Chapter 22

Chapter 22

The culture, customs, and other aspects of the World in the Box were extremely similar to the Han Dynasty that Qin Ying knew.

However, there were differences. For instance, the city walls in the World in the Box were built much higher and sturdier.

When Qin Ying first saw this earthen city, her gaze was immediately drawn to those abruptly high walls.

Yunwu County City within the box appeared yellowed and dilapidated as a whole, yet the city walls were unnaturally tall, which didn’t quite align with the laws of productivity.

Qin Ying had been puzzled until she saw the Fuzhu, the white deer, use its four horns to ram the city wall into collapse.

The County Governor, who had been like a parasite sucking the lifeblood out of Yunwu, had been crushed to death by falling stones. Now that night had fallen, the city walls no longer had to be stingy with lamp oil as they had been in the past.

Consequently, a line of braziers was lit atop the walls.

Numerous torches were planted at the collapsed sections of the wall, ensuring that light illuminated every patch of darkness.

This was to prevent any foul things from slipping into the city under the cover of night.

“Hurry up!”

Xu Tan, the County Commandant who had once stood alongside Han Lie against the Fuzhu, had dark red cracks across his lips.

For several days in a row, he had only slept for two to four hours a day. His body had long since gone soft from exhaustion.

Yet, his spirit was highly keyed up, without the slightest hint of sleepiness.

The healthiest able-bodied adults in the city had been mobilized to repair the walls.

The commoners were still immersed in the joy of being blessed by the heavens with the gift of white rice.

Only Han Lie and the others knew that the situation in Yunwu County was far less optimistic than it appeared on the surface.

Their city walls had collapsed.

The bowstrings of the Ranyi Crossbows, used to defend against the incursions of Monstrous Beasts, were ruined.

Currently, the entire Yunwu County City was like a child, devoid of any ability to protect itself.

If a Monstrous Beast attacked at this time, the consequences would be unthinkable.

They had to repair the broken walls and rebuild the city defenses as quickly as possible.

Xu Tan felt as if a cold, sharp blade was pressed against the small of his back, making him afraid to stop for even a moment.

He looked back at the city wall, of which only a quarter had been repaired, and couldn’t help but lick his lips as he urged them on: “Everyone, put your backs into it!”

Before his voice could fade, the sound of rolling wheels came from the end of the long street.

Carts loaded with wooden barrels rolled toward them.

Inside the barrels was thick Refined Rice Porridge, topped with a heavy layer of rice oil.

The ones pushing the carts were women and half-grown children, all looking quite haggard.

But at this critical juncture, anyone in the city who could still move had come out to work.

These women and children were weak, requiring five or six of them to work together to push a single cart laden with porridge.

Before the carts even arrived, the fragrance of the rice porridge drifted over with the wind.

Xu Tan swallowed hard and led a few men to meet them.

Torches were stuck into the flatbed carts. Peering into the wooden barrels by the firelight, Xu Tan’s stomach let out a loud growl.

Food had been scarce in Yunwu City for more than just a day or two; even a County Commandant like Xu Tan had been living with a tightened belt.

The middle-aged woman leading the group seemed to be in good spirits. She gripped her ladle and shouted, “What are you waiting for?”

“Come get your porridge! Eat well so you can work harder!”

The crowd had been waiting for those words. They immediately swarmed forward.

Each person was handed a ceramic bowl the size of half a man’s head.

The large ladle scooped deep into the bottom of the wooden barrel, and a bowl of thick, hot rice porridge was placed into their hands.

After Xu Tan received a large bowl, he quickly moved aside to make room for the next person.

He wasn’t wearing shoes. Limping slightly, he walked to the base of the wall and took a large gulp from the rim of the bowl.

In the next instant, sighs of satisfaction rang out one after another.

Once the heat in their mouths subsided and they had a moment to savor the taste, the men smacked their lips.

“Mother of God, we’re finally living the good life, eating salted porridge!”

Someone with a booming voice exclaimed in wonder.

Those who could survive this famine and still get up to work all had a bit of grit to them.

The women distributing the porridge were all efficient. Hearing this, one scolded, “Shut your trap! Hurry up and eat one bowl so you can come back for another, then fill your bellies and get back to work!”

Despite the scolding, not a single person talked back.

Having survived a disaster and now eating rice porridge with a hint of salt made them feel deathly happy. At a time like this, no one was in the mood to pick a fight.
Xu Tan was a man of great appetite; with one loud slurp, another half-bowl of rice porridge disappeared.

Wiping his mouth, he let out a long breath and was about to serve himself another bowl when his ears suddenly twitched.

He slammed his bowl down and ran up the city wall.

His abrupt movement put everyone on high alert.

“Commandant Xu, what is it?” a County Soldier asked.

Xu Tan stood atop the wall and made a silencing gesture, his right broken eyebrow arching as he peered into the darkness.

Outside Yunwu County City lay a vast expanse of desolate woods. During the famine, the bark from the trees on the outskirts had been stripped clean. These barkless trees had withered and shriveled during the great drought, their trunks covered in deep cracks.

There was a rustling sound in the forest.

Something was brushing against the tree trunks, crouching in the darkness and watching the city wall. A pair of eerie green eyes flickered like small lanterns as they opened and closed.

Having filled his stomach with rice porridge, strength returned to Xu Tan’s limp limbs.

He estimated the size of the creature lurking in the darkness and spat on the ground.

“Bring me my bow!” he shouted in a low voice.

“It’s one thing for the big ones to bully us, but even this small fry dares to come!”

A ten-foot bow was handed to Xu Tan. With lightning speed, he notched an arrow and drew the string. The white feathers at the end of the shaft streaked through the darkness like a bolt of white silk.

The whimpering of a wild beast followed as a creature about the size of a yellow wolf tumbled out of the forest in pain.

Xu Tan let out a cold laugh and said to his subordinates, “Drag it over and see what it is. We might just be in luck for a feast!”

Hearing there might be meat, three County Soldiers went out together, laughing and joking as they went to retrieve the kill.

However, in the next instant, their panicked cries rang out simultaneously.

“Commandant Xu!”

They dragged the small beast, an arrow protruding from its back, into the firelight beneath the wall.

Xu Tan’s pupils constricted, and his expression changed violently.

The creature he had just shot dead was covered in bristly fur, looking like a cross between a chicken and a rabbit.

This was something Xu Tan and the people of Yunwu County knew all too well!

Before the great drought that had nearly killed everyone descended, villagers had captured this type of small Monstrous Beast in the wild. Not knowing what it was, the villagers had treated it as a rarity and brought it to the market to sell.

To their shock, once they reached the market, they found the streets were crawling with them. They called for a knowledgeable Village Elder to examine it, and the old man had fainted from fright on the spot.

After they revived him by pinching his pressure points and splashing him with water, the Village Elder’s first words were: “Quickly, store water and grain!”

“This is the Disaster Beast, the Zishu!”

These creatures were usually nowhere to be found, but they would appear across the wilderness overnight whenever a great drought was about to occur. Once the drought took hold, they would vanish again.

The Village Elder had been prescient, but it was a bit too late; not another drop of rain fell from the sky after that.

The torches crackled in the wind.

Looking at the creature that resembled both a rat and a rabbit, Xu Tan’s muscles tensed, and his teeth ground together with a grating sound.

Could it be… that the great drought was going to continue?

Was there really no way to survive?

He suddenly shuddered, looked up at the sky, and murmured, “The Supreme Deity is watching. We will surely have a chance at life!”

Xu Tan picked up a torch and tossed it onto the Zishu.

The Zishu was a strange creature; its fur was like dry straw that ignited instantly, turning into a ball of fire in the blink of an eye.

Xu Tan steadied himself. Seeing the terrified faces of those around him, he gave a thunderous shout: “What are you afraid of? The Supreme Deity can turn his hand to conjure clouds and cover it to bring rain! Even a single grain of the rice he bestowed upon the mortal world is enough for a household to eat sparingly for half a year!”

“What is there to fear?”

Hearing this, everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Xu Tan jerked his head and said, “Get back to work. First, make the bricks to repair the city walls!”

Once everyone was busy, he walked to a secluded spot and called over a soldier. The soldier was still grinning foolishly until he saw Xu Tan’s ashen face.

In an extremely low voice, Xu Tan instructed the soldier, “Go quickly and report this to Squad Leader Han!”

“Tell him… the great drought isn’t over yet.”