Reborn as a Cube Man in the Late Ming Dynasty

"Iron Mountain God General, is this the end for you?"

The tremors on the ground suddenly stopped, and Liu Da and the others knew that Tieshan had stopped. Liu Da turned around and asked respectfully.

Tieshan nodded.

In fact, even without Tieshan saying it, Liu Da and the others could see it, because there was a clear yellow-green line in front of them, separating the two worlds.

On one side, life is vibrant; on the other, death lingers.

"Liu Ping, I'll leave you here. Be careful on the way ahead!" Liu Da said, looking at Liu Ping and the others with concern.

"Understood, we will be extremely careful." Liu Ping nodded solemnly.

After bidding farewell to Liu Da, Liu Ping and the others drew their swords and proceeded cautiously.

As they got further and further away from the village, the surrounding environment became increasingly harsh.

The rice seedlings withered and died, the weeds died, the fields were cracked and barren, and every now and then one could see a skeleton or two.

For half a mile, there was no sign of life. Even the trees that could be seen had long since had their bark stripped off. Where there used to be a river, the ground was so dry that one had to dig hard to find any damp soil.

Scratch marks remain in the original center of the river.

Those were the traces left by starving people digging out damp soil to fill their stomachs.

Although this only prolongs the pain.

They didn't see many people along the way, which actually made Liu Ping and the others feel at ease, because in this world, the most dangerous thing is people.

The few people I encountered wandered in the fields; their fat had been depleted, their muscles had atrophied, and they were skin and bones, looking like dried corpses.

With a broken iron pot in his hand and meat in his hand, his eyes gleaming green, he stared intently at Liu Ping and the others, his eyes filled with longing.

That pot was not only a cooking utensil, but also a piece of armor and a weapon.

However, since Liu Ping and the others all had knives and there were many of them, they reluctantly gnawed on the meat in their hands and left in a daze.

The closer we got to Chengcheng, the more people there were.

But they were all stopped outside the city walls, in the dried-up canal.

Without a travel permit, they would not be allowed to enter the city.

The only reason they gathered here was for the soup kitchens set up by the city's officials and gentry to provide relief to the people.

But that porridge was for fame, not for the people.

The daily quota is only for about a hundred people. Some people queue for a whole day, only to receive a few words of scorn from a minor official.

"The porridge is gone today, come again tomorrow."

Perhaps people from the city will call out a few words about this porridge when they go to other places.

"Once we get to Chengcheng, everything will be fine. There's some kind of great philanthropist in Chengcheng who's distributing porridge outside the city!"

But that so-called porridge is just soup. If you're lucky, you might be able to scoop up a grain or two of rice, which you can suck on to savor the taste. It's only slightly better than rice water.

What we call porridge today was called rice in ancient times.

Just then, Liu Ping and the others arrived at the perfect time, just as the porridge had been distributed.

As soon as the clerk uttered those words, cries of agony erupted outside the city. Some starving people, unable to bear the hunger any longer, went forward to harass the culprits, only to be beaten until they were on the verge of death.

He lay on the ground, barely breathing, so of course no one cared whether he lived or died.

This scene has played out countless times.

Officials' tears are also extremely limited; they've long since run dry.

Whether they got food or not, they all numbly returned to their seats and lay down as if nothing had happened.

If you move around even a little after eating porridge, the energy from that food will be gone.

If you don't get to eat, and you move around a little more, you might not be able to move at all tomorrow.

"You two take your weapons and stay here to guard the place. We'll be right back," Liu Qi said.

The two who remained nodded and found a quiet place to stay nearby.

"Halt! Do you have a pass?"

"Of course, sir, please take a look!" Liu Qi said with a smile, presenting the "travel permit" along with some loose silver.

The soldiers at the gate could tell at a glance that the travel permit was fake, but that was exactly what they wanted to see.

This means they can have an extra income today.

They weighed the items in their hands, exchanged glances, and understood each other perfectly: "Let's go in."

"Yes, thank you very much, gentlemen!"

Compared to the outside of the city, the people living inside the city were a little better off; at least they didn't smell so bad.

There were many people on the street, peddlers and laborers carrying loads and hawking their wares, but they all seemed to be in a hurry, looking pale and thin, and weak and listless.

But compared to those outside, they've at least become somewhat human.

"I used to envy those people in the city, but now it seems they're not even doing as well as the people in our village!" Zhu Zi muttered.

Liu Qi said solemnly, "Therefore, we must handle the matters entrusted to us by the Immortal Lord with utmost clarity and without making any mistakes."

"I know, Liu Qi, you're smarter than us. You make the decision and tell us what to do next," Zhu Zi asked.

Liu Qi said, "Zhu Zi, take this money and go buy sheep. Keep some of the rest for future use, and use the rest to buy ironware. Wait for us here."

After all, it was too difficult to take the iron ingots out, and they couldn't explain their purpose.

By asking around, Liu Qi quickly found a house.

"Who is it?" The door opened, and a middle-aged man emerged, filthy and thin, but dressed in long sleeves. Seeing that it was two strangers, Liu Ping and his companion, who both looked like country folk, he frowned slightly. "What brings you two here?"

"Sir, we've heard you're an excellent teacher, and we'd like to invite you to tutor our children. Naturally, in addition to your daily teaching fees, we'll also provide their food," Liu Qi said, bowing slightly.

He couldn't very well say that his immortal lord wanted to invite a scholar, so he had to figure out a way to trick the other party into going.

"Oh, could you please tell me which prefecture I'm going to teach?" the man asked with satisfaction, nodding in agreement.

"Sir, you may need to leave the city..."

Before Liu Qi could finish speaking, the door slammed shut, leaving the two of them feeling locked out.

"We can feed your whole family!" Liu Qi said hurriedly.

"Why me? Just because I'm in a difficult situation right now, you think I'm easy to fool?"

"Hahaha, do you really think I'm a three-year-old? Going out of the city? Wouldn't that make me a fish on the chopping block, at the mercy of you rats? I think you'd better find someone else; I can't accept such a privilege!"

"Besides, I have no relatives left, they're all dead!" The voice was utterly desolate.

"Brother, what should we do now?"

"The Immortal Lord decreed that we should bring a scholar back, so we'll take one back even if it kills us." A fierce glint flashed in Liu Qi's eyes. "Anyway, once he wakes up and stays in our Liu Family Village for a few days, he probably won't want to leave even if we let him go!"

"Liu Ping, when he opens the door again, take the opportunity to knock him unconscious, and we'll drag him back!"

"I understand."

Before Liu Ping could even knock, the man nimbly scaled the wall and ran away right under their noses.

"Oh no, chase them!"

Although Liu Ping was very fast, he couldn't keep up with his opponent's familiarity with the terrain. The opponent took all the back roads and disappeared after a few turns.