Chapter 448

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Chapter 448: The Exiled State (3)

"How much do you know about Liu State?"

"Not much, really."

"Tell me what you know. After all, I’m just an outsider. I need the knowledge of a local fairy like you."

"I will try to be forthcoming, but for detailed information, it’s best to ask someone specific. The situation in Liu State changes almost every month."

"I heard that Liu State was originally the territory of Bi Fang."

In the book "Classic of Mountains and Seas – The Records of the Western Mountains," it is written, "There is a bird, resembling a crane, with one foot. It has red markings, a blue body, and a white beak. It is called Bi Fang, and its cries bring misfortune to a city when it is seen."

"Yes, Bi Fang…" Chao Lu nodded. "Although it’s not a powerful feudal state, it shares a history with the Royal Court of the Demon Kingdom, and it is one of the staunch supporters of the monarchy. It is said that the previous generation of Bi Fang had close ties with my grandfather."

"Are they getting along well?"

"Only the previous generation, this generation’s Bi Fang is too young, it is said to have been killed, perhaps the last Bi Fang in the world was also killed a few years ago. To find the bloodline of Bi Fang, one can only go to the Great Wilderness, far away from this world." Chao Lu said, "Nowadays, Liu State used to be the vassal state of Bi Fang, but it is not complete. One-third of its territory is occupied by Lord Qiongqi, and one-fifth has been swallowed by the Xiangliu clan."

"But no one cares about the residents here."

"They can’t be managed… After Bi Fang died, there were anomalies in the heavens and earth. A great fire burned, and the ground turned red. Three granaries and a million shipments of grain turned to ashes. The fire dried up half of a large lake, and rivers changed their course. The whole of Liu State lost its water sources and food, becoming a barren land, relying only on the heavenly river for survival."

Princess Bai Ze whispered, "In the records of Bai Ze Kingdom, there is a passage describing the first year of disaster in Bi Fang Country: no food to eat, they ate livestock such as cows and horses, when the livestock ran out, they dug out rats and ate them, when those ran out, they ate grass, and when all was gone, they resorted to cannibalism."

Cannibalism, two simple words, depicted casually but exceedingly cruel.

These few words from the official historian’s records, carried both too little and too much weight.

Bai Wei looked at the desolate and barren land beneath his feet, with yellow sand blowing in the air. A gust of wind almost blinded his vision.

Both of them wore cloaks to shield themselves from the sandstorm. This is the plain area, not the high plateau with severe soil erosion, and definitely not the Western Regions beyond the grasslands.

This kind of land formation is caused by a mysterious phenomenon of earth-shattering changes, which goes against the usual laws of nature.

Bai Wei asked, "Who killed Bi Fang?"

Chao Lu sighed, "It remains unsolved."

Wang Yu claimed that Bi Fang Country becoming Liu State was the result of a conspiracy by the School of Mohism, but what he said may not be correct and cannot be fully trusted. Perhaps the situation in Liu State was intentionally arranged. However, as the top-tier beast of the Great Wilderness, Bi Fang wouldn’t die so easily. There must be something suspicious about its death, like a second-grade heroic spirit suddenly dying unexpectedly without finding the murderer.

Chao Lu continued, "I’m not quite sure about the current situation in Liu State. Before I left, I had seen the military and intelligence reports of Liu State and took notes. It had seventeen cities back then, but now, after one or two years, there are probably less than ten left."

"Qiongqi’s appetite is indeed huge."

"And there’s also Ba Xia," Chao Lu said. "Ba Xia eats even more, but it also has a larger population. Their territory has more mines, so…"

"Understood," Bai Wei said, rubbing his forehead with his hand.

Damn it, there’s human trafficking again, and blackhearted mines. This Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom is truly a combination of all evil. It’s unbelievable…

"I need to change my thinking," sighed Bai Wei. "This is not the Spring and Autumn Period or the Warring States Period."

"Hmm?"

"It’s the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period!"

Chao Lu paused for a moment, then nodded with a wry smile.

The two continued riding horses forward and encountered several groups of people on the road. In just three hours, they came across two gangs of bandits. One was fake and retreated after bluffing, while the other was real. About ten to twenty people blocked the road, setting up barriers, and looked ready to attack and rob.

Bai Wei moved his finger and beheaded seven or eight individuals. Unexpectedly, this group of bandits was tough and not scared off. One of them even charged towards them with red eyes, becoming an experience point for Chao Lu.

After killing less than ten people, the bandits retreated.

Bai Wei got off his horse and examined a few corpses, his expression changing slightly.

"What’s wrong?" Chao Lu asked.

"It’s a person." Bai Wei spoke with mixed feelings. Liu State is truly a complicated place, where there are still living people, but they have become bandits… One of them looks like a person from the Ming Country. It’s better to go back and do hard work or farming than to struggle here.

"Why become a roadside bandit?" Bai Wei asked the Ming Country person who was barely alive.

The Ming Country man took off the cloth from his face, breathing with difficulty. "I came here for work, I used to be a cook. Who would have known, suddenly… I want to live, but I have no choice. I can’t go back to the Ming Country, I can’t go back anymore."

As he said that, his eyes lost their light and he died.

Chao Lu sighed softly, "They are also unfortunate people."

"But they are also despicable. This isn’t the first time they’ve done something like this," Bai Wei said. "Let him stay here, at least let the wild animals have a good meal."

Princess Bai Ze rode her horse to catch up, "You seem angry."

Bai Wei said, "A little bit."

"Angry at who?"

"Whose is it?" Bai Wei asked, then sighed and said, "People make trouble for themselves."

He kicked the horse’s belly lightly. "Go faster, we have to reach the city tonight and find a place to stay."

The presence of caravans showed that Liu State still had some basic rules, but they were now very scattered because there were no longer any officials here. The governance of each place was determined by local elite families and clans.

In essence, it was similar to the feudal era when information and transportation were not well developed. Most of the time, the strategy was to have locals govern other locals to ensure there would be no rebellion or conflicts within each territory.

Chao Lu only knew that their destination was the Royal Court, but when she opened the map, she asked in confusion, "Shouldn’t we go to Yangchun City first, since we have to travel across Liu State?"

"Let’s go to Yanwei City first," Bai Wei said.

Chao Lu didn’t ask why anymore. She changed the topic.

The more they hurried, the more Princess Bai Ze deliberately found something to talk about. She found it difficult to adapt to the heavy atmosphere.

Bai Wei was too serious, which made her waste extra energy speculating about his thoughts. In reality, they didn’t have as much understanding or rapport as she thought. Speculating thoughts was just a waste of energy, so it was better to find something to talk about directly.

Chao Lu said, "What do we do about the little tail behind us?"

She was referring to the snake girl who had been following them for quite some time. It had been almost half a day, and she was struggling to keep up. Riding on horseback was causing her to feel sick, with her young face turning pale.

Bai Wei said, "Don’t worry about it."

They continued on their journey and arrived at the gates of Yanwei City before the sun set. The name Yanwei City wasn’t anything special, it just looked like the tail of a flying goose from a geographical perspective. Passing through Yanwei, they would reach Yanzi Mountain. From there, they would follow the river downstream, and in three days, they would arrive at Longyao City, which was a hundred miles away.

Bai Wei couldn’t spend twenty-four hours here. The time difference between the Ten Thousand Demon Kingdom and Yingzhou was only a few hours. He hadn’t left his room for twenty-four hours already. Making excuses for seclusion and breakthroughs wasn’t suitable to use too many times. He hoped to have results within a week.

When they entered the city, there weren’t many troubles. They didn’t carry anything with them and they both looked like normal people. Chao Lu used her mind magic to change their appearances and turned herself into an ordinary-looking woman.

The soldiers guarding the city entrance always treated normal-looking people with some suspicion. They were afraid they could be someone from a powerful bloodline or even a high-ranking official. They certainly couldn’t afford to provoke them, so they just let them pass without further investigation.

Just as they were about to enter the city after the inspection, they heard someone panting behind them.

"Wait, wait for me…" The snake girl ran over, gasping for breath.

"Oh no!" Chao Lu turned around in amazement. Not only in Yanwei City, but even in ordinary places, the snake girl would not dare to show her face. Without anyone to cover for her, if she was checked, it would be just like a ten-year-old child showing off their wealth. How could no one have bad intentions?

As expected, they were immediately stopped and checked.

Only ten steps away, whether to help or not was just a thought away.

Chao Lu stopped walking first.

Bai Wei sighed, "You can’t even protect yourself and still want to help others? Do you have the luxury of being generous? Kindness has never been a cheap virtue, it needs to be matched with one’s abilities, otherwise it’s like trying to save a drowning person."

Chao Lu whispered, "I’m sorry."

Bai Wei said, "I hope you won’t regret it."

Chao Lu walked towards the city gate and used a trick to let the snake girl enter. She would have to kneel down and thank her in the middle of the street again.

Bai Wei asked, "What’s your name? What are you doing with us?"

"Yan Yubing," she tremblingly uttered her own name, "I, I want to ask you to take me… I want to go home."

"Don’t be nervous, take a deep breath…" Chao Lu lightly stroked snake girl’s hand, looked up, and her magical light shimmered like a kaleidoscope. "Where is your home?"

Snake girl, already weakened in spirit, hesitated and said, "In… the palace."