Tumor Sword Immortal

Chapter 391 Selecting People
The next day, they went down the mountain to distribute food to the refugees.

Pei Xia didn't go; she only had Jiang Shu take Feng Yao and push a small cart down the street.

There wasn't much food, enough to cook two large pots of meat porridge, which would be distributed as soon as it was gone.

This was also Pei Xia's instruction: today is the first time to distribute porridge, so there's no need to make a big fuss. After we go down the mountain, don't mention recruiting people on the mountain; just distribute the food.

When Jiang Shu and Feng Yao returned that evening, pushing the cart, Pei Xia asked, "How was it?"

Jiang Shu sighed: "There aren't many people, only about ten in total, and six of them have died from overeating."

Eating after a prolonged period of hunger can easily lead to problems.

Feng Yao followed behind Jiang Shu, blinked her beautiful eyes, and added, "They ate themselves to death."

The group fell silent for a moment, with only the soft rustling of Ma Shilin cooking inside the house as she hunched her shoulders.

Pei Xia reached out and patted Jiang Shu on the shoulder: "Tomorrow will be the same. Go down the mountain to share the food. No need to mention recruiting people."

This continued for three days in a row.

On the fourth day, Pei Xia waved his hand at Jiang Shu: "We're not going today. Let them go hungry for two days."

Jiang Shu looked at him, puzzled.

Pei Xia laughed and said, "If you go every day, it will become 'taken for granted' and will no longer be called 'favor'. There's no rush. Let the news spread."

Two days later, Jiang Shu and Feng Yao pushed the cart down the mountain again, and this time, Pei Xia went with them.

Jiangcheng Mountain is close to the shipping company on both sides, and recently, due to Li Qing's follow-up troop deployment, it has been making frequent moves.

Not to mention, there was a war recently, so those refugees wouldn't dare to come near.

The only place for this separate meal service could be located at the foot of the western slope of Jiangcheng Mountain.

There is also a road leading down the mountain, but it is quite remote and is usually only used by cultivators within the sect. If it weren't for enslaving Ma Shilin, Pei Xia would have had a hard time finding it.

Following Jiang Shu, we arrived at the open space where porridge had been distributed some time ago. As expected, the place was crowded with people, with about a hundred already waiting.

This is still a small amount; news doesn't travel far in two days. If Pei Xia starts distributing grain continuously today, the number of refugees attracted will be beyond imagination.

Looking around, most of these people were emaciated and filthy, and when they were gathered together, they looked like a pile of wriggling coal.

When the "coal" saw someone pushing a cart down the mountain, it immediately began to move even more frequently.

Pei Xia heard a chorus of swallowing sounds, but no one dared to speak.

Having previous experience, Jiang Shu skillfully set up the large pot and started a fire, while Feng Yao carried a bucket and began adding water.

It would take some time for the water to boil. Jiang Shu checked the two carts of ingredients she had brought down the mountain that day, and then looked at the crowd of people not far away.

He leaned closer to Pei Xia and whispered, "Master, there might not be enough to go around."

"Let's toss the spoon around a bit, and give everyone a smaller portion," Pei Xia said.

There was still a lot of food waiting to be processed in the ice storage on the mountain, but Pei Xia still only let them push two carts down the mountain.

Jiang Shu didn't ask why, but silently followed Pei Xia's instructions.

Once the water boiled, Jiang Shu poured in the rice first, then drew out his magical short knife and began to skillfully slice the meat.

In fact, rice is more valuable than meat in the freezer because rice can be stored for a long time, but if you don't consume the fresh meat, it will spoil after a while.

So it's called porridge, but what comes out of the big pot at the end is almost entirely meat broth with rice in it.

Pei Xia watched as Jiang Shu used a spoon to distribute the food to them, and as instructed, Jiang Shu only used a small amount in each spoonful.

Some of them were refugees who had been fortunate enough to have a full meal a few days ago. Looking at the small amount of meat paste in their bowls, their expressions showed subtle dissatisfaction.

They just didn't dare to make a fuss about it.

They didn't know what had happened at Jiangcheng Mountain, but they had heard that the people on the mountain were all cultivators, so they dared not provoke them.

So you have to have the means to do good deeds, otherwise everything would have been robbed long ago. Pei Xia looked around for a while, then suddenly said, "You, come over here."

He was referring to a homeless person who had just joined the queue.

This was a man, dirty and emaciated, no different from the others.

Jiang Shu looked closely and noticed only one unusual thing—the man was holding a broken bowl.

When distributing porridge down the mountain, Jiang Shu naturally considered the bowls, and they were all carried in the carriage.

However, the bowl this person was using was very broken, clearly not something they brought down from the mountain.

Upon hearing Pei Xia speak, the man visibly trembled and immediately knelt on the ground with a thud. He didn't dare to say a word and kept kowtowing to Pei Xia.

“Get up,” Pei Xia sighed. “Take your bowl, get your food, and come eat over here.”

Pei Xia has taken a liking to him.

Besides this one, there were five other people who brought their own containers, including bowls, jars, and tiles, and Pei Xia called them all over.

He also called over people who brought children, regardless of gender.

There were twelve of them in total. They didn't know what Pei Xia meant by calling them over, so they could only eat their food cautiously, occasionally stealing glances at this important figure from the mountain.

Twelve is a bit too few.

Pei Xia pondered that she needed to select a few more.

Most people were still squatting in the corner, carefully savoring the rare, proper food.

They didn't dare leave until they finished eating.

Because this place was right under Jiang Shu's noses, no one dared to make a move to steal it.

Pei Xia strode over and approached the crowd. The first thing she smelled was a strong stench, which even the aroma of food couldn't mask.

Pei Xia looked around, occasionally pointing out someone without asking or discussing, and ordering them to go over as if giving a command.

Most people were filled with trepidation, yet dared not disobey, and could only proceed cautiously.

Jiang Shu observed silently from the side and soon figured out the trick.

The people Pei Xia pointed out this time were all middle-aged. Although their appearances were not accurate, they were conservatively estimated to be around thirty-five or thirty-six years old.

After counting around again, Pei Xia counted more than a dozen people, bringing the total to exactly thirty.

"Alright, come with me up the mountain."

Pei Xia did not ask for their opinions, but calmly made the request. If anyone did not want to comply, he would not stop them.

Perhaps out of fear, most of the thirty people lowered their heads and dared not utter a sound.

After Jiang Shu and Feng Yao finished packing, they followed Pei Xia up Jiangcheng Mountain.

Jiangcheng Mountain is not low in altitude. For cultivators like Pei Xia, going up and down the mountain is just a routine matter. But for these starving refugees, it can be described as a heavenly road.

If they hadn't had a meal to fall back on, no matter how strong their will to survive was, they probably wouldn't have been able to climb up.

By the time the group returned to their sect atop the mountain, it was already evening.

While the sun was still shining, Pei Xia urged everyone to gather in the square outside Wangjiang Tower.

He stood on the stone platform facing the rogue cultivators at the wedding banquet that day, his gaze sweeping over the thirty bewildered and fearful faces.

He cleared his throat and said slowly, "There will be dinner tonight, all you can eat."

Six characters.

All the panic subsided, and anticipation and joy began to emerge in their eyes.

(End of this chapter)