The Ashes of Fate - Chapter 4: Children of Calamities

Translator – SynthSoon

When the bloodied Anjing returned to the riders’ camp, the surrounding vagrants suddenly parted in fear. The one-eyed leader and the white-robed scribe, who had long heard the screams, wore admiring smiles.

“Not bad.”

An Jing saw the scribe who narrowed his eyes like a hidden fox with a shrewd gleam, who was looking himself up and down, “Your performance was even better than we expected.”

“My Lord’s compliments are too good for me” An Jing slightly saluted. With a wave of the one-eyed leader’s hand, two riders led An Jing inside the camp to change his clothes and clean his body.

Soon after Anjing returned to the rider’s camp in fresh clothes, after collecting all the children, the riders hooted and hollered as they prepared to leave.

The sun was setting, the sun was returning to the mountains, and the light behind the thick, lead-colored snow clouds was getting dimmer and dimmer, coating the world in a hazy, grayish-blue.

Standing on the road at the edge of the camp, An Jing turned back and lifted his head to see an endless white wilderness, endless majestic mountains, and a great city that stretched from the foot of the mountains to the hillside, surrounded by a long river.

The magnificent scenery of the Northern Territories was indeed the best of the Dachen Realm, and the majestic and lofty Bright Mountain City was also worthy of being the first city in the Northern Territories.

But by now, the Frost-Scourge had destroyed everything.

In An Jing’s eyes, the hidden mountains seemed to come to life when covered by the wind and snow, while the deep shadows of the mountains looked like the body of a god scraping the sky while shaking the earth. All the while, the lights in the city turned into thousands of indifferent eyes, overlooking the lives of everyone else.

Lowering their heads, the parents who sold their children were waiting on both sides of the road.

They were either numb or in tears as they watched their children make their final farewells.

An ShenShi, who had recovered some of her strength after taking medicine, was also there waiting for her child.

“Jing’er.”

Without any tears in her dry eyes, An Shen looked at her child across the frosty road.

“Live.” She uttered her last command in a hoarse voice, and at this moment, An Jing barely managed a smile, “Mother, you must live too.”

“If I have the chance to leave, I will go to the south, Lin Jiang, Bei Rui, Broken Blade Mountain …… mother, live and wait for me.”

“Wait for me!”

An Jing got into the riders’ carriage and looked at his mother one last time.

The woman stared at the back of the carriage, as her lonely figure disappeared into the snowy sky.

Inside the carriage.

Even An Jing, who had matured quickly since he was a child and was more intelligent than his peers, was saddened by the separation from his mother.

However, he took a deep breath and suppressed all his emotions, his eyes betraying none of his true feelings.

His mother was a Martial Artist, and she had enough medicine and food. Even if she couldn’t get into Bright Mountain City, she would have no problem crossing the Huaihe River and heading south.

The Broken Blade Mountain was already far away and the surrounding area was rich in produce, so even the Frost Scourge won’t affect her, she might even be able to find a few relatives to help her as well.

–Wait, there’s still incense inside this wagon? These people were that rich?

Of course, this group of people was able to provide free medical treatment to the vagrants, surely there was no shortage of supplies. ……

After thinking for a very long time, An Jing looked around and realized that there were eight people sitting in this carriage, which was more spacious than he had first imagined.

Looking around, they were all boys or girls, and they seemed about the same age as him. An Jing also saw the frostbitten girl who was cured by the doctor.

Looks like they sorted the children by age.

The children should’ve been throwing a tantrum given how they just left their parents behind, but they all hung their heads down and kept their mouths shut instead.

After all, they weren’t ordinary children, but refugees who had experienced the Frost Scourge of the Northern Territories and had traveled with their parents through the mountains and the wilderness.

The noisy children would’ve died long ago, or even been captured and eaten.

It may sound cruel, but when it actually happened, how else would it’ve been described?

An Jing couldn’t help but clench his fists as he remembered. It wasn’t enough to eat the children of others, some vagrants would even poach and kidnap other people’s children to cook and eat.

No matter how strong the parents were, they would eventually collapse after the children they protected all this time were taken away, the only thing that remained in the snow and wind were harsh curses and sobs.

After collecting himself, Anjing looked around and realized these children, who were also riding in the carriage with him, had probably seen those scenes before.

After seeing those scenes, even if they used to be cheerful children, they would all be changed by the experience.

Even if they left their parents behind, after the initial heartbreak, their minds quickly change into the simplest mode of thinking.

–Will I be able to eat enough in my next meal?

At least, I won’t get eaten.

If that’s the case, why don’t I save my energy for the inspection of the ‘big family’ later on?

Smelling the faint scent of wood inside the carriage, An Jing listened to the wind outside and thought about the style of carriage he had seen earlier.

This wasn’t an ordinary wheeled wagon, but a snow tracked caravan similar to a sleigh which could carry far more people and goods than an ordinary wheeled wagon. It was also specially suitable for traveling in the snow.

And those horses were also extraordinary, they must be Northwest Frost Riders that weren’t afraid of the snow and frost.

This kind of carriage was definitely not something that could be built in a short period of time, meaning it was prepared in advance. Did this group of mysterious people foresee this Frost Scourge long ago?

Was it possible that this group of mysterious people had already foreseen this disaster? Was that why they were so well-prepared, waiting for nature to sift through people with insufficient destinies, and then come back to buy these ‘Children of Calamities’ like themselves, who had escaped from the calamity and survived?

As he thought, An Jing gradually felt sleepy.

Although he had an excellent physical foundation and strong bones, he had been starving for a long time, and after eating a full meal, his body couldn’t help but feel a sense of fatigue…

(Huh? This isn’t just ordinary fatigue!?!) An Jing finally realized something was wrong, the scent in the carriage was off. No matter how exhausted he was, he wouldn’t be so exhausted to the point he couldn’t control his thoughts.

An Jing looked around again, upon looking closer he was stunned. No wonder all the children were silent, they already fell asleep, and he was the last one awake!

But even he couldn’t control his eyelids anymore, as he couldn’t help but fall into a deep sleep.

Outside the carriage.

A rider looked back to the wagon with much surprise. “He finally fell asleep, this kid. The Requiem Incense can completely knock ordinary people out in two breaths, but he lasted an entire hour!”

“I see why our superiors are taking this recruitment operation seriously, those Children of Calamities are clearly different!”

“That’s true.”

Another rider interjected: “I thought this group of vagrants were all weaklings, but it seems that there’s some good material too!”

“Shut up.” The experienced rider on the other side rebuked, shaking his head slightly “Those who don’t manage to enter the family may become our colleagues in the future, and those who pass…… heh.”

The old rider tsked, and said: “Those Martial Art Masters, if they remember your unintentional disdain and arrogance in the future, think about what’ll happen to you ……”.

No other words were needed, the lasting silence was already intimidating enough.
“I, I see ……” The rider winced, causing him to snap out of his excitement and slip back into his previous emotionless state of silence.

“Stay your course.” The old rider said softly, “Keep on the road and save your energy.”

After that, the entire snowy night was filled with silence.

During the next few days, other than coming out and building a camp for food, An Jing and the other children continued to move forward while in deep sleep.

This may be done so the children didn’t know how far they travelled, or where they were sent to — or perhaps it was simply for managing the children, after all it was better to let the children sleep rather than having to take care of them.

During the course of the journey, some of the riders left, while the white-robed scribe left in the middle of the journey.

But ultimately, the whole convoy continued to gather and grow.

By the end of the journey, it had become a large convoy of more than twenty vehicles.

An Jing also tried to analyze where he was, but even he could only confirm that he was now moving towards the southwest, and had already left the area of the Northern Territories, since he had been moved to an ordinary carriage.

However, he didn’t know exactly where he had traveled to within the DaChen Realm.

(The forests in my hometown are cold-temperate coniferous forests, but the last trees I saw were temperate mountain coniferous forests.)

An Jing wasn’t so sure, the DaChen Realm was so vast it was hard for him to understand everything, after all it was a world of destiny and martial arts, greatness and immortality: (Am I outside the Northern Territories, is this the border between the Northern Territories and the Northwest?)

(By the way, I somehow know the term “cold temperate coniferous forests”, what did I do in my past life?)

With this kind of doubt, An Jing could only make a rough estimate inside the carriage where there’s barely any sense of time and space.

About ten days later, the mysterious people’s carriage finally arrived at its destination.

A manor house located in a deep forest.

White mist filled the mountains, and tributaries of nameless rivers flowed on the side of the mountain road, sparkling with light.

As the mountain road continued to stretch, it began to become dilapidated with villages that have been long abandoned.

Soon, the dilapidated landscape was gradually replaced by dense vegetation and towering boulders.

Layers and layers of them, like a maze, formed a dense forest covering the entire mountain range, while small patches of short and green shrubs, like the scales of dragons and snakes, stacked on top of those steep cliffs, making these lofty mountains in the northwest seem like part of the body of some giant creature.

But all paths have an end.

The smooth road ended abruptly before the deepest part of the jungle, as if the laborers who built the road were also powerless in front of this ancient forest, leaving only a narrow mountain path like a vein deep into the forest as a final compromise.

By now, all traces of mankind had almost disappeared, leaving only the most primitive and barbaric scenery.

The wagon traveled bumpily along the rugged mountain road.

On the way, the passengers had all sensed the people who bought them were most likely not rich and noble families.

Normal high-ranking families wouldn’t have transported them in such a secretive way, and even if they had a secret manor, it wouldn’t have been in such a deep mountain that was this far into the mountain range.

In the DaChen Realm, even a three-year-old child knows that one should never enter a mountain.

There were monsters, demons, devils and ancient beasts living in the mountains, and there were countless strange places in the mountains that could trigger anomalies and unexplained events.

Within the DaChen territory, most mountains have been cleaned up, at most there were a few newly born monsters or demons living there. The DaChen Realm didn’t discriminate against these monsters and demons, as long as they followed the rules and respected humanity, they’ll be treated humanely.

But in the border areas …… there were too many anomalies, too many demons, too many people who stepped into these places and never came back.

When little children realized they went too deep into the mountains, they would all start to despair, because they knew it was absolutely impossible to leave this place alive all by themselves.

Whoever built this manor in such a deep mountain, whether they were good or evil, must be a secret organization, as it would be difficult for them to return to the outside world with a normal identity.

But no matter what the children thought about the situation, this was the truth.

There was no turning back.

“Come down.”

After a long bumpy ride, the carriage stopped and the riders’ voice rang out, “We’re ‘home’ now.”

An Jing exhaled.

Finally, he had reached this moment, he calmed down and prepared to welcome his future ‘home’.

An Jing looked at the seven people in the same carriage who were all still dizzy, then turned around and was the first to step out of the carriage.

A strictly structured mountain manor appeared in his eyes.

However, before An Jing could take a closer look, he heard a familiar voice.

“Not bad.”

Turning his head sideways, An Jing realized that the one-eyed Martial Artist, the leading rider of his caravan, was watching him.

He laughed gruffly, “You’re the best out of this group of newcomers.”