Wusheng Sect Runs Out of Grain!

Reality.

Centipede Mountain.

Dawn arrived, and the sky had begun to brighten.

Chen Jichuan opened his eyes and saw that Chen Shaohe was already awake, his eyes wide as he kept watch over their surroundings.

"Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"

Even at night, even while in the Great Yan World, Chen Jichuan would emerge from time to time to check the surroundings. Only after making sure there was no movement would he return to Great Yan. The previous time he had come out had been half a month ago in Great Yan—only half an hour ago in reality.

At that time, Chen Shaohe had not yet awakened.

"I've slept enough."

"I was keeping watch for Fourth Brother, in case someone sneaked up on us."

Seeing that his fourth brother was awake, the vigilance and sternness faded from Chen Shaohe's face. He flashed Chen Jichuan a grin.

Only then did he stand and stretch his limbs, stiff from sitting through the night. Earlier, he had feared waking Fourth Brother, but now there was no need to worry.

"Not bad."

"It's good to be careful."

Chen Jichuan nodded.

His consciousness was in Great Yan, but the slightest rustle in reality would still reach his senses at once. Chen Shaohe did not need to stand guard for him. Still, Chen Jichuan approved of such cautious vigilance. Even if it was useless effort, he would not dampen Chen Shaohe's enthusiasm.

Having received praise.

Having received approval.

Chen Shaohe immediately beamed. "Fourth Brother, are we setting out now?"

Chen Jichuan looked at the sky.

The sun had yet to rise and the moon had yet to set, but the horizon was already bright enough to see the road without difficulty. "We leave now."

Centipede Mountain stretched for forty or fifty li.

That was the straight-line distance.

Within the mountains, with peaks rising and falling, the actual route was surely more than one hundred and fifty li.

Yesterday, they had first run thirty or forty li. Then they had changed clothes, washed away the grime, shaved their heads, and run another thirty-odd li. By that count, they only had half the distance left before they could escape Centipede Mountain.

Seventy or eighty li.

For Chen Jichuan, who practiced the Land-Flying Technique and could run a hundred li in one breath, it was nothing. Even carrying Chen Shaohe, he had Origin Force to restore his stamina and did not fear exhaustion.

"Come."

"Get on."

Chen Jichuan did not waste words. Rising to his feet, he took the Goose-Wing Saber at his side in hand, then crouched before Chen Shaohe and let him climb onto his back.

"Okay."

Chen Shaohe picked up a Goose-Wing Saber as well and lay across his fourth brother's back.

He knew.

With his own strength, he had no right to worry whether he would tire out Fourth Brother. Both brothers understood that between exhaustion and death, the former was not worth mentioning.

They ran once more.

Along the way.

Chen Jichuan used the Foot-Shooting Technique to kick flying stones, killing a wild boar and two hares. After finding a stream, they roughly prepared the meat. Chen Shaohe lit a fire, and the brothers ate their fill before continuing on.

From dawn to morning.

From morning to noon.

Other than when they ate, Chen Jichuan ran at full speed the entire time. Just after noon, he had crossed seventy or eighty li of mountain terrain and reached the edge of Centipede Mountain.

After leaving the mountains.

Mausoleum-Building County lay to the west, while Reason-Settled County lay to the east.

"Yangshuo County."

Chen Jichuan went neither west nor east, continuing north instead.

Gradually, they came across scattered villages and lone country folk. Most of the villages stood empty, and the villagers had fled without a trace.

Yongfeng and Liding County had relatively hot climates and abundant waterways, so two crops of rice were commonly grown each year. It was not long after the summer harvest. By all rights, there should not have been so many villagers fleeing.

Chen Jichuan carried his doubts as he ran with Chen Shaohe on his back.

All along the way.

Some were families of more than ten, some entire villages of dozens. Each carried bundles on their backs, their faces full of misery as they hurried north.

"Fourth Brother."

"I saw so many empty villages along the road, and so many rice paddies. Why aren't these people staying in their villages?"

Chen Shaohe asked curiously from Chen Jichuan's back.

They had fields and land.

Why run around blindly?

"Bandits pass through like a comb, soldiers pass through like a rake, officials pass through like a razor."

"Reason-Settled County has just gone through a great battle. These people suffered calamity and can only leave their homes behind."

Chen Jichuan had some guesses.

Judging from the fields along the way, this year's harvest had been quite good. Yet these people were still abandoning their fields and land to flee. Most likely, they had suffered through the ravages of war.

In the past, the soldiers of Great Chu had dirty hands.

Now.

What better could be expected of armies formed from peasant rabble like the Wusheng Sect and Li River Gang?

"Dog bastards!"

"They only know how to ruin people's lives!"

The moment Chen Shaohe heard this, he understood and cursed aloud.

Little did he know.

The Chen Family, once feared like tigers by others, had been no different from these "bandits," "soldiers," and "officials."

Chen Jichuan knew it clearly.

He shook his head.

Avoiding those people, he continued onward.

"Fourth Brother."

"Aren't we going to ask them about what's happening outside?"

Chen Shaohe held it in silently for a while before finally asking.

It was not easy to encounter people. This was the perfect chance to ask about the changes outside Black Prison over the years. Why avoid them instead?

"We'd stand out too much."

"These people are obviously families, and even the larger groups are from the same village. They all know one another well. If two unfamiliar faces like us went up and asked questions, they wouldn't pay us any mind. They might even drive us away."

Chen Jichuan had naturally thought of what Chen Shaohe could think of.

He simply thought further ahead.

They had been cut off from the world in Black Prison for six years. It was necessary to find someone and learn about the outside world. But whom they asked mattered.

Besides being wary of the issue of unfamiliar faces, they needed to find people with broad knowledge.

These country folk likely knew very little.

It would be best to find people from the county seat, perhaps even those who could read and write. Only then could they learn much genuine and useful information.

Chen Jichuan traveled light.

Even with Chen Shaohe on his back, he moved quickly.

They passed quite a few refugees along the way.

Near evening, they finally encountered a scattered gathering of refugees. After watching for a while, they noticed that the people stood in twos and threes or groups of five and six, all somewhat distant from one another. Clearly, they were not acquainted.

"This is the one!"

Chen Jichuan set Chen Shaohe down. The brothers pretended not to know each other and mingled into the group one after the other.

"Brother Zhang."

"Come have a bite with us?"

Bao Zhongliang called out to the "Zhang Liao" some distance away.

It was not out of kindness.

His large household had left in a hurry and brought plenty of rations, but their mouths had long since tasted nothing but bland food. Seeing that "Zhang Liao," who had joined the group later, carried two pheasants he had found somewhere, Bao Zhongliang drooled with greed. Then, seeing him look around in uneasy embarrassment, his eyes rolled, and he beckoned to "Zhang Liao."

"Ah—"

"All right, thank you so much."

Feigning delight, Chen Jichuan ran over to Bao Zhongliang's household and scratched his head with a foolish grin. "I lost my tinderbox on the road. I hunted these pheasants, but I have no way to cook them."

As he spoke.

He raised the two pheasants in his hand.

"Heh."

"What's the trouble? Meeting is fate. Come, bring Brother Zhang a bowl and chopsticks."

Bao Zhongliang called for a sturdy maid to bring Chen Jichuan a bowl and chopsticks, then filled a bowl to the brim with rice and laid several pieces of salted meat over it. Looking ashamed, he said, "Out here in the wilderness, we only have salted meat to make do with. Brother Zhang, please don't mind."

"Not at all, not at all."

Chen Jichuan hurriedly waved his hands. Then, as though feeling embarrassed, he quickly brought out the two pheasants and said, "Brother Bao, why don't you stew these two chickens too?"

"Oh my."

"How could we possibly accept that?"

Bao Zhongliang said it was embarrassing, yet secretly gave a look to the household maid.

"In this summer heat."

"If these pheasants aren't eaten, they'll spoil. What a waste that would be."

The maid laughed as she accepted the two pheasants. "Wait here, Brother Zhang. I'll boil some water and stew them for you right away."

"All right, all right."

"Thank you, Auntie."

Chen Jichuan sneered inwardly, though he still wore a foolish expression. Taking the bowl of rice, he bashfully began shoveling it into his mouth.

While wolfing it down.

He also observed Bao Zhongliang's household.

They called themselves a household.

In truth, there was only Bao Zhongliang himself. Besides him, there were two sturdy maids and two brawny men. The former were household servants, while the latter were guards.

Bao Zhongliang was rather plump. Though he dressed ordinarily, it was clear he did so deliberately.

Wealth should not be displayed.

"Where is Brother Zhang from? Are you heading north too?"

Seeing Chen Jichuan eat with his head down, Bao Zhongliang made conversation.

"Yes."

"My family was originally from Yongfeng. We moved to Jianling a few years ago. My parents have both passed away, and I'm the only one left. Jianling is at war now. I'm afraid of dying, so I want to hide in the north."

Chen Jichuan looked like someone without a shred of guile.

Whatever Bao Zhongliang asked, he answered.

"Jianling."

"It really is chaotic there. It's good that you left early."

Bao Zhongliang smiled at Chen Jichuan and said proudly, "Not long ago, fighting broke out in Reason-Settled County. I moved everyone in my household to Yangshuo County. If I hadn't been reluctant to part with my two residences in the city, I wouldn't have delayed until now."

"Reason-Settled County was fighting too?"

Chen Jichuan asked.

"It's over."

"The Li River Gang couldn't defeat the Wusheng Sect and withdrew several days ago."

Bao Zhongliang curled his lip.

Chen Jichuan listened with curiosity and asked again, "Since the war is over, why are you still leaving, Brother Bao?"

"You don't know this."

"I used to trade grain in Reason-Settled County. Now that the Wusheng Sect has occupied Reason-Settled County, the grain business has all been taken over by the authorities. They won't let us touch it. If I stayed, wouldn't I be drinking the northwest wind?"

A gleam of shrewdness flashed through Bao Zhongliang's eyes. Then he said to Chen Jichuan, "You're right to head north. The north never lacks grain. It isn't like the south, where the Golden Sun Sect sells grain outward, while the Wusheng Sect is so poor it has to use arrowheads and spearheads to trade for food from the Golden Sun Sect. If you go south, just wait to starve!"

So he dealt in grain.

Chen Jichuan's heart stirred. Hearing Bao Zhongliang's latter words gave him a deeper understanding of the Golden Sun Sect, the Wusheng Sect, and the Li River Gang.

Yet at the same time.

The doubts in his heart only multiplied.

Chen Jichuan knew that the Wusheng Sect had surplus arrowheads and spearheads to sell, after all. With Black Prison, Yantie Ore was simply inexhaustible.

All it consumed was manpower.

And the Wusheng Sect had previously held only three counties. It was understandable that feeding five thousand Martial Victory Army soldiers would leave them short of grain.

But the Golden Sun Sect occupied only Lin Gui County and Complete Righteousness County. Before he entered Black Prison, Chen Jichuan had never heard that those two counties had better harvests than Yongfeng or Mu Transformation County. Where did they get grain to sell to the Wusheng Sect?

"Could they also have a hidden realm like Black Prison?"

Doubts filled his heart.

Worried that he might expose himself.

Chen Jichuan did not rush to ask.

Fortunately, Bao Zhongliang came from a merchant background and was extremely talkative.

Besides, what they were discussing involved no secrets, so Bao Zhongliang paid it no mind. In a broad, careless manner, he said, "Brother Zhang, don't be fooled by how formidable the Wusheng Sect looks now. In my view, without food, it's all bullshit. The Wusheng Sect sits on the Yantie Ore mine and has allied with the Golden Sun Sect, so it can still obtain grain in the short term. But just wait—once the Golden Sun Sect has strong soldiers and sturdy horses and no longer needs the Wusheng Sect, it only has to cut off their food supply. The Wusheng Sect will immediately be left floundering."

The pheasant had finished stewing.

Its fragrance wafted out.

Bao Zhongliang chuckled as he ate, talking endlessly to Chen Jichuan. "If we're talking about lasting power, it has to be the Golden Sun Sect and the Li River Gang. The Golden Sun Sect has a Peach Haven. That land, those fields—squeeze them in one hand and oil comes out. They absolutely never lack grain. The Li River Gang also has an exclusive secret method for making fertilizer. Once it's used, the yield per mu is seventy or eighty percent higher than even first-rate irrigated fields."

Peach Haven.

Fertilizer.

Chen Jichuan listened carefully, muttering inwardly, The Golden Sun Sect's "Peach Haven" may be like the Wusheng Sect's "Black Prison"—both located in another space. As for the Li River Gang's "fertilizer"—

For the moment, Chen Jichuan had no idea what it was.

Bao Zhongliang feasted heartily, his mouth gleaming with grease. Smacking his lips, he said, "People nowadays aren't stupid. Look at them—every household had its grain seized by the Wusheng Sect. So they simply packed up their families and moved to Yangshuo County, saving themselves from going hungry later."

Bao Zhongliang was a Liding merchant.

The others here were also commoners of Reason-Settled County.

A few days ago, the Wusheng Sect and the Li River Gang had fought over Reason-Settled County, just as the summer harvest came in. The Li River Gang had collected the summer tax first. Not long ago, Reason-Settled County changed hands, and the Wusheng Sect came to levy grain again.

Their methods were harsh.

Many households had no surplus grain left. On top of that, rumors had long circulated in Reason-Settled County that the Wusheng Sect was desperately short of food. Those who had originally wanted to remain in Liding could no longer worry about leaving their native soil behind. Gritting their teeth, they all headed north.

The Wusheng Sect.

It won't last.

Thinking of Bao Zhongliang's words, Chen Jichuan shook his head inwardly.

In these troubled times, no matter how much grain one had, it was not as useful as having a hard enough fist. The Wusheng Sect possessed countless arrows and spears. If it lacked food, it could simply go take it.

So long as its decisions were sound enough.

It might not be impossible for it to take down the Li River Gang, even the Golden Sun Sect, and unify Shian Commandery. At that point, with both the Golden Sun Sect's "Peach Haven" and the Li River Gang's "secret formula," the Wusheng Sect might truly have the qualifications to contend for the world.

The Wusheng Sect.

The Li River Gang.

The Golden Sun Sect.

Chen Jichuan listened as he pondered.

He turned to glance once more at the inconspicuous Chen Shaohe not far away. When he turned back, the chicken and broth in the pot had already been completely devoured.

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