The day before the太子 ascended the throne.
The battle began!
The great princes rebelled, and the镇国将军 died in a foreign land.
Natural disasters coupled with war...
The lives of the common people became even more difficult.
No matter where they went, there seemed to be no place to find refuge.
Anyone with some military strength or manpower declared themselves king.
They even shouted, "Heroes emerge in troubled times, how do you know I am not that wise ruler?"
There was burning, killing, and looting everywhere.
The clash of weapons and bursts of fire.
Bandits also raided civilian homes from time to time.
A hundred years of war thus began.
...
The scenes that followed changed rapidly.
The princes fought amongst themselves, the newly appointed emperor was assassinated, and the sixth prince ascended the throne.
The new king was young and easily deceived.
The city fell, and the kingdom perished.
The people were displaced.
Those with resourcefulness gathered people, collected weapons, and launched an uprising!
Competing for the world with the major powers!
...
Before the viewers could react,
In the live stream, thirty years had passed in the blink of an eye.
And the war had continued for thirty years.
Of the once great princes, only three remained.
But the world was divided into six factions.
The remaining three were all former rebels.
Some were ruthless, some were well-versed in military strategy and could predict others' movements.
Others recruited many strategists to brainstorm together.
However, the common people still suffered immensely.
There was no peaceful place in this world.
Suddenly,
The live stream shifted its focus to a dilapidated village.
A withered old man sat by the door, looking up at the sky.
He slapped his thighs, tears streaming down his face.
"Wise ruler, wise ruler, where are you?"
"This world is about to end, won't you appear?!"
...
"Alas... the common people have suffered."
"No wonder this country doesn't exist in history... it's likely a new dynasty was established later."
Seeing this, the viewers couldn't help but sigh.
No matter when, it is always the common people who suffer the most during times of war.
"They say heroes emerge in troubled times, I wonder who won in the end..."
"Not necessarily, they might have all perished."
"Actually, this war could have been completely avoided..."
It was just that it had a wrong beginning from the start.
If the third prince had shown a little reverence back then...
If he hadn't entered that forest...
Then, everything that is happening now would probably not have occurred.
"Perhaps," a viewer replied.
"The rebellions of those princes don't seem like impulsive decisions."
"But without the incident of the Qilin Son, without those natural disasters, things wouldn't be like this at all."
Even with the war, people could hide in the deep mountains and forests.
But with the addition of natural disasters, no one knew where a peaceful place to live could be found.
...
"Old man, may I ask what place this is?"
In the scene, a young man in his early twenties walked into the dilapidated village.
He asked the old man for information.
He wore simple cloth clothes and carried a bundle on his shoulder.
His face was delicate, and his demeanor was gentle and polite.
The old man sat on the ground, leaning against the door frame, and looked at him listlessly.
"What place? In times of chaos, all places are just floating duckweed."
"What place... it doesn't matter anymore."
Hearing this, the young man looked up ahead.
The village was very run-down, and there were few people on the road.
Even if he saw one or two, they were all old, weak, sick, or disabled, with listless expressions.
Like the old man, they lacked any vitality.
"Young man, leave this place quickly."
The old man zoned out for a moment, and seeing that the young man was still standing there blankly,
He couldn't help but kindly remind him, "This is not a good place. Don't end up dying without even knowing how."
The young man looked at the old man and asked curiously, "Why do you say that?"
The old man said indifferently, "The village next door had an epidemic, and many people fled to this village to hide."
"Over these past few days, this village is probably infected too... cough cough! Cough cough!"
He suddenly coughed dryly, his body hunched over.
It was as if he was expending all his strength to cough.
The young man quickly stepped forward to help him catch his breath.
The old man waved his hand, "You should leave quickly!"
The young man pondered for a moment.
Instead of leaving, he found a spot next to the old man and sat down cross-legged.
He took out a green fruit from his bundle and offered it to the old man, saying:
"Eat some of this, it's good for your throat."
His demeanor suggested he was completely unaware of the severity of the epidemic.
"You...!"
The old man looked at him, finding him somewhat incomprehensible.
He told you to leave, why aren't you leaving?
"An epidemic! People die from it instantly!"
The young man smiled and placed the green fruit into the old man's arms.
"Old man, didn't you say that everywhere is the same in this world? Then why should I walk those extra steps?"
"Why don't you tell me more about the situation around here? So I can choose a place."
The old man was stunned and murmured, "Choose a place... one must choose a place carefully."
It was bad enough to suffer in life, but to be able to rest in peace after death would be a blessing.
Thinking of this, he sighed, "Forget it, forget it... if you want to stay, then stay."
He picked up the fruit in his arms, casually wiped it on his tattered clothes,
And with a 'crunch', began to eat it.
The fruit was not large, about the size of an infant's fist.
It was gone in a few bites.
Whether it was the old man's illusion or not, his throat did seem to feel a bit better.
After finishing, he looked at the young man.
And began to talk about the affairs of several villages.
"At the very beginning, it was a child. Vomiting and diarrhea, high fever, and red spots all over the body."
"The child cried every night, and the family went to find a doctor."
"But the village doctor was only around thirty years old, not even an experienced elder. He had only read a few medical books, so naturally, he couldn't diagnose anything..."
The old man chattered on. Although he was old, he spoke coherently.
The doctor couldn't identify the epidemic at first and only prescribed a few remedies.
But after taking them, they were of no use.
The villagers began to suggest trying to call back the soul.
The family tried every method, but it was still ineffective.
During this time, the epidemic began to spread.
By the time people realized it, it was already too late.
Because of the bandits, the situation in several villages was already not good.
Furthermore, with no one to treat the epidemic and no one in charge from above,
The villagers died or fell ill.
Gradually, a sense of death began to permeate the village.
Everywhere one looked, there were corpses, unburied.
Even those who were still alive were mostly waiting to die.
"Later, some people ran out, thinking they could find a cure and save everyone...
But in reality, those people not only failed to find a solution but also spread the sickness to other villages.
By now, there are very few survivors in each village."
The young man sat quietly beside the old man. Hearing this, he suddenly asked:
"Are the adult and child's symptoms the same?"
The old man looked at him strangely, "About the same. Adults can hold on a bit longer than children, but after a while, they start to talk nonsense, and strange red spots appear on their bodies."
"Has no one truly been cured?" the young man asked.
"The village doctor is dead. Who would treat them?" the old man said with a sarcastic smile.
"Waiting for the imperial court?"
The imperial court was gone.
Everyone wanted to protect themselves, so who would come to a village like this?
"I see..."
The young man murmured thoughtfully, "Then I'll give it a try."
His tone was casual and ordinary, as if he were talking about how much dinner he would eat tonight, not about the epidemic.
The old man's eyes widened as if he had heard something crazy.
"What did you just say?"
The young man replied, "I said, I'll give it a try."
He said this, stood up, and patted the dust off his clothes.
"Old man, I'll be going now. Take care of yourself."
He left a few green fruits and then turned to leave.
Without the slightest hesitation.
"You... you..."
The old man looked in the direction he left, speechless for a long time.
Was this person foolish or arrogant?
Wasn't he going to his death?
The old man shook his head, then sighed again.
Wasn't he himself also someone waiting to die?
...