Chapter 282: Heading North to Take It Themselves
Under the heavy snow, disaster relief efforts continued.
Led by the Supervisor from the Suxian Supervisor, local government soldiers and yamen runners quickly joined in, first relocating all the people near the town into the city.
After completing this, they began searching for those trapped in the mountains and wilderness.
These people usually lived in remote areas, mostly in villages, ranging from dozens of people to just a few households. They were unable to run into the city and could hardly survive for long in the snow.
Initially, such searches were extremely difficult.
Because the snowy weather made everything a vast white expanse, accurate searching with the naked eye was impossible.
Body Refining practitioners from the Suxian Supervisor were somewhat better, but a large number of Supervisors from the Suxian Supervisor had low cultivation, and many suffered from snow blindness during prolonged searches.
Even some local government officials with no cultivation at all frequently found themselves trapped during the search.
Some local Sect and Immortal Villas looked on coldly, offering no assistance.
To them, such matters wasted their cultivation time.
However, one day, this situation suddenly changed dramatically.
The efficiency of the rescue teams began to continuously improve, and countless refugees were rescued and poured into the city, causing these Sect and Immortal Villas to frown deeply.
Although these cities had their own city officials, most were strongholds of large clans, and so many refugees pouring in would naturally disturb their peaceful cultivation.
Many Sect and Immortal Villas wondered why these rescue teams seemed to have suddenly gained Heavenly Eyes, rescuing such a large number of people each time.
Until one day, one of them found a letter from the government.
The content of these letters was simple: they depicted forests, hills, and villages as reference points, with arrows indicating locations.
"What is this?"
"Sent by the Suxian Supervisor. The search teams followed these drawings and found many trapped refugees at every location."
"Who found these locations???"
"According to them, an Immortal found them with Divine Thought."
"Searching mountains with Divine Thought? What a joke—"
All the cultivators who heard this changed their expressions slightly, pulling at the corners of their mouths and calling it absurd.
Because there were some things that Mortals might not know, but they were clear: how high a cultivation level was needed to search mountains with Divine Thought.
At the same time, Ji You sat with pale lips on a broken wall crushed by heavy snow, the golden light in his eyes lingering as if staining his pupils.
He had already slept, but at this moment, he still felt a sense of being hollowed out and weak.
He felt that if the Young Master Jian of Lingjian Mountain saw him in such a dispirited state, she would even dare to run into his arms naked.
Not far in front of him, Kuang Cheng was leading the people from the Suxian Supervisor, along with a group of yamen runners who remained in the city, to settle the newly rescued refugees.
Many of the children had blue hands and feet from the cold. They were now gathered in front of a charcoal fire, shivering while holding millet porridge.
Their Faces had not returned to normal for a long time.
Some of the more severe cases had frostbite on their bodies and were being treated with ointment by doctors carrying medicine chests.
Ji You quietly watched this scene in the wind and snow, and suddenly felt a gaze fall upon him.
Turning his head, Kuang Cheng was settling new refugees not far away. He straightened up and waved at him.
In fact, ever since encountering the little girl who froze to death on the road the day before yesterday, Brother Kuang had felt that Brother Ji's complexion had been poor, with a faint hint of black Qi between his brows.
But after entering the city and seeing many people rescued, he found that Brother Ji's complexion gradually improved.
Brother Ji saved many people, but at the same time, he felt that Brother Ji seemed to be saving himself as well.
Just then, Peng Dongyang came with a letter: "Master Kuang, the first batch of disaster relief grain from Feng Province has arrived. Please find someone to distribute it."
"Should we ask Brother Ji first?"
Peng Dongyang was stunned for a moment: "The grain is from Feng Province, so it should be."
Then the three walked towards the collapsed broken wall and looked at the tired Ji You: "Young Master Ji suddenly fainted in the mountains, which really scared this old man. How is he now?"
Ji You opened his dry lips: "My Divine Thought was overused, but fortunately, my body is strong, and I feel much better after a good sleep."
"The first batch of disaster relief grain from Feng Province has arrived. We wanted to ask if we should distribute it now."
"How do you plan to distribute it?"
Peng Dongyang looked back: "The refugees gathered in the city are basically organized by village. I think we should distribute it by village, according to the number of people."
Ji You surveyed the places where refugees were gathered: "By village, call all women, old people, and children to collect it. Each person gets two portions according to the head count. Men do not get any. If anyone comes with signs of beating or injury, the entire village's portion will be halved."
Peng Dongyang pondered for a long time, then turned around thoughtfully to give the order.
Ji You saw this and called out to him: "Remember, my grain is not given for free. After eating my grain today, you will have to come to my Feng Province to work off your debt after winter is over."
"Understood."
"Thank you, Master Peng."
Peng Dongyang bowed deeply, then rose and left to convey the order.
Subsequently, the first batch of grain was unloaded, prepared according to the head count, and began to be distributed according to the process set by Ji You. For several consecutive days, only the old, weak, women, and children came to collect it, bringing the grain back to their village's shelter.
On the first day, many women had injuries, but as time passed, their injuries gradually lessened, and no new injuries were added.
There were also some young children who had been rescued very early. Even after the Worry-Free Commerce had distributed all its stored grain, they were still pale from hunger, but now they finally showed improvement.
However, after the problem of food shortage was temporarily resolved with the arrival of the first batch of grain, another urgent problem arose.
That is, as the number of refugees increased, the spaces beneath the city walls and in the threshing grounds were all occupied.
One must know that it was still a season of freezing cold, and the cold wind alone was enough to take half a person's life. Having refugees gather in such open-air places was not a long-term solution.
After all, winter would be very long, lasting for several months, and no one could endure that long under such conditions.
Ji You had been pondering these days whether he should kill a few Immortal Villas to alleviate this urgent situation, but then he thought that if he really went that far, even with boundless combat power, he might not be able to withstand it.
At that time, not only he, but also the Suxian Supervisor and these refugees, would probably not escape disaster.
However, at this vexing moment, Kuang Cheng brought him to a courtyard.
This courtyard was vast, with many houses, but it was empty.
"This courtyard is a vacant residence of a southern family here. People only come during spring and autumn to appreciate the seasonal changes. It is currently unoccupied."
"There's such a good place?"
Then Kuang Cheng took him by carriage to the west of the city, and just like before, pushed open another courtyard.
This courtyard was also used by one of the Sect for spring outings and summer retreats, and it was currently unoccupied.
After seeing them, Ji You looked at Kuang Cheng with a strange expression: "How do you know about these courtyards?"
"Rui'er sent me a letter yesterday, telling me the locations of these courtyards and asking me to see if they were suitable for shelter."
"Young Miss Rui also participated in this?"
Kuang Cheng nodded: "Although Rui'er did not come here with us, she has been helping at the Suxian Supervisor these past few days, calculating the required grain and tallying the number of disaster victims."
Li You looked at the courtyard: "Behind red gates, wine and meat go to waste; on the road, people freeze to death."
"Brother Ji, what do you think of settling the disaster victims here?"
"How could Immortals allow Mortals to live in their courtyards? But given the situation, this is the only way. If any trouble arises, we can ask Tianshu Academy to mediate. "
Subsequently, the refugees were moved into these vacant gardens, but Ji You did not let them remain idle.
Instead, he had them use this time to build temporary shelters in the original threshing grounds and by the city walls, to accommodate refugees who would enter the city later.
Moreover, giving these refugees something to do could also prevent them from overthinking and causing chaos.
However, Ji You only thought of one thing after these people moved in: where did Kuang Cheng get the keys?
He asked Kuang Cheng, who said that Wei Rui had borrowed them and that there was no need to worry about these Sect settling scores later.
Wei Rui, being merely the granddaughter of the Great Xia Prime Minister, having such great Face truly surprised Ji You.
After the houses were built, more refugees were continuously rescued and brought into the city. Ji You visited several times, mainly to see the children.
Then he discovered that the Suxian Supervisor was feeding them a reddish Medicinal Pill, each about the size of a fingernail.
"What is this?"
"Cold Expelling Pill. After taking it, it can remove cold poison and warm the body."
Ji You watched the child in front of him take the Medicinal Pill, observed for a long time, and then asked: "Does this Medicinal Pill have any side effects?"
The Supervisor from the Suxian Supervisor immediately replied: "To answer Young Master, there are no side effects."
"A Medicinal Pill from the Dan Sect?"
"Yes."
The only one in the world who could refine Medicinal Pills without side effects was the Dan Sect. Ji You picked one up and looked at it for a long time: "Where did this Medicinal Pill come from?"
That Supervisor pointed to a figure not far away: "Master Kuang contacted someone to send it. It is said to be the work of Young Miss Wei, the Prime Minister's daughter."
Upon hearing this, Ji You couldn't help but look up at Kuang Cheng.
The Dan Sect's Medicinal Pills were never sold externally, let alone to Mortal women.
Furthermore, after the news of his failure to break through in Xianxian Holy Land spread, the Dan Sect's attitude towards him also changed.
It was highly unlikely they would specifically send Medicinal Pills out of consideration for him.
As for Yuan Caiwei, she might want to, but at this time, it was the moment for the Dan Sect to deliver Medicinal Pills to the Immortal Sect. The Dan Sect would not allow her to waste time on such Cold Expelling Pills.
Ji You pondered, then patted the child's head in front of him, and stood up to look around.
Not far away, some cultivators with decent cultivation were staring at him in the wind and snow.
Spirit Stones had been cut off a few days ago. Several Sect in Jiuzhou had set off for Shengjing, while several large clans in the vicinity had specifically sent people to watch him, planning to act as soon as there was a result.
In addition, people from several nearby Immortal Villas were also watching, waiting for the end of this farce.
This atmosphere of continuously approaching murderous intent naturally made people nervous.
The people of the Suxian Supervisor had been quite apprehensive these past few days, as they themselves knew that the impact of the Spirit Stone cutoff was too great.
When Ji You made this decision, the people of the Suxian Supervisor advised him to think twice.
However, Ji You said he had his own arrangements and then ordered Feng Province that if anyone came to ask, they should blame everything on him.
He also said that he was a Disciple of Tianshu Academy and not subject to the control of Sect; only Tianshu Academy could order him.
As expected, the Sect went to Shengjing to demand accountability.
But the problem was that he had always been a loner in Tianshu Academy, and had never thought of making friends. It was said that he even politely declined several invitations from Fairy He, a direct Disciple of Zizai Hall. So how could anyone in Tianshu Academy speak up for him?
Amidst the anxiety, the disaster relief efforts continued.
During this period, some cultivators who came to monitor him even followed him closely, but saw no change in Ji You's expression, which boosted the morale of the Suxian Supervisor's people.
Not long after the news came that over a dozen Sect had gathered in Shengjing and were heading to Ni Mountain, several Sect not far from here suddenly moved.
They hired several carriages, loaded with grain and supplies, and drove onto the official road leading to the North, disappearing in a bumpy ride. It was at this moment that the people following Ji You left overnight.
"Why did they all leave?"
"They said they were going to the North to take it themselves—"