With the Blade

Chapter 306: Chapter 257: Sweet Home

Home, what is it?

"A home, perhaps, is a place to put things."

As Du Chengfeng said this, he spread open his saddlebag.

"Look, there’s even more now. I can’t carry this huge pile of stuff every day when I go out, right? There has to be a place to leave them."

"A home... a place I’ve lived before, perhaps."

When asked, Liu Bolun responded like this.

"Asking me is useless. I left home to study when I was very young, so it’s not that important to me. If I must say, a place with wine, that’s home. If there were two beauties to serve... hey, why are you guys pushing me?"

"No need to listen to his nonsense. We know the answer."

The two gatekeepers pushed Liu Bolun aside and turned to answer.

"A home is where you reside. By definition, it means ’treasure above, pig below’; a roof overhead to shelter from the wind and rain, and a meal in the dish to be well-fed, that’s home... much like when we were at Ziyang Academy; the conditions weren’t particularly good, but as long as the books left by the mountain elder remain, the home remains."

"Indeed."

Nearby, Qian Yu, the old fellow, also nodded with a smile.

"What? You’re asking me? Well... how should I say it, perhaps where family is, that’s home."

"I like what you said."

Yang Xuan, the old man, also chimed in.

"As long as family is around, home is around. As long as the descendants of the Yang family are around, my Yang clan will certainly..."

"Old Yang, it might be best if you say a bit less."

Seeing that Qian Yu, who had lost all his family, was on the verge of depression, even Du Chengfeng’s face couldn’t hold it anymore. Sensing the tense atmosphere, Liu Bolun hurriedly tried to smooth things over.

"Hey, little Cui, why don’t you answer this one?"

"Are you asking me?"

Cui Yuan, who was called upon, came back to his senses.

"Home... I don’t have much of a concept for that, having lost my parents at a young age. If I must say what home means... maybe it’s like that."

As he spoke, Cui Yuan gestured towards the big wagon nearby.

On the wagon, the wooden figure Li the carpenter was leaning on a stick, watching his wife and two children eat, his carved wooden face full of kindness.

"What? You want to ask me what home is?"

The wooden figure glanced at the stick in his hand, then at his wife and two children before speaking slowly.

"Home... is just home. It’s a place to rest when tired, a place to sleep when sleepy. When the children grow up and get tired of venturing outside, they have a place to return to."

"That... indeed."

Hearing the wooden figure’s words, everyone couldn’t help but nod.

As the saying goes, a weary bird returns to its nest, and fallen leaves return to their roots. No matter how differently each person understands home, at the core, there’s a common point.

And that is, a place to return to.

The word home seems to have a certain magic, clearly not a solid fortress. But as long as you return home, as long as you close that broken door, all the winds and rains are kept outside, all the dangers and fears cannot enter. No matter how hard and exhausting it is outside, you can always find rest at home, always find peace again.

"Then... let’s go home!"

On his warhorse, Du Chengfeng was the first to wave his hand.

"Go home!"

A refugee group of over a thousand people erupted in a united cheer.

It’s been too long; they have wandered for too long. They’ve been displaced for so long, they almost forgot what it means to live a settled life—and now, not far away, their new home waits.

In their lifetime, they finally have a home to return to.

"So... is this the wrong place?"

Looking at the small mountain crags before them, the villagers started scratching their heads.

"This kind of place doesn’t seem suitable for living, does it?"

"How is it unsuitable?"

Du Chengfeng felt a bit embarrassed.

"Well, there are indeed better places nearby. For instance, a bit north to Liang Province or Qi Province, or east back to Dengzhou... but those places are already inhabited, we can’t just go over there and seize the place now, can we?"

"But this kind of place..."

Seeing the villagers weren’t easy to please, Liu Bolun thought for a moment and spoke up.

"It’s not even a matter of geography now; this must be the Longchuan Mountain Range, right? You chose a place without much flat land... people can’t really live in the mountains, can they? How is that different from bandits?"

"Oh, this? This is actually easy to handle."

As he said this, Du Chengfeng simply dismounted, then with a leap, flew into the air.

Then, he drew out that Heavy Great Saber.

"Isn’t it just about land clearing? This is easy to resolve."

Boom—

With a swing of the saber, the earth shook and the mountains trembled.

After the dust dispersed, the mountain crags between the two peaks were completely leveled, forming a vast valley. Although the valley was still full of vegetation and rocks, anyone seeing it would consider this a prime location.

"Surrounded by mountains on all sides, easy to defend and hard to attack. Moreover, in such a remote place, even if fighting breaks out outside, no one would think to look for people living here."

This was Du Chengfeng’s idea for establishing a settlement, with security being the foremost consideration.

"As for water, I saw a river a dozen miles away. I’ll divert a branch over later, and who knows how to dig a well? Help me find where water might be, and I’ll create the well when I get back, or maybe little Cui can poke a few times with a sword."

"This..."

Faced with Du Chengfeng’s extraordinary feat of splitting mountains with a single blow, the refugees and villagers were left speechless for a while.

Although they knew Du Chengfeng was very strong, they couldn’t have imagined he was this strong. His unbelievable feat of cleaving mountains could indeed be called a masterpiece—but what shocked them even more was, this power could be used this way.

In their understanding, a strong person like Du Chengfeng would use power to kill, like taking an enemy’s head amidst chaos or being a cavalry breaker before an army. Power seemed meant for those occasions, and Evil Qi was only to be showcased during those times.

Such power was born to take lives, a killer’s tool.

But now...

This power can be used like this?

This Evil Qi can not be for killing?

Having witnessed this astounding blow, something heavy weighed on their hearts; although it didn’t kill anyone, it was far more shocking than killing thousands or even ten thousand.

"As long as we can think it, we can definitely achieve it."

Descending from the air, Du Chengfeng sheathed his saber.

"We will personally forge our own homeland."