Destiny is ashes

Chapter 1015 Good Citizens
Beixuan Sacrifice Continent is located south of Xishan Mountain and east of Minhai Sea.

This place, with its intersecting mountains and flowing rivers, was originally a desolate land rarely visited by humans. However, several years ago, a sudden frost struck the western mountains, bringing severe cold and freezing the earth, causing countless lives to freeze to death on the snowfield.

In order to survive, a large number of refugees brought their families and left their homes, eventually fleeing to this place.

The Great Chen Imperial Court nominally designated this area as 'Ximinyan' and claimed it would provide assistance. However, the documents that could be verified circulated among the officials for several years and ultimately could not be put into practice.

The officials of Xishan didn't want to deal with these refugees who had crossed vast regions, considering them an inescapable burden. The officials of Minhai also didn't want to deal with them, dismissing them as vagrants of unknown origin.

Since the legitimate government is unwilling to take over, then naturally someone else, another force, will come forward to rightfully seize this power.

The Heavenly Will Demonic Sect then took over this authority.

A year ago, when Bai Qinghan, the Xuan Yin Goddess of the Heavenly Will Divine Sect, stepped into this place, the first thought that surged in her mind was disbelief.

What docile and law-abiding people they are!
Despite the destruction of their homes, displacement, and being treated like dirt by the government, this large group of docile and law-abiding citizens did not gather in the mountains to wreak havoc on the region.

These people silently endured it, cultivating wasteland and building shacks on this land, intending to bear life and death alone.

How could such law-abiding citizens be unwanted by powerful forces?!

With a little guidance and training, they will become good people, the most loyal believers, and the most diligent citizens.

Among them were farmers, shepherds, weavers, and even many skilled craftsmen—otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to band together and survive the frost—each of them had their own unique characteristics, or at the very least, they were lucky and had special constitutions!

In short, no matter how you look at it, these people are a huge fortune. Even the most fanatical True Demon Sect would carefully calculate their value and think about how to use them up before sacrificing them.

However, the Great Chen Imperial Court used it like dirt, discarding it without any regard for its value.

"Since you don't want it," Bai Qinghan thought, "then I'll accept it without hesitation."

one year later.

Fengying Village.

There were about 130 households, large and small, with nearly 400 people, most of whom were refugees from Xishan.

Under the goddess's rule, this once lifeless refugee camp is now filled with the sounds of cooking smoke, cattle and sheep mooing, chickens crowing, and dogs barking.

The wealthiest family in the village, the Yang family, even built two small earthen houses with courtyards. The old man of the Yang family was over fifty years old, but he was still strong and vigorous. It was said that he had practiced martial arts when he was young, and his muscles and bones were in excellent condition. He was as strong as an ox.

When the cult distributed seeds and farming tools and promised protection, Old Man Yang was the first to step forward and respond. Now, he has become a role model in the cult, living a very prosperous life. He now raises four black pigs, two sheep, and a large flock of chickens.

Having weathered the initial period of hardship when food was scarce, the family now provides enough eggs for their grandson, Hu Zi, to eat one every day, supplementing his nutrition and laying a solid foundation for his future martial arts training.

Yes, this well-bred, robust grandson in the family is the blood tax that the Yang family is going to offer to the cult.

When he turns ten, he will be sent to the church, and in this life... he will most likely never come back.

But so what?

The Yang family's daughter-in-law is pregnant again. A doctor they consulted a few days ago said it's twins, which has made the whole family overjoyed.

In this world, human life is cheaper than grass, and there are very few children who can be raised and grow up.

For these refugees who had struggled to survive the frost, life and death were nothing new, and they didn't care about such things. "We've even escaped the frost's calamity, what else can defeat us?"

Early in the morning, Old Yang was tying his straw sandals while muttering to his wife.

"Hey, don't talk nonsense. Heaven itself will make your life miserable."

My wife poked her head out from the kitchen and scolded me, "You always say such unlucky things, you never act serious!"

Old Yang chuckled. For so many years, he had made it a habit to chat with his wife for a bit every morning.

After finishing his meal, he and his eldest son picked up hoes and headed towards the fields.

His daughter-in-law and youngest daughter took care of the household chores, so he didn't need to worry about them. In the courtyard, six-year-old Hu Zi was practicing a set of boxing techniques in a horse stance, his little face flushed red, making sounds as he shouted. He looked quite convincing.

These vibrant and hopeful days filled Old Yang with energy every day when he went out to work. Even the sunrises and sunsets, the flowing winds and clouds that he had long been accustomed to and tired of, became more colorful and meaningful in the eyes of Old Yang as he wiped away his sweat.

As night fell, crimson clouds blanketed the entire sky.

For powerful figures who hold sway over a region, the changes in the world may have been foreshadowed, but for ordinary people struggling to survive on the boundless earth, it was just another ordinary day, just like any other unpredictable tomorrow in the past.

When the blood-red, viscous rain began to fall from the sky, even though everyone realized something was wrong, by the time they tried to prepare, it was already too late.

"Dad, this rain is strange!"

The father and son, both wearing straw raincoats, were hurrying back to the village from the fields. The eldest son, Yang Dashan, spoke with a heavy and uneasy tone: "It's sticky and has a fishy smell... It's like, like the harbinger of the frost disaster back then!"

Before the Frost Calamity brought down the terrible snow, there were indeed similar signs. It rained gray rain for two days, and then the heavy snow swept across the entire northern part of the Northern Xuan Sacrifice Continent.

"Could it be that……"

Yang Dashan recalled those days and subconsciously shivered: "The Frost Tribulation... is coming again?"

An even more ominous premonition welled up in Old Man Yang's heart. He frequently looked up at the eerie blood-red sky, and a chilling guess made him tremble all over.

"No...this isn't the Frost Tribulation!" he said hoarsely. "Even if the Frost Tribulation is truly caused by the Heavenly Demons, as those officials claim, it's still just heavy snow, a snow disaster, a natural calamity..."

"But this blood rain...this is..."

"It's a demonic calamity!"

With that in mind, the two quickened their pace.

As soon as he stepped into the village, the stench of blood grew stronger. The rainwater was as thick as thin blood plasma, and when it fell to the ground, it carried a strange warmth. Old Man Yang subconsciously reached out and caught a handful of rainwater, only to feel a burning, corrosive sensation in his palm, as if something were licking it.

He quickly withdrew his hand and wiped it on his pants, which were already covered in mud and sand. But by then, his hand had turned bright red, as if it had been completely soaked in blood.

An ominous premonition surged within him like a raging storm.

The old man rushed into his own yard like a madman.

(End of this chapter)