Just as Yang Bairao heard the other party shouting about his audacity, his faint heart leaped wildly in his chest. He was just about to turn and run when the leader of the cavalry commanded, "Wait a moment," and effectively reined in Yang Bairao just as he was twisting his waist around.
The leader had been captivated by Yang Bairao's demeanor and those few flowery phrases.
With the cavalry currently engaged in combat up ahead, roping ordinary villagers into their ranks served no purpose. The casualties were already immeasurable, and the cavalry leader would never consent to needlessly taking innocent lives. That was why, no matter how rampant the bandits grew, the cavalry always faced them alone.
Now, upon meeting Yang Bairao, the leader felt he had encountered an extraordinary person. Therefore, regardless of how targeted Yang Bairao's words had been toward the cavalry, as their commander, he felt the matter was of little consequence.
If he could recruit Yang Bairao into the cavalry to observe him for a few days—sending him back if he proved useless, or keeping him if useful—it would hardly be a bad deal for the cavalry. At worst, they would waste a little meat during those few days of observation. If he truly turned out to be capable, while he might not completely reverse the grand situation, helping with minor local problems would still benefit the cavalry.
With this thought, the leader answered Yang Bairao's question in a steady tone, full of vigor: "Our grain-levying adheres to fairness. If we levy early this year, we will certainly postpone it next year. Otherwise, how could we have stood in the prairie for over a hundred years?"
"As for proof, our word is our proof. The payment in full is not an arbitrary extraction; once our grain-levying squad searches and finds no surplus left in the village, we naturally depart without forcibly pillaging, burning, or killing."
Normally, the leader maintained an air of authority around everyone and rarely offered explanations. It was precisely because he wanted to recruit Yang Bairao that he provided a slight explanation for these matters and spoke at greater length.
Hearing what the leader said, Yang Bairao had no choice but to believe it now. After all, he was still completely in the dark regarding the system of this world. He could only force a calm composure and say with a sheepish smile, "Well, nothing more then! I'll be off first!"
As he spoke, his pounding heart constantly reminded him to run for his life.
"Brother, do not go. Seeing that you are different from the prairie people, you must come from the outside world. How about joining our cavalry?"
The leader was not one to drag his feet. Seeing that Yang Bairao wanted to leave, he immediately issued an invitation. At the same time, he pulled on the reins, and in the blink of an eye, the Flat-beaked Beast dashed across the ground and blocked Yang Bairao's path of retreat.
"Ding! The other party has issued a party invitation. Do you wish to join?"
Black lines covered Yang Bairao's forehead. They were forming a party over a simple disagreement; would they make him go collect grain in the future? Had he suddenly transformed into someone of high status?
Yet he was merely someone who moved bricks and made concrete test blocks; he had no idea how to mingle with the masses.
Yang Bairao's heart was filled with trepidation. He wanted to run, but didn't dare, deeply regretting his hot-headed impulse to come out here in the first place. Now that he wanted to leave, he couldn't. Even more terrifying was that the seemingly unreliable hairless beast could move with the force of a gale, far surpassing the acceleration of a modern super sports car. How could a two-legged human like himself possibly outrun someone riding a super sports car?
"Fine then!"
Under the leader's intense gaze, Yang Bairao was hoisted onto a Flat-beaked Beast by someone. Right now, he was sharing a mount with the leader's personal guard.
Although the Flat-beaked Beast had a fairly wide and long body, spacious enough for two people to ride, feeling himself embraced in someone else's arms—and clearly a powerfully built, burly man at that—he briefly considered that he had been taken hostage and felt a sense of grievance. But even more than that, he felt a deep sense of shame and humiliation.
"Everyone calls me the leader, but my actual name is Lü Yi. What is my little brother's name?"
Lü Yi took the initiative to be candid with Yang Bairao, genuinely wishing to win him over.
Yang Bairao casually stated that his name was Yang Bairao and said nothing more, though deep down he kept wondering why he was being cradled in a muscular man's arms. If others were to see this, his dignity as a proud man would probably be completely wiped out.
Seeing Yang Bairao's unhappy expression, Lü Yi did not press further. What he was thinking deep down remained known only to him.
Not long after, the various members who had dispersed to search the village for military grain returned one by one. They all cast surprised glances at Yang Bairao without speaking, then reported what they had seen to Lü Yi.
Seeing that the men truly returned empty-handed, Lü Yi understood there was no need for the village to hide anything. With a wave of his hand, he ordered the three bags of dried meat to be collected, urged the Flat-beaked Beast forward, and took the lead as they galloped away.
The wind whistled fiercely, and the intense gale rushed into Yang Bairao's nose and mouth. For a long time, he found it difficult to breathe. He could only stop worrying about whether he might fall off the Flat-beaked Beast, leaving it entirely to the burly man behind him to hold him with one arm. Meanwhile, he could only stretch out both hands in utter humiliation, tightly covering his nose and mouth to help himself breathe.
"This super car is even worse than my little electric scooter! They don't even wear helmets, and they aren't afraid of getting ticketed!" Yang Bairao thought with bitter resentment, feeling lost inside as he had no idea where his future path was leading.
Someone accustomed to a harmonious living environment who suddenly entered a world where everything was unknown would inevitably feel panic when faced with uncontrollable situations, even if they tried to find joy amidst the hardship.
"Stop."
The stern shout came from behind, and a spray of saliva landed right on the back of Yang Bairao's neck. He felt utterly disgusted, vowing to wash himself thoroughly at the very first opportunity.
Before Yang Bairao's silent curses directed at the man behind him could complete a full cycle in his mind, the super-car-like Flat-beaked Beast beneath them gradually slowed down, and before long, the group came to a halt.
At this moment, the fierce wind subsided slightly, giving Yang Bairao the chance to lower his hands, regulate his breathing, and open his eyes to look around.
Looking out, apart from the trail left behind by the Flat-beaked Beasts trampling through the wild grass, every other direction in his field of vision was filled with endless wild grass. Under the direct rays of the warm sun, the wild grass formed a golden expanse, giving a sense of profound tranquility.
"Hanhan would definitely love this if she saw it."
Feeling the vitality of this prairie, Yang Bairao inexplicably pushed aside thoughts of his current predicament.
"Take a short rest. Let the Flat-beaked Beasts forage on the spot to replenish their strength."
Lü Yi shouted loudly at the front. The burly man behind Yang Bairao lifted him out with one arm, set him down in the grass, and then jumped down himself.
Looking at Yang Bairao, who was noticeably thinner and shorter than him, the burly man reached out a rough, large palm and patted Yang Bairao's shoulder. "Not bad! That was your first time riding a Flat-beaked Beast, yet you didn't scared out of your wits. My name is Lü Tian. I'm Lü Yi's sidekick, and we share a bond of life and death."
The burly man's honest voice rang out, full of friendliness toward Yang Bairao.
Looking at Lü Tian's good-natured self-introduction, the estrangement Yang Bairao felt toward the East Wasteland Cavalry lessened slightly. Mimicking Lü Tian's hearty tone, he replied, "What's so special about that? Back when I first rode a motorcycle, it was even faster than this!"
Regardless of whether Lü Tian could understand, Yang Bairao just wanted to find a place with water as soon as possible to wash his neck.
Lü Tian clearly had his own tasks to attend to. Whether or not he heard Yang Bairao's words, he led his Flat-beaked Beast to a nearby spot and let it graze freely. Watching the Flat-beaked Beast feed in a manner resembling a duck, Yang Bairao felt a surge of wonder, and the matter of washing his neck was temporarily thrown to the back of his mind.
"Judging by your look, this is your first time seeing a Flat-beaked Beast, right?"
Another man, who was also taller than Yang Bairao, walked over and took the initiative to greet him.
Yang Bairao recognized this man; he was the very same fellow who had fallen off a Flat-beaked Beast back at Xiang Village while trying to prove that the beasts were unreliable.
To maintain his stubborn pride, Yang Bairao looked at the man approaching to make conversation and deliberately said, "I've seen them. Where I'm from, we call them platypuses."
Actually, Yang Bairao was bluffing a bit; aside from seeing one for the first time at Xiang Village, this was only his second time laying eyes on one.
The man didn't mind Yang Bairao's words and proactively handed over a piece of cooked dried meat. "Eat up. You must be hungry from the journey. My name is Lü Neng. I've grown up in the fortress since I was a child. If you need anything, you can come find me."
He didn't ask what Yang Bairao's name was, presumably because they had already heard Lü Yi's briefing among themselves and knew of Yang Bairao's origins.
"Are you all family? Why do you all have the surname Lü? Also, why do the people in the village call you the cavalry, yet you refer to yourselves as a fortress?" Yang Bairao voiced his confusion.
Without waiting for Lü Neng to explain, Yang Bairao's questions came rapid-fire like a machine gun, nailing down every single aspect of the ten thousand whys.
Amidst the chatting, time passed quickly. Yang Bairao was still left wanting more when the leader, Lü Yi, let out a loud roar. Everyone efficiently packed their belongings and quickly remounted the Flat-beaked Beasts.
Yang Bairao was naturally hoisted up by Lü Tian again to share a ride with him.
During the high-speed gallop of the Flat-beaked Beast, Yang Bairao finally managed to piece together a general picture of this East Wasteland Prairie.
This group known as the East Wasteland Cavalry specialized in traveling around to levy grain and supervise the dozens of villages deep within the East Wasteland Prairie. As for the name "cavalry," it was not what they called themselves, but rather the term used for them by the nearby villages. In private, they always considered themselves people of Lü Village.
A month prior, after collecting grain from Xiang Village and the villages before it using the Flat-beaked Beasts, they had sent the grain back to the fortress in advance. Because of the long distance, the round trip took a full month. When they set out to levy grain again today, they happened to run into Yang Bairao wandering about.
The people of Lü Village didn't actually want to levy grain, but they shouldered the mission of protecting the prairie, with nearly all able-bodied men running about outside. The Grain-Levy Squad, the Beast-Taming Team, and the Domestic Squad each performed their own duties. Consequently, the entire fortress simply could not spare extra labor for hunting.
Grain-levying had a special reason and historical context behind it:
First, it prevented the able-bodied men in the villages from becoming lazy. Without external pressure, the men would fight among themselves, forming factions that could lead to the destruction of the villages.
Second, it was precisely because of the forced grain levy that the villages were compelled to go out and hunt, preventing any single village from accumulating enough surplus to annex and grow at the expense of others, thereby preserving the sustained development of the fortress.
As for the Beast-Taming Team, they provided a guarantee of survival for the prairie villages. There were numerous wild beasts on the prairie; while it wouldn't matter if these animals stayed fixed in one place, as herbivorous beasts migrated everywhere, carnivorous beasts would follow in pursuit. If these carnivores approached human settlements, they usually caused heavy casualties. The responsibility of the Beast-Taming Team was to drive these beasts away when they neared the safety perimeter of the villages, forcing them to forage elsewhere.
The Domestic Squad was responsible for the daily life and routines of the fortress—weaving hemp and making clothing to ensure that the people in both the fortress and the prairie villages did not suffer from a lack of clothing.
It could be said that the entire East Wasteland Cavalry fortress established order out of the chaos of the prairie, ensuring that the people living there would not perish in the rolling tides of history.
Facing the gale-force winds generated by the galloping Flat-beaked Beast, Yang Bairao's heart did not calm in the slightest. Yet, through his conversation with Lü Neng, he came to understand these things and couldn't help but admire the cavalry of Lü Village.
Although the people of Xiang Village spoke of the Lü Village cavalry with terror, he understood that this was also simply a method by which the Lü Village cavalry established their authority.
"It really has to be you guys! The wisdom of the ancients truly does not deceive me."