This group clearly had a massive conspiracy in the works. They wanted to force the refugees to rebel.
And it clearly wasn't just a few people. There was likely a major power backing them.
Qin Fang didn't know what this man's purpose was here, but whatever it was... 'Best to stay far away!'
As he had this thought, Qin Fang quickly backed away, lowered his head, and prepared to leave the line before anything else happened.
"Hey! You there, what are you doing? Stay in line! Stay in line!"
Qin Fang tried to leave, but at that exact moment, several burly men arrived at the front of the group. As Qin Fang tried to get out, other refugees were trying to get in, and the jostling caused a small commotion.
One of the men saw this and immediately frowned, shouting out a reprimand.
Qin Fang froze. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the man from the crowd—the one who most likely had ulterior motives—was already frowning in his direction.
And it wasn't just him!
The line of refugees numbered over a hundred, and Qin Fang could clearly feel several other gazes furtively landing on him.
It was a prickling sensation on his back.
There was more than one of them.
Qin Fang's mind instantly raced.
And his determination to leave grew even stronger.
"My apologies, Sir, my apologies. I've been hit with a terrible stomach ache. I... I need to go relieve myself..."
Qin Fang said, clutching his stomach with a pained expression on his face.
In truth, he didn't need to feign misery... his current state was already pathetic enough.
The man was stunned for a moment, then cursed irritably, "Always some excuse to get out of things... Scram, scram, scram..."
Ignoring the man's tone, Qin Fang bowed in apology again and again as he shuffled out of the line.
"There's a temporary latrine over there. Get back here as soon as you're done."
The man waved his hand dismissively. Qin Fang bowed in acknowledgment and headed slowly in the direction he had pointed.
Once he was a safe distance away, he glanced back. It seemed they had gathered enough people; the group, led by those burly men, was already leaving the square and heading off to some unknown destination.
Only then did Qin Fang let out a long sigh of relief, but his brow immediately furrowed in thought.
He subconsciously glanced around... plenty of refugees were still registering in the square, and more groups were forming behind them, waiting.
Qin Fang's eyelid twitched...
'There were people with ulterior motives in that last group.'
'What about the other groups?'
Qin Fang began to scan them carefully.
But after searching for a long time, his brow only tightened.
'I can't tell them apart.'
He had only been able to identify the others as fakes because they had been clustered together, making their shared characteristics obvious.
But now, faced with so many refugees who all looked the same—slovenly and filthy, with matted hair and grimy faces...
Trying to pick out the fake refugees from this crowd...
was easier said than done.
'You think their disguises are just for show?'
'And more importantly... what could I do even if I found them?'
'Report them to the officials?'
Frankly, Qin Fang had no favorable impression of the officials in this World.
In his past life, when one place faced disaster, help would come from all corners.
In this World, when one place faced disaster, everyone else just watched the show.
During his flight, he had seen all too clearly how those officials treated the common folk.
Calling them disposable dogs wouldn't be an exaggeration!
They were driven out on a whim, without a shred of mercy.
To them, the lives and deaths of the refugees were utterly insignificant.
The number of refugees who had died at the hands of the Government Office and its officials along the way... was not small.
As he was lost in thought.
Suddenly, Qin Fang staggered, and the world began to spin around him.
He quickly planted his walking stick on the ground to steady himself.
After a moment, as his head cleared, Qin Fang's expression changed drastically.
'Crap.'
'I think I'm sick!'
He quickly pressed the back of his hand to his forehead and felt a burning heat.
'Dammit. When it rains, it pours.'
'For my body to hit its limit at a time like this?'
He panted lightly, feeling a fiery sensation in his sinuses. Even the air he exhaled felt noticeably hotter.
'I have a fever!'
He glanced down at his feet, caked in mud and blood, and without a moment's hesitation, turned to walk away from the square.
The wounds had to be treated.
If they got any worse, he was probably as good as dead.
It wasn't just his feet; the wounds on his waist and shoulder had been aching intermittently... he just hadn't been able to worry about them until now.
But now that he had a fever and his resistance was falling, if these two wounds weren't treated, they could very well kill him!
As for what those conspirators were up to... how could Qin Fang possibly have the energy to worry about them now?
'I'm dying!'
'I have to survive first!'
He headed for the edge of the settlement, already feeling dizzy and unsteady on his feet, but he forced himself to stay alert as his mind raced.
'Refugees aren't allowed to leave the settlement; that had been made clear earlier.'
Many people were patrolling nearby. They clearly weren't officials, but men from the other powerful factions of True Martial.
Qin Fang needed to find a way through them and get out of the settlement.
'There has to be a clinic in True Martial County!'
In fact, there were people near the square tending to the sick and injured refugees, but Qin Fang took one look and immediately abandoned the idea.
The reason was simple.
Each of those spots was surrounded by a massive crowd, packed several layers deep!
By the time it was his turn, God only knew how long he would have to wait!
'And what if he pleaded that his case was dire, that he was in bad shape? Did he think they would just let him cut in line?'
'Dream on!'
'Which of these refugees wasn't in a miserable state? Weren't they all waiting to be saved? What made him so special?'
'Just look at all the corpses littering the ground.'
'Refugees, in the eyes of some... were no longer considered human.'
An illness can strike like a landslide!
Qin Fang's steps grew more and more unsteady. His head felt heavier and heavier, and his vision began to blur and black out at the edges.
He struggled to control his body, his face a deathly pale, as he finally neared the edge of the square.
At the edge of the square were several groups of patrolling men.
"Get back in there! Refugees aren't allowed to leave the settlement, didn't you hear?"
Before he even got close, he heard shouting. Qin Fang managed to lift his head and saw several refugees desperately pleading with a group of men.
"Sirs, I'm begging you, please! My father can't hold on any longer! He needs a doctor! Please, show some compassion and let us out to find medical help. We're good people, we swear, we won't cause any trouble in True Martial County! These are our Identities, look, please take a look... I'm begging you, please!"
A woman was kneeling on the ground, pleading bitterly, her face so covered in grime that her features were obscured.
"Who knows what kind of disease you're carrying? Refugees are not to leave. That's an order from above. If you need a doctor, hey, isn't Huichun Hall holding consultations over there? Get over there, go on."
A brutish-looking man with a fleshy face showed no sign of being moved by the woman's desperate pleas. Instead, he covered his nose and mouth with a look of disgust, waving his hand as if shooing away a fly.
"B-but there are too many people over there! Please, I'm begging you, please be kind. We... our whole family will be forever grateful for your benevolence..."
The woman cried and begged, kowtowing repeatedly. THUD. THUD.
The refugees with her also began pleading all at once.
"Sir, please, have a heart. The old man is elderly; he really can't take much more."
"Yes, Sir, please. We will never forget your great kindness for the rest of our lives..."
They seemed to be a large family.
"Goddammit, I'll say it one more time: get back! Don't fucking make me get physical!"
The fleshy-faced man was growing irritated, a dangerous glint appearing in his eyes.
But the woman and her family kept pleading. In his desperation, one of the refugees grabbed the man's arm. The fleshy-faced man's expression turned thunderous. "You dare to lay a hand on me?" he roared.
SMACK!!
He swung a vicious backhand across the refugee's face.
The blow was so forceful it sent the man staggering backward. When he looked up again, his face was already red and swollen, and blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth.
"You... How could you hit him?!"
The man's fellow refugees were shocked and enraged.
The fleshy-faced man's eyes bulged. "Hit him?"
His right hand went to his waist, and a gleaming long saber appeared in his grasp. A chill went through the hearts of all the refugees, and they scrambled backward in a panic.
"Keep pestering me, and I'll do more than just hit you—I'll kill you!"
The fleshy-faced man looked utterly savage. "Dammit, you bunch of bumpkins! Letting you into the city was a huge mercy, and you're still trying to stir up shit?! You want to leave, he wants to leave—what's the point of this settlement then? Now all of you, shut the hell up and scram! Don't make me get rough!"
This brutal display immediately terrified the surrounding refugees.
The woman, terrified, scrambled to her feet and backed away.
Seeing that they had retreated but were still lingering, the fleshy-faced man glared. "What? You still looking for trouble?!"
Cowed by his ferocity, no one else dared to step forward and plead. The woman's family looked utterly devastated but could only murmur that they wouldn't dare cause more trouble before carrying the old man away.
The sounds of their weeping faded into the distance.
"Brother Long, you're a force to be reckoned with!"
"So mighty, Brother Long!!"
Seeing that the refugees dared not cause any more trouble, his companions immediately gathered around, each of them laying on the flattery for the fleshy-faced Brother Long.
A smug look appeared in Brother Long's eyes. He clearly savored this feeling of having Control over life and death, and of being flattered.
He gave a boisterous laugh, spat a thick wad of phlegm on the ground, and said, "Dammit, a bunch of country bumpkins. Where do they think they are? I heard some of them were thinking of rebelling yesterday? Hah! Them?"
He sneered, completely ignoring the people around him.
His men all chimed in with agreement.
Qin Fang took all of this in, but his condition was rapidly worsening. He could feel that every breath he exhaled was scalding hot.
He had no other choice. He staggered forward.
"Huh? What are you doing? You looking for a death wish, too?"
The fleshy-faced man heard the footsteps and turned his head. He saw a disheveled, filthy refugee staggering toward them. A cruel glint flashed in his eyes as he spoke in a menacing tone.
Qin Fang said nothing. Instead, with all his remaining strength, he snapped the walking stick in his hands. KRAK!
The effort, however, sent him collapsing to the ground.
The men from True Martial County were all taken aback for a second. They then frowned and stared coldly at Qin Fang, showing no intention of helping him up.
Qin Fang's hand fumbled blindly at the splintered end of the stick for a moment before grasping something.
His vision was already blackening at the edges, and everything was a blur. He struggled to raise his hand and said weakly, "Brothers, I'm sick... please, take me to a clinic... save me... This... is your reward. I have... more... hidden outside the city... Save me... and it's all yours..."
The men were stunned by this sequence of events and instinctively looked at the grimy hand he was struggling to hold up.
And then, their gazes froze.
Because of what he was holding.
Something that shone with a brilliant Golden Light...
A golden chain!
...