Chapter 98

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“Master, why do you think that fat monk kidnapped those children?”

“…Probably to eat them.”

“Hm?”

“Haha… Just a joke.”

“Then… Master, you said he might be that old bald donkey’s disciple. Who is that old bald donkey?”

The night wind swept across the mountain slopes. On the mountain path, a lantern swayed before the head of a donkey.

Clip-clop, clip-clop…

The donkey took small, measured steps, moving forward leisurely under the dim glow of firelight. Within a small compartment on the cart, Toad Daoist sat cross-legged, arms folded, turning his face away slightly.

“An old bald donkey is just an old bald donkey. Why ask so many questions?!”

“Just curious. You can tell me if you want.” Lu Liangsheng chuckled and glanced toward the small compartment.

The Toad Daoist pursed his lips, then turned back, closed his bulging eyes, and let out a long sigh.

“Ah… Back in the day, your master was a force to be reckoned with, unmatched under the heavens! But naturally, I made many enemies. One day, I was besieged by several sects. I managed to repel them, only to unexpectedly encounter an old monk from the Ten Thousand Buddhas Temple. That old baldy wielded the ‘Grand Radiance Demon Subduing Seal’—a formidable technique indeed. If not for me—”

At that moment, a panting Daoist rushed back from the direction of the inn, kicking a rock on the ground with a loud thud as it smashed against a tree by the roadside.

Lu Liangsheng noted his expression and asked: “Did your meat porridge burn?”

“Burn? The whole pot is gone!”

The scholar paused in surprise. The inn wasn’t far ahead, so he loosened the reins and quickened his pace. Honglian also floated after him, eager to see what had happened.

Left alone in the cart compartment, Toad Daoist watched the two figures dash off toward the inn. His mouth twitched slightly.

…Damn it, at least listen to your master finish his story before running off!!

At the inn, the glow of the bonfire still flickered from the doorway. However, the mountain bandits that Lu Liangsheng had earlier pinned to the ground using silver taels and a spell were now stripped naked, their bodies covered in blood, long dead.

As for the two families huddled in the corner earlier, they had disappeared without a trace. Yet, the bloody footprints on the ground—some large, some small—clearly showed that they had walked out through the door.

Those two families had killed the mountain bandits on the ground, looted everything they could, and fled…

“This great drought has turned people into evil spirits.”

That was Lu Liangsheng’s most immediate thought. Beside him, Nie Honglian pursed her lips and let out a cold snort at his words. The scholar turned his face slightly, forcing a smile.

“I wasn’t talking about you being an evil spirit.”

Only then did Honglian’s expression ease a little. She turned her delicate face away, huffing once more in a way that carried an unclear meaning.

Before long, Lu Liangsheng and the Daoist dragged the corpses out of the inn and buried them, cleaned the bloodstains off the floor, and then gathered some dry rations. They also roasted a few things from Sun Yingxian’s bag, ate a few bites, and simply lay down on the long table to rest.

All three—two men and a toad—had cultivation, so the biting night wind did little to bother them.

At dawn, they packed up their belongings and set off once more. On any other day, they would have sat down for breakfast first, but now, even mealtime was a luxury they had no time for.

“Such a shame about that pot.”

On the road, the Daoist muttered under his breath, still unwilling to let it go. They had risked themselves to save people, yet in the end, it was the very ones they saved who took their belongings and ran. It was a stifling feeling with no place to vent—if it were someone with a worse temper, they would have chased the thieves down and beaten them on the spot.

Lu Liangsheng could only offer a few words of comfort. The great drought had plunged the northwest into such turmoil that right and wrong had blurred into chaos.

Once they descended the mountain path, the view opened up. Following the official road, Lu Liangsheng cast an invisibility technique to avoid places densely packed with refugees. Following the endless line of travelers, they made their way toward Liyang City.

According to Sun Yingxian, several Daoists who had attempted to summon rain had taken up residence there. Despite their efforts to gather clouds and bring down rain, in the end, nothing had come of it.

As they approached the city, people filled the landscape both near and far. Many refugees, unwilling to abandon their homeland, had gathered outside the city gates, waiting for government aid. When Lu Liangsheng and the Daoist passed by, the noise of the crowd filled the air. Suddenly, a commotion broke out. The city gates cracked open slightly—officials had come out to distribute porridge.

“Liyang is a great city. Seems like things are much better here.”

The people crowded forward, and Lu Liangsheng helped a child who had been knocked over back to their feet. He spoke softly to the Daoist beside him, feeling a slight sense of relief in his heart.

Taking advantage of the brief chaos during the porridge distribution, they slipped into the city and found a nearby inn. The Daoist went off to seek out the group of Daoists, while Lu Liangsheng stayed in his room to wash up and change into a fresh set of clothes, finally feeling a bit more at ease.

The inn had no other guests, and the available food was pitifully scarce. All they could provide was a plate of pickled cabbage and two bowls of thin porridge.

The shop’s waiter, wearing a green headscarf, looked pale and malnourished. After setting down the meal, he spoke somewhat apologetically.

“Honored guest, this is all we have left. Please don’t mind. The other inns and taverns are in the same state—most of the food in the city has been requisitioned by the government for disaster relief.”

Lu Liangsheng tapped his chopsticks twice on the table and smiled. “It’s fine. As long as there’s something to eat, that’s enough. Go about your work.”

“What work is there left to do?”

Seeing that the scholar was easy to talk to, the waiter leaned against the railing, tossing the rag draped over his shoulder.

“We’re all just waiting for the heavens to send down rain—snow would do too. If we can just hold out until next spring, when the land is damp again, people might have a chance to plant crops and survive.”

“Heaven wouldn’t completely cut off all paths. Who knows? The dragons bringing rain might already be on their way.”

Lu Liangsheng spoke as he ate, casually offering a few words of comfort. But when he mentioned the word “dragon”, he suddenly thought of that figure entrenched within the imperial city—Pudu Cihang. If that one were to take dragon form, would they be a good dragon or an evil one?

He chuckled to himself, shaking off the thought. Picking up some pickled cabbage with his chopsticks, he turned to ask the waiter about matters in the city.

“How many people are still in the city?”

“No idea. Plenty left last year, though. Mostly the wealthy families—they were afraid the government would squeeze them dry. After donating some grain, they packed up and moved south.”

Lu Liangsheng nodded, placing his chopsticks down and wiping his mouth with a handkerchief.

“Indeed. Those with wealth would naturally leave. I just wonder, after a whole year of drought, how many have died, and how many remain? The northwest, I fear it will become even more desolate in the years to come.”

Perhaps the waiter was simply too bored, for upon hearing the scholar’s lament, he suddenly started speaking rapidly.

“Who knows how many are left? But in the past year or two, there’ve been more cases of missing children and missing women.”

Missing children?

Lu Liangsheng’s gaze shifted from the near-empty street outside back to the waiter.

“It happens often?”

“Of course! Look, just recently, a family on this very street lost their youngest son—vanished without a trace.” The waiter glanced around cautiously before leaning in close to the table. Lowering his voice, he whispered:

“Young Master, I’ll tell you something, but you mustn’t spread it around. One night, I got up to visit the latrine, and I saw shadows—ghostly figures—carrying a child as they ran across the street. You know this place is close to the city walls, right? I was curious, so I followed them to see what was going on. But those figures… they passed right through the walls, right under the soldiers’ noses, and then—gone, just like that. Scared me so bad I dove back into bed and pulled the covers over my head!”

He didn’t notice the way Lu Liangsheng’s expression darkened as he listened, still rambling on.

“I’ve heard from people who’ve been outside the city. They mentioned something—disaster victims keep disappearing. But in times like these, whether someone goes missing or dies, it’s all just… normal. No one even cares anymore…”

As he spoke, the voice of the innkeeper echoed from the first floor.

“Guests have arrived! Please, upstairs!”

Only then did the waiter stop talking. He smiled at Lu Liangsheng and slung his rag back over his shoulder.

“Enjoy your meal, Young Master. I’ll go greet the guests.”

He had barely gone downstairs when hurried footsteps sounded again. The waiter rushed back up, and behind him, Sun Yingxian led four people inside.