138 Blocking the River to Build a Dam (Monthly Votes Urgently Needed!)

Zhan Xiaobai’s expression tightened. Axle machinery was a technology used only in carriages and high-end, large-scale weaponry. If it were merely for civilian carriages, Tiger Leopard Village would never keep it under such strict wraps. The remaining possibility could only be large-scale weapon equipment.

He had not expected Tiger Leopard Village to acquire such weaponry. It seemed he had to proceed with extreme caution; weapons of this kind were mostly used to counter city walls and human-wave tactics.

"This intelligence is extremely vital. Continue to keep a close watch on the movements of Tiger Leopard Village, especially regarding wood, iron, and stone artisans, as well as troop deployments. Do not miss the slightest trace. Whenever there is intelligence, send A Fei directly to report it."

"Understood, Boss Xiaobai." With those words, Xiaozhuo hurried away.

A few other players remained, and Zhan Xiaobai asked what intelligence they had gathered.

Those players exchanged glances, and one of them stepped forward. "A medium-sized village on the upper reaches of the small river is plotting a major operation. It will be extremely disadvantageous to the numerous villages along the river and will likely trigger a war."

"Oh?!"

Zhan Xiaobai was somewhat puzzled. Could it be that an upstream village was going to provoke downstream ones? As the saying went, no one acts without the prospect of gain; every village should understand this principle. What disadvantageous action could an upstream village possibly take against the downstream ones?

The player said, "Damming the river to build a dike!"

Zhan Xiaobai drew a sharp breath. "That is a ruthless move!"

If damming the river could block the flow, alleviating his own village's water shortage while accelerating it in other villages, it was definitely a killer trump card.

Without needing the player to elaborate further, Zhan Xiaobai had already guessed which medium-sized village it was. There were several powerful medium-sized villages in the upper reaches of the small river, led by Perfection Village, Hegemony Path Village, and Do Not Laugh Village, along with a few newly upgraded medium-sized villages.

They were scattered within a hundred miles along the upper reaches of the small river.

Perfection Village had once declared a neutral stance, refusing to participate in wars involving other villages, so the possibility of them damming the river was extremely slim. Mo Xiaofeng, the village chief of Do Not Laugh Village, had always acted as a peacemaker, currying favor everywhere, and would never commit such an offensive act. That left only Hegemony Path Village with the audacity to do this.

Zhan Xiaobai asked, "Is only Hegemony Path Village doing this? Even if they are NPC Qianghu, I'm afraid they cannot withstand the public fury alone. There must be other villages assisting them, right?"

The player hurriedly replied, "Boss Xiaobai guessed truly. Hegemony Path Village has united with four nearby villages to plot this matter together. We only deduced from the repeated actions of these several villages today that they intend to dam the river together. At the latest, they will start building the dike this afternoon. With the river water already scarce, it will only take an hour to complete. If it drags on any longer, they won't be able to intercept much water."

Zhan Xiaobai nodded. "Mm, this is excellent intelligence. You may continue your reconnaissance."

"Understood!"

The few of them collected their contribution points from Qiushui and hurried away.

A Fei asked anxiously, "Eldest Brother, what do you think we should do about this? Shall we immediately assemble our forces, call upon all the villages to rise up, and hack Hegemony Path Village to pieces?"

Zhan Xiaobai smiled. "Hegemony Path Village is located not far above Do Not Laugh Village. Do you think we should be anxious first, or should Do Not Laugh Village be anxious first?"

A Fei suddenly understood. "Eldest Brother wants to let them fight each other first?"

"Hehe, prepare a unit immediately; military action is very likely required. Shaoxia hasn't returned yet, so you will lead the troops out this time."

A Fei was overjoyed and immediately ran off to make preparations, telling all the brothers of Flying General to get ready.

At noon on May 25, 180 of the game calendar, the various villages in Wuwei Commandery had just finished harvesting their grain. By the afternoon, the water in a river within the commandery suddenly plummeted, and no more water flowed through. This immediately caused panic among the various player villages—according to normal estimates, the water flow should not have completely ceased until the 30th at the end of the month. This plunged them into a water shortage crisis four days ahead of schedule, leaving livestock and NPC villagers restless and refusing to work. This severely disrupted their various ongoing preparations to cope with the water shortage crisis.

"Wuwei System Message: Do Not Laugh Village [Wuwei Commandery] declares hostility towards Hegemony Path Village [Wuwei Commandery], Village XX, Village XX, Village XX, and Village XX. Relations between Do Not Laugh Village and the aforementioned villages have deteriorated sharply. The village chief of Do Not Laugh Village has issued a statement: Strongly condemning the acts of Hegemony Path Village and other villages in damming the river for selfish gains, which harms the interests of other downstream villages."

"Wuwei System Message: Warring States Village [Wuwei Commandery] declares hostility towards Hegemony Path Village [Wuwei Commandery], Village XX, Village XX, Village XX, and Village XX. Relations between Warring States Village and the aforementioned villages have deteriorated sharply. The village chief of Warring States Village has issued a statement: Expressing solidarity with the righteous actions of Do Not Laugh Village and condemning Hegemony Path Village..."

"Wuwei System Message: Perfection Village once again reiterates its neutral stance and willingness to maintain normal relations with all villages. It states: Hoping that all parties will exercise restraint and not let minor matters trigger vicious conflicts that harm the interests of all players."

"Wuwei System Message: Hegemony Path Village states: Deep regret over the distortion of facts and confusion of public opinion by Do Not Laugh Village and Warring States Village... Hegemony Path Village's action is merely for the rational utilization of water flow to safeguard the interests of the majority of villages to the greatest extent possible and prevent Do Not Laugh Village from wantonly wasting water resources. Therefore, our village will never bow to external forces or abandon this just and reasonable action."

Following these were messages from various villages expressing support for either Hegemony Path Village or Do Not Laugh Village, with clear-cut boundaries. Neutral mediators who urged reconciliation stood on the side of Perfection Village.

...

Within a mere ten minutes, dozens of village messages impacted major villages and all online players throughout Wuwei Commandery. For the sake of water, the upstream and downstream villages had already begun to fracture.

All players held their breath, waiting for the moment when war would erupt.

War was not waged randomly against surrounding villages; those who had managed to run their villages up to this point were extremely astute players. A storm was brewing, and the prelude to war was often various statements intended to seize the moral high ground of public opinion, win more player support, boost morale, and build momentum for one's military actions. It was meant to tell everyone that one's own actions were upright and righteous, while the enemy's were sinister and destructive.

Public opinion was already overwhelming. Now the only thing missing was that final declaration of war from a certain village chief—"Attack!"

A post horse galloping from Do Not Laugh Village arrived at Xiaobai Village, and a player envoy urgently requested an audience with the village chief.

Zhan Xiaobai and Jianba received him in the council chamber.

The player envoy bowed to the two of them and said anxiously, "Village Chief Xiaobai, Elder Jianba, my village chief Mo Xiaofeng hopes to receive your village's support to jointly resist the malicious actions of Hegemony Path Village and safeguard the shared interests of the downstream villages."

Jianba glanced at Zhan Xiaobai. Seeing that Zhan Xiaobai remained silent, he turned to the player envoy and said, "That's easy. Issuing a condemnation statement is only proper. Is that the only matter? If so, you may return to report."

The player envoy hurriedly said, "Of course not. My village chief's greatest hope is that Xiaobai Village can dispatch troops to fight Hegemony Path Village together, breach the dam, and release the river."

Zhan Xiaobai and Jianba exchanged glances and chuckled quietly. Mo Xiaofeng sending an envoy here was indeed to solicit troop deployment.

Zhan Xiaobai smiled. "That becomes rather difficult. This kind of war brings no benefits to our Xiaobai Village. I think you had better return; as for the affairs between your village and Hegemony Path Village, we prefer not to interfere too much."

The envoy said anxiously, "Village Chief Xiaobai, how could there be no benefits? Once the water flows, your village can continue to receive river water and fishery products. No one knows when this severe drought will end; gaining an extra day of river water means being able to hold out for one more day."

Jianba crossed his legs, took a leisurely sip of tea, and said, "To be honest, our Xiaobai Village doesn't care much for this trickle of river water. Once Hegemony Path Village is defeated, your Do Not Laugh Village will be the sole dominant power in that region. This war is ostensibly fought over water shortage, but in essence, it is merely a regional hegemony battle between Hegemony Path Village and your Do Not Laugh Village. Once this war ends, the biggest beneficiary will be your Do Not Laugh Village. As for the other participating villages... hehe, at most they'll just follow behind to drink some gruel and pick up minor scraps like grain and copper coins. Why should our Xiaobai Village join in the commotion?"

He paused for a moment and continued, "Take Jiancang Village last time, for instance. Although it was billed as suppressing a player rebellion, it actually only benefited Warring States Village. By utilizing the hands of various villages, it effortlessly wiped out a nearby formidable enemy, greatly expanded its territory and sphere of influence, and allowed Warring States Village to rise as a hegemony. If the imperial court hadn't issued an order back then, we wouldn't have dispatched troops at all, only to benefit that brat for nothing."

Jianba's words instantly left the player envoy speechless, unable to utter a retort. In truth, this player envoy didn't fully understand the intricacies either, but Jianba's words suddenly woke him up, revealing the truth behind the chaos.

Regardless of the truth, however, he had to complete his mission. He said, "Village Chief Xiaobai, Elder Jianba, while that may be true, this battle is ultimately beneficial to all villages. We hope your village can dispatch troops. Once the matter is accomplished, our village chief will certainly offer generous rewards and will never let your village down!" Mo Xiaofeng had previously told him in person that as long as Xiaobai Village could be pulled into their faction's camp to participate in the battle, a portion of the benefits could be offered when necessary.

Just as the envoy from Do Not Laugh Village finished speaking, another village's player envoy was led into the council chamber. "The envoy from Hegemony Path Village requests an audience."

Upon seeing this, the player envoy from Do Not Laugh Village felt a headache coming on. Why had the envoy from Hegemony Path Village suddenly rushed over as well? Truly shameless. The Do Not Laugh Village player envoy displayed his village's insignia and cast a provocative look at the incoming player.

Upon seeing the player from Do Not Laugh Village, the Hegemony Path Village player envoy glared, snorted coldly, and then addressed Zhan Xiaobai. "Greetings, Boss Xiaobai. Our boss, Hegemony Path, asked me to convey his regards to you. Furthermore, he wishes to explain to Boss Xiaobai the reason for building the dike. Do Not Laugh Village dug several large ditches leading into their village to store massive amounts of water, causing the downstream water volume to plummet continuously. Our boss couldn't bear to watch this, which is why he simply dammed the river to prevent them from wasting water resources. Please do not misunderstand, Boss Xiaobai; our side will offer reasonable compensation for your village's losses."

Zhan Xiaobai and Jianba were immediately astonished.

Damn, there were truly a lot of hidden details involved. So that was what happened. Put this way, Hegemony Path Village's justification seemed quite sufficient.

The envoy from Do Not Laugh Village immediately protested fiercely, "Don't talk utter nonsense! When has my village ever done such a thing? We merely channeled a small amount of water to irrigate our farmland."

The Hegemony Path Village envoy sneered, "Oh really? Then you dug a deep pit spanning several mu inside your village and kept pumping water into it—was that supposed to raise a few small shrimps?"

The Do Not Laugh Village envoy retorted, "That was only dug to extract clay for making tiles. No matter what, our village is still better than you damming the river and cutting off the water supply all at once!" His words undoubtedly tacitly confirmed their village's covert water storage.

The Hegemony Path Village envoy ignored him further and turned to Zhan Xiaobai. "Boss Xiaobai, Do Not Laugh Village lies sandwiched between your village and ours. My boss Hegemony Path means that, if possible, we can join forces to take down Do Not Laugh Village. The spoils of war and territory will be split equally between our two villages."

Jianba's eyes lit up, and he couldn't help saying, "This idea... seems rather good. What does Xiaobai think?"

Zhan Xiaobai nodded slightly.

The envoy from Do Not Laugh Village broke out in a cold sweat, seized with panic. A simultaneous pincer attack from the two most powerful upstream and downstream villages... I'm afraid no one could save Do Not Laugh Village. Their allied Warring States Village was located too far away and simply couldn't dispatch large numbers of troops to reinforce them.

He hurriedly said, "No, Boss Xiaobai, please don't listen to his nonsense. If our two villages cooperate to attack Hegemony Path Village instead, that would be the best policy for your village to maximize benefits!"

The Hegemony Path Village envoy looked completely confident and unhurried as he said, "Oh, is that so? Among the three major villages along the river, Hegemony Path Village is upstream, Do Not Laugh Village is midstream, and Xiaobai Village is downstream. Therefore, if you destroy my Hegemony Path Village, the beneficiary is entirely your Do Not Laugh Village. Boss Xiaobai won't gain any real benefits, merely helping your village rise to prominence. However, it is different if Hegemony Path and Xiaobai Village join forces to strike Do Not Laugh Village—the benefits will be shared equally. Boss Xiaobai is a clever person and naturally knows what to do to reap the greatest profits."

Zhan Xiaobai smiled and nodded, praising, "Well said. This envoy from Hegemony Path Village truly has sharp insight and hits the nail right on the head! And you, the envoy from Do Not Laugh Village, do you have any brilliant insights?"

The Hegemony Path Village envoy immediately wore an arrogant expression. While showering Zhan Xiaobai with compliments for the praise, he cast a provocative look toward the Do Not Laugh Village envoy, his expression clearly saying: Come on, use whatever tricks you have left.

Scared out of his wits and breaking out in a cold sweat, the envoy from Do Not Laugh Village could think of no countermeasure. "This... this—! My village..."