Two Realms: Don't call me evil!

Chapter 468: Xiaguang City

Qingzhou, Yuyao Prefecture, Xiaguang City.

As the sun got brighter, the city began to get busy.

Shops opened one after another on both sides of the street and displayed their goods.

The market in the city is the busiest. Vendors carry their loads on their shoulders. The vegetables in front of the vegetable stalls are still covered with morning dew. Butchers at the meat stalls are cutting meat with knives. Pedestrians are hurrying on their way or carrying baskets to buy vegetables. Various hawking sounds can be heard one after another.

Suddenly, a burst of hurried horse hoof sounds broke the tranquil scene. A messenger rode a fast horse and rushed towards Xiaguang City, holding an urgent document in his hand and galloping at full speed.

The soldiers at the city gate quickly drove the people into the city to make way and watched the messenger gallop away.

"What kind of urgent order is this? Could it be another conscription? Is the war in southern Xinjiang so urgent?"

"Those barbarians are very brutal. In the last round of forced conscription, within less than half a year, I heard that more than 90% of the soldiers were killed or injured, and only one in ten survived."

"It's so miserable. Maybe they are short of manpower and want to recruit us as well."

"The imperial court has so many immortals who can fly and hide, and those immortal sects and clans are so powerful that one of them can defeat tens of thousands of ordinary people. Why do we still recruit ordinary people to fight in wars?"

"You know that the imperial court cannot control those immortal sects and big families."

"This damn world is full of disasters. There is a severe drought in Jingzhou, and people are eating each other. There are continuous torrential rains in Qingzhou, and floods are everywhere. Our Qingzhou is not peaceful either, and the Demon Cult is rampant."

A group of soldiers gathered together and started gossiping with each other. As soldiers stationed at the city gate, they saw people coming and going every day and were well-informed about the news.

At this time, the messenger ran to the city gate and shouted, "Quickly inform the county government that a large number of refugees are coming from Jingzhou. The governor has ordered all cities to close and be on guard to prevent the hungry people from causing trouble."

The soldiers who were chatting were stunned and suddenly panicked.

Two days later!

Just two days after the messenger left, a large number of refugees appeared on the horizon.

These refugees were all ragged, pale and thin, with eyes full of numbness and despair. They walked without any energy, just like the walking corpses.

Among the refugees, there was a mother holding her baby tightly in her arms, with disheveled hair and mumbling to herself. Looking closely, one could see that the child had already died and maggots were crawling inside his body.

There were refugees who fell to the ground from hunger and exhaustion, dying. There were many refugees gathered around them, with green eyes, staring at each other, like jackals choosing their prey, waiting for the moment of their death.

The gates of Xiaguang City were already closed, and a large group of soldiers were standing crookedly on the city wall, pointing and laughing from time to time. They had no intention of letting anyone into the city.

"Masters, please be kind enough to let us into the city and give us something to eat."

"I can choose not to go to the city, but my grandson is only eight years old. Gentlemen, please buy him. He is very obedient and capable of working."

"I am willing to sell myself to you as a slave, just for you to give me some food."

When the refugees saw Xiaguang City, hope appeared in their eyes and they ran to the city gate, knelt down and begged.

Qingzhou is the most important grain-producing area of ​​the Dali Dynasty. They fled here all the way to escape famine just to get some food.

But the soldiers were not moved at all, they just said coldly: "There is no food left in the city, go back to where you came from."

The refugees finally saw hope of survival and were unwilling to leave. The two sides remained in a stalemate here, and the soldiers shouted back those refugees who wanted to move forward.

"These people would not let us live, so we rushed in together and looked for bamboo to make ladders."

Some refugees who were driven mad by hunger had ferocious faces and called their friends to find a way to force their way in.

"court death."

Among the soldiers stationed on the city wall, a captain of the city gate drew his sword and jumped directly from the city wall. The sword flashed, and dozens of corpses fell to the ground in a blink of an eye. The remaining refugees who were ready to move suddenly quieted down.

This captain of the city gate had a strong aura and was what was called a master in the martial arts world, that is, a cultivator at the fourth level of the Soul Accumulation Realm.

In the martial arts world, masters are divided into third-rate masters, second-rate masters, and first-rate masters according to their strength, as well as masters and grand masters above the first-rate masters, representing the first to fifth levels of the Soul Condensation Realm respectively.

Generally speaking, the grandmasters at the fifth level of the Soul Condensation Realm are well-known in the secular world, dominating one side and being given titles like Sword Saint or Gun God.

These titles are laughed at in the cultivation world. If you care about them, you will only lower your own level.

Because martial artists only have limited methods, they cannot compare with practitioners in terms of fighting power, but they can still easily defeat unarmed refugees.

This is also the reason why Xiaguang City is not afraid of refugees causing trouble and rushing into the city. As long as a few of the leading refugees are killed and threatened, other refugees will not dare to follow suit.

Suddenly, in the chaos, a luxurious carriage slowly drove in from the road outside the city.

The axles made dull sounds as they rolled, the body of the carriage was inlaid with exquisite bronze ornaments, and the curtains of the carriage were made of the finest silk, exuding an aristocratic atmosphere and flowing with brilliance.

Around the carriage, more than a dozen guards in black suits rode on tall horses, looking around vigilantly with eyes as sharp as hawks.

At this moment, both the refugees and the soldiers on the city wall looked over here.

Those who can ride in such a carriage must be either rich or noble.

"Sir, Miss, we have arrived at Xiaguang City. There is a problem ahead. There are hungry people blocking the road. Do you think we should still enter the city?"

A guard leader rode up to the carriage on horseback and spoke in a low voice.

With his first-class master's cultivation, he was naturally not afraid of a few refugees. The carriage curtain was opened, and the interior of the carriage was decorated equally luxuriously, with fine cushions and carpets, and exuding a faint aroma.

A noble young man in a silk robe and a woman in a red dress with her face covered by a veil were sitting in the middle.

This young man is naturally Su Jie, and next to him is Han Ruyan.

After Su Jie left Guiling Palace, he disguised himself by moving his facial muscles. It was very easy for him to do this in the Secret Treasure Realm, and ordinary people could not see that he had changed his appearance.

After leaving the sphere of influence of Guiling Palace, Su Jie hired an escort agency to escort him, posing as a rich young man. He began to travel in a swagger and headed towards the headquarters of Tianhunmen.

It is now the seventh day since Su Jie left Guiling Palace, and there are still a few days left to reach the Tianhunmen forces.

“So many refugees.”

Su Jie, who was interrupted from his practice, stretched himself, looked out the window, waved his hand and said, "Let's not spend the night in the wilderness today, go into the city and find an inn to rest."

"Yes."

The chief guard Zhang Jun nodded and ran over with a few good men to talk to the soldiers on the city wall.

"Open the city gates, and you will lose lives."

Before Zhang Jun arrived here, footsteps were heard from the city over there.

A middle-aged man in gorgeous clothes and with an extraordinary demeanor walked to the city gate, accompanied by many servants guarding the courtyard. There were also hundreds of flatbed carts with large porridge buckets on them, emitting the fragrance of rice porridge.

"Master Xu."

As soon as the soldiers saw the middle-aged man, they immediately looked respectful.

This is Xu Liangpan, the head of the Xu family in Xiaguang City. They are a noble and aristocratic family, and you can also call them a family of spiritual practice. The family runs various secular businesses and spiritual practice industries, and their business is extremely huge.

"Open the door, I want to put the porridge in."

Xu Liangpan shouted loudly, and the soldiers did not dare to neglect him. In Xiaguang City, the Xu family's words were more effective than those of the county magistrate.

After all, the county magistrate is replaced every few years, but the Xu family has been here for hundreds of years. They are a famous and prominent family in the vicinity, and there are also members of the family who practice cultivation, so no one dares to mess with them.

When the city gates opened, Xu Liangpan brought his servants to guard the courtyard and carried porridge buckets to serve porridge to the refugees.

Suddenly, the crowd was excited and refugees swarmed in, surrounding Xu Liangpan and his men.

"Thank you, sir, for your kindness in distributing porridge and charity."

"My benefactor! When I return to my hometown, I will build a shrine for you and worship you every day."

"Oh my God! What a fragrant and rich porridge! Now we can survive."

The refugees were so excited that they even wanted to loot, but the servants and guards of the Xu family stood up and blocked the crowded crowd with one hand. Almost all of them were second-rate and first-rate masters in the martial arts world. There were also several young men and women with extraordinary demeanor and spiritual aura flowing through their bodies. They were obviously practitioners at first glance, and the number of masters was even greater than that of the government.

"Don't push, everyone has a share."

Xu Liangpan personally distributed porridge with a kind smile on his face. He said, "Alas, I hate to see this kind of tragedy. After everyone has eaten, you can choose to work in my Xu family's farm and medicinal fields. I will give you ten copper coins a day, and I will provide you with food and accommodation. If you are willing to sign up, come and register with me later."

Upon hearing the news, the refugees became even more excited and rushed to raise their hands.

"Me, me, me, I want to sign up."

"Master, I am strong, and I want to work for you to repay your kindness."

"I can do masonry and farming. Master, if you choose me, I will work the hardest."

These refugees crowded together to register, and the scene was very chaotic.

At this moment, the carriage that Su Jie was in slowly drove into the city gate. Xu Liangpan put down the spoon in his hand and stared at the luxurious carriage that Su Jie was in.

"What are the origins of the people in that car?"

Xu Liangpan asked a leading soldier.

"I don't know. They say he is a young man from another place. He passed by our Xiaguang City with a grand ceremony. I don't know what his background is."

Xu Liangpan looked thoughtful. A young man with a feminine face beside him whispered in his ear, "Uncle, he looks like a fat sheep. I'll go check it out tonight."

"Be careful, don't cause trouble if you're a big shot."

Xu Liangpan nodded slightly and spoke calmly.

"I understand uncle, don't you know how steady I am?"

At the same time, in the carriage, Su Jie smiled faintly and said, "Interesting, the disciples of Guanchao Pavilion are here."

In Su Jie's perception, the spiritual power fluctuations emanating from those young men and women in blue clothes could not be hidden from his perception.

Su Jie had many dealings with Guanchao Pavilion, and he had no idea how many disciples of Guanchao Pavilion had died at his hands. The restrained aura fluctuations of these disciples in the Yunling Realm were simply invisible to Su Jie.

(End of this chapter)