Blessed Land Life Circle

"Ershan, heading out?"

As Yu Ershan stepped out of his house, Zhao Kun's voice came from beside him. Judging by the dampness on Zhao Kun, he had clearly been standing there for a while.

In reality, Blessed Lands possessed the ability to regulate internal climate changes. They could maintain a perpetual spring or heavy snow.

However, doing so consumed a vast amount of energy.

Therefore, unless it was a special Blessed Land, most would not deliberately adjust the climate but instead follow the natural changes of the world.

Consequently, even though the Blessed Land had neutralized the cold wind blowing in, the ambient temperature changes still affected its interior.

"Yes, Uncle Zhao. We've moved to a new place this year, so I'm planning to look around and buy some firewood," Yu Ershan said directly.

In previous years, they had also been in the North District, but in Area C. They hadn't expected to be moved to the worst Area D this year, and Yu Ershan had a vague guess as to why.

But he wouldn't say anything, let alone complain.

"Dashan isn't going?" Zhao Kun asked, a little surprised.

After all, tasks requiring physical exertion were usually handled by Yu Dashan.

"He stood guard all night yesterday, so I'm letting him rest. Besides, even if my body is weak, I'm not so frail that I can't carry a bit of firewood," Yu Ershan said with a self-deprecating smile.

Hearing his explanation, Zhao Kun nodded in understanding. He had also taken turns with his son guarding the house last night. After all, they had just settled in, and the surroundings were chaotic. It was always better to be cautious.

Don't assume everything is fine just because you've reached a Blessed Land and only need to survive the winter.

With everyone from all the Settlements flooding into the North District, it was impossible for them all to be good people. Most people came to the Blessed Land with all their possessions.

Even though public murder was forbidden in the Blessed Land, everyone understood the unspoken rules.

In the middle of the night, while you're asleep, someone could sneak into your home and steal all your Spirit Stones. What could you do?

Even the steward in charge of this area, who had achieved Perfection of Fetal Movement, turned a blind eye. Or rather, he was likely part of it, taking the lion's share of the profits.

As long as no one died and the incident didn't escalate, he could easily suppress it.

In previous years, some people had tried to unite and seek justice, but they never reappeared.

Although a new steward was appointed after that incident, some things wouldn't change just because a new person was in charge.

This was because immense profits were involved.

One could guess who was behind it all.

Of course, such midnight intrusions were clandestine affairs. The perpetrators wouldn't be too blatant or cause a major disturbance. So, if someone inside heard a noise and shouted, they would retreat.

It was a form of unspoken agreement.

The real reason Yu Dashan wasn't going out today wasn't, as Yu Ershan explained, that he had stood guard last night.

It was to have him stay home and guard the Spirit Stones.

Carrying dozens of Spirit Stones around the streets openly would be no different than acting like a fool.

"Perfect! I was planning to wander around and buy some firewood too. Let's go together," Zhao Kun said.

As they were talking, the door of the house next to the Yu family's also opened. Tiezhu's wife, leading her two children, came out with a look of embarrassment.

"Ershan, could the children play at your house for a bit? I'd like to go buy some firewood with you too."

With her husband away and the children young, Tiezhu's wife could only rely on the Yu brothers who were always by her side.

Even their temporary housing was right next to each other.

"Sister-in-law, there's no need to be so formal. I promised Brother Tiezhu that I would help in any way I could. You stay home with the children. I'll bring back extra firewood. Is there anything else you need?" Yu Ershan said.

As he said, he didn't mind lending a hand with things within his capabilities, considering their good neighborly relationship and Tiezhu's filial piety.

Besides, Tiezhu had already given him a knife and prepared spirit rice for the journey, all for this very reason.

Since he had accepted the favor, he naturally had to fulfill his end of the bargain.

"Nothing else, thank you for the trouble. Oh, and take this." Tiezhu's wife quickly took a small cloth-wrapped Spirit Stone from her pocket and handed it to Yu Ershan.

Even though it was wrapped in cloth, Yu Ershan recognized what it was just by its shape.

"No, it's just a bit of firewood, it's not worth this. Sister-in-law, you really don't need to do this. We have a long way to go. If you really feel bad, just have Brother Tiezhu treat me to a drink when we return to the Settlement next year." Yu Ershan refused to accept it.

"Tiezhu's wife, just listen to Ershan," Zhao Kun said directly when he saw Tiezhu's wife still trying to insist.

Although she was careful and had wrapped the Spirit Stone in cloth, avoiding direct exposure, such a tug-of-war could easily attract unwanted attention.

Compared to his family and the Yu family, the other party, a woman with two children, was actually more likely to be targeted.

Just by looking at the dark circles under her eyes, one could tell she hadn't rested much last night.

"Okay, we'll talk about it later."

Tiezhu's wife wasn't stupid either and quickly understood, hurriedly putting it away.

After the other party returned home and closed the door, Yu Ershan and Zhao Kun walked along the road in front of the houses towards the other side.

Although the houses in the North District weren't built at the same time, their layout was basically similar.

As for the Ding-numbered area, apart from its worse location, it was no different from the Bing-numbered area they lived in in previous years.

Rows upon rows of houses were almost identical, and once they exited the small alley in front of the houses and turned a corner, they would see a wide street running north-south, intersecting with another main street.

It wasn't just people from the Ox Ridge Settlement who lived in the Ding-numbered area.

The Ox Ridge Settlement was a small settlement with a population of about a thousand. There were thirty such settlements, totaling nearly thirty thousand people.

In addition, there were several medium-sized settlements and one large settlement.

Combined, there were at least sixty to seventy thousand people.

Distributed among the four areas, Jia, Yi, Bing, and Ding, each area housed over ten thousand people.

Even though the number of people had decreased by about a third this year, there were still nearly ten thousand.

With so many people crammed together, the situation was imaginable.

And these people lived in the Blessed Land. For their daily needs, the food or daily necessities they brought themselves were simply not enough.

These specially opened streets were prepared specifically for them.

Both sides of the street were lined with various shops. As for the ownership of these shops, they basically belonged to the various small families within the Blessed Land.

On the matter of Blessed Land quotas, the Song Family and the three Foundation Establishment families had taken the lion's share, so these smaller families had to get their own slice.

Everything was in order!

Thus, another kind of temporary living circle was formed.