Chapter 692: There Is Hope

"Inside people's bodies, a Seed has been planted!"

Clutching the bloodthirsty plant in his hand, Shen Yu frowned slightly; this was a plant even he could not name.

One must know, he had once obtained a "Hundred Herbs Classic" through sign-ins, which recorded in detail the habits of various exotic flowers and grasses in this World; it could be said that he recognized the vast majority of rare flora.

Yet, for this one before his eyes, he had absolutely no impression of it; it was truly strange.

"Are there many people like you who have been planted with a Seed?"

"Many, very many. I fear that thousands upon thousands of people die because of this every day!"

Perhaps sensing Shen Yu's confusion, the young man then said, "Great Hero, you may not know, but just a few months ago, near the time of harvest, there was a sudden torrential downpour, the river embankments burst, and countless villages were submerged."

"Since then, grain prices have skyrocketed, the imperial court's disaster relief funds have been slow to arrive, a large number of commoners have starved to death, countless people have been displaced, and those who starved to death by the roadside are beyond counting."

"Wait a moment!" Hearing the young man's words, Shen Yu raised his head, somewhat puzzled.

I asked you about the Seed, and you talk to me about a flood. Besides, he had never heard of any place experiencing a flood.

"You say there was a sudden flood here? How is it that I have never heard of it?"

"Great Hero, that is because the news was blocked; no one knows everything that has happened here!"

"Everyone wanted to flee the famine, but the borders of the prefecture and county were held by a large army, and no one was allowed to leave. All news simply could not get out."

"Only now do I understand that they were not afraid of us fleeing the famine, nor were they afraid of us spreading the news of the flood here, nor were they afraid of the imperial court's blame; they wanted to pen us in like livestock."

"They wanted to trap everyone here and let us become nourishment, and among those who did it, there must be those people from the government; only they could accomplish such things!"

Taking a deep breath, the young man then let out a heavy sigh; they were all people trapped here unable to live, and the helplessness and bitterness in their hearts were things outsiders could never know.

"You mean to say that it was the government that penned you in?"

"Yes, it must be them. Not long after, the government suddenly began disaster relief, and large quantities of grain were distributed."

"But they had one condition: if you wanted to exchange for grain, you had to accept having a cut made on your body. And after that, those who had been cut needed to go to a place they designated to live."

"Legend has it that one can eat fish and meat every day there, it's just that there is no freedom, but in daily life, one can occasionally send things back to their family."

"Therefore, those who were chosen all took this as an honor, desperately wanting others to make a cut on them."

"At the time, I also wanted to go collect grain, but my father desperately stopped me. My father said they were taking the opportunity to select suitable people to plant a Seed inside their bodies!"

Sighing heavily, he had experienced that feeling of extreme hunger, and precisely because he had experienced it, he understood everyone's choice even more.

He had once seen with his own eyes people eating dirt until they bloated to death, and people exchanging children to eat; these tragic scenes recorded in books were appearing so vividly before his own eyes.

All etiquette and morality completely collapsed at this moment. In order to survive, in order to fill their stomachs, people could no longer be called human.

At this time, let alone having a cut made on them, even if it meant cutting off their flesh or severing their limbs, as long as they could be given a mouthful of food, they would nod without hesitation.

If it weren't for his father holding his hand before he died, repeatedly urging him and making him swear not to go collect the government's grain, he would have gone long ago.

Catching his breath, the young man continued, "My father was a doctor, once a famous physician in the city, but later, for some reason, he became crazy."

"Therefore, his words were usually taken as the ravings of a madman, so I didn't fully believe them either."

"He said the same things to others, but no one believed him. Moreover, in order to survive, even if they knew there was a problem, everyone had no choice but to do it; they were truly starving!"

He also wanted to abide by the promise he made to his father, but there was no way; if he didn't eat a meal, he would feel faint with hunger.

In the end, he still couldn't hold back and went to collect the grain; he was also chosen, and a cut was made on his body.

Among those who went with him, many had been cut. And he also discovered that those who had been cut were usually those who were physically healthy.

Afterwards, he discovered a pattern: those who were extremely weak from hunger were only temporarily not chosen, and once their bodies recovered to a certain degree, they would be chosen.

If his guess was correct, this was clearly using grain to nourish everyone first, and once their bodies recovered a bit and gradually became robust, when they went to collect grain again, they would be chosen and then have that cut made.

These people who had been cut would afterwards be led to a new place to live together, served with good food and drink every day, and even supplied with fish and meat.

When he first went, he didn't expect the rumors to be true, that there really was fish and meat supplied here.

For the famine victims struggling in hunger and cold every day, the life here was something they would rather die than leave.

Therefore, the defense here was not too strict, which was the reason he was able to sneak out.

At the time, he already felt something was wrong; it was one thing for the government to provide disaster relief, but why would they supply fish and meat?

Afterwards, he felt his body was obviously weak, and there was always a strange itching sensation in his chest.

His father was a famous physician, and through constant exposure, he himself knew a little bit of medicine; at that time, he had already sensed that something was wrong with his body.

Subsequently, he began to quietly pay attention to the situation around him; every day, large groups of people were escorted to another place, and these people never returned once they went.

Legend has it that they went to a better place, where not only was there fish and meat every day, but there were also people to serve them, living a life that even wealthy landlords would envy.

Out of curiosity at the time, he quietly followed them for a while, and then he saw a scene that he still finds hard to forget to this day.

It turned out that a large number of people died every day, and the government would clear these people out every day; no one had ever seen what these dead people looked like.

Previously, he thought these people had all starved to death, and he was a bit strange at the time: didn't the government open the granaries to distribute grain? How could anyone still starve to death?

Later, thinking about the government's character, he figured that even opening the granaries wouldn't be enough to feed everyone, so starving to death was within reason.

Now it seems that these people were not starved to death at all; they clearly all died because the Seed in their bodies had blossomed and borne fruit.

"I seem to have generally understood: using grain to keep those famine victims hanging on, making them willingly become soil for the Seed!"

Pondering for a moment, a few traces of killing intent could not help but rise in Shen Yu's heart. If this was truly done by the government, then everyone here deserved to die.

"Didn't you say that after you were taken away by them, you went to a designated place to live? Where are those places?"

"Great Hero, there are many places they designate. After all, there are thousands upon thousands of people chosen every day, so there are definitely not few such places!"

Speaking of this, the young man was silent for a moment, then whispered, "At the time, I was also curious: with so many people chosen every day, even if they built temporary barracks, it would be too late. How could there be enough room?"

"Now I know that while many people are chosen every day, just as many die, so the barracks will definitely not be insufficient."

"I also know why they would provide disaster relief grain openly, and why they weren't afraid that they wouldn't be able to support it as more and more people were chosen, because those people were destined to die."

"Although the grain would decrease, the number of people is also decreasing rapidly, and the consumption will only become less and less."

"Great Hero, the most important thing for us now is to flee this place; this place has been completely controlled by them!"

"Set your heart at ease!" Sensing the tension in the young man, Shen Yu patted his shoulder. "I will handle this matter; don't worry!"

"Great Hero, they have many people and great power, the government is full of experts, and they have a large army in their hands. You must absolutely not act impulsively!"

"Rest assured, a bunch of rabble can't amount to anything!"

"Such a big tone?" He couldn't help but swallow his saliva; he hadn't known that someone could have such a big tone, not even putting an army of one hundred thousand in their eyes.

"May I ask, great hero, who are you..."

"My name is Shen Yu!"

"Shen Yu? Shen Yu!" He suddenly woke up; he had heard of this name before, it was a name that seemed like a legend!

But when he looked up again, Shen Yu's tracks had already vanished from before his eyes.

Shen Yu, that is to say, their Chengzhou is saved!