Chapter 125: To Eat, To Live

Ah…

Ugh…

Lips trembling up and down, throats dry and hoarse, faces dull and lifeless.

Gazing at the rising flames in the distance.

The people of Qingniu Town felt as if their own throats had been scorched.

They could not utter a clear sound, leaving only pure whimpering and pain.

Their eyes were filled with despair.

The people at the bottom are the most capable of enduring hardship; a life of suffering accompanies them throughout their lives, and even when exiled to the border to live as neighbors with dangerous demons, they did not think much of it.

It was nothing more than a life of suffering becoming a little more bitter.

Exiled to the border by Daqian, the people of Qingniu Town did not collapse.

Living as neighbors with terrifying demons, the people of Qingniu Town did not collapse.

They were like weeds.

Tenaciously taking root at the border, doing their utmost to survive.

However, people are not cold, unfeeling machines; how could they endure suffering forever without collapsing?

Right at this moment, right here, the people of Qingniu Town finally reached their breaking point, shedding tears of despair and helplessness as they watched their town burning in the raging fire.

"Brother Xu, my home is gone…"

"My home is gone…"

The dark-skinned man who usually smiled foolishly.

Carrying his elderly mother on his back, he let out a cry like never before, weeping painfully and hoarsely.

That was the place where he had lived from childhood to adulthood.

It was also a precious place he regarded as beautiful.

Now it was gone; everything was 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 patted his shoulder, met those dazed and lifeless eyes, and spoke softly:

"We are leaving."

"Brother Xu, where are we going?"

"To eat, to live."

These short words carried immense attraction.

People who have lost everything must eventually continue moving forward.

They did not understand ideals or the meaning of life, but they knew the importance of the words "to eat," and were deeply drawn by them.

Involuntarily.

Following that back, they set out into the wind and snow.

Wu Yingxue gazed at this scene for a long time until the group almost disappeared into the wind and snow, only then did she belatedly wake up and hurry to catch up.

"Sir, wait for me!"

[Qingniu Town has vanished]

[Physically speaking, it was burned to ashes by a group of ferocious fire crows, leaving nothing behind]

[You looked at the scene of Qingniu Town burning, then at the disheartened people, and decided to lead everyone to leave the winter border together]

[You have left]

[The people of Qingniu Town have left with you]

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

[Eating and living are instincts that everyone yearns for; all you did was guide people to move in this direction, nothing more]

[Demons run rampant on the winter border line, and you encountered demons many times; fortunately, your strength is astonishing, and you were able to successfully stop them each time]

[You decided to lead the people along the small path provided by Wu Yingxue, entering the hinterland of the Thirteen Provinces of Daqian]

[This is the only way you can think of to let more people survive]

[The journey to the exit is not long, but that is only for you and the young girl; for the people of Qingniu Town, this journey through wind and snow is truly too long]

[You have to spend more time, increasing your vigilance and attention to avoid anyone going missing on the road]

[On the way]

[You encountered other towns that were also rooted in the border line]

[Compared to Qingniu Town, this town was even more tragic, with severed limbs everywhere, splattered blood staining the snowy road, and the ruins of collapsed, tilted buildings crushing everything]

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

[You entered the town to search and found no usable supplies, but you found a few people who had luckily escaped the hands of the demons]

Standing before your eyes.

Can they really be considered human?

Tattered clothing, messy and terrible hair, and hollow eyes that looked as if they were broken.

"…"

No matter how much you called out, there would be no response.

Clearly, the blow these few people suffered was even greater than that of the people of Qingniu Town.

"Yingxue, bring a piece of dried meat over."

The young girl quickly handed over a piece of dried meat.

It was made from demon meat.

Xu Xi used his fingers to tear it apart bit by bit, then wrapped it in Protective Aura and Qi and blood to heat and soften it, stuffing it into the mouths of the surviving people one by one.

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

"This world…"

"Really leaves no way for people to live."

Xu Xi sighed.

There are many demons in winter, which causes the amount of demon meat to surge, so there is no need to worry about food for the time being.

Therefore, Xu Xi could generously provide food to the survivors.

But beyond that.

He could do nothing more.

Xu Xi was only a Xiantian Martial Artist in the Guan Li Realm.

He could kill demons, and he could kill "people," but he could not restore collapsed towns, much less resurrect the dead.

"It is time to continue moving forward."

[You gave food to other surviving people]

[Food reserves are plentiful; in the winter when demons are rampant, one could even say they are sufficient]

[The real difficulty was never about food, but how to survive this cold winter]

[What surprised you was]

[Those people you gave food to actually stumbled after you in the end; their desperate faces were completely dull, but the sickles and iron forks in their hands were so conspicuous]

[They asked where you were going and what you were ultimately going to do]

[Your answer was "to live"]

[You were blunt, declaring that you might eventually become enemies with Daqian, with the "big shots" everyone feared]

[Some were shocked, cursing you as a rebellious faction that would be beheaded by the big shots of the imperial court]

[Some were bewildered, not understanding why the matter of living would have anything to do with Daqian]

[Your answer was very simple]

"This world is sick, and it is quite ill."

"Daqian is sick, and you are also sick, which is why everyone cannot survive."

"What I want to do is cure this sickness, so that everyone can live."

In the raging wind.

In the blizzard.

Xu Xi said these words to the surviving people who had chased after him.

Some seemed to understand, some did not understand at all.

What flashed in their eyes was confusion and Chaos.

One or two people stayed behind, choosing to remain in the town that had become ruins.

More of them held their sickles and iron forks and joined Xu Xi's group; there was no complex reason, just a simple feeling that Xu Xi could let them live.