Southern Territory, Great Qin of Zhong dynasty

　　In those years, the world was in great chaos.

The trouble times had come suddenly

The Su Kingdom in the west and the Jin Kingdom in the north broke out in a full-blown war with the the Qin kingdom at the same time.

All sides invested in million of soldiers, equipment, weapons, logistic, and other things.

At one time, the three countries were full of smoke and people were living in misery and suffering.

Not to mention the 13-year drought that came suddenly and plagued the three nations

In the drought, the people had no harvest, thieves were everywhere, and the people fled their homeland one after another and embarked on the road of exile for their livelihood.

　　On an official road in yellow tree County of Qin, a group was refugees headed for silver bird County.

The team was seven or eight miles away, with at least several thousand people.

　　The twelve-year-old Xu Lin is walking among the refugees.

He supports his weak father Xu Shan, and his other hand was holding a large sack.

They were all the possession of the pair His dark little face was full of confusion and loneliness.

As he struggled to walk forward he took out a small wooden gourd

　　Shaking gently, there was a faint sound of water.

　　"Father drink some water." Xu Lin handed the gourd to his father

　　Xu shan's tanned Nd rough face showed a tired expression, and he shook her head: "Son, I'm not thirsty, you can drink it."

　　After hearing this, Xu Lin's nose was sour, and he almost burst into tears. It has been more than two months since he came out of his hometown. The dry food he brought has already been eaten. Two days ago, his mother starved to death on the road. If this continues, In two days, the weak father will also starve to death.

　　There are still more than a hundred miles away from silver bird County, of the Qin kingdom. At the current speed of the refugees, it will take at least three days. Xu Lin was not sure whether they could survive these three days, not to mention, even if it arrives. In silver bird County, they might not be able to find food quickly enough

　　Looking at his father's weathered sallow cheeks and at his thin body,

Xu Lin was full of self-blame. If someone could give him a bun now, he would pay whatever price they asked for

　　Suddenly, there was a rapid neigh of horses in front of them, and a group of horses could be seen rushing towards them under a billowing smoke of dust

　　Xu Lin was startled, and his heart was full of horror.

He had heard from adults that on the way to silver bird County,

there were would be many bandits.

And If you don't obey, you will be killed.

Along the way, he had seen a lot of corpses displayed on the side of the road, and only withered bones were eaten by wild beasts in the mountains.

　　If you really run into a bandit, there is no way to survive,

Xu Lin sighed in his heart mentally preparing to die

　　Xu Lin stared at the smoke and dust in front of him, until he saw the big word "Jade" on the chests of the horses and horses rushing out of the dust, and then he let go of a hanging heart.

The jade was the official slogan of the duke of Xin

Who controlled and ruled the jade sun province in which both silver bird county and yellow tree province was located

The xin clan was their nominal ruler and protector

　　"It's the official army." Xiao Lin muttered to himself.

Although the official army often does things that oppress the people,

it is much better than the bandits because they will not kill people at will, but he still quietly pushed his father to the side so they run toward the tress if anything happened . .

The head of this team of officers and soldiers was a five three big and fat man, with sharp features and sharp angles, and the length of the beard is the same. The scar from the left eye to the right cheek on his only face has a strong and fierce aura.

　　He looked at the refugee team in front of him, frowning, and after a while, a sneer appeared on his face.

　　He rushed behind him and waved his hand.

After a while, a man drove over and whispered a few words in his ear.

“in the name of the duke in I ask to stop”

While speaking, he coldly scanned the refugee team. His subordinates nodded while listening. At the same time, he glanced at the refugee with a smile on his face.

　　After the entire team of refugees came to a halt,

the entire army of officers and soldiers suddenly began to stretch, gathering the refugees from both sides together.

Seeing this scene, Xu Lin's face was gloomy and his heart sank.

　　Soon, thousands of refugees were gathered in a pile, crushed in like cattle, all of them looked at the fat scared officer army with horror and felt quite uneasy.

　　Looking at the crowd with satisfaction,

the scarred officer squeezed a smile on his face,

but this smile did not give him an amiable image but added a little strange and terrifying atmosphere.

　　"I am Wu shu, Deputy Lieutenant of silver bird County. I have been ordered to slay the bandits in the Mountain area of jade heart province.

I need to recruit some migrant workers and carry siege equipment.

Any healthy man over the age of 12 can join. "

he then turned to his men and said loudly

"Give out five steamed buns for each new recruit "

he then turned back to the crowd

"relocation land will be allocated for free when the bandits are eliminated in the future, to every single of

the recruits and their families will be resettled in the city so that they could be saved from the suffering of displacement."

　　The underwhelmed crowd suddenly became agitated.

If it were normal, no one would care about five steamed buns

It could even be said to be a little pitiful, but now it is different.

Most of these refugees were hungry for several days now and may pass away at any time. .

In this case, five steamed buns were not a matter of a few meals, but hope of survival. Soon, some people walked out of the crowd and ran toward the soldiers holding the banner with the words "recruitment" written on them

　　Seeing this scene, Xiao Lin sighed. He understood that these people who came out did not do it for themselves, but only for their families to survive. After all, with these five steamed buns, there was a glimmer of hope.

　　Soon, this group of officers and soldiers set up a few tents on the side of the road, set up a few tables and chairs, and began to register the names of the migrant workers who were recruited.

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　　"Father, I'll go." Xiao Lin said with a smile when he stopped his father who wanted to sign up. He knew that his father was very weak, and coupled with the dark injuries he had left from hunting in his early years, it was even more so under these circumstances. Relapse, if he does become a migrant worker, he will probably die on the road before he reaches the robber's lair.

　　"Yeah." Xu Shang nodded obediently and then smiled at Xiao Lin.

Seeing his father's forced smile to comfort himself, Xu Lin's nose was sour. He thought of his mother who had starved to death two days ago. He gritted his teeth and told himself that his father must never be the same as his mother.

　　He turned his head secretly, scraped the tears from the corner of his eyes with his fingers, and flung it out. Then, Xu Lin walked out of the crowd without looking back.

　　The long line stretched for several hundred meters. Xu Lin roughly estimated that there were at least a few hundred people who signed up. Xu Lin was in the middle of the line and felt a little nervous. He saw with his own eyes that several elderly applicants were driven back. He understood that these old people wanted to use their lives to give their families hope of survival. There were also a few younger ones who were thinner than Xiao Lin that were also driven back into the ranks of refugees.

　　Xiao Lin was very worried, afraid that he would not be hired either.

　　"Xu Lin, you are also signing up." A childish voice came from behind him. Without turning his head, Xiao Lin knew that it was Xiao Shi who had grown up with him.

Xiao Shi’s father was a blacksmith.

Originally, their family was considered wealthy in the village, but Xiao Shi did not expect that his father and eldest brother would be called up to serve as soldiers a year ago causing a loss of revenue in his home and causing His mother to starve to death a few months later before she came out to escape the famine.

There was no way, Xiao Shi, who was nine years old could get accepted by the army not to mention he had two younger sister to take care

　　"You came out, what should your sisters do if you die?" Xiao Lin showed a surprised expression on his face and hissed with anger

　　"What else can I do, we are already starving and I have run out of food the army is my only hope ." Xiao Shi sighed.

　　Xiao Lin didn't speak. He knew Xiao Shi's situation was similar to his own. Without these few buns, none of the three of them could survive. , It is better to change a few buns, so that their younger sisters have the hope of living.

　　Soon, it was Xu Lin's turn.

　　"Name?"

　　"Xu Lin."

　　"Hometown?"

　　"Gouzi Village, yellow tree County, jade heart province ."

　　"age?"

　　"Thirteen."To increase the chance of being hired, Xu Lin falsely reported that he was one year old.

　　Upon hearing the words, the honourable officer looked up at Xu Lin, with a suspicious expression on his face.

　　"Master, we are both young. We are both thirteen years old this year. You see that we are very strong and can work." At this time, Xiao Shi came up behind him with a smile on his face,

seeing the tall and sturdy boy The official army captain showed a satisfied smile

　　Since Xiao Shi had been ironing with his father since he was a child, he was very sturdy. He was more than half a head taller than Xu Lin. Although he was only nine years old, he looked like a young man of fifteen and sixteen.

　　Obviously,y the officer was very satisfied with what Xiao Shi said. The officers and soldiers did not embarrass Xu Lin so he nodded and wrote the word Xu Lin on the roster.

　　After receiving the steamed buns with Xiao Shi, they returned to the refugee ranks.

　　The two of them took out four of the ten steamed buns and gave them to Xu Shan and the two children, then wrapped the rest in coarse cloth and handed them to Xu Shan.

　　Xu Shan took it and took out two steamed buns from the coarse cloth.

　　"You haven't eaten for more than two days, you should also have a steamed bun."

　　Xu Lin and Xiao Shi glanced at each other. Xiao Lin took a steamed bun, broke it in half, gave it to Xiao Shi half, and then smiled at Xu Shan: "Father, it's enough for both of us to eat one."

　　Seeing the younger sister of Xiao shi Xiao Zhi eating the buns sweetly, Xu lin suddenly felt that he had done the very right thing.

...…..........................................................

Three days later,

Xu Lin and Xiao Shi followed the army and walked into the Tianlu Mountain Range. The Tianlu Mountain Range is located in the west of Qin kingdom's South Side and is connected to the Red star sect on the south side. ,

It’s an endless primitive mountain forest, with lofty trees and such steep high mountains that you can’t even see the top of the peak.

For countless years, no one knows how big the Tianlu Mountain Range is because anyone who goes deep into it has no news.

　　Wu shu the scarred fat officer of the army led hundreds of officers and soldiers to drive the hundreds of migrant workers and walked towards the Tianlu Mountains.

He has been walking for four or five days. In Xu Lin's view, he has at least penetrated into the Tianlu Mountains For more than a hundred miles, the neighing of wild beasts was often heard along the way, which made them frightened.

Xu Lin thought

　　If it weren’tar the large number of people, they would have been attacked by wild animals a long time ago

Xu Lin felt a little strange.

It stands to reason that although the bandit’s nest is also in the Tianlu Mountains, it is impossible to go so far.

The bandit survived basically by robbing the people on the road.

so having a hideout being 10 or so days deep inside the forest was a bit unreasonable in his humble opinion

the further inside they went the more worried Xu lin became