Chapter 14, Xiaohua's Mouth

  Looking at the first base of the assault camp, which has already begun to take on a new look, Meng Yao still waved his hand with great enthusiasm and said to Lu Tao: "Just wait and see, when all the land is opened up, the camp will be expanded to the exit of this mountain valley. We'll just need to perfect each outpost and defense zone, and by next spring, it will truly be a new beginning for our assault camp! By then, you can just open your mouth and laugh. It will definitely be a time when rice flowers are fragrant, fruit trees are laden with fruit, walls are strong and sturdy, and people are thriving."

  Lu Tao listened and suddenly tilted his head to size up Meng Yao, "Why do I feel more and more like I'm standing with a big landlord? Yes, I find that you're becoming more and more like a local tyrant."

  "Is it?" Meng Yao Xing looked down at himself with a high spirit, "The rich are good, they have power and influence, and they also have people."

  Lu Tao shook his head helplessly, reached out to touch Meng Yao and asked solemnly: "Hey, I'm asking you, have you thought it through? It's almost 1921, should we take the initiative to contact the organization?"

  Just then, Zhuge Dun came running over, panting and reporting loudly that Xiaohua had arrived, specifically asking to see him. This kid had been locked up once before, and indeed he had learned his lesson. Meng Yao turned around and took a look, "Xiaohua, how did she come?" This little girl was not bad, in his heart he still liked seeing her, with a feeling of walking freely under the moonlight.

  The three of them walked and talked, and soon they came before Xiaohua.

  "Xiao Hua, do you need something from me?" Meng Yao said, just about to smile, when he felt that something was off. Before he could react, his hand was suddenly grabbed by Xiao Hua, and a sharp pain shot through it. "Ah---" He sucked in air, instinctively pulling back his hand, catching a glimpse of Zhuge Dun's hand knife about to chop down towards her.

  "Stop—" Meng Yao and Lu Tao almost shouted out at the same time.

  Xiao Hua loosened her grip, and her two eyes stared at Meng Yao's face with hatred, not leaving for a moment.

  Staring at Xiaohua's dagger-like gaze, Meng Yao was completely stunned. What's wrong with Xiaohua? It seemed like she had a deep-seated hatred towards him, as if he had committed some kind of unforgivable crime...

  Lu Tao looked at Xiaohua and couldn't help but focus his attention on Meng Yao's face, his heart skipping a beat: A young man full of vigor, a delicate girl as lovely as a flower, could this matter have gone that far? If so, what should he do?

  "I hate you——" Xiaohua said word by word, and suddenly turned around and ran away.

  After a while, Lu Tao smiled awkwardly and carefully said: "This... Comrade Meng Yao, if there's anything you'd like to say, just go ahead and we'll discuss it slowly."

  "Get lost, you despicable comrade." Meng Yao flicked his hand and turned to leave.

  Zhuge Dun hid far away, watching Meng Yao wave his hand and leave. He hastily glanced at Lu Tao, who was stunned, got up and chased after Meng Yao, walking in a hurry. After a while, Meng Yao suddenly turned his head and said, "Where's Instructor Humph? Let's hurry up and call him, we'll go to Niutou Village together to see what's going on."

  Meng Yao rushed to Niutou Village first, but before entering the village, he felt something was off. The scene was bustling with people, but now there wasn't a single person in sight. The situation was suspicious, so Meng Yao didn't dare to venture further alone and waited until Zhuge Dun arrived with Lu Tao and his guards. After discussing it, they decided to let Zhuge Dun go in and take a look first.

  About ten minutes later, a little kid suddenly crawled out of the haystack, pulling out the floating grass, and was about to run away. Meng Yao hurriedly ran forward, grabbed the child and handed him a piece of chocolate, asking kindly: "Little friend, where are the people in your village?"

  "My dad said we're all breaking up." The kid stared at the chocolate, his eyes wide with excitement.

  "Here, have some candy." Meng Yao stuffed the chocolate into his hand. "Who's your father? Is he the leader of the village?"

  The kid shook his head and sucked on the chocolate, "I don't know, my dad is Zhu Dahu."

  Zhuge Dun rushed over, panting and said: "Captain, I found Xiaohua and Wang'er right away. They said they don't want to see us and told us to leave quickly."

  "Leave?" Meng Yao frowned and asked: "Why?"

  "They, they said——" Zhuge Dun said with difficulty, looking at Lu Tao.

  Meng Yao glared with her eyes wide open, "Speak, anything can be said."

  "They say you're a devil, bringing a group of devils like yourself to their place, turning their homes, hearts and lives upside down. You're worse than the big-bearded horse on the mountain, Dragon's Roar in the sky, and County Master and landlord below the mountain." Zhuge Dun said in one breath, glancing at Meng Yao's expression, then paused for a moment before continuing, "Xiongdi also said that if they didn't know they couldn't beat you, and hadn't received some kindness from you, she would have led the remaining people to attack us long ago."

  Meng Yao almost jumped up, "Who is a demon, who is a demon, why are you talking about me like this?"

  Zhuge Dan looked at Meng Yao with a hint of embarrassment and said, "It's what they said, not me. They said that if you weren't intentionally showing off, why would so many people be scared away by you?"

  "Is this reasonable?" Meng Yao said with a furious smile, turning his head to look at Lu Tao. "Tell me, we're helping them and they portray us like this, overnight."

  Lu Tao nodded and suddenly said calmly, "Don't worry about it for now. This is actually just one of the many issues we've encountered since coming here. It would have appeared today or tomorrow anyway. At least this reminds us that apart from necessary military actions and displays of force, we should still be low-key and cautious in our development. After all, the strength, technological level, and equipment we possess are beyond what this era can match, and are also beyond their knowledge and cognitive abilities."

  Meng Yao soon calmed down and went over the plan to divide the troops into two routes yesterday, as well as the entire process in his mind again, but did not find any fundamental directional problems from it.

  The heavens almost in the blink of an eye, threw their entire assault camp from a familiar space-time to another space-time, from a place with parents and a country to manage, where everything was taken care of, to this mountain nest where no one cared about food. As the mainstay of the now isolated and helpless assault camp, what should he do, and what could he do? How could he make the assault camp reborn, and in what form could he let these hundreds of young men follow him quietly, step by step, into the future? The first thing that came to his mind was to quickly establish a foothold for the assault camp. Now that they had basically established themselves, the next step was to seek development as soon as possible. What kind of development was this? Wasn't it Chairman Mao's nine-character guideline - "dig deep tunnels, store abundant grain, and wait for the right moment to rise to power"? He hadn't done anything wrong, although his words were somewhat sarcastic and unorthodox, but they were fundamentally the grand law of the assault camp, even their survival mantra. Without farming, would there be food? Without flirting with women, would there be offspring? Without robbing people, would there be population growth? Without making money, would there be cash?

  Meng Yao thought of this, suddenly felt refreshed, picked up a wooden stick on the ground with his hands, broke it into two pieces with a force, and then threw it back to the ground with a relaxed face. He waved his hand at the crowd and said, "Let's go, we should also return to the camp."

  "General, I think you should go talk to that Meng brother again. Maybe he'll come around once he sees you."

  "A bitter melon that's been forced to ripen isn't sweet, besides," Meng Yao said, gazing up at the sky with a distant look in his eyes. "Later on, we'll encounter even bigger and more complicated problems. If we're afraid, retreat, or go soft, then we'll truly end up accomplishing nothing."

  "By the way, Instructor Lu, stop all supplies for me for two days, effective immediately. You are in charge of supervising the execution."

  "This, this isn't necessary, is it?" Lu Tao nervously laughed.

  "It's absolutely necessary," Meng Yao's face turned serious, with a hint of intimidation. "You must remember, Lu Tao, that we especially cannot afford to make mistakes, and if we do, we will be punished severely. Because once we make a mistake, it affects the safety and development of the entire assault camp. Just like this time with the Niutou Mountain stronghold wanting to join us, if I had considered it more carefully, and had less of a desire to show off, putting myself on the same level as Pangdi and the others, this wouldn't have happened."

  Zhuge Dun was getting anxious, and pulled Lu Tao to say, "Instructor, not eating for two days will starve someone to death! Change it to one day, that's enough."

  "That's right," Lu Tao agreed, looking at Meng Yao, "one day is enough to punish."

  "This matter should not be argued about anymore, otherwise it will not be remembered for long." Meng Yao said firmly.

  "What's next?" Lu Tao changed the subject.

  Meng Yao gazed at the distant mountains, "Since the plan has changed, we should take out those two dens first."

  Limited time free? Exclusive interview with a big shot? New book release by a famous author? There are also weekly lucky draws, Apple Watch, Q coins, starting points and more waiting for you to grab! Don't hesitate, open WeChat, scan the QR code on the left, follow easily, and don't miss out on the excitement~