A talk

"Someone, come."

Fang Weiyan raised his head and called out.

"Sir."

Barely had the words left his mouth before Cheng Feng and the others strode in, their steps as vigorous as tigers stirring the wind.

Clearly, they had been training quite well lately. Their meals had been quite good, too, and they had all filled out.

"Go to the villages near Linbei County and bring everyone there to Linbei County."

After some thought, Fang Weiyan decided to send these yamen runners out after all.

"Yes, sir!"

Cheng Feng and the others immediately answered loudly, then strode out.

After leaving the yamen, they split into five groups and first offered incense at the Earth God's temple. Mainly, since they were going on a fairly long journey, they still needed to ask the Earth God to watch over them.

Once they had finished offering incense, the yamen runners hurried on their way.

Some villages were in the mountains. Taking the mountain trails was faster, but the journey was still quite exhausting.

The yamen runners each spent three hours reaching their assigned villages.

They had barely reached the village entrances before they saw the dilapidated scene ahead. Some wooden houses had already collapsed.

As they entered, they heard neither roosters crowing nor dogs barking.

Seeing this, Cheng Feng could not help drawing in a breath.

Back then, he had fled a village himself and come to Linbei County.

When he learned that there was food to be had in Linbei County, he had dropped straight to his knees before the magistrate, hoping the magistrate could give his elderly mother something to eat.

Afterward, the magistrate had also generously given everyone from their village something to eat.

Now he could collect quite a lot of grain every day, and his elderly mother could collect grain every day as well. There was practically no chance of them starving to death anymore.

How could he ever have imagined such a life before?

But now, looking at the village before him, he immediately recalled the miserable state his own village had been in.

He also remembered his own miserable condition back then.

He had truly been so hungry that he had wanted to grab even dirt and stuff it into his mouth.

Even if there was only a little tree bark, his mother had left it for him to eat.

Cheng Feng looked around. Seeing the bare surroundings, he knew that the people of this village, too, had reached the end of the mountains and rivers, with nowhere left to turn.

With that thought, Cheng Feng strode into the village. Seeing several skeletal remains nearby that no one had gathered for burial, he sighed inwardly.

"S-sir..."

Cheng Feng had only just drawn a little closer when the villagers noticed him, and they all backed away in terror.

At that moment, they could not help thinking, Could this official be here to collect some kind of tax?

With that thought in mind, they were naturally terrified.

If that was the case, they were probably in for trouble today.

Seeing the terrified faces of the common folk before him, Cheng Feng immediately understood what they were worried about.

His clothes were fine and neat, and a long saber hung at his waist. It was hard for these common folk not to regard him with fear and reverence.

"Don't worry. I am here on the orders of the magistrate of Linbei County to take you there. The magistrate is providing disaster relief in Linbei County now. If you follow me there, you can survive, too."

"Disaster relief?"

At these words, the villagers immediately exchanged looks.

How long had it been since they last heard any news of the imperial court providing disaster relief? Now that such news had suddenly appeared, could they trust it?

Would they really have something to eat once they got there?

With that thought, the villagers exchanged glances, each seeing the hesitation on the others' faces. Years of experience had left them wary and distrustful.

They did not believe anyone would still give them food for free now.

"I swear on my life that once you reach Linbei County, you will definitely have something to eat. If you don't go, how much longer can you hold out here? Sooner or later, you'll starve to death here. Even if only for your children's sake, you should go to Linbei County and give it a try."

Seeing that the villagers before him remained silent, Cheng Feng added this.

He needed to get these people to hurry and follow him now.

Otherwise, once darkness fell, things would become even more dangerous.

Hearing this, the villagers exchanged looks. After thinking it over, they felt he was right.

It did seem to be the case. Even if they did not go, they would starve to death here. If they went, on the other hand, there would be a little hope.

After some thought, the villagers got up, preparing to pack their belongings and leave.

Watching them, Cheng Feng grew anxious. "Just bring some clothes and you can leave. Don't bring much else. There are many spirits in the mountains. If we head back too late, I'm afraid they'll carry you off."

The villagers, who had originally wanted to bring all their possessions, felt their hearts tighten at these words. They hurriedly packed a few things and followed Cheng Feng away.

Yet as the group left, a woman suddenly appeared among them.

Everyone seemed unaware of her and failed to notice the woman who had suddenly appeared, setting off along the road to Linbei County.

Earth, Cloud-Stilling Temple.

Dressed in Daoist robes, Fang Weiyan looked at the abundant incense offerings in the temple, his face full of smiles.

More incense offerings were a good thing!

Although there were divine tablets elsewhere that he could take, those temples all had surveillance cameras, so Fang Weiyan did not want to take that risk.

Besides, if he could make the incense offerings at this Daoist temple flourish, collecting them in the future would be much easier.

He could also keep spreading its reputation. In the future, more and more people should come here to offer incense, far surpassing those famous temples.

Just as Fang Weiyan watched the incense smoke continually rising, Liang Lijian came up to him.

Liang Lijian was not wearing his uniform, and looked no different from the worshippers nearby.

"Shall we step aside and talk?"

Liang Lijian looked at Fang Weiyan, then at the worshippers nearby. He felt it would be better to find somewhere with no one around for what they were about to discuss.

Hearing this, Fang Weiyan immediately nodded.

A short while later, Fang Weiyan led him to the rear courtyard. No worshippers came in here, as a sign had been hung up asking them not to enter without permission.

After they sat down, Liang Lijian looked at Fang Weiyan, an unfathomable expression on his face.

He had come specifically to see Fang Weiyan today and had even waited here for over five hours for him to appear, all because Zhou Wenfei had actually found his child with Fang Weiyan's help.

This had been quite a shock to him.

After learning about it, he had immediately formed an idea and privately approached his superior. Once he received approval, he came to see Fang Weiyan.

He wanted to have a proper talk with Fang Weiyan.