A Way to Survive

Pan Dehai threatened the Three-Headed People to leave Sea Eat Ridge.

The Three-Headed People, each head with a name.

The head on the far left is that of an adult male named Mengzi.

The adult woman in the middle is named Juanzi. Most of the time, she controls the Three-Headed People's body.

The child on the right is called Xiao Shan.

Mengzi exploded. "You surnamed Pan, even if we starved to death here, let alone after two days of hunger, we'd still demand an explanation from you today!"

"What backbone!" Pan Dehai praised. "Since you are all virtuous people, I will grant your request." With that, Pan Dehai waved his hand, and the grain placed on the ground disappeared.

Juanzi was in the middle, shouted, "Uncle Pan! We were wrong, please don't hold it against us. Give us the grain, we'll eat and leave!"

Pan Dehai sighed, "Given my temper, if you say no, I absolutely will not give it to you again."

But I'm making an exception today; you can take the grain.

After he finished speaking, the grain on the ground reappeared.

Juanzi was extremely grateful.

Pan Dehai waved his hand and said, "Don't thank me yet. I've given you the food, but I won't allow you to finish eating before you leave. Get out of here right now and eat when you're a hundred miles away."

Pan Dehai was worried that if they ate something, they would cause trouble again. If they were more than a hundred miles away, they would cause trouble on the spot and would not be able to turn back to Sea Eat Ridge to cause trouble again. Otherwise, if they ran another hundred miles to Sea Eat Ridge, they would still be hungry, and the meal would be a waste.

Mengzi was determined to prove him wrong. After Pan Dehai disappeared, he lowered his voice and said to Juanzi, "Let's find a place to secretly eat first, then come back and fight that old bastard. This absolutely cannot be left like this!"

Juanzi shook her head and said, "Don't do anything reckless. Let's take the food and go."

"Why should he...?"

"If you say another word, I'll sew your mouth shut!" Juanzi said angrily. "What are we? Who do you think you are?"

We are fugitives, worse than stray dogs. You still want to fight the Local Earth God?

"Let's find somewhere else to eat while we still have some."

Mengzi gritted his teeth and said, "Where else can we look? Are we really going back to the Sinner City?"

"We absolutely cannot go back to the Sinner City, not even if it kills us!" Juanzi took out a map, looked at the markings on it, and said, "Let's go to the Kinless Village. If we eat sparingly on the way, we can definitely make it to the Kinless Village."

"Let's go hunting!" Mengzi said angrily. "Xiao Fu and the others saw quite a few deer in the woods yesterday. If you hadn't said before that hunting wasn't allowed, they would have already taken them!"

Juanzi frowned and said, "We weren't allowed to before, and we won't be allowed to anymore. We absolutely cannot hunt along this journey; this is what our benefactor instructed us to do!"

Just then, several other Three-Headed People approached. "Juanzi, can we go into Sea Eat Ridge now?"

Juanzi replied, "This place can't accommodate us. Let's go to Kinless Village."

"Will our Kinless Village?"

"Give it a try."

More than three thousand Three-Headed People divided the grain and slowly moved forward in the snow.

As the cold wind blew, many of the Three-Headed People fell down in the snow every mile they walked.

Those who could get up continued on their way; those who couldn't, left their bodies behind.

Pan Dehai remained hidden in mid-air, silently observing the direction the group was heading.

He was curious about how these Three-Headed People had come from Sinner City to Sea Eat Ridge, and also about where they would go next.

"This new place is so difficult to navigate, where did they get the route from? We didn't even know such a road existed before!"

Not only was Pan Dehai curious, but several spies from the Guanfang Envoy were also following behind the Three-Headed People's group, and they were equally curious.

"Regardless of their origin or route, Proper Land, Envoy Liao has spoken to the Local Earth God in various places, and no one dares to take them in."

"What about New Land?"

"They are not from the new land. What can they eat in the new land?"

Even if they can find food, would the Local Earth God of the new land dare to take them in?

These Three-Headed People are so powerful, who knows what they might do?

With the little food Pan Dehai gave them, the group of Three-Headed People barely made it to Kinless Village.

The Local Earth God of Kinless Village did not appear; instead, she sent a middle-aged woman Qiao Shaofen to Juanzi.

Qiao Shaofen looked at Juanzi and said, "You should go somewhere else; there's no room for you here."

Juanzi pleaded, "We came here just to find a place to stay, any place will do."

Qiao Shaofen said, "The people living in Kinless Village are all people without any ties. You more than three thousand people have come here and want to live together. Isn't that breaking our rules?"

Juanzi quickly said, "We don't have to live together, we can go our separate ways, but we won't contact each other again!"

Qiao Shaofen still shook her head. "Even if you live separately, you're still from the same place. You may say you won't keep in touch, but you still want to be together."

This is what it means to have attachments and worries; without relatives or Kinless Village can take you in.

"We'll draw up a contract, and we'll never have anything to do with each other again. I beg you, please put in a good word for us."

Juanzi knelt on the ground. Qiao Shaofen had no choice but to leave her with a message: "I'll go back and discuss it with my wife, and then I'll write back to you."

"Okay, we'll wait. Thank you, Sister Qiao." As long as there's a glimmer of hope, Juanzi will do everything she can to fight for it.

Two more days passed before Qiao Shaofen arrived at the border and said to Juanzi, "Madam has agreed to let you stay."

Juanzi was overjoyed, but Qiao Shaofen hadn't finished speaking yet.

"But the lady instructed that not just anyone can stay. Those Kinless Village are most afraid of trouble caused by someone. Men are hot-tempered, so none of them will be allowed to stay."

Does the fact that no men are allowed to enter the Kinless Village mean that half of the people will not be able to enter?

It's not that simple.

The genders of these more than 3,000 people are not so easy to define, as their physiological structure is very special.

Juanzi asked cautiously, "When you say 'men and women,' do you mean we distinguish them from our lower bodies?"

Qiao Shaofen shook her head and said, "It's not about whether your bodies are male or female, it's about whether your minds are male or female. Otherwise, if a woman has a man's mind, she'll just be a troublemaker in the end!"

Her words made things even more complicated.

A person with three heads—which one represents gender?

Juanzi then asked, "You two mean that the one in charge among us doesn't have to be a man?"

Qiao Shaofen still shook his head. "Madam said that it's not allowed if there's a man present."

Juanzi's head was buzzing.

Among the more than 3,000 people, each person has three heads, and these three heads are basically a mix of men and women.

Are there any creatures where all three heads are female?

Yes, only a little over 10%, which is about 300 people.

According to the other party's requirements, only about three hundred people could be considered women.

If they could accommodate about three hundred people, that would be fine. Juanzi planned to hand these three hundred people over to two women, but Qiao Shaofen put forward another condition. "You come here Kinless Village, and you leave without any attachments. You can bring your relatives with you, but that still won't work."

The head on Juanzi's left, which was Mengzi's, asked, "What kind of trouble are you going to cause this time?"

Qiao Shaofen frowned. "How can you talk like that? What do you mean by 'moezi'? That's a local custom in Kinless Village!"

Mengzi retorted angrily, "Then tell me, we all have three heads, how do we sever these ties?"

Qiao Shaofen said, "Of the three heads, only one can be kept."

All the Three-Headed People about to enter the Kinless Village were terrified. Juanzi was speechless with horror, while Mengzi roared, "Are you telling us to cut off our heads?"

Qiao Shaofen nodded. "If you can't do it yourselves, I can find someone to do it for you."

"You bastard! You're a piece of trash! If you don't want to stay, just say so. Why are you playing us like this!" Mengzi was about to rush forward to fight, but Juanzi desperately controlled her body to prevent Mengzi from doing anything reckless.

Qiao Shaofen looked coldly at Juanzi: "If you can't sever your ties, I can't help you."

After saying that, Qiao Shaofen left.

As the snow fell heavily, Juanzi sat on the ground, tears streaming down her face.

The head on the right, the child's head, is named Xiao Shan. He gently comforts her, "Don't cry, sister. Let's find another place. Don't cry anymore, sister. I won't say I'm hungry anymore."

Juanzi stood up, looked at the map, and led the group forward through the snow.

After walking more than ten miles in the new area, Xiao Shan kept dozing off beside him, as if he couldn't hold on any longer.

"Xiao Shan, don't sleep. I'll find you something to eat later, so please don't fall asleep!"

"Um, I won't sleep, I won't sleep..." Xiao Shan mumbled in agreement.

A gust of wind blew in, and everyone stopped in their tracks.

These Three-Headed People had excellent senses; they knew someone was approaching.

Juanzi saw specks of green light in mid-air, and she knew that the Local Earth God had arrived.

A man's voice reached their ears. "You've had a tough journey. It's fate that you've come to my territory. Would you be willing to settle down here?"

Juanzi looked up at the green light and asked, "Sir, what is your name?"

"My name is Two Needle Cries, and I am the master of this land."

Juanzi looked around at the people and said, "Sir, are you really willing to take us in?"

Two Needle Cries, "I do have that plan."

"But we're not from New Territories, we're afraid we won't be able to find food..."

"Don't worry about that. A few days ago, some Farming Cultivator came here to clear land and planted a lot of Proper Land crops. I brought some of them with you."

After saying that, the Two Needle Cries emitted a long clang. "Clang~"

This sound was like the chime of a grandfather clock striking the hour.

After the bell rang, a pile of millet appeared on the ground.

"Please try this and see if you can eat it."

Juanzi grabbed a handful of millet, stuffed it into her mouth, chewed it twice, and swallowed it.

"We can eat it!" Juanzi exclaimed excitedly. "Sir, we can eat this grain."

"Hehe," Two Needle Cries chuckled twice, "Since you can eat, don't leave. Have a good meal here first."

Mengzi was a little skeptical. "You really think you can take us in?"

Having suffered so many losses along the way, Mengzi couldn't believe that this Local Earth God was so friendly.

The will-o'-the-wisp hovered in mid-air for a moment, then said to the crowd, "I sincerely hope you will all stay here. I lack nothing, except for a place to live."

It's cold this winter, really cold. Could you all help build a few houses?

Firstly, this will provide you all with a place to stay, and secondly, it will also give some shelter to the people in my area, so we can live a good life from now on."

"That's easy!" Juanzi agreed immediately.

Two Needle Cries praised, "Young lady, you're really efficient! Everyone, have a meal first, and then we'll get to work!"

After finishing their meal, Juanzi led the Three-Headed People to start work.

These Three-Headed People were strong and hardworking. In just two days, they built more than 500 wooden houses in the Two Needle Cries area.

Juanzi made a plan: they would keep 200 rooms for themselves, and give the remaining 300-plus rooms to Two Needle Cries as a thank you gift.

Two Needle Cries some difficulty. "Gentlemen, I have a lot of people under my command, and these houses are still not enough, but I would feel bad if I asked you all to help again."

Juanzi quickly said, "It's alright, we'll build another five hundred rooms! Just give us some food."

"Then I'll have to trouble you all."

Two days later, the Three-Headed People had repaired another five hundred wooden houses, which should have been enough for living. However, Two Needle Cries was still troubled. "Gentlemen, I took stock of the grain yesterday, and it's still not enough to eat. I asked those Farming Cultivators to work harder, but they can't finish all the farm work."

Juanzi quickly replied, "We can handle that!"

Two Needle Cries exclaimed, "I really can't bring myself to say this, I'm a little sorry for what you all think."

Without saying a word, Juanzi led everyone to the fields to cultivate the land. In ten days, they cultivated a large area of farmland. They thought the matter was settled, but Two Needle Cries was in trouble again.

"Growing grain is not something that can be done overnight. I've calculated it over and over again for several days, but we still don't have enough grain to eat."

Juanzi looked at the Two Needle Cries, "Tell me, is there anything else we can do to help?"

Two Needle Cries sighed deeply, "I am truly sorry, everyone. I will give you some more food, and you may choose another place with abundant water and rice to settle down."

PS: Finding a way to survive is so difficult. What crimes did they commit?