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Chapter 14 Deserved Responsibilities

“But before we discuss a deal, I need to figure out what really happened,” he asked. “Who is that person?”

"Shen Fang, Prefect of Zhangwei."

Chen Xuan checked on his phone and found that the position was roughly equivalent to the mayor of a municipality directly under the central government.

Liu Shuyue was directly assigned by the sect to assist the king, so she was considered a vice-king-level official and her status should be above that of the other party.

"He doesn't listen to you?"

“He doesn’t need to listen to me because I never considered interfering in politics in the first place. At that time, I felt that doing so would allow me to remain untainted and not lose my integrity because of power, but the price would be the loss of power.”

Liu Shuyue took a sip of coffee, frowning as usual at the bitterness, but quickly took another big gulp, as if the bitterness was no longer so unbearable for her.

She said it so naturally, without a trace of regret.

In other words, Liu Shuyue did not feel resentful about not having power.

“I just don’t understand… why people can’t learn anything from history,” she murmured, staring at her coffee.

It seems a lot has happened in the past five years.

"It's okay, you can tell me slowly... This shop exists to resolve the confusion and troubles in the hearts of its customers."

“I also wanted to speak slowly,” Liu Shuyue shook her head slightly, “but time waits for no one…every moment of delay could mean more deaths, so I’ll keep it short.”

After saying that, she drank the coffee in one gulp.

Strange... In my memory, this thing was more bitter than sweet, but now it seems to be sweeter than bitter.

Even the young businessman's face... didn't look so mercenary anymore.

Have my standards become too low?
She paused for a moment, then said seriously, “A great disaster has occurred in western Qingzhou. You probably don’t know, but the city we are in now, Zhangwei, is in Qingzhou. This disaster was caused by a monster called Anba, which can cause rice paddies to wither and all fruits to fail. It is my duty to slay the monster, so I rushed here to eliminate it, but the disaster that has already occurred will not disappear just because the monster is gone. Because it is close to the harvest season, the consequences of this famine are particularly severe, and it is estimated that more than 300,000 people will be affected.”

“I came from the west, and I saw refugees everywhere along the way… In this situation, the only chance of survival is to go to the less affected state cities.”

At this point, Liu Shuyue's expression darkened slightly, as if she had remembered something unpleasant.

"It's actually a famine..."

Chen Xuan knew that the group of disaster victims definitely did not include wealthy families or those who received government stipends, because they must have a large amount of grain stored up, and even if they didn't, they could buy it at a high price.

When famine strikes, the most vulnerable are ordinary people who have neither food nor money—their ability to withstand risks is too poor, and they can hardly withstand a prolonged period of soaring food prices, so fleeing is almost the only option.

The problem was that Prefect Zhangwei neither agreed to let these refugees into the city nor was willing to relocate them to other towns.

His only response so far has been to distribute relief porridge outside the city gates.

This amount of food might be enough to feed a thousand people, but it would be insignificant for six or seven thousand, not to mention that even more refugees would be arriving soon.

Liu Shuyue's proposals were also quite "advanced": first, to issue official bonds; and second, to implement work relief programs.

Bonds were purchased by aristocratic families and wealthy households, and the funds and grain raised were used for disaster relief without increasing the burden on the government's finances. Furthermore, the work-for-relief program avoided the practice of people shirking their responsibilities and provided an opportunity to further develop Zhangwei City. As long as they persisted until the disaster relief funds and grain arrived from various regions, the problem would be easily solved.

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan couldn't help but smile knowingly.

These two suggestions were clearly the answers Liu Shuyue found from her extensive reading of history and the present. Having withstood the test of many disasters, this combination of strategies was almost the optimal solution.

"So the argument I just heard was about your suggestion."

“That’s right, he refused.” Liu Shuyue sighed. “I can guess what he’s thinking… As long as the king doesn’t give the order, he’ll follow the rules. It’s not wrong not to do anything extra; doing more can easily lead to more mistakes. Besides, grain prices haven’t reached their peak yet, and the refugees still have some money left. Taking grain money from wealthy households to provide disaster relief now is tantamount to going against them. Why bother?”

"So he told me that the disaster relief report had already been sent to the capital by express courier, and other prefectures were also mobilizing grain and fodder to prepare for local relief, so there was no need to do anything more. What I need to do now is to appease the people, so as not to cause panic among the people in the city due to the rapid rise in grain prices." Chen Xuan heard her sneer for the first time.

"I'm afraid that to Lord Shen, those refugees outside are no longer considered civilians at all. There are six or seven thousand now, but in a few days they will become ten thousand, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands? This is not the first time something like this has happened in Qingzhou. Books have recorded stories of starving people rioting, seizing cities, and looting. Isn't he afraid of repeating the same mistakes?"

"Because he really does own a cow."

“What kind of analogy is this…” Liu Shuyue’s expression was solemn. “I can’t let things continue like this… many people will die. I have to admit that the moment I met you, I felt lucky. I want to exchange abilities—an ability that can solve the current problem.”

Chen Xuan nodded, but did not answer immediately.

“I know this request is ridiculously high, and the only sect in the world capable of handling this matter properly is probably the Lotus Cloud Sect. However, sects certainly won't interfere in the mortal world. If there's any other opportunity that could help me, this shop is the only one I can think of.” She stood up, clasped her hands in a fist and bowed. “In return, I will offer a high-grade ability in exchange!”

Seeing that he remained silent for a long time, Liu Shuyue lowered her eyes. "I was presumptuous. Such an extraordinary ability is indeed unlikely to exist—"

“Who says we don’t?” Chen Xuan suddenly interrupted. “As long as customers have needs, our store can definitely meet them.”

Her eyes lit up.

“But I have a few questions for you…” He gestured for the other person to sit down again. “If I remember correctly, sect disciples aren’t responsible for disaster relief, right? The disaster caused by the monsters can’t be attributed to you, so even if you don’t care about the victims, no one can blame you. Disaster relief is the government’s job, and if you want to get involved, you’ll inevitably encounter a lot of resistance, which might go against your original intention of not interfering in politics. Do you really need to go this far?”

Liu Shuyue stared at him for a long time before shaking her head and saying in a deep voice, "Not long ago, I thought so too."

"Not long ago?"

"I think it was around last week when I cut off Anba's head. The monster is dead, and I've achieved my goal... Now it's time to go to another town and deal with the next problem. After all, the place where monsters are causing trouble isn't just in western Qingzhou, and currently only sect disciples are good at handling this kind of trouble."

Chen Xuan nodded in agreement, or rather, this was in line with the practices of the Lianyun Sect cultivators—there were plenty of officials who could undertake disaster relief tasks, but very few who could slay demons.

As the saying goes, everyone has their own expertise, and Liu Shuyue couldn't possibly be unaware of this principle.

"But I saw something on my way back to Zhangwei... and it changed my mind."

"What's the matter?" Chen Xuan asked curiously.

She closed her eyes, as if recalling the scene: "I passed by a dilapidated temple in a wasteland and saw smoke rising from the temple roof. I could smell the aroma of stewed meat from a hundred paces away. There were no villages or towns nearby, nor was it a hunting ground. How could there be meat to eat? I could only think of one possibility... that someone had crossed the line and become a vicious cannibal."

"So I took my sword and went into that dilapidated temple. Once they have fallen to the point of making a living by taking the lives of others, they can no longer be considered ordinary disaster victims."

Chen Xuan remained silent.

He heard Liu Shuyue mention that grain prices had not yet reached their peak, and he thought that the famine was not that serious yet. But now that he thought about it, Zhang Wei was not in the core area of ​​the disaster, and the famine spread in different stages. The central part of Qingzhou was still able to remain stable, but the western part, which was the most severely affected, was probably far from the same.

"As it turned out, I did see a group of vicious bandits. They were no different from the bandits in the mountains and forests. They divided up the stolen goods while chopping up the victims and throwing them into a pot. The only difference was that these people were all skinny children, the oldest of whom was no more than thirteen or fourteen years old."

"Children?" Chen Xuan frowned. "Could they do something like this with their physiques?"

“Ordinary people definitely couldn’t compete, so their target was very clear: their own parents.” Liu Shuyue’s voice became somber as she spoke. “Parenticide is unforgivable. I had no reason to show mercy to such beasts. But when I started to wipe them out, one of the girls rushed out and yelled at me, ‘What did they do wrong? Should they just obediently die and become their fathers’ and mothers’ food?’”

She opened her eyes and stared at Chen Xuan in a daze. "Later I realized that their parents had treated them as food to save their lives—whether they were sold to others or eaten by themselves, they were just food. However, some adults did not expect that the food would turn around and bite them."

"So in the end... you let them go?"

"No, I killed them all," Liu Shuyue replied. "Because among the remains of those dead were several children of the same age. They were brutally murdered by this group of thugs simply because they refused to harm their own relatives. If I let them go, wouldn't that be the greatest injustice to those who refused to join in? Besides, these people have already tasted the sweetness of it all, and they will only become more ruthless and slide into an even more twisted abyss. This makes me think of a question: what is the difference between them and demons?"

"On the surface, they seem the same... They both eat people and make the world more chaotic, but before the famine, they were just ordinary people. So that's my answer..."

Liu Shuyue paused for a moment, "If I sit idly by, many more people will surely follow in their footsteps and turn into monsters before the disaster is relieved. At that time, I will have no choice but to eliminate them one by one. But if I have the opportunity to resolve the famine, can't I also achieve the goal of slaying monsters without having to stain my blade with unnecessary blood?"

"That's why I chose to stay in Zhangwei, even if it goes against my past principles. But I'm certain of one thing: this is still about slaying demons, and it's the responsibility of a sect disciple."

(End of this chapter)