The court lackeys of the eight-hour workday

Chapter 477 Baby
"This is......"

"It's a bandit," the bandit said weakly.

The mountain wind blows, swirling withered branches and fallen leaves, making a soft, dry sound, and carrying away all the smells.

This is a flat area in the woods.

Wu Mingxiao's gaze was fixed on the ground.

If it weren't for Li Miao's reminder and the bandits leading the way, he might never have discovered the strangeness of this place in his entire life. But after realizing there was something wrong here, some clues naturally surfaced.

For example, this shouldn't be a flat area. Judging from the growth of the weeds, the soil here should be more fertile than other places, so why isn't there a single tree?
For example, what is the purpose of spreading lime powder around this flat area?
Even more noticeable are the dozens of strange bulges of varying sizes densely packed on the ground.

Wu Mingxiao had a vague idea of ​​what was going on.

Why did Li Miao bring the savages here?

In order to keep the savage firmly in his grasp, Zhao Wuji provided him with milk at all times. This milk came from women kidnapped and imprisoned by the mountain bandits... But a person can't produce this thing all the time, so this process inevitably involves the birth of a large number of newborns.

Despite following Li Miao's rampage through the entire bandit stronghold, Wu Mingxiao still hadn't seen a single child.

Where did these children go?

Li Miao tossed the savage aside and placed him next to a mound of earth. With a few casual kicks to the soles of his feet, he set all the dislocated joints in the savage's body back together.

"dig."

The savage couldn't understand Li Miao's words. After regaining his mobility, he roared and pounced on Li Miao with all four limbs on the ground.

Snapped!
Li Miao slapped him across the face, sending him flying. Before the savage could land, he reached out and grabbed him back from a distance.

"It's fine if you don't want to dig."

"Then use it as a shovel."

Bang!
Before the savage could react, he was lifted into the air and plunged headfirst into the ground.

Li Miao waved his hand.

The savage vanished like an iron rod, then suddenly turned back, carving a narrow trench in the ground that connected all the hills.

By the time Li Miao put him down, the wild man was already dizzy and disoriented.

It took him a while to get up. He was still growling and trying to rush towards Li Miao. He pressed his hands into the ground with claws and was about to exert force when a "crack" sounded and he crushed something. His hands sank in and his body swayed.

He glanced down at it.

That one glance froze him in place.

He crushed a skull the size of a palm.

The skull of an infant whose fontanelle has not yet closed.

The savage suddenly realized something and turned to look.

On the flat ground, dozens of mounds were cut open, revealing countless white, tiny bones from the soil, covered with maggots that emanated a foul stench.

Why do you think I would bully you?

Li Miao's voice came from behind.

Footsteps approached from behind. Li Miao grabbed the savage's head and slammed it onto the scattered infant bones on the ground, pressing his eyes tightly against the bones.

"That's the reason."

“Look carefully, smell carefully. There are more than forty skulls exposed here. These children all died for your children.”

Li Miao pressed his palm lower and lower, and his voice became increasingly low.

"Do you think it was unfair of me to kill your tiger?"

"Those people you gave to the bandits, because of the cover provided by that skinny tiger, were hastily counted as casualties from the tiger plague, and their bodies were never found. Aren't they wronged?"

Do you think I'm bullying you?

"I'll assume you're a clueless fool who didn't know the bandits were giving you human milk. But you must know they're not good people, right? Where can those heroes you defeated, those women you kidnapped, cry for justice?"

Li Miao released his grip and used his foot to flip the savage over. He clapped his hands and said...

"Actually, I quite admire the Yang family. They do evil deeds and don't complain when they die. They're villains with backbone, and they're swift and decisive when they're killed..."

"But you, after doing evil, still complain."

"I was actually quite interested, thinking that if there were other members of the Yang family, I could meet these tough guys and kill them, which would be a good start... You've ruined my interest."

The savage did not move at all.

Even after Li Miao moved his hand away, he remained motionless, clinging to the tiny bone fragment.

After a long while, he suddenly let out an extremely shrill howl, and like a madman, he threw himself to the ground, clutching the tiny bones to his chest, uttering intermittent wails.

"Child, child!"

"Child...child!"

Wu Mingxiao watched all of this with a complicated expression.

In his mind, things should be clearly divided into black and white; the wicked should not repent, and the good should not be hypocritical.

Looking at this savage, he felt neither pity nor the urge to kill him. The blade was stuck in its sheath, and the words were stuck in his throat, choked into a lump of indistinct, unclear ash.

But when he turned to look at Li Miao, Li Miao seemed completely unfazed, leaning against a tree with his eyes closed, as if nothing had happened.

"Brother Li..."

He spoke in a hoarse voice.

"Let's go. I... still want to go back to Dengzhou to kill the Japanese pirates. I don't want to see these things anymore."

Li Miao leaned against the tree and said with his eyes closed.

"This matter isn't over yet, why are you leaving?"

"The culprit hasn't been killed yet."

Wu Mingxiao was taken aback.

Is it still unresolved?

But the stronghold has been destroyed, the savages have been defeated, and the hostages they were holding have been released on the way up the mountain... Is there anything left to do?

Where are the other culprits?
Li Miao seemed to have heard what he was thinking and closed his eyes to speak.

"There are still two things to be done."

"One is the source of this savage's Yang family bloodline."

"As for the second point..."

Li Miao opened his eyes and said calmly.

"Young man, can you count how many baby skeletons are here?"

Wu Mingxiao was taken aback and turned to count.

"Seventy-two bodies."

Li Miao nodded.

"Have you ever thought about this: the total amount of breast milk a woman produces during pregnancy is fixed. It may vary, but overall it is just enough to feed one baby."

He pointed to the wailing savage over there.

"There are seventy-two skeletons here, which means he exchanged seventy-two portions of milk, and that also means... he raised about seventy-two babies."

"The tiger problem in this area has only been rampant for about a year, which means that the bandits have been cooperating with him and using that skinny tiger as a cover for their robberies for about a year."

"Seventy-two babies of unknown origin in one year. That's probably the only number of babies born in the entire county. Where did they come from? Who gave them to them? And why?"

"Seventy-two babies falling into his hands means seventy-two mothers who have lost their children, seventy-two families who have lost their children... How can someone who does such a thing not be killed and leave?"

(End of this chapter)