Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Chapter 253 Riot (Thanks to book friend 20200502161558084 for the reward!)

"Lian Gou? What's wrong with your face?" Qin Feng was a little surprised after putting Gao Han back into the sheath: she remembered that Lian Gou had not been disfigured a few days ago.

With a look of "Do you want to destroy me?" on his face, Lian Gou took a step forward, turned around, closed the door, and crushed a soundproofing note.

"This is burned." Lian Gou turned to Wei Xi and said, "Why are you here? I thought you went straight back to Qingzhou?"

Wei Xi just said that he came to look for them and happened to meet them here, so it was inconvenient for him to get away.

"Then hurry back to Qingzhou!" Lian Gouyi said immediately, "The Qingcheng Sect only sent two of us to Bingzhou this time. You can still get away now."

Upon hearing this, Wei Xi looked at Lian Gouyue and asked, "What happened in Bingzhou that made you feel I had to leave?"

"The news spread throughout Bingzhou that the imperial government's relief grain had been withheld! The refugees rioted because of this. The government office was under siege, so I left the city overnight to find Qin Feng."

"Withholding relief grain is a serious crime. Nine generations of your family will be exterminated and your body will be left exposed for three months. Who would do that?"

"My dear, not everyone obeys the law!" Lian Gouqie sat down at the table and lifted his hood. "I was handling paperwork for the drought-stricken children at the government office when the rioting refugees burned it down. Seeing that things were not going well, I used [Into the Painting] to escape, and the result was..."

Lian Gouqie, who was nearly burned to death in the wall, had a sorrowful look on his face and touched his face with great distress: a normal person would be covered in blood and flesh after being burned, but he was directly burned with smoke and fire, and there was a little chip under his cheek.

"Can this still grow out?" Qin Feng asked worriedly.

"It's okay, just a little sore, it will grow back in a few months."

Wei Xi standing aside had a subtle expression: What a coincidence that the problem was with the food?

Therefore, Wei Xi's attention was completely not on the disfigurement of Lian Gouyu. Instead, he asked, "What's the matter with withholding relief grain?"

Lian Gouqie regained his seriousness in an instant and said solemnly, "I don't know the whole story. But there were rumors in Bingzhou a while ago that a batch of relief grain from the imperial court would be transported to Bingzhou via Fuzhou."

"Why do you think it's a 'rumor'?" Wei Xi caught the details of Lian Gou's choice of words.

"Because I asked the Lord of the Prefecture at the government office, and he said he hadn't received any news about this batch of relief grain!"

Lian Gouqie used too much force, causing a burn. He took a moment to recover before continuing, "The governor of Bingzhou wanted me to investigate this matter, but I turned him down. Unexpectedly, a few days later, the situation suddenly changed. They started saying that the relief grain had been withheld in Fuzhou, and then the refugees began to surround the government office..."

"Any official road from Fuzhou to Bingzhou must pass through here. Xiaoxi and I have been here for two days, and there is only a batch of missing food and fodder, and that's military supplies. We haven't seen any relief food at all!"

Lian Gouqie took out his mission card and handed it to Qin Feng, "Take a look, the mission has changed. We have to help Bingzhou ease the situation!"

"Wei Xi, if you can leave, leave quickly," Lian Gouqie advised, "There's no point getting involved in these things."

"It's already involved," Wei Xi said in a rather unkind tone, rubbing her fingers together. "The rumors are clearly pointing to this batch of military rations. It's a chain reaction."

Qin Feng sneered, took out his mission cards, and threw the two cards on the table. "I will never harm the refugees! Whoever wants to do this mission can do it!"

Lian Gouyu couldn't afford to offend Qin Feng, so he covered his chin and remained silent. Picking up the task card thrown on the table with two fingers, Wei Xi said calmly, "It says 'de-escalate the situation'. It seems the Wanjian Sect hasn't lost their minds yet."

"These disaster victims were probably instigated by rumors. I don't know who would do such a thing. We can choose not to go, but many people will die in the end. If we go, perhaps we can find the culprit..."

"Now isn't the time to look for the culprit," Qin Feng said dejectedly. "What good would it do if we found him? We wouldn't be able to produce food to help the victims! Besides, I suspect that as soon as we enter the city, we'll be sent in to suppress the victims by force! That's abhorrent!"

"We are monks," Wei Xi said solemnly, "Providing relief to the victims is the responsibility of the Ju State!"

"If we find the culprit, we might be able to find the grain and ease the situation." Wei Xi handed the task card back to Lian Goujie. "I hate those corrupt officials who are colluding with each other. Now that things have come to this, I want to find the black hand that fueled the flames. Maybe there is still room for recovery."

"Wei Xi is right," Lian Gouqie said softly, "We can't get any food, so all we can do is try our best to find the perpetrators. Besides, our mission is to ease the situation, and helping the refugees also helps ease the situation!"

"Let's go to Bingzhou and investigate," Wei Xi handed the second task card to Qin Feng, "find out the missing grain. As long as we don't suppress the victims, the people in Bingzhou can't force us."

Qin Feng's expression brightened slightly and he took back his mission card.

"Qin Feng, go find Li Feng," Wei Xi quickly made arrangements. "Tell him we suspect the grain has been transported to Bingzhou and we'll be leaving immediately."

"Lian Gouyu, write a letter to the sect and tell them that I have joined you on this mission. Report the situation here. We will set off in three quarters of an hour!"

"Can we postpone it for an hour?" Lian Gouqie raised his hand high. "I've rushed all the way here and I'm exhausted!"

Wei Xi ruthlessly rejected it, "I'll find you a scroll you can sleep in on the way. Hurry!"

……

As soon as Qin Feng left, Wei Xi pulled out a chair and sat down. "Tell me, what happened in Bingzhou? Why did you rush here overnight?"

"According to your arrangement, I have been in contact with Li Chun for the past two years."

Lian Gouyu didn't stop working, his brush handle kept moving. "Some time ago, news came from Richen Pavilion that blowing sand appeared in Bingzhou."

"Have you seen the sand?" Wei Xi felt that Li Chun was unreliable, so he asked.

"...That's not the case," Lian Gouqie held up the letter, trying to dry the ink. "I know words alone are not enough to prove anything, so I wanted to investigate in Bingzhou. That's why I've been stuck here until now."

Two years ago, Wei Xi, who was about to leave for prison, made some arrangements. One of them was to have Lian Gouqie and Li Chun maintain contact: to search for the mysterious monk who could blow sand, to track Chi Pei of Linchuan Pavilion, and to gather information on Instructor Li of Jucheng.

Of course, Li Chun did not work in vain: Wei Xi used the [Fang Qing] she took away to pry open the door of Richen Pavilion and successfully reached a cooperation agreement.

"Now that Li Chun has resolved the issue of his own imminent death, he's focused his attention on the Richen Pavilion. Since he said he has information, it's probably reliable, but we just haven't found it. Perhaps we can find out something during this trip to Bingzhou."

After sealing the letter, Lian Gouqie casually mentioned, "By the way, Li Chun wants to see you. I don't know what he wants to do, but I don't think it's good."

(End of this chapter)