Hmph!

  On the narrow path, Liu Ce killed a bandit leader who intended to harm the refugees with one shot. Ignoring the frightened eyes of the crowd, he began to search for supplies on his body and finally only found two sweet potatoes and a few pieces of scattered silver.

  Liu Ce broke the sweet potato into two segments and wolfed it down. The refugees who were huddled in a corner nearby swallowed hard, wanting to rush up and grab some food, but they feared Liu Ces deadly combat skills.

  Liu Ce took a swig of water from his canteen, quickly finished off the remaining sweet potato, and strode away, casting a glance at those disheveled refugees.

  For over a month, Liu Ce had been surviving by robbing lone bandits and thieves of their food and valuables. He had also robbed refugees who were fleeing in desperation. However, when he saw them kneeling on the ground, begging him for mercy after he took their food, his softer side was touched. He ended up returning the food to them. Perhaps it was because the owner of this body was relatively kind-hearted, Liu Ce thought to himself, finding a reason to comfort his own lack of ruthlessness. From then on, no matter how hungry he was, he never robbed refugees again.

  Liu Ce walked to a dilapidated temple, looked up and saw that the sky was already dark, so he decided to spend the night there and continue on his journey at dawn. He pushed open the old temple door, and a cloud of dust fell from the ceiling. Liu Ce patted his leather armor to shake off the dust, and it seemed that no one had lived in this temple for a long time. The incense burner on the altar was gone, and the huge Buddha statue in the center had irregular cracks all over its body, which was covered with cobwebs. The paper windows on both sides of the wall had fallen to one side, and the window sills were eaten away by insects, leaving black spots behind. The ground was covered with dust, and the broken tables and chairs were scattered all over the place, presenting a scene of desolation.

  Liu Ce found a corner by the window, took off the coarse linen cloak he had seized from the bandits, brushed off the dust on the ground, and used a relatively flat green brick as a pillow. He removed his helmet and lay down, placing his long gun to one side, and fell fast asleep.

  In the middle of the night, Liu Ce was awakened by a cry from afar. He immediately reached for his long gun beside him and crouched at the window with vigilance. Outside, it was pitch black, and he couldnt see his own fingers when he stretched out his hand. Faintly, he could only hear the heart-wrenching cries of women and children, as well as the shouting of a group of men...

  The Gan state was affected by the bandits capture of Gao Yang City, and refugees, bankrupt farmers, some defeated soldiers and local rascals gathered together to raise a flag to replace heaven and join the bandit camp or establish their own faction. The local security situation became more chaotic than before, with killings, rapes, and robberies visible everywhere. Liu Ce came all the way, and everywhere he saw civilians fleeing from war, and many people starved to death on the streets, being dragged into dark places by the "man-eating" troops to be made into dried meat...

  Liu Ce actually felt very sympathetic towards them, but what could he do? He himself was barely scraping by and had no energy to help others. Of course, he wasnt completely heartless either - half a month ago, he had rescued a mother and son from bandits, but within two days, the same mother and son were boiled alive in an iron pot by another group of marauders... From then on, Liu Ce knew that anything he did alone was futile. In this world, only strength, ruthlessness, and poison could keep one alive. His sole bottom line was not to harm ordinary civilians, but he didnt know if there would come a day when he couldnt survive anymore, whether he would still adhere to this last shred of humanity or perhaps join the ranks of those who preyed on others, becoming a beast himself.

  The cries outside the window gradually faded away, Liu Ce no longer cared about the final outcome of those cries, leaning against the windowsill with his long gun hugged to his chest, closing his eyes and trying to fall asleep...

  In the daze between sleep and wakefulness, the sky had already lightened up. Liu Ce couldnt sleep soundly, so he got up to continue his journey for the day. Suddenly, a horseshoe sound came from outside the door, gradually getting closer to the broken temple. Liu Ce quickly picked up his gun and jumped onto the incense table, hiding behind the stone statue. Before long, three burly men entered from outside, all wearing iron leaf armor.

  "Little Seven, go bring the stuff in. I havent eaten a single grain of rice since yesterday, Im starving to death." A burly man with a thick beard ordered a relatively slender man, who responded and went out the door. Before long, he came back carrying a large bag that looked like it weighed over 100 pounds, and also kicked the half-closed door shut with his foot.

  Another man with scars all over his face silently took down an iron pot from behind him, placed it to one side, found some bricks to build a simple stove, put some twigs and dry grass inside and lit them with flint. He then put the pot on top. The slender man untied the bag, and Liu clearly saw that inside was pure white rice...

  The thinner man was about to pour the rice into the pot, but suddenly slapped his forehead and went back out to fetch two water bags, which he poured into the pot. He then added about four or five catties of white rice. After Zhao Ligen poked at it a few times with a bamboo stick, he sat down beside it, observing the fire in the stove and occasionally adding some dry twigs and grass.

  The aroma of white rice wafted up, and Liu Ce couldnt help but swallow his saliva. It had been almost a month since hed last eaten hot food, especially such fine white rice, which he hadnt had in ages. Liu Ce suppressed the urge to make a move, calming his mind to analyze the situation before him. These three men were either defeated soldiers or elite bandits; the latter was more likely. What were his chances of winning against these three? Was it worth risking everything for that one bag of grain? Liu Ces mind quickly calculated how to minimize the risk.

  At this moment, another group of mothers and daughters walked in timidly and sat down beside the burly man with a look of fear on their faces. The girl leaned against the womans side, her face pale, and her eyes full of fearful expressions.

  After about three or four quarters of an hour, the rice was cooked and steaming hot. The burly man with a thick beard took out a large bowl from the cauldron and scooped up a big bowl of rice without fear of being scalded, directly using his hands to stuff it into his mouth. Knife Scar and "Skinny" also started eating wildly. Liu Ce endured his hunger and watched all this, deciding to wait until they were distracted before making his move, trying to take out one of them first.

  After eating for a while, the burly man with a thick beard glanced at the mother and daughter beside him, exchanged a look with the scar-faced man opposite him, who let out a sigh and placed a large bowl of rice in front of the mother and daughter. The woman thanked him and quickly grabbed the bowl to feed the girl in her arms, but the girl was too scared to eat despite being very hungry. The woman had no choice but to take out a wooden spoon from her clothes and feed the girl one mouthful at a time.