Continuing injuries among refugees signify the presence of large beasts nearby!
In this era, large beasts represent a beast tide.
Soon a young master of around eighteen or nineteen years, clad in chain armor and riding a white horse, led dozens of samurais in iron armor away from the agency’s team.
"That’s Young Leader Chen Ping of the agency, exceptionally skilled in martial arts, reputed to have refined Dark Force, and quite adept at mounted archery." exclaimed a refugee.
Zhang Chen glanced at the Young Leader, a thoughtful expression in his eyes. He sensed a faint aura of the Dragon Pearl on this young leader, indicating that he was not as simple as he appeared. He must be someone with great fortune, blessed with a Dragon Pearl Fragment.
It’s known that the True Dragon Dragon Pearl Fragment exploded into countless pieces, even an eighth-tier expert needs luck to chase it, and yet Young Master Chen mere mortal body managed to obtain the Dragon Pearl Fragment, clearly indicating he is a person of destiny.
Zhang Chen’s mind raced, but he didn’t dwell on it. Regardless of Young Master Chen’s prowess, they were merely passing acquaintances.
Three hours later, Chen Ping led the iron cavalry back, horses laden with various game: jackals, sika deer, and tigers, all carried back.
Then at noon, as the aroma of cooking meat spread throughout the camp, an escort master rode by, calling: "Selling big bones, stewed meat, anyone can buy with money or exchange for grain."
Zhang Chen did not lack meat, so he naturally didn’t buy any, but some refugees with some silver coins eagerly came forward to buy big bones.
Even though Chen Ping hunted a lot, the huge demand from tens of thousands of refugees caused supplies to run out quickly.
Continuing the journey in the afternoon, as the sun set, Young Leader Chen Ping, astride his horse, shouted to the crowd: "There are beasts around, to prevent attacks we cannot camp as we did before. Follow my instructions, set traps as I direct, able-bodied men stay outside, women and children stay inside. Our agency has chevaux de frise to lend you to fend off beasts. Since you follow our agency and are under our protection, you must contribute, and take up night patrol duties."
"But our Dragon Tiger Escort Agency doesn’t just command you without compensation. Join the night patrol and you can receive a bowl of meat from me. You’ve seen it, I hunt beasts during the day, there’s plenty to eat, contribute your effort and you’ll benefit." Chen Ping said confidently from his horse.
His voice, like a dragon’s roar, spread throughout the camp.
Upon hearing of the meat, countless men’s eyes gleamed, eagerly stepping forward to sign up for night patrol duty.
After all, with tens of thousands here, even night patrols are in shifts, not lasting all night. Exchanging minimal effort for a substantial bowl of meat, why not?
Then Chen Ping began organizing and selecting keen individuals, deploying people for night patrols, and arranging defenses against beast attacks on the camp, causing the camp to bustle with refugees organizing as required.
Zhang Chen, merely a fourteen-year-old boy, not very tall and cloaked in ragged clothes, his family of four was assigned to stay within the camp.
Observing the swiftly organized refugees, Zhang Chen thought to himself: "This Young Leader does have some skill."
Now everyone mingles, Zhang Chen couldn’t fire up his stove, opting to purchase rough grains and wild vegetable cakes from nearby refugees to sate hunger. Living in close quarters, a slight scent could surely lead to trouble.
"Big Brother, these cakes are so hard to swallow!" Zhang Tuowei complained, nibbling cautiously.
Zhang Chen glanced at Zhang Tuowei, responding annoyed: "Be grateful you have food, these days aren’t good, endure it for now."
Nearby, Chengyu sitting gloomy, holding his cake, its color dark, struggling to eat. Chengyu had never suffered such hardships, even starving on the mountain, they ate fine rice noodles!
On the contrary, Mrs. Zhang, remained unfazed, eating wild vegetable cakes, although soon choking from its dryness, drank gurgling cool water from the kettle.
But to Young Leader Chen Ping, patrolling the refugee camp, the scene transformed. In his eyes, it was a woman with three children, huddled together, the children holding dark vegetable cakes, reluctant to eat, cautiously nibbling bits. The woman, worrying for the children, gave them all the cakes, drinking only water herself.
Though Chen Ping had seen many refugee plights, encountering widows and orphans on the road was uncommon.
Indeed, widows and orphans struggle in this world, let alone surviving a journey south, such groups rarely continue long.
It seemed that Chen Ping’s imposing manner frightened them. At this moment, the pancake in Zhang Fei’s hand rolled down and coincidentally rolled to the front of Chen Ping’s horse. The tall horse immediately lowered its head, grabbed the pancake in its mouth, and swallowed it in a few bites.
Chen Ping’s horse stopped, and the escort followers beside him also pulled their horses to a halt.
"Kid, why is it just you and your mother? Where is your father?" Chen Ping shouted from his horse.
Zhang Chen noticed Chen Ping’s gaze and did not wish to create trouble. He lowered his head and said, "My father is dead. There are only the four of us left."
Chen Ping was stunned upon hearing this; he looked at the horse munching away and the dark wild vegetable pancake in Zhang Chen’s hand, feeling somewhat dazed.
"Young Master, there are too many suffering refugees; we cannot help them all." A young escort, seeing Zhang Chen’s family’s pitiful state and knowing his young master’s kind heart might overflow again, had to speak up.
Upon hearing these words, Chen Ping sighed softly, took a small bag from his horse, threw it in front of Zhang Chen and his family, and then rode away, disappearing into the refugee camp.
"Our young master is kindhearted and rewarded you with pancakes," a leader shouted to Zhang Chen’s family and then galloped away to follow.
Zhang Tuowei opened the cloth bag revealing seven or eight white flour pancakes, and his eyes lit up: "This young leader is quite kind; we finally don’t have to eat wild vegetables."
Saying this, he began to distribute the pancakes. Zhang Chen held one of the pure white pancakes, took a bite, and said, "Chen Ping seems pretty good. His horse ate one wild vegetable pancake and compensated us with eight white flour pancakes. We’ve hit the jackpot."
"This Young Master Chen is truly a rare kind soul," Mrs. Zhang sighed.
In this world, there are many wealthy and heartless, but few with compassion.
That night passed without incident. The next day, as the sun barely rose, Chen Ping led dozens of riders disappearing into the forest, only to return half a day later with dozens of wild animals. By noon, the scent of meat wafted through the entire camp.
Zhang Chen took his food bowl and lined up to get food. His dirty, tattered clothes made him inconspicuous among the crowd. After half a month of wandering, Zhang Chen’s shoes had long worn out, and his clothes started to become ragged, looking indistinguishable from a genuine refugee.
Looking from afar, the young escort leader Chen Ping was serving food to the refugees, occasionally ladling some meat broth onto the rice, drawing continuous thanks from the refugees. When it was Zhang Chen’s turn, he took out half a pound of millet, softly saying, "Exchange for a pound of rice."
Chen Ping looked Zhang Chen over and then at the millet. One of the teammates weighed it accurately with a scale, and Chen Ping scooped up the rice, then added two ladles of meat broth over it. Observing Zhang Chen’s thin frame, he sighed lightly, and scooped a large spoonful of deer meat from the bottom of the pot, placing it into Zhang Chen’s bowl.
"Young Master, I didn’t ask for meat, I can’t afford meat money." Zhang Chen quickly spoke when noticing the stew meat in his bowl.
Chen Ping nonchalantly replied, "It’s a reward for you! Go ahead and eat!"
Then he called out, "Next!"
An escort nearby laughed and said, "Your family has endured wandering hardships; our young master noticed you all yesterday. He sympathized with your plight. You should thank our young master."
Zhang Chen was stunned by the words, glanced at the stew meat in the bowl, looked at Chen Ping, and quickly bowed courteously, "Thank you for your great kindness and virtue, Young Master."
Chen Ping waved him away, Zhang Chen carried the bowl back to their resting place, and the three little ones gathered to see the stew meat, their eyes lighting up. Mrs. Zhang frowned, "Eating stew meat openly like this might not be wise! If we’re watched, who knows how much trouble it might cause."
Zhang Chen sighed bitterly, "I’m aware of the trouble, but the stew was a gift from Young Master Chen, I can’t refuse, can I?"
Indeed, trouble arrived just as mentioned. Two burly men eyed the rice and stew in Zhang Chen’s bowl and approached with a smile, saying, "Kid, our brothers fancy your bowl of stew and rice. We want to trade this wild vegetable pancake for it."
Zhang Chen looked at the two men before him without any change in his gaze, calmly asking, "Why should I? Do you take me for a fool?"
The man rolled up his sleeves, a sneer on his face, "Why? You actually ask why? It seems you’ve traveled along the way without understanding the dangers of this world or the rules within it. Since you ask why, I’ll generously give you a lesson and personally tell you why."
The two men revealed a vicious light in their eyes and directly reached out toward Zhang Chen.