Chapter 1859 - 1864: Self-Reliance
The next day came. Lin Fei had just gotten up when he saw that same kid actually leading a group of children toward him, with one or two adults among them. Lin Fei smiled, took them into the forest, and had them use tools to attack a Demon Beast.
It had to be said this method was very effective. Before Lin Fei even made a move, the Demon Beast was already badly injured. Those wooden attack tools didn’t do much in the final blows, but they had already wounded the Demon Beast. That alone showed that the Demon Beast wasn’t invincible—before anyone died, they should still be able to kill it.
After that, things were more or less the same. Once they finished eating, Lin Fei led them straight back, giving nothing to those who wanted to freeload, so those people could only watch Lin Fei and the others eat. In the end, an adult with a good heart shared a bit with one of them, but that man snatched the whole chunk of meat and gnawed on it.
Lin Fei didn’t stop him. He said, "Just like the General said, some people deserve pity and some don’t. I hope that while you earn your own living, you don’t go around playing the good guy blindly. Tomorrow the hunt continues."
After speaking, Lin Fei sat cross-legged around the area. By then, a Demon Beast was already preparing to attack them, but it was scared off by Lin Fei’s aura alone; he didn’t kill it at all. Lin Fei saw the hungry look in the villagers’ eyes and knew they were waiting for him to kill the Demon Beast so they could sit back and reap the spoils.
But Lin Fei didn’t do that. He didn’t let them benefit as fishermen, didn’t let them take advantage. Since they wanted to eat, they had to follow him and let him teach them. After all, the Demon Beasts around here weren’t as strong as they’d imagined. If they united, they could definitely fill their stomachs.
The third day.
The General, who had been watching Lin Fei and the others from atop the city wall, nodded. There were even more people on the third day, but they still didn’t have good weapons. Lin Fei wasn’t worried. He kept having them use tree trunks and branches to make sharp weapons, then led a group deep into the mountains, where they began encircling a Demon Beast to take it down.
At last!
They all killed a Demon Beast with their own hands, truly relying on their own strength, without any help from Lin Fei.
Looking at their happy faces, Lin Fei said, "This is the first Demon Beast you’ve taken down. Demon Beasts actually aren’t that scary; you can see that even with just this few of you, you can kill one. So what if there were more of you? When a Demon Beast runs into a group like that, it’s the Demon Beast that’s pitiful—they’d be doomed for sure."
"But each of you has been unbelievably lazy. A Demon Beast isn’t going to just drop dead in front of you, so you can only go hungry. All right, handle it yourselves, then eat." Lin Fei said.
So everyone began processing it. After they were done, they buried what was left, to prevent the smell from spreading and attracting more Demon Beasts.
Finally, after the residents had eaten their fill, they carried the leftover food and headed back toward the city wall. Those who had been hungry for three days all stared with shining eyes, but after what happened yesterday, they no longer gave these people any food. They knew that even if they gave it, they wouldn’t gain anything from it.
Although doing this would nurture a sense of selfishness in them, the truth was, if they didn’t have the ability to survive, they probably wouldn’t even get the chance to be selfish.
Besides, in Lin Fei’s eyes, everyone is selfish; it’s just that their targets of selfishness differ.
No one will be selflessly dedicated. Even the best of people don’t truly think about selfless dedication in their hearts, let alone those with no foundation at all.
Those who "selflessly dedicate" still want returns, whether in fame or something else—they all want something back. If there’s no return, no matter what they say, they won’t actually do anything good.
"All right, everyone rest up. We’ll go again tomorrow." Lin Fei wasn’t afraid of wasting time; what he feared was that these people wouldn’t reflect at all. That was why he said nothing more and did nothing extra, hoping instead that they would repent and quickly reflect on themselves.
If they could become self-reliant, then Lin Fei would have essentially saved all these people.
So Lin Fei didn’t mind spending these few days.
The General on the city wall watched the villagers’ changes with both relief and admiration. As long as they could change, that was enough; nothing else was required. Lin Fei and the Great General both hoped these people could change, otherwise everything would just be empty talk.
In their eyes, Lin Fei disliked lazy people, and no one liked lazy people anyway, which was why all this happened.
But it had to be said, Lin Fei’s methods were really not bad. Of course, Lin Fei had also thought about giving up before, but in the end he didn’t, so in a sense, Lin Fei had just happened to make the right move by luck in this matter.
If that child hadn’t stepped up back then, Lin Fei wouldn’t have held on to any hope.
Later, when the child stepped up, Lin Fei felt a bit of hope again, which led him to do all this—and in the end, things seemed to be getting better and better.
Finally, the fourth day arrived. Lin Fei found that already half the people were willing to go with him. But before that, a lot of preparation had to be done. Once ready, Lin Fei split them into two groups.
He told them in advance that whatever game each group got would belong to them, and that each of them would have a captain. Then he picked a young man who seemed more experienced in Lin Fei’s eyes to be their captain and had him lead everyone to hunt. Lin Fei and Little Dao each led one team.
Things went very smoothly. After all, the numbers were there. After killing their prey, they kept hunting, and only when they had enough to eat did they finally stop and start eating.
Roast meat.
Lin Fei quietly watched everything they did without getting too involved. Some things didn’t require his participation; it was enough just to watch.
Time ticked by. After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they still carried some leftovers in their hands as they headed back, showing off in front of the others, talking about how easy it was to kill Demon Beasts, saying this and that—a whole lot of talk.
Lin Fei didn’t stop them, nor did he affirm anything. Without comparison, there is no progress—this had always been how the world worked. So Lin Fei didn’t restrain them and instead let them compare.
Comparison was a good thing; at least it showed they had pride in their hearts, that their self-respect was driving them to keep getting stronger. That was enough. Lin Fei appreciated seeing this slowly happen, and he hoped everyone present would throw themselves into the struggle together. Only then could they keep on living, and live better.
Finally, the fifth day arrived.
Lin Fei was very satisfied with the results before him. He looked at the few people left; some lay on the ground, some huddled in the corners of the walls, completely unwilling to put in any effort.