Chapter 959: Mountain Wind City (2)

Holding an oil-paper umbrella and carrying a small bundle, Wu Tie walked slowly through a chaotic refugee camp.

Everywhere were hastily built wooden and grass sheds; materials were scarce, many sheds consisted of just four thin poles supporting a broken roof, barely enough for people to take shelter.

Outside fell a moderate rain, and inside the sheds water dripped steadily.

The streets were full of mud, and inside the sheds muddy water flowed everywhere.

The low-ranking officials of Mountain Wind City, still somewhat capable, had built large centralized latrines in the refugee camp; thus, although the camp was filled with muddy water, at least the water was clean, without piles of filth.

Many refugees who had just entered the city stood blankly in place, or wandered about helplessly.

Those who had already erected shelters and secured a place to stay were like wounded beasts, vigilant and fierce, staring at the newcomers.

Moreover, some sturdy youths carrying clubs formed teams to guard the edges of certain areas, strictly forbidding others from approaching.

Some unruly newcomers had already clashed with the earlier refugees.

The dull thuds of clubs and bricks striking bodies, low wails, and hoarse curses rang from all directions; occasionally came the intermittent cries and coughs of infants, women's weeping, and elders' long sighs.

"What a damned world..." Wu Tie passed a crude wooden shed; inside, on a wooden rack raised over a foot above the ground, an old man with white hair sat, murmuring deliriously.

"We just want to live a peaceful life..."

"Ding ding ding," a clear bell rang from the air, and hundreds of small airships, each several dozen zhang long, slowly flew by at low altitude.

On the airships stood minor officials in blue caps and small hats; expressionlessly they lifted each large lotus-leaf bundle and tossed them down. On the ground, men, women, old and young scrambled to seize the bundles.

Withered soldiers stood on the airships, holding spears and shouting at the refugees on the ground.

"Don't grab, don't grab, everyone will get one."

"Two buns for each able-bodied adult, one each for women, elders, and children… No taking more, no hoarding, no private stashing… Violators will be beheaded!"

"Everyone gets one, don't grab, don't cause chaos… Look at the old and young beside you; having fled here with difficulty, don't let yourself be trampled to death—that would be unjust."

A sturdy newcomer seized a lotus-leaf bundle and pulled out two coarse-grain steamed buns the size of sea bowls.

He looked at the bun in his hand, obviously mixed with a lot of bran and grayish in color, and angrily shouted to the sky: "Is this just fodder for livestock?"

One airship immediately halted; an old soldier missing a hand on the prow pointed at the man and sneered: "Look at your big, burly frame—what's your cultivation?"

The big man stared, then angrily replied: "Late Life Pool Realm—how about that?"

The old soldier laughed, pulled a fist-sized piece of dried meat from his chest pocket, and tossed it down: "Late Life Pool Realm? Hey, not bad… If you want fine food and drink, to eat your fill and enjoy women, come to the army camp."

He pointed his remaining thumb at his own nose and said solemnly: "Mountain Wind City still willing to give you grain to feed this idle lot—already a grace from Prince Le… Want more? Enlist, go fight the demon spawn to the death!"

"Got the guts? Enlist. A demon spawn's head is worth ten thousand spirit crystals—it's a man's true blade and spear to carve a future. Here, chewing buns with a bunch of women and old men, aren't you feeling stifled?"

The sturdy man stared, then suddenly opened his mouth, shoved the piece of dried meat in, and began chewing loudly.

He casually shoved the two sea-bowl-sized buns into the arms of an old man nearby and roared: "Just go, what's there to fear? I've already died once… Hey, hey, hey, my whole family is dead—I'll go fight the demon spawn to the death!"

"Brothers who bear grudges against the demon spawn, go all out, go all out!"

The sturdy man's eyes slightly reddened, and he ran wildly toward a relatively sturdy small wooden tower in the distance.

Before the wooden tower stood a flagpole; a flag soaked by rain fluttered weakly in the wind.

On the flag, written in black ink, were the three large characters "Recruitment Office."

Such small recruitment towers numbered about a hundred in the vast refugee camp.

As those airships flew by, the soldiers aboard shouted loudly, and continually new male refugees who had just entered the city jogged over to the recruitment office.

Obviously, those heading to the recruitment office were all single, able-bodied young men.

Wu Tie noticed that even among men burdened with families, some felt tempted; after glancing a few times toward the recruitment office, the cries of women and children nearby would instantly snuff out the faint spark of resolve that had just ignited in their eyes.

Wu Tie shook his head, looking at the nearby refugees as he pondered silently.

The situation of the Fufeng Divine Dynasty was probably dire, forcing them to devise a poisonous scheme of diverting disaster eastward, hoping to lure the great army of the Supreme Demon State into Wuguo.

This is a state war.

Moreover, the enemy are not normal people, but a gang of twisted, cruel demon fiends.

In the end, these refugees are likely to be sent to the battlefield. As the minor official at the city gate said, the treatment of volunteers versus conscripts is probably worlds apart.

Sensing the refugees' anxious, chaotic aura, Wu Tie couldn't help but feel pity.

These men, women, old and young, just like his Wuguo compatriots, are equally human, equally common folk. They may be clever or foolish, enlightened or stubborn, diligent or lazy, kind or ferocious…

They are utterly ordinary commoners.

Just as that white-haired old man said, they only seek a peaceful life.

But this world does not grant them a peaceful life.

No, it's not the world itself that's flawed, but the so-called 'spirits' above it that have gone wrong.

Generally, the world and human hearts are not bad.

The bad ones are those 'gods'!

In the distance on the horizon, a greenish ship silhouette appeared; the fleet that Wu Tie had earlier observed coming from the south had already arrived outside Mountain Wind City.

Inside Mountain Wind City, a great host of soldiers leapt into the air to meet the fleet.

Though hundreds of li away, Wu Tie still clearly heard the soldiers' cheers; he extended a thread of soul power into those ships and discovered that within the huge transport vessels were packed full of grain supplies and various medicinal herbs.

Yet reinforcements were extremely few; despite a fleet composed of hundreds of large transport ships, it brought fewer than five hundred thousand troops.

Moreover, these soldiers each had stiff faces and fluctuating breath, obviously raw recruits just finished training.

Among them, the highest cultivators were no more than Life Pool Realm, while the lowest included thousands at the third to fifth heavens of Chonglou Realm.

Wu Tie suddenly realized that the war potential of the Fufeng Divine Dynasty was probably nearly exhausted.