Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 616: The Color of the Twelfth Moon (Part )

"I will conquer the world in the future and give you everything!" In the dilapidated courtyard, Li Yao looked at the girl intently. When a young boy's determination was doubted, his face would always flush like his. "Really, I--well!"

The girl swaying on the swing put one hand on his face, blushing and smiling, "Stop talking! You have to wait for me to bring you a bun, what do you mean by the world?"

"..."

Li Yao rubbed his head a little embarrassedly, but he was not impatient or discouraged. He smiled and said, "Anyway... I'm talking about the future."

"Don't talk about it later. We have difficulties ahead of us right now." Zhao Baibi swung on the swing. "You haven't opened your meridians yet. How can you conquer the world?"

"..."

Li Yao was silent now. No matter the years he spent alone or the time he spent with the general over the past two years, his Dantian seed had always been silent.

It is true that not everyone in this world has the qualifications to open their meridians. In other words, only a few lucky ones can embark on the path of cultivation. But among the royal children, those who are unable to open their meridians are indeed very rare.

The blood given by God makes them born better, with strong bodies, sharp minds, superior looks... and it is easier to break the Dantian.

No one's Dantian seed is born a dead seed, it's just that some have thick shells, some have thin shells, and some are buried in a "field" that is too barren.

Li Yao sighed and looked up at the sky: "There are ways to deal with no cultivation. You don't have to beat others to do things... Anyway, I will slowly think of a way later. I will go to the palace gate to recognize my name first."

Li Yao stood up and washed himself with the cold water from the melted snow, breathing heavily. He finally found two pieces of clothing that fit him and put them on.

Zhao Baibi jumped down from the swing and picked up her sword: "You go to the palace gate to recognize your ancestors, and I will go into the palace to help you get some information."

Li Yao was surprised: "How...how did you get into the palace?"

"Then don't worry about it. I can always find a way."

She really always has a way. In the past two years, she has been able to magically accomplish many things that Li Yao found incredible, as if there was a god secretly helping her behind the scenes... But it is still too dangerous to enter the palace privately. Since he was very young, Li Yao has heard countless times about the ugliness and horror there.

He subconsciously pulled the girl's sleeve and said, "No, Bai Bi, don't go. Wait until I recognize your name, and then I will take you in."

Zhao Baibi rolled his eyes and said, "Idiot, I entered the palace just to help you find out the inside story. Why would I go in after you've already recognized me? Do you like to see the fat bellies of those princes?"

"What do you want to find out?"

"Everything is reshuffled now. Since you want to make achievements, you must perform well in this first time in the palace. If you don't know anything, how can you compare with those people?"

"..."

"Anyway, don't worry about it. I'll go see what the situation is like in the palace. As for you, although the streets have calmed down, there is still a chance of accidents. Bring your dagger and be more alert when you walk."

"Okay, Bai Bi, don't worry." Li Yao said seriously.

……

The long streets of the capital were gloomy.

Even though he had been prepared, Li Yao had never expected that the once prosperous streets would become like this in just one month. He saw that seven out of ten tall buildings had been burned down, and every building had collapsed into a black charcoal ruin. The long street was still splattered with dark blood, and the walls were covered with scars from knife marks and arrow holes.

The place is particularly deserted. Even though life was difficult in the past, there was at least some hustle and bustle during the New Year holidays. But now, apart from the soldiers, there are only a few scattered figures. There is no expression on every face, and every pair of pupils is subconsciously dazed. The capital city has actually given rise to a sense of desolation.

When Li Yao walked to Zhuque Street, more and more people began to gather. Many people in dirty and ragged clothes gathered in groups to receive hot relief porridge. From time to time, there were robberies and beatings, but the soldiers just leaned against the wall and chatted indifferently, turning a deaf ear to them.

Li Yao tried to squeeze forward and shouted but to no avail. He tried hard to organize the team so that the few hungry and crying orphans who couldn't squeeze in could at least get half a bowl of rice. However, after he persuaded the people in front of him to stop, the people over there squeezed in again. He himself was hit by several punches, but he couldn't organize the team into a formation.

The young man had no choice but to retreat, and stared at the crowd for a while. At this moment, an itch ran down his forehead. He wiped it with his hand, and it was stained bright red. It turned out that the bump he just got did not leave him without any injury.

The clothes that he had finally found were stained with a few blood clots. Li Yao treated the wound, looked at the people who were jostling and looting in silence, and headed for the palace gate first.

However, after walking only a few dozen feet and just passing the relief distribution area, he was startled and pulled by a sound coming from the side, and stopped in front of a narrow and dark alley.

He tilted his head to look, and this time he was really stunned.

The alley was narrow and deep, the ground was dark with old blood, and several residents inside had obviously met with misfortune, but at this moment there were two people in the alley - a teenage girl lying on the ground crying, and the back of a boy pulling her hair and walking into the yard.

"Bitch! Don't you understand? I will be rich and prosperous again soon!" The man's voice hissed, "Go in and stay here!"

The man was wearing a gorgeous yellow robe that was already dirty and torn, his hair was disheveled, and around his waist hung a sword with a cracked scabbard, the gold and jade inlays had been dug out. He kicked the girl on the back, causing her to moan.

"Hey..." Li Yao subconsciously said, "Li Heng...cousin."

The alley was quiet for a moment, the figure with the sword paused, and then slowly turned around like a puppet. Li Yao seemed to hear the rustling sound of the shoulders and neck turning... Under the long hair, there were a pair of animal-like eyes and a familiar face.

"...Brother Yao." The face stared at him blankly for a long time before suddenly smiling, "Brother Yao, you are still alive, that's great."

"Aunt...are they okay?" Li Yao asked.

"Everyone is dead, and the house is burned down." Li Heng's voice was hoarse and trembling, but there was no expression on his face.

"..."

"Oh right! I just saw the news!" Li Heng suddenly said in a hoarse voice. When he turned around, the tail of the sheath hit the ground, dragging out a long and harsh sound. "The palace is calling back the clan disciples! Brother Yao, I'm afraid there are only a few left in our big group. It's a good opportunity for you and me to go together."

"Well... cousin, how did you survive this month? Have you been living here all the time? I..." Li Yao subconsciously said halfway and suddenly pursed his lips.

Only then did he gradually adapt to the dim light and saw a lot of blood.

There were dark and mottled scars on Li Heng's robe, boots, scabbard, and hilt, big and small, new and old...but he himself had no wounds.

"Yes, I escaped from the mansion. I knew that the two families in this alley usually brewed wine, so I guessed that they had a cellar to hide..." Li Heng chuckled twice and said hoarsely, "After robbing this place, I have been worried for a month, but I didn't lack food." Then he seemed to come back to his senses, looked down at the girl in his hands, and laughed again: "Ha! I really lived a stupid life. Now that my bloodline has been restored, I can touch all the soft jade and warm fragrance, but I actually coveted such a skinny kid to serve me. I might as well kill her."

He raised his hand and swung the sword downwards, but suddenly a loud shout rang out from the alley: "Stop!!"

Li Heng paused with his hand in the air and turned his head away motionlessly.

Li Yao bowed towards him, as if he was about to exert force.

Two pairs of eyes looked at each other, as if something was torn apart at this moment, and there was no sound in the alley.

"Brother Yao..." Li Heng lowered his eyes and said hoarsely, "If we don't cut the grass and root it out, it will inevitably be a handle against me in the future."

He turned his head, raised his hand and stabbed the sword downwards, but Li Yao had already rushed over in three steps, kicked the side wall with his foot, and pulled out the short sword from his waist. With a "ding" sound, it knocked the blade of Li Heng's sword off balance.

Li Yao held the girl's trembling body in his arms, raised his head, and saw Li Heng holding the hilt of the sword with both hands, holding it high above his head.

"After killing her, we have to go to the palace gate to re-identify our bloodline. Don't meddle in my business." He hissed.

A sword was chopped down vigorously, and this time the true energy whistled on the blade. Li Yao didn't dare to take it again. He raised his hand and threw the girl behind him, then rolled on the ground to avoid it. The stone chips chiseled by the sword blade splashed on his face, causing pain.

Li Heng was the laziest one in his clan, especially after he lost face in the general's mansion two years ago and was not valued, he indulged in pleasure. But after all, he had opened his meridians six years ago, and now his meridians have grown four times. Although Li Yao has also practiced martial arts hard in the past two years, this is the first time for him to really fight.

Li Heng ignored him, his fierce eyes still staring at the girl he had left behind. He waved his hand to push the boy away and swung his sword at the small body again.

Li Yao fell backwards on the ground, and at this moment he remembered the fighting technique taught by the general, which was to counterattack while falling to the ground. He gritted his teeth, straightened his waist, and hit Li Heng's lower back like a shrimp.

Li Heng staggered and grabbed him angrily with his backhand: "Fuck you! Didn't you get beaten enough back then?!"

The beastly eyes that had killed people stared down at the boy fiercely, as if the rule of his childhood had come again. He raised his leg and kneed Li Yao in the abdomen. For the first time, the boy felt the pain of broken ribs, and his body really curled up like a live shrimp.

"Don't be so shameless!" Li Heng's eyes were bloodshot. He waved his hand and slammed him against the wall. With his other hand, he raised his sword and stabbed the skinny girl.

Li Yao did not let go of his sleeve, but angrily said: "Stop!"

The martial arts lessons he had taken with the general came back to his memory. He lowered his head, took a step forward, and reached under Li Heng's sleeve to get his sword in his chest, then used his dagger to block Li Heng's sword.

Li Heng raised his hand and elbowed him on the shoulder, causing him to scream in pain, but Li Yao still raised one arm to hold his right hand holding the sword. Li Heng did not look at him, but only stared at the girl who fell back, took a step forward, and handed the sword to his other hand.

Li Yao gritted his teeth, climbed onto his arm, and raised his hand with the dagger in hand.

Li Heng raised his hand and stabbed the girl on the ground.

Then a silver light flashed past his sight. Li Heng subconsciously drew his sword back, but before he realized how to stop it, he felt a chill in his throat as if it had been pierced through.

All was quiet.

He slowly lowered his head stiffly. Li Yao's arm, like a butterfly flying through flowers, went around his right arm from a tricky angle and stabbed the dagger into his throat. The young man stared at him, panting, and the gushing hot blood dyed half of his face and his entire shoulder red.

At this moment Li Heng didn't know whether he had just woken up from a dream or was in disbelief. Si Sheng's life would not disappear suddenly. Fear and anger rushed into his confused mind at the same time. He swung his sword with all his might, wanting to cut the man in front of him into two pieces.

But the next moment, the hand holding the sword seemed to be hit by a frightened horse, and it fell back suddenly.

A cold iron shadow flashed past, pierced through his wrist, and nailed it firmly to the wall with a snap.

Li Yao watched the corpse in front of him slowly slide to the ground, with only one arm nailed high. He turned around and saw a young man in cloth clothes and carrying a bow standing on the wall at the end of the alley. He was wearing a pair of straw sandals in such a cold winter month and holding another short spike in his hand.

"..."

He looked at Li Yao expressionlessly, then lifted his leg and dropped down from the wall. "Where did you learn the fighting techniques of the two riders under the general's banner?"

Li Yao came back to his senses after a while, straightened his clothes, and bowed to him seriously, "Are you an old subordinate of the general? I have been living in the general's mansion for the past two years, and I am fortunate to listen to the general's teachings."

The young man was only about eighteen or nineteen years old, but his temperament, as quiet as snow and as sharp as a sword, was rare in Shenjing. After hearing this, he had no desire to verify it, and only nodded: "I can help you collect the body, you can just push it on me."

Li Yao was stunned and silent for a moment, but shook his head: "No need, everyone has their own responsibility."

"In a ruined city in turmoil, what is right and wrong?" the young man said in a wooden voice, "If you don't kill him, I will kill him too; if he doesn't leave, no one will know he is still alive."

"In a ruined city and chaotic times, one must be more courageous." Li Yao held Li Heng's head and drew his dagger. "He acts arbitrarily, I act arbitrarily, and you act arbitrarily... Then there will be no good day in this world."

He tilted his head to look outside the alley: "Just like those refugees fighting for porridge."

"People have to eat when they are hungry. This has been the case since ancient times." The young man said, "People who are extremely hungry have no morals. This is your first day seeing rioters. You will get used to it in the future."

"No, everyone has morals."

"……Um?"

"There are no rioters. It's just that the relief distribution is not stable at all." Li Yao turned around and wiped the blood dripping from his chin. "I just looked over there."

"What do you mean?"

"Can't you see? There is food today, but not tomorrow, and we don't know when it will come again; there is less food in the morning, but more food in the evening, and we don't know how much. Living in such a panic, who wouldn't fight for the next meal? Naturally, everyone lives like a beast." Li Yao said seriously, "As long as the relief is stabilized, people's livelihood will soon be restored and in order... This is a very simple thing, but I don't know why no one in the government is doing it."

He wiped the blood off his face and bowed again: "Thank you for saving my life, sir. I am Li Yao, the only son of the virtuous king. May I ask your name?"

The young man looked at him quietly, straightened his posture after a moment, and bowed: "My surname is Shang, so I am under the general's banner, the left cavalry marquis, and I pay my respects to the prince."

(End of this chapter)