of contemplation, Li Xuan made up his mind. He tore a few holes in his body and flashed into the jungle.
Cao Man walked in front of the barbarian team. He was taller among the barbarians, and his head was raised and his stroll was very imposing.
Behind him were the group of human youths, with blank expressions on their faces, and they didn't know where they would be taken.
Other barbarians were scattered around, probably because they were afraid that some of these young people would fall behind or slip away. Their eyes were wide open, and their beards stood up like hedgehogs. Their fierce appearance made people chill.
.
The team was moving forward, and Cao Man suddenly raised his hand and signaled the people behind to stop.
He looked coldly at the grass beside the road and growled: "Who is coming out!"
The other barbarians picked up muskets and aimed at the grass. They looked a little nervous, as if there was some ferocious beast hidden in the grass.
"Don't...don't shoot."
He raised one hand from the grass, and then Li Xuan stood up.
His face was covered in dust and his clothes were torn, and he looked no different from the human youths in the team.
Cao Man's frown was slightly relieved. He walked to Li Xuan's side, looked up and down, and asked in a deep voice: "Who are you? Why are you here?"
Li Xuan hesitated and looked frightened, and secretly glanced at the giant axe in Cao Man's hand.
This time, his acting skills were quite superb, and even Cao Man, who was experienced, was deceived.
"I understand, you've also smuggled over."
Cao Man laughed, "I was not doing well there. I want to come here to mine and make money?"
Li Xuan nodded repeatedly: "Yes, I want to make money, don't send me back, okay?"
Cao Man laughed and turned around and said to the other barbarians: "It's interesting that this kid can actually sneak over here alone."
The other barbarians also relaxed their guard and stuffed the muskets around their waists, looked at Li Xuan for a few glances, and then went to take care of the young people again.
Cao Man stretched out his hand, pinched Li Xuan a few times, and said with a tsk: "I can't tell that you are quite strong. Do you want to make money?"
"I think of it, of course I think of it."
Li Xuan said happily.
"These people are all going to mining to make money. Do you want to go with us?"
Cao Man asked Li Xuan.
"Okay, as long as you have money, you can go anywhere."
Li Xuan said "escape".
"Then let's go."
Cao Man pointed to the group of young people, "Follow us, make sure you eat delicious food and drink spicy food, and save money to go home and marry a fat wife."
Li Xuan climbed onto the road clumsily and entered the youth team with a happy expression.
These young people should have gone through a long journey and were quite tired, but it can still be seen that their bodies are strong and powerful, and they are all very good laborers.
Following the team, Li Xuan whispered to other people and soon learned about some situations.
It turned out that these young people were all farmers of the Spring and Autumn Empire. Because the years of the past one or two years were not good, and they could not maintain their lives, they thought of going to the barbarian kingdom to mine.
The barbarian countries are full of mines, and the labor force is insufficient, and miners are urgently needed, and the wages are quite generous.
However, the Spring and Autumn Empire prohibited labor from going out and set up many checkpoints on the border, so if these young people want to go out to work, they can only smuggle.
The group of men in black and the barbarians just now were gangsters who smuggled labor forces back and forth on the borders of the two countries.
Each of the young people paid ten silver ingots for smuggling fees, and they were responsible for bringing people to the barbarian kingdom and introducing some well-paid miners' work.
It is said that as long as you work hard for three years, you can earn dozens of gold ingots.
"I have calculated that as long as I work hard for three years, I can save some money. When I return home in glory, I will build a big house first, buy a few acres of land, marry a wife, and have a fat baby.
There will be a good life."
A young man walking beside Li Xuan said happily that his face was full of slutty and exhausted, but when it comes to the days ahead, his face was filled with a sense of happiness.
“Is it really that simple?”
Li Xuan thought to himself that he always felt that these barbarians were not good people.
The team walked for several hours, and when it was dawn, the barbarians shouted that they would hide in the jungle.
It was getting bright, but the jungle was still dark.
The young men were lying on the grass in groups, resting in groups. The barbarians patrolled back and forth, and when they heard someone shouting, they went over and kicked.
"Why can't you leave during the day?"
Li Xuan whispered to the person beside her.
"There are patrols during the day, and the barbarian states are not allowed to smuggle. If they are discovered by the patrol, we will all be sent home."
The man replied.
Li Xuan narrowed his eyes, remembering that he had indeed seen a fully armed patrol on the way, which turned out to be guarding against smugglers.
It seems that if you want to work and make money in the barbarian country, you have to go through some risks. If you are unlucky, you may lose all your money.
Everyone else was resting, and Li Xuan simply closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. After he tempered all the way, he had reached the point of observing all directions and listening to all directions. The slight movements outside the jungle could not escape his ears.
I don’t know how long it took, but a sound of horse hooves disturbed Li Xuan’s rest.
Although he closed his eyes, combined with the movements he heard, scenes still appeared in his mind.
On the ancient road of the furnace, a patrol team composed of ten barbarians was slowly advancing. At the front were two scouts, who were responsible for detecting the movements in the distance, and behind were six strong warriors, who rode like donkeys.
The average chestnut horse ends up with an alchemist and a Confucian scholar. Although it is not as majestic as a human, it is also somewhat deterrent.
There are as many as thirty patrols on the border line, and they have to patrol back and forth twice every day to prevent the intensified smuggling.
However, although the barbarian state has strict management of this, there are policies and countermeasures at the top. For these patrol teams, it is better to have less than more things. Even if they really encounter smuggled teams, they will sometimes turn a blind eye.
Close one eye.
When they came to the jungle where Li Xuan and others were hiding, the two scouts in front stopped. The two silver wolves following them twitched their noses and shook their tails anxiously.
"Crash", there was a slight sound in the jungle, and Cao Man walked out with a smile on his face and greeted him enthusiastically.
"Is it your eighth team turn today? It's so hard."
Cao Man walked on the road and gave a very enthusiastic hug with a scout in the lead.
"How many pigs are there this trip?"
The scout glanced into the jungle. Although it was dark inside, his scout's accurate hearing could tell from the low breath that there were many people hidden inside.
"There are fewer people lately, only about thirty."
Cao Man said as he took out a small purse and stuffed it into the scout's hand very secretly.
The scout weighed the weight of the purse, stuffed it into his arms with satisfaction, and lowered his voice and said, "Have those dead pigs a few days ago been dealt with?"
"It's all buried, don't worry, no one will find it."
Cao Man said.
"That's good, but don't cause us trouble. If things get bigger, it will not be good for everyone."
The scout said, waved his hand to the companion behind him and continued to move forward as if nothing had happened.
After they walked away, Cao Man spat and returned to the jungle.
Li Xuan was very far away and could only hear a few vague words occasionally. Although he could not hear the specific content, he also knew that there was a shady deal between the barbarians and the patrol team.
"It's so dark no matter where it is."
Li Xuan thought to himself.
In the Spring and Autumn Empire, as long as you have money and power, you can cover up the sky with one hand. For example, if Xiao Du wants to kill someone, it is just a matter of one word.
Similarly, in the barbarian kingdom, such things will not be missing.
This world is no different from the jungle where the strong prey on the weak. If you don’t want to be swallowed up, you must become stronger and stronger than anyone else.
The team was resting during the day. In the evening, everyone woke up, gnawed dry food for a while, and then continued on the road while the moonlight.
When we were about to reach the Furnace Town, under the leadership of the barbarians, the team left the Furnace Ancient Road and turned on a path full of thorns.
Li Xuan originally wanted to take the opportunity to escape, but when he heard a barbarian say that the destination was not far from Liming Town this time, he changed his mind.
The barbarian craftsman master he was looking for was in Liming Town. Following the team would save him a lot of trouble. Since that's the case, let's act for a few more days.
The team just hiked in the morning and went out at night, and they traveled between the wilderness for two consecutive days. When they occasionally encountered patrols, the barbarians were always able to use money to save themselves from danger.
On the evening of the third day, the team was about to set off when Li Xuan suddenly heard someone screaming.
He looked back and saw a young man lying on the ground, screaming in horror, and a small green snake hung on his thigh.
"Viol snake!"
Everyone was shocked, and the timid one stepped back repeatedly, and the timid one picked up the branch, trying to kill the poisonous snake.
"Shut up."
Cao Man came out and roared lowly. Everyone immediately stopped, but their eyes were still inseparable from the poisonous snake.
Cao Man walked over and reached out to grab the poisonous snake. The poisonous snake seemed to feel danger, let go of the young man's thigh, jumped up, and bit Cao Man's wrist.
Cao Man's hand shook, and his two fingers pinched the venomous snake's seven-inch inch like lightning. The venomous snake opened its mouth wide but couldn't bite it.
"Oh shit."
Cao Man swears, and with force on his fingers, the poisonous snake is pinched into two pieces.
He threw the snake corpse on the ground, stepped on it, and crushed it into meat paste.
Cao Man killed the poisonous snake, walked to the moaning young man with a cold face, squatted down and grabbed his pants and pulled them. With a "click", the pants were torn into two pieces, revealing their black and blue thighs.
Everyone surrounded them and saw two small wounds flowing out of black pus and blood. Near the wound, there was a black line slowly climbing up along the blood vessels. It was obvious that the poisoning was deep.
The young man was lying on the grass, moaning "Ouuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
Cao Man raised his eyebrows and said coldly: "Leave one person to take care of him, and the others should set off quickly."