Relief Along the Way

Meng Ke looked at the pile of things again and gradually got a sense of what was going on.

"Of all the things you brought back, the least valuable is the gold."

She weighed the gold ingots in her hand.

"At most, it'll sell for two or three hundred million."

"The truly valuable items are jade, emeralds, and mutton fat jade; these are the main commodities."

Meng Ke shook her head again as she spoke, as if she had given up.

"Forget it, I'm not talking to you anymore."

"These things are nothing compared to the Spirit Stones and pills you gave me."

Shen Jingchuan couldn't help but laugh when he saw her listless appearance.

"Can you please forget about this? These are two different things."

He pulled Meng Ke aside and explained to her.

"Think about it, I asked you to buy so much food and other things, you can't possibly pay with Spirit Stones, can you?"

"Don't people think I'm crazy?"

"So in this world, I still need to buy a lot of things, and it all depends on you to convert them into money."

"Now you understand, right?"

Shen Jingchuan sighed.

"Ugh, I knew I shouldn't have told you. I just wanted to upset you."

After listening, Meng Ke finally understood and nodded.

"Okay, I understand."

"Don't worry about these things, I'll sell them all properly."

Shen Jingchuan hummed in agreement, then remembered something else.

"Oh, and could you also buy me a thousand tons of rice?"

Meng Ke was taken aback, somewhat confused.

"A thousand tons? Why are you buying so much grain again?"

"I wanted to ask you last time, what do you need so much rice for?"

Shen Jingchuan looked at her, a hint of difficulty on his face.

"Xiao Ke, I really can't explain this to you. You'll understand in time."

"All you need to know is that I'm useful."

He grasped Meng Ke's hand, his tone sincere.

"Do you think I would buy so much rice to harm anyone?"

"Please stop asking, okay? I don't want to lie to you, but some things can't be explained in a short time."

"Just trust me this once."

Meng Ke looked at him, remained silent for a moment, and finally nodded.

"All right."

"Anyway, I won't get any information from you. If you say it's useful, I'll help you with it."

In the days that followed, Shen Jingchuan shuttled back and forth between the two realms, busy with his work and cultivating at the same time, and half a month passed in this way.

During this time, he also took some time to return to the market, where he bought a Spirit Gathering Formation, some pills and talismans, and ten Life-Extending Pills, all of which he put into the light sphere to upgrade.

He never dared to go too far from Yuxi Prefecture.

Seeing that the imperial army was about to arrive, even though cultivators were not allowed to get involved in mortal battles, he felt more at ease staying nearby.

Shen Jingchuan put Lin Qingyao and her family into his spatial storage, but he didn't dare to put his father-in-law Lin Weiyuan's family in; he still kept an eye on them.

Since Hu Tieniu raised the flag of rebellion in order to ensure that the disaster victims had food to eat and could survive, he could not stand idly by.

That's all he could do to help; he couldn't directly get involved, so he could only keep an eye on things from the sidelines.

If the imperial court sends monks, he must help these people who are struggling to survive.

That day, Shen Jingchuan finished his cultivation and left the space, putting on the Ring.

He reasoned that instead of waiting here for the Government Army, he should take the initiative to go and see what was going on.

He used his Divine Sense to greet Little Black in the space, released it, mounted his horse, and flew straight towards the Capital.

Little Black is truly a great helper for traveling; its speed is astonishing. Thousands of miles from the Capital, it can reach it in three or four hours at its speed.

Shen Jingchuan flew in the sky, looking around, but saw no sign of the Government Army advancing.

He rode Little Black flying in the sky. The official road was full of refugees with their families, walking weakly and listlessly, each one pale and emaciated.

Feeling uneasy, he took out bags of rice from his Ring and threw them at the crowd.

The rice fell to the ground, and the refugees were stunned at first, then rushed forward, hugging the rice bags and crying and shouting.

Shen Jingchuan decided to avoid the official road altogether and instead rode his Little Black horse around to the villages on either side.

Whenever he saw a village with living people, he would throw dozens or even hundreds of bags of rice down from the sky, depending on the number of people.

Along the way, he threw away tens of thousands of bags.

The disaster victims looked up and saw a fairy riding a black horse that could fly, scattering rice down from the sky. Some rice bags broke as they fell, scattering white rice all over the ground.

"Divine food..." The villagers knelt down in unison, kowtowing to the sky and weeping with gratitude, repeatedly thanking the immortal for saving their lives.

Shen Jingchuan knew that in this chaotic world, the moment rice hit the ground, the village's local bullies and powerful figures might come to snatch it.

So every time he threw down a batch of rice, he gathered his Spiritual Power in the sky and shouted in a deep voice.

"The rice will be distributed equally among everyone, with the elderly, weak, women, and children receiving an extra portion!"

"Anyone who dares to bully the weak and plunder food will be punished by Heaven!"

The sound rolled through the air, and everyone in the village could hear it clearly.

He simply didn't have time to go down to the ground and distribute the goods to each household, so he could only use his status as an immortal to keep those bullies in check.

Shouting like that should make me feel much better.

Shen Jingchuan knew that this rice wouldn't solve the fundamental problem, but at least it would allow them to live a few more days.

As he scattered the rice, he also channeled his Spiritual Power into the sky and shouted loudly.

"Those who can't survive, head north to Yuxi Prefecture!"

"Once we get there, we'll have food to eat and a way to survive!"

Upon hearing this, the disaster victims who were originally rushing towards the Capital with their families on the official road stopped, discussed it for a few words, and then turned around and headed north with their rice in their arms.

How could something a sage says be wrong?

In the nearby villages, there were already people who wanted to flee the famine but didn't know where to go, and now they all made up their minds.

The news spread like wildfire, reaching far and wide from the villages along the official road. Disciples greeted each other, and people from all directions gathered together, forming a mighty torrent heading north towards Yuxi Prefecture.

The rice he scattered, if eaten sparingly, would be enough to sustain these people until they reached Yuxi Prefecture.

Shen Jingchuan was unaware of what happened afterward. After shouting, he rode away on Little Black.

This rice is essential for survival for others, but it means nothing to him.

If he didn't have the ability, that would be one thing, but he clearly did. 1,000 tons of rice, or two million catties, would only cost him four or five million catties from modern Earth—just a matter of one Spirit Stone. Could he really not help? His conscience wouldn't allow it.

He was thinking to himself that he would have to ask Meng Ke to buy more grain when he got back.

The thousand tons of rice that Meng Ke had just purchased was originally intended for Hu Tieniu, but before it could be delivered, it was all spilled in the villages near the official road.

Because he was so focused on scattering the rice, he was slow.

It would normally take a little over three hours to reach the Capital, but he didn't arrive until evening.

He saw three large camps outside Capital, with groups of people gathering. The scene was quite impressive; he estimated there were over 200,000 men.

To avoid attracting attention, Shen Jingchuan landed less than ten miles from the city, put Little Black into his spatial storage, and quickly walked to the city gate.