Even though Feng Miaojun had already sensed something amiss, her heart still sank heavily. These children, the youngest barely five years old, had already learned the cruelest laws of the jungle. This was a necessary route from Jin, with outsiders frequently passing through, and these children targeted those who traveled alone. After stealing their money, the stabbed victims would not go to waste.
Countless bones littered the wilderness, with unknown numbers of souls perishing here.
War and famine had robbed these children of their families, making them the most vulnerable group in reality. If they didn’t band together and become man-eating wolves, would they have any other means to survive?
Feng Miaojun didn’t know the answer, and perhaps no one else did either.
The rest of the journey was far from peaceful. The two encountered at least five groups of bandits and twice faced monster invasions. City-states were originally one of humanity’s most effective defenses against monsters, but when a country weakened, wilderness monsters would even swagger into cities to feast on humans.
Under these circumstances, no one dared to cultivate the land outside the city walls no matter how fertile it was, and farmland gradually fell into disuse.
Feng Miaojun personally killed two monster beasts, silently thinking that she would send troops later to restore order here and drive the monsters back into the mountains and marshes.
Once, when passing through a small mountain village, several ragged men surrounded her, intending to take her back as a bride. This time, before she could act, Fu Lingchuan had already sent them to the underworld.
On her final night before leaving the abandoned city area, she stayed at a commoner’s home.
The couple was over fifty years old but looked like they were seventy. The old man had found some wormwood somewhere to patch the holes in the roof, but it had been stolen by some children. By then, it was already dark, and he dared not go out to find more grass, as it would be unsafe for both him and his wife.
It was at this moment that he saw Feng Miaojun and Fu Lingchuan coming to seek lodging.
They had put away their fine clothes and wore only conical bamboo hats and coarse garments, but even simple attire couldn’t hide the bearing of true cultivators. The old man stared in amazement, and seeing that they offered a large silver ingot, they didn’t seem like burglars, so he agreed: “Very well, but I have no food here.”
“That’s not necessary.”
So the two moved in.
The old woman leaned against the doorway, looking outside. As the three of them approached the wicker fence, her gaze fixed on Feng Miaojun.
Then, her expression changed, and she rushed over in two strides instead of three. The old man cried “Oh no,” but she had already grabbed Feng Miaojun’s arm.
Having previously experienced attacks from children, Feng Miaojun had heightened her vigilance and nearly repelled the old woman as well. Fortunately, the old woman smiled first: “Child, why have you only returned now? Mother has been so worried waiting for you.”
Feng Miaojun was startled, glancing at Fu Lingchuan, and temporarily released the force in her hand, allowing the woman to hold it.
The old woman paid no attention to her husband or Fu Lingchuan, only pulling Feng Miaojun into the house: “I made two poached eggs for you, and there are still plenty of mushrooms left from this morning’s gathering…”
As Feng Miaojun listened to her rambling, she looked back at the old man and saw that his eyes had reddened. She realized that this elderly couple had lost their daughter, and the wife, unable to bear the pain of white-haired parents burying their black-haired child, had lost her mind.
Inside the thatched cottage, the walls were bare, and of course, there were no poached eggs or mushrooms. Feng Miaojun waved her hand in front of the old woman’s eyes, causing her to yawn several times before drowsily going to sleep.
The old man was utterly dejected. After a long while, he finally said: “My daughter was about your age, though not as beautiful as you. She went out the day the Wei people came, but she never returned. The old woman searched for days, cried for days, and then went mad.”
Any words of comfort would be powerless, so Feng Miaojun could only nod. Instead, it was Fu Lingchuan who said softly: “The Wei people will never come again, old sir. Things will get better.”
The old man gave a bitter smile: “My daughter is gone. Whether the Wei people come or not, whether things get better or not, what does it matter?”
He gave up his daughter’s room to the two guests. That night, Feng Miaojun heard something scratching at the door. Looking through the window crack, she saw a pack of wild wolves, their eyes emitting a dim green glow in the darkness.
“Even wolves can’t find food,” Feng Miaojun said slowly. “Is it only the eastern region that’s like this, or all of An Xia?”
Fu Lingchuan didn’t even raise an eyelid: “Life is hardest in the border towns. Westward, the population gradually increases. New Xia has first managed over sixty major cities, which are already showing improvement. We hope to use these as strongholds to gradually benefit the surrounding areas.”
Feng Miaojun could tell that this method involved using points to influence the whole, with large cities rising to radiate influence to surrounding areas. Cities of scale had more mature municipal administration, taxation, transportation, logistics, and public security, making rebuilding and revival faster.
This approach was relatively steady, though its effects were slower to manifest.
“Where does the money come from?” Various industries needed revival, and they also needed military armament—each was a bottomless pit. Where did Fu Lingchuan get the money?
He gave a bitter laugh: “Why do you think I went to Luofu Yu to sell treasures?”
“Wasn’t it to secretly occupy Luofu Island as a spiritual vessel?”
“…” Well, he had forgotten that the new Queen had a sharp tongue. “I am a VIP at major trading houses under various aliases. Every year, I sell off quite a few treasures to aid the country.”
Feng Miaojun glanced at him sideways: “Where did you get so many treasures? Family heirlooms?”
“Some are family heirlooms. My family originally guarded northern An Xia, killing many great monsters, so we had magical weapons and materials coming in. Monsters with spiritual cultivation have bodies full of treasures.”
She agreed with this last statement. “What else?”
“As for the rest…” He looked at Feng Miaojun, unusually hesitant. “They’re from An Xia’s treasury.”
Her eyes flashed with a spark: “An Xia still has a treasury!”
“An Xia’s ancestors once accompanied Emperor Haoli in conquering the world, making us the royal lineage with the longest blood inheritance on the continent. Over these thousand-plus years, the royal family accumulated many treasures. An Xia fell too quickly, leaving many untouched.” He coughed lightly. “However, after so many years of war, they’ve been mostly… mostly used up.”
Feng Miaojun’s face was full of disdain: “You took my things privately to use as money, and only now think to tell me?”
Fu Lingchuan knew this situation was somewhat awkward. He rubbed his nose and said: “It was truly a desperate measure. Resisting the Wei Kingdom, organizing uprisings, governing cities—all required vast amounts of wealth.”
Feng Miaojun shook her head: “Those dozens of major cities still can’t collect much tax revenue, can they?”
“They can barely maintain operations, though seven or eight cities are beginning to show prosperity,” Fu Lingchuan said. “Land travel is too slow. Now that you’ve seen enough human suffering, let’s ride the crane westward.”
Did this fellow know that “riding the crane westward” was a euphemism for death? Feng Miaojun glared at him, leaving him bewildered before she asked: “Where’s our final destination?”
“Lubo City.” Fu Lingchuan’s voice was rich, and on this cold winter night, it somehow carried a hint of nostalgia. “It’s also our capital.”
Lubo City had been the capital of An Xia for hundreds of years. Feng Miaojun made a sound of surprise: “Wasn’t the royal palace burned down by the Wei Kingdom?”