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"Master of the house, can’t you say something..."

Inside the Baiyun City in the Southeast, in a residence that looked somewhat wealthy, a woman who was still decently dressed was now crying, her tears and runny nose mingling, looking utterly disheveled.

A middle-aged man sat on the steps in the courtyard, his eyes blank as he stared into space.

What could he say?

In these times, what use were his words?

"Master of the house, if we don’t think of something, Xiaoling will truly be taken away by those people. He’s our only child....."

The man’s eyes remained blank as he looked at the child next to the woman, a small face clueless about what was to come, and at last, his eyes reddened.

The boy didn’t know what he was about to face, but he had seen what happened to such children; they were brutally skinned, placed in alcohol and pickled alive, with special secret drugs used to keep them conscious while they screamed in agony as the liquor corroded their flesh, not dying until a full day and night of wailing had passed.

Even strong warriors who had experienced the battlefield couldn’t withstand such torture, let alone a child?

How could there be such evil ghost-like acts in this world? Do those Southern Barbarians have no hearts?

Since Bishan City was breached, and its entire populace slaughtered, not a single major city in the Southeast County dared resist the Southern Barbarians anymore.

After all, the Imperial Court’s elite troops had withdrawn, leaving behind nothing but soldiers who were waiting to die. How could they possibly fend off those demon-like Southern Barbarian Soldiers?

But without resistance, the fate was like that of livestock.

Every good-looking woman from the families, as soon as they caught the eye of the Southern Barbarians, was captured.

Exquisite jewelry, delicious food, fine wine, you had to offer the best whenever the Southern Barbarian lords visited; one wrong step and it could mean the slaughter of the entire family.

And even being as cautious as he was, serving diligently, offering up his beautiful concubine early and thanking his lucky stars his wife and daughter were ugly enough not to catch their eye, he still couldn’t escape a tragic fate.

His only son had to be sent off tomorrow to be sacrificed to whatever damned spirits those beasts worshipped.

Poor child; he was well-behaved and intelligent from a young age, with an outstanding memory, mastering the Four Books by the age of five.

Master Chen himself was astonished by his prodigal talent.

He had planned to send his son to study in the Capital City, dreaming at night of his son becoming an Imperial Scholar, bringing glory to the family name, but now. ..

Those damned Southern Barbarian devils!!!

At this moment, everyone in the residence couldn’t help but feel pity, yet none could see that the five-year-old child was more astute than anyone else present!

To heck with this, what the hell is going on?

I finally escaped, only to end up in this situation? Damn this System Operator, couldn’t the intelligence be slightly more accurate? Who wouldn’t be screwed over by this hellish start?

Jiang Xiaoling’s mind was in turmoil, cursing the so-called System Operator continuously while appearing dumb and pitiful on the outside, his mind racing with strategies on how to break through this predicament...

In fact, he had felt something was off when he heard about the Imperial Court’s withdrawal, and when Bishan City was massacred, he wanted to urge his family to flee for their lives. But being so young, however gifted, how could he make such a major decision?

This so-called father of his lacked decision, hesitating even when disaster struck, and only now realizing he cherished his beloved son... Damn, what’s the use? Am I about to enter my first cycle of reincarnation?

This won’t do... According to the System Operator, keeping memories in this world is extremely rare.

It took so many resources for them to let me keep all my memories, and as soon as I entered this world, I was targeted with malice; stuck in some sort of energy vortex during reincarnation and waiting for several years.

It took them a lot of effort, and they even used some unknown methods to finally let me reincarnate successfully.

I was just about to start making a difference when I’m going to be gone?

This won’t do, they repeatedly urged me to prioritize saving my life, because once I reincarnate, they might not have the ability to help me escape from that vortex a second time.

But what can I do in my current situation, a five-year-old child in these times? A mutated chicken might be able to kill me, so what can I do?

"Father....." Jiang Xiaoling calmed down, raised his head, and looked timidly at his father with reddened eyes. "They say... Xiaoling will be taken to feed the evil ghost, is... is that true?"

"No, it’s not, it’s not!!" The middle-aged man finally lost his composure, rushing over to embrace his son, trembling as he said, "Father won’t hand you over, I will never do that..."

Jiang Xiaoling was taken aback by the embrace, his feelings complex. After transmigrating, he knew the other was an NPC and didn’t really want to get emotionally attached, but... Human hearts are made of flesh; after five years of pampering and genuine care, how could he truly be so heartless?

"Father, shall we escape?" Jiang Xiaoling said, filled with hope.

"Escape?" The middle-aged man was taken aback and looked sharply at the woman beside him, certain that his wife had told their child what to say.

His wife was startled but paid it no mind and followed up with, "Master, let’s escape, you can’t bear to part with Xiaoling, can you?

I’m tired of living in fear every day. If we hand over Xiaoling today, our family may survive a little longer, but how long can we really last?

Didn’t you see what those beasts did to Old Wang and his family in the restaurant this morning? "

At her words, the man’s face turned even paler.

Those evil ghosts were not human at all, finding excuses to humiliate and murder the people of the Central Plains.

Old Wang’s family ran a beef noodle shop honestly, but when they lacked fine goods to offer, those beasts picked a fight over the chopped green onions in the beef noodles they didn’t like and slaughtered the family of five. They even boiled Old Wang’s daughter alive in front of him.

These things masquerading as humans were not human, they were evil ghosts in human skin, no... they were more disgusting than evil ghosts....

"We must escape... must escape!" the man stammered in reply, but was instantly crushed by reality, covering his head and weeping, "How can we escape??"

The entire city was under the control of the Southern Barbarian soldiers, and the city gates were heavily guarded. If you dared to flee, your whole family’s fate would be to be cooked!!

Jiang Xiaoling’s brow was deeply furrowed as she thought of a strategy in secret. Now... was it time to use "that"?

Just as her foster father said, the city was under control, and it was impossible for her family to escape. Moreover, with demons rampant outside, escaping would also lead to danger...

Damn it, didn’t the intelligence officer say that the world was now incredibly stable?

Didn’t they say that the previous generation of correctors had come here and completed a phase of their mission, temporarily suppressing those ancient evils?

Why was this place completely different from what the intelligence officer had described?

She had heard at the age of two that there was a zombie outbreak in Jiangnan, and it was clear that the Earth Spirits had already begun to revive, which was entirely different from what the intelligence officer had said...

Was it the intelligence officer who was lying, or was it Pu YunChuan?

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"Should we really do this?"

In Eastern Sea City, shrouded by a thick fog for the past six months, no one dared to invade lightly, including Chen Qing from Jiangnan.

Because everyone knew who was in control here.

At this moment, the King of Qin, who looked exactly like Chen Qing, was standing in the dense fog at the highest point of Eastern Sea City, gazing at the Central Plains.

And behind him stood a man with a rigid face. If Chen Qing were here, he would certainly recognize who it was...

It was the Origami Master who had once confronted him in the Imperial Palace!

"Only by doing this can we force that fellow to use the Summoning Device.

.." the King of Qin said with a cold laugh.

"The Imperial Court has already retracted its troops, leaving aside the Eastern Sea and Jiangnan, no other place has the power to protect itself.

According to the schedule, that guy is at most five years old and definitely lacks the ability to fend for himself.

If he wants to survive, he has to use that thing unless he wishes to enter the cycle of reincarnation again! "

"What if he’s in Jiangnan or some other part of the four seas?"

"At the very least, that would narrow down our search area, wouldn’t it?"

The Origami Master looked at the King of Qin for a long time and finally sighed deeply, "You’ve changed..."

The hot-blooded young man who once sought a way out for the Human Race had completely changed, coldly calculating everything just for one outcome!