Chapter 4: Turning Point

Just like that, Lu Yuan settled down for the time being, sitting among most of the disaster victims in the settlement area on the north side of the city wall, waiting silently.

Another hour or so passed, and it was afternoon.

True to what the city-guarding general had said earlier, the heavy city gates were suddenly opened. Under the protection of the garrison soldiers, bags of grain were transported out. Then, a group of clerks and numerous laborers set up several porridge sheds right by the side of the city gate and began to set up pots to boil porridge.

The disaster victims, who had long been dizzy with hunger, immediately began to stir, but squads of fully armed soldiers stood right there, and no one dared to cross the line; they could only stretch their necks and swallow their saliva as they watched.

After waiting for a long time.

Near evening, the porridge sheds were finally ready. The aforementioned city-guarding general appeared once more, leading over a hundred soldiers to begin organizing the disaster victims to line up for porridge.

At first, the line was slightly chaotic, with victims impatiently trying to get to the front, but after a dozen or so sharp cracks of a whip and screams, the line immediately became disciplined and began to move in an orderly fashion.

The victims entered from the east and exited from the west. The victims at the front thanked them profusely after receiving their porridge, drinking it in small sips as they walked, until they had licked even the bowls clean.

After Lu Yuan had waited in the crowd for a long time, he finally used the broken bowl he had been carrying to receive a large ladle of thin porridge.

This ladle of porridge contained only a little grain, the rest being chaff and bran, and there were even sand and stones, barely enough to pad his stomach.

According to the Jin Dynasty's early disaster relief regulations, the porridge boiled in the sheds should be thick enough for a chopstick to stand upright in, and it should also be supplemented with vegetable leaves and oil, but this was clearly a myth that existed only on paper.

Lu Yuan did not care at all. After receiving the porridge, he walked out of the line, drank it down in two or three gulps, and then found a secluded spot in the settlement area, silently activating the 【Ingestion Technique】.

As this technique was activated, he could clearly feel the grain and chaff in his stomach digesting rapidly, turning into a gentle stream of heat that merged into his internal organs, making his whole body feel warm.

"Sure enough, digesting grain, even if it is chaff, provides much better nutrition than eating dirt."

Having finally eaten decent food after more than half a month, Lu Yuan let out a long breath.

Heaven have mercy, he had been eating dirt for a full half-month; even with the Ingestion Technique to rely on, he could barely stand it.

The Ingestion Technique could digest anything once applied, but relatively speaking, the higher the nutritional value of the food itself, the better the nourishing effect.

For example, eating grain is definitely better than eating dirt, and eating meat, or even tonics like ginseng and Solomon's seal, would certainly have better effects than ordinary grain.

Furthermore.

His current Ingestion Technique was still at the lowest level.

According to the information passed down by the Heavenly Book, the Earthly Fiend Seventy-Two Arts have four levels based on the degree of mastery: Human, Earth, Heaven, and Divine Communication.

Human, Earth, and Heaven can roughly be seen as meaning elementary, intermediate, and advanced, while Divine Communication represents the perfection of this technique, which can transform into a true Supernatural Power and condense a Dao Fruit.

Lu Yuan did not know what a Dao Fruit was, but he could imagine it must be something extraordinary. However, he had not even begun to cultivate immortality yet, and he was clearly too far from that level, so there was no need to think about it for now.

Just like that, after eating a Guanyin Earth cake to pad his stomach, he rested silently, waiting for the arrival of night.

When night came.

The night curtain descended, and darkness filled the sky.

The city gates of Fengyang Prefecture were tightly shut once again, and those clerks and yamen runners who served the porridge, as well as all the soldiers maintaining order, returned inside the city.

Seeing that it was the third watch, Lu Yuan stood up quietly among the sprawled-out disaster victims, carefully stepped over one obstacle after another to reach the base of the city wall, and proceeded along it, observing to see if there were any loopholes to exploit.

Interestingly, there were quite a few other disaster victims who had the same idea as him.

In the darkness, at least a hundred victims in the settlement area had quietly climbed up and were wandering along the edge of the city wall.

The final result, naturally, was that everyone returned empty-handed.

Fengyang Prefecture was, after all, the capital of the region, and the city walls were frequently repaired; it was impossible for them to leave obvious loopholes for them to exploit.

Lu Yuan had no other choice; he returned to the settlement area empty-handed, his brows tightly locked.

With natural and man-made disasters continuing today, the Fengyang government could not keep distributing grain for relief forever. At most, they would come up with a way to resettle them in three or five days; people like them absolutely could not stay here for too long.

If they were re-registered, relocated for food, and forcibly thrown into some godforsaken place to reclaim wasteland, that would be a huge problem.

"Wait two more days; if it still doesn't work, then leave this place and go somewhere else!"

Unlike other disaster victims, Lu Yuan had mastered the Ingestion Technique and could survive by eating dirt and grass; the world was vast, and he could actually go anywhere.

If he couldn't get into Fengyang Prefecture, going to other nearby county towns would also work.

In this day and age, with natural and man-made disasters and bandits running rampant, traveling alone was also a dangerous thing, but in such a situation, he had no other choice and could only prepare in advance.

In the blink of an eye, a night passed.

To Lu Yuan's surprise, the turning point appeared even earlier than he had expected.

Just the next morning, not long after the city gates opened, a commotion broke out among the disaster victims on the north side of the settlement area.

Lu Yuan looked toward the sound and discovered that the area near the city gate had already been surrounded by disaster victims, and a large number of victims were rushing over; he did not know what had happened.

The porridge sheds only opened at noon and in the evening. Without a word, he immediately stepped forward and rushed over, relying on his physique, which surpassed that of an ordinary person, to squeeze into the crowd.

It turned out that upon learning of the arrival of the disaster victims, many wealthy families in the city and even human traffickers had moved at the news, coming out of the city to buy people.

In recent years, the Great Jin Dynasty had ostensibly banned the buying and selling of people, but the Jin Clan nobles were the first to ignore it, causing this decree to be no different from a blank sheet of paper.

And in years of famine, people could be said to be cheaper than livestock. Whether it was wealthy households in the city or human trafficking agencies, they would all buy people in large numbers to keep as slaves or sell.

At this very moment, stewards of wealthy households and human traffickers were patrolling the disaster victims in the settlement area under the protection of the city-guarding soldiers;

And upon learning of their intentions, many disaster victims did not hide, but instead impatiently led their half-grown children forward for selection, and if they were not chosen, they even begged piteously.

After all, in such years, even the dogs kept by wealthy families did not lack food. If their own children could be sold to these families, not only could the children survive, but the rest of the family could also survive.

Relatively speaking, what did it matter if they became slaves or servants?

This scene made Lu Yuan shake his head repeatedly.

Selling oneself into slavery was indeed a way to enter the city, but one's life and death would be at the whim of the master's family.

With his golden finger, he was far from being at the end of his rope, so naturally, he would not demean himself to slavery and take such a desperate measure.

However, just as he was preparing to go back and think of another way.

Another gathering place for disaster victims not far away caught his attention.

He walked over, pushed through the crowd, and then saw a simple platform built with wooden crates among the crowd. A fierce-looking man wearing brocade clothes with tattoos on his wrists, accompanied by several burly, thug-like subordinates, was standing on the platform and shouting:

"Listen well, my Qinglong Gang has three thousand members in Fengyang Prefecture and is the number one gang in the city!"

"Our North Hall Beitang Gambling Garden is now recruiting hands. The requirement is healthy young men between eighteen and thirty; those who are sick, weak, or disabled need not apply!"

"After joining the gang, you will immediately receive a settlement fee of two Silver Yuan, and there will be wine and meat. If you dare to fight, you can eat and drink well, and play with women as you please!"

"Those who wish to join the gang, come up to the stage, lift this hundred-jin iron lock and hold it for ten breaths, and you shall be selected!"

"I'll say this in advance: joining the gang means shedding blood, fighting, and risking your life, so don't come if you're a spineless coward!"

Qinglong Gang?

Is this recruiting thugs?

Lu Yuan, in the crowd, heard this, and his eyes immediately lit up.

(End of chapter)