CHAPTER 307: CHAPTER 169: BORDER VILLAGE CALAMITY

Cheng Bai, the infamous tender and precious young man among the three, always needed to eat and dress well whenever he went out. Being dragged out by Ye Beiming to follow the Sky Hunting Corps on this journey, he had not eaten or slept well, and was already filled with grievances.

As he grumbled, he casually swatted a few mosquitoes dead, and did not forget to complain about his good friend, "Always claiming not to worry, then why are you eagerly trailing behind and causing me to feed mosquitoes for several nights," Cheng Bai was full of resentment.

"In three more days, we will enter the Southern Border of Great Zhou. There is no time to delay. We need to travel all night to get ahead of them and rush to the Purple Gold Mine," Ye Beiming’s grey eyes flickered as he glanced at Yun Sheng, who stood out in the crowd.

"Little Wildcat, if you knew the purpose of my trip, you would probably be infuriated," Ye Beiming thought of Yun Sheng’s reaction and a hint of a smile appeared on his face.

His smile caused the two men beside him to be taken aback.

The silhouettes of the three people disappeared into the vast sea of trees.

All of a sudden, Yun Sheng sneezed; just now, she felt as if someone was looking at her from behind, but when she turned around, she couldn’t find anyone.

That night, in a silent village along the Southern Border of Great Zhou, the village was quietly shrouded in the darkness of night, and a big yellow dog lay at the entrance of the village.

The orange moon hung in the treetops at the entrance of the village.

It was an ordinary village commonly seen within the territory of Great Zhou, with not many households, just over a hundred in number.

Such villages were common within the territory of Great Zhou, numerous and remote, to the extent that even the map of Great Zhou didn’t record them in detail.

The villagers living here only remembered that the name of their village was Jingkou Village, so named because the shape of the village resembled a well.

Most of the villagers here lived by farming, with a few families relying on hunting for their livelihood. These villagers had been living here happily for over a hundred years.

This night was just like countless other nights, still peaceful, with the sound of women singing lullabies and the chirping of insects in the grass blending together, in an alternating chorus.

Suddenly, the big yellow dog in the village began to bark, lights brightened up at the entrance of the village.

Almost at the same time, everyone in the village woke up.

They were all in a panic, with women holding their children and men grabbing the firewood knives by their beds.

A woman in her thirties hurriedly put on her clothes, her husband also holding a machete in his hand.

"Sixth Son’s father, they’re here, that group of people has come, what do we do?" the woman’s voice was mixed with tears.

"Don’t panic, child’s mother, what is meant to come will come sooner or later," Sixth Son’s father said somberly to comfort his wife as they quickly woke up their thirteen-year-old son, Liu Zi.

"Dad, Mom, are they here?" Liu Zi, the young boy they called Sixth Son, was not very tall, but he had also awoken at the commotion.

However, his parents refused to let him go outside, instead forcibly pulling him to the side of the bed.

They lifted the straw mat on the bed revealing a hidden cellar beneath it.

This cellar was obviously newly excavated and, aside from some water and dried food stored inside, could only accommodate one person.

Covering it with the straw mat, the cellar became invisible, well-concealed, and if not looked at closely, was impossible to detect.

"Dad, Mom, I don’t want to go down," Liu Zi clung to his parents, unwilling to let go. Though he was not of age, he was already a sensible child.

Lately, the news from neighboring villages had already made the entire village extremely anxious.

"Liu Zi, once those villains come, the whole village will suffer. You hide inside, remember, don’t come out. There’s enough water and food for you to last a day and a night. When it’s quiet outside, you can come out," Sixth Son’s father heard the cacophony outside of crying, children’s wails, and barking dogs.

He became even more anxious, bit his teeth, and delivered a heavy blow to the back of Liu Zi’s head. Liu Zi felt darkness before his eyes and passed out.

Sixth Son’s mother, wiping away tears, watched as Sixth Son’s father placed the child in the cellar.

The couple covered the straw mat again, and at that moment, a series of crude banging on the door came from outside, and the door was violently flung open with a bang.

Several two-headed wolves rushed in.

Night, no matter how dark, always comes to an end.

It was uncertain how long had passed, when Liu Zi, dry and hungry, was awakened by a sudden pang of hunger in the cellar.

The cellar was dark and damp; recalling his parents’ instructions, Liu Zi could only fumble around in the cellar.

He ate when he found dry food, and he drank when he found the water bag, not knowing how much time had gone by.

It was only when he pushed open the cellar door and lifted the straw mat that Liu Zi climbed out.

The house was a mess, with all the tables and chairs smashed to bits, and the walls and door panels scorched black. Clearly, when that gang of villains broke in, they not only plundered the people but also set fire to the house.

There was no one in the house, as his parents had long since disappeared without a trace.

Liu Zi pushed open the door to find complete darkness outside.

It turned out that, without realizing it, he had hidden in the cellar for a whole day and night.

In the village, ruins and broken walls were everywhere; the inhabitants who once lived there seemed to have disappeared overnight.

In the village, there was nothing left.

Those neighbors who used to laugh and chat with him had all vanished overnight.

The gang of villains had taken away any able-bodied men and hadn’t spared women, the elderly, children, or even livestock.

It was those people.

"These beasts, I’ll kill them all!" Liu Zi roared like a trapped beast, his throat emitting a series of hoarse cries.

At that moment, his gaze fell on the charred corner of his own home, where he saw an iron bow.

Generations of Liu Zi’s ancestors were hunters, and this iron bow, weighing over eighty jin, was an heirloom of Liu Zi’s family.

Liu Zi’s father had never let him touch the iron bow before, but tonight, this precious iron bow was discarded in the corner.

Liu Zi walked over and picked up the iron bow.

The iron bow was scorching hot from the fire, immediately blistering the young man’s hands, but he did not care about this. With determination, he slung the iron bow over his back and walked toward the pitch-black south.

The tragedy that unfolded in Jingkou Village occurs every half a month along the Southern Border between Great Zhou and Hou Qin.

However, the Emperor of Great Zhou, living in the bustling Yujing, was completely unaware of these events.

Several days later, Yun Sheng and others had already entered the Southern Border of Great Zhou.

In the more than eight years that Yun Sheng had been on Wuji Continent, she had spent most of her time in Banana Leaf Village to the north of Great Zhou.

Even her nearly two-year residence in Yujing City was in the central part of Great Zhou City.

Her earlier posting at Daoye Mountain Hunting Soldier Guard City belonged to the Southern Border of Great Zhou. Daoye Mountain was part of the same Southern Border as the Purple Gold Mine, but it was different from the Southern Border zone where the Purple Gold Mine was located.

Daoye Mountain Hunting Soldier Guard City was in the southwest of Great Zhou, while the place rumored to have discovered the Purple Gold Mine was in the southeast of Great Zhou.