Saibei, Six Months Behind on Pay

After the soldiers defending the city finished dealing with the aftermath, every one of them looked pale and sickly. It was not from fright, but from hunger.

Tiange Pass had been emptied of everything edible.

The remaining two hundred or so men were truly at the end of their ropes from hunger.

However, intimidated by Lu Xingshi's staggering combat strength, they could only endure it.

For the time being, they would not starve to death.

Lu Xingshi noticed this, so he brought over some food.

"Eat something first." As Lu Xingshi spoke, he dragged over a huge amount of food and fruit juice. He knew that he might not be able to explain where the food had come from.

But with his current strength, did he need to explain?

Whoever dared ask, all he had to do was tell them to eat and shut their mouths. They would surely obediently keep quiet instead of getting to the bottom of it.

Once one had strength, many unreasonable things that once needed to be carefully concealed could simply be ignored.

Otherwise, why had he worked so hard to cheat and modify things? Was it so he could continue living in fear? What was the point of cheating, then? He might as well return to the management game and keep being its petty emperor.

The city-defending soldiers stared dazedly at the food: chicken, duck, fish, and meat cooked in ways they had never seen before; refined staples such as white-flour steamed buns, rice, and noodles; and even wine stored in transparent glass containers. Forget them—even the commander-in-chief might not get to enjoy such things.

"My lord... is all this for us?" The leading soldier swallowed hard.

"Yes." Lu Xingshi did not waste words. He grabbed a roast chicken, sat down, and began tearing into it. Then he said, "Eat. What are you standing around for?"

Seeing this, the soldiers rushed over in a scramble.

"Line up. Keep order. There's enough for all of you," Lu Xingshi barked when he saw how disorderly they were.

The soldiers immediately behaved themselves and lined up to collect food.

They all wolfed it down. They had gone hungry for several days, so naturally they could not spare a thought for manners, especially when this food was incomparably delicious to them.

Lu Xingshi did not have much appetite for fine food. He was only eating to set an example.

After everyone had eaten a serving and had something in their stomachs, they finally began to slow down.

"By the way, you don't know about the Golden Crow?" Lu Xingshi asked curiously. This world had Bearmen, wolves, and corresponding legends about Bei.

"Don't know..." A soldier sitting near Lu Xingshi shook his head.

"What about Bei?" Lu Xingshi asked again.

The man still did not know.

Lu Xingshi then mentioned several other terms, such as Taotie and the Vermillion Bird, but no one knew of them either.

"My lord, you should ask scholars or those Great Heroes about such things. We're just a bunch of common soldiers. How would we know any of that?"

"A good man doesn't become a soldier, much less come to the borderlands. We're only here to scrape together a meal," one soldier said mockingly of himself.

Hearing this, Lu Xingshi understood. They did not know because they had never come into contact with such knowledge. It was the same on the Barbarian side. They were still struggling to survive in the Gobi Desert, with even food being a problem. Where would they find the leisure to concern themselves with such matters?

In this era of the Great Song Dynasty, being a soldier was the lowest of origins.

The highest path was naturally studying and entering officialdom. As the saying went, "A true man is one who sings out as top scholar beyond Donghua Gate."

While ruling the military through civil authority, they also valued literature over martial arts. Studying was the best way to break through one's class.

However, some people had seen the flaws in this, such as Prince of Liao. He intended to return the Great Song Dynasty to its former age of abundant martial virtue.

That was why he had been able to gain the support of all Saibei.

As for whether he would succeed, Lu Xingshi did not know. His understanding of the Great Song Dynasty Court was limited. However, one thing was certain: the rules established by the Civil Officials still hung around Prince of Liao's neck. If Prince of Liao could not break free of them, the chances of death would be high.

"I heard you haven't been paid?" Lu Xingshi asked again.

"Half a year. We haven't received pay for half a year already," the soldier said with a sigh.

"Has no one been paid, or just you?" Lu Xingshi continued.

There were two possibilities for not having money to pay the soldiers. One was that the Great Song Dynasty had no money, but that possibility was so small it could be ignored. The Great Song Dynasty was highly developed in culture and commerce, and it was genuinely prosperous. There was no way it lacked money; Lu Xingshi could see that from his journey from the Central Plains to Saibei.

Thus, the second possibility was greater: someone had intercepted the funds.

Lu Xingshi did not know who had done it, though Prince of Liao was suspicious. It was precisely because Saibei had not paid its soldiers that he had been able to seize control of it so quickly.

"No one has. It's as though the entire Saibei has been forgotten by the court," the soldier said.

"All right. There's nothing I can do about that either." Lu Xingshi had food and drink, but no money.

The management game did produce mineral resources, but whether raw materials or processed goods, minerals sold for more than ordinary agricultural products. So Lu Xingshi had been saving them to sell.

Food was worth relatively little, so it did not matter if he took some out.

He needed to stockpile the minerals.

"My lord, were you sent by the court?" the soldier asked cautiously.

This drew the attention of quite a few people. They were trying to learn Lu Xingshi's identity.

"No. My master is Murong Xuan. He hasn't returned for three months, and there's been no news from him, so I came to take a look." Lu Xingshi did not hide it.

"So you are the distinguished disciple of Great Hero Murong." Some soldiers knew of Murong Xuan, though only to that extent. They knew nothing more.

"Not distinguished at all, not at all." Lu Xingshi was very modest. Then he glanced over the mess covering the ground.

All the food had been eaten. These soldiers had quite the appetite, and not a single bite remained.

"Clean this up. Leave some men on rotation to stand guard, and the rest of you go get some sleep." With that, Lu Xingshi rose and left.

He had no way to interfere in the affairs of these border soldiers. They were all registered. If they fled and became Deserters, they would be executed upon capture. Even if they were not immediately executed, the punishment would still be extremely severe.

Everyone watched Lu Xingshi's departing back, wanting to speak but hesitating.

They had been thinking of pledging themselves to Lu Xingshi. Setting everything else aside, with good food and drink, plus Lu Xingshi's strength, their prospects would be bright.

However, Lu Xingshi had no such intention at all. He did not intend to build a faction.

To him, the entire world was a real game with no possibility of loading a previous save, and every NPC was a living, breathing person. As a modern man, he seemed somewhat out of place.

If he truly had a faction, he would have to consider its development as well, perhaps even become its nanny.

Now was different. He could show a little kindness and help them for a while without having to worry about what came afterward.

He had already shown them kindness. They could not possibly expect him to take responsibility as well, could they? Kindness was judged by deeds, not intentions. If good deeds were done, then what did it matter whether one gained fame through them or acted kindly for the sake of doing good?

A good person could not be expected to live with a gun pointed at their head.