The Demonic World I designed-Chapter 654 - 644: Battle of Public Opinion (Part 1)!

The news of the Northern Yan Country submitting to the King of Qin had suddenly spread throughout the world on the tenth day of Chen Qing’s journey northward!

The message spread extremely fast—no matter how remote the place, or even within the Northern Territory, surrounded by giant serpents, the Northern People also received the news as soon as it emerged.

And this message... it came from the merchants of the Northern Wasteland...

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"Da Hu, is this true or not?"

Inside Northern Yen City, a large group of people surrounded the merchant who had come from the Northern Wasteland to trade and asked.

Now that the Northern Territory was besieged by giant serpents, all goods could only be sourced from the Northern Wasteland, a complete reversal from before the great chaos caused by the demons.

Once, the Central Plains were abundant in supplies, and even the arid and cold Northern Territory had far more resources than the Northern Wasteland, with its cultivated cotton, wrought iron, refined salt and sugar, as well as some luxurious goods brought by sea—the variety of goods was incomparable to that of the Northern Wasteland.

Usually, it was the Northern Wasteland trading medicinal herbs from the Arctic Land and precious animal furs for these items, while the Northern Territory was the true land of food export.

But now, things were completely different. For some reason, the Northern Wasteland had an excess of demon beast flesh, and now the Northern People needed to trade things like cotton for food.

And in the past month, new goods had appeared in the Northern City...

"It’s true Warm Jade and there’s wine, my goodness..."

A group of men from the Northern Territory looked at jar after jar of vigorously fragrant alcohol, their eyes reddened and salivating uncontrollably!

Almost none of the Northern men disliked alcohol due to the cold weather and they all had a high tolerance, but since the snake plague, they had to rely on the Northern Wasteland merchants for even the most basic food, which was extremely unstable. Now with less land to cultivate and the constant threat of life-threatening Insect Demons, who would dare use the precious crops to brew wine?

They were all living each day aimlessly, never expecting to smell alcohol again. freёnovelkiss.com

"Da Hu, is this... these really from Jiangnan?"

"Hah, what else did you think?" said the sturdy young man known as Da Hu with a proud look. He picked up a jar of alcohol, opened the stopper, and instantly, the strong and rich aroma made all the Northern People swallow their saliva.

"Authentic Ginseng Blood Wine, these few jars here in the Northern Wasteland could be traded for a large mansion."

"Such good stuff, how did you get your hands on it?" A group of people drooled, eyes bright red with desire. If it weren’t for the strict prohibition on fighting in Northern Yen City, some might have already tried to grab it.

Because it looked like they wouldn’t be able to afford it anyway.

"Got it from Jiangnan, how else?" Da Hu responded with a roll of his eyes.

"Jiangnan... How did you manage to get to Jiangnan?" Many of the Northern People asked with puzzled faces. Now there were man-eating giant serpents everywhere outside. They could only avoid these terrible snakes by relying on the black lanterns bestowed by the elders of the Dark Moon Sect within the city. They say that those peddlers ventured out with just a black lantern, risking their lives to bring back goods. If they were not careful and the black lantern went out, they could instantly become a meal for a giant serpent.

To go to the nearby Northern Wasteland to trade for goods was one thing, as there were supposed to be special envoys for protection along the way to prevent attacks, but Jiangnan? How did he return alive from such a distant place?

"Beihai City, of course..." Da Hu said with a grin.

"Are you joking with me?" one burly man asked. "When we fled during the disaster, Beihai City was one of the first to be destroyed. Those giant serpents were huge enough to swallow an entire ship. Let’s not even talk about whether you could make it to Beihai City, how would you cross the sea? And with so much cargo?"

"That’s because you’ve been shut in here, out of touch with what’s been happening outside..." Da Hu said with a smug smile, sitting down in exasperation as the crowd listened intently, urging him on, "Quit beating around the bush, what exactly happened?"

"Well, that’s a long story, but first off, when we in the Northern Territory were in peril, the King of Qin from Jiangnan had already sent troops to rescue people alongside the Duke of Wei, saving ten million of our kin from the Northern Territory!"

"Really? For real?"

"The King of Qin from Jiangnan? Is he that righteous?"

"Isn’t he a rebel?"

"Pah!" Da Hu immediately glared at the person who had just spoken: "You better not say that outside. These days, everyone in Jiangnan is living better than the old masters of the Northern Territory used to, and everyone worships His Highness the King of Qin like a Buddha. If you go to Jiangnan and talk like that, you’re definitely going to get beaten to death!"

The person was stunned by the rebuke, but soon gave a bitter smile: "Jiangnan... I do want to go... Hey, wait a minute..."

A group of people came to their senses: "You really went to Jiangnan?"

"Is that even a question?"

"But what about the giant pythons on the way?"

"Hey, let me tell you, now, Beihai City is completely under the control of His Highness the King of Qin. It’s very safe there. Once you get to Beihai City, there are soldiers escorting you the whole way, absolutely safe!"

"Safe? But in the sea... aren’t there giant serpents?" a man who had once been a soldier asked blankly.

He was a deserter from the army who had fled from Beihai City. He had seen with his own eyes how dangerous those giant serpents were in the water!

"Now there really aren’t any..." Da Hu sighed: "I found it strange at first too and followed someone there once. Later, I learned what was going on. It was all thanks to the Duke of Wei..."

He then recounted the story that was being passed around, how the Duke of Wei turned into a dragon and became an ice path, preventing the giant snakes from approaching.

Everyone who listened to the whole story felt as if they were hearing a myth.

But in these times, with demons everywhere, such mythical stories were not so unusual. In the end, when they heard how the Duke of Wei shed his blood over the Northern Sea and turned into the ice path just so the Northern People could safely cross the Northern Sea and escape to Jiangnan to avoid calamity, they all couldn’t help but have tears well up in their eyes.

So it turned out... the Duke of Wei had never abandoned them. It was they... who had abandoned the Duke of Wei...

A group of men became teary-eyed, especially the deserters, who were so ashamed that they lowered their heads.

"So, does that mean we can now go through Beihai City to Jiangnan?"

"Yes..." Da Hu nodded: "I came here this time to fetch my mother and brother’s family. However, land in Jiangnan is incredibly valuable now. If you want to stay there, you can only go to West Sea Island to clear the land with the soldiers’ escort. I heard they even give you land and houses. This trip back, I wanted to see if I could take a risk and make some money. With more money, I can let my old mother live locally in Jiangnan. Life would definitely be better than on an island."

He paused and then added: "But in any case, it’s better than staying here."

"Then we..." All the Northern Territory people who heard this news became excited. If they could, who would want to continue living in a place where snakes could eat them at any moment?

Although it’s hard to leave one’s homeland, they had heard countless times about the comfortable life in Jiangnan. Even if it’s not as perfect as rumored, like Da Hu said, it would still be better than now.

"You guys..." Da Hu’s face showed difficulty: "I’m afraid it might not be possible for you to get out."

The group suddenly came to a realization. Yes, there were terrifying Serpent Demons everywhere outside. Only by obtaining the black lanterns given by the Mingyue Sect could there be a faint possibility of traveling safely.

In the city now, every ten households share one black lantern, and no one can take it lightly. If they want to leave en masse, would the mysterious followers of the Mingyue Sect agree to it?

Many people were suspecting that these sinister cult followers were in league with the Serpent Demons. Although the Northern People outwardly complied, they were extremely wary inside.

At this moment, if they disclosed their intention to leave en masse for Jiangnan to start anew, would they... be willing to let them go?

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