The old and weak refugees watching from the sidelines whispered to each other with serious expressions, their buzzing discussions merging into a wave of sound.
"What is happening?"
"I heard the bandit Chuang Potian has attacked, and the Lord Guerrilla is taking soldiers to suppress the bandits!"
"How can this be? Is there no way for us to live?" Immediately, refugee women and children began to cry, "My man just entered the camp, and now he has to go to the battlefield?"
"After eating only one meal of military rations, are we to trade our lives for it today?"
First one person cried, then dozens, then hundreds, until finally, the crying sound filled both sides of the Official Road.
However, the Government Soldiers drew their Saber and Spear, their eyes scanning the refugees on both sides of the road with ferocity, and no refugee dared to impact the marching team.
Some of the young and strong men walking in the middle of the team began to cry as well, which earned them curses and whip lashes from the soldiers on both sides.
One young man, not knowing his place, kept crying and muttering that he would not be a soldier for this darn thing, that he did not want to go to war, and turned to rush out of the team.
He had a bit of brute force and, catching them by surprise, actually knocked down several soldiers.
However, there were scattered Cavalrymen running back and forth on the outer perimeter to suppress the team. One Cavalryman immediately drew his Waist Knife, spurred his horse over, and swept past the young man.
With just a light flick and drag of his wrist, a head the size of a peck accompanied by a pillar of blood tumbled in the air. The young man's Decapitated Corpse fell heavily to the ground, and a pool of hot Fresh Blood stained the loess road.
The head rolled a few times on the ground and landed in the pile of refugees, scaring people into immediately clearing an Open Ground.
Soon, some archers rushed over, grabbed the head, and skewered it onto a Spear. A Cavalryman held the long pole and carried it through the team as a warning to all.
At this, even the crying sound of the refugees on both sides of the road lowered by a bit.
"Not good!" Lu Ye frowned.
He observed that the refugees being herded by the soldiers were still in ragged clothes, had not even changed into uniform tunics, and were empty-handed, not even carrying a Dog-Beating Staff. What kind of bandit suppression was this?
Wang Hu leaned in, his teeth chattering.
"Eldest brother, this matter is a bit Evil!"
"Going to the battlefield empty-handed like this, I fear these young men are going to suffer!"
Lu Ye said, "Observe the changes quietly."
He had a bad thought in his heart, but he dared not be sure.
Who knew where the bottom line of these Otherworld lords was?
When the long team disappeared on the Official Road and the city gate closed, the gathered old and weak refugees could only disperse, and the Shack was filled with suppressed crying sounds.
Lu Ye noticed that the battlements of the city wall were almost filled with strong men holding weapons.
Perhaps because too many soldiers had gone on the expedition, the remaining soldiers were not enough to fill the city wall, and many Runners were added to the top of the wall.
Besides that, there were even many Servants wearing small caps and green clothes who had gone up to the city with wooden sticks.
Dozens of Family Heads wearing brocade clothes and jade belts stood on the battlements, accompanying an official in a red robe, pointing and gesturing at the Refugee Shacks outside the city wall.
The feeling of unease in Lu Ye's heart grew heavier.
"Let's go, Hu Zi," he suddenly said, "let's change to another Shack."
"This place is too close to the city; let's go to the place by the river where we get water."
Wang Hu said reluctantly.
"Eldest brother, that is too far. By the time the disaster relief congee is served, I fear we will only be able to grab two mouthfuls of thin gruel."
Lu Ye insisted on his view. Wang Hu had no choice, so the two left the Shack where they had slept for the night, found a shallow pit by the river, found a few dead tree branches to build a frame, and took one layer of the clothes they were wearing to hang up as a cover.
Wang Hu could not lie still in the pit, going out from time to time to look around, anxiously waiting for the Government authorities to serve the disaster relief congee.
As a result, they waited until the sun was directly overhead, and they did not see a single hair.
The refugees gathered outside the moat suddenly became noisy. In the past, the Runners should have come out pushing the congee carts an hour ago.
However, the young and strong men in the refugee crowd had all been conscripted as soldiers and taken away, leaving only the old and weak. The Government Soldiers guarding the long bridge simply drew their Waist Knives, cursed a few times, and suppressed the commotion.
Wang Hu squeezed out from the refugees, ran back, and complained to Lu Ye, who was lying flat with his eyes closed in the pit.
"Eldest brother, if I had known, I would have listened to you and not joined in the fun."
"I heard people say that the city guards were all taken away today to Encircle and annihilate Chuang Potian. There are not enough people, so they will serve the congee tonight."
Lu Ye suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. He took a few deep breaths, feeling his eyelid twitching severely, and his heart felt like it was being pressed by a stone.
"Hu Zi, let's go, cross the river, go back, let's go up the mountain first."
Wang Hu was stunned.
"Eldest brother, what do you mean?"
"We aren't drinking the congee tonight?"
Lu Ye shook his head.
"Hu Zi, I am afraid there won't be any congee tonight either."
Wang Hu frowned and muttered.
"That is true. If they couldn't spare the manpower during the daytime, will they have enough at night?"
"Maybe it will be another half a day of waiting in vain..."
"But eldest brother, why change places and waste energy? Isn't it better to wait here?"
Lu Ye had a guess in his heart, but he felt that the guess was astonishing and could not say it out loud to persuade Wang Hu.
Now that Wang Hu was a Martial Power partner whose character had been tested, and the two had accompanied each other all the way to survive, he would definitely not abandon Wang Hu.
He rolled his eyes and had to make an excuse, saying that if they returned to the mountain, they might encounter a kind person like the refugee who blocked the road yesterday, who might give them two hard buns to eat.
Wang Hu's eyes lit up. He could accept Lu Ye's explanation.
However, he was ultimately reluctant to give up the disaster relief congee. He insisted that if they crossed the river, they could only go to the foot of the mountain and not go any further. Once the city served the congee, if they ran back, they might still be able to drink a hot bowl.
Seeing Wang Hu's persistence, Lu Ye stopped trying to persuade him.
Running to the foot of the mountain was also good; at least it was further away from this city.
So the two crossed the river and walked toward the foot of the mountain where they had come from yesterday.
When they reached the foot of the mountain, at this moment, a wind blew from the other side of the mountain, faintly mixed with the crying and shouting of countless people, as well as the neighing of horses, human roars, and the sound of metal colliding.
Lu Ye and Wang Hu stood still, both of them listening carefully with serious expressions.
However, the strong wind blew only once and then disappeared, and even those sounds were gone.
Wang Hu smiled reluctantly.
"Eldest brother, I might be so hungry that my ears aren't working well. I thought I heard some movement."
Lu Ye: "I heard it too. Perhaps the Government Soldiers and Chuang Potian have clashed?"
Influenced by this, Wang Hu's emotions also became low. He did not notice that Lu Ye was leading him to hide behind a dead tree as thick as a person's waist by the dirt road at the foot of the mountain.
During the long wait in the afternoon, Wang Hu fell asleep without realizing it.
It is unknown how much time had passed.
Suddenly, the rumbling sound of hoofbeats shaking the ground rang out.
Wang Hu woke up with a start, only to find that the sun on the horizon was about to fall behind the mountain, dyeing the earth as red as Fresh Blood.
Lu Ye was focused on hiding behind the tree, staring at the dirt road. As soon as Wang Hu got up, Lu Ye immediately turned his head, his face terrifyingly serious. He gestured for him to be quiet and then signaled him to peek outside with a serious expression.
Wang Hu felt afraid for no reason. He followed Lu Ye's example and poked his head out, immediately gasping in terror.
They saw the dirt road.
The Government Soldiers who had set out in the morning were returning in victory.
The general held his head high with a pot belly, riding a large horse, with several heads hanging under the horse's neck. The Fresh Blood had dyed the horse's long mane red.
The Guards behind them were all the same, each one arrogant and feeling extraordinary.
In the long infantry team, they held Spears, on which several Dead Heads were skewered like a string, and the Fresh Blood had soaked the Spear Shaft.
The team was so long that it took a long time to pass by the dead tree where Lu Ye and Wang Hu were hiding.
However...
Wang Hu said in a trembling voice from behind the tree.
"Eldest brother, look, the Government Soldiers have won the battle... but why are those young and strong refugee men following them? Why is not a single one of them to be seen?"
He suddenly thought of something and asked with a look of terror.
"Could it be that they all died on the Battlefield and are all gone?"
Lu Ye gave a cold snort and pointed at the Spears held high by the soldiers who were moving away, where the heads on the Spear Shaft were one after another like a string of red candied hawthorn.
"Hu Zi, look closely, they are all there."
"Aren't those heads all skewered on the Spears?"
Wang Hu was shocked and suddenly sat down on the ground, breaking into a sweat.
He muttered—impossible, impossible...
Over there, the Government Soldiers' team had passed the shallow river bend.
The refugees surrounded them, but not seeing their own sons, husbands, and brothers, they immediately cried to the heavens.
Suddenly, a signal cannon sounded from the city wall.
The city gate opened wide.
A large group of soldiers, mixed with Runners and arrogant servants, shouted loudly while holding Saber and Spear, rushed across the long bridge, and crashed into the refugee crowd waiting for the congee, blooming with large splashes of blood.
And the Government Soldiers who had just crossed the river, at the general's order, had the Cavalrymen spur their horses toward the refugees, trampling them wantonly and plowing trails of blood in the dense crowd.
Wang Hu's lips trembled as he watched, and his two eyes were suddenly filled with tears.
"Why... why is this happening..."
"We only wanted to be a Servant and eat a full meal."
"Master said that the Government authorities would provide disaster relief and settle the people..."
Lu Ye saw that many refugees had escaped across the river, and many Cavalrymen with archers followed across the river to pursue and kill them together.
The crying and shouting gradually approached the direction where they were hiding.
Lu Ye saw that Wang Hu was still lost in thought.
Slap!
He directly slapped Wang Hu, grabbed Wang Hu's collar with one hand and roared, while stuffing the wooden stick into the other's arms with his other hand.
"Hu Zi, wake up!"
"Don't listen to your Master anymore; he abandoned you and ran away!"
"From now on, listen to your eldest brother!" Lu Ye's facial features were twisted, his voice sorrowful, "These dog-day things, they won't give us a way to live; they want our brother to die!"
He swept his Long Staff across, and the cold, chipped dagger tied to the end pointed directly ahead.
"Hu Zi, if you want to live in this Chaotic World, listen to your eldest brother, let's kill them first!"
Already signed, please rest assured, everyone... requesting collections, tickets, and follow-up reads... Thank you!
✦✦✦