An icy chill drenched him from head to toe, jolting the bookkeeper upright.
He gasped for breath, his eyes dazed, still thinking he had been having a nightmare.
But then he saw the dark figure standing before him.
It was a masked man, standing there in silence, as chilling as a ghost.
Only then did Old Li, the bookkeeper, realize he wasn't dreaming. The fright nearly made him faint again.
Just then, a hoarse voice devoid of emotion rang out. "Go wake them all up."
Old Li shuddered from head to toe. Not daring to utter a word of refusal, he scrambled toward the corner of the courtyard and shakily shoved the unconscious workers awake.
Before long, more than a dozen workers came to one after another. Rubbing their aching necks, they looked around in bewilderment.
"What happened?"
"Who the hell ambushed me?"
But when their eyes fell on the storeroom entrance and they saw Wang Shun's corpse, his eyes still open in death, all their curses lodged in their throats.
Shopkeeper Wang... was dead?
More than a dozen of them had been patrolling the courtyard, yet they hadn't even caught a glimpse of their attacker. They hadn't so much as managed a scream before they were taken down one by one.
By the time they woke up, Wang Shun was already a corpse.
Was this something a human could do?
Could it have been a ghost or god come to claim their lives?
At the thought, the workers went cold all over and trembled like sieves, none of them daring to look up at Chen Ye.
Just then, Chen Ye spoke again in the same hoarse voice.
"Open the doors for business."
The men exchanged bewildered looks at his words, and Old Li was utterly dumbfounded.
He had thought the masked man had come to rob them. He had even planned to tell him exactly where the silver was hidden as soon as he asked, hoping only to save his own life.
But the man wanted neither money nor lives. He only wanted them to open for business?
Besides, it was the middle of the night. Who were they supposed to sell to?
"Hmm?" Chen Ye let out a cold grunt.
Old Li jolted in fright and dared not hesitate another moment. He hurriedly called several workers over, and they ran off trembling to take down the door panels and throw open the rice shop's doors.
Immediately afterward, Chen Ye gave his second order.
"Bring the rice out of the storeroom."
The workers dared not disobey. They could only brace themselves and carry the heavy sacks of rice from the storeroom to the shop entrance, stacking them in neat rows.
Once they had done all that, Old Li and the workers looked at Chen Ye in confusion, waiting for his next instruction.
Ignoring their gazes, Chen Ye casually pointed to the nearest worker and ordered, "Go out into the street and shout that Granary Full of Fortune is opening its granary to distribute grain to the disaster victims. One portion per person, first come, first served, free of charge."
At those words, everyone thought they had misheard.
Open the granary and distribute grain? For free?
Was this man mad? He had gone to all this trouble, killed Wang Shun and taken control of the entire rice shop, just to give the Lin Family's grain away to those mudlegs?
Grain was worth more than gold these days. Sometimes a single dou of rice could be traded for a young maiden.
Just as everyone stood there looking bewildered, Chen Ye said coolly, "Do as I say. If you can distribute all this grain within two hours, you'll still have a sliver of hope. If anyone dares to go through the motions or slip away to report this..."
Chen Ye sneered without saying what the consequences would be, but everyone present shivered all the same, because Wang Shun's corpse was still lying in the courtyard.
After giving his instructions, Chen Ye stepped back. His entire figure instantly blended into the darkness and vanished.
At the sight, the workers' eyes nearly popped out of their heads.
A living, breathing man had just disappeared right before their eyes?
With that, the last shred of hope in their hearts vanished like smoke.
"What are you standing around for? Do you want to die?" Old Li was the first to recover and spoke at once.
"Get moving! Do exactly as that master said."
Once the Lin Family heard about this, none of them would fare well, but that was a matter for later. If they didn't do as told now, they really would die.
Before long, several workers were pushed outside like ducks being driven onto a perch.
They walked into the street and looked at the refugees curled up against the walls, each one like a living corpse, their hearts filled with mixed feelings.
"Ahem! Granary Full of Fortune is opening its granary to distribute grain! It's free! Come and get your rice!" One worker gathered his courage and shouted at the top of his lungs.
His voice echoed through the empty street, but it drew no response.
The refugees merely looked up at him numbly, then lowered their heads again, their eyes vacant and utterly unmoved.
Liars.
Granary Full of Fortune's rice had always been the most expensive, and its workers were all as fierce as demons. How could it suddenly open its granary and distribute grain? They had to be liars.
Helpless, the workers could only steel themselves and keep shouting.
Once, twice, three times...
At last, a boy who had been starved to skin and bones staggered to his feet from a corner and shuffled toward the rice shop. Perhaps he was trying to save a dead horse as though it were still alive, or perhaps he was simply starving.
Everyone's gaze converged on him.
The boy walked up to the rice shop entrance, and sure enough, a worker scooped up a great ladleful of gleaming white rice and poured it into his sack.
The boy froze. He stared at the rice in his sack as if he couldn't believe it, then dropped to his knees and began frantically stuffing raw rice into his mouth.
It was true!
They really were giving out grain!
The whole street erupted.
"Quick, Granary Full of Fortune really is giving out rice!"
"It's free! It really is free!"
The news seemed to sprout wings, spreading across the entire southern part of the city at an incredible speed.
Countless refugees and commoners who had been hiding in the shadows, waiting for death in despair, seemed to glimpse the dawn of salvation. They came pouring in from every direction as if mad.
Before long, a long queue formed outside Granary Full of Fortune, stretching from one end of the street to the other, a dense sea of people.
With tears in their eyes, people took their rice and kowtowed to the workers and the bookkeeper inside the shop.
"Thank you, great benefactors! Thank you, living bodhisattvas!"
"For your great kindness and virtue, we'll be your oxen and horses in our next lives to repay you!"
Old Li the bookkeeper watched the scene before him and listened to the heartfelt thanks ringing in his ears, but he was scared to death.
He had no desire to claim such a tremendous "merit" for himself.
So he hurriedly said, "Don't thank me, everyone! We aren't the ones who truly saved you. It was a masked hero who didn't want to give his name! It was him! He was the one who forced us to open the granary and distribute grain to help you all!"
His words caused another uproar in the crowd.
A hero?
In times like these, there was still such a hero who sought neither fame nor profit, only to help the common people?
For a time, countless eyes brimmed with tears as people bowed to the empty air.
Meanwhile, Chen Ye stood on the roof ridge of a small building not far away, quietly watching the scene. Only after he confirmed that all the grain had been distributed did he turn and leave.
That night, the masked hero's name spread throughout the capital.
And the Lin Family was furious!
Please keep reading and don't stockpile chapters! Thank you!