Those Jin people who had followed Henry Clark for a long time told Samuel Grant that Henry Clark always claimed to be Han, but no one dared to ask whether it was the Han of the Xiongnu or the Han of the Han people. All they knew was that Henry Clark's force had appeared rather abruptly. Judging from their military preparations and daily food, they were definitely prosperous, but no one could figure out how many people were in the tribe or where they mainly operated. However, those soldiers were truly fierce and unafraid of death.

The world today was in utter chaos. If you started counting from the Sima clan's destruction of Eastern Wu, the Western Jin, which had only been established for 37 years, perished under the attacks of the Xiongnu, and both Emperor Huai and Emperor Min were captured.

The Xiongnu established the Han state (later renamed Zhao), and the Jie people, who had once been slaves to the Xiongnu, destroyed Han (Former Zhao) and established Later Zhao. The founding of Later Zhao did not end the chaos; in fact, the Jie people, whose total population was only a few hundred thousand, became the overlords of the Central Plains, further intensifying the disorder.

The Jie were not only a people of cannibals, but also the first ethnic group to establish a class system in the Central Plains. According to the Later Zhao emperor's decree, the Jie were the first class, the Di, Xiongnu, and other Hu people were the second class, wild beasts were the third class, and the Jin people within the territory were the fourth class. The fact that wild beasts ranked higher than the Jin people was no joke, because the Later Zhao emperor issued a "hunting ban" specifically targeting the Jin people, forbidding them from harming wild animals.

What a tragic era that must have been! The Jin people were actually considered inferior to wild beasts!

Hundreds of thousands of Jie ruled the entire Central Plains, which was filled everywhere with Hu people. In reality, no one could say for sure how many Hu people there were in the Central Plains. In general, the number of Hu people living in the Central Plains was estimated to be between two and two and a half million, and the number of Jin people living there was probably about the same.

On this vast land, only four or five million people lived, and as was the custom throughout the dynasties, most of them were concentrated in cities. One could imagine just how desolate things had become.

"The sky is vast, the wilds boundless, the wind blows the grass low to reveal cattle and sheep. The blood of men, the color of heroes. At my call, rivers and seas resound. The mountains are silent, the waters mournful. Rushing across the land, my edge shines bright."

The earlier lines, "Chilean Plain, beneath Yin Mountain. The sky like a dome, covering the wilds," had been deliberately omitted by Henry Clark.

Any Jin person with some literacy, upon hearing Henry Clark singing loudly along the way, couldn't help but be somewhat entranced.

Come to think of it, the Chinese nation could truly be called a romantic one. A person might not leave their name in history, but a good poem could be passed down for generations. From the Book of Songs in the pre-Qin era, to the "fu" of the Han, the poetry of the Sui and Tang, the "ci" of the Song, these accompanied countless waves of grandeur and the clash of arms, fully displaying the glory and fleeting years of prosperous times.

Wilderness, everywhere was wilderness—clumps of grass taller than a man, stretches of uninhabited land, and occasionally the ruins of what might once have been villages. The large group led by Henry Clark pressed northward.

It was truly desolate! Cities that might once have been bustling and prosperous now appeared dilapidated beyond repair. Only a very few still had residents, and those were mostly Hu people; the Jin people were all busy fleeing for their lives.

Logically, with Henry Clark leading such a large group, he should have attracted the attention of Later Zhao. In reality, he did not. If this had happened near the capital Xiangguo, perhaps it would have drawn notice, but the Later Zhao regime was extremely busy—busy cleaning up the aftermath, busy with internal strife. Who had the time to care about a Xiongnu group taking advantage of the chaos to capture slaves?

Ah! That's right—not only did the Jin people think Henry Clark was Xiongnu, but the people of Later Zhao also believed his group was a Xiongnu tribe. After all, during the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period, "Han" was synonymous with Xiongnu. Thus, there were Liu Han, Former Han, Later Han... all kinds of Han. The "Han" banner had long since become equivalent to Xiongnu. Even the Di people established Cheng Han, though its official name was Chouchi.

Henry Clark had already realized that pretending to be Xiongnu was a good idea. Although he was extremely displeased inside, he did not go around loudly proclaiming that he was not Xiongnu. Besides, he couldn't explain it clearly anyway. He was just frustrated that the grand "Imperial Han" had not only become notorious in later generations, but was already infamous even in the Eastern Jin and Sixteen Kingdoms period!

In such a special era, having a Hu identity in the north was like a "protective umbrella." No matter how frustrated or unhappy Henry Clark was, he had to adapt to the times. He vented his frustration and displeasure on the people along the way, not caring which ethnicity they were—if he could defeat them, he did; if not, he avoided them.

Those who had doubted Henry Clark's Xiongnu identity no longer did after seeing his actions. Why? Because Jin people didn't have such guts; only the Hu would act with such boldness and vengeance.

In this way, there were indeed people who disapproved of Henry Clark's actions, but those who challenged him generally met a miserable end. In the Hu people's world, where might made right, Henry Clark actually established some friendships with certain Hu.

On this day, Henry Clark left the main group with just over twenty people. He instructed Samuel Grant and the others to continue leading the main group toward their predetermined destination, then headed toward a city they passed by.

Now, every city appeared extremely dilapidated. Just how bad was it? The city walls had collapsed at intervals, so although there were walls, there were breaches everywhere.