Qing Province, Stone County.
This place lay close to Heaven's End Pass and had been occupied by the Yellow Heaven Army years ago. But as the Yellow Heaven Army later swept across the realm and nearly overturned the dynasty itself, its control over this area steadily weakened, at one point existing in name only as it was hollowed out by the deeply entrenched local powers. Only after the Yellow Heaven Army suffered a string of defeats and its main forces withdrew to Qing Province did it reclaim its authority here.
The years of neglect, coupled with the Yellow Heaven Army's earlier slaughter of countless powerful clans, had instead allowed this place to rest and recuperate. Though warfare still raged without cease today, it was far from the main battlefield, and the fighting had not spread here.
In one corner of Stone County stood a blacksmith's shop. Its owner was a burly middle-aged man. There were no apprentices in the shop, only a girl helping with odd jobs. At a glance, they seemed to be father and daughter. Other than that, there was no trace of a mistress of the house.
In these turbulent times, losing one's father, losing one's mother, a wife dying, a son perishing... such things were too numerous to count.
Yet the girl was not thin as withered grass. Her complexion was rosy, and she even had a touch of baby fat. It was clear that this family's life was not bad.
In troubled times, putting flesh on one's bones was a luxury.
"Father, I heard this morning that the Daoist Army suffered a crushing defeat in the Southern Wasteland. Brother went out with the army, and I'm afraid..."
As the girl added firewood to the furnace burning red-hot and strained to pull the bellows, she hesitated