Zhou Ping'an had been somewhat worried. His identity was not exactly reputable, and entering the city could pose a problem.
However, upon arriving at the city gates, he saw refugees everywhere—dragging children, wearing hardly enough to cover themselves...
Not only outside the city but also inside, it was bustling and crowded.
Every now and then, he would see soldiers clad in leather armor, brandishing whips and weapons to threaten and drive away the people, scattering the crowds in fear.
Quietly blending into the refugee group, Zhou Ping'an began to overhear hushed conversations.
"After the severe drought followed by the snow disaster, this year is going to be tough."
"The Red Lotus Bandits and Black Mountain Bandits have both started uprisings. People are dying everywhere..."
"I heard that here in Qingyang City, County Magistrate Lord Li is an upright official who loves his people as his own. He has ordered the wealthy families to provide porridge. Here, one should at least manage to scrounge up some food..."
"City Guard Captain Tian Baoyi, Lord Tian, is brave and unmatched. This time he killed a Divine Envoy from the Red Lotus Bandits and broke a force of three thousand bandits..."
"How come I heard that it was the Third Miss Lin who personally killed the Fiery Flame Messenger? County Captain Tian did not make a move. Moreover, in this battle against the Red Lotus Army, the City Guards and the families suffered heavy casualties."
"Also, the Red Lotus Bandits who attacked were just one branch from Guangning. They lost a Divine Envoy, so there might be a stronger counterattack coming soon..."
"Shh..."
"Mom, I'm hungry!"
Zhou Ping'an kept his ears perked, listening to the private whispers of the surrounding crowd, and his expression turned very grim.
Although he had escaped from the battlefield and was now in safety,
being among these refugees and witnessing such miserable scenes, he couldn't help but feel disheartened.
As he walked, an old man suddenly fell down dead right in front of him.
The surrounding crowd's faces were numb, seemingly accustomed to such sights, and showed no reaction at all.
...
"Rather be a dog in times of peace than a human in times of chaos."
Zhou Ping'an sighed to himself inwardly; there was nothing he could do but fill his stomach, which was now his immediate concern.
Since he last ate yesterday morning, nearly a day had passed without much real food, and he could feel his body growing weak.
It was mainly because he was new to this place, and a vague sense of uncertainty and crisis was unsettling him.
"Ten days..."
"If I hadn't risked everything to snatch some silver from the body of that Fiery Flame Messenger, I doubt I could have lasted even three days. I need to find a place to settle down first."
Thinking back to the sight of horses charging, the double halberds, and the sword flowing like a waterfall, Zhou Ping'an felt a slight warmth in his heart.
Master Dong had mastered Xingyi Boxing in a very short period of time, achieving the level of Dragon's Chant and Tiger's Roar and the Five Organs Thunder.
Without a doubt, his fortune came from this world.
This must mean that there is a complete martial arts lineage here, and it might not be that difficult to learn.
If indeed...
Thinking of Master Dong, Zhou Ping'an almost seemed to see Yao Zhenbang's hostile and gloomy gaze again.
He knew that the case of the lost artifacts from the General's Tomb was not really closed. Dong Qingshan had been forced to hide, and although he eventually died, the issue was far from settled.
And now, he understood that the secret of Master Dong was the Broken Crescent-shaped Mirror on his own wrist...
He wondered how much information Yao Zhenbang had actually gathered?
How many covert eyes were watching?
To protect himself, deception would not be enough. Tang Tang could block one or two schemes, but he couldn't stop all the overt and covert attacks, the many tests.
In the end, he had to rely on himself.
...
"Shopkeeper, a bowl of beef soup, three large flatbreads, no, make that five..."
As much as he thought and observed, eating was most important.
Arriving at a steaming shop, Zhou Ping'an's stomach grumbled. He decided to stop there, satisfy his hunger first, then consider his next move.
Then, he saw the shopkeeper's eyes flickering towards him, as if wanting to say something but not daring to.
Zhou Ping'an followed his gaze, looking at his own body—covered in patches of dark red and black blood on his dirty, tattered Gray Clothes...
He understood.
"You won't be short of your silver."
He tried to smile warmly as he reached into his pocket for a small piece of broken silver.
"Alright, sir, it's coming right up!" The shopkeeper, seeing the silver, quickly crammed his face with a smile, whispering, "Would you like some hot water for a bath, and some fresh clothes to change into..."
"That would be appreciated."
Zhou Ping'an then realized that this piece of broken silver, almost less than one tael, had quite strong purchasing power.
From the shopkeeper's eyes, he could tell that even after a meal, a bath, and new clothes, the shopkeeper would still make a profit.
The beef soup had only bits of meat, hardly better than clear broth.
The flatbreads, however, tasted quite good. Except for being a little throat-scorching, the faint smoky flavor was quite appetite-inducing.
He gulped down three flatbreads in one go, then looked up to see someone across the way also burying their head, eating intently.
Zhou Ping'an's expression turned slightly bewildered.
Although the man was looking down and not lifting his head...
the thick eyebrows and his physique and clothes were enough to identify him as the youth who wore a red ribbon.
There was even a faint scar on his forehead.
He was here too.
What a coincidence.
Zhou Ping'an's heart stirred.
How capable this man was, was hard to say, but observing his performance on the battlefield, he seemed to be in his element...
Setting flairs with the wind, changing the field against it.
Moving with restraint and elusive ease.
Such a person, if he did not die in his weaker days, would surely be extraordinary in the future.
Moreover, his current situation was, to not put too fine a point on it, almost exactly like his own.
He must be desperate to improve his own situation, perhaps even to become stronger...
Zhou might as well see how he would act.
With that plan in mind.
Zhou Ping'an quickly finished his food, noticing that the thick-eyebrowed youth at another table still had more than ten pieces of pancake that he was treasuring and slowly swallowing...
He then rushed to the back hall, a quick change of clothes, discarded his torn attire, and followed the youth out of the diner almost immediately on his heels.
...
Perhaps because he had changed into a brand new set of green short martial arts attire and had just bathed.
Zhou Ping'an felt spirited and gallant at this moment, a stark contrast from the previous down-at-heel and dusty appearance.
So much so, that he followed the man for quite a while without being recognized.
Walking along, the thick-eyebrowed youth looked left and right, occasionally stopping at places where a crowd had gathered.
Those were places for recruiting manpower or trading slaves.
Normally only the desperately destitute would sell themselves.
Of course, some places wouldn't take you even if you wanted to sell yourself.
Like this one.
A garishly made-up old woman was shouting loudly, "Don't want men, only women, you there, you're too old, buying you would cost more in food than you're worth..."
No need to ask, this was clearly a brothel, trying in famine years to acquire "good seedlings" at bargain prices.
Such "transactions," deemed extremely sinister by modern standards, were actually bustling.
Zhou Ping'an just stood there for a while, and saw several poor families selling off their "precious cloaked children"...
After the sale, while they showed a crying facade, in the depths of their eyes, there was also clear relief.
Meanwhile, the little girls who were sold had no idea what was coming next, their eyes blank and helpless as they watched their parents walk away.
Two naive little ones even asked their parents and brother to visit often.
Zhou Ping'an noticed.
Besides the bustling business in the brothel, what was even more bustling were the stewards from affluent households coming out to select slaves.
They picked sellers of themselves like livestock, experienced enough to ask people to open their mouths... to check their teeth, inspect their skin, and so on.
Of course, it was hard to recruit the robust at these places.
Strong and stout individuals, for the most part, were like the thick-eyebrowed youth, drawn to two other booths.
At one spot under a canopy, a transaction desk was set up with an armoured man seated, and soldiers loudly calling out, "Those with courage and strength, anyone joining the army will be well-fed with meat and grain, provided every month. If you perform valorously, you can even be promoted and knighted..."
The conditions sounded really good.
Some robust men couldn't help but be attracted.
Yet, Zhou Ping'an noticed that the thick-eyebrowed youth slightly curled his lip, shook his head slightly, and quickened his pace, moving away from that recruiting site.
"That's right, I overheard those disaster victims discussing earlier, even though there was a big victory outside the city.
But the City Guards and manpower from various families have all suffered great losses, that is, many have died."
"It is evident that a bigger counterattack from the Red Lotus Bandits is imminent. As the main force of resistance, the City Guards are certainly under great pressure and in urgent need of manpower."
Joining them now would make one mere cannon fodder.
Whether the pay was high was left to be mentioned, dying quickly was certain.
Moreover, Zhou Ping'an, who had comprehended the historical records of all dynasties, had never heard of any era's lower-class soldiers being well-fed and granted provisions...
If there really was sufficient food and meat, it was definitely the "last meal of the condemned man."
Official words should be taken with a grain of salt and reduced by a good fraction to get something close to truth.
Zhou Ping'an still had some silver on him, so he wasn't worried about his livelihood in the short term; what he really thought about was growth.
The thick-eyebrowed youth thought the same.
As they walked, he stopped in a noisy crowd.
His face lit up with eager excitement, clearly greatly tempted.