The Demon Lords-Chapter 727 - 154 Loneliness Smoke_2

The other women and children who had previously been taken in the city were not implicated in any way. The only change was that a group of the earliest liberated Jin female slaves, armed with simple clubs, were now standing guard over them.

The men couldn't take up this task, as the city wall could not be left shorthanded.

Zheng Fan walked up to a woman who was carefully blowing on a bowl of porridge, feeding it to her child.

Long-term malnutrition had left her with barely any breast milk.

This woman was the one Zheng Fan had seen with his own eyes that day, huddled in a corner breastfeeding her child.

It was an instant connection, just like that.

Because she had touched Zheng Fan that day and left a lasting impression, each time Zheng Fan entered or left their dwelling, he would bring a piece of candy for the child.

The candy was brown sugar. Yes, that's right.

No matter how bitter and exhausting life was, or how tight supplies became, the leader's share would not be reduced. General Zheng still had quite a few snacks Siniang had packed for him for the expedition.

A piece of brown sugar was dropped into the bowl of porridge.

The woman looked at Zheng Fan, instinctively tried to get up and kowtow, but Zheng Fan, as was his habit, reached out and pressed her down, indicating it wasn't necessary.

It was always like this.

Actually, the first time, it was genuine. The second time...

The woman's clothes were shabby and torn, barely enough to keep out the cold.

Zheng Fan didn't think the woman's actions were worthy of contempt.

Under these circumstances, with a child beside her, there was truly little she could rely on.

However, even with a smudge of dirt on her face, it was clear that if she were cleaned up and properly dressed, she would be quite comely.

Although his demonic commanders privately joked that their lord's tastes were no different from those of the infamous Cao Cao, General Zheng would not harbor any such inappropriate thoughts in this situation. Even if he had regretted more than once why he had initially left Siniang to guard their home!

He had A Ming find some clothes for the woman, and he would bring candy or other small treats for the child whenever he passed by their temporary shelter. That was all Zheng Fan could do for now.

Indeed, he could give the woman and this child better dignity and special treatment, but with everyone's future so uncertain, there was truly no need for that at the moment.

This time, Zheng Fan quickly pulled his hand back, saying, "The war… it's almost over."

The woman froze.

The child, wanting to continue drinking the sweet, brown sugar-laced porridge, couldn't reach it and began to cry, but the woman remained motionless.

Zheng Fan looked at her and continued, "We're going to win."

The woman stared blankly at Zheng Fan.

On her face was no longer that previous mischievous glint, like an older sister teasing a beloved younger brother.

Instead,

Tears began to fall, one by one.

"Will the... wild people... die?" the woman asked.

"They will," Zheng Fan nodded, then added, "Every last one of them will die."

Zheng Fan had understood Tian Wujing's style as a commander ever since Tian Wujing, during the previous expedition to the Snow Plain, had ordered him to contaminate its water sources with corpses and human waste.

Moreover, during that last expedition to the Snow Plain, Tian Wujing's hair had not yet turned white.

Although no specific military orders had been received, and contact with the outside world had not yet been re-established, Zheng Fan knew that the wild people who had invaded Jin could not expect a good end.

In this world, there was no Geneva Convention either.

The woman began to sob, muttering several names as she wept.

It was clear the woman came from a good family, but everything, absolutely everything, had been destroyed.

The child in her arms, hearing its mother weep, stopped its own crying and began to nuzzle its face against her comfortingly.

Zheng Fan rose, did not linger, and headed towards the city wall.

Behind him, A Ming gestured towards the woman and child to a nearby armored soldier, saying, "Arrange for someone to take care of them."

"Understood."

In peacetime, people might idly try to test human nature, but in a war environment, there was no need for such probing. Everything had already been stripped bare, torn asunder.

As Zheng Fan crossed the open space between the "residential area" and the city wall, he looked up at the nine wooden stakes.

Hanging from the stakes were the corpses of three Shengle soldiers and six male slaves.

With a considerable number of women in the city, some men began to harbor other ideas.

For example, by sharing a small portion of their allocated food, they could obtain... certain favors from the women.

Or, for instance, wearing the armor of the Shengle Army made you a master here.

Actually, it might sound cruel, but allowing soldiers to vent could effectively stabilize morale and fighting spirit. Before the Shengle Army set out on this expedition, the brothels in Shengle City had been so full that the queues stretched out into the streets.

But Liang Cheng was a general with higher standards. He didn't want the army he had personally forged and trained to devolve into the kind of warlord rabble that couldn't fight without plunder, women, or opium.

Under such strict disciplinary measures, everyone managed to keep their baser instincts in check.

Furthermore, as the wild people's siege became increasingly ineffective, the men's restless agitation significantly subsided.

Liang Cheng had explained to Zheng Fan that once Snow Sea Pass was successfully defended and this war brought to a victorious close, the Shengle Army soldiers who made it out of here—regardless of whether they were originally Jin people, Yan people, or Barbarians—would experience a significant improvement in their quality and inner character, a kind of sublimation.

Even if fewer than five thousand men remained—perhaps only three thousand, or even two thousand—these veterans would form the backbone to quickly raise another strong army.