Immediately, two soldiers rushed in, and Assistant General Nie casually pointed, "Drag him outside and chop him up, don’t dirty the tent."

"Yes!"

Assistant General Nie followed them outside.

The person being dragged out sneered at him, "Pretending, if you want to kill me inside, just do it, why choose outside?"

Assistant General Nie glanced at him, unchanged in expression, stepped forward to stop Manbao and the others who were about to search through the luggage, and after saluting Manbao, said, "Lord Zhou, these bandits refuse to confess, and keeping them is troublesome, why not just kill them?"

Manbao was stunned for a moment, then nodded after thinking for a while, "Then kill them."

Assistant General Nie then turned to look at the bandits being restrained, waved his hand, and the two soldiers dragged them out to find a secluded place to cut off the heads. To prevent scaring others, they prepared a tattered garment in advance and wrapped the heads to take away.

"What about the bodies?"

"Leave them for now; later, ask the lord if he wants to bury them."

"Still need to dig a pit; better not bury them. Didn’t they say that on the grasslands, they like sky burials, letting wolves and eagles peck at them?"

"Stop talking nonsense, take the head back and report."

When the two returned with the bundle, Manbao and the others hadn’t left yet. Assistant General Nie slightly shifted his steps to block their view and said, "Lord, please go ahead with your duties, leave this to me."

Manbao glanced behind him, her expression didn’t change much, and after nodding, she left.

On the other hand, Bai Erlang, Yin Huo, and Liu Huan looked somewhat pale, even Bai Shan’s face was a bit stiff.

Zhou Liru also saw the blood on the clothes but didn’t change much in expression, merely feeling a bit chilly; she couldn’t help but ask, "Auntie, can a head that’s fallen off be sewn back?"

Manbao nodded, "It can, but since they’re already dead, sewing it back wouldn’t be meaningful, right?"

"Is it because of excessive blood loss?" Zhou Liru thought for a moment and asked, "Is it because of the blood vessels in the neck? If there’s a way to stop the blood before decapitation, then could it be reattached and connected, would that enable survival?"

Manbao: "... A head requires blood supply to live, without it, the head dies, right? If a person loses consciousness, it’s brain death, essentially the same as being dead."

Zhou Liru was regretful, "Then if blood is supplied externally and reattached, reconnecting the blood supply?"

Manbao said, "I also asked this when I was young... although the method might not be exactly the same in the end, theoretically, a head that’s off can be sewn back on, or directly replaced."

In Teacher Mo’s era, it wasn’t just theoretical; practically, it was possible.

Sadly, this requires too much equipment and technology; even if she had the mind to study it, there’s nowhere to apply it because it requires not just a complete set of equipment but many assistants to help.

And considering the technology tax of the whole set, even selling herself wouldn’t buy it.

Manbao shook her head, temporarily setting aside this idea, and said to Zhou Liru, "When you go to the Tata Tribe, get along well with the people, check their health occasionally, and build good relations..."

Bai Shan was frightened seeing how she vigorously shook her head; too terrifying, especially having just finished discussing the topic of heads falling...

Yin Huo and others hadn’t expected the aunt and niece to be so bold, and their focus... so peculiar, they were momentarily silent.

Because the idea was to have the Tata Tribe assist them, Manbao searched for several kinds of pills as gifts for Zhou Liru, "These are all useful pills for fever, cough, cold..."

Zhou Liru asked, "What about us?"

"We’ll buy herbs to make more when we reach the next town. With herbs, what can’t we make?"

Zhou Liru thought it was logical.

So she packed up the bottles of medicine Manbao picked out.

They brought quite a bit of prepared medicine when they left, besides injury medicine, the pills for various common ailments were the most.

Manbao and Bai Shan sent them to the Tata Tribe.

The Tata Tribe people had already driven their cattle and sheep to pasture; they expected to stay here for half a month, after which the grass would almost be eaten, and they would move to the next place.

So their camp remained unchanged; the chief and many tribe members were present. Hearing that the official troops five miles away came again, he frowned but thought of the herbs sent last night and decided to go out.

After meeting, Manbao presented generous gifts besides those bottles of medicine, tea leaves, selected pottery, and two ten-tael bars of gold.

The gold was glittering and large, only manageable one per hand.

Because it’s most direct, once presented, the chief’s eyes couldn’t move away.

Manbao smiled, "Chief Ta, my teacher is a scholar interested in how herders live and graze, so he wants to stay with your tribe to experience it. These two bars of gold serve as their accommodation and meals here; would Chief Ta be willing to accommodate?"

The chief of the Tata Tribe’s gaze wandered, glancing at the gold, moving off, and looking back again...

Rubbish, if it weren’t for avoiding mountain bandits, would they bring people here?

But...

His gaze moved back; he’s not afraid of them.

The mountain bandits in the hills are increasing; within two years, even their tribes might need to send things over, or else won’t be able to graze peacefully here...

The chief’s face showed a smile, nodding, "Our Tata Tribe is very hospitable, and since you’re from the government, not to mention a few days, even staying for a year or two is possible; it’s a great honor for us."

The chief smiled and glanced at his son, who was staring dazedly at the gifts, signaling him to collect them.

His son, enraptured by the gifts, didn’t notice his father’s eyes, but the chief’s wife saw it and immediately smiled, stepped forward to take the tray from Zhou Liru, handed the items to her daughter behind her, and held Zhou Liru’s hand, saying to Manbao, "Lord, rest assured, your teacher and niece will be safe here; we will treat them as honored guests."

Manbao then laughed, finally pointing out Yin Huo and Liu Huan, "These are my two classmates; they will also stay here."

The chief’s wife nodded repeatedly, indicating no problem.

Two bars of gold, not just for a few days, even for a year they could stay.

Grain merchants in Liangzhou City don’t like their cattle and sheep or fur; they need to exchange it for money to buy millet and flour, but in autumn and winter, cattle, sheep, and fur are heavily discounted.

With two bars of gold, they can buy a lot of millet and flour.

The chief naturally thought so too, so he eased his attitude towards Zhou Man and associates, though the pottery and medicine bottles sent along didn’t affect him much.

Later, when they used the medicine, they realized these were the real treasures; although purchasable, being so far from Liangzhou City, they couldn’t buy them promptly.