I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress

Chapter 292: Learning About the Past

Even though Yi Chen had asked that question after thinking over it for another second, he himself was finding it hard to believe.

To ration food and water for not just a city but for an entire Kingdom clearly sounded like a logistical nightmare to him and something he couldn’t imagine with his current understanding.

However, to the question he had just asked, the answer came out to be affirmative.

"Yes, that’s exactly how things are." Old Ding nodded with a smile and continued, "The processed nuts are sent to various Kingdoms and in return we are provided with food and water."

Cough! Cough!

Gratefulness was apparent in Old Ding’s voice as he said those words.

However, Yi Chen’s attention wasn’t focused on his words but what those words implied. Therefore, unable to curb his curiosity, he immediately asked the next question.

"Just how...the daily consumption of food and water for the entire Black Rock Kingdom would surely be an enormous amount, so how are these goods being transported??"

Yi Chen’s one question after another surely would have irritated a few people, but Old Ding wasn’t one of them.

Instead, seeing his curiosity, Old Ding’s desire to answer his questions properly only increased. Of course, the Medium Grade Spirit Stone also played a role in this.

"...It’s all thanks to the Violet Heaven House." Old Ding answered with a smile.

"Violet Heaven House?" Yi Chen frowned when he heard this name. It was his first time hearing it.

"Indeed." Old Ding nodded and, sensing that Yi Chen didn’t know about the Violet Heaven House, tried to help him link things up.

"Master Chen, the Violet Heaven House is one of the four great families in the Silver Cloud Kingdom. You must have surely heard about the Silver Cloud Kingdom, right?"

"Ah, so they are based in the Silver Cloud Kingdom." Yi Chen nodded in realisation and thought to himself, ’So it’s one of the four great families, huh?’

This was his first time hearing this term, so he noted it at the back of his mind before looking towards Old Ding with curiosity apparent in his eyes.

"Correct." Old Ding nodded and said, "When the mountains erupted for the first time, our entire Kingdom faced the brunt of it.

Villages were decimated, cities perished, and millions lost their lives.

Only a few cities, towns and villages that had strong cultivators or were in higher-reaching areas managed to escape this devastation.

When the smoke cleared, the explosions stopped, and the hot magma cooled to turn jet black, they thought that the disaster had finally come to an end..."

Old Ding sighed with a bitter smile and continued.

"However, that was just the beginning. With no means of food and water, several survivors starved to death.

Because of the severity of the situation, the emperor used everything that was available in the Kingdom’s treasury to fund provisions from outside in order to rebuild our Kingdom, and after a few decades things finally started to show improvements.

But even that window of light was short-lived..."

Cough! Cough!

"Excuse me for a moment, my throat’s all dried up," Old Ding smiled and, grabbing onto a small metallic bottle, gulped down a mouthful of water.

Wiping off his lips, he explained with a smile, "My apologies, Master Chen, the more I age, the more quickly my throat seems to dry up...haha."

"There’s no need to apologise, Old Ding," Yi Chen waved his hand while reminding, "And...please continue with what you were saying, what happened later? Why was that window of light short-lived?"

Being an aged person, he was naturally a talented storyteller, so Yi Chen was dying from curiosity to know what happened after that.

"Oh that..." Old Ding chuckled softly, seeing Yi Chen’s enthusiasm, and continued, "As I’ve already stated before, these mountains...they erupt every fifty years.

And so, they erupted once again...something which none of our people had expected at that time, and the disaster repeated itself.

The Kingdom that had managed to pull itself out of a disaster and rebuild itself was thus once again swept by it.

However, this time...even the emperor was helpless.

The treasury had run dry because of the resources it took to not only rebuild the Kingdom but also to procure food and water for the entire population in this period after the first disaster.

As a result, now that they were struck once again with this unexpected devastation, the only fate that awaited the common man was certain death.

At least that’s what would have happened if they hadn’t shown up at that time...the Violet Heaven House."

Old Ding paused for a few seconds while relishing the eagerness on Yi Chen’s face and continued.

"A couple of weeks after the eruption, when the only thing that could be seen growing on the hardened magma was the sprouts of these white trees beside us...the representatives from the Violet Heaven House arrived.

A discussion was held with the emperor, and it was soon revealed to the entire Kingdom that these purple nuts borne by the only plants that managed to take root in our Kingdom were far more useful than any of us could have imagined."

Old Ding pointed back with his hand towards the Talantuala Nuts loaded in the cart and continued.

"These contain various medicinal properties which the Violet Heaven House was interested in making use of, and because of that a deal was struck between our Kingdom and the Violet Heaven House.

We’ll provide them with all the Talantuala Nuts in our possession, and in return they’ll set up transportation arrays in all major cities and provide us with food and water.

It’s only because of that deal that our Kingdom was saved from the brink of eradication."

Old Ding stated before giving out another light cough.

’This...it’s a pretty good deal,’ Yi Chen thought in an impressed manner. One party got what they wanted and so did the other party.

Along with that, his curiosity about how the logistical nightmare was going to be tackled was also answered.

’Transportation arrays, huh...I got so used to the idea of them being used to travel to far-off places that I didn’t even realise that they can also be used for transporting goods,’

He thought with a bitter smile.

Cough! Cough! Cough!

It was then that his attention was drawn towards Old Ding, who, unlike before, entered into a coughing fit.

Cough! Cough!...

"Old Ding?! What’s wrong?" Yi Chen asked while reaching for the water bottle, thinking that he needed it, but Old Ding just shook his hands, seeing the bottle, and reached inside his robes searching for something.

Soon, taking out a bottle that contained two pea-sized tablets. He popped open the lid and, taking out one of the yellow tablets, gulped it down.

It was only then that a wave of relief appeared on his face and his coughing fit finally came to a pause.

Yi Chen couldn’t help but frown at his actions, and it only intensified further upon witnessing the sudden recovery that took place after he took that yellow tablet.

"Old Ding... what was that yellow tablet? Are you sick?"

At those words, Old Ding couldn’t help but let out a chuckle and said, "Yes, I was about to come to that point soon as well. Life truly knows how to play jokes now, doesn’t it?"

As he said so, he took the bottle from Yi Chen’s hands to drink a mouthful of water.

Letting out a deep breath after taking a sip, he said, "You don’t need to look at me with that worried gaze hahaha. It isn’t just me who’s sick, but almost everyone in our Kingdom is the same as me..."

As he said those words, he pointed his finger towards the brown discolouration on the middle of his nose bridge and the area around it.

"You see this brown patch? Almost everyone, including both the mortals and the cultivators, has this brown discolouration on our faces since the moment we were born..."

Hearing those words, Yi Chen soon came to a conclusion but still wanted to confirm, so he asked before he could finish his words.

"Do you mean to say-"

"Yes, Master Chen...we were all born sick." Old Ding said with a helpless smile.

"This...Why? What happened? There must be a reason, right?" Yi Chen immediately asked a number of questions as one point remained stuck in his mind.

’A disease that even affected the cultivators? Just what is going on in this place?’

Hearing the questions that were subtly laced with panic, Old Ding chuckled and added, "Master Chen doesn’t need to be worried. This disease... the brown flu... it doesn’t spread so easily.

One needs to spend at least a year or more breathing the same ash-filled air in order to catch it."

"I see...so it’s the air." Yi Chen nodded in realisation. Since the moment he entered the Kingdom, a burnt smell had always lingered in his nose.

’So long-term exposure to it leads to such implications...’ he thought to himself, but at the same time, another confusion appeared in his mind, prompting him to ask another question.