Mortals

Fang Cuiyuan huddled on the uncomfortable floor mat, surrounded by howling winds and a chilly wind that made her curl up constantly.

The little girl tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep.

In the past, her mother would have put a blanket over her and scolded her for not covering herself properly.

It's a pity that I don't have a mother now.

Too cold to sleep, Fang Cuiyuan had no choice but to get up.

Fang Cuiyuan remembered that her father was a hunter. He once said when he was drunk that if you couldn't sleep at night because it was too cold in the mountains, you should never sleep, otherwise you would either get seriously ill or never wake up again.

Their hunting companions who went into the mountains with them died for this very reason.

However, something's strange tonight.

First, the soldiers came to drive them away, making them change their formation and form a ring around the city.

One hundred thousand people formed a circle, which was quite spectacular, but no one knew what the purpose was.

However, she always felt much more comfortable staying in this ring. She had always been in poor health and was most afraid of the cold. Her mother said that she had caught a cold when she was born, so she was weak and had a deficiency of yang fire, and would cough when she was cold.

But surprisingly, I didn't cough while inside this ring, even though it was cold.

She sat on the ground, wrapped her body in the only thick cloth she had, and looked into the distance.

There were soldiers standing guard there. Just this day, these soldiers risked their lives to protect them. She was behind them and saw with her own eyes the young soldiers who had greeted her during the day being torn to pieces by demons.

If it weren't for them, we really wouldn't know what to do.

Demon...

In this demonic attack, out of the village's six or seven hundred people, only a handful of a few dozen survived.

Her whole family was gone—her parents, her younger brother, her older brother—she was the only one still alive.

Thinking of this, she lowered her head.

But no matter how hard I tried, the tears wouldn't come out.

At first, I cried all the time, as if I was going to cry myself blind.

But now, I can't cry anymore.

Heartache and grief seem to have their limits.

I was so heartbroken back then, I thought it would be etched in my memory forever, but only a few days have passed and I don't even feel anything anymore.

That's probably what they call being heartless.

Looking back now, it doesn't seem like such a big deal.

Apart from the occasional sudden pang of sadness when I'm daydreaming, there doesn't seem to be anything else.

It's like—

Now.

In the past, when she was out enjoying the moon wrapped in a bed sheet, her older brother would come up and scold her, telling her to go back to her room, because she had always been in poor health.

This thought came to mind.

My heart skipped a beat.

It seemed like even breathing was difficult.

I just can't cry.

I can't cry.

A bitter and distressing feeling welled up inside me, but I couldn't cry it out.

It's just like the old days, like my second uncle's house next door.

She had met him before.

My second uncle's son, my cousin, was climbing a tree in the yard to pick dates when he accidentally fell from the tree and into the water vat.

The water tank was too deep and the edges were slippery, so he couldn't climb out and drowned.

Auntie cried her heart out, but Uncle just kept a dark face and didn't say anything, repeatedly telling Auntie, "At worst, we can have another one. At worst, we can have another one."

At the time, she thought her second uncle was so carefree, not feeling anything at all.

But now that I think about it...

Actually, it's not that I didn't feel anything.

She just can't cry.

She suddenly remembered that at that time, she had secretly run out wrapped in a quilt, just like before, and saw her second uncle taking a stone and circling around the water vat again and again at night.

He tried again and again with the stone, but finally gave up, smashed the stone on the ground, and then squatted down next to the water tank, puffing away on his cigarette.

After all, buying a new tank isn't cheap.

Lost in thought, Fang Cuiyuan was just then approached by an old farmer who squatted down next to her. "Cuiyuan, why aren't you asleep yet?" he asked.

The old man had rough skin and particularly large joints in his limbs, clearly indicating that he had done a lot of heavy work; calluses covered his hands layer upon layer.

"Ah, Second Uncle, I can't sleep." Fang Cuiyuan then raised her head and saw that her Second Uncle had come to her side.

This is my second uncle.

This time, like himself, he was the only one left in his family.

The two newborn cousins and the second aunt were all eaten by the demons this time.

"It's okay to cry, but don't get really upset. No matter what, life goes on. Now it's just the two of us left in the Fang family. You're my niece, so don't be afraid. Your eldest brother is gone, but you still have your second brother. As your uncle, you won't go hungry." The old man said to Fang Cuiyuan with a smile, rambling on and on.

"Um... Second Uncle, where are we going? Did the soldiers say anything?" Fang Cuiyuan asked.

"I went to ask, and they said they would escort us to White Peak Mountain. They said there are fewer people there, and a lot of wasteland, enough for us to farm. When that time comes, I'll build a house, even if it's hard work, and cultivate a few dozen or a hundred acres of land. I'll also find you a good family, have a few children, and you can adopt one of them as my grandson, let him take the surname Fang, so that the family line can continue and he can finally settle down." The old man smacked his lips Fang Cuiyuan.

"People are less valuable away from home... No matter how few people are there over there, there are still other people. Do you think it will be that easy for us to move there?" Fang Cuiyuan asked worriedly.

Her second uncle's description of the future was too stable and too good, so she was a little worried.

"There are over 100,000 people here. Just because he doesn't want us to settle down doesn't mean we won't. Life goes on, we still have to eat, there's always a way," the old man said nonchalantly, with a carefree expression.

"How long does it take to get to White Peak Mountain?"

"I don't know, but the soldiers said they'd provide food before we arrived, so we weren't worried about going hungry. As long as we didn't get sick on the way, we weren't afraid of anything else," the old man said.

At this point, he seemed to suddenly remember why he had come, and quickly stood up, taking out a wrapped blanket. "That's right, I was just worried you might be sick. You're not very strong, so I brought you this blanket."

"The demons came quickly and there was no time to grab anything. They only managed to snatch some copper coins and this blanket, which your aunt bought. It's made of fur. Damn it, it cost me over a hundred coins. Half a year's harvest from more than twenty acres of land is gone just like that."

"She's not lucky enough to enjoy good things. She was only used for two days after we bought her. I'm giving it to you. We should both take care of ourselves. It's just the two of us left in the Fang family. I'm getting old, and the continuation of our family line depends on you. We can't delay." The old man stuffed the fur blanket into Fang Cuiyuan without saying another word.

Fang Cuiyuan tried to refuse, but her second uncle simply handed it to her and left without looking back, not knowing what he would do tonight.

At this moment, the moon is high in the sky, and it is already the middle of the night.

Shen Shuibi held the Silver-furred Rat, thinking for a long time but still couldn't figure it out.

So she simply stopped thinking about it and went to sleep.

Nothing was said that night.

However, many of the more than 100,000 people, including soldiers, couldn't sleep.

Countless people will die along the way.

By the next day, Li Qi and Zhang Lan had woken up. Li Qi had replenished some of his energy, and although he was not fully recovered, his inner world was able to generate some energy, so he no longer felt so empty.

As for Zhang Lan, that's unknown. Li Qi doesn't have a deep understanding of martial arts, doesn't understand his foundation, and naturally doesn't know how he recovered.

The Deputy General temporarily appointed by the White Rhinoceros Army had already approached Li Qi.

He came forward carrying a steaming basket and greeted them, "Mr. Li, Mr. Zhang, did you both rest well? And this gentleman..."

"She's surnamed Shen," Li Qi said.

"Miss Shen," the Deputy General said respectfully, then opened the basket, which contained some dried meat, rice, and boiled leafy green vegetables, all of which looked freshly picked.

It appears that this is the best food they can prepare under the current conditions.

"Let's have something to eat for breakfast. There are no cooks in the army, so the cooks just make whatever's available. It's simple food, so please forgive me." He was a little embarrassed.

Zhang Lan, on the other hand, was quite nonchalant. "It's alright. We've eaten all sorts of things, even if it's windy and we're sleeping in the open. There's meat in this too, it's already good enough."

Li Qi nodded. "Food and drink are not important. The lives of more than 100,000 people are more important. Does the general have any arrangements?"

The three of them didn't stand on ceremony and sat cross-legged. Only Shen Shuibi declined the invitation to eat and went to the side to write and draw on the ground, seemingly calculating something.

"Don't worry about her. Her Cultivation Method is wondrous and she doesn't need food. Besides, she has a somewhat aloof personality and dislikes worldly affairs, so there's no need to bother her. Let's just talk," Li Qi said with a smile, noticing that the other two weren't using chopsticks. He picked up his own utensils, took a bite, and put it in his mouth.

Since Li Qi had done so, the other two relaxed and started eating.

The food wasn't very good. It consisted of ordinary dried meat chopped and boiled, wild vegetables boiled in plain water, and millet cooked. Almost everything was boiled, and then a little salt was added for seasoning.

"Gentlemen, the most urgent issue to be resolved is the army's food supply. The White Rhinoceros Army initially numbered 12,500, and now it has grown to 8,341. According to the previous system, each person was given 3 liters of rice per day, and the entire army was given 350 shi of rice per day. Previously, the army's food supply was provided on a monthly basis, and at this moment, there are still 7,000 shi of food left."

"These people are not like us big eaters who can eat a liter a day, but even that won't last more than a few days. Even if we control the situation, we can only manage to survive for a short time. From here to White Peak Mountain, there is no one around, only Guangyang City in between. If we drive the people there to get supplies, it will take about Ten Suns, and some of them will definitely starve to death along the way. This is the most important thing right now. Do you two gentlemen have a solution?"

"Where do you hide your military rations?" Li Qi asked.

"There are some specially made Mustard Seed Bag in the army," the Deputy General said.

"I have a Dragon Steed. If it's Guangyang City, I can get there in five Chen. I also have a Mustard Seed Bag. Give me your Mustard Seed Bag and a voucher, and I'll go to Guangyang City to collect the grain," Li Qi said.

Zhang Lan immediately clapped his hands. "That's great! I was worried that if I went to ask for grain, and there were demons attacking again without anyone to protect me, that would be a big problem. Brother Li has Dragon Steed, and its speed is no slower than ours. Even if he leaves, it won't affect the overall combat strength. There are still two eighth-rank soldiers who can protect us."

Li Qi was speechless.

This guy is a bit too honest. Doesn't he know how to talk? What does it mean that leaving won't affect the overall combat strength? He's the third strongest here, after all.

Second only to the two eighth-rank officers, the other ninth-rank officers were basically no match for him.

However, the point is valid despite the rough language; even the strongest is only at the ninth rank, and their effectiveness is limited on large-scale battlefields.

An army is not a rabble.

If it were just a dozen or so unranked brutes, with a few ninth-rank soldiers mixed in, Li Qi might get injured due to exhaustion, and if he was careless, he might even lose. But at the very least, he could slaughter the enemy until blood flowed like a river.

However, if it were an army of over ten thousand, led by a dozen or so ninth-rank officers, the situation would be different.

If Li Qi were to immediately engage the White Rhinoceros Army head-on, all his methods would be unlikely to shake their Soldier's Qi, and he would even have difficulty escaping, only to be charged up and hacked to death.

The difference between a well-trained elite force and a rabble lies precisely in this.

An army like this, with its commander and its flag, can withstand an eighth-rank official with its Soldier's Qi of will.

In the previous battle, the eagle-headed demon was able to break Zhang Lan's Divine Ability by invoking the demonic Soldier's Qi below, which is enough to show its power.

It would indeed be more appropriate for Li Qi to ride the Dragon Steed to transport grain.

"Ahem, then leave the grain transport to me. General, could you please give me a receipt?" He coughed to quell his embarrassment, then said to the Deputy General.

The Deputy General understood and handed a rolled-up piece of cloth to Li Qi: "This is one of our army's flags. It cannot be easily handed over to others. It is the face of the White Rhinoceros Army. If you take it, the magistrate of Guangyang City will naturally know that you are not a liar."

"The issue of military rations is resolved. The second matter is, which route should we take to White Peak Mountain?" The Deputy General took out a military Fengshui Map and unfolded it in front of everyone.

The officers did not make these decisions privately, but discussed them with Li Qi and Zhang Lan.

After spending the whole morning, the three of them finally finalized all the details, big and small.

Zhang Lan was still in charge of guarding the military equipment, while the military affairs were left to the original officers. Li Qi's task was simpler: to collect military rations.

As for Shen Shuibi, she was free to do whatever she wanted; no one arranged anything for her.

The affairs of the people were also arranged one by one, with the army in charge and some respected people such as village elders being brought in to help manage them.

In short, after everything was arranged, Li Qi prepared to set off.

Just as they were about to set off with Old Ma, Shen Shuibi suddenly appeared beside Li Qi and asked nervously, "Um... Li Qi, can't I come with you?"

Li Qi laughed and said, "I'm going to a major Human Race city. What could possibly happen there? Your cultivation is profound and your combat strength is strong. It would be better for you to stay here and protect the people."

"Oh..." Shen Shuibi agreed, but she was clearly a little sullen.

"It's only a ten- Chen round trip. Even if there's a slight delay, we'll be back by tomorrow at the latest. Don't worry," Li Qi reassured him.

There's no time to lose; we should go and return as soon as possible. It's only ten Chen.

They can't just go and never come back, can they?