Chapter 186: The General Environment Is Like This (3/10, Autumn Subscription)

Fang Yue asked in confusion, "What reason?"

Captain Shan revealed an expression of reminiscence.

"A long time ago, Chaoyue Village was also a big village. Whether in terms of land area or other aspects, it was no worse than our Man Shui Cun, and even far surpassed it in foot traffic, because the food here was especially famous and very attractive to outsiders."

"At its peak, the flourishing Chaoyue Village had as many as five Captains, and their strength was extremely powerful! At that time, Chaoyue Village's safety was far beyond what other villages could compare to."

"But later, whether it was because the foot traffic was too great, or because they did something, Chaoyue Village was targeted by a powerful Xian."

"The Xian destroyed Chaoyue Village, and the remaining people of Chaoyue Village fled to Man Shui Cun as refugees."

"Originally, Man Shui Cun didn't mind taking in this batch of people from Chaoyue Village, but the two sides always disagreed and had friction. In the end, Man Shui Cun sent people and resources, brought the people of Chaoyue Village back to their original location—right here—and rebuilt Chaoyue Village."

"Because there were far fewer people, the village was also built very small. Of course, it was a bit larger than the current Chaoyue Village—the current Chaoyue Village has been rebuilt who knows how many times."

"When Chaoyue Village was rebuilt the first time, everyone in Chaoyue Village was full of confidence, farming, reproducing, and living. Most of the stone houses you see now were built during that time."

"But the good times didn't last long. Chaoyue Village once again encountered a Xian attack. Their Captains fought to the death and blocked the first attack, but when the second attack came, they collapsed and once again fled to Man Shui Cun as refugees."

"This time, some of the people from Chaoyue Village settled in Man Shui Cun for good, while another part, after confirming the Xian had left, returned to Chaoyue Village again to rebuild their homes."

"The homes were there, but the people were gone. Captains aren't cabbages—without a strong person to be Captain, they could only have a shorty stand on tiptoe to fill the role."

"But it couldn't stop the deterioration. Every time a Xian attacked, their village had to have people die, flee to Man Shui Cun, wait until it was safe, then go back and rebuild the village."

"In this cycle, the people grew fewer and fewer, and the village, through repeated rebuilding, shrank its territory. The walls were pulled in several rings, becoming its current scale, and it almost became a subsidiary village of Man Shui Cun."

Captain Shan said this with some lamentation.

"Villages like Chaoyue Village that no longer count as villages—there are actually quite a lot of them. Most of them are just like Chaoyue Village, already lacking the ability to guard the village. Once they encounter an attack from a powerful Xian, they have to abandon the village and flee, escaping to nearby big villages for shelter."

"Fleeing with the whole village isn't that easy. If they encounter Xian on the road and such, most of the time, the final villagers of these small villages will all die on the road, along with the village's name, vanishing completely into the long river of history, remembered by no one."

"A situation like Chaoyue Village's is already considered good. As long as they steadily hand over resources to Man Shui Cun every year, Man Shui Cun will provide care."

"This is also because Chaoyue Village used to take good care of Man Shui Cun, so there's this kind of favor. Additionally, Chaoyue Village is very close to Man Shui Cun, with a relatively safe village road, and it's only half a day's journey away. This is also one of the reasons Chaoyue Village has been able to linger on."

"As for the housing problems you see in Chaoyue Village now, and other problems, it's all because the villagers here are always ready to abandon the village and flee to Man Shui Cun."

Listening to Captain Shan's words, Fang Yue's face was full of astonishment. After a good while, he absorbed this knowledge.

He looked at the villagers of Chaoyue Village, and indeed they were all sallow and emaciated, as if they ate one meal and skipped the next, often going hungry.

Additionally, looking into the holes in some of the houses, one could see that the daily necessities inside were extremely简陋, the kind that could be abandoned at any time.

Living such a hard life, it was simply incomparable to Gu Yue Cun, Man Shui Cun, and the like.

Fang Yue furrowed his brow. Could it be… this was the norm for other villages?

Fang Yue had only seen this many villages in total, and didn't know what the general environment for ordinary people was like under the backdrop of Xian running rampant.

But he vaguely felt that a phenomenon like Chaoyue Village's was the most common. Villages like Gu Yue Cun and Man Shui Cun that had experts guarding them were the rare and scarce ones!

After thinking for a moment, Fang Yue suddenly thought of something.

"Captain Shan, I remember that changing Captains in the village needs to be reported to the superior Qing Si, right?"

Fang Yue himself was stuck because of this kind of Government procedure, and was still receiving Deputy Captain treatment even now.

"For big villages like our Man Shui Cun and your Gu Yue Cun, changing Captains naturally needs to be reported. But for places like Chaoyue Village, there's no need to report anymore, because on the Government's official map, small villages like Chaoyue Village aren't counted in the statistics—that is, they've been stripped of the qualification to be called villages!"

"Ah? If they're not villages, then what are they called?"

"I don't know. Settlements? Tribes? Gangs? Whatever they are, they just aren't recognized by the higher-ups. In the Government's eyes, Chaoyue Village will remain in a state of being removed from the roster until a Captain with sufficient ability is born."

"…Isn't that too cruel? Being removed from the roster means they don't care whether they live or die at all? But their Chaoyue Village does have a Guard Team, which means they hold a Bronze Life Order, and that's a representative of the Government!"

Captain Shan heard this and shook his head.

"No. Chaoyue Village had all its Bronze Life Orders回收 back when it was destroyed the first time. The current Chaoyue Village's so-called Guard Team is actually just a group of villagers who gave themselves the title, not recognized by the Government.

So when they change the Captain position and such, they don't need to go through procedures at all. They can even have as many Captains as they want. Of course, to continue the tradition, they only set one Captain, generally the strongest person in their village."

Fang Yue understood.

To put it bluntly, the Government treats situations like Chaoyue Village's as no different from mountain bandits and pirates.

Of course, it's not that serious, 毕竟 the Government won't send people to deal with them.

But the attitude of leaving them alone is also equivalent to letting them fend for themselves. Unless a Martial Dao-level powerhouse is born and takes on the role of Captain, they can regain recognition and have Chaoyue Village's name printed back on the Qing Guo map."

Now, Fang Yue also roughly understood why the people of Chaoyue Village were so讨好 toward Captain Shan.

After all, their Chaoyue Village relies on Man Shui Cun to survive. Once they encounter danger, they definitely have to flee to Man Shui Cun, so naturally they know Captain Shan. It's possible Captain Shan even saved their people before.

This kind of subsidiary village, forming a supply and protection relationship with the big village, is probably the norm between villages.

As for Gu Yue Cun… because of its awkward geographical location, there are basically no small villages around, so naturally there are no subsidiary villages sucking its blood. The village developing slowly seems quite reasonable.

(End of this chapter)