Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Xiao Che stepped before the refugees again.
“I will give you the time it takes to drink one cup of tea to decide. Those willing to follow me back to Black Pine Valley, stand on the left. Those unwilling, leave Blackwind Fort.”
Xiao Che’s voice carried powerfully. Not only could everyone in the courtyard hear him clearly, but so could the people outside.
The crowd whispered among themselves, unable to make up their minds.
The woman who had retreated earlier stepped forward again.
“I’m willing. I don’t want to starve to death. All my family members are dead, so I have to live well for them and live all the years they never got to have.”
The woman wept as she spoke.
Once one person took the lead, more followed.
Before long, several hundred people stood on the left, though some continued to watch and wait.
Xiao Che estimated that more than a thousand refugees remained. The government soldiers and armed escorts had killed many during the fighting.
But those soldiers and escorts had all been trampled into pulp by the refugees. The bodies on the ground were impossible to identify. Hardly a single corpse remained whole. They were missing arms and legs or had faces battered beyond recognition.
Bodies lay everywhere inside and outside the courtyard, and this was only part of the carnage. Who knew what had happened in the main hall?
Judging by the horror here, the front of the inn was unlikely to be any better.
Jin Bao wriggled inside Xiao Che’s cloak again and again, growing anxious.
“Daddy, Baby needs to pee.”
Xiao Che hurriedly opened his wolfskin cloak, untied the straps around his waist, and set Jin Bao down.
This time, Jin Bao genuinely had to go.
The moment her feet touched the ground, she ran toward the corner of the wall.
Xiao Che followed, helped pull down her pants, and stood guard for her.
Once Jin Bao finished, he carried her back to the refugees.
Only then did the crowd clearly see that Xiao Che was holding a little child.
“Look! Doesn’t that child seem familiar?”
A man suddenly grabbed the person beside him and asked in excitement.
Unfortunately, that person had never seen Jin Bao.
But others cried out at the same time. “Doesn’t she look like the portrait posted all over the Northern Frontier? She’s the Star Maiden!”
“That’s right, I’ve seen it too. I saw one in a small town half a month ago.”
“I saw one under the big tree at the entrance to my village.”
“I heard Prince Cheng is searching for this girl too. The rumor says whoever obtains the Star Maiden will obtain the realm. She must be the Star Maiden, right?”
As Xiao Che listened to the crowd, he instinctively tried to stuff Jin Bao back inside his cloak, but it was already too late.
More refugees surged forward. Everyone wanted to see what the Star Maiden looked like.
With so many people staring and calling her the Star Maiden, Jin Bao merely found it amusing.
They no longer looked at her as the people in her dream had, as though they wanted to drink her blood and eat her flesh. Their eyes held something Jin Bao could not understand.
Jin Bao hurriedly shrank into Xiao Che’s cloak and asked softly, “Daddy, why is everyone looking at Baby?
“Does Baby have flowers on her face?
“And why do they call Baby the Star Maiden?
“Did Baby turn into a star?”
Xiao Che had no way to explain everything, so he could only coax her. “It’s because our Jin Bao is adorable. Everyone likes you, so they want to look at you.
“Your eyes shine as brightly as stars, so they call you the Star Maiden. It means your eyes are beautiful.”
Xiao Che made up the explanation on the spot, and sure enough, Jin Bao was delighted.
“Daddy, if everyone likes Baby, then Baby can’t let them go hungry.
“Baby knows a place in the forest with lots and lots of fish. There’s enough to fill everyone’s tummies.”
Jin Bao’s words overjoyed Xiao Che. He had just promised to keep the refugees from going hungry, but his plan had been to lead them in raiding courier stations, grain stores, and Jinshi Town along the way.
As far as he knew, every town in the Northern Frontier possessed a small grain storehouse. If the people were suffering so terribly, why had no one provided disaster relief?
Where had all that grain gone?
Xiao Che could not help growing suspicious.
If Jin Bao said there were fish in the forest, did that mean a lake lay somewhere in Black Pine Forest?
Xiao Che never doubted Jin Bao’s abilities. Now was not the time to ask for details. Having fish would support the promises he had made, but he still intended to take whatever they could raid.
Whether it was fish or animals from the forest, any supply would eventually run out. Only self-sufficiency offered a lasting solution. That made obtaining seeds the highest priority of this journey beyond the mountains.
The seeds they had received from the Cannibal Tribe were enough to plant only one plot of land, not nearly enough to feed the valley’s current residents. What they truly valued was the tribe’s salt spring.
They desperately needed seeds. Whatever the crop, Black Pine Valley needed it.
“Valley Master, is the child in your arms the Star Maiden?”
A man boldly stepped forward. He was among those who had not chosen to follow Xiao Che into the valley.
Only a small portion of the refugees had chosen to join him. Most were still hesitating.
Now that the man had confronted him directly, Xiao Che could not admit the truth.
He knew practically nothing about the current situation outside. Who had posted Jin Bao’s portrait throughout the Northern Frontier?
One thing Xiao Che knew for certain was that Prince Cheng could not be responsible. The prince would be desperate to suppress such news, not spread Jin Bao’s identity as the Star Maiden to everyone.
Then who was behind it?
No matter how hard Xiao Che thought, he could not find an answer. He knew how to fight wars and could recite military strategy backward and forward.
But when it came to complex schemes, he truly could not compare with Xiao Jingmo.
Once they returned, he would tell Mo’er everything. His son should be able to identify the person operating behind the scenes.
“You are mistaken. I don’t know what you mean by the Star Maiden. My daughter is only four and has never displayed any extraordinary talent. Perhaps she merely resembles the girl in the portrait.”
The moment Xiao Che finished speaking, Jin Bao suddenly wriggled free of his arms and jumped down.
Like a nimble little monkey, she swiftly climbed up the nearest refugee’s leg and onto his shoulder. Then she raced and leaped across the bodies of the crowd, sprinting toward the wall of the western side courtyard.
She was still one step too late. The wall collapsed with a thunderous crash, flattening everyone beneath it into the snow. They died without even having time to scream.
Jin Bao grabbed one person in each hand and pulled them from the snow.
In her hands, the bodies felt as light as sheets of paper.
When she pulled them free, their heads had already been crushed flat. Everything was flattened, making the surrounding refugees gasp in horror.
Jin Bao’s display left every refugee dumbfounded.
Xiao Che had not expected the sudden disaster either. He had only just denied that his daughter possessed any special abilities, and she had personally slapped him in the face almost immediately.
Xiao Che rubbed his nose and gave the refugees an awkward smile.
Jin Bao was sighing over the dozen or so bodies.
Daddy had said these people all liked her, so she had tried to save them. She had not expected to fail.
Unhappy, Jin Bao trudged back to Xiao Che’s side without wanting to say a word.
It was so hard to find people who liked her. She did not want anyone who liked her to die. She could fill all their tummies and keep them from ever going hungry again. As long as someone liked her, she would protect them.
Jin Bao’s innocent heart held no complicated schemes. She treated anyone who was kind to her with the same kindness.
“Daddy, Baby is stupid. Baby didn’t save them.”
Realizing that Jin Bao was dejected, Xiao Che hurriedly comforted her. “It wasn’t your fault. You did everything you could.
“Daddy wants to save all the common people in the realm, but Daddy’s ability is limited, so I can’t save everyone either.
“You’re still a child. Once you grow up and learn more skills, you’ll be able to save more people.”
Jin Bao clenched her little fists and nodded firmly. “Mm-hmm! Baby will make more people like Baby. Baby won’t let anyone’s tummy be hungry, and everyone will dress as warmly as Baby.”
At that moment, someone suddenly took the lead and knelt.
“We are willing to follow the Star Maiden.”
Jin Bao stared blankly as so many people knelt before her. She was not lost in a daze. Instead, she could feel a change taking place inside her body.
She looked at a dead poplar outside the courtyard and thought, Big tree, live. Big tree, turn green.
The dead poplar actually began sprouting buds and leaves. In the blink of an eye, its entire crown turned green.
Everyone outside the courtyard witnessed the miraculous scene.
“Look! The dead tree turned green! A miracle! It’s truly a miracle!”