Chapter 125: Go Eat, Go Live

Ah…

Ugh…

Trembling lips, dry and hoarse throat, a face devoid of expression.

Gazing at the distant flames rising into the sky.

The people of Qingniu Town felt as if their throats were burning too.

Unable to utter a clear sound, only pure sobs and pain remained.

Their eyes were filled with despair.

The lower class is the most resilient, hardship often accompanies them throughout their lives. Even when exiled to the borderlands, living next to dangerous demons and monsters, people didn’t feel much.

It was just their already bitter lives becoming a bit more bitter.

Exiled to the borderlands by the Great Qian Dynasty, the people of Qingniu Town didn’t collapse.

Living next to terrifying demons and monsters, the people of Qingniu Town didn’t collapse.

They were like weeds.

Tenaciously rooted in the borderlands, doing everything they could to survive.

But humans are not cold, unfeeling machines. How could they endure hardship without breaking?

At this very moment, in this very place, the people of Qingniu Town finally couldn’t take it anymore. Watching their town burn in the flames, they shed tears of despair and helplessness.

“Brother Xu, my home is gone…”

“My home is gone…”

The dark-skinned man who always used to smile foolishly.

Carrying his elderly mother on his back, he let out a cry he had never made before, crying in pain, crying hoarsely.

That was the place he had lived since childhood.

The place he cherished as beautiful.

Now it’s gone, everything is gone.

A Niu wailed, crying like a child, so helpless and sorrowful.

“Get up, A Niu.”

Xu Xi stepped forward, helping the man steady the old woman, then gently patted his shoulder, meeting his blank, lifeless eyes, and softly said:

“Let’s go.”

“Brother Xu, where are we going?”

“To eat, to live.”

Simple words, carrying immense attraction.

People who have lost everything, who have lost it all, must always move forward.

They were drawn by the words “to eat.”

Involuntarily.

Following that figure as they advanced through the snowstorm.

The girl gazed at this scene for a long time, until the group almost disappeared into the snowstorm, before she finally came to her senses and hurried to catch up.

“Sir, wait for me!”

…

[Qingniu Town has disappeared]

[In the physical sense, burned to ashes by a group of ferocious fire crows]

[You watch the scene of Qingniu Town burning, and then look at the despondent people, deciding to lead them away from the winter borderlands]

[You left]

[The people of Qingniu Town followed you]

[Wu Yingxue once curiously asked you why the people listened to you so obediently, and you denied this claim]

[Eating and living are instincts everyone desires. All you did was guide people in that direction]

[The winter borderlands are plagued by demons, and you encountered them many times. Fortunately, your strength is astonishing, and you managed to stop them every time]

[You decided to lead the people, following the path provided by Wu Yingxue, into the heart of the Thirteen Provinces of the Great Qian Dynasty]

[This is the only way you could think of to allow more people to survive]

[The journey to the exit isn’t long, but that’s only for you and the girl. For the people of Qingniu Town, this snowstorm-filled journey is indeed too long]

[You had to spend more time, increasing your vigilance and attention, to prevent anyone from getting lost along the way]

[Along the way]

[You encountered another town rooted in the borderlands]

[Compared to Qingniu Town, this town was equally tragic, with severed limbs, splattered blood, and collapsed, tilted building ruins everywhere]

[The demons that attacked here had already left, leaving behind an empty, silent town]

[You searched the town, finding no usable supplies, but you did find a few people who had narrowly escaped the demons]

Standing before you.

Could they really be called people?

Tattered clothes, messy and unkempt hair, eyes as hollow as if broken.

“…”

No matter how you called out, there was no response.

Clearly, these people had suffered even more than those from Qingniu Town.

“Yingxue, bring me a piece of jerky.”

The girl quickly handed over a piece of jerky.

It was made from demon meat.

Xu Xi tore it apart bit by bit with his fingers, then wrapped it in Gang Qi and blood energy to heat and soften it, feeding it into the mouths of the survivors.

Feeling the food enter their mouths, they finally reacted, chewing mechanically.

“This world…”

“Really gives no one a way to live.”

Xu Xi sighed.

There are many demons in winter, which means the amount of demon meat also increases, so there’s no need to worry about food for now.

Thus, Xu Xi could generously give food to the survivors.

But more than that.

He couldn’t do anything.

Xu Xi is just an Innate Martial Artist at the Observation of Principles stage.

He can kill demons, and he can kill “people,” but he can’t rebuild collapsed towns, nor can he bring the dead back to life.

“It’s time to move on.”

…

[You gave food to the other survivors]

[There are plenty of food reserves, in the demon-plagued winter, you could even say they are abundant]

[The real difficulty is never the food, but surviving this cold winter]

[What surprised you was]

[Those survivors you gave food to actually stumbled after you, their faces still showing despair and blankness, but the sickles and pitchforks in their hands were so conspicuous]

[They asked where you were going, what you would do in the end]

[Your answer was “to live”]

[You were straightforward, stating that in the end, you might become enemies with the Great Qian Dynasty, with the “adults” everyone fears]

[Some were shocked, calling you a rebellious traitor who would be beheaded by the court’s adults]

[Some were confused, not understanding why living would have anything to do with the Great Qian Dynasty]

[Your answer was simple]

“This world is sick, very sick.”

“The Great Qian is sick, you are sick, that’s why no one can live.”

“What I want to do is cure this sickness, so everyone can live.”

In the howling wind.

In the blizzard.

Xu Xi spoke these words to the survivors who had followed him.

Some seemed to understand, some didn’t understand at all.

Their eyes flashed with confusion and chaos.

A few stayed behind, choosing to remain in the ruined town.

More, holding sickles and pitchforks, joined Xu Xi’s group, for no reason other than feeling that Xu Xi could let them live.