Young Master, It's Time to Relieve Yourself

Yu Ziqing naturally had no idea that his desperate fight for survival had also brought about some positive effects.

The Wasteland was growing colder and colder, but the cold air didn't understand the need to stay put in the Wasteland. Great Zhen had always been cold, so there was no need to mention it, while Great Li and Great Qian had generally enjoyed suitable climates throughout the years. Even in the coldest part of winter, their rivers never froze over. This year, however, the regions bordering the Wasteland were naturally much colder than before.

The consequences would inevitably affect everything. The crops planted for winter farming would surely yield less, or simply freeze to death. On top of that came heating and a host of other problems. Those impoverished households that had barely any grain stored beyond what they had set aside for seed would probably struggle to survive this winter. Even if they made it through, how they would live next year was another question.

In the past, many of those high-and-mighty rulers who had never looked down upon the suffering of ordinary people would lower their heads and spare a glance at the starving masses only after famine, plague, drought, and floods had triggered unrest.

This year, at least, ordinary poor folk no longer had to worry about failing to survive or starving to death.

Because those men seated upon golden platforms and dressed in silks, who lived on delicacies, had finally become somewhat afraid.

They had once witnessed the appearance of the King of Hungry Ghosts. They had seen countless Hungry Ghosts emerge across the Wasteland like a surging tide. They knew that the King of Hungry Ghosts had not conjured those Hungry Ghosts out of thin air. They knew exactly how those Hungry Ghosts had come to be.

Only then did they become utterly astonished, exclaiming in shock: So many people had once starved to death here? There had once been so many people here?

In previous years, the torment suffered by those who starved to death, along with the despair and unwillingness in their hearts, was probably even greater than that of people who died in sudden disasters or under brutal torture. Thus, those who starved to death had an extremely high chance of becoming Starvation Ghosts.

After being driven mad by endless hunger, many Starvation Ghosts would actively seek death. Killing a Starvation Ghost even allowed one to lower one's brows and sigh a few words about having done a good deed and helped them find release.

The opportunity to do such good deeds would probably grow rarer and rarer now.

Even without considering the King of Hungry Ghosts, who had fallen into slumber, they still had to consider those Hungry Ghosts.

At the very least, they had to ensure that the common people within their borders could fulfill one humble wish, a wish low enough to lie in the dust: not to starve to death.

Because they didn't dare gamble on whether the growing number of Hungry Ghosts, once it reached a certain point, would awaken that great lord again. The moment such a thought arose, cold sweat had already begun pouring down their backs.

Setting aside all those worries and calculations, this was also a good opportunity to gather popular support and strengthen the foundation of national power. They had to act quickly and stop those people at the bottom from truly starving to death.

There was one point on which the Hungry Ghosts shared their thinking: don't let more people starve to death. This was also one of the major reasons everyone had tacitly chosen to treat Hungry Ghosts differently from ordinary Ghostly beings after their appearance.

The influence of this incident had spread in many directions. The overall direction of numerous policies had changed because of it. Generally speaking, it was a good thing for the common people at the bottom.

But Yu Ziqing knew none of this. Even if he had known, he would only have cheered. Whatever those great figures might have been thinking, they had at least done one good deed.

At that moment, he was carrying a hard biscuit, pinching off tiny crumbs and moistening them in his mouth. He kept something to eat in his mouth at all times, while making sure not to eat enough to become overstuffed.

Because he now suffered from a severe aftereffect: even when his stomach was full to bursting, he still felt hungry. So hungry. He wanted to eat something at every moment.

Whenever a crumb fell into the dirt, he practically wanted to lie down and eat it together with the soil.

Whenever he saw Er Han eating like a pig, scattering food outside the bowl, he wanted to leap up and smash Er Han's head in. Fortunately, Er Han could take a beating, which let Yu Ziqing calm down somewhat. Of course, after he finished beating Er Han, the Village Chief beat Er Han again, and then it had nothing to do with anyone else.

The former Abyss of Despair had transformed into a domain and been absorbed into Cècè's body, but the original hillside had remained behind.

Yu Ziqing was currently squatting at the cliff's edge at the end of the hillside, staring down into the pitch-black abyss.

"You said that this place used to connect to another location, where there was a powerful fellow that trapped you here and made you gather the souls of living beings for it. The Ghostly beings were even better?"

"Yes, Young Master. However, it blocked me at the time and wouldn't let me leave. I also needed to use the marker to awaken you, Young Master, so I didn't use it. Then the Ghost King became enraged, injured it, and burned down its lair along the way. I don't know whether it's dead now. I can no longer sense it, and our connection has been severed completely."

Yu Ziqing glanced back. In the distance, the Locust tree forest was still bursting with life amid the wind and snow. No wonder the Hungry Ghosts within those trees had never dared spread into Cècè's Abyss of Despair.

The small passage that had once existed here had also vanished completely. The pitch-black abyss that had once seemed bottomless could now be faintly illuminated by daylight, allowing one to vaguely see the bottom.

"We're no longer in contact, and the passage is destroyed. Now that we know about it, we can talk about it again if we get the chance. Or, once you're strong enough, you can kill it yourself if you run into it again. That'll let you vent your anger completely."

"Young Master, I don't care anymore. It's probably already dead." Cècè still wore a smile.

But listening to those words, Yu Ziqing felt they sounded very much like him—practical.

When he had no ability, it was: I don't care. I'll live my own life, level up properly, and avoid competing with the world.

When he had the ability, it was: Don't give me the chance, or I'll smash your head in.

"There isn't enough food in the village anymore. Those fellows will have a hard time starving to death in the short term after Body Refining, but even if we reduce the rations further, it won't last long. We have to go buy supplies from the outside world now..."

"Young Master, there's no room for discussion. I can go. Young Master, stay in the village and recuperate properly." Cècè's tone was extremely firm. His phoenix eyes stared fixedly at Yu Ziqing, as if he was saying: I'm left with no choice but to tie you up and drag you back.

"Fine, fine..." Yu Ziqing waved his hand and sighed deeply. "I'll find something else to do. I'll go settle those Hungry Ghosts. Is that all right?"

Cècè said nothing. He merely followed close behind Yu Ziqing step by step, protecting his safety at all times.

They hadn't gone far when a head suddenly emerged from underground. The youth crawled out of the earth, carrying a wooden bucket, and walked up to Yu Ziqing. He looked foolish, but his brows and eyes were filled with stubbornness.

"Young... Young Master, it's... it's..."

The youth stammered for a long while, utterly unable to remember how to say that word in a more euphemistic way.

"It's time to relieve yourself. Otherwise, staying too full will harm your health." Cècè supplied the words from the side.

The youth gazed at Yu Ziqing eagerly and nodded repeatedly.

Yu Ziqing's face turned ashen, and he looked like he wanted to run. The youth was quick-eyed and nimble, flashing forward with the wooden bucket in his arms and blocking Yu Ziqing's path. No matter what happened today, Yu Ziqing would not escape.

Yu Ziqing raised his head to look at the sky, his heart tangled as he struggled to find the words.

How had that stubborn Hungry Ghost become just as bullheaded as a donkey after changing professions? And why, of all things, did he have a bonded object?

And why, of all things, was that bonded object a chamber pot?

Otherwise, why would he be chased three times a day and urged to relieve himself?

When he stood still, the youth pressed his lips together and lifted his head slightly, as if performing some sacred, magnificent undertaking. Unshakable, he simply stood there watching him. There was no escaping now.

"Fine..."

The youth set down the chamber pot. The wind and snow around them automatically swept together, forming a crude private room. He even thoughtfully opened the door for Yu Ziqing and waited for him to enter.

Yu Ziqing had no choice. He walked in and sat on the chamber pot. The chamber pot would even automatically change shape according to his wishes, ensuring a comfortable experience.

The contents of the body's Five Grains Cycle flowed out smoothly. After he finished, everything was so clean he didn't even need to wipe himself. Of course, in case Yu Ziqing had any psychological need for it, clean toilet slips had thoughtfully been prepared at the side.

He actually wasn't opposed to this. After waking up, he had been completely unable to control his urge to eat. His dried beef was gone, so none of the other food could make his mouth stop. The moment he stopped, he would feel a heart-scratching, lung-clawing hunger, even when his stomach was already stuffed to bursting.

Without resolving the problem, he would still feel terribly, terribly hungry even while on the verge of eating himself to death.

He simply felt that being chased to relieve himself every day, with two people waiting on him outside, was a kind of bliss he had never enjoyed in either of his lives. It was genuinely embarrassing.

A moment later, Yu Ziqing pulled up his trousers and stood. The bloated feeling in his abdomen had vanished, and his stomach, which had been overstuffed, had returned to normal. The food he had eaten was rapidly digested under the effect of that strange power, transforming into energy stored within his body.

As usual, he turned back to glance at the chamber pot. There was nothing inside, and there wasn't even any odor.

To be fair, in another setting, Yu Ziqing would absolutely have loved such an incredibly useful chamber pot.

After he walked out of the crude ice-and-snow outhouse, the youth immediately covered the chamber pot and picked it up again. He bowed to Yu Ziqing, sank into the ground, and disappeared.

Right afterward, the crude ice-and-snow outhouse also collapsed, melting back into the snow that covered the earth.

Yu Ziqing turned and glanced toward the village.

"He was a pitiful child too. He starved to death in his teens."

"Yes, and he was quite stubborn." Cècè sighed before continuing.

"He actually had a chance to survive when he was alive. Everyone in his village was a good person. They left the hope of survival to him, hoping he could live and carry their corpses to seek refuge in Jinlan Village. There was still a sliver of hope along the way. At least he wouldn't starve to death.

He was stubborn. He didn't listen to the villagers. Like those people, he felt it was wrong, so he would rather die than eat even a bite of White Meat. In the end, when he had starved to the brink and was nearly losing his reason, he hugged the chamber pot and used filth to make himself vomit until he no longer had the slightest desire to eat White Meat.

In the end, he starved to death and became a Hungry Ghost. Somehow, he came to our village, and unlike the other Hungry Ghosts, he didn't become a Hungry Ghost in a tree. He lived inside a Locust tree."

"What was his name? Has he remembered?"

"He has. His name is Wu Shuangge."

"His surname is Wu? That's rather uncommon." Listening to Cècè, Yu Ziqing's expression grew somewhat dazed.

In the past, he had also met many people with such convictions. They had little education, some not even recognizing a single written character, yet they firmly believed that refusing to eat White Meat even at the cost of death was only right and proper, beyond dispute.

"If we get the chance, find the village where he lived and bury all his relatives and friends. Also tell those elders of his that he won't go hungry anymore."

Yu Ziqing flipped his hand, and a wooden bowl appeared from thin air. Holding a Locust tree branch, he dipped it into the sweet dew in the bowl and flung it outward.

When the sweet dew touched the ground, Locust trees immediately thrust themselves up one after another. Each Locust tree became a dwelling place for a Hungry Ghost. Here, they could also borrow the power of the Locust trees to escape the torment of hunger.

But this time, unlike those Hungry Ghosts in trees from before, they would receive the first morsel of food personally distributed by Yu Ziqing.

After growing a large Locust tree forest, Yu Ziqing turned and glanced at Cècè, who was following close behind him.

"How about you go out and see whether you can buy or obtain some grain? I can settle these Hungry Ghosts myself. You don't have to stay with me."

Cècè merely smiled at him. His meaning was clear: Go on, keep talking. If I listen to even one word, I lose.