"Ershan, heading out?"
Yu Ershan had barely stepped out of his house when Zhao Kun's voice came from beside him. Judging by the dampness on him, he had clearly been standing there for a while.
In truth, the Blessed Land could regulate its internal climate. It could maintain springlike warmth throughout the four seasons or blanket everything in snow.
But doing so consumed a tremendous amount of energy.
So unless a Blessed Land had some special purpose, most didn't deliberately regulate the climate. Instead, they followed the changes in the world outside.
Thus, even though the Blessed Land blocked the cold wind from blowing in, changes in the temperature outside still affected its interior.
"Yeah, Uncle Zhao. We moved to a new place this year, so I'm planning to look around and buy some firewood."
Yu Ershan answered directly.
In previous years, they had also stayed in the North District, but in Area C. He hadn't expected them to be sent straight to the worst area, Area D. Yu Ershan had some suspicions about it.
But he wouldn't say anything, much less complain.
"Dashan isn't going?"
Zhao Kun looked a little surprised.
After all, Yu Dashan usually handled this sort of heavy labor.
"He stood watch all night, so I figured I'd let him rest. Besides, even if I'm not the strongest, I can still carry some firewood."
Yu Ershan said self-deprecatingly.
Hearing his explanation, Zhao Kun nodded in understanding. He had also taken turns standing watch with his son last night. They had only just arrived, and the area was in chaos. Better safe than sorry.
Don't think that arriving at the Blessed Land meant everything was taken care of, and all they had to do was get through the winter.
Everyone from the settlements had poured into the North District at once. With so many people, it was impossible for all of them to be good. And most people who came to the Blessed Land brought everything they owned.
Even though open murder and the like were forbidden inside the Blessed Land, everyone knew where the lines really lay.
In the middle of the night, while you were asleep, someone could sneak into your home and ransack every last Spirit Stone. What could you do about it?
Even the steward in charge of the area, who had reached Perfection of Fetal Movement, turned a blind eye. Or perhaps the steward was part of the whole scheme, taking the biggest cut behind the scenes.
As long as nobody died and things didn't get out of hand, the steward could easily suppress any trouble.
In previous years, people had tried to band together and demand justice, but in the end, they were never seen again.
The steward had been replaced after that incident, but changing the person in charge wouldn't change certain things.
There was simply too much profit to be made.
It wasn't hard to guess who was behind it all.
Of course, sneaking in to steal in the middle of the night was shameful. The thieves wouldn't dare make a scene or be too brazen about it. So if someone keeping watch inside heard them and shouted, they would retreat.
It was a kind of unspoken understanding.
And the real reason Yu Dashan wasn't going out with them today wasn't what Yu Ershan had said. After all, Yu Dashan had been the one on watch last night.
The truth was, Yu Dashan was staying home to guard their Spirit Stones.
Walking around the streets with dozens of Spirit Stones on you was no different from asking to be robbed.
"Perfect timing. I was planning to look around and buy some firewood too. Let's go together."
Zhao Kun said without hesitation.
As the two spoke, the door of the house next to the Yu Family's opened. Tiezhu's Wife came out with her two children, looking embarrassed as she spoke.
"Ershan, could I leave the children at your place for a while? I'd like to go with you and buy some firewood too."
With her husband away and her children still so young, Tiezhu's Wife could only rely on the three Yu brothers, who had traveled with them all the way here.
Even the house they had been given was right next to theirs.
"Sister-in-law, there's no need to stand on ceremony. I promised Brother Tiezhu I'd help with whatever I could. You stay home with the children. I'll bring back some extra firewood. Is there anything else you need?"
Yu Ershan said.
Just as he'd said, he didn't mind helping with what he could, given the good relationship between their families and Tiezhu's filial devotion.
Besides, Tiezhu had given him a knife and prepared Spirit Rice for the journey. Wasn't this exactly what he'd hoped for in return?
Since Yu Ershan had accepted it, he naturally had to shoulder the responsibility.
"No, that's all. Then I'll have to trouble you. Oh, take this."
Tiezhu's Wife hurriedly pulled a Spirit Stone wrapped in a small piece of cloth from her pocket and handed it to Yu Ershan.
Though it was wrapped in cloth, Yu Ershan could tell what was inside just by looking at its shape.
"No, firewood isn't worth this much. Sister-in-law, you really don't need to do this. We've got a long road ahead. If you still feel bad about it, have Brother Tiezhu buy me a drink when we return to the settlement next year."
Yu Ershan naturally refused to take it.
"Tiezhu's Wife, just listen to Ershan."
Seeing that Tiezhu's Wife was still trying to press the Spirit Stone on him, Zhao Kun spoke up.
She had been careful enough to wrap the Spirit Stone in cloth instead of exposing it outright, but all that back-and-forth might still attract attention.
Compared to his family and the Yu Family, she was a woman with two children and was more likely to be targeted.
One look at the dark circles around her eyes was enough to tell that she hadn't gotten much rest last night.
"All right, we'll talk about it later."
Tiezhu's Wife wasn't foolish. She quickly understood and put the Spirit Stone away.
Only after she returned home and shut the door did Yu Ershan and Zhao Kun set off along the road in front of the houses, heading the other way.
Though the houses in the North District hadn't all been built at the same time, their layouts were more or less the same.
Aside from being in a worse location, Area D was no different from Area C, where they had stayed in previous years.
The houses stood in row after row, nearly all built from the same mold. Once they left the narrow lane in front of their homes and turned a corner, they would reach a broad street that ran north to south, crossing another main street.
Not everyone living in Area D came from the Ox Ridge Settlement.
The Ox Ridge Settlement was small, with a population of around a thousand. There were thirty settlements of that size, making nearly thirty thousand people in all.
Besides those, there were several medium-sized settlements and one large settlement.
Altogether, the population was at least sixty to seventy thousand.
They were spread across Areas A, B, C, and D, with more than ten thousand people packed into each area.
Even though the population had fallen by nearly a third this year, there were still close to ten thousand people.
It was easy to imagine what it was like with so many people crammed together.
Living in the Blessed Land, all these people still needed food, drink, and everyday necessities. The supplies they'd brought with them were nowhere near enough.
These streets had been built specifically for them.
Both sides of the streets were lined with all kinds of shops, most of them owned by the various small Lineages inside the Blessed Land.
When it came to the Blessed Land quotas, the Song Family and the three Foundation Building Families had taken the lion's share. The small Lineages had to get a slice of the pie somehow.
Everything was in perfect order!
And so, another temporary sphere of daily life took shape.
Before you continue