Chapter 118: Drought

The three of them quickened their pace.

Chen Mu directly took the huge white wolf bundle from Xu Hongyu’s back.

Along the way back to Anyu County, they saw that the villagers in some scattered villages were basically busy. Every household was competing to fetch water, and even six or seven-year-old children were carrying small wooden buckets, swaying around the wells, waiting for water while the well water was still there and the rivers had not completely dried up, in order to prepare sufficient water in advance.

Villages relying on rivers were doing better, as the rivers had not yet dried up and fetching water was quick. However, those in more remote areas that relied on a single well for the entire village had much more difficulty. Nonetheless, they all maintained order, with the village chiefs directing the allocation of water.

Seeing these scenes, Chen Mu, who was watching from afar, slightly nodded.

During the drought five years ago, he had not yet arrived in this world. Besides, his home was in Yu City, where families all reacted quickly, preparing two large vats of water beforehand and closing the lids tightly. His memories from that time were that the air was quite dry and his lips were chapped, but otherwise there were no major changes.

The world outside the city was more directly affected. However, because this type of disaster occurred every few years, regardless of its size, the villages within a ten-mile radius all had complete response plans, which were more orderly than Chen Mu had expected.

Soon.

The group returned to the Anyu County Government.

The county government was just as busy. Nearly all streets and alleys had people hurrying by. Most were carrying water buckets, some going outside the city to fetch water, and others queuing up at the wells.

"Be honest! Don’t push! You over there… go to the back!"

Near one well, five or six Yamen Runners were controlling the order, but some burly men forced their way to the front, seemingly gang members, and a standoff ensued with the Yamen Runners.

An old woman with gray hair, who was nearly sixty, was pushed to the ground in the conflict.

A younger woman next to her quickly reached out to help her.

"Aunt Liu, are you okay?"

"…"

The old woman was helped up and shook her head, but her eyes were fixed on the wooden bucket she had not been able to hold when she fell, which was now rolling around from the conflict between the gang members and Yamen Runners.

Just then, Xu Hongyu and Xiao He happened to pass by. Chen Mu, carrying the huge white wolf bundle with one hand, glanced over and asked, "What’s going on?"

The thugs and burly men, seeing Chen Mu carrying the white wolf bundle and his neat Demon Slaying Division Blue Uniform, immediately became peaceful from their anger.

"Sir, just now…"

Several Yamen Runners quickly bowed to Chen Mu and explained.

Although they did not recognize Chen Mu, his uniform and the white wolf bundle that still had bloodstains made it clear that he was from the Demon Slaying Division, making him a top figure in their eyes.

After hearing what happened, Chen Mu frowned and waved his hand, sending a gust of wind that knocked the gang members flying, leaving them bruised and swollen, with bleeding heads, but the group did not dare wail and hurried to crawl up and kowtow.

"In this extraordinary period, anyone who disrupts the order will be directly imprisoned."

Chen Mu spoke coldly.

Although he was no longer a City Guard official, and Anyu was not under his jurisdiction, as a Demon Slaying Division Blue Uniform Guard, during these extraordinary times, such as an approaching drought, he had the power to directly command Yamen Runners from all areas, disregarding ranks. If the City Guard orders conflicted with the Demon Slaying Division orders, the Demon Slaying Division’s orders were to take precedence.

"Yes, yes…"

Both the gang members and the burly men were scared and kowtowed repeatedly.

As soon as Chen Mu turned to leave, they all looked as if they had survived a great disaster and dared not cause any more trouble, scurrying to the back of the crowd, and the Yamen Runners involved in the conflict were all relieved. Their courage restored, they began to shout loudly to restore order and arrange people to fetch water.

"Aunt Liu, your bucket."

When the order was restored, a woman walked over, picked up the wooden bucket and handed it to the old woman.

The old woman tremblingly accepted it, "Okay, okay…"

The woman looked at the orderly water fetching scene by the well, and could not help but glance in the direction Chen Mu had left, and said, "Sigh, that young man just now, with just a wave, sent people flying through the air, he’s just like the chivalrous people that Old Wang the storyteller in the alley talks about. I wonder what rank he is, being so young."

Liu Rong carefully checked her own bucket and was relieved to see it was not damaged. Then, hearing what the woman next to her had said, she nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I remember, I heard people mention that the uniform he wore seemed to be from some Demon Slaying Division or something, even bigger than the officials of our City Guard."

Speaking of which.

That young man just now, he seemed a bit like her younger sister when she was young, but it was probably just her imagination.

Her younger sister had disappeared decades ago after being trafficked by human traffickers, and she had never found her again. How could she be related to such a powerful figure, who was even greater than the City Guard officials?

With this thought, Liu Rong silently sighed.

In recent years, her health had been deteriorating, and she didn’t know how many more years she would live. Liu Ping’s health was worse than hers when she was young, so she would probably not have the chance to see her younger sister in this life. She also didn’t know if Liu Ping was still alive now, and how she was doing.

…

Inside the Anyu County Government.

When Chen Mu, Xu Hongyu and Xiao He returned together, the county government was also busy. The County Magistrate Yu Rong was not in the office. Instead, the County Magistrate came out to greet them and led them to a large courtyard in the back of the county government.

At this time, many people from the Demon Slaying Division had gathered in the county government compound, mostly those who were on missions near Anyu County. After noticing the celestial signs of the drought, they rushed to converge in Anyu County Government and await further instructions from the Demon Slaying Division.

"Anyu is your Yu Family’s territory. Shouldn’t the demon slaying affairs here be the responsibility of the Yu Family?" Chen Mu asked while walking.

"Yes."

Xu Hongyu nodded, "The Demon Slaying Division will send at least a Deputy Commander to lead and command. It will either be my Third Uncle or my Sixth Grandfather."

Xiao He covered her mouth and chuckled, leaning close to Chen Mu’s ear and lowering her voice, "Actually, I think it would be great if you were to command."

In the Demon Slaying Division, the Yu Family had two Deputy Commanders, one who was at the Mastery of Bone Forging realm, and the other was at the Perfection of Bone Forging realm. However, the one who was at the Perfection of Bone Forging realm was Xu Hongyu’s Sixth Grandfather, who was already over sixty years old, with declining Qi and Blood. His strength was probably around the Mastery of Bone Forging realm. Moreover, neither of them had comprehended any Artistic Conception, and in Xiao He’s opinion, their strength was certainly not as good as Chen Mu’s.

Chen Mu reached out and knocked Xiao He on the head. He was just a small Blue Uniform Guard who only needed to hunt more demons. Furthermore, Xiao He had been getting more presumptuous lately. He needed to teach her a lesson some time.

In the yard.

Some Black Uniform Guards and Blue Uniform Guards of the Demon Slaying Division had gathered. They were basically all from the Yu Family. When they saw Xu Hongyu come in, they all respectfully addressed her as "Master Xu".

Although some were of a higher generation in the Yu Family than Xu Hongyu, they were from a remote branch rather than the direct lineage, and were distantly related. Their strength and status were also far inferior to Xu Hongyu, and they usually addressed her by her official title.

"Are you all from the Demon Slaying Division, or…?" Xu Hongyu asked.

"We were hunting demons near Anyu County, and gathered here after seeing the abnormal celestial phenomena.” Someone responded to Xu Hongyu.

There were many men in the Demon Slaying Division, but they were usually scattered throughout various places in Yuzhou. Although all of the families had men hunting demons in Anyu County, besides the Yu Family men, the men from other families would naturally not gather in Anyu County.

This was the territory controlled by the Yu Family, so anyone who ran here would probably never know how they disappeared. It was precisely because of the conflicts between the four inner city families that the Demon Slaying Division directly dispatched the men of a specific family to deal with demon troubles in various counties, aside from the large area directly under the Yuzhou Prefecture.

"The signs appeared early this time. There were indications one day before. The Demon Slaying Division probably reacted quickly, and the men should be on their way. They should arrive when the severe drought is completely settled." Someone said to Xu Hongyu.

Xu Hongyu nodded, then turned to look at Chen Mu, her eyes showing a trace of inquiry.

Chen Mu only nodded slightly to her, indicating that she could handle everything.

"Then, let’s all rest for a moment and wait for the people from above to arrive.” Xu Hongyu said, looking at everyone. Then, she, along with Chen Mu and Xiao He, headed to the inner room at the back of the compound.

Inside the room.

Xu Hongyu took out a map of the area near Anyu County and said, "Anyu County is located in the southwest of Yuzhou Prefecture, bordering Jinyu County to the north. Jinyu County is the most populous and prosperous county in Yuzhou Prefecture and is the territory of the Xue Family. To the east is Huaiyu County, which belongs to the He Family. This time, the He Family will also definitely be responsible."

Chen Mu was very familiar with the map of Yuzhou Prefecture, so he did not need to look at it. However, Xu Hongyu’s map was more detailed, marking many areas such as mountain ridges and hills, as well as red-marked dangerous areas that were usually surrounded by poisonous miasma, desolate, and inhabited by ferocious demons.

These few dangerous areas were all very far from populated places.

Chen Mu carefully studied the map and pondered, “During the drought, demons will infiltrate the county government. Your clan uncle or elder who is coming here will surely be in charge in the county government. Then at least one White Uniform Guard like you will have to take responsibility for the ten townships under the county government’s jurisdiction. I’ll accompany you to take charge of one of them. If I’m there, we can appropriately reduce the number of personnel.”

Chen Mu’s words were steady. Although his personal strength surpassed even a Demon Slaying Division Deputy Commander, this large-scale demon disturbance required more manpower, as they needed to be dispatched to various locations to hunt demons. He was suitable to take action only if a large number of demons gathered.

Xu Hongyu quietly glanced at Chen Mu.

Last year during the Great Cold demon disturbance, she had also come to Anyu County, and a clan uncle had been in command. Now that Chen Mu was here, she felt much more at ease, and her mind wasn’t as tense.

At this thought, a strange glimmer appeared in Xu Hongyu’s eyes. Her initial goal in nurturing Chen Mu was just to have a capable subordinate to help her gain a foothold in the South District, at least to stabilize one more Li Area. However, the situation had developed completely differently than she had expected. Chen Mu had now become someone who was able to take charge of a region, and was even able to protect her.

“Anyu, Huaiyu…Donghong Township, Xixia Township, Shuang Gou Township…”

Chen Mu was pondering while looking at the map.

Xu Hongyu was staring at Chen Mu in a daze, while Xiao He silently looked at the map, then at Chen Mu, and then at Xu Hongyu, and couldn’t help but giggle while covering her mouth.

Like this.

After a while.

Movement suddenly came from outside.

"Deputy Commander!"

"Greetings, Deputy Commander."

A large number of footsteps sounded in the yard, accompanied by many respectful voices.

Xu Hongyu suddenly recovered and realized that Chen Mu had stopped looking at the map at some point, and was instead looking at her. When she seemed to wake up, he smiled softly and said, “Alright, it’s time to go out, Master Xu.”

This slightly joking “Master Xu” made Xu Hongyu’s heart skip a beat, but her face remained calm as she nodded and got up to head outside.

Chen Mu watched Xu Hongyu walk out the door, then turned to look at Xiao He, winking at her.

Xiao He covered her mouth and giggled, winking back. Then, she got up to head outside with him.

"Third Uncle."

Xu Hongyu walked into the yard and bowed slightly to a dignified middle-aged man who was walking over, wearing a Demon Slaying Division Deputy Commander’s uniform.

Yu Jun nodded slightly to Xu Hongyu and said, “I already know the general situation. This time, the personnel I brought are similar to last time. I think we can just follow the arrangements from last time. What do you think, Hongyu?”

At this moment, Xu Hongyu had completely calmed down, and after thinking for a moment, she said, "I’ve already reached the Perfection of Tendon Transformation realm, so I can take charge of a township this time. How about you let me go to Donghong Township?"

"I forgot that you are also a White Uniform Guard who can handle things on your own…" Yu Jun chuckled. Of course, he had not forgotten, it was just that if Xu Hongyu wanted to follow the team to hunt demons like last time, there would be nothing to it. The Yu Family had enough personnel, but if Xu Hongyu wanted to take charge on her own, that would be good too. Although she had not entered the Perfection of Tendon Transformation realm for long, a martial artist who was not tempered would not succeed. If she could be tempered and benefit from this demon hunt, then Xu Hongyu would probably enter the Bone Forging realm soon. Later, if she comprehended the three types of Sword Momentum, she could start to attempt to comprehend the family’s Kan Water Map.

In the future, she might be someone who could shoulder one side of the Yu Family.

"Okay."

Yu Jun smiled and said, "Then, I will leave the responsibility of Donghong Township to you. You can choose the personnel yourself."

"Thank you, Third Uncle."

Xu Hongyu gently nodded and headed outside to look at the personnel that Yu Jun had brought.

Among those Yu Jun had brought, not all were from the Demon Slaying Division. The personnel from the Demon Slaying Division made up only a small part, and most were from the Yu Family, including hundreds of Yu Family swordsmen.

Xu Hongyu quickly selected a group of people, reported to Yu Jun, and then set off with Chen Mu.

It was still the third watch of the night. The word count is a bit more today. Thank you bbmmww for your support.