The Responsibility I Must Fulfill

"Before we discuss a deal, I need to understand what happened first." He asked, "Who is that man?"

"Shen Fang, the Prefect of Zhang Wei."

Chen Xuan looked it up on his phone. The position was roughly equivalent to the mayor of a directly governed municipality.

Meanwhile, Liu Shuyue was an aide assigned directly to the King by her sect. She was at least vice-national rank, so her status should have been above his.

"He doesn't listen to you?"

"He doesn't need to listen to me, because I'd never intended to interfere in politics from the start. Back then, I thought that would let me stay true to myself and avoid losing my heart to power. The price, however, was having no power at all."

Liu Shuyue took a sip of coffee and, as usual, frowned at the bitterness. But she quickly took another large gulp, as though the bitter taste was no longer quite so unbearable to her.

She said it naturally, without the slightest trace of regret.

In other words, Liu Shuyue didn't resent having no power.

"I just don't understand... why people can't learn any lessons from history." She stared at her coffee and murmured.

It seemed quite a lot had happened over the past five years.

"It's alright. You can tell me slowly... This shop exists to resolve the confusion and troubles in its customers' hearts."

"I'd like to tell you slowly too." Liu Shuyue shook her head slightly. "Unfortunately, time waits for no one... Every moment of delay could mean more people dying, so I'll keep it brief."

With that, she drained her coffee in one gulp.

Strange... In her memories, this stuff had always been more bitter than sweet, but now it somehow seemed sweeter than bitter.

Even this young merchant's face... didn't seem quite so calculating anymore.

Had her standards fallen?

After a brief pause, she said seriously, "A great disaster has struck western Qingzhou. You probably don't know this, but Zhang Wei, the city we're currently in, is also in Qingzhou. The disaster was caused by a demon called Anba. It causes rice fields to wither and fruit trees to yield nothing. Slaying demons is my duty, so I came here and destroyed it. But the disaster that had already occurred wouldn't vanish simply because the demon was dead. Since it happened near harvest season, the famine's consequences are especially severe. It is estimated that more than three hundred thousand people have been affected."

"I came from the west, and all along the way, I saw refugees everywhere... Under these circumstances, the only chance of survival is to head for provincial cities that haven't been hit too badly."

As she spoke, Liu Shuyue's expression darkened slightly, as though she had recalled something unpleasant.

"A famine..."

Chen Xuan knew those refugees certainly didn't include wealthy families or those paid by the imperial court. They would have stockpiled plenty of food, and even if they hadn't, they could afford to buy it at exorbitant prices.

When famine came, the ones truly facing death were ordinary people with neither grain nor money—their ability to withstand risk was far too weak, and they couldn't endure soaring food prices for long. Fleeing was almost their only option.

The problem was that the Prefect of Zhang Wei neither agreed to let the refugees into the city nor wished to divert them to other towns.

The only measure he had taken so far was handing out relief porridge outside the city gates.

That little food might have been enough for a thousand people, but it was pitifully insufficient for six or seven thousand, not to mention that more refugees would continue arriving.

Liu Shuyue's proposal was also rather "ahead of its time": first, issue government bonds; second, provide work relief.

The bonds would be bought by aristocratic clans and wealthy households, while the money and grain raised would be used for disaster relief without burdening government finances. Work relief would prevent people from receiving food for nothing, while also taking the opportunity to strengthen Zhangwei City's construction. As long as they held on until relief funds and grain from other regions arrived, the problem would be easily resolved.

Hearing this, Chen Xuan couldn't help smiling knowingly.

Those two proposals had clearly been answers Liu Shuyue found in Broadly Read Through the Ages. Having stood the test of countless disasters, this combination was practically the optimal solution.

"So the argument I heard earlier was about you making those proposals."

"That's right. He refused." Liu Shuyue sighed. "I can guess what he's thinking... As long as the King doesn't issue an order, he'll follow the rules. There's nothing wrong with not doing extra work; doing more only makes it easier to make mistakes. Besides, food prices haven't reached their peak yet, and the fleeing commoners still have some money on them. Asking wealthy households to provide grain and money for relief now would be tantamount to turning against them. Why bother?"

"So he told me that an urgent eight-hundred-li report had already been sent to the Royal City, and that other provincial cities were gathering grain and supplies to rush to this region's aid. There was no need to do anything extra. What I should do now is soothe the people, lest rising food prices cause panic within the city."

For the first time, Chen Xuan heard her give a cold laugh.

"I'm afraid that, to Prefect Shen, those refugees outside no longer count as people at all. There are six or seven thousand now. What about ten thousand in a few days? Tens of thousands? Hundreds of thousands? This isn't the first time Qingzhou has faced something like this. Records even mention starving people revolting, seizing cities, and looting. Isn't he at all afraid of repeating the same mistakes?"

"Because he really has a cow, I suppose."

"What kind of metaphor is that..." Liu Shuyue's expression turned solemn. "I can't let this continue... Too many people will die. I have to admit that, the moment I saw you, I felt fortunate. I want to exchange for an ability—one that can solve the current problem."

Chen Xuan nodded, but didn't answer immediately.

"I know this request is absurdly demanding. In all the world, perhaps only the Lotus Cloud Sect could properly handle this matter, but the sect would certainly never interfere in mortal affairs. If there is any other fortunate opportunity that could lend me a hand, this shop is the only thing I can think of." She rose and cupped her fists in salute. "In return, I will offer an exceptional ability in exchange!"

Seeing that he remained silent for a long while, Liu Shuyue lowered her gaze. "I was presumptuous. An ability so beyond reason truly is unlikely to exist—"

"Who said it doesn't?" Chen Xuan suddenly interrupted. "As long as a customer has a need, this shop can certainly fulfill it."

Her eyes lit up.

"But I need to ask you a few questions..." He gestured for her to sit back down. "If I remember correctly, sect disciples aren't responsible for disaster relief, are they? A disaster caused by a demon can't be laid at your feet, so no one could blame you even if you ignored those refugees. Disaster relief is the government's responsibility, and if you intervene, you'll inevitably meet immense resistance. That may also go against your original intention of staying out of politics. Do you really need to go this far?"

Liu Shuyue watched him for a long time before shaking her head and saying in a low voice, "Not long ago, I thought so too."

"Not long ago?"

"When I cut off Anba's head, about a week ago. The demon was dead, and my goal had been achieved... Next, I should have gone to another town to deal with the next problem. After all, Qingzhou's west wasn't the only place plagued by demons, and for now, only sect disciples were particularly skilled at dealing with such trouble."

Chen Xuan nodded in agreement. Or rather, that was how a cultivator of the Lotus Cloud Sect ought to act—there were plenty of officials capable of taking on disaster relief, but very few who could slay demons and monsters.

Everyone had their own specialty. Liu Shuyue couldn't possibly fail to understand that.

"But on my way back to Zhang Wei, I saw something... It changed my mind."

"What did you see?" Chen Xuan asked curiously.

She closed her eyes, as though recalling the scene. "I passed a ruined temple in a wasteland and saw cooking smoke rising from its roof. Even from a hundred paces away, I could smell stewing meat. There were no villages or towns nearby, nor was it a place for hunting. How could there possibly be meat to eat? I could think of only one possibility... Someone had crossed the line and become a vicious cannibal."

"So I entered that ruined temple with my sword drawn. Once they had fallen to sustaining themselves by taking the lives of others, they could no longer be treated as ordinary refugees."

Chen Xuan fell silent.

When Liu Shuyue mentioned that food prices hadn't yet peaked, he had thought the famine hadn't reached such a severe stage. But on reflection, Zhang Wei wasn't at the heart of the disaster zone, and famine spread unevenly. If central Qingzhou could still remain stable, then the worst-hit western region was likely far worse than this.

"As it turned out, I did see a group of vicious bandits. They were no different from the bandits in the mountains and deep forests—dividing the valuables they had stolen while chopping their victims into pieces and throwing them into a pot. The only difference was that every one of them was a gaunt child, and the oldest was no more than thirteen or fourteen."

"Children?" Chen Xuan couldn't help frowning. "Could they do something like that with those bodies?"

"They certainly couldn't rob ordinary people, so their targets were very clear: their own parents." Liu Shuyue's tone grew heavy as she spoke. "Killing one's father and mother is unforgivable. Faced with such beasts, I had no reason to show mercy. But when I moved to wipe them out, one of the girls rushed out and shouted at me, asking what wrong they had committed. Were they supposed to obediently die and become food for their fathers and mothers?"

She opened her eyes and stared blankly at Chen Xuan. "Only afterward did I understand that their parents had already treated them as life-saving food—whether they sold them for others to eat or ate them themselves, they were nothing but food. Yet some adults hadn't expected that the food would turn around and bite them."

"Then in the end... you let them go?"

"No. I killed them all," Liu Shuyue replied. "Because among the remains of the dead were several children their age. Those children had merely refused to harm their own families, and this group of fiends slaughtered them as well. If I had let them go, wouldn't that have been the greatest injustice to those unwilling to join them? Besides, these people had already tasted the sweetness of it. They would only grow worse afterward, sliding into ever more twisted Nine Netherworlds. It made me wonder: what difference was there between them and demons?"

"On the surface, the two are the same... They both eat people, and both make this world crumble further. Yet before the famine, they were clearly ordinary people. So this is my answer..."

Liu Shuyue paused. "If I stand by and do nothing, then before the disaster is relieved, many more people will surely follow in their footsteps and turn from humans into demons. At that point, I will have no choice but to destroy them one by one. But if I have a chance to alleviate the famine, wouldn't that also achieve the purpose of slaying demons, without my blade needing to be stained with needless blood?"

"That is why I chose to remain in Zhang Wei, even if doing so goes against the principles I once held. But I'm certain of one thing: this is still demon-slaying. It is the responsibility a sect disciple must fulfill."