Whether they had taken those earlier words to heart was another matter, but they had definitely understood the sentence, "If you can't finish moving it, you won't get dinner tonight!"
Although they were somewhat at a loss at first, as the work got underway, the tribespeople realized that as long as they honestly hauled the timber, the Great Zhou Soldiers would not do anything to them—and they would even get food at night. One by one, they soon loosened up.
There were only seventy-nine captured tribespeople in total.
Their efficiency at hauling timber basically could not keep up with the lumberjacks' felling speed, which meant their workload for the day was pushed to the limit.
On top of that, their long-term malnutrition could not be remedied with a single meal. By the end of the day, every one of them was exhausted to the point of dizziness and blurred vision.
Back at the tent where they were being held, the tribespeople collapsed inside and did not want to move again until that voice rang out...
"Time to eat! Come over and line up for your food!"
Those words were like a miraculous elixir, bringing the tribespeople sprawled across the ground back to life.
Although they had only gone through it twice, they were already familiar with the process of lining up. There was not much complexity to it in the first place.
This time, however, things were slightly different.
The Great Zhou Soldier in charge of distributing the food swept his gaze across them, then pointed at one of the tribespeople.
"You, first."
The tribesman who had suddenly been singled out was somewhat dazed, but he also clearly grew nervous.
He walked forward uneasily and looked at the other man. The Great Zhou Soldier spoke...
"You performed the best today.