These people were heading southeast. They did not move deeper into the mountains, but instead followed the official road connecting the villages. Judging from what Bai Mu observed, human society here had already entered a feudal dynastic period. On the armor of the corpses, he spotted marks resembling family crests depicting an unknown bird.
Between the villages were roads paved with sand and gravel, flanked by symbolic cedar trees. At certain corners, wooden signs were planted in the ground, carved with a simpler script than the hieroglyphs the Shaman wrote.
Clearly, the people here were governed by rulers. They were subdivided into more Grades and social classes, living across a vast territory, and had begun altering their surrounding environnt. This was completely unlike the Shaman's side, which was rely a small tribe of about three hundred people.
The Shaman could partially understand the writing here. She used the syllable "Wen" to refer to the nation in this region, suggesting that many years ago, her ancestors had also been mbers of "Wen."
Most likely, they had been defeated in a war or factional struggle. Only a collateral branch survived, fleeing into the mountains. They then traversed that forest and rebuilt their ho in a distant land.
This reminded Bai Mu of the Peach Blossom Spring, a fable of a hidden utopian village. Although these people's civilization was not as developed as "Wen," if it were not for the Mountain Evil God, they would have lived self-sufficient and happy lives. Not only had they established a small settlent, but they had also dosticated deer as mounts. Getting back on track, after traveling for so distance, Bai Mu discovered that the situation on the "Wen" side was no better than on the mountain side.
This region seed to be in a period of war. Before nightfall, they rode their deer and found another village, but the situation here was almost identical to the previous one. It had also been looted clean. Whether it was valuables, grain, or livestock, everything had been plundered.
The water sources near the village were all contaminated and filthy. Because corpses and blood had soaked into the water, it had beco unbearably murky, emitting a foul stench that made it completely undrinkable. Even the continuously flowing water could not wash away the heavy scent of blood.
Food here was extrely scarce, far less abundant than in the deep mountains. Although there were no natural disasters like droughts or floods, they couldn't find any large beasts to hunt either, and every last grain of rice in the village had been snatched away.
It was as if this region had suddenly been flooded with a population far exceeding what it could support, causing food resources to plumt into severe shortages.
Generally speaking, one would assu a war was being fought nearby and large armies had surged in. However, in ancient military marches, rations were of the utmost importance. As the saying goes, Logistics Before Troops; provisions must always be prepared first. Any ruler with half a brain wouldn't send an army into battle without securing their supplies. If the soldiers couldn't even fill their stomachs, there would be no need for the enemy to attack—starving n would just desert on their own.
Bai Mu felt that these people had fled here. Only those fleeing in sheer panic would arrive completely unprepared, relying solely on looting for food. This made him suspect that sothing major must have happened in the east as well, causing the people there to flee in this direction.
The real challenges only surfaced after crossing the mountains. He realized he seed to have walked into a dead end. Behind him was the constantly encroaching Mountain Evil God and its curse. He estimated that the cedar forest they had passed through five days ago must be completely withered by now.
No matter how slow the corruption spread, it was unlikely to fall a full five days behind their pace. Looking back now, that lush, green mountain range had probably started to wither as well.
anwhile, the east, which he had initially thought to be an escape route, now gave him a sharp sense of crisis. This impending threat felt even more intense than the Mountain Evil God behind them.
At least he had witnessed the crisis behind them with his own eyes, so he had so idea of what to expect. But what they would face if they kept moving forward remained a total unknown. Ultimately, what exactly had happened in that forest on his first night?
He was determined to find so living people and get a clearer picture of the situation.
That night, to secure a water source, he led his team to camp by a lake far away from the villages.
Food was not a concern for the ti being. During those five days in the deep mountains, he had hunted down every wild beast they encountered along the way like a takeout delivery. With his hunting efficiency, providing food for thirty people by himself still left a surplus.
As a doomsday survivor who frequently had to venture out due to food shortages, he had always maintained a habit of hoarding supplies. Thus, every ti he secured a fresh kill, he had the other villagers dry the leftover at over the campfire, turning it into long-lasting smoked jerky to store in the deer's saddlebags.
If they rationed it out carefully, this smoked at was enough to sustain them for at least another five or six days.
But after five or six days, they would have to face the problem of food shortages.
Drinking water might also beco an issue. Therefore, upon finding this clean water source, Bai Mu instructed the villagers to fill up as much water as possible. They had picked up so clay pots and similar containers in the previous villages. The only things plundered from the villages were food; the remaining miscellaneous items had mostly been left untouched.
The everyday craftsmanship of "Wen" was still noticeably superior to that of the Shaman's tribe. Clay pots and earthen pans could be found in every household, and iron woks could even be discovered in the wealthier hos.
The young girls squatted by the lake, holding the clay pots as they scooped up the water. They then sealed the pots using wooden stoppers wrapped in straw and linen. Just like storing fine wine, they tightly bound and sealed the freshwater-filled jars before loading them onto the deer.
Along the way, Bai Mu had also picked up a few severely broken and damaged long blades. These blades had chipped during heavy hacking or had their edges snapped off due to years of wear and tear, eventually being discarded by their users and casually tossed onto the ground.
Bai Mu used the Book of the Witch to fuse these shattered weapons. For every three broken blades he collected, he could synthesize them into a brand-new, usable blade. This was one of the formulas he had figured out: if three items of the sa type each suffered from wear and tear, throwing them into the Book of the Witch for synthesis would produce a mint-condition replacent.
However, there weren't many blades of this sort. After all, iron tools were luxury items in this era. Even if they were broken, they still held a certain recycling value, and their owners would likely insist on taking them away.
Bai Mu crafted a total of four long blades, gifting them to Adai, Nuosu, and the other two girls who had previously ridden deer with him to lure away the wolves. All four girls bore exceedingly solemn expressions as they received the blades.
Now, those nine young girls had beco sothing akin to his personal guard. Adai and Nuosu, in particular, followed closely by his side like blade-wielding bodyguards. It gave off the distinct impression of leading an army into battle, and indeed, after crossing the mountains, they had stepped straight into a war-torn region.
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