Qin Fang only then realized that it was already broad daylight.
Besides the three or four burly men around him, some other refugees were also staring at him in shock.
From the clothing of these sturdy men, Qin Fang immediately deduced that they were part of the group responsible for patrolling the refugees in True Martial County.
"What do you want?"
Although Qin Fang had stopped his attack, he quickly sat up straight. With a steady, wary gaze, he looked at the men surrounding him and asked in a low voice.
"I was just trying to be nice and check on you! You almost fucking stabbed a hole in my neck! Are you possessed or something?!"
The man who had just cursed a blue streak kept touching his neck, repeatedly checking to make sure he wasn't injured...
That lunge had been too sudden. If the other guy hadn't opened his eyes right then, which had already given him a huge scare and made him instinctively step back... he would've been a goner!
If that had connected, not even the Gods could have saved him!
Qin Fang frowned. Before he could speak, someone beside him explained in a low voice, "A lot of people died last night. The County Magistrate gave the order to move the corpses out to prevent a plague. We saw you were still out cold and thought..."
Hearing this, it finally clicked for Qin Fang. He instinctively looked up into the distance. Sure enough, the massive plaza was now filled with people—some of them refugees—hauling corpses onto one pushcart after another...
A chill ran through Qin Fang's heart, but he said nothing.
...So many refugees had died. Clearly, their bodies had already reached their absolute limit.
Before entering True Martial, their will to live had kept them going.
But after entering True Martial, having eaten a full meal, their taut nerves were finally able to relax... The moment their will gave out, though, their bodies—already pushed to the extreme—couldn't take it anymore and collapsed.
It was like in a disaster, where some people hold on for days, persevering until rescuers arrive.
Only to die in the days after being rescued...
Same principle.
"Sorry."
Qin Fang, realizing he had misunderstood, apologized to the man he'd nearly stabbed in the neck.
The man was still cursing, but the people beside him held him back, whispering words of appeasement. Finally, with a dark expression, he stopped talking.
"If you have an Identity, you can go over there and register... We have too many refugees this time, and True Martial County is short on manpower. Law-abiding citizens with proof of Identity can be temporarily assigned to help settle the refugees... There are benefits, of course... You'll be provided with basic food and clothing, and they'll treat your wounds."
The man who had explained the situation looked at the disheveled Qin Fang, glanced at the injuries on his feet, and continued.
After saying his piece, he ignored Qin Fang, gave a shout, and walked away.
A refugee lay on the ground nearby. Someone shouted a few times and shoved him, but there was no reaction; they knew he was already dead.
With a call, a few of the refugees following the men came forward and struggled to lift the corpse onto a nearby pushcart, which was then wheeled away...
Qin Fang watched them disappear into the distance before finally letting out a long breath.
His racing heart slowly began to calm.
...He couldn't be blamed for such a strong reaction.
On the journey here, he'd lost count of how many times he'd seen people get murdered in their sleep.
Some refugees, driven mad by hunger, couldn't wait for others to die naturally. They'd take the risk, slitting the throats of their sleeping comrades in the middle of the night and drinking their blood...
...People driven mad by hunger were no longer human.
Qin Fang sat for a short while and looked up at the sky. It was broad daylight, but the temperature hadn't risen too high yet.
'It hasn't rained for four straight months. Who knows when this godforsaken weather will end...'
He stared silently at the sky, a thoughtful look in his eyes.
'Other things can wait. The top priority right now... I need to get settled.'
'Staying with this crowd of refugees is obviously not going to work.'
'Not only is it a life of not knowing where your next meal is coming from, but you're also in constant fear...'
'It's too dangerous.'
'The danger doesn't just come from the other refugees, either.'
Qin Fang hadn't forgotten about the group from last night that tried to incite the refugees to revolt...
'If I stay with the refugees, God only knows what else I'll encounter.'
Qin Fang had no interest in what they were planning.
As long as they didn't drag him into it.
'In ancient times, refugees were usually sent back to their hometowns... But Jingping County is a full thousand li from here... With such a massive number of refugees, they obviously won't arrange for carts or horses. The refugees will have to walk back on their own...'
Qin Fang's eyelid twitched.
'A thousand li!'
'On foot!'
'There was no way he was making that trip again!'
'The journey here had been a brush with death. To do it all over again... he wasn't confident he'd survive.'
'Forget everything else, just finding food would be a problem.'
'The Government Office would give them a few days of rations at most... They'd have to figure out the rest on their own.'
'After all, you couldn't expect them to cover your expenses all the way home... True Martial County's treasury probably couldn't support it anyway.'
'And if that happened, everything that occurred on the road here would just play out all over again...'
'Besides, my Golden Finger needs a relatively stable environment to be useful.'
'Otherwise, if I'm on the road every day... where would I find the time and energy to study any kind of martial arts or Cultivation Technique?'
...During his flight, Qin Fang had come to fully realize just how important personal martial prowess was in this World.
He now felt an urgent need to improve his martial abilities.
'But staying here wouldn't be easy.'
'This World's level of productivity limited the maximum population a city could support. It was impossible for megacities with tens or hundreds of millions of people, like in his past life, to exist.'
'And with so many refugees this time, only a minority would likely be willing to return to their hometowns. After all, those who had fled were probably common folk with no grain reserves.'
'Those with any real local influence would rarely flee, even in a disaster year like this... Their accumulated stores would be enough to withstand such a calamity.'
'Only commoners with no grain reserves, who lacked the capacity to absorb such risks, were forced to become refugees.'
'Since they were all dirt poor anyway... what difference did it make where they lived?'
'So, most people would probably want to stay in True Martial.'
'But True Martial County couldn't possibly keep all the refugees... It would be a huge blow to local security, the economy, social stability, and more.'
'You could only imagine the massive impact that tens of thousands of refugees staying behind would have on the local area.'
'Right now, things are still chaotic and refugees are still pouring in, so they can't deal with that yet.'
'But once the situation eases up and the disaster passes, repatriation will definitely be arranged.'
'Otherwise, not only would True Martial County be unable to support them...'
'...the Court wouldn't allow the refugees to remain here either.'
'Otherwise, what about Jingping County and the other disaster-stricken regions? Would they just be abandoned?'
'The people there have fled, leaving those places practically deserted. If no one returns, won't they just become dead cities?'
'This was obviously something the Court would not accept.'
...
At this thought, Qin Fang let out a soft breath, his eyes glinting.
He began to seriously consider how he could possibly stay in True Martial County.
This naturally brought to mind the promise made yesterday by the people from the True Martial Boxing Hall...
'Join the boxing hall.'
'Arrange for residency...'
'It's just...'
'One hundred taels of silver...'
His eyes flickered as he gently rubbed the rough wooden staff in his hand.
After a long moment, he sighed softly and climbed to his feet.
Shoeless, the wounds on his feet pressed directly onto the ground, making him hiss softly in pain.
A sharp pain then shot through his legs, and he almost collapsed.
'...My body's at its limit. I need to find a way to take care of it, and fast.'
'Otherwise...'
He glanced at the refugee corpses being carried away in the distance...
'A lot of people died last night.'
'And many more will probably die in the next two days.'
'It's because all their bodies' various issues are flaring up at once.'
'He had no intention of becoming one of them.'
'I just hope my body can hold out...'
With these thoughts in mind, he began to slowly shuffle in the direction the man had indicated.
'If he wanted to stay, he first needed to get involved with the local powers.'
'Then, he would see if he could find a way to stay...'
...
"Identity."
At the edge of the plaza, someone was registering the "law-abiding citizens" who were willing to help settle the refugees.
Qin Fang waited in line for a short while. When it was his turn, he handed over his Identity.
After another verification process confirmed the Identity belonged to Qin Fang, the man nodded. He stamped it with a seal and handed it back, saying, "During this period, follow your assignments. Keep this Identity safe, you'll need it."
"Yes, sir." Qin Fang replied, bowing as he quickly took the Identity back.
The man nodded. "Go wait over there. Next..."
Qin Fang put away his Identity and went to stand in the line of refugees the man had pointed to.
Just as he was letting out a sigh and wondering about his next step, he suddenly froze... for he had spotted a familiar face in the crowd.
The man was disheveled and wrapped in ragged, coarse linen, looking no different from the surrounding refugees.
But Qin Fang's pupils contracted.
There was only one reason: he recognized the man. This was the person from outside the city last night, the one who had blurted out the question, "Where did that grain come from?"
Qin Fang's expression darkened.
'What rotten luck.'
Without a moment's hesitation, Qin Fang turned to leave.