Chapter 313: Daily Life of Defending the City

"Yesterday, the Wild Fox Gang and the Mad Horse Gang had another bloody clash over the War Order, resulting in countless casualties!"

Zhou You walked along the top of the city wall, looking down at the vast land outside the city, while whispers drifted from behind him.

The Qi and Blood warrior speaking was named Qian Shimeng, a neighbor introduced by Shi Gaofei.

Qian Shimeng had long admired Zhou You's great name and joined under his command, quickly becoming well-acquainted with Zuo Shier and the others.

The gang clash he mentioned was a microcosm of the recent unrest within the city.

Ever since Zhang Hongmao died and the War Order fell into the hands of Qiu Dazhi, it immediately incited many ambitious people to follow suit.

The number of War Orders is fixed, but the holders can change, provided the noble families give their nod.

Many ambitious people began to seek out targets, whether by robbing openly or joining forces, employing all sorts of means.

Following this came bloody slaughter, with warriors lying dead on the streets every day.

The two great noble families did not restrain this, but instead tacitly approved of this survival-of-the-fittest method of raising Gu, letting the situation develop.

After all, with the settlements outside the city destroyed, a large population had flooded into the city, and resources were no longer sufficient.

The city is a consumption-based entity, relying on the villages and countryside outside to provide daily supplies; now that the gathering points outside Gongliang City have all been destroyed, not only can they not provide blood transfusions, but a large population consuming resources has flooded in.

Warriors driving their strength and Qi and Blood consume far more resources than ordinary people.

If they don't find a way to consume some, Gongliang City will start to face famine before the enemy even attacks.

The fighting and clashes happening everywhere in the city right now are essentially consuming the surplus population and selecting the elite batch.

This group under Zhou You felt fortunate that they got on board early and were the first to defect to Zhou You.

Otherwise, they would have ended up like those warriors lying dead on the streets, with no one to collect their corpses.

The area they were currently in was the high part of the city wall, 50 meters from the ground; climbing up the winding stone steps felt like arriving at a floating island in the sky.

Although the city wall of Gongliang City could not compare to Fucheng, it was still quite impressive.

The cross-section of the city wall was trapezoidal, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom; even at the narrowest part of the wall top, the width was enough to accommodate a martial arts school's training plaza.

Perhaps in the original design of the city wall, this area was meant to be a venue for the attacking and defending sides to fight, as the space was very large.

Holding the War Order, Zhou You was assigned a 1000-meter-long section of the city wall, which curved in an arc.

This section of the wall had a city gate that still needed to be guarded by people to prevent spies from sneaking into the city.

Looking down from the top of the wall, the slightly protruding city gate looked like a breathing mouth, inhaling and exhaling not air, but crowds of people.

The unrest continued, with disaster victims fleeing into the city every day, and city residents fleeing outside to avoid disaster.

Traffic is wealth; Zhou You was responsible for guarding this gate, and even just collecting entry and exit fees was enough to make his hands go soft from counting money.

This was not the main city gate; the gate passage was smaller and the flow of people was slower; if it were the main city gate, the scale would be even more impressive.

In the gate passage, the sounds of people and livestock were intertwined, and the smell of sweat and feces was thick and mixed.

"Kind sir, please have mercy and let me in; there are bandits behind me!"

"What's the rush? Get in line, everyone can get in; anyone who dares to cut in line, get out!"

"This is an exit permit issued by the Qi Family. Take a look, don't hold us up too long, my master is going on a long journey to visit relatives."

"Hmm, I'm illiterate. You wait here, I'll go find someone who can read."

"No, don't bother, here is some gold, help me open your eyes!"

"What a coincidence, I happen to recognize these few characters: Qi Family, Special Permit, Passage. No problem, go ahead!"

"What are you transporting on the cart?"

"Cowhide, iron ingots, and bamboo; they were all ordered in the city, and I need to deliver them before dark." "These are supplies for defending the city, hurry in, move aside in front, it's a matter of life and death!"

Zhou You listened to the myriad forms of life at the city gate, his state of mind as calm as an ancient well.

He suddenly thought of something and asked Liu Bing beside him, "How is Song Fugui's family?"

Liu Bing was no longer the way he was before; his face and arms had scars, and having received the Secret Medicine rewarded by Zhou You, he was now at Qi and Blood Stage 1 and was one of Zhou You's die-hard followers.

He quickly replied, "Fugui's family is all arranged; I'll send people to Fucheng today."

"Going through our gate is convenient and fast, and they won't be skimmed off the top or have a layer of skin scraped off."

Everyone understood the second half of the sentence; those who wanted to leave the city at this time were either rich or noble, and no matter how polite the guards were, they would still leave behind some wealth and supplies, which had already formed a hidden rule.

The skimming at their gate was already considered light; in ruthless places, it could reduce wealthy families to abject poverty.

Some even arrived at the gate in carriages and could only leave on foot.

"It's best not to take other gates."

Qian Shimeng mentioned a rumor, "I heard that some gate guards target wealthy merchants with no background, and after they leave the city, they follow them overnight to kill them, destroy the evidence, and loot their wealth."

What is the difference between this and bandits? The key is, there is no way to manage this, and no one can manage it!

Without the protection of a War Order, wealthy merchants with even a little bit of assets are just fat sheep waiting to be slaughtered in the eyes of the local bullies.

As they were talking, a clamor came from the gate below.

"I have to be searched to enter the city? You bunch of brats, don't you recognize me, 'Heaven-Shaking Drum' Gu Sheng?"

In the gate passage, a Qi and Blood warrior refused to queue and started making trouble, swinging his arms.

He possessed the strength of the middle stage of Qi and Blood; the Qi and Blood warriors guarding the gate today were no match for him, barely blocking him for a moment before being knocked back by a punch, and the surrounding gate guards could not get close, allowing him to break into the gate.

"Commander Zhou, 'Heaven-Shaking Drum' Gu Sheng, he has a bit of a reputation, Qi and Blood 5th Stage."

Middle stage of Qi and Blood, plus a nickname; he was quite a character in Gongliang City.

No wonder he dared to make trouble; he probably thought that after entering the city, he could at least pass as an honored guest.

The people under Zhou You were generally at the initial stage of Qi and Blood; the one at the front, Zuo Shier, was at Qi and Blood 3rd Stage and was no match for this person.

Gu Sheng walked into the gate, and just as he was about to walk out of the dim passage, a figure suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Without a word, the other party punched him straight in the face.

In an instant, the wind and clouds surged in the gate passage, as if a fierce tiger had leaped out from the flat ground, filled with the scent of blood.

At the same time, Zhou You's cold voice rang out, "I will only throw one punch; if you die, someone will collect your corpse, but if you don't die, you will have to work for me to pay off your medical and room and board expenses."

Gu Sheng thought to himself, what big talk, I refuse to believe it, I must contend with you, this Winged Tiger.

Before he could even make a move, he was knocked to the ground by Zhou You's punch, his limbs' Qi and blood dissipated, and his brain instantly went blank.

Knocked down with one punch, clean and efficient.

The surrounding crowd hadn't even reacted yet, and it was already over; the dust had settled, and Gu Sheng lay on the ground, life or death unknown.

A few martial artists trotted over to the side, lifted his eyelids to check his pupils, and pressed his neck to check his pulse, confirming he was still alive.

"Carry him off to recover from his injuries, didn't you hear? Record all medical and room and board expenses, bill them at ten times the cost, and make him work for Commander Zhou for the rest of his life to pay off the debt."

Dark, truly dark!

Having witnessed this scene with their own eyes, the martial artists hiding in the crowd entering the city no longer dared to cause trouble and obediently lined up to wait.

(End of this chapter)