East of the Shuangchi River, Zhou Qing ordered the Red Scarf Soldiers to set up camp and establish initial contact with the surrounding villages and hamlets—that was, to engage in simple exchanges with them.
All supplies needed by the Red Scarf Soldiers were purchased from them with money, or acquired through negotiation and barter.
At first.
These villagers worried that the Crimson Soldier Bandits with red cloth around their necks would pillage them wantonly, but gradually, they discovered that these Red Scarf Soldiers were very reasonable.
Unlike the Heaven Dou soldiers' haughty attitude, the Red Scarf Soldiers spoke rather crudely, but they were down-to-earth. Even when angered, they would not argue with the villagers. It was almost as though they were "distant relatives" the villagers had known all along.
That was only natural!
After all, most Red Assembly members were commoners or Commoner Soul Masters, unlike the children of great clans and sect disciples. Influenced by the Red Assembly's ideals, they could look back on their past and see reflections of their former selves in the urban and rural commoners of other regions.
Zhou Qing did not demand that they truly put themselves in others' shoes. He merely hoped that, when dealing with commoners living in regions not yet influenced by the Red Assembly, they would recall what their lives and circumstances had been like before the Red Assembly stepped forward and changed them.
Think more, reflect more.
That was all.
And so, after a month, while the Red Scarf Soldiers and the nearby villages could not be said to have become one family, they had earned their trust.
After gaining the villagers' trust, the Red Scarf Soldiers could also use them to purchase the daily supplies they needed from small towns farther away.
This reduced a great deal of