Ye Fan Goes to the City to Buy Supplies

"Time to eat!" Xiao Ke'er struck the wooden bucket with a ladle to let everyone know. Beads of sweat had formed on her forehead; cooking was clearly no easy job.

Though it was hard work, Xiao Ke'er was happy to be able to do something for the villagers. Most importantly, the man she loved was there too!

The villagers put down their work at the call, washed up briefly, and prepared to eat. They had been busy all morning, and their stomachs had long since started rumbling.

"Ke'er cooked today? Then we're in for a treat!"

"Everyone in the village knows Ke'er's cooking is much better than my wife's. We'd better all eat our fill today!" The speaker was Chen Dongqing, the old village chief's eldest nephew. Judging by his looks, he was probably in his forties or fifties.

"Damn you, Dongqing, you bastard! Finally telling the truth, are you? My cooking isn't good, but haven't you eaten it your whole life? And now you're standing there yapping! If you don't want to eat, throw your bowl and chopsticks away!"

"Ha ha!"

The villagers gathered around to watch and laugh at them. Of course, it was all good-natured teasing! Chen Dongqing and his wife got along very well. Apart from Ye Fan's parents, they could be considered a model family in Hundred Stars Village.

Xiao Ke'er's cheeks flushed slightly, and she protested in a soft voice, "Uncle Chen, don't make fun of me. I only helped today! Auntie Chen was still the one who cooked!"

"With Ke'er helping, this meal is bound to be different. I know perfectly well what your auntie's cooking is like!" Chen Dongqing muttered as he walked past Xiao Ke'er with his wooden bowl.

"Come on, wife, fill my bowl up!" Chen Dongqing cried over his wooden bowl as he spoke to his wife.

"Didn't you say you didn't like my cooking? Then don't eat! Go do whatever you need to do! Shoo, shoo, shoo..." Auntie Chen continued to tease her husband.

"Ha ha, Dongqing's chickened out!" One villager held his bowl without any hurry to eat, watching the show from the side.

"Shoo, shoo, shoo! Liu Er, I bet you're no better off than me at home! Last time you let that horsetail-striped pig get away, didn't your wife keep you out of the house for days? Ha ha..."

The villagers burst into laughter!

Ke'er laughed until she swayed like a flower in the breeze!

"All right, everyone, hurry up and eat!" Auntie Chen said. "What wife doesn't lose her temper now and then? It's your good fortune!"

"Ha ha, Auntie Chen's right!"

Once the fooling around was over, Auntie Chen took the first bowl of food to the old village chief. She found a simple table and chair for him and set everything out, then returned to the stove to serve the villagers.

"It's not that I don't want to give everyone more food. We really can't keep the pot boiling! We've been on the road for a month, with nothing coming in and everything being used up! In a few more days, we'll probably be drinking the northwest wind!"

Indeed, they had been traveling in wind and dust all the way, using up a great deal of supplies. Water was easy enough to find, but food was another matter. They had not had much dry food to begin with when they left the mountains, and most of it had been dried beast meat. If they did not find a way to get grain soon, even getting by would become a problem!

The old village chief, who was eating alone, put down his bowl and chopsticks and said to Auntie Chen, "Xiangxiu, don't worry. A few of us old fellows talked it over yesterday. If everyone brings out the travel money they have on hand, we can buy enough grain and seeds in Sunset City to hold out for a while! I've saved up some over the years too. It isn't much, but it'll do in an emergency!" Xiangxiu, Chen Dongqing's wife, was a Fan by birth. She was from Mang Village, and her parents had died young. Years ago, she met Chen Dongqing when he came to Mang Village to barter for grain. The two secretly developed feelings for each other, and she later followed him to Hundred Stars Village. She had been there for nearly thirty years since!

"Old village chief, my family has a little loose silver left. I'll go get it in a bit!"

"I've got some too. I hid a little behind my wife's back! Ha ha, I'll bring it all out today!"

"Well, well! You heartless bastard, you actually dared to hide a private stash behind my back! Just wait and see how I deal with you later!" In truth, the woman knew all about his private stash; she simply said nothing. He was a man, after all. What was wrong with letting him keep a little money? It wasn't as if he could spend it anyway. Though the woman was fierce, she understood the bigger picture.

"Ha ha~ Chen Dazhu, look at you! You've even learned to hide a private stash!"

The old village chief was smiling too. He was the happiest of all to see the villagers united.

A private stash? Should I let Brother Fan hide a little private stash in the future? Xiao Ke'er thought, as if possessed.

Holding their bowls, the villagers found places wherever they could, some squatting and some standing, and wolfed down their food.

Auntie Chen still tipped the food from her own bowl into Chen Dongqing's. "Eat more," she said. "I'm not hungry!"

After eating, the villagers gathered and handed over their personal savings. Xiao Changlin kept the accounts; all of it would have to be paid back later! The villagers themselves had not intended to ask for repayment, but they could not get around the old village chief's stubbornness.

When the tally was complete, the old village chief took a small, well-worn beast-hide pouch from his robe and handed it to Xiao Changlin. "Changlin, this is my share. Don't put it in the accounts!" Before Xiao Changlin could reply, the old village chief turned and left.

Sunset City was half a day's journey away, and there was a bit too little time to go today. They would have to wait until early the next morning.

After handing over their savings, everyone went back to clearing the ruins. If they could build the village a day sooner, the villagers would suffer a little less, wouldn't they?

"Brother Fan, come here!" As the villagers left one after another, Xiao Ke'er, who was cleaning the stove, called Ye Fan over.

"Hmm? Ke'er, what is it?" Ye Fan walked over to the stove.

Xiao Ke'er furtively took out a bundle and handed it to Ye Fan. "These are my own dry rations. I couldn't finish the flatbreads. You ate so little today; you didn't get enough, did you? Here, take them. One for you and one for my big brother!" Like a thief, Xiao Ke'er looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, she said, "Brother Fan, hurry along. I need to get back to work! Don't forget to eat them!"

That girl was always trying to save the good things for others.

Ye Fan did not stand on ceremony. He took the bundle and went to find Xiao Feng. "That guy definitely didn't get enough to eat!"

Time flew like a white steed glimpsed through a crack. In the blink of an eye, the next day arrived.

Today was the day to go shopping in Sunset City. The people going had been notified the night before: a few young men, Ye Fan, Xiao Feng, Chen Tian, and Chen Dongqing's son, Chen Yunye, led by Xiao Changlin. Xiao Changlin had once lived outside the mountains and knew more about the outside world than the other villagers, making him a very suitable choice.

Early in the morning, just as the sky began to lighten, the five-man party set out.

They had been busy moving the village lately, and Ye Fan had been eating and living alongside the villagers, so he had not had a chance to study the Water Spirit Art. The technique had been circulating on its own for some time now. Ye Fan only felt that his whole body was full of strength, but he felt nothing else.

"Looks like I need to find some time to study it properly."

Xiao Changlin walked in front, while the four young men followed behind, pushing two wheelbarrows.

At that moment in Sunset City, government soldiers were posting conscription notices.

"Conscription? Is the Wu Kingdom attacking again?"

"Even if they attack, they can't reach us here. The Severed Heaven Mountain Range blocks the Wu Kingdom completely! What, can they fly over? I'm afraid they'd get swallowed by fierce beasts if they flew into the Endless Mountains!"

"Exactly. If the Wu Kingdom really wants to send troops, they can only come through Wuling City. We'll be fine here, so don't worry!"

"Maybe they're just replacing soldiers. Haven't they recruited in previous years too? What's there to make such a fuss about..."

The notices posted by the soldiers did not cause much of a stir among the villagers.

But how could they have known that, the previous evening, an army of thirty thousand had quietly set out...?