Chapter 3028

The journey was quite long, but the upside was that the road ahead wasn't blocked. He rested at an inn here for the night and could set off tomorrow morning.

Don't be fooled by the torrential rain outside — the inn's main hall was actually half full. You have to understand, this is just a remote border town, not on any major thoroughfare; travelers are few in normal times, let alone on a rainy day like this.

Fan Shuang had only eaten half his bowl of noodles when another twenty-odd people walked into the inn. They were soaked to the skin, mud caked on their trouser legs, and the moment they entered they asked for the communal bunk. This inn catered to common laborers and provided lodging; a large communal bunk could sleep seventeen or eighteen people.

The inn Shopkeeper didn't even lift his head as he asked them, "You're also from Quo?"

These people all nodded in succession.

Fan Shuang called a waiter over and asked a few questions.

The waiter said, "The northern country is also preparing for war, levying grain and taxes. The people there couldn't take it anymore, so they fled with their whole families.

""

Fan Shuang asked again, "When did this happen?"

"Just the last six or seven days. But their border stops people too, otherwise even more would have come down."

"Preparing for war?"

"That's right, preparing for war." The waiter said it as a matter of course, "Didn't they say the Heavenly Demon is coming down soon? Our Xuan Yi Country has to prepare for war too."

I see.

A once-in-an-era great war is about to begin, and the mortal world is already in turmoil. How could common people possibly stay out of it?

The winds and clouds of the dusty world churn; they are fish in the water. Once the water's temperature or speed changes, they feel it most keenly.

Before long, another batch of guests came in to stay, about seven or eight people, travel-worn, supporting the old and leading the young. Fan Shuang had also traveled far and wide before; one look at the bundles on their backs and he knew they were carrying all their household possessions. This didn't look like a long journey — it looked like they were fleeing disaster.

Further north is Guo; could something have happened in Guo? Fan Shuang found it strange, because at the Wang Ting of Xuan Yi Country, he hadn't heard any such reports.

This family also asked for the communal bunk. Old and young went to settle in, leaving only a husband and wife at the Shopkeeper's counter to pay, while also ordering a dozen steamed buns and a large basin of stewed vegetables.

This so-called "stewed vegetables" is the braised dish often served at inns in Xuan Yi Country. Whatever leftover mixed vegetables and scraps the kitchen has get thrown into a big pot and braised together. It's basically all vegetarian, not a trace of meat to be seen, but the price is extremely cheap — a few coppers buys a large basin.

Interestingly, what the couple produced to pay wasn't money, but two strips of cured meat.

"We really have no money left. These two strips were brought from home; we want to use them to cover the lodging and meal costs."

In this rural place, barter is the norm — after all, not every family has cash. The Shopkeeper took one look at the quality of the cured meat and accepted it. The man turned, his gaze sweeping past the window, and saw Fan Shuang drinking wine; he couldn't help swallowing hard.

This man likes wine.

Fan Shuang's heart stirred, and he beckoned to him: "If you don't mind, I'll buy you a cup. How about it?"

The man was overjoyed: "Really?"

"Really."

Fan Shuang had the waiter bring another wine cup. The man had his wife take the food back to the communal bunk, and he himself walked over and sat at Fan Shuang's table.

He placed both hands on his knees, looking a bit restrained.

As he poured the wine, Fan Shuang sized him up too. The man was in his early forties, sturdily built, skin dark, knuckles thick and large — clearly someone who did heavy labor regularly. Fan Shuang also caught a faint gamey smell coming off him, as if he'd worked in livestock pens for years.

"Judging by your family's fabric, you're not a poor household. Why would you flee to Xuan Yi Country?"

The man grabbed the wine cup, downed it in one gulp, then let out a long breath: "Ah, isn't it because we couldn't survive anymore?"

Fan Shuang specially had a pot of wine brought for him. The man immediately opened up and started talking.

His family in Guo really wasn't poor — they were a breeding household.

Ordinary farming families, besides growing crops, all raise some chickens, ducks, geese, fish. But his family didn't grow grain; they specialized in running livestock pens, raising Long-haired Xi.

"Xi" means big pig; his family were professional pig breeders.

Originally, no one in Guo raised these professionally. They eat a lot, yield little meat, and if you raise too many they easily get sick, catch swine fever — usually farmers just raise a few at home, waiting to slaughter them for New Year's meat, rarely large-scale breeding.

But over the past twenty years, Heaven and Earth's spiritual energy erupted, species in the mortal world changed rapidly, and Guo's Long-haired Xi underwent huge changes: shorter maturation, crazy muscle growth, extremely prolific, and aggression dropped, while the meat became fatty and fragrant.

Although their appetite grew too, in the current spiritual energy density environment, as long as there's no war, where would grain be lacking?

A heaven-sent gift, Guo gladly accepted it. Thus it became a famous local specialty far and wide.

Many places in Tao Country built specialized livestock pens and started breeding Long-haired Xi; later even processed pork products like jerky, cured strips, and salted meat could be exported.

This family seized that opportunity and started breeding fifteen years ago; life flourished day by day. But two months ago, the Ju County authorities in his area suddenly announced the country had entered a war-preparation state, and all localities had to aggressively levy taxes and grain.

This explanation wasn't much different from the previous waiter's. Fan Shuang also knew Tao Country had joined the War Alliance, so of course they had to prepare for the coming great war in the mortal world.

But he rubbed his chin — Tao Country's war-preparation timing seemed a bit early, still before the Between Between Between Beijia internal chaos erupted, and of course before joining the War Alliance.

Logically there's nothing wrong with that — preparing for a rainy day. A small country rarely has such far-sighted vision.

Cang Yan would periodically compile updates on surrounding small countries' movements; Fan Shuang recalled he had indeed seen news of Tao Country increasing grain taxes, but it was just a routine event — compared to chaos worldwide, especially the war erupting in Between Between Between Beijia, it wasn't worth mentioning. He'd glanced over it and didn't take it to heart; presumably Ju City officials were similar.

Besides, fleeing one's homeland to avoid taxes and disaster — for small countries with sparse populations, that's nothing uncommon.

"But what they demanded was simply too much." The man said with a bitter face, "We were actually happy at first — this time they only levied money and grain, didn't conscript soldiers, so our labor could stay home and work. But in just one month the county officials came seven or eight times, and without a word took all our savings of fifteen years. They said we were a major household and should contribute more money to support the country and army in the war. Even the three hundred-plus Long-haired Xi in our pens, whether ready for market or not, they seized the whole lot. Only because my child hid two piglets in the house did they escape collection."

Fan Shuang exclaimed. His family pens could raise three hundred-plus big pigs — that truly was a major household.

Pig breeding is a meticulous trade; it's not just having a plot of land and throwing live pigs in. Feed, ventilation, disease prevention, breeding, birthing — every single aspect has its rules.

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