Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 602 Will I ever see it again in this lifetime?

In the end, Wei Changsheng did not agree immediately; he said he would give it a try.

Xia Lin could understand it. Anyone standing in front of those endless mountains wouldn't dare to be so arrogant as to issue a challenge to them without any reason.

This is a battle against nature, a war involving tens or hundreds of thousands of people over a period of centuries. If someone opens their mouth and says they can do it, they are definitely lying.

Let's give it a try.

Afterwards, Xia Lin and Wei Changsheng personally circled the surrounding area several times to carefully study the breakthrough point. At this point, they heard that the twenty-seven chieftains in the surrounding area were leading nearly 70,000 people towards Guizhou.

"Seventy thousand barbarians? What are they doing here?" After hearing this news, Xia Lin turned to look at Wei Changsheng and asked in confusion, "Taking advantage of the chaos?"

Wei Changsheng shook his head: "There are many mountains and forests here. If they really wanted to attack the stronghold, they wouldn't have made such a big show of it. Seventy thousand people is a lot. Twenty-seven strongholds sounds like a lot, but in fact, this should be their entire families."

"Seventy thousand people, including their entire families?"

After standing there for a moment thinking, Xia Lin nodded as if he understood: "I think I understand."

"Please enlighten me, Lord Xia."

Xia Lin smiled and said, "There has been a lot of rain here these days. Farming in the mountains is already difficult, and with the flash floods, the land is uncultivable. You kept them here before, but now that I'm here, they probably want to come and ask for some food."

Wei Changsheng frowned immediately: "These barbarians fear power but do not cherish virtue. They are tyrannical and unpredictable. Lord Xia must not treat them as the people of China, otherwise it will surely lead to a great disaster."

As a high-ranking official who had worked in the frontier for many years, his words naturally had some value. Xia Lin was not so confident that his charm could make more than 70,000 people from the 27 villages bow down and worship after just one meeting. He guessed that they had come to beg for food.

This can be considered one of the human wave tactics. Pile people up here, and if you have the guts, kill them all. Otherwise, give them food, or they'll die right here at the water source, and nobody will survive.

This method is dirty but effective. It works most of the time because life will eventually find its own way, and over time, people will figure out some of the survival rules of symbiotic relationships.

When Wei Changsheng was being tough, they didn't dare to make a move. At most, they would just cause trouble or harassment in their own territory. But now that the soldiers of the three prefectures have been disbanded and reorganized, the troops here are weak, so they immediately rushed over.

"Disguised robbery."

Xia Lin crossed her arms and smacked her lips: "I'll go."

"Thank you for your help, Master Xia."

Xia Lin returned to the town, broke camp, put on his lion armor again, and led his men to charge towards the direction the scouts had indicated the barbarians were coming from.

The people on the street were all talking about it. Many of them had even gotten used to the barbarians' extortion. It was alright here. If it were in the border areas, these barbarians would come here every few days.

After this group of people arrived, they didn't cause any trouble or make a fuss. They just blocked the city's entrances and exits and then huddled together in the market. They were unhygienic and made a terrible stench wherever they went. In addition, they were essentially citizens of the Great Wei Dynasty, so the local magistrates and officials really couldn't do anything about them.

Poor, smelly, lazy, and united—when all these labels are put together, the buffs are stacked up to the max. Add to that a bit of language barrier and fearlessness, and even Xia Lin would find it very troublesome.

But this area needs to change now. It's not that Wei Changsheng's methods were bad; after all, he managed to live in peace for over a decade, which is quite an achievement.

However, this is not a long-term solution. If it is not dealt with soon, it will definitely cause a big mess. Xia Lin doesn't want anything, he just wants stability. Only a stable environment can allow this region to develop better.

Strengthen the foundation, build a solid barrier, safeguard the defense line, and deepen opening up. Forge an unbreakable high wall for the borderlands; after all, he can't control the north, but if the south becomes chaotic again, it will cause a great deal of trouble. Three thousand men set up camp on the only route these barbarians could take. They said there was only one road, but there was no way to detour; the surrounding area was densely forested. Perhaps a few experienced hunters could use their experience to bypass this area and continue onward, but it was absolutely impossible for seventy thousand men. Otherwise, if seventy thousand set out and three thousand were left by the time they arrived, they would be thankful.

This is why, after Deng Ai secretly crossed Yinping and destroyed Shu Han, no one in Shu complained. It's because no one expected them to come up from that remote place. Since they did come up, their defeat was not unjust...

Xia Lin initially planned to follow the normal procedures for accepting refugees, since he had accumulated a lot of experience in dealing with natural disasters before, so he didn't have too many worries.

But the moment Xia Lin saw that vast army of 70,000 people, he knew he was finished...

"Holy crap, Wei Changsheng is really awesome."

He couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. The scene before him was truly unimaginable; the filth and stench were so intense that even a gust of wind from three miles away almost made Xia Lin vomit.

The stench emanating from these people is indescribable; it's a mixture of the smell of wild boars from the deep mountains and rams in heat. This complex stench is unforgettable once you smell it, and a deep breath can even activate a person's self-preservation instincts, causing symptoms like fainting.

When these people came within about 500 meters of Xia Lin, he had no choice but to cover his mouth and nose with a cotton mask. However, the molecules of this odor could penetrate through several layers of cotton, and he felt that even the tip of his nose hair was ruined...

No wonder Wei Changsheng said these people were very difficult to deal with. He said they would take a bath at the water source if they didn't give them what they wanted. At first, Xia Lin thought, what's the big deal about taking a bath? Let them take a bath, the water has a strong self-cleaning ability.

But now that he saw the actual thing, he realized he was wrong, terribly wrong. If these guys were to bathe in the water and then pee and poop, not to mention the water bodies, even the groundwater wouldn't be able to withstand it. Anyone who drank this water would truly be cursed with three lifetimes of love and longing.

The leader was performing a witchcraft dance the whole way, muttering incoherently, dressed like a feather duster, and waving dirty cloth strips around in his hands.

The generals who were waiting in front had not retreated in the face of the Turks' warhorses and scimitars, but now they all took two steps back in unison.

"Isn't this a classic case of a mop getting poop on it...?"

Xia Lin covered his face tightly: "Damn it... I really fucked it."

He has been swearing less and less over the years, especially after becoming a father, he has been more careful about his words and actions. But now he really can't hold back anymore, mentioning "Mom" in every sentence, and even becoming somewhat incoherent.

Tell me, why does it smell so bad?

Xia Lin knew a little about it. Besides not bathing for long periods of time, they also applied the juice of a certain herb to their bodies to ward off snakes, insects, and rodents.

However, while it can keep out snakes, insects, rats, and ants, it can also keep out people. The stench was just like a dead rat that had been sitting in a cupboard for three days during the hottest days of summer. It smelled bad from a distance and stung your eyes when you got close.

When they got within about a hundred meters, Xia Lin's eyes welled up with tears, just like the ammonia smell that stung her eyes when she went to the dry toilet in the compound when she was a child.

"Help... Holy crap..." Xia Lin took eight steps back, already at his last gasp: "I really want to kill you all, you son of a bitch... Don't come any closer!!!"

Meanwhile, Wei Changsheng, who was looking at the sky at the ferry, suddenly covered his mouth and laughed. He turned to his friend and said, "Master Xia is talented, but he probably doesn't know what he's about to encounter."

"Lord Wei, you're quite wicked."

"He should be taught a lesson about how difficult things are here."

(End of this chapter)