Chapter 186

Half a month after Yu Su's birthday, everyone from the salt lake salt field had retreated.

Heavy snow blocked the roads, making it inconvenient to transport supplies back and forth. The people left at the salt field faced issues with food and drink. Coupled with the extreme cold, there was nowhere as warm as home.

Yu Su decided to bring back all the personnel from the salt lake salt field and planned to return in the spring of the following year.

"This year's snowfall is really heavy."

"Yes, haven't seen such heavy snow in many years. This situation might lead to many deaths."

Villagers gathered around a fire, discussing.

The snow this year was exceptionally heavy, and it hadn't stopped for several days.

In previous winters, villagers could occasionally come out for some fresh air, but now it was impossible. The outside was chilling, making it unbearable even for the patrolling Five Elements Warriors.

Yu Feng went to check the slave camp and returned to inform Yu Su that many slaves were suffering from frostbite, and the situation didn't look good.

Yu Su frowned, "Have the medical team go over and check. Additionally, send more materials like animal skins, firewood, etc., to the slave camp for warmth."

The slaves in Yu Village were originally from the Great Tree Village and the Barbarian Tribe. This year, at least one-fifth of the slaves had passed the review and became formal villagers, while the rest either didn't meet the conditions or hadn't made significant contributions yet.

Regardless, Yu Su wasn't planning to neglect them.

Yu Feng nodded, "I'll go and invite Shanyang and others to come over now."

The medical facility now had over ten doctors and apprentices. Villagers usually sought treatment from them for headaches, fevers, injuries, etc.

Yu Feng went to the backyard of the medical facility.

The backyard was spacious with separate rooms, a lounge, a pharmacy, and a warehouse.

There was also a large open space paved with stone slabs used for drying medicinal herbs.

Currently, the yard only had empty medicine racks covered with snow.

Shanyang and his team were in the warm pharmacy, studying.

Despite their age, Shanyang and the others were enthusiastic learners. They diligently studied and practiced the new knowledge Yu Su had assigned to them.

Influenced by their learning atmosphere, even the younger ones like Yuli were keeping up, and by now, they could recite an entire basic medical encyclopedia.

"Manager Yu is here." Yuli, sitting near the door, was the first to notice when Yu Feng lifted the thick curtain. Yu Feng, the manager of the Five Elements Warrior Hall, was also in charge of the slave camp. Hence, everyone usually addressed him as "Manager Yu."

"Is President Shanyang here?" Yu Feng asked Yuli.

Yu Su had entrusted the management of the medical facility to Shanyang, giving him the title of president. Shanyang had been handling it well so far, with no apparent issues.

Yuli pointed to the inner room, "He's inside; you can go in directly."

Yu Feng nodded, entered, and found Shanyang.

After hearing the purpose of Yu Feng's visit, Shanyang asked, "How many slaves are sick?"

Yu Feng replied, "There are over ten, mostly elderly, children, and women. Also, there's one who was injured before and was treated by you."

Shanyang nodded without further ado. He grabbed his small medical kit and called two other doctors. The three of them followed Yu Feng to the slave camp.

The slave camp was located in the southwest corner of the village, accommodating at least thirty people in a single building. The beds were arranged in a large dormitory style without heated kang beds. However, thick straw mats were placed on wooden beds, and in the harsh winter, each person had a piece of animal skin to cover themselves.

The lighting inside was not great, and for insulation, the windows were tightly closed. The main door was also shut tight, resulting in a mix of various odors upon entering.

Despite the conditions, the place was relatively tidy, and regular cleaning by the slaves kept the floor clear. Washing and sanitation were done in a separate area, and the snow-covered yard had a neat appearance.

In addition to bringing Shanyang's group, Yu Feng also brought a batch of animal skins and firewood.

Upon seeing them, the slaves became tense.

Yu Feng instructed to distribute the animal skins to the elderly, children, and women for extra warmth this winter, leaving none for the men.

Noticing some male slaves eyeing the animal skins, Yu Feng sternly warned, "These animal skins are specifically given by Lord Yu Su for the elderly, children, and women. If anyone dares to snatch theirs and gets caught, they will be punished severely."

This warning made the male slaves shrink their necks, refraining from staring at the animal skins.

Everyone knew that apart from being a bit lenient towards the elderly, children, and women, if the male slaves dared to resist Yu Su's instructions, they would be facing a dead end. Even without Yu Su's intervention, Yu Feng and his team would quietly dispose of them, and no one would bother to collect their corpses.

After giving this warning, Yu Feng allowed Shanyang and his team to attend to the sick slaves.

Most of the sick slaves were suffering from frostbite. With the combination of medicine and the additional animal skins, their conditions stabilized.

However, this exceptionally cold winter posed a worrisome sign.

On this night, someone knocked on the village gate.

"Bang, bang, bang!"

"Is anyone there? Open...cough, cough, open the gate!"

Tonight, it was Yu Hai's patrol team on duty. Hearing the knocking, Yu Hai cursed, got out of his warm bed, wrapped in an animal skin, and walked out.

"Who is it?"

"It's me...cough, cough...from Hongshan Village!"

Hongshan Village?

The wife of the village chief, Hongshan Shi, was from Hongshan Village. However, Hongshan Village was quite far from Yu Village, situated northwest of the salt lake salt field. Normally, it would take ten days on foot to get here, even more challenging in snowy weather.

How did these people reach Yu Village?

So, when Yu Hai heard this, he didn't immediately open the gate. Instead, he asked someone to go up the watchtower for a look.

On such a cold day, the watchtower had no one standing guard, risking freezing into an icicle.

A member of the patrol team climbed the watchtower and looked toward the village gate.

There wasn't just one person at the gate; there were around fifty to sixty people.

The one at the front indeed resembled Hongshan Shi.

The rest were mostly middle-aged men, with a few women.

They were all dressed in thick animal skins, looking disheveled. Several of them suddenly collapsed in the snow, seemingly unable to endure any longer.

The patrol team member hurriedly descended and reported to Yu Hai.

Yu Hai ordered the gate to be opened.

The person in front breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the gate finally open.

"Who are you from Hongshan Village?"

"This...cough, cough...is this Yu Village, right? My sister married the village chief of Yu Village, Yu Kun. I'm her younger brother, Hong Ming."

The village chief

's wife's younger brother?

Yu Hai noticed the strong resemblance between Hong Ming and Hongshan Shi, thinking it should be genuine. He then had someone inform the village chief and Hongshan Shi while asking Hong Ming, "Why did you come to Yu Village?"

"We...cough, cough...we came here as refugees. We almost thought we had the wrong place."

At this moment, everyone in the village was asleep, and no torches were lit. It was pitch dark inside, making it impossible for Hong Ming and the others to see what was happening. Moreover, Yu Village had expanded significantly, more than ten times its previous size. The changes were too significant, and Hong Ming almost didn't recognize it when he knocked on the door earlier.

Just now, he was worried that he might have knocked on the wrong door.

"Refugees? What happened in your village?" Yu Hai asked.

Hong Ming's face showed a sickly redness, likely due to frostbite during the journey. He spoke weakly, "Our village...cough, cough...experienced a snow disaster. The houses collapsed, and there were attacks by savage beasts. We had no choice but to flee southward to escape the disaster. When we left, there were several hundred people; now, only a few dozen are left."

After a while, the village chief and Hongshan Shi arrived.

Hongshan Shi was stunned when she saw Hong Ming and only recognized him after a while.

"Brother!" Hong Ming burst into tears upon seeing Hongshan Shi, "Hongshan Village... is gone!"

Before Hongshan Shi could react, Hong Ming continued, "Completely gone!"

Without waiting for Hongshan Shi to express her shock, Hong Ming's eyes rolled back, and he fainted.

Hongshan Shi and the village chief finally realized what had happened. They hastily led the newcomers into the village.

The medical facility's door was knocked on in the middle of the night, awakening Shanyang and his team.

"President Shanyang, my uncle has brought some people. He fainted. Please go and take a look." The person knocking on the door was the village chief's youngest son, Yu Yan.

Shanyang and the others were taken aback and quickly grabbed their medical kits to follow.

The group from Hongshan Village, around fifty to sixty people, including Hong Ming, had several others who had fallen ill.

Some were in critical condition, requiring immediate attention.

They had to start by giving them a bowl of Ziyun Grass and Ganwu Soup to stabilize their condition.

"Hong Ming is quite seriously ill. We need Lord Yu Su to come and take a look," Shanyang said.

Yu Hai added, "Lord Yu Su entered the Deer God Mountain tonight and isn't in the village."

Hongshan Shi, looking at her unconscious brother with teary eyes, said, "I'll go ask Lu Yan to find Lord Yu Su in Deer God Mountain."

The village chief sighed, "Let me go. You stay here and take care of Hong Ming."

...

In Deer God Mountain, while Yu Su was telling stories to Qingze, the wind and snow raged outside. The warmth inside Deer God Mountain was like spring.

Qingze wanted to hear a story, so Yu Su picked a melodramatic story from the future from the comprehensive elf database.

When Lu Yan arrived, Yu Su was in the middle of narrating a dramatic scene.

"You are heartless, cruel, and unreasonable!"

"And aren't you heartless? Cruel? Unreasonable?"

"Where am I heartless? Cruel? Unreasonable?"

"Where aren't you heartless? Cruel? Unreasonable?"

Lu Yan: "..."

What kind of conversation was this?

Surprisingly, Qingze was still enjoying it.

Seeing that Yu Su was about to continue being heartless, cruel, and unreasonable, Lu Yan had to speak up.

"Cough, cough."

Hearing Lu Yan's voice, Yu Su stopped, and Qingze turned his attention to Lu Yan.

Lost in the storytelling, Yu Su hadn't noticed when Lu Yan entered the mountain.

"Why are you here? Is something wrong in the village?" Yu Su guessed that Lu Yan wouldn't come without a reason, worried that something might have happened in the village.

Lu Yan replied, "It's not the village; it's Hongshan Aunt's younger brother."

Lu Yan informed Yu Su about the refugees from Hongshan Village seeking shelter in the village.

After hearing about Hong Ming's condition, Yu Su knew he had to go back and check.

He looked at Qingze, "Lord Mountain God, I'll come back tomorrow to continue the story. I need to go and see something urgent."

Qingze, abruptly interrupted from the story, looked displeased but nodded reluctantly.