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

Chapter 180 General Luohan? (3k)

When we were at Hansong Mountain, because it was close to the southwestern border, the disaster was not very obvious except for the large groups of refugees who came.

But as Du Yuan ventured deeper into the southwest, she came to a more profound understanding of what a year of great disaster and prolonged drought truly meant.

Looking around, the land was barren and yellow, deserted, with only the sweltering heat of summer remaining.

At this moment, Du Yuan was looking around in a village.

The entire village was deserted. The heat was oppressive, and breathing felt like swallowing burning coals.

Stepping on it, you can hear the crunching sound of the crispy skin breaking. In the past, Du Yuan would have found it very interesting, but now, she can only sigh deeply.

The surrounding mud houses were mostly collapsed, and the only doors and windows were all wide open, whether from the wind or from later people forcibly breaking them open and looting them is unknown.

In short, at first glance, it resembles the eye sockets of some dead monster, waiting to devour someone at any moment.

The few broken straw sandals, a chipped bowl, and half a rotten hoe handle that I saw at the corner of the wall only accentuated the desolation and bleakness.

The more she looked, the more she shook her head. After wandering around, Du Yuan finally found an old well.

Even though the village is long gone, the traces of life around the well remain strong. It must have been not only the source of water for the entire village, but also a place where people often came and lingered.

Walking to the well and looking down in the sunlight, I discovered that even here, not only was there no water at the bottom of the well, but the ground was also shockingly cracked and curled.

"Even the bottom of the well is like this; this drought is truly..."

Du Yuan shook her head again, but did not stop walking.

This is such a deadly situation, no wonder the old general said that even with the elixir of life, it would be difficult to save us.

Even if we have plenty of food, staying here for too long will only lead to our death.

After walking for a long time, the sight before him made his heart tighten even more—a wide river had dried up so much that the riverbed was exposed!

Upon closer inspection, there was no flowing water, and even slightly damp silt could only be found in a few puddles. Du Yuan took out the geomantic map given to him by the old general and compared the directions, finally recognizing that this should be the Wulin River.

It is said that this place was once famous in the southwest for its plump and delicious blackfish. The imperial court designated the blackfish from this area as a tribute item several times, and it was offered as tribute every year without fail.

The sight of the river drying up to this extent is truly horrifying.

After a moment of dejection, Du Yuan continued forward and finally saw living people—not many, about eleven or twelve. However, many of them were already on their last legs.

Before they could get close, they heard someone hoarsely encouraging their companion: "Just hang in there, we're almost there! The immortals are here, if we make it, we'll survive!" Before the words were finished, the person who was speaking was pulled down by their companion, and the two of them fell to the ground together.

The man on the ground was breathing heavily, his lips were pale, and his body was stiff. The man who had been knocked down glanced at him, sighed helplessly, patted his companion's hand, and struggled to get up and leave on his own.

But as soon as she moved, she found her wrist was being gripped tightly.

His companion, lying on the ground, was unable to speak, and even turning his head was extremely difficult. But in this situation, anyone could understand what he meant.

The man's eyes were filled with reluctance, yet he still forced back his heartache and tried to pry open the hand that was gripping him tightly.

Those who can still walk can help each other out; but if you help those who can't even walk, you might end up getting yourself killed too.

Perhaps he was hungry, perhaps he was thirsty, or perhaps he was terminally ill. In any case, it was beyond his control.

Noticing his palms being forcibly pried open, the man lying on the ground, his eyes moist, his throat heaving, finally vomited:
Please.

But the more they did this, the more the other person dared not look at them and quickly got up.

In a year of great disaster, we dare not be soft-hearted.

With his hands empty, the man knew he was destined to die there.

Trembling all over, he could only close his eyes tightly and await death.

He didn't ask for much more, he just wanted to have a complete body. He had heard people say since he was a child that a person whose body was incomplete could not even be a wandering ghost. Once they died, they were truly gone, and there was no hope of reincarnation!
Therefore, people from this place never dare to eat human corpses, because they don't want to harm people so that they can't even become ghosts.

While he was trembling all over, he suddenly felt something being stuffed into his mouth.

The next moment, a warm current began to emerge from my abdomen and then flowed through my limbs.

Slowly opening her eyes, she saw a young man with an extraordinary air about him, dressed in a blue robe, looking at her.

Upon seeing that he had woken up, Du Yuan said:

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'm just too hungry. This elixir of mine can save me."

The man opened his mouth, then tentatively moved his body.

Although I still feel weak, I am no longer in that state of utter exhaustion.

After hesitatingly getting up, the man looked at Du Yuan blankly and asked:
"May I ask who you are, young Taoist priest?"

Du Yuan did not conceal his identity. His abilities were not something to be hidden, and in this situation, people desperately need hope.

Therefore, Du Yuan smiled and said:
"Weren't you going to Cold Pine Mountain to find me? I'm right here!"

Upon hearing this, the dozen or so disaster victims around them all hurriedly knelt down:
"Please, sir, save us!"

"Please, immortal!" "This humble subject greets the immortal!"

Du Yuan helped them up one by one, and then said:
"Rest assured, everyone. The reason I am continuing westward is to save all living beings."

Upon hearing this, someone immediately asked:
"Immortal, have you finished refining your elixir?"

Du Yuan nodded and said:

"That's what he just ate!"

Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked, especially the person who had taken the Beggar's Life Pill, who was at a loss for what to do:

"Immortal, Immortal Lord, is it really okay for me to eat this like this?"

Is it really okay for me to eat such a precious elixir so easily?

Du Yuan laughed:

"The purpose of refining this pill is to allow people to consume it and find a way to survive! Besides, it's not like you'll just die after consuming it, because you can refine it yourselves!"

"We can refine it ourselves?"

Du Yuan nodded:

"Correct!"

After saying this, he explained all the key points of the incantation, and after a dozen or so disaster victims tried to figure it out themselves with some skepticism, they were so surprised that they were speechless.

Looking at the pills of different sizes and colors in their hands, Du Yuan knew that she didn't need to worry about this small group of disaster victims.

So he pointed in the direction he had come from and said:
"Keep going forward, and you'll reach the place where the imperial army is stationed. Once you get there, you'll know what to do next."

Everyone quickly bowed their heads to indicate that they had made a note of it.

Seeing that Du Yuan was about to leave, someone else asked:
"My lord, are you going to the upper reaches of the Wulin River?"

Du Yuan turned around and said:
"how you said that?"

The man pointed to the upper reaches of the Wulin River, in the direction Du Yuan had come from, and said:
"Because the rebel army built a dike over there, cutting the Wulin River in half. And I heard they've been capturing fleeing disaster victims to reinforce the dike!"

That's something I've never heard of before, and it's not marked on the old general's geomantic map either, so it seems to be a recent construction.
No wonder that even with the river dried up and such a severe drought, one or two silted-up mud pits could still be found in the riverbed.

Then, the disaster victims were heard saying uneasily:

"Furthermore, we've all heard that the garrison commander there is quite capable!"

Upon hearing this, the person next to him immediately added:

"Yes, yes, we met a few people who escaped from over there before. They all said they had personally witnessed the garrison commander's imposing presence! They said he could lift stones as big as oxen!"

These words made Du Yuan raise an eyebrow.

The presence of cultivators basically means there's some powerful figure behind it all. Looks like I'll have to make a trip there!

He immediately asked:

"Oh, is there anything else?"

Upon hearing this, the other victims huddled together, and pieced together a rough outline of what had happened, one by one:
"In reply to the Immortal Lord, we don't know much either. We only know that the garrison commander used to be a monk."

"They also said that he had recently joined the rebel army and claimed to be an Arhat descended from heaven, so the rebel army gave him the title of Arhat General."

General Luohan? This title surprised Du Yuan.

If he remembered correctly, the leader of the rebel army was a Taoist priest, and he even claimed to be a Taoist master with great magical powers.

If that's the case, why would they tolerate a monk who also claims to have supernatural powers? Logically speaking, at this time, they should be condemning all unorthodox practices, including those of the imperial court, and desperately trying to elevate their own orthodoxy.

This approach is utterly illogical. After all, isn't he afraid of being usurped by this monk?

"Do any of you know anything else?"

"We don't know anything more, but we heard from those people that the garrison commander claimed to be an Arhat, but the things he did were truly inhuman."

Du Yuan raised her eyebrows even higher and said:
"How to say?"

The group slowly recalled the various details they had heard:
"I heard that in the beginning, before General Luohan arrived, although those who were captured had to work every day, at least they were fed. After all, people can't work if they don't have the strength, so there was no need to forcibly capture them. As long as the news was spread, many people would rush to the scene."

"But everything changed after that Arhat General arrived!" another refugee said, filled with lingering fear, because he had almost gone with him. "The food is getting less and less every day, but the work is getting heavier and heavier. If you make the slightest mistake, you'll be subjected to punishments like being drowned or whipped. That's why people who used to come here voluntarily have now been arrested everywhere!"

These are already disaster victims struggling on the brink of life and death. How can they not suffer deaths when they are subjected to such torment?
Du Yuan frowned and pressed, "So, it seems there have been many wronged souls on that dam?"

To everyone's surprise, the dozen or so disaster victims all shook their heads and said:
"No, because it is said that the only humane thing about General Na Luohan is that he will not cause any deaths. It is said that this way, there is always a way out, so that everyone can meet again in the future."

This surprised Du Yuan a bit; this guy was a little hard to describe.

Finally, the disaster victims looked at Du Yuan with utmost reverence and said:
"The few who escaped that we met said that they made up their minds to run away because they heard about you. More importantly, many of the bandits witnessed your divine power and lost their composure, which gave them the opportunity to escape!"

(End of this chapter)