Chapter 59

Nan Xun and others did not come back today, but they sent back three messenger soldiers to inform Wen Yi and others of their current location and to come back after cleaning up the camp tomorrow.

After listening to the soldiers' report, the people in the city finally felt relieved and waited patiently, while paying attention to whether there were any other people spying around.

Perhaps because of the previous movement, the soldiers in the village outside the city did not see any guys trying to spy on the situation in Fengyi, but instead saw several groups of refugees.

These people seemed to be coming from the south. Perhaps they had suffered too much along the way. When they saw the food in other people's hands, they could not think and would only fight for it according to instinct. They could not get close to the city for the time being, so they could only be temporarily arranged in a place far away from the city, and at the same time, they had to be guarded more closely to prevent anything bad from happening.

Many of them were ill, with coughs and fevers, but most had swallowed too much undigested food, and their complexions were extremely poor. Even the accompanying doctors shook their heads at some of them, boiling some things to try, but whether they could survive depended on the patients themselves.

The people in the city would not make contact under the warning of the soldiers, but they were still frightened when they saw the group of people.

Some of the words were incomprehensible to the soldiers from Pingyi, but they, who had originally lived here, could distinguish them. Naturally, they also thought that if Nanxun and others had not conquered this place, they might have embarked on the road of exile like these people.

After all, it was impossible for those nobles to supply them with food, not to mention arranging them together for warmth like the people from the north during the coldest season. In previous years, they had to rely on enduring the winter.

Thinking of this, those who had been hesitant became more motivated. Some of the soldiers had relatives here, and they had naturally heard about the construction progress of other cities from them. Although they were still a little skeptical, looking at the progress of the city wall construction, perhaps those things that sounded unrealistic could be realized.

He said he would come back the next day, but in the end he delayed for another day. It was not until the evening of the third day that Wen Yi, standing on the old city wall, saw some familiar flags.

As the team drew closer, Wen Yi understood why their return had been delayed. They were carrying too much stuff, and with limited carriages, many were even carrying their belongings on their backs. Many of the soldiers, judging by their clothing, weren't from their side; they were probably prisoners.

When the person in charge of the warehouse heard that Nan Xun had returned, he quickly grabbed two of his men and headed out of the city. God knows how anxious he had been these days seeing the food in the already empty warehouse becoming less and less.

Although this person also knew that this was the norm in most cities, people who had lived in Pingyi would only worry about the long storage time of grain. For a while, they were still a little uncomfortable with the situation in Fengyi and always felt that their ability to resist risks was almost zero.

Although they had been outside for two days, they had been living in those people's tents, so Nanxun and his men were in a pretty good mental state. Seeing Wen Yi and others coming out, they simply told everything at once and asked the people around them to summarize it into a document.

The harvest was quite rich. Apart from some food and fodder, the largest amount of loot was various weapons. Although some of them were badly damaged and rusted, the kilns here had already been built, and it would be great to invest these things in the construction of the city.

As for the captured people, they were also kept under guard and helped with some work to supplement the manpower.

"It's easy this time." Nan Xun's tone was still cheerful. This time, only the soldiers were slightly injured and they had already been treated over there. The most seriously injured could be recovered in more than a month, so it was considered a complete victory.

The most important thing is that although the people over there were also on guard, the camp was generally very disorganized. It took Nan Xun and others a long time to react and rush to fight after they entered.

"The camp is in such chaos, yet they can still send people here?" Wen Yi was a little surprised. According to what Nan Xun said before, there must be some powerful people in charge here, who can maintain the battle situation here.

"There should have been one originally, but we were a step too late." When they entered, they went straight to the main tent, but there were no guards outside. After opening it, they found it was in a mess. Various seals and documents seemed to have been rummaged through and scattered on the ground, and there was no one in sight.

It didn't look like he left on his own initiative, but the soldiers around him also seemed unaware of it, so it was possible that there was an internal conflict.

Nan Xun felt a little regretful, but he didn't regret waiting until Wen Yi and the others arrived before making any plans. Even if they had continued to advance, they wouldn't have had enough men. If the rear was unstable, the front would also be in danger.

*

It was cloudy and rainy for the next few days, and the original project came to a halt. It was extremely difficult to completely protect the temporary living quarters from rain, but it was not a problem if a few families got together. In addition, there were still some houses that were not damaged, so it was barely enough.

The captured soldiers were separated and found that they could eat every day. They also saw that their colleagues who had been sent here to "die" were still fine, and even looked better. They didn't want to stay in the camp because they were generally pale and thin, so they couldn't help but ask about it.

Seeing that the guards showed no intention of stopping them, the men recounted their experiences in detail. They had been working there longer, and after hearing these men's stories, some were still skeptical, but after a few days, most of them were convinced.

The food is the best proof.

Some of them were originally residents, while others had served in the army and had never considered leaving safely after the war. They had no ambitions, no desire for achievements, and simply wanted a stable life and a chance to reunite with their families.

Perhaps to make up for the lack of rain last year, the rain only stopped briefly in the evening for three consecutive days. The rest of the time the rain almost never stopped, and even tended to get heavier.

The river water level has also risen a lot, and soldiers are sent to check it every day. The situation is not good.

Although the river has been widened over the years, some bends have not been straightened for the convenience of water extraction, and the water flow even tends to spread out.

Everyone had to brave the rain to shovel out a small channel to divert the water. As the water washed away the original channel, it was gradually expanding. It was unknown how long it could last.

The accompanying doctor prepared a lot of soup, fearing that those who had braved the rain would get sick and infect the other soldiers. Fortunately, they had changed their clothes in time after returning, and only a few of them sneezed, but after drinking a few bowls of hot soup, they were almost well.

The northern part of Fengyi's city wall has not been repaired yet. Although there is some green on the northern hills, the remaining roots or barks after the locust swarms last year have been used as food by the starving people. If it continues to rain like this, there may be a possibility of flash floods. The old city wall will not be able to withstand the torrents mixed with rubble and tree trunks, and the buildings in an area will be directly flattened.

Wen Yi arranged for the patrolling soldiers to keep a closer eye on the situation and report any situations promptly. At the same time, he also temporarily moved the people living near the north to the south side of the city.

"Even though we have moved all the people here, we still can't let our guard down." Wen Yi unfolded the map he had drawn earlier. It was impossible to draw the height now, but by observing with the naked eye, one could still tell which side was steeper, which side was more likely to collapse, and the possible consequences for Fengyi.

Although the mountains on the north side are not very high, there is a steep ravine between the two mountains. There is also a stream flowing through the north and east of the city, and finally merges into the river flowing through the city.

If the stream were to dry up, suddenly surge, or become turbid, filled with branches and mud, it could trigger a natural disaster like a mudslide. Seeing something like muddy water is also extremely dangerous, but given the distance, a landslide wouldn't have a significant impact on Fengyi, so Wen Yi focused more attention on the stream.

She made a few marks on the map, then took out a thinner piece of paper and spread it on top, marking out this small area. She handed it to the soldier on duty and said, "Pay attention to these areas."

With so much on his mind, he'd had trouble falling asleep these past few nights, and he'd easily wake up startled. Today, the situation was even worse. After tossing and turning for over an hour, Wen Yi simply changed his clothes, lit the soybean oil lamp in the room, and stood up to stretch his legs.

There were hats and umbrellas at the door. The rain outside seemed to be heavier than when I was washing, accompanied by all kinds of noises.

A faint, muffled sound reached Wen Yi, who was momentarily stunned. By the time she realized what was happening, a horn had already sounded from the north. She quickly donned her bamboo hat and stood up. As she stepped out of the courtyard, she saw the guards running towards her.

Perhaps because he had been running for too long, the soldier was speechless for a moment. However, Wen Yi glanced at him and nodded, "I understand. Go find the others first."

Nan Xun and his friends lived next door. When they heard the noise, they quickly changed their clothes and got up.

Because Wen Yi had already given instructions before, although everyone's vision was unclear at night and it was raining heavily outside, making movement a little difficult, fortunately everyone had been transferred before, and now they only needed to continue moving towards the newly built buildings in the southwest of the city.

The soldiers who were originally observing on the north city wall also quickly evacuated. The originally intermittent roaring sound became more frequent, and even the ground shook slightly.

Most people have not experienced this. In fact, even Wen Yi has no experience. No one knows how big this disaster is and whether it will directly destroy the city walls and buildings on the north side.

I have done everything I can, and the rest depends on God's will.

When a sound similar to muffled thunder roared from the valley, Wen Yi and others stood on a high place with umbrellas, but they still could not see the specific situation over there. They could only feel from the vibration that something seemed to be moving towards this side.

Boom——

The sound of the old city wall on the north side being swallowed up made the soldiers following them tremble involuntarily. The locals who were brought here to act as temporary guides even had the urge to turn around and run, but their legs were so weak that they could not move, so they looked calm.

"You... were you like this before?" One of the soldiers asked in a low voice, as if he had misunderstood why they were standing still.

The person next to him shook his head violently a few times, his voice trembling: "We... this is the first time we've encountered this. What is this?"

Nan Xun's eyesight was better than that of an average person. He could vaguely see a darker color covering the buildings in the north, and was finally blocked by the flooded river. He began to walk downstream along the water.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Although he couldn't see clearly, he could still remember the scene on the other side during the day, but it was directly swallowed up.

Wen Yi noticed that the expressions of the people around her had relaxed, and the voice was no longer moving towards her, but instead tended to move eastward. She guessed that the most dangerous time should have passed, and they were temporarily safe.

"Okay, there's probably nothing to worry about. Let's go back and rest for a while. There's still a tough battle to fight tomorrow." Wen Yi said, and then he got up and left first, returning to the newly arranged place to catch up on his sleep.

The soldiers did not wake up everyone, but the noise was so loud that even the best sleepers were awakened from their dreams, and familiar people gathered together to seek some sense of security.