The more you believe me, the more real it becomes.

Chapter 157 Are you an immortal?

After leaving the group of wounded soldiers, Du Yuan headed straight for the Cold Pine Mountain that the lieutenant had mentioned.

The Southwest is currently facing a severe food shortage, and he plans to start there.

I have a preliminary idea for this, but it still needs some polishing of the details.

Halfway there, Du Yuan saw the Cold Pine Mountain standing out among the mountains in the distance.

It is indeed different from other hills.

While other hills are sparsely covered with patches of green, this Cold Pine Mountain is completely black.

The charred black marks are most noticeable on the mountaintops, in particular.

It seems that the general was truly furious.

After gazing for a moment, Du Yuan, who was about to step away, suddenly looked towards the distance not far ahead.

There, a group of emaciated, expressionless disaster victims were gathered.

Just seeing them made Du Yuan's heart clench, because they looked almost unrecognizable.
Those were just a bunch of skeletons wrapped in a few pieces of black cloth!
Among them was a black pot that was neither too big nor too small; they had a bigger one, but it was too heavy, so they threw it away on the way.

Only this relatively lightweight pot remained.

Right now, something is being cooked continuously.

The bubbling roots in the pot were the only light in their eyes.

A teenager couldn't help but take a step forward, but was pulled back by the adults behind him.

After a long pause, he finally managed to utter a low, hesitant sound:

"mother?"

The skeletal structure, whose gender was no longer discernible, then spat out:
"Wait."

The voice was also very low, but it carried an undeniable numbness.

They had been fleeing famine for a long time, and they had seen countless people die on the road because they ate grass roots and tree bark without cooking them thoroughly, resulting in them foaming at the mouth.

Therefore, even if water is more precious than life, it must be boiled dry, and everything that can be found must be thoroughly boiled until it is completely rotten and turned into a paste.

If you're looking to die, you don't need to suffer like this; just grab a handful of dirt and stuff it down your throat.

In that case, the family might be able to exchange the corpse for some decent food.
Du Yuan had already quietly approached the room, gazing at the unknown substance bubbling in the pot.

Du Yuan took out a stack of cakes from the small seal and said:
"Gentlemen, please have this."

After those hundred-plus children, Du Yuan made a point of buying extra cakes and putting them in Xiao Yin's bag in the previous town.

So that when needed, we can have decent food on hand.

Furthermore, Du Yuan also discovered that there was no sign of deterioration within that small seal.

It looks the same whether you put it in or take it out.

I just don't know if we can put live animals in there.

But Du Yuan hadn't tried it because she thought it might be too dangerous.

What Du Yuan didn't expect was that even though they were so hungry they were barely recognizable as human, they showed no reaction to the flatbread she offered.

Even the child who initially could hardly resist looking at grass roots and tree bark was the same.

All they did with the pancake in Du Yuan's hand was to sniff it a few times before silently moving further away.

"Gentlemen, there is absolutely no problem with this cake."

Du Yuan thought they were worried there was something wrong with their cakes, so they broke off a piece and ate a few bites as proof.

But this did nothing more than make their throats twitch a few more times.

'What does this mean?'

Du Yuan couldn't understand it.

Only one man in the crowd, with deeply sunken eyes, stared at the flatbread in Du Yuan's hand for a long time.

After turning around and kowtowing three times to his mother, who was shaking her head repeatedly, he resolutely walked up to Du Yuan despite her attempts to stop him and said:
"Me." He grabbed the three pancakes, turned around and gave two to his mother, and handed the third to a man next to him.

Without handing it over, the pie just hung in mid-air.

Only after the other person nodded with difficulty and reached out to take it did the person return to Du Yuan's side.

Seeing Du Yuan's increasingly confused expression, he asked:

"What?"

Du Yuan said subconsciously:

"what?"

Suddenly, he looked at the group of starving people with a sudden realization.

Do they think this is a way to buy their lives?!
A few pieces of bread can actually buy a life?!

A sudden, indescribable sour feeling welled up in her throat. Du Yuan handed over all the pancakes in her hand, saying:
"I am a Taoist priest from outside, all alone. I am only offering food to you all to accumulate some merit for myself."

"I ask for nothing more!"

After saying that, Du Yuan put all the cakes on the ground and then backed away until she was far away.

Seeing this, the starving people, in disbelief, rushed forward to scramble for the flatbread.

Even if it fell to the ground during the struggle and got covered in dust, they didn't care and just stuffed it into their mouths.

Du Yuan felt a lump in her throat, so she took out another stack of flatbreads from her bag and raised her voice:
"Don't grab them! I have plenty of pancakes here. If you keep grabbing, there won't be any left!"

The chaotic situation gradually stabilized.

Under Du Yuan's management, everyone received food and was now sitting around the black pot that had been emptied of grass roots and tree bark, carefully sipping the clear spring water that Du Yuan had given them.

After distributing the food, Du Yuan sat to the side, silently observing the scene that looked like a survivor of a catastrophe. Suddenly, he felt something and turned his gaze to the other side.

Not far away, a group of people had gathered, staring intently at him.

However, in broad daylight, the group of people behind Du Yuan had shadows, while this group of people did not.
Du Yuan had lost count of how many times she had sighed since arriving in the Southwest.

He silently took out a stack of flatbreads and placed them on the ground. He then lit a coin with the power of karma and hung it on top of the flatbread.

The people gradually gathered around and shared the rare flatbread.

"Eat up, eat up, and then let's go."

Lost in thought, Du Yuan uttered these words to them. The other person nodded silently, ate their pancakes, and slowly disappeared.

After a long pause, a voice suddenly came from behind Du Yuan:
"Can I eat it?"

Even after they had eaten the bread, they still didn't want to talk much because they had been starving for so long.

Du Yuan turned around and saw that the little guy was staring intently at the stack of flatbreads that were being given to the evil spirits.

Since they had already eaten their fill and passed away, Du Yuan nodded and said:

"Sure, but the ones here probably won't taste good."

The little guy immediately stepped forward, and the other starving people followed suit.

But as soon as they took a bite, everyone looked puzzled.

Why does it have no taste at all, and feel like I'm chewing on sand?

But it was indeed food, and they were indeed disaster victims, so even so, they ate very quickly and very happily.

Only the man who had initially stepped forward to take the pancake was staring blankly at Du Yuan.

Noticing this gaze, Du Yuan turned to look at him and said:

"But something?"

After opening his mouth, the other person said in utter shock:

"You, you are an immortal?"

(End of this chapter)