Chapter 28: The Old Immortal

In the arms of the old woman was a little boy who was only five or six years old.

The boy’s lips were dry and a little white. He had his eyes tightly closed as he was held in the old woman’s embrace.

The people of Shen Village were doing relatively well. Some families had stored grain in advance, while others had bought some from her home. Although they couldn’t eat their fill every day, they weren’t at the point where they couldn’t eat at all.

The group in front of them, with less than a hundred people, looked like they hadn’t eaten for days, with sunken cheeks.

There were also some men with injuries, looking weak and dispirited.

The Shen family members couldn’t bear to look at them, so they forced themselves not to.

As they were about to pass by the group of refugees, Shen Yu’an suddenly said, “Mother, when we arrive at the county town, we must take a good look around. Although the refugees have already been through, who knows if they missed any food.”

Shen Yu’an spoke loudly, and the nearby refugees and the few families in front of the Shen family heard her words.

If there really was food in the city, they couldn’t let others find it first.

Those few families quickened their pace and soon passed the people in front.

“What’s the rush? Don’t they know how to conserve their energy?” grumbled the person being squeezed.

Shen Yu’an turned her head to look behind her, and indeed saw the next group of people not far behind.

“Is there really food in the city?” whispered Song Shi, who was beside Shen Yu’an.

Shen Yu’an said, “I don’t know, but maybe we’ll be lucky enough to find some food that hasn’t been stolen.”

After a day’s journey, they finally arrived at the gate of Shao County.

As far as the eye could see, it was desolate. The city gate was wide open, and there were corpses that had been dead for several days outside.

There were no people left in the city. On that day, the refugees came in full force, gathering a large group of people outside the city. The Shen family and their villagers only saw the surface of what happened from the mountain that night.

“After the refugees entered the city, they burned, killed, and looted, venting their pent-up grievances that had accumulated for many days.

Those who could flee the city had already fled, and now Shao County is an empty city.

People covered their mouths and noses and carefully avoided the corpses, planning to stay in the city tonight.

…..

“The Shen family found a relatively cleaner courtyard to stay in. Since they had many people, they found a large courtyard and specially set aside a room for Shen Yu’an.

Only the few families in front of them and the group of refugees next to them heard the last two sentences that Shen Yu’an said before entering the city.

The several families in Shen’s village who heard these words did not speak out. If there really was food, they would certainly not want more people to share it.”

“When it was late at night, they went out to search for any food that might have been left behind.

However, after searching several houses, they did not find a single grain of food. It seemed that the refugees had already taken everything.

Disheartened, they returned to their lodging.

The people from Shen’s village also knew that these people had followed them, but they lived in the east of the city while the newcomers were in the west, so they did not disturb each other.”

“After nightfall, Shen Yu’an had already sneaked out. The fact that they did not find any food was expected.

Not only food, even any valuables like gold and silver had probably been looted clean, so how could they find anything?

“Knock, knock, knock~”

A faint knocking sound was heard, and the person inside opened the door.”

…It was the old woman who had begged for food on the road who opened the door.

Outside stood the old man from the other group of people. According to the old woman’s words, he was the village head of their village.

The village head sighed and said, “This is half a piece of bread that my wife gave me. Let the children eat it to fill their stomachs. We don’t have any food left at home, so we won’t be able to help in the future.'”

The old woman was moved to tears, and she sobbed quietly, “Thank you, village head, thank you, village head. When my child grows up, I will make sure he remembers your kindness.”

The village head waved his hand, saying, “Surviving is still uncertain. Hurry back and feed your child.”

The old woman closed the door gratefully, and the village head turned back and walked away.

Their food supplies were running low, and it was uncertain whether they could make it to another place. As they turned a corner, a voice that sounded neither entirely male nor female suddenly called out from behind them.

“Stop.”

The village head spun around but saw no one. The voice then came from another direction.

“If you want to save the lives of people from your village, stand there and listen to me.”

A gust of wind blew by, and the village head trembled, but he still obediently said, “Please, speak.”

“You go to Liangji Grain Store in the west of the city at noon tomorrow, where there is food that can save your villagers.”

The village head already regarded the voice as that of an immortal, and he respectfully said with his head down, “This Old man just went to check with the villagers, there is nothing left in Liangji Store.”

They even went to several grain shops, but inside was a mess and there was indeed nothing left.

“When you go tomorrow at noon, there will naturally be food,” the voice said again. “It’s because I see you in such a difficult situation and still willing to extend a helping hand to your fellow villagers that I want to save your life. Do you know what to do after you get the food?”

The old Village Head quickly assured, “This old man will definitely distribute the food to the villagers and not keep it for himself.”

“Remember what you said, make sure to go at noon tomorrow, otherwise the consequences will be dire…”

The old Village Head hurriedly said, “Rest assured, I won’t go early.”

Just when the old Village Head thought the voice had disappeared, suddenly another message came through: “… the Imperial City is not a good place to go.”

After a while, there was no more sound coming, the old Village Head shouted a few times, but no one responded.

Thinking about what the voice had just said, the old Village Head couldn’t help but feel excited and wanted to go to the Liangji Grain Shop again.

But then he remembered that the old immortal had said he must go there at noon the next day, and he was afraid that going now would anger the old immortal, so he held back and went back home.

They had some food with them when they left, but it was taken by bandits on the way. If what the old immortal said was true, then they would be saved.

Shen Yu’an had no idea that she had already been regarded as an old immortal by the old Village Head.

After finishing her business, she returned to the residence of the Shen family.

She thought it over and realized that she had been given such a great opportunity by having an unlimited space and a second chance at life in this world.

Therefore, she wanted to repay the kindness by helping the people in this world.

Although it was impossible to help everyone, she would do what she could and assist people when it was safe for her to do so.

She originally only wanted to use the cover of the city to help the people of the Shen family village and those people, but the scene she just witnessed changed her mind.

The people in the Shen village still have not run out of food and water, so she will help those people first.

To avoid the people of the Shen village discovering the food in the city and searching every household, she decides to wait until they leave tomorrow and then secretly put the food into the grain shop.

As for the people of the Shen village, she would travel with them for a while and think of another solution.