Chương 764: Nibbling Away

How was it possible that nobody realized the disappearance of several thousand people?

Where did these people come from?

Why didn't the neighboring villages realize that something was amiss?

If Ren Baqian hadn't brought this matter up, the empress wouldn't even have thought of it. Upon mentioning it, the empress immediately realized the severity of this problem.

"What is your opinion?" the empress asked while looking gloomy.

"First of all, we have to clear up certain things." Ren Baqian frowned and pondered before he started voicing out his conjecture.

"Firstly, what is the lifespan of these herdsmen? In those villages that we have been to, the jade-waisted slaves had already entered the villager's bodies for more than ten years, but they still hadn't fully matured into their final forms yet. This means that they require at least 20 years of cultivation to fully developed