With the Blade

As long as there’s something to eat, you can still survive. If you want to survive, you must eat something. As long as you’re alive, everything can come again. As long as you can get food, everything else can be discarded.

So, even when faced with high prices, as long as there’s a mouthful to eat, people often accept it. But having already lost their income, they will eventually consume their resources. The little money and food they have will eventually run out—so the former merchants took out their savings, former scholars sold their brushes and ink, former craftsmen sold their tools, and even the old farmers sold their hoes and shovels.

As long as it can be exchanged for a mouthful of food, these sacrifices are acceptable.

"Why not sell the coffin lid, too?"

A few refugees surrounded Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan, having been watching them for a long time.

"Although that thing isn’t worth much, it’s still wood. Take it to burn, and it can warm you up..."

"Get lost."

Shan Bing, resting on the large shield, only slightly opened his eyes, and his murderous aura frightened the refugees away.

No matter how desperate he became, he could never sell this shield. The sword and shield in his hand were not just his weapons but also his closest comrades.

His most trustworthy partners.

"You’re right; never sell your weapons."

Jiang Wenyuan, returning with news, decisively agreed with Shan Bing’s decision after hearing what had happened.

"Even though it raises the risk of exposing our identities, we cannot part with our weapons. Going hungry for a couple of meals is manageable, but as long as we have our weapons, we still have a final card to play."

This so-called final card was, of course, turning the tables. Since the local forces were determined to raise prices and starve them, they saw no reason to tolerate it any longer. Yes, in Songzhou, they were indeed driven out, but if two commanders ranked in the Hundred Weapons Chart were determined to rob, even the Dock Fortresses of Songzhou would not be able to muster the manpower to stop them in time.

"The weapons in our hands are our last resort."

Jiang Wenyuan’s expression was quite unhappy.

"If need be, we’ll kill and spill blood!"

"Indeed."

Shan Bing nodded, looking at Jiang Wenyuan with some surprise.

Originally, he thought this law-abiding Chief Constable would be the upright type, but now it seemed that their thoughts were not terribly different?

"Because I was a Chief Constable, I know that reasoning is something people tell you."

Jiang Wenyuan noticed Shan Bing’s unusual look but was indifferent.

"If what you do matches their expectations, aligns with their intentions, only then will they say you are reasonable. If you don’t conform to their will, don’t meet their expectations, even if you are full of reason, it will seem unreasonable... So to hell with reasoning, I’ve been hungry for three days, can’t even gnaw on tree bark anymore, if I keep reasoning with those profiteers, then I’ll starve to death."

"Yeah, what’s the point of reasoning in such times? Raising prices arbitrarily, is that reasonable?"

Shan Bing also pulled out a short sword from under the large shield and slowly polished it with a coarse cloth.

If raising prices was reason, then the weapons in their hands were the ultimate reason, at least when reason was being discussed, those profiteers wouldn’t be able to say a word.

Dead men would naturally stay silent forever, and their so-called reasoning would be carried away by the dogs along with the corpses.

Oh wait, it seems those wild dogs around have already been eaten by them.

"In any case, at the next trade, assess the situation. If we still can’t buy food, we’ll raze that Dock Fortress directly."

Jiang Wenyuan’s face darkened, appearing more ruthless than bandits.

This made Shan Bing even more curious about Jiang Wenyuan, wondering what this Chief Constable had gone through.

Perhaps when driven to desperation, people all become the same.

As long as they eat their fill, they can recover.

Now that they’ve set their strategy, they could sleep peacefully. This wasn’t about yearning for a good life but the spoils in front of them—if they just picked any local wealthy family to raid, they’d have enough food to continue onward, and if they ran out, they could just raid another.

So, what was their original mission again?

Can’t quite remember, but it’s certainly not more important than eating.

"Eat!"

Even in his dreams, Shan Bing vaguely heard such shouts.

"Eat, eat, eat, eat, eat!"

"Huh? Is it mealtime?"

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, a groggy Shan Bing sat up with effort.

But before he could open his eyes, two slaps landed on his face.

"Wake up! Don’t sleep anymore!"

A voice, belonging to Jiang Wenyuan, rang by his ear.

"If you sleep again, you’ll be... the meal!"

"What meal?"

Shan Bing opened his eyes and saw a giant bear, with three heads and covered in feathers, madly gnawing amidst the crowd.

"Hiss!"

Seeing the bear’s body as strong as a mountain, Shan Bing gasped sharply.

So this was what Jiang Wenyuan meant by being the meal. Clearly, although their refugee group was indeed hungry, there were always things hungrier than them—especially as their numbers increased, those human-eating monsters came directly attracted by the scent.

And those monsters, there were more than one.

A bear with three heads, a chicken with a snake head, and a huge stiff body full of inserted arrows, three monsters were having a feast in the refugee group, and these three were only the vanguard of more to come.

In the distance, visible to the naked eye, more monsters were rapidly approaching.

"This... Run!"

Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan both had some experience dealing with these Evil Qi monsters, and with just a glance, they could see this lineup was entirely beyond their ability to handle.

If it were just one monster, the two of them could work together to kill it; even with two monsters, they could fight desperately and likely escape. But looking at the numbers now, facing dozens of monsters, was this line-up something humans could deal with?

"I should have realized, should have realized long ago..."

Shan Bing slapped his head hard.

Yes, he should have realized that this was not Jiankang’s Capital City, where monsters would be quickly killed by Commanders as soon as they appeared—which also meant that, in reality, many monsters were lurking in the desolate mountains where no one dared to venture; it’s just many didn’t know.

People need to eat, but what about monsters?

Monsters are always hungry, with insatiable appetites.

"Go!"

Grabbing the large shield, Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan quickly ran for their lives.

The monsters in the distance were getting faster, clearly having smelled the blood here, and Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan finally understood why the local Dock Fortresses scarcely accepted outsiders—they originally thought it was to prevent bandits from infiltrating as informants, but now it seemed... it was also likely to control the population, to avoid attracting the monsters.

After all, bandits only wanted money and food, but those Evil Qi monsters, they truly ate people.

Fortunately, after running non-stop, they survived. After all, they were just two people, while the refugee camp had many more.

The monsters ravaged for a whole night and only left at dawn, and when Shan Bing and Jiang Wenyuan returned to the refugee camp, they surprisingly saw quite a few people still alive.

Clearly, after being refugees for so long, they developed some survival tactics of their own.

And evading monster pursuit was part of these survival tactics.