The Snow Emperor and the Little Plum

Chapter 20

The child never woke up. Not even when the wagon started to move. They left in a hurry while the three sect members followed them quietly. The child struggled when Yecao Cao tried to put him down and he had no other choice to hold onto the child who has become attached to his hip.

In the distance, they could see smoke rise from the village leaving a solemn mark on the once lively land. It wasn't the only village they encountered with the same sight. Lan Cao promised that they had already looked through the villages for survivors. They moved those they found so they continued on but Yecao Cao could not help but feel grimmer for every village they encountered.

The demons had been thorough. Every farming village they came across had been ravaged. Burned to the ground. Which left Sichuan in a difficult spot as these villages were the ones that provided the large city with food.

The only comfort at the moment is that it was spring so there was no harvest to spoil. They can rebuild before next winter. But the reserves that would have been used to defend Sichuan was gone. Taken by the enemy. This means that Sichuan's only hope was the supplies from the other cities. Hopefully, Lin Hai had arrived safely with the supplies. Otherwise, they were truly in trouble.

"Shifu! I see the city," cried Hei Mu Lei and Yecao Cao leaned out to look at the city. It was largely unharmed. Only some scorch marks on the walls revealed the battle's that had raged in the area.

"Be alert, the walls have been attacked. I do not want to die in an ambush," hollered Yecao Cao and the child stirred in his arms by the cries. Hei Mu Lei ignored him but still looked around to ensure that he was not disgraced by a demon attack.

Fortunately, no traps were sprung and they soon arrived at the gates.

"Who walks there?" yelled a guard from the wall.

Yecao Cao leaned out and gave An Xi his royal sigil. An Xi lifted up the golden dragon towards the guard,"we have the Zhiji of Tian with us and three disciples of the Lan Sect."

Yecao Cao has no idea how the guard was even supposed to see the sigil but they still rushed to open the gates. He assumed that they recognized the clothes of the Lan disciples but still they should have been more careful before letting anyone in. They could have been demons in disguise.

The gate's opened with a loud squeal and the child woke up to stare at the giant walls. It must have been the first time he has seen the large city that govern his own little village. The guards led by an elder man carrying sect clothes came out. The elder man was enormous with a large beard and his arms were covered in scars. His terrifying presence left those close to him in shambles. All but one person.

"Old man Lu Gang!" Yecao Cao said and pulled himself out of the wagon with the child in his arms.

"Little Cao!" The large man's voice was thundering with laughter and ruffled Yecao Cao's hair before giving him and the child a large bear hug. "You have grown from a little squirt into a round panda. I always said that you ate too much."

"I had hoped to grow tall but it seems that you lied when you said I only needed to eat properly. I only grew wide," Yecao Cao chuckled and Lu Gang scratched his beard.

"Well, I did say eat meat not cakes," Lu Gang's eyes peered at the little boy clinging to his chest." And who is this little child?"

Yecao Cao looked down at the child who had recently been orphaned. He had tried to ask about other relatives but all of them had apparently been slaughtered in the village leaving this child on his own. The child peered up at him with wide eyes waiting for his answer. It made Yecao Cao's heart skip a beat as the two eyes almost seemed to be pleading.