For the time being, the Nether Cold Realm was off-limits. Having stirred up such an enormous hornet's nest, Wei Yuan had to wait until the storm blew over, all while making targeted preparations.
Though he had only visited the Nether Cold Realm a few times, his gains were already substantial: a pair of top-grade magical treasure short blades, several thousand nether flies, and a mound of Nether Soil resembling a small hill that weighed several hundred thousand jin. Naturally, the greatest prize was that Primordial Soul maiden and the yin-yang of her Dao Foundation.
Compared to the yin-yang, the pool of black water inside Jade Mountain seemed even more mysterious. Eldest Senior Sister had already come by, but she could not see through Jade Mountain at all; she remained entirely oblivious to the black water within and had not detected the shadow in the moon either.
For now, Wei Yuan directed all his energy back toward the domain. On one hand, he needed to heed Eldest Senior Sister's advice to forge entanglements far and wide; on the other, as Zhang Sheng had pointed out, expanding the populace under his rule would drive up the price of casting the Karma Great Curse. The domain currently held a hundred and twenty thousand people, who had already contributed over a thousand strands of azure qi to Wei Yuan. He reckoned that if the Karma Great Curse descended at this moment, all of them would likely be struck by it.
At present, the old predicament still stared Wei Yuan in the face: a shortage of grain.
The remaining grain within the domain was only enough to last five days. Outside, the Shamans still watched like tigers eyeing their prey, constantly reinforcing their main camp. The Shamans' main force in the north had vanished without a trace, liable to appear outside the domain at any moment.
At this stage, Wei Yuan was pursuing a hedgehog strategy. If the Shamans' main force truly attacked with all their might regardless of cost, he certainly would not be able to prevail and would ultimately have to uproot Qingming and flee. Before that happened, however, Wei Yuan intended to inflict devastating casualties on the Shamans, fighting until every single civilian was spent. Empowered by Ephemeral Multitude, the sacrifice of all hundred and twenty thousand civilians would be enough to tear through fifty thousand of the Shamans' finest elite.
With his plan settled, Wei Yuan summoned Cui Yu to discuss the corresponding redeployment.
Wei Yuan intended to forge a new batch of miniature muskets loaded with two liang of powder, placing one in the hands of every civilian, young and old, male and female. In Wei Yuan's words, when the marauders arrived, everyone would have the means to resist.
Cui Yu, however, fell silent. Only after a pause did he speak: "Junior Brother, when we waged war against Northern Liao, even during the fiercest fighting, there was a rule not to kill anyone shorter than a chariot wheel. In warfare with the Shamans, they do not slaughter women and children either; instead, they pen them like livestock to use as future sacrifices. While being kept like cattle is no different from beasts, they can at least survive for several more years. But doing what you propose is tantamount to shoving the elderly, the children, and the women to the front line. They will die on the battlefield."
Wei Yuan said slowly, "Senior Brother, as you said yourself, being captured by the Shamans means living like livestock. If that is the case, why live at all? It is far better to die in a blaze of glory! If Qingming falls, not one of these hundred-plus thousand civilians will survive for long anyway. As I see it, rather than scraping by in ignominy, risking everything in a desperate fight offers the only sliver of a chance."
Cui Yu said, "Those scraping by in the Shattered Lands for a few years ended up living to see Qingming and Western Jin reopen the commanderies, did they not? Dragging out an existence at least leaves a chance; once dead, everything is gone. I do not believe we have the right to make that choice for them."
Wei Yuan frowned. "Senior Brother, when dealing with enemies or aristocratic rivals, you are ruthless and decisive, and when commanding troops, your discipline is ironclad. You were never like this."
Cui Yu sighed. "The scions of aristocratic families receive tutelage from childhood and never lack the basic resources for cultivation; they are granted countless opportunities throughout their lives. No matter how harshly I drive them, I feel not a shred of guilt. Even if I were to scheme and lure them to their deaths, it would only be because of their own stupidity. But these commoners are different. They have never read a book. From infancy to old age, all they have done is survive, drifting muddleheaded through their entire lives. They have never had the right to choose, and now that we possess the power, we naturally ought to let them make their own choice."
Wei Yuan finally understood. Cui Yu was remarkably harsh toward those of fellow aristocratic lineage, yet harbored an inexplicable sympathy and protective instinct toward the common folk.
At this juncture, however, Wei Yuan had no intention of yielding to Cui Yu's view. "Senior Brother, the vast majority of these people cannot even read. Had war not struck, they would never have ventured more than a hundred li from home in their entire lives. On top of that, they are on the verge of starving to death. You want them to choose for themselves at a time like this?! Choose what—choose where to starve? Senior Brother, those ideals of yours are lofty, perched high up in the clouds. But these people are living on the earth, in the mire. Until their bellies are full, things in the clouds are utterly meaningless."
Cui Yu let out a sigh. "The sages said: 'Sacrifice life for righteousness.' Righteousness is the supreme principle, immutable even in the face of life and death."
Wei Yuan replied, "Senior Brother, lacking even a fraction of combat strength could mean failing to hold Qingming. This concerns the lives of over a hundred thousand people, as well as my own path of Dao. Thus, I will employ every bit of potential fighting power available. Besides, the only reason they have survived until now is because of Qingming. Since their lives were given by me, there should be nothing wrong with me refusing to watch them drag out an ignoble existence, should there?"
Cui Yu merely sighed, pressing the argument no further, and turned to leave.
"Senior Brother!" Wei Yuan called after him. "You have never starved, have you?"
"Indeed, I have not."
"I have," Wei Yuan said candidly. "When I was very young, I saw refugees turning to cannibalism. I couldn't comprehend it back then, so my father starved me for several days, giving me only clear water. Truth be told, by the third day, everything looked edible to me. By the fifth day, even people passing by smelled delicious, as if they'd be best roasted. From that moment on, I understood that when people are starved to the brink, they will do anything. Those things in the clouds have nothing whatsoever to do with them."
Cui Yu's footsteps paused for an instant, then he pushed open the door and left.
Wei Yuan departed the main peak shortly after. Taking along ten young masters and mistresses of the aristocratic houses and putting on masks, he left the domain.
—
Quliu Town.
Yuan Qingyan had just finished breakfast and was sitting in the temporary yamen, about to read, when an attendant entered to announce, "My Lord, General Xu requests an audience."
Yuan Qingyan frowned slightly, but set down his book nonetheless.
Moments later, a burly general strode into the study, offered a cursory cupped-hand salute, and seated himself uninvited. Yuan Qingyan knit his brows even tighter, yet the general acted completely oblivious, drawling insolently, "Lord Yuan, I've been here for three days now. We were rushed on our way and barely brought any provisions in order to make the deadline. I've come to see you bright and early just to ask: where are our rations?"
Yuan Qingyan replied coldly, "General Xu comes from a wealthy and powerful clan; why fret over such meager provisions? Furthermore, as soon as you arrived, I allocated ten days' worth of military rations. Surely they haven't been exhausted already?"
General Xu sneered. "Lord Yuan, what you allocated was plain grain, without a shred of meat or fish! Are my ten thousand-plus brothers supposed to gnaw on dry rice? Besides, we thought this commandery city would offer at least some entertainment, yet it turned out to be an empty town—there are fewer residents here than soldiers under my command! Lord Yuan, to put it bluntly, if this continues, I won't be able to keep a lid on my boys. If something unpleasant happens, it won't look good for anyone!"
Yuan Qingyan's eyebrows shot up in fury, and he was on the verge of erupting.
General Xu immediately raised a hand to cut him off. "Save it! Lord Yuan, your court politics might work in the capital, but they're useless on me! I have a rare Heaven Foundation. Worst comes to worst, I quit being this damned general and go home to focus on cultivating. But before I lose my post, I'll smash everything in sight! Once I'm no longer a general, who are you going to impeach—a ghost? Lord Yuan, my demands aren't high: within three days, the brothers in camp had better see chicken, duck, fish, and meat."
With that, the general didn't even bother to take his leave, standing up and striding out.
Yuan Qingyan's face was livid, his hands trembling slightly. Gritting his teeth, he muttered under his breath, "A rare Heaven Foundation... a rare Heaven Foundation..."
He snatched up his teacup and slammed it violently against the floor!
Though Yuan Qingyan was a dharma idol cultivator and General Xu was merely at late Dao Foundation, Yuan Qingyan's own Dao Foundation was only Earth Tier. Reaching the dharma idol realm had already been an unexpected fluke, and advancing any further was now practically impossible. In the eyes of cultivators, therefore, General Xu carried vastly more weight than Yuan Qingyan.
After smashing the cup, Yuan Qingyan's anger subsided a bit, and he summoned his adviser to ask for a solution.
The adviser was getting on in years, though his skin was sleek and well-nourished. Having heard the dilemma, he chuckled. "It is merely chicken, duck, fish, and meat. Why fret over that, My Lord? Without looking far, isn't there a household right here in Quliu Town that eats far better than we do?"
Yuan Qingyan realized at once. "You mean the Xu family?"
"Precisely! The commoners may be gone, but isn't that prominent family still here? A single prominent house is far fatter than a thousand common households."
Yuan Qingyan ordered immediately, "Take a few men and go see Xu Jingfeng at once. Ever since he sent gifts last time, there has been no follow-up from him. He truly lacks tact!"
"Rest assured, My Lord. This old servant will bring him into line."
Chapter 214