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Chapter 318. A Glimmer of Hope Amidst the Darkness
When the roses were in bloom, the charity operation organized by Jiang Jianxin proceeded smoothly in the refugee-populated city.

Because of the long period of war, the order of the lower classes was very bad. Each alms point was guarded by a fool with high combat power. The largest alms point in the gold shop was even guarded by General Gu Fengliu, a five-star general.

Under such strict control, the donation operation proceeded relatively smoothly.

After the fighting on the front lines eased, Jiang Jianxin took some time to visit the alms-giving point. He saw a large pot of steaming porridge cooking in front of the Yuren Society's gold shop. The aroma of rice mixed with wisps of white steam filled the dilapidated streets with an almost luxurious warmth.

The faces of the people queuing for porridge were no longer deathly pale; although their clothes were still tattered, there was a faint light in their eyes.

She wore rough white clothes and deliberately concealed her presence, blending into the crowd without wanting to cause a commotion.

My gaze swept across the line and I saw a gaunt woman carefully blowing on the porridge she had been given to cool it down before feeding it spoonful by spoonful to the dying child in her arms.

The child sucked greedily, making soft swallowing sounds in his throat.

Next to him was an old man with a broken leg. After finishing his own portion, he was using his withered fingers to scrape the remaining porridge off the bowl, not wanting to waste a single drop.

The scene was bleak, but at least there was a sense of life.

Jiang Jianxin felt slightly relieved and was about to turn around and leave to visit the next donation point when his gaze was drawn to the scene beside the porridge pot.

There was a girl, about seven or eight years old, thin and pale, holding a broken bowl that was bigger than her face, but she did not drink the porridge immediately.

She staggered to a half-collapsed shack on the street corner, where a slightly older figure was huddled, seemingly her brother.

The girl squatted down and, with great care, used a small wooden stick to divide the already thin porridge in the bowl into two portions, pushing the slightly larger portion to her brother.

"Brother, eat quickly. This is the porridge given by the Sword Bodhisattva. It will cure your illness."

The girl's voice was dry, yet it carried a composure beyond her years.

The older boy timidly raised his head, took a sip, and then pushed it back to his younger sister.
"Little sister, you eat too."

Just then, a flurry of footsteps and shouts rang out.

Several thugs pushed through the queue, cursing and swearing as they rushed over. The leader, a man with a scar on his face, snatched the bowl from the girl's hand and grinned maliciously.
"You little brat, eating alone? Don't you know any rules?"

The girl clutched the bowl tightly, like an enraged little beast, her eyes fierce yet helpless.

A commotion broke out among the surrounding crowd; the glimmer of hope that had just appeared on their faces was instantly replaced by fear, and they all retreated.

"Heh, you're asking for it!"

Scarface raised his hand to strike.

"boom!"

With a muffled thud, Scarface's wrist was gripped by a hand as strong as an iron clamp, rendering him unable to move.

Before anyone could even see what the newcomer did, a girl in white had appeared before them, standing like an iron tower in front of the porridge pot, her face as cold and icy as ice.

She didn't even look at the thugs, only uttering a single word:

"roll."

"Ugh——"

An invisible sword aura stirred up a cold wind. The group was so frightened by her power that they turned pale and fled in a panic, forgetting to even drop their bowls.

Jiang Jianxin then let go of the bowl, not looking at the fleeing figures of the group, but bending down to pick up the bowl that had fallen to the ground and had little porridge left.

She didn't give the girl any more, but instead went to the porridge pot, ladled out a full bowl of thick porridge with a large spoon, and steadily handed it to the girl.

The girl was stunned. She looked at Jiang Jianxin and vaguely felt that the woman in the white coat seemed to be someone special.

Seeing that she hesitated to take the bowl, Jiang Jianxin slowly squatted down, looked her straight in the eye, and spoke gently:
"Don't be afraid. Just focus on cultivating your talent, and no one will steal your food anymore."

The girl looked at Jiang Jianxin, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, asking in a stammering voice:
"Are you... are you the Sword Bodhisattva?" "They say the Sword Bodhisattva holds a long sword, releases floodwaters back to the sea, digs irrigation canals, and even gives us porridge to drink."

Jiang Jianxin was slightly taken aback, as these words reminded her of what had happened in Haidu.

She and Yin Ju worked together to dredge the flood, which was a simple task, but she never expected that the story of her using a sword to clear the canal would still be told among the people today.

Jiang Jianxin smiled slightly, then shook his head, pointed to the large pot steaming with heat, and to the people around him who, though still fearful, had begun queuing again for porridge, and said softly:

"I am not a Bodhisattva."

“The Bodhisattva is the one who ensures this pot is never empty, and the one who ensures that you siblings can peacefully share a bowl of porridge.”

The girl seemed to understand but not quite. Jiang Jianxin simply nodded slightly. The wind lifted a corner of her clothes, and her long sword swayed at her waist. Her figure appeared somewhat frail amidst the broken walls and ruins, yet it seemed to contain a power capable of supporting this collapsing sky.

"Jiang Jianzun!"

Gu Fengliu leaped from the fourth floor of the jewelry store, carrying a heavy sword, and landed lightly, his jumping ability still astonishing.

Jiang Jianxin glanced at him, then at the girl whose mouth was agape in surprise.

"Don't disrupt the porridge distribution, let's go upstairs and talk."

Jiang Jianxin ordered.

Gu Fengliu nodded and followed her into the jewelry store.

……

This was Jiang Jianxin's first time visiting the gold shop, the former meeting place of the Fools' Society.

As soon as you open the door, you see the logo of the Fool Society printed on the largest wall in the store. It's a clown hat in dopamine colors, and next to the clown hat is a slightly smaller silhouette of a pink rose.

Jiang Jianxin glanced at the pattern and remembered that when Gu Jiyun explained the affairs of the society to her before, he had said that the Foolish Society's gold shop not only served as a meeting point, but also actually operated normally and made a lot of money every year.

Xie Yan had previously discussed a collaboration with Jun Yunqi. The jewelry raw materials for the gold shop were sourced from Rose Jewelry, but the designs used were those of the Fools themselves.

Most of the Fools in the series are mentally unstable, and the jewelry they design is unique, yet it becomes a trend.

During Jiang Jianxin's university years, before he had completed his upward social mobility and was just an ordinary student, Fool's Jewelry was a well-known high-end luxury brand in high society.

However, the world is in a dark age now, and the market size of the jewelry industry has shrunk considerably, so the Fool's Society's gold shop is now only used for meetings.

Jiang Jianxin walked past the empty display cases in the jewelry store and went up the stairs to the second floor.

There was a reception room on the second floor, where several members of the Fools' Society from other departments were resting after their shifts.

She found a small sofa in a private meeting room and sat down, gesturing for Gu Fengliu to sit opposite her.

"Why weren't you keeping a closer eye on the relief point just now?"

After Jiang Jianxin sat down, he asked the question first.

If she hadn't intervened, the big man would have almost injured the little girl.

"I just posted this, and I'm about to jump down, but I can't be as fast as you."

Gu Fengliu continued to speak haltingly, as if reciting the Three Character Classic.

"I just slung the sword over my shoulder, and you've already passed by."

Jiang Jianxin touched his nose.

She forgot about her own reaction time... which seemed to be much faster than others.