he looked outside,
he saw that everyone living there was in a dire situation.
Walking beside his father,
observing the plight of the people,
he felt a wave of conflicting emotions.
When he saw the state of the crops before him,
he felt like throwing up,
but his father slapped him on the back,
urging him to steady himself.
Xia Fang knew the world was dangerous,
but he hadn't realized the problems were this severe.
His father had brought him along for two reasons:
first, as the future head of the village,
Xia Fang needed to understand his people and their home.
Second, his father was preparing to travel to a neighboring village to secure supplies for the camp.
Because the world was barren and growing crops was difficult,
these supplies were essential for surviving the winter.
Seven villages surrounded Xia Village,
each with a population of two hundred to three hundred people.
Not long ago,
Xia Fang had sat in his room, terrified by their circumstances.
His sister, Xia Chen,
had come in to offer him something to eat. Everyone adored Xia Chen,
as their mother had passed away giving birth to her.
After she left the room,
Xia Fang was overcome with fury;
he wanted to slay every monster so his family could finally be happy.
However, he knew it wouldn't be easy
—even his father was unable to kill an intermediate beast.