Chapter 821: Grain

Chapter 821: Grain

Li Huowang walked through the Great Qi with a solemn expression, his gaze sweeping over everything around him.

This place was not like Niu San had described—it held nothing but grass. At least in the capital of Daliang, Youdu, there were vast stretches of ruined walls and broken pillars that stretched endlessly.

Li Huowang had arrived here via the Spine Sword from Shangjing, naturally finding himself in the capital city of Great Qi, since Shangjing was built upon the ruins of the Great Qi capital.

A person blocked his path. She lay sprawled on the ground like a corpse, devoid of any sign of life.

The woman appeared to be fat, yet after more than ten days of starvation, her body had not wasted away to bones—instead, she had swollen from drinking too much water.

Just as Li Huowang raised his foot to step over her, she suddenly moved, tremblingly raising her right hand, whose fingernails were blackened.

Her cracked, pale lips trembled open as if she wanted to say something, but before Li Huowang could do anything, her hand fell limply to her side. She had died of starvation.

Beside them, Qiu Baochi was terrified by this scene and screamed, clutching her rotting child and running far away.

Li Huowang clenched his fists tightly, then slowly released them, continuing forward with long strides.

This was not the first person he had seen die of hunger—he doubted it would be the last. Throughout the capital of Great Qi, such roadside corpses were everywhere.

Though Li Huowang knew that what he should do now was bring grain from Daliang, saving one person at a time,

if he wanted to save all of Great Qi, he couldn’t just do that.

If they didn’t organize themselves and begin to help each other, no matter how much grain he brought, it would be useless.

Relief efforts required not only food, but also the organizational capacity to manage the refugees of all of Great Qi.

When Li Huowang reached a temple, seeing rows of monks distributing porridge, he immediately realized he had found the people he sought—the monks of Zhengde Temple.

As Li Huowang prepared to walk toward them, he suddenly felt something was off. “There’s nothing left. Where did this porridge come from?”

Thinking this, he hurried to the porridge stand and discovered that what was being given to the people of Great Qi wasn’t plain rice porridge or mixed grain porridge—but meat broth!

At that moment, a monk pushed a wheelbarrow out of the city. Various dead bodies were scattered across the cart, and the woman on top was the same one who had died of starvation in front of him!

“May the Buddha bless you, Master Li. How have you been?” The abbot of Zhengde Temple, Chan Du, spoke from behind Li Huowang.

Li Huowang turned around, staring at him in shock. “You... you’re eating people?!”

“Master Li, you speak wrongly. They are already dead. In the eyes of the Buddha, flesh is merely skin. Moreover, our monks chant sutras and ring the wooden fish to perform rituals for the deceased before cooking them.”

“And besides, where else can we find grain? As monks, we must show compassion. Can we stand idly by while others starve to death just because of the taboo of the dead?”

Li Huowang stood frozen for a long time, unable to utter a word. Ignoring the large pot beside him, he turned and walked toward Zhengde Temple.

He knew that if he said anything against their cannibalism now, he’d be accused of “not knowing how to eat meat,” which was worse than the situation itself. They simply wanted to live.

Compared to the rest of the capital, Zhengde Temple had not fallen into ruin due to the monks’ influence, at least on the surface, it was still habitable.

The monks inside looked healthy, without signs of hunger.

Li Huowang sat down on a stone bench beneath a tree sprouting new shoots and addressed Chan Du directly: “This won’t work. If there’s no grain, those who survive will also die soon.”

“Didn’t Zhengde Temple used to be the state religion of Great Qi? And with all the good deeds you’ve done, your reputation among the people of Great Qi should be quite high, shouldn’t it?”

“Why do you say this, Master Li?”

“To save lives! I don’t want to see anyone starve to death anymore!”

Then Li Huowang laid out his plan fully to the abbot of Zhengde Temple.

“You use the prestige of Zhengde Temple to gather as many survivors as possible. I’ll send grain and seeds. Same planting, same distribution.”

“There must be officials among the survivors, right? They’re good at managing. Let them work. We must get the government of Great Qi back up and running as soon as possible. Only then can we revive this dead game!”

“Buddha be praised, Master Li, you possess the heart of a bodhisattva. I thank the people of Great Qi on your behalf,” Chan Du bowed deeply to Li Huowang.

“Enough! No need for more words. Start acting now. Every moment in Great Qi, people are dying.”

Li Huowang stood up and pulled out the Spine Sword to return to Daliang, but Chan Du blocked his way.

“Senior Brother Li, I hear you’ve perfected your cultivation. Could you perhaps conjure grain out of thin air?”

“Do you really think that’s possible? Do you think I’m a god of fate?” Li Huowang sighed. “I don’t know if I can do it later, but certainly not now.”

“I do have the ability to create grain,” Li Huowang said, looking at the stone table in front of him. Under his gaze, the stones began to swell and round, quickly turning into a pile of white steamed buns.

The sight of these white, fluffy buns instantly caught the attention of the monks at Zhengde Temple, their mouths watering loudly.

“These things are edible, and delicious, but once I stop maintaining my cultivation, they turn back into stone.”

With a thought, the buns instantly transformed into hard black rocks.

“I can’t constantly focus on keeping this food real—it’s slow and won’t save many people. Why not just send a few bags of grain from Daliang instead?”

“I’m not trying to save a few people—I want to save all of Great Qi!” Li Huowang said, pulling out the Spine Sword and returning to Shangjing.

Back in Shangjing, Li Huowang wasted no time. He rushed into the grain store and demanded grain.

Just as the shopkeeper thought he had met a big customer and was delighted beyond measure, an old eunuch entered holding his golden dustpan.

“Master Li, if you buy grain with gold conjured from your cultivation, you’ll be a fraud,” he said.

“All this grain was grown by the people of Daliang to fill their bellies. Now you’re taking it away to Great Qi without paying—doesn’t that go against the rules?”

Li Huowang sneered at him and said nothing. “Who said I was cheating? I have money! I even own a courtyard in Shangjing! What? You think I’ll sell the house and still buy grain?”

“That’s natural. Though grain prices are high now, a courtyard in Shangjing is worth a lot. But what if the money runs out?”

Standing before him, Li Huowang said clearly, “I’m still pickling a corpse in Shangjing! Is that enough?! Now get out of here!”

The eunuch took two steps back, respectfully bowed to Li Huowang, and left the grain store.

Furious, Li Huowang turned around and scared the grain store owner so badly that he trembled.

“What are you staring at?! Hurry up and have your staff load the grain! I’ll go get the deed!”