Starting with a daily divination to build an immortal clan

Chapter 44 Natural Disasters, Refugees

Huang Lingxiu arrived at Jinliu Village three days later.

The rain continued to fall. In the past few days, Shen Yuan and Hu Yufen took advantage of the absence of others to find a secluded and dry cave not far from Blackwater Pool. The couple transported two cartloads of grain into the cave.

Around noon, Hu Yufen stewed a pot of meat to treat Huang Lingxiu.

After finishing her meal, she started preparing a medicinal stew for Shen Wen'an to take later to strengthen his body.

"Husband, later take some silver and give the money for the sword and the medicinal food to Lingxiu."

"Even if she and Shitou are married, we can't just take advantage of them."

Shen Yuan nodded, agreeing with his wife's reasoning.

Huang Lingxiu's family background is better than theirs, but after the two families become in-laws, they can't be parasites that suck blood; that wouldn't be right.

As evening approached, Huang Lingxiu watched Shen Wen'an take the medicinal meal and gave him some pointers on precautions before preparing to return to town.

Shen Yuan came up with a money bag in his hand.

"Girl, this is the money for the sword and medicinal food we bought last time. You have to take it."

After several attempts to persuade and refuse, Huang Lingxiu realized she couldn't go against Shen Yuan's wishes and had no choice but to accept the money pouch.

"Uncle Shen, Wen'an, I'm leaving."

"Come again in a few days."

……

Border military camp of Yunzhong County.

After a day of training, Zhao Jinhu hurriedly arrived at a camp tent.

The two soldiers guarding the door immediately stopped him.

"Brothers, I...I'm looking for Shen Wenxing..."

Zhao Jinhu looked anxious, but he didn't dare to force his way in, so he politely cupped his hands in greeting.

"Is he from the same hometown as Shi Tou?"

One of them looked at Zhao Jinhu and felt that he looked familiar, asking with a puzzled expression.

"Exactly! Exactly!"

Zhao Jinhu quickly responded.

"Wait."

The soldier said something and turned to walk into the tent.

A moment later, Shen Wenxing, dressed in a black outfit with a crimson leather armor over it, walked out of the tent looking quite imposing.

"Brother Jin Hu, what happened?"

When the two arrived at the army, Shen Wenxing, unsurprisingly, became a squad leader in Zhang Bin's personal guard battalion.

As for Zhao Jinhu, because of his burly physique, he also became a swordsman and shieldman in the swordsman and shield battalion.

“Stone, I heard from the soldiers in the camp that Anyang, Yingyang, and Linshui counties have been flooded due to continuous heavy rain.”

"What if Jinliu Village..."

Floods?

Shen Wenxing frowned slightly; he hadn't actually paid attention to this matter.

"Brother Jin Hu, don't rush."

“Our Jinliu Village has experienced floods before. Dad and Uncle Zhao should know how to deal with it. Everything will be fine.”

“I will write a letter home later, and you should write one too, and we’ll send them back together to ask how things are going.”

Zhao Jinhu nodded repeatedly.

"That's exactly what I was thinking, but it's not the right time to send a letter home from the army yet, so I can only come to you."

Shen Wenxing nodded: "Go write it first, don't make a fuss. I'll ask the general for help later to send the letter home."

After calming Zhao Jinhu down, Shen Wenxing returned to his tent.

At that moment, Zhang Bin was deep in thought, staring at the map in front of him. When he saw him return, he casually asked, "What happened?"

Shen Wenxing immediately cupped his hands in apology: "General, please forgive me, it's a private matter."

Zhang Bin scoffed and said, "Stop pretending to be so righteous!"

"Say!"

Shen Wenxing chuckled.

Because of Huang Yunxiao's influence, and because his cultivation level had reached the peak of the Acquired Realm, he was deeply favored by Zhang Bin after joining the army.

In private, the two are more like uncle and nephew.

"Reporting to the General, my fellow villager said that Anyang, Yingyang, and Linshui counties have been flooded due to continuous heavy rains, and he is worried about the safety of his family."

After listening, Zhang Bin pondered for a moment and said, "I think I have also heard about this matter."

"You miss your family too, don't you, kid?"

Shen Wenxing didn't hide anything and nodded.

"Yes, that's only natural. I should have asked you to write a letter home to inquire about the situation, but now is a critical moment, and the army forbids any messages from being sent out."

"Well then, I'll ask someone to inquire with Brother Huang later to see if there's any news from your hometown."

Disabling messaging?
Shen Wenxing was slightly taken aback, vaguely guessing that the army was about to make a move.

At this critical juncture, Zhang Bin was even willing to ask someone to help him find out about his family, which could be considered as doing everything he could. "Thank you, General!"

Zhang Bin waved his hand and said seriously, "Send orders to all units. The General has ordered that our army break camp and set up camp tomorrow. We must reach our destination, which is eighty miles from Fengxian County, before the beginning of the month."

Shen Wenxing quickly clasped his hands in greeting, accepted the order, and left.

June.

The devastating flood that ravaged four counties in Yunzhong Prefecture and seven counties in the neighboring Yan Prefecture gradually receded.

This flood was even more ferocious than the one ten years ago. The land stretching for more than two thousand miles across eleven counties, including four counties in Yunzhong and seven counties in Yanjun, was turned into a vast expanse of water.

Although the floodwaters have receded, the crops in tens of thousands of hectares of fertile fields in these eleven counties have been destroyed.

In an instant, the fields were littered with corpses of the starving, and countless people perished.

"Ah Yuan, we owe you a lot this time."

In front of the cave above the Blackwater Pool, Shen Yuan's family, Zhao Shuan's family, Master Lu, and the mute man sat together.

The divination results from the "Sea of ​​Knowledge" have indicated rain for several consecutive days, and the rainfall is showing a trend of increasing intensity.

Shen Yuan realized that this plum rain season was likely to cause flooding, so he immediately reminded Zhao Shuan and the others to buy a large amount of millet from the town in advance and transport it to the mountain for storage.

Huang Qingzhou's family also moved away from Yunshui Town in the rain.

Afterwards, the Laishui River breached its banks, flooding all eleven counties along its course.

"The floodwaters are showing signs of receding now, hopefully it won't delay the planting of the next season's crops," Shen Yuan said in a deep voice.

Floods are natural disasters that are beyond human control, but fortunately, we were prepared in advance, so no one was injured and the losses were limited to one season's crops and houses.

"After natural disasters come man-made disasters."

Lu Zhiyuan sat on a blue stone, quietly looking into the distance and said in a deep voice.

"When I was young, I traveled around and witnessed firsthand the tragic scene of people exchanging children to eat each other in famine-stricken areas."

"Now that more than a dozen counties along the Laishui River are flooded, millions of people have been displaced, which will inevitably create a large number of refugees."

"These refugees will become a man-made disaster after the natural one, Brother Shen, you must not take it lightly."

Shen Yuan nodded.

He had already thought of that.

The greatest variable is the nature of humanity, whether good or evil. After a famine, refugees will do anything to survive.

"Brother Shuan, we'll have to take turns keeping watch from now on."

The cave behind them contained the food that both families, including Lu Zhiyuan, relied on for survival.

If someone sets their sights on you, that would be troublesome.

Time flies, and another half month has passed.

As the floodwaters receded, some starving refugees began to appear on the land.

On this day, Shen Yuan was on guard outside the cave when he suddenly saw a figure staggering towards him.

"Master!"

"Master!"

"Something bad is going to happen!"

The newcomer was Fu Gui, who was covered in blood, dressed in tattered clothes, and looked extremely disheveled.

"Uncle Fu, what happened?"

Shen Yuan hurried over and helped him sit down.

Fu Gui looked like he was about to cry, and said in a trembling voice, "A group of people have discovered the orchard and are now frantically looting the fruit from the trees!"

"The one leading the group seems to be a young man surnamed Li from your Jinliu Village."

"When I stepped forward to stop them, he hit me with a stick. There were too many of them."

"Master... Waaah..."

Upon hearing Fu Gui's tearful complaint, Shen Yuan's face instantly darkened!

Behind them, Zhao Shuan and the others heard the commotion and rushed over.

"Ah Yuan, what happened?"

Shen Yuan did not answer. After narrowing his eyes slightly, he turned around, picked up the hoe next to him, and walked towards the orchard.

Seeing this, Zhao Shuan hesitated for a moment, then picked up a shovel and followed.

No sooner had the two left than a figure darted out after them.

"Wen'an!"

Upon seeing this, Hu Yufen quickly shouted!

But the little guy didn't look back, and disappeared into the mountains with his longsword in his arms.

"Anu, quickly go and bring your brother back!"

Hu Yufen looked at Shen Wenyan with a worried expression.

"Mother, don't worry. Father is here. Besides, that boy has already reached the Acquired Realm. He's quite formidable."

Although Hu Yufen was still worried after hearing this, she could only wait patiently because she knew Shen Yuan was protecting her.

(End of this chapter)