Starting as pearl divers, they have endless jobs.

Chapter 248 Purgatory on Earth
Three days later, outside Yunzhou City.

Three thousand elite soldiers of the Beijing Garrison had already assembled, their black armor gleaming coldly in the morning light, exuding a chilling aura of killing intent.

The endless rows of grain carts stretched for miles, resembling a long dragon.

The gates of Tinglanxuan Mansion were wide open.

Chen Ye, dressed in black Qilin armor, with the Jinglong Blade at his waist and a red cloak, slowly walked out.

Behind him were his family members who came to see him off.

His father, Chen Fangshi, had tears in his eyes. He wanted to say something, but he only patted his shoulder heavily.

Xie Weining's eyes were swollen like peaches as she held back her tears and adjusted his armor.

The young Taoist nun Qingchen stood timidly to the side, her little face full of admiration and reluctance.

Chen Ye mounted his horse, glanced back at the tall mansion gate and the worried faces behind it, then abruptly turned his horse around and never looked back again.

"set off!"

At a command, the long, winding procession began to move slowly, rolling southward.

Along the official road, banners fluttered and carriages and horses moved about.

Three thousand elite soldiers from the capital garrison escorted a massive grain convoy, which was making its way towards Nanhe County.

Chen Ye rode a magnificent black warhorse at the very front of the procession.

Beside him was Feng Xiao, a captain in the Beijing garrison in charge of the escort mission.

Feng Xiao was about thirty-five or thirty-six years old. He had a square face, dark skin, sharp eyes, and exuded the competence and fierceness of a soldier.

At first, Feng Xiao actually looked down on Chen Ye, this excessively young imperial envoy.

In his view, Chen Ye was nothing more than a noble son who rose to power through connections. He had seen many people like him. They could act arrogantly in the capital, but they would probably wet their pants on the battlefield.

But as he traveled, his views quietly began to change.

This Lord Chen had none of the arrogance or extravagance typical of sons of noble families.

He ate and lived like any other soldier, without any special treatment.

Moreover, he was the first to get up every morning and the last to go to bed at night, either patrolling the camp or studying maps. His composure and calmness were unlike that of a young man in his early twenties.

In particular, Chen Ye would occasionally discuss military formations and logistical supply issues with him. His unique insights and keen observations were so impressive that even Feng Xiao, a veteran who had been in the military for more than ten years, was taken aback.

"Lord Chen, at our current speed, we will be able to enter the territory of Nanhe County in seven days," Feng Xiao reported in a deep voice as he rode alongside Chen Ye.

"Hmm." Chen Ye nodded, gazing into the distance. "Pass down the order to keep the brothers alert. The closer we get to Nanhe County, the more vigilant we must be."

"Yes!" Feng Xiao accepted the order.

Hou En and Qian Yi, who were following behind Chen Ye, were also dressed in military uniforms and tried to straighten their backs, trying to make themselves look more like qualified bodyguards.

However, the two of them were used to a life of luxury, and after only half a day of riding horses, they felt a burning pain in their thighs, and their buttocks were almost shaken to pieces. They couldn't help but show a grimacing expression on their faces.

"Damn, being a soldier is too tough," Hou En muttered to Qian Yi. "Look at Brother Chen, he's like nothing happened. Is his ass made of iron?"

"Shut up!" Qian Yi glared at him. "If you find it bitter, you can go back to Yunzhou City right now and drink your wine and women's wine!"

"Who said I'm afraid of hardship!" Hou En retorted, "I'm just... expressing my feelings! Yes, just expressing my feelings!"

Hearing the two whispering behind him, Chen Ye couldn't help but smile slightly.

These two lively characters added some fun to the otherwise tedious march.

They continued on their journey and finally entered the territory of Nanhe County on this day. The scenery on both sides of the official road began to become increasingly desolate.

In the field, cracked clods of earth were turned up, as if they had been violently torn apart by a pair of invisible hands.

The withered, yellowed crop stalks leaned precariously, rustling mournfully in the cold wind, telling the story of the merciless drought that had struck just months before.

The villages I occasionally passed through were mostly empty, with many mud-brick houses having collapsed roofs, revealing dark holes that looked like pairs of desperate eyes staring blankly at the gray sky.

"Brother Chen, is this...is this really the land of Great Chen?" Hou En's voice was a little dry, and his face was extremely pale.

Having grown up in luxury in Yunzhou City, he had never witnessed such a human tragedy.

When the scenes of barren lands and starving people described in books are vividly presented before one's eyes, the impact is beyond description.

Qian Yi didn't speak, but the fingers gripping the knife handle turned slightly white from the force.

He was usually more composed than Hou En, but his expression was extremely grim at this moment.

Chen Ye's face was equally gloomy.

He had endured all kinds of hardship and suffering, but the suffocating sense of despair permeating the air, a result of both natural disaster and human error, still weighed heavily on his heart.

“This is only the border of Nanhe County.” Chen Ye’s voice was low. “The situation in the heart of the county is a hundred times worse than what we are seeing now.”

His words made Hou En and Qian Yi's hearts sink even further.

Sure enough, as the caravan ventured deeper into the region, more and more refugees began to appear on the official road.

They were ragged, emaciated, and looked like skeletons dug out of the ground, covered with a layer of dry skin. They moved along the official road in groups of three or five or alone, their eyes empty and devoid of any sign of life.

When these refugees saw Chen Ye's well-disciplined and gleaming armored troops, a hint of wariness and fear flashed in their eyes. As if they had seen some kind of monstrous flood, they instinctively hid by the roadside, wishing they could shrink themselves into the roadside ditches, afraid of being noticed by these soldiers.

There were no shouts, no begs, not even a trace of curiosity.

All that remained was a deep-seated fear and numbness.

"Are they...are they afraid of us?" Hou En looked at the refugees who wished they could bury their heads in the ground, and felt a pang of unease.

“They fear officials and soldiers; it’s ingrained in their bones.” Captain Feng Xiao rode closer, his voice tinged with emotion. “In their eyes, there’s no difference between soldiers and bandits.”

Chen Ye remained silent. He understood Feng Xiao's meaning because in this world, it was not uncommon for government officials and soldiers to rob grain and kill people.

Suddenly, a small commotion ahead interrupted the oppressive march.

Several elite soldiers from the Beijing garrison surrounded something, and it seemed that a dispute had broken out.

"What's going on?" Feng Xiao frowned and urged his horse forward to ask.

A sergeant rushed over and bowed: "Reporting to the captain, sir, some disaster victims were grabbing horse manure. The brothers were afraid of startling the horses, so they stopped them."

Stealing horse manure?
Hou En and Qian Yi were both stunned.

They rode over and saw several children, so thin they were just skeletons, crawling on the ground, frantically rummaging through a pile of steaming horse manure with their dark little hands.

What they pulled out were beans and hay that hadn't been fully digested by the warhorses.

They would find one and eagerly stuff it into their mouths, not caring what was on it, and swallow it whole as if it were the most delicious delicacy in the world.

Beside them, a similarly emaciated woman knelt on the ground, weeping and kowtowing repeatedly to the soldiers, making hoarse sounds. Because she hadn't had water for so long, her throat was too hoarse to speak coherently.

This scene was like a red-hot branding iron, burning deeply into the hearts of Hou En and Qian Yi.

These two spoiled brats, who spent their days cockfighting, dog racing, and squandering money, never imagined that the waste excreted by their warhorses would become food that others would fight over.
"Damn it..." Hou En's eyes reddened instantly. He jumped off his horse and pulled a paper package from his bag, inside which were two meat buns he hadn't finished eating that morning.

"Here! Take this! Don't eat that!" He stuffed the bun into the woman's arms, his voice trembling with tears.

The woman froze, staring blankly at the still-warm meat bun in her arms, a glimmer of light appearing in her cloudy eyes. Then, with trembling hands, she picked up a bun, carefully broke off a small piece, and fed it to the eldest child.

The child wolfed it down and then stared longingly at the woman.

The woman broke off another piece and gave it to the next child, but she herself couldn't even bear to lick her fingers.

"It's all yours! It's all yours!" Hou En felt his heart breaking at the sight. He turned around and wanted to go back to his horse to get more rations.

"Stop!" Chen Ye's icy voice suddenly rang out.

Hou En froze, turning back to look at Chen Ye with a puzzled expression: "Brother Chen?"

"Who gave you permission to act on your own?" Chen Ye's eyes were sharp, devoid of any warmth.

"I...I just felt sorry for them..." Hou En explained, sounding somewhat aggrieved.

"Pitiful?" Chen Ye sneered. "There are plenty of pitiful people here. Can you save them all? You gave them two steamed buns today, but what about tomorrow? Do you know that those two steamed buns might cost their entire family their lives!"

“How could that be?” Hou En retorted, unconvinced.

"Stay away from me, and I'll show you why."

Hou En retreated as instructed. In an instant, the eyes of the refugees who had been watching from afar suddenly flashed with a terrifying green light, like wolves that had been starving for ten days and ten nights smelling blood.

"food!"

"They have food!"

It's unclear who shouted first, but the next moment, dozens of refugees rushed over like madmen, their target the mother and her children!
The numbness that had been on their faces was gone, replaced by a kind of madness that drove them to do anything to survive!

The woman screamed, desperately clutching the food in her arms, but how could her frail body withstand dozens of starving people?

In the blink of an eye, she and her children were engulfed in the frenzied crowd.

"Stop!" Hou En and Qian Yi's expressions changed drastically, and they wanted to rush forward to save the person.

"Qiang!"

Feng Xiao drew his sword and led a squad of soldiers to block their path. The cold blade and chilling killing intent finally calmed the frenzied refugees down a little.

As the crowd dispersed, the mother and her children lay on the ground.

The woman's clothes were torn to shreds, and her face and arms were covered with bloody scratches.

The steamed buns and dried meat in her arms had long since disappeared; only a few children, having managed to snatch some crumbs, were hiding behind their mother and desperately stuffing them into their mouths.

Hou En stared blankly at the scene, his whole body ice-cold.

He finally understood what Chen Ye meant.

Here, kindness can sometimes really kill.

Because in the face of absolute hunger, humanity is so fragile.

Giving someone special treatment will only make them a target for everyone else.

"Do you still think you're saving them?" Chen Ye's voice rang in his ears.

Hou En opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word; his face was filled with pain and self-reproach.

Chen Ye ignored him and instead ordered Feng Xiao, "Pass on my order to take a cartload of grain from the grain cart and cook porridge right here!"

"My lord, you mustn't!" Feng Xiao exclaimed in alarm. "Our grain is disaster relief grain destined for the county seat. It's not right to use it now! Moreover, once we open this floodgate, the number of refugees will only increase, and we simply won't be able to handle it!"

"Improper?" Chen Ye looked at him coldly. "The greatest principle is to let them live! This is an order given to me by His Majesty!"

"As for not being able to handle it? Then kill! Tell everyone, there's plenty of porridge! But anyone who dares to steal it, anyone who dares to cause trouble, anyone who dares to storm the convoy, kill them without mercy!"

"I want them to know not only that I have food, but also that I have a knife!"

Looking into Chen Ye's cold yet resolute eyes, Feng Xiao felt a jolt in his heart. He knew that this young imperial envoy was serious.

Therefore, he did not hesitate any longer and immediately clasped his hands in obeisance, saying, "Yes! Your humble general obeys!"

Soon, large cooking pots were set up, and white rice was poured into them, eliciting gasps of surprise from the surrounding refugees.

As the aroma of rice porridge began to permeate the cold air, more and more refugees gathered from all directions, forming a dense, dark mass that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Their eyes were filled with longing for food, but when they saw the elite soldiers of the Beijing garrison surrounding the grain carts, holding long knives and exuding a murderous aura, they dared not take a step forward.

Chen Ye's order was simple.

All the refugees, regardless of age or gender, had to line up and come forward one by one to receive the porridge.

One bowl per person, no more than that.

Several people who tried to cut in line or scramble for food were mercilessly knocked to the ground by the soldiers with the back of their knives and dragged aside.

The aroma of fresh blood and rice porridge mingled together, creating a strange yet effective deterrent.

The chaotic scene quickly returned to order.

Chen Ye stood on the high ground, coldly watching the long line of people waiting to receive porridge below.

"Brother Chen, did I...did I do something wrong?" Hou En walked to his side, head down, his voice full of frustration.

“You’re not wrong, you’re just too naive.” Chen Ye patted him on the shoulder. “Remember, at this time, it’s not enough to just have a kind heart to save people. You need to have enough strength and methods that are even more ruthless than those of evil people.”

"I understand." Hou En nodded heavily, his eyes losing some of the naivety of a spoiled young master and gaining more seriousness.

For several days in a row, Chen Ye's troops slowly but steadily advanced into the heart of Nanhe County by combining the distribution of porridge with killing.

Their fame spread in a peculiar way.

The refugees all knew that an imperial army had arrived. They had food and would give them a way to survive, but they also killed people, and those who did not follow the rules would die.

This combination of kindness and severity proved surprisingly effective.

Not only did no refugees dare to attack the convoy, but many young and middle-aged refugees even followed behind the group, hoping to do something for the army and get a full meal.

The team has grown considerably without anyone noticing.

On this day, the group finally arrived at Pingyang City, the first major city in Nanhe County.

However, when they arrived at the city, they found the tall city gates tightly closed, and the city walls were filled with armed guards, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Who goes there! Why do you arbitrarily mobilize your troops and bring them to the gates of my Pingyang city!" A fierce shout came from the city wall.

Feng Xiao spurred his horse forward, brandished the official document, and shouted loudly, "We are the Imperial Guard troops sent by His Majesty to escort Imperial Envoy Chen Ye to Nanhe County for disaster relief! Open the city gates immediately to welcome the Imperial Envoy!"

"Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy?" The guard on the city wall seemed to be taken aback for a moment, then called out loudly, "We have not received any official documents from the court and dare not open the city gate without permission! Please wait here, Your Excellency, while we inform the Prefect!"

"Insolence!" Feng Xiao roared in fury. "The imperial envoy is here, how dare you obstruct him! Are you plotting a rebellion?"

The city wall was silent; no one answered.

Chen Ye's eyes narrowed slightly.

There's something wrong with this city!
(End of this chapter)