Ding Ling was moved.
He couldn’t believe that the people here had reached the point where eating was a problem.
No.
They had nothing to eat at all!
He had already imagined the situation here to be terrible, but obviously some places, especially this village near the mountains, were extremely difficult.
Almost on the verge of extinction.
The Divine Meditation Technique of Ding Ling swept across, although unable to sense clearly, he could roughly see that out of the fifty households, their majority were children, elderly people, and women, seemingly not a single adult man.
Ding Ling inquired about the reason.
The elderly, on the verge of tears, said:
“Because we are near the mountains, we are often plundered by mountain bandits. And the soldiers who come to eliminate the bandits would also frequently come here to extort us. Not only that, both parties recruit men here. The able-bodied adult men were taken away, those who dared to refuse were killed. No one dares to resist.”
Ding Ling asked a few more questions.
He couldn’t help but sigh, understanding the root cause.
The court is corrupt.
Leading to Jiuzhou being filled with greedy, money-hungry individuals forever attempting to satisfy their insatiable desires.
These people are either selfish, murderous mountain bandits;
or county magistrates who extort the villagers;
or luxury-loving merchants who hoard goods.
or landlords who devour farmers’ lands.
…
And the village at hand can be said to be a reflection of the common people suffering under layers of exploitation!
From the pipe to see the leopard.
This world must have reached a crisis point.
To let the common people live a better life, to bring the world back on track, there must be great governance—a reconstruction of Heaven and Earth!
Therefore.
Faced with the sorrow, helplessness, and pity of the elderly, Ding Ling, while sighing, did not talk about eliminating bandits or killing corrupt officials, he simply went to the mountains and hunted some game for them, as a way to repay the elderly for his guidance and answers.
Because the elderly mentioned, Ding Ling now knew where he was.
After placing down the food, he chose to leave on horseback.
“Hero, may I know your esteemed name?”
The old man tried several times to keep Ding Ling, but since Ding Ling was determined to leave, he could only loudly ask for his name.
Behind him were a group of children and women, all looking at Ding Ling with disbelief, evidently unable to believe that such a clear current like Ding Ling could appear in this decaying, filthy, and murky world!
The elderly initially didn’t believe it, but when Ding Ling offered him food, he had to believe.
This world indeed has good people! Not everyone is a villain.
“Ding Ling.”
A name came from afar, leaving the elderly unable to come back to his senses for a long time.
Among the villagers were two women dressed as women, seeing Ding Ling about to leave, they couldn’t care less about being exposed and called out in haste:
“Hero Ding, Hero Ding, wait, wait!”
Their voices were melodious, like pearls dropping onto a jade plate, even like water flowing through the mountain spring, sweet to the depths of one’s soul.
Hearing this pleasant voice, Ding Ling was surprised.
In a village that suffers from such long-term plunder, are there still such women?
Would the bandits or soldiers let her go?!
With curiosity, Ding Ling instinctively turned his head to take a look, this glance made his eyes light up.
He saw two girls running toward him.
They wore simple and plain clothes, with their faces covered by a light veil.
But now the veil had been blown off by the wind as they ran so fast, revealing two remarkably beautiful faces!
In their rush to catch up with Ding Ling, they couldn’t care less about hiding themselves, only calling out hero.
Ding Ling pulled the reins to stop.
Whoosh!
The two young women rushed to the side of Ding Ling, panting heavily, eagerly saying:
“May I ask who Hero Ding studied under? Why is it so easy to capture tigers and deer?”
The two of them.
Both had refined brows and fine noses, cherry-like mouths, and bright intelligent eyes!
The older was as gentle as jade, like a lotus in the morning dew, indescribably lovely.
The younger was as pure as snow, like a spring flower in its first bloom.
Such two extraordinary beauties appeared in this rundown village.
Upon seeing them, Ding Ling felt surprised and more convinced that they were likely outsiders, and said:
“If you have something to say, just say it directly. No need to beat around the bush.”
“…”
The two young women looked at each other, still, the elder was bolder, took a step forward, cupped her hand towards Ding Ling solemnly:
“I am Fu Qingfeng.”
She pointed at the younger:
“This is my younger sister, Fu Yuechi. We are the daughters of Fu Tianchou, a former Minister of the Imperial Army. We were pursued by the imperial soldiers and had no choice but to hide in this mountain village temporarily. We originally planned to head to Kaifeng to seek help from masters in the sect, but unexpectedly encountered the hero here. Upon seeing the hero catch a tiger and deer for the villagers, we thought the hero must be a good person and wanted to seek your help to see if you could assist in saving our father.”
Saying this.
Fu Qingfeng blushed and nervously said:
“We know this seems reckless and rude. But the two of us sisters are truly in a helpless situation. Along our journey, we have mostly encountered unscrupulous people; such a kind-hearted person as Hero Ding is indeed rare. We couldn’t help but rush out, hoping to make your acquaintance and hoping you could help us. We would be eternally grateful!”
“…”
Ding Ling didn’t expect to meet Fu Qingfeng and Fu Yuechi here!
Moreover, Fu Qingfeng was so straightforward, she really said everything, Ding Ling used his Observing People Skill to assess Fu Yuechi and Fu Qingfeng, and knew their general disposition.
Needless to say.
Before Fu Tianchou was captured, they certainly were sheltered under his protection as a Minister of the Imperial Army, an absolute high-ranking official in the court, a High Tier presence at the pinnacle of the pyramid in this world, naturally having nothing to do with poverty or sorrow.
Also being of noble lineage.
Influenced by sights and sounds.
This nurtured their simple, kind-hearted, and straightforward nature.
Moreover, seeing their attire and the traces of weathering on their faces, it is evident they endured many hardships to avoid pursuers.
If not, even in their straightforwardness, being a young lady of high status, surely there would be times of arrogance, but now Ding Ling saw no arrogance in them, as if the cruel reality had smoothed those edges.