The 368th year of the Dazhou calendar, August 27th.

  As September approaches, the weather in the Far East has a hint of chill, and every year at this time is the best season for farmers in the Far East to harvest their crops.

  Wulei Town is a small border town located between the distant eastern provinces of Ji and Yuan. Ten years ago, most of Ji Province was occupied by the Hulan people from outside the Great Wall, so Wulei Town has to face the Hulan cavalrys southern raids every year. Many local villagers have moved to the inland areas of Yuan Province to take refuge, but those who are old, weak, young, or disabled cannot travel long distances and can only rely on a few hectares of thin fields outside the town or work as short-term laborers to barely make ends meet.

  An old man nearing his sixties, wearing a coarse linen long gown, sat in his own courtyard smoking a thin, dry pipe. On the bamboo-woven tea table beside him was placed a small teapot made of purple clay, and from time to time he would pick it up and take a few sips from the spout.

  In the courtyard, a woman in her twenties was shaking off and hanging up clothes that had just been washed. Although her face was delicate, her body was very thin and weak, which was due to years of hard work at home and lack of nutrition.

  "Xiuer... " The old man saw the young woman in front of him being so busy, and thought to himself that he couldnt bear it, so he said, "If youre tired, take a rest, okay?"

  "Dad, Im not tired. Taking advantage of these few days with good weather, Ill go out to the street with Aunt Yu from next door later to see if theres any place that can help supplement our household expenses." The one being called Xiuer was this old mans daughter-in-law, whose husband had gone to a distant city half a year ago to look for work and hadnt been heard from since. She took care of all the household chores, big and small, by herself, as well as her father-in-law and her own young twin children.

  "Alas, its all because of this old useless thing that I didnt go earlier and ended up dragging you girls down." The old man looked regretful, blaming himself nonstop. In the past few years, his legs had started to lose their agility, and he couldnt even get out of bed without relying on his son and daughter-in-law to take care of him, or else they would have gone hungry.

  Xiuer hastily said, "Dad, dont say that. Its only right for a daughter-in-law to respect her father-in-law. If Third Brother comes back and hears you saying this, hell definitely scold me again."

  ……

  On the corner of the street, dozens of soldiers wearing tattered armor were listlessly sitting or lying down, leaning against the wall, their weapons long gone. Across from them was a simple noodle stand, with only two or three people sitting at a table less than a meter high, slurping noodles as they ate. The owner of the noodle stand had run to the neighboring wooden rake shop and was chatting idly with someone, constantly lamenting how hard it was to do business.

  At this time, several horse-drawn carriages drove by, followed by dozens of slaves carrying large and small packages, heading towards the city gate. The few officers guarding the gate immediately stood up, brushed off the dust on their bodies, squeezed out a smile, and the carriage stopped in front of the city gate. A middle-aged man with a fat face and a round waist jumped down from the carriage, looked at the guards with disdain.

  "My master is going to a distant state to visit relatives, cant you let us through?" the round-faced steward said in an unpleasant tone.

  "It turned out to be Master Wang visiting his relatives." A guard with a flattering expression stepped forward, "Li the steward, how many days will Master Wang be away? So many big and small packages..."

  "Is it your business to know about Master Wangs affairs?" The butlers face changed, and he interrupted the soldier with a displeased expression. "Hurry up and move these obstructing trash away, are you responsible if Masters journey is delayed?"

  The soldier listened and immediately nodded: "Yes, yes, I was talking too much. Brother Wang is going back to Yuanzhou to visit his relatives, hurry up and move the blocking corner!" After finishing speaking, several people moved the blocking corner to one side with great effort, clearing a path for the horse carriage.

  "This is about right." Li Guan nodded in satisfaction, then pulled out a string of copper coins from his sleeve and tossed them to the ground. Since the string that tied the copper coins together was not tight, they scattered all over the place as soon as they were thrown down. The soldiers immediately rushed forward to scramble for them without any regard for their dignity.

  "A bunch of poor devils..." Li Guanjia muttered disdainfully at the sight of them.

  "Whats all the commotion about?" asked Old Master Wang from inside a horse carriage behind them.

  Li Guan Jia, also known as Li, immediately changed his expression and ran to the front of Wangs carriage, bowing and saying: "I apologize for startling you, sir and miss. It was just these few gatekeepers who didnt know their place, but Ive already taken care of them. We can continue on our way now."

  The old king nodded and said, "Dont make things more complicated than they need to be, hurry up and get on the road."

  "Yes." Li responded with a single word, then loudly shouted: "Master Wang is leaving the city!" and jumped into the front carriage. The carriage slowly headed towards the distant state outside the city...

  "Cut! Youre just a fake, relying on the face of the Wang family." Several soldiers picked up the copper coins on the ground and saw the horse-drawn carriage gradually moving away from the city. They couldnt help but whisper to each other.

  "Who made Lis life so good, serving as a steward for Master Wang? These days, even being a dog requires finding a good master. Alas... who made our lives so bitter? As soldiers, we risk our lives but cant even get enough to eat, and its uncertain whether well lose our lives." A soldier sighed secretly.

  "Dont be downhearted, look... " Just then an officer walked over, took out a handful of copper coins and weighed them in his hand, "Anyway, were idle now, why not have a gamble?"

  The soldier then pulled out two dice from his body and smiled slyly, soon the city guards gathered around to gamble, putting aside their earlier unpleasantness...

  "Dad, the rice is warming up in the pot. Im going out with Yu Sao to take a look around. If youre hungry, go ahead and eat first, dont wait for me..." Xiu Er got up from the stove, untied her somewhat blackened apron, instructed her father-in-law for a few sentences, then scooped some water from the vat to wash her face, tidied up her slightly disheveled hair, picked up a basket and walked out of the courtyard with a woman in her 40s.

  "Alas, when will this day finally come to an end?" The old man watched as Xiuer and Yuzhens figures disappeared into the distance, and let out another sigh.

  He took a fierce drag on his cigarette, suddenly feeling a bit choked, picked up the purple clay teapot beside him and poured himself a few mouthfuls. Just as he put it down and was about to raise the cigarette holder to his lips again, the tea table emitted a faint tremor, but the old man didnt notice, still puffing on his cigarette with a sorrowful sigh.

  "Xiuer, lets go ask that family, maybe theres a job washing and scrubbing, it wont be a wasted trip." Yu Jie pulled Xiuers hand towards a fabric store on the west street. As soon as they entered, they saw the shop assistant dozing off inside. Xiuer plucked up her courage and knocked on the counter, startling the assistant awake. Seeing someone had arrived, he immediately perked up.

  "Two of you? Buying fabric? We have all good fabrics here, what do you want Ill get it for you two, the price is fair."

  Xiuers face was rosy, and she looked at the new fabrics in the shop, then glanced at her own coarse linen clothes that had been washed white. She let out a barely audible sigh and said timidly: "Young master, were not here to buy fabric, but to ask if theres any work we can do? We dont want money, just two pecks of rice will do."

  "Go away, go away! Dont come here to join the commotion if youre not buying fabric. We dont need people like you here, go ask elsewhere." The shopkeeper, seeing that they werent there to buy fabric, chased Xiuer and Yuzhen out of the door with a look of disgust on his face.

  "Little brother, please, just give us some work to do, were all neighbors, help each other out." Xiuer was almost kneeling on the ground, begging pitifully.

  "Lets go, its not that I dont want to help you, these days who isnt struggling to make ends meet, lets go, if the boss sees me again Ill get scolded, you still..." The shop assistant was about to say more when he suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on the water cup in front of the counter.

  Xiuer saw that the shop assistant was ignoring her, and followed his gaze to the water cup he was staring at. She only saw the water in the cup shaking violently, spilling out of the cup, and the entire counter emitting a faint vibration sound. Suddenly, a shrill cry came from outside the store...

  "The barbarians are coming!"

  At that moment, people on the street scattered and ran in all directions, with cries of wailing filling the air.

  "Hurry, close the city gate! Hurry!" The soldiers guarding the city gate rushed to shut the dilapidated and worn-out gate, but the gate was extremely difficult to close due to years of neglect. Several people used all their strength to slowly push the gate closed with a creaking sound, but unexpectedly, three door bolts on one of the gates suddenly broke off, falling heavily and crushing two unlucky soldiers beneath it. A chorus of wails and cries came from under the gate.

  "Bring the mantlet!" The officer in charge of defending the gate hastily ordered the mantlet, which had been set aside, to be brought over. As several soldiers were moving it into place, a number of thick wolfs tooth arrows shot through their cheeks, chests and necks, bringing out streams of blood.

  The commander looked out and saw that outside the city gate, dozens of war horses were trampling with deafening hoofbeats. On the horseback, there were men wearing riveted cuirasses, black iron helmets, and holding bows and arrows, who were approaching the city gate with a ferocious smile. Not far behind them on the hillside, countless Hulan cavalrymen were staring at the small town in front of them, holding heavy curved knives and tiger-shaped spears.

  You are now reading "Yi Jie Feng Huo Lu" Chapter 29 Far East! Only half a chapter, to read the full version please Baidu search: () go in and then search: Yi Jie Feng Huo Lu