Arriving at the County City

Inside the tiled house.

Ye Tong held a silver crystal, absorbing and refining it to restore the Vital Energy he had consumed. He deeply regretted not refining a few blood-generating pills before coming. Having lost two large bowls of blood, he felt extremely weak now, his face completely drained of color.

"Yan'er..."

On the bed leaning against the wall, the middle-aged woman had not yet woken up, but she had already called her daughter's name no less than twenty times. The pain etched on her brow had not lessened one bit.

The Medicine Slave dozed against the bed, occasionally opening his cloudy eyes. Every time he glanced at the cold corpse of the little girl, he would question himself in his heart whether saving the middle-aged woman was the right thing to do.

Better to be dead than alive.

The Medicine Slave had experienced this feeling physically, but he had never been mentally broken.

"Roar..."

The clear cry of the Dragon Lion Eagle broke the heavy atmosphere of the camp. As a Dragon Lion Eagle descended from the sky, the doors of the tiled houses were pushed open. Everyone, including Ye Tong and the Medicine Slave, emerged from their houses.

"What's going on?" A sturdy man jumped off the Dragon Lion Eagle first. Seeing the bloodstains on the damp ground and the dozen or so injured people, he strode towards Meng Jia.

"I don't even know what happened!" Meng Jia said with a wry smile. "We've been hit by small-scale beast tides twice in a row. Especially the second time, if it weren't for a young man who poisoned a large number of Black Lions with his blood, this camp would likely no longer exist."

"What? Two beast tides?!"

Upon hearing Meng Jia's words, the sturdy man's face showed a look of horror. He knew that Black Lions were pack beasts, and the weakest among them were Level Two Fierce Beasts. They usually appeared in groups of dozens, hundreds, or even thousands.

This camp... had encountered a small-scale beast tide? And one that involved a large number of Black Lions?

Although the sturdy man hadn't witnessed the battle here, the thought alone sent a shiver down his spine. He said with a look of relief, "You guys are quite lucky to have survived."

Meng Jia shook his head and sighed, "Yes! Very lucky. We almost lost our lives."

Thinking back to the critical moment, his desperate gamble, and the correct choice made by chance when he was helpless, Meng Jia felt truly fortunate.

After negotiations, Ye Tong, Jin Qiusheng, and others who participated in the battle could leave first by Dragon Lion Eagle. The group that had just arrived, except for a few individuals, would wait for the Dragon Lion Eagles that would come later. However, Ye Tong and the others would have to wait until tomorrow morning to depart.

"Camp Officer Meng Jia."

A surviving guard from the Baishun Merchant Guild approached Meng Jia and reported, "The spoils from the second small-scale beast tide have been tallied. According to the old rules, half will be used as compensation for our fallen brothers. The remaining half has been divided into sixteen portions, with each participating member receiving one."

Meng Jia said, "Pay it all in Blue Silver, at market price."

"Yes!"

Inside the tiled house.

Ye Tong was woken up by a guard from the Baishun Merchant Guild. Looking at the stack of banknotes handed to him, he understood the situation and accepted them. Although he and the Medicine Slave had contributed significantly, they still received the average share of sixteen portions, totaling banknotes of Blue Silver worth three hundred and twenty-five thousand four hundred taels.

Ye Tong hadn't expected such a great reward after the battle, nor had he expected the people from the Baishun Merchant Guild to be so generous and fair. He had initially thought they would only offer him some minor compensation.

"Ye Tong, these are the banknotes due to the mother and daughter, totaling two hundred and eighty-four thousand taels. Please hand them to her when she wakes up." The guard looked at the unconscious middle-aged woman with complex emotions. This sum was also tempting to him, but he dared not conceal any of it.

"Okay!" Ye Tong signaled the Medicine Slave to take them.

After the guard left, Ye Tong tucked the banknotes into his embrace and said, "Baishun Merchant Guild, impressive."

"Mhm, with such credibility, it's no wonder they've been able to grow."

The Medicine Slave nodded and said, "The reputation of the Baishun Merchant Guild has always been good, which is also one of the reasons for their continuous growth. Currently, the Baishun Merchant Guild has become one of the top three merchant guilds in the Sky Net Empire, with vast financial resources and numerous powerful individuals."

As the two were speaking, the middle-aged woman, who had been unconscious, moved her fingers slightly. Then, her eyes slowly opened.

Ye Tong said calmly, "You're awake?"

The middle-aged woman slowly sat up. Her face was completely devoid of color, and tears streamed down like pearls from a broken string. She got out of bed and went to the other side. With trembling hands, she gently cupped her daughter's cold face.

There is a pain that tears the heart apart.

There is a torment that makes life worse than death.

Scenes from the past flashed through her mind, and she spat out a mouthful of blood, the feeling of fainting returning.

Ye Tong reacted quickly, supporting her shoulder, and said bitterly, "The dead cannot be brought back to life. Please accept my condolences."

The middle-aged woman raised her arm and wiped the blood from her lips. After the feeling of fainting subsided, she slowly turned her head. She remembered this young man, the bowl of hot tea, the two salty biscuits, and how he and his old servant had done their best to protect her daughter when they fought against the fierce beasts during the life-or-death crisis.

"You are a good child."

The middle-aged woman's voice was somewhat hoarse. She struggled to stand up and then stopped Ye Tong from reaching out again. She knelt down on her knees and kowtowed three times. Looking up at Ye Tong, she said, "We met by chance, but I will never forget your kindness in protecting me. I beg you for one last thing, and I hope you will grant it."

Ye Tong asked calmly, "Are you going to say that after I do it, I will be handsomely rewarded?"

"Yes!"

The middle-aged woman nodded heavily.

Ye Tong shook his head and said, "I won't keep two corpses with me for days, nor will I bring them to the city gates of the county. I understand that you feel too ashamed to face your husband again, and you want to follow your daughter in death, to end it all. But I tell you, your idea is completely wrong."

"Is it wrong?"

The middle-aged woman's tears flowed even faster.

Ye Tong asked, "If it were you who died before, what would you wish for the most?"

The middle-aged woman said, "To pray, that my daughter lives well."

Ye Tong asked, "Wasn't your daughter's last smile meant to comfort you? Didn't she also want you to live well? That smile, that comfort, that prayer that couldn't be spoken in time, that's her dying wish. Can you not even fulfill her last wish?"

"I..." The middle-aged woman was speechless.

Ye Tong spoke again, "Your daughter is dead. I know you're in pain, but I believe others are suffering just as much as you. That person should be your husband. He's lost one daughter, and if he loses his wife too, won't he be even more pitiful? Do you want him to follow you both to the grave, or live out his remaining years in unbearable grief?"

The middle-aged woman fell silent.

Her husband and she had a very good relationship. If it weren't for the calamity they faced a few years ago, and her husband leading troops to fight enemy nations on the frontier, their mother and daughter wouldn't have ended up here, nor would their daughter have met such a tragic end.

Ye Tong took out a dark dagger and threw it directly in front of the middle-aged woman, then continued, "Life itself is a test in purgatory. After experiencing all of life's flavors – sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy – you won't have regrets when you grow old, and you'll have lived this life to the fullest! If you insist on ending your life, the knife is right in front of you. We won't stop you, but we hope that before you do, you'll think of that man who has already lost his daughter and is about to lose his wife."

The middle-aged woman bit her pale lips with her white teeth, drawing blood. She seemed oblivious.

Time passed. She didn't pick up the dark dagger, remaining silent like a puppet.

After a long while.

Ye Tong took the silver notes handed to him by the Medicine Slave, grabbed the middle-aged woman's hand, and placed them in hers. He said, "There's a saying in my hometown: 'It's better to live a miserable life than to die a good death.' As long as a person is alive, even if they lose some things, they will gain more. The meaning of living lies in having attachments and hope in life. This silver is the severance pay from the Baishun Merchant Guild and the spoils from the battle. Your child is gone, but you are still young. In the future, you can still have children and grandchildren, and a harmonious family."

"Is that so?" The middle-aged woman's eyes were filled with pain and confusion.

In the early morning, sunlight bathed the earth, dispelling the night's chill.

With the clear cry of the Dragon Lion Eagle, a transparent light shield enveloped everyone on its back, flying towards the direction of Zifu County's prefectural city. The middle-aged woman was still alive, and she insisted on bringing her daughter's corpse, even though she paid a thousand taels of Blue Silver for it.

"Sigh!"

Ye Tong sat down cross-legged. He had firmly refused the middle-aged woman's offer to give him all the silver notes.

On the last day of the third month, the Dragon Lion Eagle landed at the edge of a forest ten miles away from the south gate of the prefectural city. This was a small market, separated from the main city of the prefectural city by a four-mile open area.

At the south city gate.

A hundred armored guards exuding a killing aura were present. Inside a simple wooden shed, Fu Tianlong sat in a chair, his gaze sharp. He scanned the market direction. If one looked closely, they could see a hint of anticipation in his eyes. He was the valiant War Dragon General of Zifu County and the foremost fierce general under the Zifu County King.

Five days ago, Fu Tianlong led twenty thousand elite soldiers to victory against the wolf soldiers of the Luoyan Empire's border, returning in triumph. The scene then was filled with firecrackers and drums; he was the triumphant hero.

However, the very next morning, he donned the armor of a city gate guard and appeared at the south city gate. Everyone couldn't understand why the foremost fierce general of Zifu County, the War Dragon General, would become a mere gate guard.

"Crack..."

The teacup Fu Tianlong had just picked up fell to the ground and shattered. His burly figure abruptly stood up, his eyes bursting with unbelievable light.

In his vision, the middle-aged woman covered in blood was his wife, and cradled in the middle-aged woman's arms was his daughter.

"Junlan..." a low roar escaped Fu Tianlong's mouth. Gripping the hilt of his sword, he transformed into a swift arrow. As the hundred elite city guards simultaneously drew their swords, he charged towards his wife and daughter hundreds of meters away.

"Sigh!"

A faint sigh came from the Medicine Slave.

Ye Tong stood dozens of meters behind the middle-aged woman, quietly watching the reunion of the couple. A dull ache resonated in his heart. He took another step, and amidst Fu Tianlong's roar, he brushed past them and entered the south gate of the prefectural city with the crowd.

Faintly.

The calls of the iron-blooded man and the woman's cries still echoed in his ears.

Ye Tong took a deep breath, clearing the distracting thoughts from his mind. He looked at the magnificent city before him and murmured, "So, this is the prefectural city?"