Hearing the sound of hoofbeats,
every household in Xiaohe Village came out to their courtyard gates to see what was happening.
Mother Lin and Lin Feng also stepped out to the gate and looked outside.
They saw more than a dozen burly men riding tall horses through the street.
Their gazes were fierce, blades in hand, one shoulder bare, with half a giant python tattoo exposed on their chests.
The villagers' faces immediately changed when they saw them.
They were the Horse Bandits from the mountains.
The Horse Bandits galloped around the streets of Xiaohe Village once, then the leader shouted, "Xiaohe Village, prepare one boy and one girl between the ages of three and eight. Tomorrow morning, our Heavenly Serpent Gang will send someone to collect them.
"If you fail to prepare a pair of children, don't blame the Heavenly Serpent Gang for slaughtering your village."
"Hyah! Hyah!"
After delivering their message, the Horse Bandits cracked their whips and raced away, leaving behind the pale-faced villagers of Xiaohe Village.
The Horse Bandits could clearly have launched a surprise attack tomorrow morning, yet they chose not to.
They wanted the villagers to personally hand over their own children.
They did not merely want to seize the villagers' wealth, women, and children—they wanted to trample the villagers' dignity into the mud as well.
They wanted to turn them into walking corpses who gave them whatever they demanded,
making it easier to keep squeezing profit out of them.
After hearing the Horse Bandits' words, Mother Lin's face drained of all color. Her body went limp, and she nearly collapsed.
Lin Feng hurriedly supported his mother. "Mother, what's wrong?"
Mother Lin burst into tears. "This damned world, this accursed Heavenly Serpent Gang—they truly won't leave people a way to live.
"I heard the