Chapter 1427 - 376: Am I Becoming a Substitute?

Chapter 1427: Chapter 376: Am I Becoming a Substitute?

Yuchi wandered around this small town, and after a round of wandering, he could confirm the current situation—just as he saw it. The entire city was already heavily guarded by many soldiers, and the town itself was exceedingly small. After being accustomed to the cities of Jiangnan and the State Capital, this place felt woefully backward, evoking a sense of lament.

To be honest, there wasn’t any need for powerful Cultivators to come to this small town. Just the guards from Jiangnan could come directly, and perhaps Jiangnan’s official agencies themselves wouldn’t need to rely on other Defense Departments or the Celestial Capital Department. Just the arrival of government officials could tidy up the entire town due to its insignificance.

The population of the town was roughly around 50,000, with 5,000 residences. The spacing between these residences was relatively wide. It was a square-shaped town, and the total length of the city walls was about 15 li.

It truly was a small place.

"And under such circumstances, is this place actually a national capital?"

While Yuchi was walking in the small town, he came across a small palace-like area. These palaces still bore visible red walls and green tiles on the outside, which was somewhat amusing. So few people, yet there was the presence of a king-like figure. Honestly, back home, this wouldn’t even count as a village chief.

"Thus, from this situation, it seems the Sixth State is still rather declining, possibly not yet recovered from the effects of past wars, or perhaps due to other reasons. So now, the population and economy of the Sixth State are far behind other states. Comparing to even our Third State, this isn’t even on the same level."

"It’s not a matter of disdain; it’s merely discussing the matter factually. And so, faced with war in such circumstances, this is simply a devastating blow to this place."

As for what name the small town was called, it was no longer important. The plaque on the gate of the city walls was already destroyed, making this small town seem like a masterless entity.

"Nevertheless, there are still roughly around 50,000 residents in the town. Among them, about one to two thousand tried to flee, but honestly, very few succeeded, as they queued up here, hoping that the sheer number of people could apply some pressure."

Yuchi recalled some toll stations from his past life, where kilometers of queues formed outside. What kind of pressure could this exert? To pass through, one must pay a toll fee, and this was under the relatively peaceful environment of his past life. In a war-torn world like now, could sheer numbers induce anyone to simply let them through? Impossible.

Currently, the entire small town was heavily dilapidated, with many emaciated people sitting by the roadside.

These residents wore gray or brown clothing, covered with all kinds of dust, their faces yellow and emaciated, heads lowered, hugging a pole or a broom as they sat by the road, eyes vacant, gazing at the ground as if lost in thought.

Children seemed unaware of anything amiss, still able to play on the streets, chasing and fleeing. Yet Yuchi could observe that none of the children wore shoes, running barefoot on this land, kicking up a dust cloud as they ran. It appeared there hadn’t been rain here for a while.

He certainly had a lot of food, but taking out such food now held no meaning.

"Unless this issue is resolved at its root, even if a vast amount of food is brought over, it will never be enough."

Though Yuchi had known hardship in his past life, at least he hadn’t faced any kind of war-torn environment. So now, looking at this entire town suffused with lifelessness—especially under such arid conditions—this myriad of dispirited eyes exerted an invisible pressure.

"I arrived here in late August 992, and now it’s September 992. The weather is still okay, generally not yet hot. If the lockdown continues by late September or October, then on one hand, water sources might be at risk, and additionally, food supplies here could be completely depleted."

He watched as a starved, skin-and-bone yellow dog walked behind him, followed by two other little dogs, which approached him, tail wagging in supplication.

Yuchi pretended he did not see and walked away amid the whimpers of the little yellow dog.

This was definitely not the time to take out food; doing so would surely incite major chaos.

Under such circumstances, benevolence held no use. To resolve the problem, it must be addressed at the root.

"I could easily kill all the guards of the town, but if this is done without understanding the underlying situation, thereafter, there’s still a significant chance of causing greater harm to the entire town’s residents."

Yuchi saw two barefoot children running past him, with no adults nearby.