Those who reincarnate must die.

The next day, still no insects appeared...

Lord Lin, begin requisitioning livestock and carts from the entire city—not just warhorses, but also oxen, donkeys, mules, and so on… This is all thanks to the villagers who brought in a large number of livestock when the insect hive attacked; otherwise, besides warhorses, there really wouldn't be any livestock to be found in the city. (Google search reading)

In the afternoon, the Dugu siblings mustered two thousand soldiers, informed them of their plan to leave the city to find food, and instructed them to remove their armor and rest, and to get up and prepare to depart when the sun went down.

The brother and sister also rested in advance to conserve their energy. However, in order to prevent being caught off guard by the insect swarm, they only dared to sleep in the tower on the city wall, without even taking off their armor, just to get enough rest.

Finally, as the sun set, the Dugu siblings, leading two thousand soldiers and countless livestock and carts, quietly left the city...

The Hedong region boasts vast alluvial plains with fertile soil, making it a vital grain-producing area. The villages and towns surrounding Star City all had full granaries, but the insects arrived too quickly, leaving humans no chance to take everything. Star City later searched for food in the nearest villages, but this was largely limited to areas they could reach within a single night. Once daylight arrived and the insect swarms attacked, it was practically a death sentence…

Gradually, the nearby villages were basically looted, and Star City stopped organizing any more expeditions out of the city to search for food.

This time, after careful planning, the Dugu siblings set their sights on Pingcheng and Wanxian, which were a hundred miles away.

Pingcheng is a small city that fell more than a month ago, but there should still be a lot of grain left in the city's granaries. Wanxian County is very close to Pingcheng, so if Pingcheng doesn't have enough grain, we can go there together and bring back the grain from Wanxian.

The army of over two thousand men, mostly pushing wheelbarrows and carrying countless animal harnesses, couldn't march very fast. Fortunately, the Dugu siblings brought strong and capable soldiers who were agile and quick, and they managed to reach Pingcheng by the morning of the second day.

After arriving at the destination, everyone rested for a while and then headed straight for the granary!

The situation is not very optimistic. Pingcheng's granaries do have some surplus grain, but the amount is not much and it will be emptied soon. It seems that it will only be enough for Xingchen City's consumption for three to five days.

"Looks like we still have to go to Wan County!" Looking at the grain being carried out, Dugu Chen frowned. "Hopefully we won't come back empty-handed!"

"But it's not all bad news!" Dugu Lan was quite optimistic: "At least we haven't seen any insects since sunrise! Perhaps the insect nests nearby really are paralyzed!"

"Let's hope so!" Dugu Chen sighed. "After all, we only marched for less than two hours during the day. Not seeing any insects might just be luck. We can't let our guard down!"

Looking at the exhausted soldiers and livestock, Dugu Chen checked the time. There were still two or three hours until sunset, so he ordered everyone to rest in Pingcheng for three hours and set off for Wan County under the cover of darkness.

Although Pingcheng has fallen, the city walls are still largely intact. It's just that because the city is small and the walls are low, they couldn't withstand the attack, and insects managed to get into the city. Therefore, as long as the city gates are closed, people are assigned to keep watch, and one sleeps inside the city, it should be relatively safe.

After nearly a day of trekking, the team was exhausted. According to the time in the main world, they slept from 1 p.m. until 7 or 8 p.m. The team was well-rested and ready to set off again.

Wanxian is very close to Pingcheng, only a dozen miles away. Everyone traveled at night and arrived before midnight.

Wanxian County was smaller than Pingcheng. When the insects arrived, it immediately fell and had almost no ability to resist. The soldiers defending the city did not even have time to retreat.

That's why when the Dugu siblings led everyone to open the warehouse, they were pleasantly surprised to find that it was almost full of food, with virtually no food consumed!

Judging by this storage capacity, these carts and horses probably won't be able to carry it all in one trip. If they were all moved, it would be enough to sustain Star City's consumption for at least a month! If they're frugal, it could last for two months too!

Dugu Chen immediately arranged for everyone to work through the night, wishing they could move the entire granary. They worked until dawn, finally loading half the granary's grain onto carts, which must have been tens of thousands of bushels of grain...

As the sun gradually rose, Dugu Chen hesitated...

When they arrived, they had marched for almost seven or eight hours without stopping. Now their carts are full of food, and the return journey will only take longer... Their pace is slow, and marching during the day means that if they encounter insects, they will have virtually no chance of escape...

However, if we wait until night, things might change... After all, the insects haven't appeared for the past two days. If, during this waiting period, some insects enter the vicinity of Star City, wouldn't we be unable to return at all?

After weighing the options, Dugu Chen decided to play it safe and rest during the day before leaving at night.

In an era ravaged by insects, venturing into the wild during the day is practically suicide!

Of course, fully loaded, one night wouldn't be enough to get back to Star City, so it's best to set off at dusk. Although it'll still be light then, experience shows that the insects will have mostly returned to their hives, reducing the chance of encountering enemies. Even so, it will probably be the next morning when we get back to Star City…

Dugu Chen looked at the map and saw that there was an empty city about thirty miles away from Xingchen City, between Wanxian County and Xingchen City.

This was originally a fortified city, a stronghold for garrisoning troops. When the insect swarm attacked, the troops inside were either purged by the imperial court and forced to march south, or they retreated back to Star City. The supplies here had long since been looted, but the city walls were still relatively intact… If the marching speed was too slow and they couldn't reach Star City before dawn, they would have no choice but to stay here. However, that would basically delay them for another half a day… and the city's food supplies would soon be exhausted!

Even so, we cannot take the risk! Not only for the lives of these two thousand brothers, but also for the food supply of the people in the city!

If they were to be killed by insects on the road, even if the grain were scattered in the wilderness, no one would dare to come out and collect it...

After another day of rest, in the evening, the Dugu siblings finally led their caravan, laden with food, toward Star City!

The grain transport troops advanced at full speed, loading every oxcart, horse-drawn cart, and handcart to the brim. The procession marched on with great momentum and confidence at first. However, as the journey grew longer, both men and animals began to show signs of exhaustion…

There's no way around it... an empty truck and a loaded truck are two completely different things!

"Brother..." Dugu Lan said worriedly, watching the increasingly slow-moving group, "At this rate, it's impossible to get back to Star City before dawn!"

Dugu Lan frowned, and finally nodded, saying, "Inform the team to change course; we'll have to head to Weicheng first!"

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