Xu Qing stood calmly and straight at the side. Liu Xiao and Su Changhe were much the same, leading the Patrol Team members in patrols around the area.
If they discovered refugees or disaster victims cutting the line, they naturally went up and kicked them directly.
This time.
Xu Qing was able to observe Jiang Feiying, the eldest daughter of the Jiang family, from up close. She had quite the reputation for kindness in Qingbei Town; throughout the entire town, no one did not know this wealthy young lady, Jiang Feiying.
The reason was simple.
It was because she was kindhearted.
Although Jiang Feiying was born into the Jiang family and was indeed a refined lady from a prominent family, a wealthy young miss, she had none of a wealthy young miss's airs. Moreover, she was softhearted and kind, having helped many poor families in Qingbei Town.
It could be said.
In many people's eyes, Jiang Feiying was a fairy maiden who had descended from heaven. Not only was she beautiful and kindhearted, but she also had no airs whatsoever. Virtually everyone praised Jiang Feiying to the skies.
There was almost not a single flaw to be found in Jiang Feiying.
If one had to name a flaw.
It was probably that she was too perfect.
"..."
Xu Qing was also looking at Jiang Feiying. Today, she was not wearing any lavish silks or brocades, only ordinary clothing. Yet on her, it gave people a dazzling, refreshing feeling.
She personally used a large ladle to fill the broken bowls of the disaster victims with porridge. She wore a gentle smile for every person, as though it could soothe the depths of another's heart.
Buzz! Buzz!
However.
Xu Qing felt his scalp go numb, because after Jiang Feiying had finished distributing porridge and left with her maidservants and household guards, passing by Xu Qing's side.
The Ghost Mask reacted with extreme intensity, to the point that the Shaman Evil Ghost seemed ready to burst out. Such a reaction from the Ghost Mask truly made Xu Qing's scalp tingle.
Xu Qing did not know whether Jiang Feiying had noticed the Ghost Mask's reaction, but she suddenly turned her head, glanced at him, and revealed a gentle smile.
"Thank you for protecting us."
Jiang Feiying said.
"It's no trouble. It's what we should do."
Xu Qing responded swiftly.
"Whew..."
Watching Jiang Feiying's figure vanish from his sight, Xu Qing quietly let out a breath. He looked at the snow whirling through the sky, at the vast earth blanketed in white, at the disaster victims suffering hunger and cold.
All these scenes.
In the end.
Wove together into such a painting—one corner of a painting of a chaotic age about to descend.
It made one sigh with emotion.
Several hours later.
Afternoon.
Xu Qing's shift ended today, and another Patrol Team took over.
Overall.
There were twenty-four hours in a day.
There were nine Patrol Brigades in total.
They rotated through three shifts.
Therefore.
Each patrol shift lasted eight hours.
"Good work."
Xu Qing greeted the Captain of the Patrol Team rotating shifts with him.
"Mm."
That Patrol Team Captain merely nodded.
One had to know.
By the time eight hours had passed and Xu Qing returned to his courtyard, it was already close to evening. He had not even had time to eat a single bite of anything hot when Yu Hu brought over another bowl of beef noodles.
"Master."
Yu Hu called out, "My mother asked me to bring you this bowl of noodles."
"Alright."
Xu Qing smiled. Taking the beef noodles from Yu Hu's hands, he wolfed them down in just a few bites. Wang Cuilan had been quite generous with the ingredients as well.
After finishing the noodles.
Xu Qing began teaching Yu Hu to practice Level 3 Eight Extremities Fist.
Evening.
Yu Hu went home.
"Because of the patrol duties, the time I can spend practicing martial arts each day has suddenly been cut by more than half. And there are still another month or two before this winter passes."
Xu Qing frowned, but soon relaxed. "It's only another month or two. It'll pass quickly."
Eight Extremities Fist!
Boom! Boom!
Inside the courtyard.
Xu Qing continued practicing Eight Extremities Fist.
Late at night.
Outside the town.
The gathering place of countless refugees.
In a single day.
The number of refugees and disaster victims had already reached forty thousand.
One had to know.
Just two days ago, there had only been thirty thousand refugees and disaster victims outside the town. Many of these disaster victims were people from neighboring counties, yet they had all fled here.
The reason was simple.
Qingbei Town had great philanthropists who distributed porridge, while the other counties basically did not care whether these refugees and disaster victims lived or died. Thus, those disaster victims and refugees who wished to survive were like wild wolves that had caught the scent of blood, seeing a sliver of hope for survival.
Naturally, they swarmed over in a flood.
There were still another month or two before winter passed.
By then.
If this situation continued developing, the refugees and disaster victims gathering outside the town would no longer number merely tens of thousands. It was even possible that they would exceed a hundred thousand.
There was also this.
Qingbei Town could no longer stop distributing porridge either.
Because.
These disaster victims and refugees had come here after hearing that Qingbei Town distributed porridge, clutching at their last thread of hope. If Qingbei Town stopped distributing porridge, that final thread of hope would be snuffed out.
One could imagine.
Just how deep a despair these disaster victims and refugees would fall into.
If, taking advantage of this opportunity.
Those demonic Outer Dao practitioners stirred up trouble from within.
Qingbei Town might face the danger of its walls being breached.
For these very reasons, Qingbei Town's County Magistrate was already so overwhelmed that his head was about to burst. He had even written several letters seeking help from above.
Unfortunately.
Those letters sent out were like stones sinking into the sea; there was no response whatsoever from above.
There was another point.
The refugees and disaster victims numbered only tens of thousands for now, but Qingbei Town's yamen was already running out of grain. The Three Great Families were merchants to begin with; they could not possibly empty their family coffers to let these refugees and disaster victims eat and drink for free.
As the refugees and disaster victims grew ever more numerous.
By then.
Even thin porridge, even porridge mixed with small stones and rice husks, would probably not be enough to feed so many disaster victims and refugees.
Therefore.
They had to come up with a solution.
The yamen had summoned the Three Great Martial Arts Schools of the outer town, gathered all factions, and formed Patrol Brigades to maintain order among the disaster victims and refugees. This was merely the first temporary measure.
It treated the symptoms, not the root cause.
The yamen.
"Do you have any good ideas?"
The County Magistrate asked.
"This..."
Those present were all upper-echelon figures in Qingbei Town. They exchanged glances and fell into silence; no one had any good solution.
"Strategist."
The County Magistrate looked toward Advisor Sun Shiwu. "What do you think?"
"This..."
Sun Shiwu frowned. After pondering for a moment, however, he said, "Given the current situation, first, we must stop more refugees and disaster victims from continuing to flood into Qingbei Town."
"Second."
"We must find a way to distribute these refugees and disaster victims among other counties."
"Third."
"We must continue strengthening patrols and prevent the demonic Outer Dao from finding an opening to exploit."
"One must know."
"These refugees and disaster victims are not truly frightening. They are ordinary people, after all, and they are starving until their faces are sallow and their bodies little more than skin and bones. They have no fighting strength at all."
"What is truly frightening are those demonic Outer Dao practitioners, as well as the possible emergence of 'evil entities' and 'strange horrors.'"
"Not bad."
The County Magistrate nodded in relative satisfaction. "The Strategist's analysis makes sense. But what method should we use to stop more refugees and disaster victims from flooding into Qingbei Town? And how should we disperse these refugees and disaster victims among other counties?"
In the end.
They discussed it for an entire night, but failed to come up with any good solution. They could only send people to spread rumors that Qingbei Town would no longer distribute porridge, hoping to use those rumors to reduce the influx of refugees and disaster victims.
Additionally.
The County Magistrate also sent letters to the County Magistrates of several nearby counties, hoping they would take in a portion of the disaster victims and refugees.
The next day.
Xu Qing's patrol shift today differed from yesterday's. Yesterday, it had begun at six in the morning and ended at two in the afternoon.
Today, Xu Qing's patrol shift was in the latter half of the night.
That was, from ten at night until six the next morning.
Late at night.
The area where refugees and disaster victims had gathered.
"..."
After finishing the shift handover with the previous Patrol Team, Xu Qing carried a torch in his hand and patrolled one of the areas along the designated route.
At first.
Nothing happened. When facing Xu Qing and the others, these refugees and disaster victims all behaved with extreme fear. They did not dare offend them at all and were naturally very obedient.
But.
At midnight.
"M-My lord..."
At this moment.
Several disaster victims cautiously approached. Most of them were sallow-faced and emaciated, while some had bloated bellies. This was because they had eaten too much tree bark and Guanyin clay and similar things; unable to digest or expel them, their stomachs had been stretched swollen.
"Mm?"
Xu Qing frowned, originally not intending to pay them any attention.
"What is it?"
However.
Liu Xiao still asked.
"I-It's like this..."
Among them.
The somewhat older disaster victim lowered his head and bowed, having the people behind him help a little girl forward. In a cautious tone, he said, "My lord, p-please look... This is this old man's granddaughter. She only... only needs one... one coarse cake, and she will serve my lord with all her heart and strength."
This little girl was not very old, at most no more than sixteen. Perhaps because she was being traded, she had washed herself quite clean.
Although the little girl was very thin, her features were rather delicate. She truly had some appeal, no wonder she had been brought out for this sort of business.
Originally.
Liu Xiao had intended to tell them to get lost.
"Cough, cough..."
However.
Among these Patrol Team members, several took a liking to the little girl. Moreover, she was simply too cheap—only one coarse cake.
One had to know.
If this were inside the town, say at Spring Breeze Pavilion, finding a girl would cost at least several taels of silver. The difference in price was beyond measure.
Most, most, most importantly.
Although this old man's granddaughter had been starved thin, her features truly were quite good.
"Y-you Captains... you definitely wouldn't be interested in this sort of thing, but our standards are a bit lower, so..."
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"..."
Several people turned to look at Xu Qing and the others.
"Let me give you some advice: you'd better not pull this kind of thing here. If you really can't keep the third leg below under control, go into the city."
Xu Qing said.
"Cough, cough..."
Liu Xiao and Su Changhe coughed lightly.
"My lords, just one coarse flatbread is enough!"
The little old man was still shedding tears of gratitude.
"My lords, consider it an act of charity. Look how badly they've starved."
"Yeah! Yeah!"
"We're doing a good deed!"
"..."
Several of those who had been tempted spoke up.
Before you continue