Chapter 235

Chapter 235: Difficult Survival

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, Qian State’s Pingguan Prefecture—the remote Changqu County City .

Meng Chuan and his wife walked on the streets .

“A county city has been reduced to such a dilapidated state in a year,” said Liu Qiyue softly . At a glance, one could see many ruined places . “The survivors didn’t rebuild these areas after the demon monarch attacks . It’s already good if they can barely survive . ”

“Changqu County City had a population of more than 90,000 a year ago . Now, there’s only about 20,000 people,” said Meng Chuan . “Some were slaughtered by demon monarchs . However, most chose to leave the county city and live in the wilderness . This is the most remote place in our designated rescue area . Many times, by the time we arrive, the demon monarchs have already retreated . We can’t protect this place completely . ”

Liu Qiyue nodded .

They protected five prefectures . The areas they primarily protected were Gu Mountain Prefecture and Eastcalm Prefecture . Any further and their rescue efficiency would drop greatly .

Since the demons attacked simultaneously, the duo naturally rescued the nearest and most important places first . The areas further away were of lower priority . As some county cities became more ravaged, they naturally saved the still-bustling county cities first . The remote, ravaged county cities were at the back of the queue .

This was the only way because they were unable to be everywhere . However, this county still was still within their designated rescue area . Meng Chuan and his wife felt rather guilty after seeing the county city in such a sorry state .

“Steamed buns, steamed buns for sale! Hot piping meat buns,” someone shouted .

Meng Chuan looked over .

Around the ruins, one could see a few barely intact buildings . One building sold steamed buns . However, very few people were doing business in the county city .

“Mom, I want to eat meat buns . ” A child crawled out of a ruin . He stared at the buns with a covetous look .

“It’s already good enough that you can eat your fill . You still want to eat meat buns? Hurry up and leave . ” The woman crawled out from the ruins . Their home was hidden in a self-dug tunnel deep within the ruins . The family of five lived there .

“Mom . ” The child’s eyes were red . “I haven’t eaten meat in half a year . I want to eat it . ”

“Then stay here . ” The woman carried the basket and walked away . The child could only follow .

Meng Chuan and his wife watched from afar .

“Let’s go,” said Meng Chuan . As Godfiends, what could they do?

The couple left quietly .

The duo stayed close to the ground on their way back to Gu Mountain Prefecture City .

Meng Chuan opened his third eye at his glabella—the Divine Eye of Lightning . The electromagnetic domain expanded rapidly . This electromagnetic domain could penetrate a quarter-kilometer deep underground! Although very few demons hid within a quarter-kilometer of the surface, they would occasionally encounter some demons traveling underground . Over the past year, they had relied on this method to kill over 100 demon monarchs—an unexpected gain .

Meng Chuan’s electromagnetic domain could affect light, preventing others from seeing the couple with the naked eye .

“Oh?” Meng Chuan suddenly frowned .

“What’s wrong?” Liu Qiyue was puzzled .

“Let’s go . ” He flashed to a lake about a kilometer away with his wife . Tall reeds littered the lake .

On the lake was a small, wooden boat . The lake water beside the wooden boat churned .

Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue appeared on the wooden boat . With a wave of his hand, his Great Solar Quintessential Essence seeped into the water, cut through the underwater reeds, and pulled two children up .

One child had a pale face as he clung to his companion tightly . The other child—who was slightly older—panted heavily .

“Third Brother, Third Brother, wake up . ” The child looked at his younger brother’s pale face and was on the brink of tears . He immediately begged Meng Chuan and his wife . “My lords, please save my younger brother . Save my younger brother . ”

“He’s fine,” said Meng Chuan .

As soon as he finished speaking, the pale-faced child suddenly spat out a few mouthfuls of water before waking up .

The older child finally heaved a sigh of relief .

“Where’s your home? I’ll send you back,” said Liu Qiyue gently . Their hearts ached when they saw these children because they also had two children .

“It’s over there . In the reed marsh . ” The older child pointed in a direction . “About a quarter-kilometer away . ”

“Okay . ” Meng Chuan nodded .

Immediately, the tiny wooden boat they were standing on began to accelerate to high speeds, causing the two children on the boat to find it hard to believe what they saw . How could their little wooden boat be so fast? They were still in a daze when the little wooden boat had traveled a quarter-kilometer .

There were five boats in the reed marsh . Clothes, as well as pots and pans, hung outside the boats . People were clearly living on the boats .

“That’s our boat . ” The child pointed at one of the boats .

“Mom!” the elder child shouted loudly . A dirty-looking woman walked out of the boat cabin . When the woman saw that Meng Chuan and his wife were dressed in extraordinary clothes, she couldn’t help but be a little more respectful . At the same time, she whispered to her child, “You two disappeared when I wasn’t looking . ”

“We went fishing . Third Brother fell into the water and was trapped by the reeds . I wanted to save him, but Third Brother hugged me . These two lords saved us,” said the elder child . As for the younger child, he was still weak from the ordeal .

“Thank you for saving my children, my lords . ” Upon hearing this, the woman immediately kowtowed in gratitude .

Meng Chuan and his wife looked at the five boats and easily sensed their dilapidated interiors . They didn’t say anything as they nodded and left in a second .

“The two of you, I told you not to go into the water when there are no adults . Yet, you still did . Do you want me to die of anxiety? If the two of you die, what will I do?” Only then did the woman cry from the lingering fear . The two children leaned against their mother, not daring to make a sound .

…

Meng Chuan and his wife continued their journey home .

“Those five boats represent five families . From the looks of it, they usually live on the boats,” said Meng Chuan . “They’re just hiding in the reeds . ”

“It’s difficult to be discovered by demon monarchs . At the very least, it’s safer,” said Liu Qiyue .

“Now, the more remote a place is, the more people reside there,” said Meng Chuan . “However, it’s very difficult to survive in many remote places . ”

“Everyone—other than those in large state capitals and prefecture cities—has it difficult,” said Liu Qiyue softly, “Village forts have completely vanished . Small villages are everywhere now . Although it’s very unlikely for a small village to encounter a demon monarch, they will definitely die if they encounter one . Most of the world’s county cities are desolate . Too many people have died . There are plagues everywhere . Thankfully, Godfiends immediately rush over to resolve the plagues . However, the problem regarding demon monarchs can’t be solved . There are too many of them . ”

“Yes . ” Meng Chuan nodded .

In the past year, the couple had rescued many people . Although the demons were very cunning, they had killed over 1000 demon monarchs in total .

But so what?

Indeed, most inner sect disciples were safe now since they cultivated on Archean Mountain . Occasionally, Marquis Godfiends would attack demon monarch lairs or carry out interception missions as a way to hone themselves .

The elite Great Solar Godfiends were the only ones fighting with all their might . From the current ratio of Godfiend casualties, it was over ten-fold better than when they guarded small and medium-sized city passes . After all, powerful Godfiends like them could easily slaughter demon monarchs .

However, too many mortals are dying . Meng Chuan sighed inwardly .

Even those within prefecture cities struggled to survive . Since food became more and more expensive, it was naturally not easy to survive .

Countless mortals died in this world .

The survivors also had it difficult .

Meng Chuan and the other Godfiends did their best to maintain the cities’ safety .

If I can become a Marquis Godfiend, I’ll be stronger and faster . I believe I can protect more prefecture cities and county cities . I believe that I can save over 100 million people when I’m a Marquis Godfiend .

The more powerful a Godfiend was, the more mortals they could protect . This made many Godfiends, including Meng Chuan, yearn for greater strength .

They wanted to become stronger so that they could protect more mortals .

Huh? Meng Chuan and his wife felt their chests warm up . They immediately took out their Patroller tokens . Their Patroller tokens emitted one red blip .

“Request for reinforcements? Eastcalm Prefecture’s Zhenyou County?” The couple exchanged glances .

“Let’s go . ” Meng Chuan and Liu Qiyue rushed toward Eastcalm Prefecture rapidly .