Don't farm, cultivate immortality!

The officer stood beneath the pig demon's shadow, its heavy breath hitting his face. He felt as if he had just escaped death, stared at by those enormous eyes.

Chapter 135 Year of Disaster

The Heart-Protecting Vine withered. It had exhausted its life force to grow back in an instant. In a short while, it turned from a resilient vine into withered, yellow grass. The mere breath of the pig demon was enough to shake it off.

Sections of dry vines fell to the ground. The officials surrounded the pig demon, holding long forks, but dared not approach.

One should be most careful when a wild animal is on the verge of death.

This pig demon was too ferocious; even a dozen men couldn't stop it. The officials didn't know if it had any strength left for another attack, so they only dared to watch cautiously from the sidelines.

Several men went forward and tried to carry away the constable whose arm was broken.

The pig demon coughed up blood and its breathing became heavy.

That single action sent shivers down the spines of everyone around.

The black horse carrying Zhuang Xing arrived in front of the boar demon. He dismounted, picked up the sword he had dropped, and looked at the wounded wild boar before him.

The light in the wild boar's eyes had faded; it seemed to be unable to see clearly and could only breathe with difficulty.

Fresh blood gushed from its wounds and overflowed from its mouth and nose.

The onlookers swallowed hard, gripping their bows and forks tightly until their hands turned white and purple, and cold sweat beaded on their foreheads.

Zhuang Xing did not hold back, raising his sword to gather strength and assuming a fighting stance.

This was the sword technique that Yan Huai'an had taught him. With a single slash, the sword energy surged, and the wild boar was decapitated, dying by the wheat field.

Zhuang Xing exhaled and bowed to the head that remained unseeing in death.

This wild boar has developed sentience and should not appear in places where humans gather; it should roam freely and happily in the mountains and fields.

But now the world is freezing cold, and this winter is not only difficult for people.

How to survive is a common problem faced by all living beings.

In order to survive, he had no choice but to behead the pig demon, so that it could pass away with less pain.

The bones will eventually turn to dust, but the flesh and bones of this pig will become part of the village, nourishing the living.

Zhuang Xing still performed a simple mourning ritual for the pig demon that had invaded the village.

Before long, people from the village also arrived.

The officer with the broken arm removed his arm guard, revealing the stark white bone beneath his flesh.

Master Yuanyan squatted down and used magic on his wound, which greatly relieved his pain.

Afterwards, Master Yuanyan straightened his broken bones, applied medicine to the wounds, and wrapped them with gauze.

"Your arm can heal within ten days, but remember not to use this hand during this period, and to use it sparingly in the future."

"Thank you, Daoist Master."

The messenger thanked him and stood up with the help of his colleagues.

He looked at Zhuang Xing's figure and came forward to express his gratitude.

"I was truly on the verge of death just now. Thank you so much, Master Zhuang, for saving my life," the constable said.

"It's good that Officer Liu is alright," Zhuang Xing said.

"I wonder how Daoist Zhuang plans to deal with this pig demon?" the messenger asked.

"Let's distribute its meat among everyone," Zhuang Xing said.

Reclaiming new fields and digging canals and roads is hard work. Since winter, laborers have been building Manggu Village in the snow.

They wore thin clothes, lived in simple tents, and rarely had meat to eat.

"Master Zhuang Xing is truly a man of great virtue." The constable spoke with utmost respect to Zhuang Xing.

He had faced the pig demon directly and knew how terrifying the oppressive feeling that monster gave off was.

However, that huge pig demon couldn't even last one round against the little Taoist.

Seeing the brilliance of that sword strike, he felt inferior and naturally treated it with utmost respect.

The officials took over the task of distributing the pork, and Liu, the constable, seemed to be a minor leader, with the soldiers following his orders.

Although Liu, the constable, was wounded, he still diligently supervised the officers and soldiers to distribute the meat.

Although many people came to the village, the wild boar was very big. Even though it had lost a lot of weight, the meat was still enough for every household to get about a pound and a half.

It took three days to cut all the meat off the wild boar.

In the end, this wild boar, after removing its bones and skin, weighed over 800 jin (approximately 400 catties). If it hadn't been starving, it probably would have weighed over 1,000 jin (approximately 500 kg) and consumed an unknown amount of grain each day.

The meat didn't taste fishy or gamey, but it was too tough to chew, making it difficult for people with weak teeth to eat.

Zhuang Xingjia chopped the meat he was allocated into minced meat, wrapped it into dumplings, and ate them; they weren't so hard to chew then.

In addition, the officials also gave Zhuang Xing the demon core of the wild boar. Although this demon core was only one-third the size of the tiger demon core, it was already the second largest demon core that Zhuang Xing had ever seen.

The white rat seemed quite interested in the demon core, but it was too busy taking care of its wife and children to go out and search for treasures, so it couldn't offer anything good to exchange with the merchant.

Zhuang Xing kept the demon core for himself. He had grown taller, and he would probably have to go to Master Wu to exchange it for a new sword next year or the year after. He still needed to save up some assets.

He remained in the village. After the spring, Master Qingxuzi gathered several disciples of the Red Rice Sect and went outside together.

Zhuang Xing was a young man, so he didn't go with them.

Five days passed after the pig demon appeared in the village.

When Zhuang Xing was walking his horse, he saw the figure of the old Taoist priest.

Zhuang Xing stopped his horse, Wuzhui, at a distance. The old Taoist had returned alone; none of his disciples had accompanied him.

The old Taoist patted the horse's neck, and the horse stopped.

"How are the crops in the fields while I was away?" the old Taoist asked.

"The crops are growing very well, but an unintelligent wild boar monster came and ruined a piece of land," Zhuang Xing replied.

The old Taoist stroked his beard, seemingly unsurprised.

"After spring, many more monsters caused trouble."

The two dismounted, slowed their pace, and slowly made their way back to the village.

Zhuang Xing and the old Taoist priest walked across the small bridge and flowing water. The spring sunshine was just right, making the river water sparkle, and the wheat seedlings in the fields were all growing very well.

The old Taoist priest walked and looked around, nodding with satisfaction.

"Zhuang Xing, I have something to tell you."

"Please speak, Taoist priest."

"Go to Yidu and deliver this letter to the prefect." The old Taoist took out a letter that had already been written from his bosom. "On my trip there, I saw demons causing chaos. Some remote villages were destroyed. Although I had my disciples protect them, it was only a temporary measure."

"We hope that the prefect of Yidu can send some troops to properly settle those displaced people."

"If Miss Yan is in Yidu, please take this token with you on your way. Just say that Qingxuzi is not on the mountain these days. If Miss Yan wants to buy or sell anything, just show this token to the Xuanqing Temple disciple, and someone will naturally take care of her."

The old Taoist priest placed a locust wood token in Zhuang Xing's hand, with purple tassels hanging on it and runes engraved on it.

The old Taoist priest returned only to seek help.

He found the soldiers stationed in the village, asked them for some men, and had the horses carry several boxes of rice. He didn't stay long, but left after a short while.

Zhuang Xing heard that there were many refugees, and that with the arrival of spring, those hungry monsters would run rampant, and the old Taoist priests along the way had witnessed many tragic scenes.

It wasn't just humans who suffered from cold and hunger; monsters suffered the same fate.

Although Xuanqing Temple was able to exorcise demons, it did not have enough resources to help the refugees.

There was still a long way to go, so the prefect had to send troops over.

It was truly a year of disaster, with many difficulties.

After watching the old Taoist priest lead the group away, Zhuang Xing told his family about it and planned to go to Yidu as soon as possible.

The agricultural authorities seemed to want to report on the spring plowing situation, so they sent several clerks to accompany the farm.

Not only did the soldiers come, but Yunling also came.

She was the one who managed that experimental field, and she knew best about the wheat seedlings' ability to withstand cold and frost, so she was also in the team.

Chapter 136 The Changes in Yidu

Without delay, Zhuang Xing left the village without even having a meal.

You can see road workers on the road. They choose gentle slopes and cut down any trees that are blocking the way.

They cleared away the weeds, moved large stones as foundation stones, filled the gaps with small gravel, and leveled the road surface to ensure that the official road was stable and easy for people and carriages to pass.

In addition, ditches were being dug along both sides of the official road to facilitate drainage during rain.

The road has only been under repair for a short time. It is said that this road must be connected to the official road in front of Yidu City before the wheat harvest this autumn.

Actually, the village is only about 40 or 50 miles away from Yidu, but the narrow roads are much more difficult to travel, which is why it takes so long.

If the road is repaired, it will take about a day to reach the destination on horseback.

The road was not yet repaired, but the snow on it had melted. After walking for two days, Zhuang Xing saw the city gate of Yidu.

This was Yunling's first time in Yidu. She looked up at the city wall built of bluestone and was slightly stunned.

The canal was bustling with people, a lively scene.

Boats of all sizes sail across the blue river, proving that Yidu remains prosperous.

There were just too many people. Once inside the city, Zhuang Xing dismounted and led his horse, Wuzhui, away.

They went straight to the government office, and Zhuang Xing handed over the letter that the old Taoist priest had entrusted to him to the prefect.

Yunling took her notebook and went to find someone to record the growth of the wheat seedlings along with the spring plowing.

The prefect sat in front of his desk, opened the envelope, and read it carefully with a solemn expression.

"I understand," the prefect said, looking up. "I will immediately gather troops and have them transport grain to aid the disaster victims."

"Let them settle in Manggu Village. Once the official road is built, it will become a major transportation route. The area is near the Songjiang River, and the soil is fertile. We are in need of manpower right now, so settling them there will help them share some of the farm work."