Chapter Twelve: Where Is Everyone?

Unconsciously, a week slipped through his fingers, and for the Block People, this was not a long time. They possessed remarkable longevity. According to the Chronicles of the Block People, barring extraordinary circumstances, each Block Person could theoretically live to four hundred years.

Yet in this era, such hope was but a fool’s dream. The world was hostile to the Block People. Monsters slaughtered with abandon, productivity lagged in extreme backwardness… Without exerting every ounce of strength, survival was impossible.

Farmers toiled from dawn till dusk, desperately cultivating the land just to stave off hunger, a lifestyle that quickly exhausted their bodies and hastened their aging. The same fate befell lumberjacks, miners, and many others. There were other calamities as well—monster invasions, natural disasters, man-made catastrophes…

Under the weight of so many chance and inevitable hardships, the lifespan of the Block People was mercilessly compressed; barely any lived to see a hundred. Mo Fangyuan had never heard of anyone reaching seventy. Even the village chief, who appeared so ancient, was in truth only in his fifties. Such was the harshness of the Block People’s existence.

The past week had been fulfilling for Mo Fangyuan. He labored in the fields, learning the art of cultivation; trained in the little garden, honing his combat skills; visited the common folk, refining his plans for development…

Now, as a new week began, Mo Fangyuan judged that the Block Kingdom, given its circumstances, both needed and was capable of welcoming new members. He decided to set out for other villages to recruit more people.

Once again, he would travel alone, his destination once more the northern desert region. Recruiting those living in safety was not something he had ever attempted, and barging in might only provoke their hostility and result in nothing but embarrassment. After all, who would willingly follow a stranger to an unknown place when their home was secure, their family alive, and life still bearable?

The North, chaotic as it was, had its advantages. There, because of the power of the Skeletons, people’s homes were destroyed, their families dead, their lives hanging by a thread… In such circumstances, Mo Fangyuan’s recruitment efforts would more easily win trust and yield results—and perhaps even unearth unexpected treasures.

Hurtful as it was, this was the reality.

The eight guards whom Mo Fangyuan had trained over time were now capable of protecting the Block Kingdom from monster attacks for a while, so he could leave with peace of mind. This time, he was better prepared, carrying even more equipment—ten axes alone!

Having traveled the route before, Mo Fangyuan was familiar with the way and reached the desert’s edge in just a day and a half.

The desert was as scorching as when he first arrived.

“Still so hot…” Mo Fangyuan muttered. His constitution had improved through recent battles and leveling up, but the desert’s dreadful heat was something he could only endure.

He followed the little river—last time downstream, this time upstream. The map he’d obtained from the desert village showed the river’s upper reaches were clustered with villages.

Step by step, Mo Fangyuan advanced along the river’s course. Even his iron armor could not shield him from the heat; his feet on the sand felt as though he were being roasted alive.

Along the way, he stumbled upon the remains of several villages, large and small.

He knew little of archaeology—when these villages had been built, when they were destroyed, what they signified. Yet he could tell the houses were largely intact and had only recently been abandoned. Most belongings had been taken, so the residents must have withdrawn voluntarily.

He found several such deserted villages, all recently evacuated. This puzzled Mo Fangyuan—what had compelled these villagers to leave their homes? And where had they gone?

With these questions, he continued toward the next village marked on the map.

“Another empty village…”

He had reached his destination, only to find it, too, as silent as the others.

Marking this empty village on his map, he realized he’d been searching here for nearly three days. In that time, he’d seen no one—only monsters and deserted villages.

This was the seventh empty village he had found. So far, he had consumed a fair amount of supplies and gained very little.

“The returns are not worth the expense, and I haven’t even obtained any intelligence on the Skeleton forces…”

He was torn. He was running at a loss.

“Instead of wasting time here, I might as well return to the Kingdom and continue developing it…”

Remembering how his greed in the mine had nearly cost him his life, Mo Fangyuan immediately sobered. He decided to return to the Kingdom. After all, the North was not the only region with villages—other places had even more.

Learning to let go was, after all, a form of growth.

He hadn’t expected his week-long exploration to end in such a way.

“Ah!” Mo Fangyuan sighed in disappointment. All that preparation, and nothing to show for it.

He chose not to follow the river back, instead planning to cross the desert and plains directly to the Block Kingdom, surveying the terrain along the way—a small way to recoup his losses.

The desert lay mainly to the northeast of the plains. Mo Fangyuan set his own position and the Block Kingdom as two points; the straight line between them was the path he would take.

The sky was vast, the plains endless, the wind bending the grass to reveal cattle and sheep.

Leaving the scorching desert for the plains, Mo Fangyuan surveyed his surroundings and could not help but marvel at the raw power of nature.

Along the way, he found many creatures—cows, sheep, chickens… He marked their locations on the map for future reference, exploring with a curiosity befitting an adventurer, peering east and west at everything.

Time passed swiftly and dusk fell before he realized it.

He chose to rest for the night atop a large tree. In the world of blocks, the laws of nature were strange: not only could you walk on leaves, but it was little different from standing on solid ground. Finding a sturdy tree, Mo Fangyuan soon drifted into deep sleep.

Years of hunting had sharpened his hearing.

Should danger arise, unless he slept too deeply, Mo Fangyuan would awaken.

He did not know how long he’d slept when he woke to darkness. He heard the sounds of spiders and skeletons. Having fought such monsters many times, he could tell by their sounds that these were not lone wanderers—this was something else.

“Skeleton Knights!”

The sound was unmistakable. Mo Fangyuan’s drowsiness vanished, his nerves tightening.

After so many days, he had finally encountered a group of Skeleton Knights—he couldn’t let them get away this time!

The Skeleton Knights had not noticed Mo Fangyuan above them in the tree as they hurried along. By the faint moonlight, he followed them stealthily.

He did not intend to slay them immediately; killing them outright would bring little benefit to the Block Kingdom. Alive, they were far more valuable. Besides, their determined march suggested they were on a mission.

Mo Fangyuan decided to follow them a while and see what he could discover.

Sometimes, sensing something amiss, the Skeleton Knights would look back, and Mo Fangyuan would hide. As they moved, he shadowed them like a persistent shadow.

Step by step, on they went.

Sure enough, within a few hours, Mo Fangyuan made an important discovery.

The Skeleton Knights halted outside a valley. There were not only more of their kind, but also Skeleton Soldiers Mo Fangyuan had never seen before.

Densely packed, they looked particularly sinister in the darkness.

Some Skeleton Soldiers wore helmets and bore swords; others were barehanded, nothing at all.

Their numbers marked them as cannon fodder.

Mo Fangyuan was intensely curious—what could have summoned the skeletons in such force to encircle this place?

Curiosity is the engine of human progress…

Very well, Mo Fangyuan conceded.

If you never take risks, you waste your youth.

Driven by curiosity about their intentions, he ate a baked potato and crouched motionless in the grass to watch.

“You damned monsters, don’t you dare set foot in this valley!”

Just as Mo Fangyuan was growing bored, a girl’s voice—no, a furious shout—rang out from the valley.

Instantly, the skeletons moved, advancing toward the valley.

Mo Fangyuan’s eyes lit up. So, they were here because people were inside!

Judging from the sound, there were quite a few.

People equaled labor; labor equaled wealth; and wealth was the hope for the Kingdom’s development!

“Let go of those tools… Block People! Let me handle this!”