Chapter 628: Let Them In

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

As night fell, the gray sky was covered by a thick veil of darkness.

Su Ying and her team searched for wasteland all the way until they reached the Tiger Base’s territory.

The closer they got to the Tiger Base, the flatter the terrain below their feet. On the way there, they found several places where they could plant crops.

However, these places were a little scattered, so the whole area would not be so easy to manage.

“Let’s go to the Tiger Base and rest there tonight.” Su Ying looked at the sky. After settling down in Tiger Base, she could continue to survey the nearby area the next day.

Once they had decided on a place to stay, the group didn’t delay any longer and hastened in the direction of the Tiger Base.

By the time they arrived, it was already late at night. The Black Guardian and the rest who were guarding the Tiger Base had received the news and were already waiting outside the gate.

When they saw Su Ying approaching, they all went forward to pay their respects.

Su Ying gestured nonchalantly and signaled to them to rise.

“City Lord, the place has been prepared for you.”

Su Ying nodded slightly. “It’s getting late. You guys can go and rest.”

“Yes, City Lord.”

That night, they rested in the Tiger Base.

Su Ying ate some dry food and used hot water to do a simple wash-up before lying down on the bed.

The temperature was still very low after spring commenced, and a freezing wind started blowing in the middle of the night.

Whoosh! Whoosh! The freezing wind whistled past Su Ying’s ears like a wailing ghost.

When she opened her eyes again, the sky was already bright outside.

“City Lord, there’s a group of people outside the base camp.” The Black Guardian’s voice rang out outside the door.

Su Ying opened the door. “Who are they?”

“We asked them and they said that they were fleeing the snow disaster in the Nan State.”

Su Ying frowned. How come they came all the way here just to flee the snowstorm in the Nan State?

Su Ying followed the Black Guardian out.

“How many people are there? When did they arrive?”

“City Lord, there are about 200 people. They arrived this morning and are now being held back outside the gate.”

After the array formation outside the Tiger Base was destroyed, it was not rebuilt, so those people managed to find their way to the outside of the Tiger Base.

When Su Ying came out, those people were all being guarded by the black-robed men.

“City Lord.” Upon hearing the greeting, everyone turned to look at her.

Su Ying nodded and her gaze fell on those people.

Those people also scrutinized Su Ying closely.

A haggard man in ragged clothes then stepped forward.

“Sorry to disturb everyone. We came here from the Jiang City of the Nan State to flee the disaster. May I know where we are?”

This man was probably the leader of the group. When he spoke, no one else made a sound.

Although the man was holding on strenuously, in reality, he sounded very weak when he uttered these words. He was so thin that his cheekbones were protruding clearly. It was obvious that he had gone hungry for a long time.

Su Ying raised her eyebrows and didn’t speak but Cheng Ming went forward and said, “This is the Tiger Base. You guys are not criminals. Why did you come here to flee the disaster? Do you guys know what place this is?”

Cheng Ming’s words made those people very puzzled. “My friend, I only know that we are out of the Nan State’s territory, but we don’t really know where we are. If it wasn’t because we had no choice, we wouldn’t have left our kingdom and abandoned our homes to come here.”

Cheng Ming responded, “This is the northern wilderness. It’s a place used by various kingdoms to exile criminals. It’s not a place where ordinary people should come.”

When that man heard the words “northern wilderness,” a hint of panic flashed across his eyes.

“Village Chief, what kind of place is the northern wilderness?” Someone pulled that man aside and asked in a low voice.

The village chief glanced at Cheng Ming and his group. “It’s a place where criminals are exiled. There’s… there’s nothing wrong really…” As his voice trailed off, he found that he felt a little guilty himself.

He had heard of the northern wilderness. This place contained nothing but criminals exiled from the various kingdoms. How could an exiled criminal be a good person?

Fortunately, there were quite a lot of people in their group so the people in the northern wilderness couldn’t possibly capture all of them.

“City Lord, what do you think of these people…”

The development of the northern wilderness required people, so it was timely that these people came here. However, the reason that they came here because they were fleeing the disaster in the Nan State sounded a little strange.

“How far is the Nan State’s Jiang City to the border?” Su Ying asked.

Some of the people who had come with Su Ying were originally from the Nan State. When they heard Su Ying’s question, one replied, “City Lord, Jiang City is not far from the border of the Nan State. Due to its comparatively special geographical location, the villages outside Jiang City are relatively remote. City Lord, why don’t you let me question them? Then we’ll know if what they said is true or not.”

Su Ying trusted this person. Since he was from the Nan State, he should know the situation there better.

Su Ying nodded, and that guy went forward to talk to the village chief.

The two of them didn’t speak the official language. Instead, they were probably speaking in the local dialect of that territory.

After conversing for about fifteen minutes, that guy returned to Su Ying.

“City Lord, they said that they are villagers from Shangyao Village outside Jiang City. Previously, when the Nan State fought with the Chu State, the Nan State increased taxes and almost all the grain crops were handed over to the Imperial Court. Jiang City was also cold during the winter in previous years, but the snow did not seal the mountains and the villagers could still find ways to get some work in the city. They were barely able to survive then.”

However, there was a heavy snowstorm this year. The soldiers in the city were afraid that the villagers would cause a riot when they entered the city, so they did not open the city gates for the villagers at all. As a result, many people were frozen to death at the foot of the city walls.

The Imperial Court of the Nan State didn’t care about this issue. The commoners could only save themselves when they saw no hope of salvation as they waited. However, the road to the south was blocked and they had to pay silver before they could go that way. They had no choice but to leave the kingdom to see if they could find a chance of survival.

After listening, Su Ying’s expression did not change much. She only gave a few simple instructions to the guy behind her.

After that guy excused himself, Su Ying said, “This is the northern wilderness. Since you guys are here, you must follow the rules here. If you don’t follow the rules, you will end up worse than the floating corpses on the road. Do you understand?”

When those people heard that there was a chance to stay, they were not afraid to follow the rules. They hurriedly got up to kowtow to Su Ying and gave their promise.

“Don’t worry. We are all good citizens. If it wasn’t because we had no choice, we also don’t want to abandon our homes. If we can stay, we will definitely abide by the rules and will never cause you any trouble.”

Su Ying nodded slightly. Then she motioned to her men to open the gate and let them in.

Even if it was close to 200 people, the Tiger Base could accommodate them without any problem.

They were led to a house to rest. As soon as they entered the house, they smelled the rich aroma of soup. Their eyes became fixed intently on the window.

Before long, the black-robed men carried a few large pots into the house.

Su Ying spoke up, “I got someone to boil some meat soup for you. It’s freezing cold now. Drink some to get rid of the cold.”

These people never dreamed that they would not only have a place to stay but also meat soup to drink. All of them forced themselves to stand up at once.

Su Ying gestured to them not to be anxious. Everyone would get soup to drink, and the black-robed men would distribute it to them.

As they held the bowl of soup in their hands, many people couldn’t wait to gulp it down in big mouthfuls.

A big bowl of soup was soon emptied.

However, before they could catch their breath, someone held his stomach and vomited.

“Ugh!”