In the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qian State’s Pingguan Prefecture—the remote Changqu County City.
Meng Chuan and his wife walked on the streets.
“A county city has been reduced to such a dilapidated state in a year,” said Liu Qiyue softly. At a glance, one could see many ruined places. “The survivors didn’t rebuild these areas after the demon monarch attacks. It’s already good if they can barely survive.”
“Changqu County City had a population of more than 90,000 a year ago. Now, there’s only about 20,000 people,” said Meng Chuan. “Some were slaughtered by demon monarchs. However, most chose to leave the county city and live in the wilderness. This is the most remote place in our designated rescue area. Many times, by the time we arrive, the demon monarchs have already retreated. We can’t protect this place completely.”
Liu Qiyue nodded.
They protected five prefectures. The areas they primarily protected were Gu Mountain Prefecture and Eastcalm Prefecture. Any further and their rescue efficiency would drop greatly.
Since the demons attacked simultaneously, the duo naturally rescued the nearest and most important places first. The areas further away were of lower priority. As some county cities became more ravaged, they naturally saved the still-bustling county cities first. The remote, ravaged county cities were at the back of the queue.
This was the only way because they were unable to be everywhere. However, this county still was still within their designated rescue area. Meng Chuan and his wife felt rather guilty after seeing the county city in such a sorry state.
“Steamed buns, steamed buns for sale! Hot piping meat buns,” someone shouted.
Meng Chuan looked over.
Around the ruins, one could see a few barely intact buildings. One building sold steamed buns. However, very few people were doing business in the county city.
“Mom, I want to eat meat buns.” A child crawled out of a ruin. He stared at the buns with a covetous look.
“It’s already good enough that you can eat your fill. You still want to eat meat buns? Hurry up and leave.” The woman crawled out from the ruins. Their home was hidden in a self-dug tunnel deep within the ruins. The family of five lived there.
“Mom.” The child’s eyes were red. “I haven’t eaten meat in half a year. I want to eat it.”
“Then stay here.” The woman carried the basket and walked away. The child could only follow.
Meng Chuan and his wife watched from afar.
“Let’s go,” said Meng Chuan. As Godfiends, what could they do?
The couple left quietly.
The duo stayed close to the ground on their way back to Gu Mountain Prefecture City.
Meng Chuan opened his third eye at his glabella—the Divine Eye of Lightning. The electromagnetic domain expanded rapidly. This electromagnetic domain could penetrate a quarter-kilometer deep underground! Although very few demons hid within a quarter-kilometer of the surface, they would occasionally encounter some demons traveling underground. Over the past year, they had relied on this method to kill over 100 demon monarchs—an unexpected gain.
Meng Chuan’s electromagnetic domain could affect light, preventing others from seeing the couple with the naked eye.
“Oh?” Meng Chuan suddenly frowned.
“What’s wrong?” Liu Qiyue was puzzled.
“Let’s go.” He flashed to a lake about a kilometer away with his wife. Tall reeds littered the lake.
On the lake was a small, wooden boat. The lake water beside the wooden boat churned.
Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue appeared on the wooden boat. With a wave of his hand, his Great Solar Quintessential Essence seeped into the water, cut through the underwater reeds, and pulled two children up.
One child had a pale face as he clung to his companion tightly. The other child—who was slightly older—panted heavily.
“Third Brother, Third Brother, wake up.” The child looked at his younger brother’s pale face and was on the brink of tears. He immediately begged Meng Chuan and his wife. “My lords, please save my younger brother. Save my younger brother.”
“He’s fine,” said Meng Chuan.
As soon as he finished speaking, the pale-faced child suddenly spat out a few mouthfuls of water before waking up.
The older child finally heaved a sigh of relief.
“Where’s your home? I’ll send you back,” said Liu Qiyue gently. Their hearts ached when they saw these children because they also had two children.
“It’s over there. In the reed marsh.” The older child pointed in a direction. “About a quarter-kilometer away.”
“Okay.” Meng Chuan nodded.
Immediately, the tiny wooden boat they were standing on began to accelerate to high speeds, causing the two children on the boat to find it hard to believe what they saw. How could their little wooden boat be so fast? They were still in a daze when the little wooden boat had traveled a quarter-kilometer.
There were five boats in the reed marsh. Clothes, as well as pots and pans, hung outside the boats. People were clearly living on the boats.
“That’s our boat.” The child pointed at one of the boats.
“Mom!” the elder child shouted loudly. A dirty-looking woman walked out of the boat cabin. When the woman saw that Meng Chuan and his wife were dressed in extraordinary clothes, she couldn’t help but be a little more respectful. At the same time, she whispered to her child, “You two disappeared when I wasn’t looking.”
“We went fishing. Third Brother fell into the water and was trapped by the reeds. I wanted to save him, but Third Brother hugged me. These two lords saved us,” said the elder child. As for the younger child, he was still weak from the ordeal.
“Thank you for saving my children, my lords.” Upon hearing this, the woman immediately kowtowed in gratitude.
Meng Chuan and his wife looked at the five boats and easily sensed their dilapidated interiors. They didn’t say anything as they nodded and left in a second.
“The two of you, I told you not to go into the water when there are no adults. Yet, you still did. Do you want me to die of anxiety? If the two of you die, what will I do?” Only then did the woman cry from the lingering fear. The two children leaned against their mother, not daring to make a sound.
…
Meng Chuan and his wife continued their journey home.
“Those five boats represent five families. From the looks of it, they usually live on the boats,” said Meng Chuan. “They’re just hiding in the reeds.”
“It’s difficult to be discovered by demon monarchs. At the very least, it’s safer,” said Liu Qiyue.
“Now, the more remote a place is, the more people reside there,” said Meng Chuan. “However, it’s very difficult to survive in many remote places.”
“Everyone—other than those in large state capitals and prefecture cities—has it difficult,” said Liu Qiyue softly, “Village forts have completely vanished. Small villages are everywhere now. Although it’s very unlikely for a small village to encounter a demon monarch, they will definitely die if they encounter one. Most of the world’s county cities are desolate. Too many people have died. There are plagues everywhere. Thankfully, Godfiends immediately rush over to resolve the plagues. However, the problem regarding demon monarchs can’t be solved. There are too many of them.”
“Yes.” Meng Chuan nodded.
In the past year, the couple had rescued many people. Although the demons were very cunning, they had killed over 1000 demon monarchs in total.
But so what?
Indeed, most inner sect disciples were safe now since they cultivated on Archean Mountain. Occasionally, Marquis Godfiends would attack demon monarch lairs or carry out interception missions as a way to hone themselves.
The elite Great Solar Godfiends were the only ones fighting with all their might. From the current ratio of Godfiend casualties, it was over ten-fold better than when they guarded small and medium-sized city passes. After all, powerful Godfiends like them could easily slaughter demon monarchs.
However, too many mortals are dying. Meng Chuan sighed inwardly.
Even those within prefecture cities struggled to survive. Since food became more and more expensive, it was naturally not easy to survive.
Countless mortals died in this world.
The survivors also had it difficult.
Meng Chuan and the other Godfiends did their best to maintain the cities’ safety.
If I can become a Marquis Godfiend, I’ll be stronger and faster. I believe I can protect more prefecture cities and county cities. I believe that I can save over 100 million people when I’m a Marquis Godfiend.
The more powerful a Godfiend was, the more mortals they could protect. This made many Godfiends, including Meng Chuan, yearn for greater strength.
They wanted to become stronger so that they could protect more mortals.
Huh? Meng Chuan and his wife felt their chests warm up. They immediately took out their Patroller tokens. Their Patroller tokens emitted one red blip.
“Request for reinforcements? Eastcalm Prefecture’s Zhenyou County?” The couple exchanged glances.
“Let’s go.” Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue rushed toward Eastcalm Prefecture rapidly.
