Chapter 1387: “The World in Chaos (1)”
Along the side of the ancient road within a dilapidated little tea stall, several travellers sat scattered in small groups of twos and threes at their tables as they drank to quench their thirst and ate to fill their tummies.
The wheels wound down to a crawl as a convoy of carriages came to a stop to park at the side of the road. Several brightly dressed youths stepped down from the carriages and compared to the other filthily dressed travelers whose clothes could even be said to be tattered, the handsome group of brightly dressed youths stood out like a sore thumb.
“What would our guests like to order?” The tea stall’s waiter asked as he approached the group politely.
“Just whip up some food and get us some tea and water.” A youth who looked a little on the thin side answered as he sat down together with his companions.
The season was just turning into summer and the weather was rather hot. Half of the tea stall had no cover and was it was facing directly into the sun, the roasting temperature causing their throats to go dry and feel thirsty.
“The heat in this weather is really killing me….. I am suddenly missing the previous chill.” Qiao Chu grumbled as he plopped himself onto the table, the heat seemingly evaporating all the moisture within his body completely. They had not stepped out from the Heaven’s End Cliff for an entire year and the constant unchanging bitter cold at the bottom of the cliff had made it impossible for them to differentiate between the seasons. Having just come out from there, the changing temperature from cold to hot made it highly unbearable for them.
Jun Wu Xie sat right opposite Qiao Chu and to make it more convenient to travel, she was disguised as a young male youth once again but she no longer concealed her countenance.
“Why do I feel that it’s a little strange here?” Fei Yan asked as he glanced at the other customers in the tea stall and was shocked to notice that the clothes of all these people were just too dirty, without a single one among them wearing a proper and complete set.
Although they had not come out from the Heaven’s End Cliff for long and the area they were in was still rather remote, they still remembered that there were some villages in this vicinity when they came here back then. Although they were not as prosperous as cities, they were still seen to be clean and neat at least.
In just barely slightly more than one year, the people here have changed completely.
The faces of the travelers looked haggard and their expressions numbed while tinged with some nervousness. If Fei Yan were to find a word to describe them, he thought that these people looked more than refugees.
“Maybe a famine occurred.” Fan Zhuo said with a sigh.
The waiter was just bring them their food when he heard Fan Zhuo’s words. The waiter suddenly perked up and he looked at Fan Zhuo and his companions to say.
“I’m thinking our guests here are not locals?”
“What makes you say that?” Fei Yan inquired with a tilt of his eyebrow.
“Ha ha. We have not been struck by a famine here. I’m thinking our guests are unaware of the situation around here?” The waiter asked.
“Oh? What kind of a situation would you have here?” Fei Yan asked inquisitively.
“In the past year, the lands had been thrown into chaos and needless to say, the days of commoners like us living in such far off and remote places have always been tough, but the situation isn’t much better even within the bigger countries as well. I see that our guests’ clothes are clean and neat and do not look like you are seeking refuge. From the direction you were coming from, all of you seem to be going east. Allow humble me to add my two cents’ worth and if our guests believe my words, you’d better not go there. The entire lands under these Heavens haven’t been peaceful and due to the remoteness of this place here, it’s a little less dangerous. But if you go further east and reach the borders of the other countries, you might get yourself into a lot of trouble there.” The waiter said, trying to be helpful when he saw that Jun Wu Xie and the other companions were rather well dressed, seeking to gain a little extra token of appreciation.
Jun Wu Xie’s eyebrow lifted as she queried. “The lands are in chaos?”
“That’s right. Our guests were not aware of that? It had been like that since a year ago. There are wars everywhere and refugees are running for their lives everywhere. See those customers at those other tables? They had just escaped from the east. The east is not a good place for anyone to go now. In the past, everyone envied all those living in the prosperous cities and those places have now become places of strife that people are running away from. Since our guests are not aware of these matters at all, you might as well just turn back instead.” The waiter suggested helpfully.