The rebel army's foremost master craftsman forged a million iron pylons!

The raging fire instantly turned half the sky red. The people of Yujia Village watched numbly, some of them bursting into tears.

No one dared to rush forward to put out the fire, because a line of armored cavalrymen stood in front of the house.

Each person held a large bow, the bowstring was drawn, and the arrows flashed. Anyone who dared to rush forward would be shot into a pincushion.

A low sob rose from the crowd; their homes, their means of survival, were gone.

Su Xiong paced back and forth in front of the group of people whose houses had been burned down, carrying a large knife in his hand. Most of them glared at him with hatred in their eyes. But when Su Xiong looked up at them, they quickly lowered their heads.

"I know you hate me."

Su Xiong slowly spoke, "Because I burned down your house."

"But this is all because of them," Su Xiong suddenly turned his head and pointed to the twenty-odd strong men tied to the big tree, "If it weren't for their collusion with the rebels of Wolf Head Fortress, your houses would still be intact."

"They are the biggest culprits."

As he spoke, Su Xiong took two more steps forward and said calmly.

"Now, does anyone know where Li Tian's rebel army is hiding?"

"I'll see when they start lighting the incense."

"After three incense sticks had burned, no one else provided any clues about Li Tian and the others, and all of them were beheaded."

As soon as these menacing words were spoken, someone immediately brought over an incense jar, and someone else placed an incense stick inside.

A wail came from the crowd.

"Sir, you can't do this! We are all citizens of the Great Wei, and we pay our taxes on time every year. You can't do this!"

"Sir, they are human beings too, born of parents. Please, sir, spare them!"

Su Xiong ignored it, ordered someone to bring a chair, sat down on it with an air of authority, and said indifferently.

"Pass on my orders to spread the word in more than a dozen nearby villages that I have already captured fourteen rebel guerrillas."

"Everyone must come and watch them beheaded."

"If you do not come, you will be sentenced for colluding with the rebel army."

"yes!"

A dozen or so cavalrymen galloped away, heading towards various villages, loudly announcing their arrival at each location.

"Listen up, people here! A rebel army has appeared in Yu Family Village. They used to be blacksmith apprentices at Wolf Head Fortress, but they have been captured alive by our Captain Su."

"Now everyone rush to the grove at the entrance of Yujia Village to watch the beheading. Anyone who does not come will be sentenced for colluding with the rebel army."

After shouting, the cavalry immediately galloped away, heading towards the next village.

The news began to spread like wildfire through the villages, and people from more than a dozen villages came out of their thatched huts.

"Have you heard? That ruthless Captain Su is back, and he's arrested more than a dozen people, all of whom used to be blacksmith apprentices at Wolf Head Fortress."

"Now they're going to make us watch an execution," someone murmured.

"What are we going to do? My Erlang was once an apprentice at Wolf Head Fortress. If that scoundrel Su Xiong catches him, won't he get his head chopped off too?" Someone was so anxious that tears streamed down their face.

"Why don't we run away quickly? We can't stay in the village any longer. Let's run to the deep mountains and hide for a while. After that corrupt official Su Xiong leaves, we can go back to the village," someone suggested.

Each household acted differently; some secretly sent their able-bodied men to escape through tunnels, while others locked them in cellars to avoid being discovered by the armored soldiers.

The only thing they had in common was that people from more than a dozen villages were heading towards Yujia Village in a large group.

They dared not not go.

The fire in Yujia Village was clearly visible from more than ten miles away.

If they don't go, they will suffer the same fate.

........

Wolf Head Fortress.

Li Tian and his group were dressed in armor, pretending to be armored soldiers.

Suddenly, a thick plume of smoke rose from the direction of Yujia Village.

Li Tian glanced in that direction twice, his expression changing slightly. "Damn it, something's happened in Yu Family Village."

Wu Laoliu stood beside him, glanced in that direction, and frowned slightly. "This group of imperial armored soldiers has been causing quite a stir lately. Should the captain go and take a look?"

"We should go take a look," Li Tian nodded.

The two men removed their armor, changed into coarse cloth clothes, wore straw hats, wrapped their weapons in coarse cloth, and then each led a warhorse out of Wolf Head Fortress.

"drive!"

The two warhorses galloped away and soon arrived near Yu Family Village.

Sitting on his horse, Wu Laoliu glanced at the raging fire in Yujia Village and cursed angrily, "Those damned Ironclad Army, they're doing things that no human being can do."

Then Wu Laoliu turned to Li Tian and asked, "Captain, what should we do?"

"Let's go and find out what's going on first," Li Tian said.

The two dismounted and first hid their warhorses in a grove of trees. Then they stealthily made their way to a small hill not far from Yujia Village.

The two of them craned their necks to look down.

In front of the burned-down houses in Yujia Village, there stood a large group of several hundred people, with dozens of armored soldiers holding large bows standing to one side, watching them menacingly.

In the grove, a dozen or so strong men were tied to trees, each covered in wounds, clearly having been whipped.

A captain-like officer sat on a stool, with two bodyguards standing behind him.

"It's Li Dazhuang and the others." Upon seeing this, Wu Laoliu immediately panicked. "Captain, we must save them! They're learning blacksmithing from us; they can't be beheaded for no reason."

Li Tian remained silent, making a rough assessment of the situation.

There are now more than 30 armored soldiers and no fewer than 100 civilians standing here.

Trying to force your way in is definitely not an option.

Because it would harm innocent people.

Wu Laoliu was extremely anxious, but he didn't say anything. He believed that Li Tian would definitely provide a perfect solution.

Li Tian quietly observed the situation, and after a while, he spoke to Wu Laoliu.

"Sixth Brother, go back to Wolf Head Fortress again and bring all our repeating crossbows and long arrows over."

Wu Laoliu was immediately alarmed. "Sergeant, there are more than two thousand armored soldiers here. If we reveal our location and get surrounded by them, we'll be almost certainly dead."

Li Tian sighed, "There's no other way. The armored army is holding civilians hostage right now. To rescue them, we have to scatter them in an instant."

"Before the imperial army can encircle us with its armored forces, we must lead the people to hide in the deep mountains."

"Let's do it this way."

Wu Laoliu nodded, touched his waist and reached out to Shunlin, then mounted his horse, lashed the horse's rump with his whip, and the warhorse immediately galloped off towards Wolf Head Fortress.

Li Tian then groped his way forward for dozens of meters, then squatted behind an earthen wall, raised his crossbow, and aimed it at the neck of an armored soldier.

Inside the incense burner, the three incense sticks were already half burned.

The air was so heavy it seemed to solidify.

Su Xiong sat on the stool with his eyes half-closed.

"Captain, one and a half incense sticks have burned, look..." A man in armor walked over and bowed.

Su Xiong raised his eyes and glanced at the blacksmith apprentices who were already covered in wounds, and said calmly.

"After three incense sticks have burned, they will all be beheaded, and their heads will be taken back to claim military merit."