The air was thick with a mixture of sour stench and decay, while a few children huddled together, fighting over half a piece of moldy bread.
In the distance, someone was sobbing quietly, saying that two more refugees had gone missing during the night—most likely dragged away and eaten by the monsters outside the city.
Watching this scene, Shitou’s eyes suddenly grew hot.
He knew that in these chaotic times, life was as cheap as grass; this was a common sight.
He thought back to himself half a month ago. Had he not met the God, even if he hadn’t ended up in the belly of a snake demon, he would likely be just like these refugees.
He would have been shivering in the cold and hunger, clinging to a final fantasy of entering the city, only to die in despair.
Shitou instinctively reached for the ration bag at his waist, wanting to share his food with those children.
"Don’t go," Hong Ling said, pulling him back. Her voice was calm, though her elegant brows were furrowed.
"If you give them rations now, it will only draw more people to fight over them. If a riot starts, not only will you fail to save anyone, but you’ll also delay the Lord's task."
Hong Ling did not want to cause unnecessary trouble. In her heart, completing the task assigned by the God was the primary objective.
Shitou was stunned, his tone carry a hint of urgency: "But they’re starving to death! We can’t just stand by and watch them die!"
"It’s not standing by and watching," Hong Ling shook her head gently. "We don’t have the ability."
"You only have one bag of rations. How many can you feed? Even if a child gets the rations, can they keep them for themselves in this crowd of refugees?"
Shitou clenched his ration bag tightly, his knuckles turning white.
He wasn't as clever as Hong Ling, nor had he seen as much of the world, but he wasn't stupid. Once Hong Ling pointed it out, he could understand the logic upon careful reflection.
Hunger was a terrifying thing. He didn't have enough food to share with everyone, nor could he constantly protect a child who received food. What kind of end would await a powerless child holding fresh food in a pack of refugees was almost self-evident.
A wave of unspeakable bitterness rose in Shitou’s heart.
He understood the logic, yet it was still hard to remain indifferent.
The Plague Rat lay on Hong Ling’s shoulder, shifting into a more comfortable position. 'Munch, munch, munch. You humans are such a hassle.'
Hong Ling turned her head slightly upon hearing this, her tone respectful. "Does Lord Rat have any wise words?"
'Don’t worry about things that aren’t your business. When we get back, tell... Lord Rat means that your God has His own arrangements.'
The two of them exchanged a glance, agreeing completely with this statement.
"Lord Rat's lecture is correct. Protecting the common people has priorities. The God sent us to Lakeglow Ridge to slay the snake demon precisely to prevent more villages from being slaughtered and more people from becoming refugees!"
The Plague Rat curled its lip and continued gnawing on its dried meat.
It still found it difficult to understand the human psychological urge to help their own kind. The Plague Rat had grown up in a life of slaughter and believed in the law of the jungle; in its bones, it believed the weak had no right to survive and only deserved to be stepping stones for the strong to climb to the throne.
Softhearted? Pity? Sacrifice? Their brains must be broken.
If it weren't restrained by Chen Zhou, how could it have easily agreed to a request to protect the weak?
'Hmph! Damnable evil spirit!'
The Plague Rat gnashed its teeth and took a large bite of meat, vowing to eat him out of house and home!
Hong Ling and Shitou stopped arguing and bypassed a refugee gathering spot, arriving beneath the gates of White Jade City.
Guards stood watch here. The guards of White Jade City had always been cold-hearted; the number of refugees who had died at their hands was greater than those dragged away and eaten by monsters.
Consequently, no refugees dared to cause trouble near the city gates, and they all kept their distance, making the area appear somewhat cleaner than elsewhere.
At this moment, several people were gathered at the city gate, and an occasional suppressed shout could be heard.
The city guards on both sides turned a blind eye to this, having no intention of interfering.
Shitou and Hong Ling looked toward the sound and saw three people wearing massive bamboo hats and white robes with greatswords on their backs. They were surrounding a man who was also dressed in white robes.
The bamboo hats covered half of their heads, and the remaining half of their faces were as pale as if they had been coated in white ash, devoid of any color.
One of them spoke in a stiff tone, sounding like rusting gears turning, without a trace of emotion. "Jian Huaishuang, how do you still dare to come to the city gates?"
The man called Jian Huaishuang kept his head lowered, his eyes as empty as a bottomless old well, saying nothing.
"Weren't you very impressive before?" Another white-robed man stepped forward and shoved Jian Huaishuang’s shoulder, yet he remained motionless.
"The once-in-a-century genius of the Sword Sect, the master’s most beloved disciple, flattered wherever you went. How did you end up such a loser?"
"Your talent is gone, and so is your strength. Why are you even staying in the Sword Sect?" the third person sneered, his voice filled with unconcealed jealousy. "You might as well get out of the Sword Sect sooner and give up the position that doesn’t belong to you. The chief disciple position should naturally be held by the capable."
Shitou and Hong Ling were thus forced to witness a scene of White Jade Sword Sect disciples bullying their fellow sect member.
This caused Hong Ling’s already minimal favorable impression of the White Jade Sword Sect to drop even further.
The area near the city gates was sparsely populated, so the appearance of the two quickly caught the guards' attention.
A guard holding a spear walked over with a frown, his icy gaze sweeping over them. "Where did you refugees come from? Get lost! White Jade City is no place for the likes of you!"
The guard's scolding startled the three white-robed men.
They turned their heads toward the sound, and their lifeless gazes beneath the bamboo hats landed on Hong Ling.
One of them suddenly paused, a mechanical smile actually pulling at his pale face, the corners of his mouth arching upward stiffly. "Is that Junior Sister Hong Ling? I didn't expect to see you here."
Last year, when he had followed his master down the mountain to select disciples, his master had specifically mentioned a girl in Shideng Village with an excellent spiritual root, saying she could formally enter the sect next year when she was of age.
He had seen Hong Ling once from a distance and it had left a deep impression; people whose talent was praised by his master were very rare.
The previous one had been the enviable Jian Huaishuang.
Seeing the three men's softened attitude toward Hong Ling, the guard’s arrogance immediately withered. He sullenly retracted his spear and backed away, pretending to continue his patrol.
He didn't dare provoke people from the White Jade Sword Sect.
Hong Ling bowed to the three of them one by one. Even though she felt disgusted, she still followed etiquette and addressed them as senior brothers.
What she thought in her heart didn't matter; her manners were impeccable.
As the three of them stepped forward to exchange pleasantries, Hong Ling finally got a full look at the man who had been surrounded, named Jian Huaishuang.
Inky hair fell over his shoulders, and his white robes were stained with faint dust. His figure was thin yet upright, and he tightly clutched a giant sword that was half as tall as he was.
That face was pale to the point of being translucent, yet the contours of his features caused Hong Ling’s heart to jump.
It was that senior brother!
Last year, when the envoys of the White Jade Sword Sect came to Shideng Village to select disciples, Jian Huaishuang had been one of them.
Back then, standing among the deathly silent envoy team, although he wore the same white robes as the others, he had lacked that cold numbness and possessed a trace more of a living person's aura.
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