My older brother said I'm invincible.

Chapter 40, is this also included?
"go!"

"Crack~~"

The sound of the whip cutting through the air was continuous.

There were nearly a hundred people walking silently on the official road. Only the officials on horseback who were responsible for escorting them were the noisiest. They kept shouting and waving their whips to make threats, but if you looked closely at their faces, you could see some fear in them.

There were fewer than ten officials, but the number of servants who needed to watch the officials exceeded one hundred.

On the road, only the roars of the officials could be heard, but the laborers were completely silent.

They walked along the road step by step, their eyes vacant, on the verge of death, silent and silent, like a group of walking corpses.

This sent chills down the spines of the officials; they were filled with indescribable fear.

After traveling for half a month, the number of officials and laborers decreased, and the number of laborers decreased even more. They watched as this group of people gradually changed from crying, begging for mercy, and trying to escape to their current state.

Logically speaking, this should be a good thing; these people have finally stopped resisting.

For some reason, their ghostly appearance terrified the officials, who could only put on a show by shouting and whipping them repeatedly.

Several soldiers cautiously rode up to a constable. "Village chief," one of them said, "the county is just ahead. Perhaps we could rest here for a while? Our horses are getting tired."

The village chief glanced at the distant, faintly visible outline of the tall city, then at the reinforcements behind him. Not daring to be too presumptuous, he nodded and said, "Alright, let's rest for a while and then continue on our way."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief before riding back and forth to deliver the orders.

They chose a high spot and sat down.

The laborers were placed in low positions so that the officials only needed to assign three men to keep an eye on everyone, and if anyone tried to escape, they would quickly chase after them on horseback.

The village chief took out half a baked flatbread from his pocket, moistened his mouth with water from his water bag, and began to eat it.

The other officers were much the same; they picked up their rations and began to eat voraciously, wolfing them down.

As for the laborers, only a few took out food to eat, while the rest just stared at the guards sitting on the high place.

The village chief also felt bitter. He was living a good life in his hometown, but suddenly he received an order to escort the laborers to Hebei. The road was not easy. Originally, three village chiefs were escorting them together, but when they reached Xingyang, he was the only one left. Many of the guards had also died.

As for laborers, that goes without saying.

The time allotted is very tight. If we can't get the person there within the allotted time, it will be a major disaster and will implicate the whole family.

Many of the people sitting below were his fellow villagers, or even relatives. He had tried his best to take care of everyone along the way, but there wasn't much else he could do.
Even the village chief didn't have much food left, so he had to find food for the constables on the way.

The village chief had lived for over forty years and had never heard of conscription being carried out at the beginning of spring.

It's not as simple as delaying spring planting; the main issue is food. Generally, corvée labor is done after autumn, so the people have enough food to eat even if they go out to do corvée labor. But now it's spring planting season, and even the village head's family doesn't have much food stored up, let alone these commoners. They've only gone halfway through their work and they're already out of food.

He didn't know how many people would be left when he reached his destination, and he wasn't even sure if he would make it there alive.

"What are you looking at?!"

Suddenly, a loud shout came from beside me.

The village chief was taken aback. He turned around and saw a younger constable with a face full of anger, shouting at a servant not far away.

The village chief looked at the servants; many of them had already run out of food.

They were staring intently at the constables eating, their empty eyes particularly frightening. The constables felt uneasy under their gazes, and then flew into a rage.

These officers were also on the verge of collapse. Apart from a few older ones who could keep their composure, the rest were ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

"I asked you what you're looking at?!"

The constable stood up, picked up his whip, and rushed towards the laborer.

"Wait a minute!!"

The village chief quickly spoke up.

The next moment, one of the constables stood up and threw a stone in his hand. The stone hit the constable right between the eyebrows. The constable groaned and covered his face in pain. The constables all stood up and rushed towards the constables on the high ground. The sight of so many people rushing towards them was incredibly oppressive.

The constables started shouting, dropping their food and drawing their weapons. The village chief was terrified and turned pale. The scene immediately descended into chaos.

At that moment, a group of knights were riding towards them from a distance. This group was none other than Li Xuanba and his companions, who had just left the city not long ago.

From a great distance, they could hear the commotion coming from afar.

"My lord, there seems to be a thief!"

As Zhang Du spoke, he drew his weapon, his expression quite solemn.

"Let's go there!"

Li Xuanba gave the order, and everyone quickly sped up, took out their weapons, and prepared to fight. The men brought by Feng Li were all skilled in riding and archery, but Liu Xuan's disciples, although young and strong, were not skilled in riding and archery. Some of them could not ride horses and had to learn on the spot. This was the first time everyone had faced an enemy, and they were all a little flustered.

As they drew closer, they finally saw the situation clearly. A group of servants were chasing a group of constables. The constables had dropped their weapons and were running for their lives, with the servants in hot pursuit.

The village chief was at the forefront, and when he looked up, he saw Li Xuanba's men.

He shouted.

"Help!! Help!!"

"Stop it!!"

Feng Li shouted and drew back his bow, "Whoosh~~"

Arrows flew over everyone's heads like lightning. The village chief was so frightened that he dared not move. Only then did the servants behind him notice the knights who had suddenly appeared, and they all froze on the spot.

The village chief glanced at the group of people in front of him and immediately breathed a sigh of relief; these people were not thieves.

He scrambled to Feng Li's side, crying, "Gentleman! Gentleman! These thieves have rebelled! I'm the village head! I have jurisdiction over this place!"

Feng Li ignored him and just looked at the people in the distance.

Behind the village chief were three constables, bleeding and wounded. Behind them was a large, swarming group of laborers, who looked almost like corpses—emaciated, with blank faces and vacant eyes.
Feng Li frowned and looked at Li Xuanba beside him.

"Mr. Lang."

Li Xuanba looked at the village chief and asked, "Village chief, why did they attack you?"

The village chief was taken aback, realizing that this child was no ordinary family's child, and said in a low voice, "We've run out of food."

Li Xuanba remained silent for a moment, then looked at Feng Li.

"Brother, give them some food."

Without hesitation, Feng Li led a few people to the back, took out several packages from the carriage, and then went to the laborers. The packages contained a lot of dry food, and he distributed one to each of them.

The village chief was at a loss, staring at this unbelievable scene.

The servants, however, didn't care about such things. They picked up their rations and began to eat, eating even more voraciously than the guards had been.

The knights around Li Xuanba remained vigilant, keeping their bows drawn and ready to fire at any moment.

Li Xuanba waited quietly until everyone had finished their rations, leaving nothing behind.

He gestured for Liu Chounu to carry him forward.

Then he spoke.

"Do you want to come with me?"

His voice was clear and not loud, but it sounded very distinct in the silent atmosphere.

The servants looked up in astonishment, and their empty eyes gradually regained their color; they had come back to life from their corpse state.

"willing!"

"willing!!"

"We do!!"

It's unclear who started it, but they spoke louder and louder, and began to kneel down in front of Li Xuanba.

Feng Li was taken aback. He quickly spurred his horse forward, crying out, "My lord! You mustn't!"

"These people aren't dead; the officials are still here. How can this be allowed?"

“Those escorted by officials are not the deceased, but laborers sent to serve by imperial decree. They cannot be taken in.”

Feng Li felt that to appease the deceased, one should also appease the fleeing refugees who had been ignored, and at least nominally, they should not be laborers serving in the government, otherwise it would be a direct confrontation with the imperial court.

This group of people just attacked the officials, and some of the officials who were attacked are even standing right here. How can they accept this?

Li Xuanba listened to his words and nodded, seemingly agreeing with them.

Then, he looked at the neighborhood chief.

"Hey, village chief, why don't you bring your men and come with me?"

The village chief was taken aback. He thought for a moment and realized that he definitely couldn't complete the mission in the current situation. Going back meant death, and continuing onward meant death. If someone were to take him in...
The village chief's expression quickly turned resolute.

"It's a blessing for everyone to be able to follow you, my lord! I'm willing to go with you! As long as you give us food, we're willing to do anything!"

Feng Li was stunned.

Even government officials accept bribes?

(End of this chapter)