Foreign Lands

"Could one of you tell m-this official about the situation here?"

Fang Weiyan took a deep breath. He had originally meant to say "me," but it seemed he was already a county magistrate now, so there was no need to be so polite.

He hurriedly changed his wording as the words reached his lips.

"Y-your lordship."

An old man who still had a little strength stepped forward and said shakily, "If there is anything your lordship wishes to ask, please ask this old man."

"Why don't you sit down and have some water first, sir? We can take our time."

Seeing the state he was in, Fang Weiyan was somewhat worried about his health.

After speaking, he looked around. When he spotted a well in the distance, he immediately prepared to go draw some water for the old man.

"Your lordship, you mustn't! Demons have polluted that well. It's full of Yin Baleful Qi. Drinking it can kill you!"

The townspeople beside him paled in alarm at the sight, and the old man beside him spoke up repeatedly.

The water was poisoned?

Fang Weiyan's brow twitched at those words. Why did he feel that this world was growing more and more dangerous?

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. "What about the Land God? Can't he even let you have a drink of water?"

Fang Weiyan was somewhat speechless. If they could not drink from this well, wouldn't life be even harder for the townspeople?

Everyone fell silent for a moment at his words. After exchanging glances, they all sighed. "The Land God himself has little divine power left. We can't blame him."

Helpless, Fang Weiyan was about to ask where they fetched their water so he could get some for the old man.

But the next moment, a dim, murky light glimmered beside the well.

"The Land God has manifested!"

At the sight, the townspeople cried out in surprise. They could no longer even remember how long it had been since the Land God last manifested.

Hearing the commotion, Fang Weiyan peered into the well. After a moment's thought, he drew up a bucket of water.

The water he drew was clear and transparent. It did not look poisonous.

"Is this water safe to drink now?"

Still somewhat uneasy, Fang Weiyan asked the crowd.

Everyone nodded in unison.

Seeing this, Fang Weiyan distributed the water among them. After drinking, several of them hurriedly thanked him over and over.

"Tell me about the town's current situation."

Fang Weiyan had several elderly men sit down. He wanted to hear about the town's general circumstances.

After an old man gave him a brief account, Fang Weiyan more or less understood the situation in the town.

But as he listened to the old man's account, his expression grew increasingly complicated.

This world seemed even more dangerous than he had imagined.

The townspeople had originally lived and worked in peace and contentment, but at some unknown point, the Jiang Kingdom had begun to decline.

Yes, the dynasty he was currently in was called the Jiang Kingdom. It had lasted 218 years-over two centuries.

A dynasty that reached this stage had generally already entered its decline.

And as the saying went, when a nation was about to fall, monsters were sure to appear.

This place was already teeming with monsters. Now that it had entered such an era, it was truly a wild dance of demons.

As the dynasty declined, the City Gods, the underworld's lesser ghosts, and the like weakened along with it.

When a dynasty began to decline, it was still the common people who suffered.

Under such circumstances, the common people could no longer live well, and the incense offerings they provided could not satisfy minor gods such as the City Gods.

As the Power of Incense Offerings deteriorated, these minor gods' divine power began to weaken, leaving them increasingly unable to protect the common people.

And as the common people suffered ever worse harm from demons, the Power of Incense Offerings grew increasingly insufficient.

As this cycle continued, things had now reached the point where the Dao waned and evil flourished.

The Evil Dao ran rampant, while the Divine Dao showed no manifestations.

The gentry of Linbei County had all fled to large cities by now.

Things were a little better in the large cities at present. At the very least, underworld authorities such as the City Gods had some reserves, unlike Linbei County, which had declined so quickly.

Most of the common people who remained had stayed because they could not bear to part with their fields here.

If they left, they would die before long anyway.

Besides, there were so many demons along the roads.

From these common people, Fang Weiyan also heard of quite a few other kingdoms.

But almost all of them were demon kingdoms. For example, there was the Yaksha Kingdom, whose yakshas were tall and ferocious, with teeth like sharp halberds and long hair covering their bodies.

Overseas, there was also the Eastern Dragon Kingdom. They were called dragons, but were actually long snakes. The island they inhabited enjoyed springlike weather all year round. He heard that the female snakes there liked to transform into beautiful women and make love with humans.

There was also the Merfolk Kingdom-fish people, in other words. The males were warlike and liked attacking passing merchant ships.

There was also the Kingdom in the Clouds up in the sky, inhabited only by fairy maidens. These fairies could weave clouds and favored mortal men, but there had been no news of the Kingdom in the Clouds for a long time.

Having learned so much all at once, Fang Weiyan could not quite digest it all. He stood to one side and pondered for a long while.

Only then did he manage to absorb some of what he had learned.

First was the Power of Incense Offerings. From what the common people said, minor gods needed enough Power of Incense Offerings to maintain their divine power.

At this, Fang Weiyan thought of his main world. His world had over a billion people.

If everyone offered a stick of incense together, would the Land God ascend straight to heaven in broad daylight?

The problem, however, was that getting everyone in the main world to offer incense seemed far more than a little difficult.

That was what Fang Weiyan thought, but he did not know that the Power of Incense Offerings also had different grades.

The country in his world was prosperous and flourishing. How formidable would the Power of Incense Offerings it condensed be? If over a billion people truly offered incense together...

The thought alone of such terrifying Power of Incense Offerings was frightening.

Apart from this, he had also heard of quite a few other demon kingdoms. There were a great many of them.

Simply put, the human kingdoms were almost completely surrounded by these demon kingdoms.

How terrifying was it? The fact that they knew of more than a dozen demon kingdoms alone was enough.

Farther afield, there were places no one had ever set foot in, and they had no idea what those places were like.

Humanity merely held on to a corner of the world.

Fang Weiyan rubbed his brow and looked at the common people present, all of whom had been reduced to skin and bones.

After some thought, Fang Weiyan said, "Please wait a moment, everyone. This official brought some grain earlier, and it is still outside. I'll fetch it and make some porridge for you."

There was still half a sack of rice at home. He could bring half a sack and cook some thin porridge to share among these people, keeping them from starving to death for the time being.

And these people had been starving for a long time, so some liquid food would be good for them.

With that thought, Fang Weiyan left, returned to the main world, and brought back half a sack of rice.

When Fang Weiyan appeared before the common people carrying the rice, everyone's eyes turned green at the sight of the rice on his back.

Fang Weiyan called everyone over, had them bring out several pots, and then lit fires beneath each.

After pouring some rice into each pot, all that remained was to wait for the porridge to cook.

The children in the distance stared eagerly into the pots, swallowing from time to time, their filthy faces filled with longing.

When the fragrance of the thin porridge drifted from the pots, Fang Weiyan heard the swallowing grow louder.

Once the porridge was cooked, Fang Weiyan glanced at the thin gruel with its sparse scattering of rice grains and ladled out a bowl for everyone.

There was hardly any rice visible in the bowls, only clear water.

Yet even so, those who received the thin porridge carefully set their bowls down first, then knocked their heads against the ground three times before Fang Weiyan.

Almost all the common people before him were much older than Fang Weiyan. He watched these people, old enough to be his uncles or grandfathers, knock their heads loudly against the ground before him.

In that instant, Fang Weiyan's heart clenched, and he was filled with a bitter, complicated feeling.

There was hardly any rice to be seen in a whole bowl of the porridge he had given them...