Chapter 561: The Future of Qingyu Gully, the Anxious Su Lie and Son |
Qingyu Gully is called a gully, but it is actually a small river running north–south, over twenty kilometers in length, its southern starting point close to the Bone-Erosion Path, about ten kilometers from the northern entrance.
Given the dangers of the Ice Abyss waters, human settlements generally avoid riverbanks, and Qingyu Gully is something of an exception.
First, it is both narrow and shallow; even the widest stretches of the channel are only about five meters across, and the deepest parts only about three meters, so slightly larger aquatic Frost Beasts cannot inhabit it, making it far less hazardous than other water bodies.
Second, its water flow is irregular.
The southern source of Qingyu Gully is a small hill over a hundred meters high, and inside the hill an underground river connects to the Mo'ao Mountain mass; every July and August, a large volume of fresh water bursts from that underground river and flows northward through the gully.
Living water is already rare in the Ice Abyss, and because Evergreen Valley has a higher vegetation coverage than the outside, green hues often dominate; when the fresh water gushes from the underground river each July and August, no one dares approach the river’s surface, which remains virtually undisturbed, the foliage reflecting on it so that the whole river looks like a translucent jade — hence the elegant name Qingyu Gully.
But no matter how elegant the name, it cannot change the fact that Qingyu Gully sits at the southernmost extreme of Evergreen Valley. The valley as a whole is barren, and such a deep recess as Qingyu Gully is far more desolate than one might imagine.
Around Qingyu Gully there are sixteen villages in total. The three largest — Hegu, Qingtan, and Xiaochi — each have populations exceeding twenty thousand. The remaining thirteen villages range from a few thousand people to just over ten thousand at most.
Evergreen Valley is not without any advantages; its highest merit is a comparatively warmer temperature and a higher vegetation coverage than the outside world.
Unfortunately, fruits only fill bellies — they cannot be used for cultivation. This means that although people in Qingyu Gully do not starve, their overall strength is hard to raise, and compared to other regions, Warmth Realm cultivators are exceedingly few.
Fortune and misfortune go hand in hand; this is the usual pattern. Because the temperature is higher, plants grow lush and harvests are abundant, but precisely because the temperature is higher, Frost Beasts dislike this place. Hunting is therefore difficult around Qingyu Gully, and returns of beast meat and beast blood remain consistently low.
Beast meat and beast blood are the basic resources for cultivation and the foundation for a camp’s development. Without them, even if people do not starve, the camp cannot grow.
To give a simple example, before humans break through to the Warmth Realm, their average lifespan is only around forty years. That means, in areas lacking beast meat and beast blood, people’s average lifespan is only about two-fifths of others’.
Think about it — merely not starving is hardly an advantage.
People are not stupid; they might not notice in a year or two, but over time the locals of Qingyu Gully could see the trend, so over the years they have always tried to change their fate.
Unfortunately, their strength was too weak; change was difficult.
The best way to change their situation was to migrate outward, but they had no power, no courage, and even if they tried, where could they go?
Evergreen Valley is only so large; habitable spots already have owners, and uninhabited areas are too dangerous. As for Qinghua City, they would like to go, but there is no one willing to buy them even as slaves.
So they could only remain and slowly die.
Of course, Qingyu Gully’s plight was not unique; many deep places in Evergreen Valley were the same, and everyone could only survive as best they could.
However, starting today, things would change!
Great Xia, Year Thirteen, First Month, Fourth Day, daytime
The southernmost end of Qingyu Gully, Qingtan Village
Inside and outside the village there was a noisy crush of people. Remembering it was daytime, it was hard to imagine such a scene could appear in Qingtan Village.
Su He now stood beside his father Su Lie. Father and son both wore faces full of excitement as they followed behind Su Xing’er and her three siblings, gazing at the mountain of armor and weapons piled in the village with looks of exhilaration.
“Lord Yuwen said these confiscated spoils will be temporarily stored in your Qingtan Village. Later, when more people arrive, they will all be hauled away together.”
Su Xing’er and her three siblings were not standing at the very front; the person leading was still Xiang Liang, who had brought Marshal Yuwen Tao’s military order from the main tent at the gully entrance half an hour earlier.
The pile of weapons and armor in the village had been seized from Caiqiu’s army. Xia troops were escorting prisoners north to the main Qingyu Gully camp and had them carry the equipment and supplies here along the way.
Caiqiu’s 150,000-strong army collapsed. Some escaped, but many were slaughtered or captured. The number of weapons and armors Great Xia obtained was terrifying — at least eighty to ninety thousand sets.
So many weapons and armors could not be carried along, and they could not be discarded at the gully entrance. Qingtan Village was not far from the entrance; storing the goods here made them easy to access and convenient for later transport.
“Father, when will we go to Great Xia?”
Seeing the once-arrogant Caiqiu soldiers now in the hands of Xia troops, like quails with their necks pinched, each one despondent and spiritless, Su He could no longer contain his excitement. He leaned close to his father Su Lie and whispered the question.
He had taken part in the night battle at the gully entrance!
He had seen with his own eyes Caiqiu’s 150,000-strong host torn to pieces by the Xia troops, their blades so overwhelming they left people hopeless; he had also seen the Caiqiu strength who sacrificed a thirty-zhang golden body driven back step by step by the puppet deployed by the Great Xia Fang Bo, nearly slain…
Even now, an hour or two later, his heart could not calm. At this moment, going to Great Xia and becoming Xia people was the only thought in Su He’s mind.
Before this, confronting such a mighty camp, he would never have dared hope for such a thing.
But this time was different. Great Xia’s victory over Caiqiu’s army was inseparable from the rebels’ help; the rebels had earned great merit this time.
Su Lie had long since joined the Frost Ash Society and was one of the core participants who, together with Su Xing’er and her siblings, instigated the uprising. If one selected the rebels with the greatest achievements, Su Lie would certainly be among them.
Where there are merits there are rewards — that is absolute!
Su He did not ask for much; as long as he could take everyone from Qingtan Village to join Great Xia and become Xia people, that would suffice.
“Shut up. You think you get a say? Mouthy!”
But Su Lie did not share his son’s exhilaration. Upon hearing his question he rebuked him angrily.
Su He froze at the scolding, puzzled by his father’s strong response.
“Lord Xiang, may I ask when we can see the lord?”
However, soon afterwards, when Su Xing’er asked that question, Su He’s curiosity was stirred and he had a guess as to why his father had reacted so strongly.
When Su Xing’er first arrived at Qingtan Village, she had said she had become a disciple under a Fang Bo. It now seemed that this Fang Bo was the strength who had last night nearly slain Little Fang Bo Cai Qiuhu — in other words, the current topic of heated discussion in Qingtan Village, Great Xia’s lord leader, Xia Hong.
By Su He and his father’s thinking, if she truly had become a Fang Bo’s disciple, Su Xing’er and her siblings would hold a high position within Great Xia. But judging by the situation from last night’s battle until now, things were not as they expected.
More than two hours had passed since the battle ended, yet Su Xing’er had not even met Xia Hong. Those from Great Xia who had contacted her so far were still people like Xiang Liang.
That was not to say Xiang Liang lacked status. From the fact he brought the Marshal’s orders, he clearly held some position in Great Xia, but Su Xing’er and her siblings had done so much — it would be reasonable that someone weighty might come to acknowledge them, or at least a few commanding officers would pay their respects.
Yet no one had come!
There was only one explanation: Su Xing’er’s standing in Great Xia might not be as high as they imagined.
If that were so, the subsequent matters would be troublesome.
So far, Great Xia had not mentioned how they intended to arrange these people. From Su He’s perspective, since they were Caiqiu rebels, the best outcome would be to move everyone out of Evergreen Valley to live in Great Xia.
But would Great Xia continue the war against Caiqiu? If they did, might the final ownership of Evergreen Valley change?
If Great Xia never gave them a definitive answer, or ended up ignoring them, and if Caiqiu’s army returned to fight back, the fate of these rebels would be easy to predict.
Right now, he and his father, along with all the rebels in Evergreen Valley who had participated, were waiting to hear Great Xia’s plans.
His father had assumed Su Xing’er was a Fang Bo’s disciple and thus highly ranked in Great Xia; he thought that once they petitioned the lord, the people of Qingtan Village and the wider Qingyu Gully region would have a good outcome.
Now, realizing Su Xing’er and her siblings did not have much standing in Great Xia complicated matters.
Low standing meant little influence; after all, if they cannot even meet Xia Hong, how could they plea for Qingtan Village’s welfare?
“Master?”
Xiang Liang paused at the question, and after a moment realized Su Xing’er meant the lord Xia Hong when she said master. His expression turned odd.
“Miss Su, did the lord really accept you as a disciple?”
Xiang Liang’s question had reasons.
He had been ordered by Yuwen Tao to link up with Su Xing’er. According to Yuwen Tao, the lord had planted a few secret operatives in Evergreen Valley, and after Xiang Liang contacted them, they were to create a disturbance under the Frost Ash Society’s name to assist the Xia troops against Caiqiu.
A few days ago when they first met, Su Xing’er had indeed mentioned she had entered the lord Xia Hong’s tutelage, but Xiang Liang had not taken it seriously.
Who was Xia Hong?
In Xiang Liang’s thinking, for the lord to wish to accept disciples, the disciple’s talent ought to be on par with the two royal heirs at least.
Among the four siblings, Su Jing and the other two brothers aside, Su Xing’er was the most talented: nineteen years old, Warmth Realm cultivation at forty-four zong strength, truly gifted. But frankly, prodigies like her were already quite common in Great Xia; many were even superior.
For the lord to formally take them as disciples seemed unlikely.
Xiang Liang guessed perhaps the lord had traveled through Mo'ao Chuan and somehow had a special encounter with the four siblings. Because of some unusual shared experience, Su Xing’er and her siblings had mistaken the relationship and thought they became the lord’s disciples.
To be fair, Xiang Liang’s guess was accurate.
Su Xing’er trembled slightly at his question.
Their master–disciple relationship with Xia Hong had never been official. The so-called master–disciple tie had been fabricated three years ago when Xia Hong brought them into Qinghua City, done temporarily to avoid trouble.
Looking back now, although they always called him master, Xia Hong had never given any direct acknowledgment, not even when they reunited last year in Yanling Commandery.
These thoughts flashed through Su Xing’er’s mind and her face paled a little. Seeing Xiang Liang still waiting for an answer, she collected herself and, forcing a calm expression, replied: “Thank you for reminding me, Lord Xiang. The Fang Bo did not formally accept me as a disciple. We call him master out of gratitude for his benevolence. It was presumptuous of us; I beg your pardon.”
When Xiang Liang had asked earlier, his tone had not been harsh, but Su Xing’er sensed a trace of displeasure on his face; quick-witted, she deduced the reason and quickly cupped her hands in apology.
Upon hearing this, Xiang Liang’s face showed satisfaction. He nodded and smiled: “I said it; though your talents are good, I doubt our lord… the Fang Bo would take you on.”
Strictly speaking, Great Xia had not yet officially advanced to a feudal town status and the lord should not yet be titled Fang Bo, but Xiang Liang thought that was only a matter of time. He did not bother to correct Su Xing’er’s form of address.
Not only Su Xing’er but Qingtan Village, the whole Qingyu Gully, and even all the laborers from Evergreen Valley who joined the revolt thought Great Xia was a feudal town, and everyone already called Xia Hong Fang Bo.
No need to correct them — it would soon become true; the Xia people were already beginning to change the way they spoke.
Xiang Liang kept thinking about titles, unaware that when he said the last sentence, Su Xing’er’s expression had dimmed instantly.
Su Xing’er was no longer the naive girl she had once been. She had stayed with Xia Hong in Qinghua City and in Linchu County, and after being separated from him she had lived in Yanling Commandery for a long time.
She knew well her own aptitude: among people in Evergreen Valley she was top-tier, but compared to the top prodigies of feudal towns, she fell short.
Great Xia would encounter many more and better talents; Xiang Liang’s words were painful but realistic.
“Then may I ask, Lord Xiang, could Xing’er request an audience with the Fang Bo? The laborers who participated in the uprising number over two hundred thousand. Though many died in the gully battle, tens of thousands remain, most gathered here in Qingtan Village. I want to ask the Fang Bo how he plans to resettle these people.”
At Su Xing’er’s question, Su Lie and Su He, as well as the surrounding laborer leaders, instantly became alert and all turned to Xiang Liang, clearly eager for his reply.
“No wonder you all looked so troubled — turns out you worried about this…”
Hearing the question and seeing the concerned faces, Xiang Liang suddenly understood. He repeatedly shook his head, then slapped his forehead and apologized: “My fault. I should have told you as soon as I returned. When I came back from the main tent at the gully entrance, Camp Supply Department Lord Qiu told me once his meeting concluded he would immediately come to Qingtan Village to see you and announce the resettlement plan.”
Xiang Liang paused, then patted his chest and smiled: “Rest assured, our Great Xia does not mistreat those who have merited. Qingyu Gully has already been incorporated into Great Xia territory. You people will naturally become members of Great Xia and will not be forgotten.”
With that assurance from Xiang Liang, Su Xing’er and her siblings, Su Lie and Su He, and the other laborer leaders visibly relaxed.