Hot summer, severe drought.
It’s time to give out porridge again.
With the scorching sun on his head, Ning Yan dragged his thin body into the crowd outside Luoyang City. The air around him was filled with an unspeakable stench. He himself was also smelly. Fortunately, he had gotten used to it these days. .
It had been nearly a week since he arrived here, and Ning Yan had to accept the fact that he had traveled through time. The hunger in his belly and the pain all over his body told him over and over again that all this was true.
This is a refugee camp, and he is now a disaster victim who relies on receiving relief porridge to survive.
In the distance, a group of figures walked out from the downstairs of the city gate nearly fifty meters high. They were a group of guards wearing black armor and black swords on their waists and wearing devil's iron masks on their faces. They were surrounded by more than a dozen iron carts. On each cart were two large pots.
In front of the iron cart are some dark "horses" pulling the cart. These horses are covered in pitch black armor. If you look closely, the armor is not flesh and blood, but metal gear machinery. The black horses make a "click" with every step they take. The sound of gears turning.
Ning Yan's mouth became increasingly thirsty, and she worked hard and waited with everyone. No one dared to make loud noises, and most of them just whispered secretly.
The refugees at the front have already lined up consciously. They are all veterans and do not dare to cause trouble under the eyes of these soldiers. Gein has seen the troublemakers die under the black sword with his own eyes.
Ning Yan's position was further forward in the middle of the team, and he was quite lucky. The porridge he received would not be just clear soup and watery. If he had moved forward, he would have been surrounded by some guys at night.
"The fairy is here!"
A shout suddenly rang out from the crowd, and countless people stretched their necks to look. Ning Yan also saw a figure following the convoy of soldiers in the direction of the city gate from a distance. It was a female crown in plain clothes.
The female crown wears a loose light gray robe. The clothes are so simple that there is no eye-catching color. There is a semi-transparent gauze scarf hanging on her face. There is a fly whisk lying quietly in her arms. She has a dignified and majestic temperament.
The leader of the Xuanjia guards came to the back of the team and saluted the female crown in a respectful manner.
After a conversation, the leading Xuanjia guard turned to the refugees and loudly said, "Porridge!"
The team immediately became noisy, and many people knelt down and kowtowed to the female crown, saying "Thank you Xiangu".
The Xuanjia guard said loudly: "This is Master Xuanyi, who has been ordered by the Queen of Heaven to come here to help you and others with porridge!"
"There are no immortals in this world. Don't call real people fairy aunts. Immortals will not care about your life or death. Only the Queen of Heaven cares about you. You must remember the grace of Heaven and the disaster will eventually pass..."
The soldier repeated the same words as yesterday. Ning Yan walked slowly forward in the team and received a bowl of thin porridge and a piece of yellow and black hard cake. These were the things that could keep him alive.
He did not start gobbling up food like the people around him, but walked slowly back to the refugee camp. Almost everyone had queued up, and there were also those with mobility issues who were lying on the ground watching the long queue, hoping that someone would be able to Share some of the life-saving food with them.
Most of these people are women and the elderly. There are no children in the refugee camp. Soldiers come here to patrol every day. If they find young children, they will take them away forcibly. Some parents will not stop them and hope they can survive. It's better to be somewhere than here.
Ning Yan turned a blind eye to those people paralyzed on the ground. He couldn't save these people.
An Lu saw Ning Yan coming over with a bowl, and a smile appeared on his withered face.
"Brother Ning Xian."
An Lu was not a victim of the disaster originally. He encountered bandits on his way to Luoyang to seek relatives and was robbed. When he persisted at the gate of Luoyang City, he fainted and was treated as a refugee and thrown into a refugee camp. That night, someone tried to steal his clothes. A fairly good piece of clothing, but he was beaten half to death and his legs were broken.
Ning Yan broke off a small half of the yellow cake for him and left him a small half bowl of porridge. An Lu wolfed down the food, and he collapsed on the ground covered in dirt. Without Ning Yan, he would have died long ago, and no one would care.
As for why Ning Yan was willing to share his food with An Lu, it was because he didn't want to stay in this pile of refugees.
After the food was finished, An Lu said, "Don't worry, brother Ning Xian. The grace of saving your life will never be forgotten. My uncle is a high official in the court. When we enter the city, we will enjoy endless good days."
Ning Yan has heard these words many times. He knows that the other party is afraid that he will leave him alone, so he promises him over and over again.
Entering the city...
Ning Yan was eating his food and asked casually: "You said this is your first time coming to Luoyang. Does your uncle, a high-ranking official, still remember you?"
"My uncle and I have never met."
Ning Yan couldn't help but be startled and looked sideways at him.
An Lu quickly said: "He was my father's best friend during his lifetime. I brought my father's token with me when I came here. My uncle only needs to see the token to know my identity."
Keepsake...
Ning Yan seemed to be thinking, looked at him and asked, "Didn't the thieves you met also take away the tokens?"
"The token is not a valuable thing, and I keep it close to my body." An Lu shook his head and said. "I didn't know about this relationship before. It wasn't until the family was in trouble that my father thought about it and asked me to sell the remaining property and come to the city of God to seek refuge with this uncle."
"Aren't you afraid that your strange uncle won't recognize you as a junior?" Ning Yan continued to ask.
An Lu said quickly: "My uncle and my father have a deep friendship, so it is impossible for him to do something heartless and righteous!"
He was afraid that Ning Yan wouldn't trust him. In fact, he had thought about it before he came here. After selling his family property, he had a little money and could open a shop in Luoyang City, even if the uncle didn't recognize him as a poor relative. , I can still live a self-sufficient life in the future.
But in the current situation, I can only place all my hopes on this uncle I have never met.
Ning Yan's mind was spinning with thoughts, and she saw An Lu staring directly at the food in his hand. When he met Ning Yan's eyes, An Lu smiled awkwardly and looked away.
Ning Yan's eyes flashed and he handed over the remaining mouthfuls of porridge and cakes.
An Lu was immediately flattered: "Brother Ning Xian, this..."
"You are weak and need it more than me." Ning Yan said.
An Lu was immediately moved and said with tears of gratitude: "Brother Fool will never forget the kindness of a wise brother!"
An adult's daily meal consisted of a bowl of porridge and a piece of cake no bigger than a palm. No one in this refugee camp was hungry. Ning Yan's behavior moved An Lu deeply.
Ning Yan smiled casually: "That's easy to say. Brother An, take good care of yourself."
He asked again: "Who is Brother An's uncle's surname?"
An Lu thought for a while and said: "My father only said that the Yu family is the largest in the city of gods."
Yu family...
Ning Yan looked at the majestic mountain-like Luoyang City over there. It was very different from the city in his previous life. It was hard to imagine that the ancients could build buildings of such specifications.
This is not the Tang Dynasty, but the Tang Dynasty.
A strange world.
Ning Yan saw from a distance that many refugees gathered together and kowtowed to the veiled female priest. People knelt down and praised something.
Ning Yan was too far away to hear what was being said. He was more curious about what this "fairy girl"'s face looked like under her veil.
When the porridge was finished, the Xuanjia guards drove the vehicles and re-entered the city. The female crown in plain clothes also left, and the gate of Shendu was tightly closed to isolate them and the victims.
From then until noon tomorrow, I have to endure the pain of hunger.
Moans and painful wails can often be heard in the refugee camp. Ning Yan saw a middle-aged man robbing a woman of something. This kind of thing was not uncommon here.
An Lu was very angry when he saw it: "What a beast!"
Ning Yan looked sideways and said, "He is a beast, what about us who are just watching from the sidelines?"
An Lu was taken aback and said sternly: "If I had the energy to spare, I wouldn't sit back and watch."
After saying that, he added unjustly: "You don't have to save each other, but at least you shouldn't harm the other party."
Ning Yan looked at him steadily: "Brother An, do you think so?"
"Brother Yu has also read several books by sages and knows etiquette, justice and integrity." An Lu said: "Even if I starve to death, I will never take food from others' mouths!"
Ning Yan just responded to this without saying anything else, looking at the sobbing woman sitting on the ground with eyes as deep as a deep pool.
The next day.
An Lu was awakened by the scorching sun, squinting at the high-hanging fireball, and he raised his head with difficulty.
"Brother Ning Xian, is it time to give out porridge?"
There was no response from anyone around him. An Lu licked his chapped lips, looked around and found that the refugees were already queuing up to receive porridge.
An Lu thought that Brother Ning Xian must have gone to get the porridge, and all he had to do was wait here. His legs were broken and he couldn't walk normally, and he was hungry. It would be better to lie here motionless to save energy. .
He looked at the crowd from a distance, thinking that he would repay Brother Ning Xian's kindness when he entered the city.
More than an hour passed, and the crowd crowded there had dispersed, but An Lu didn't wait for Ning Yan to come back.
Seeing that the Xuanjia guards had entered the city, An Lu couldn't help but propped up his body and sat there to look hard. He was so weak from hunger that he couldn't shout loudly. The location he was in was so remote that even the nearest person would have to crawl over. After a lot of effort, I had to give up.
It's night.
An Lu was paralyzed there without even the strength to drive away the mosquitoes. There were no soldiers to guard the refugee camp at night, which was a good time for some guys to cause trouble.
From a distance, he saw several men punching and kicking a person on the ground, and shouting abusive words.
Everyone around was watching all this numbly, and no one paid attention to it. An Lu thought to himself: If he had the strength, he would not sit back and watch.
He looked at those rough and strong men in tattered clothes, and suddenly felt that even if he didn't look like this, he couldn't beat these guys. If he tried to reason with them, would they be willing to listen?
He was afraid that he would be beaten up by them too. He recalled the night when he first came to the refugee camp. A group of guys wanted to snatch his decent clothes. During the dispute, his legs were broken. At that time, the people next to him also did the same. Same now, insensitive.
Is it worth complaining about these people?
Only brother Ning Xian was willing to give him half a piece of cake and a mouthful of porridge when he was in the most critical moment.
An Lu took a step back from his thoughts: Only those who should be saved should be saved!
Could it be that Brother Ning Xian also met some gangsters and suffered an accident...
Another day.
An Lu was awakened by a burst of movement. He opened his eyes weakly and found that someone was coming near him for convenience.
"Brother...Tai, have you ever seen...a boy with short hair?"
His voice was too soft, so the man squatting on the ground tilted his head and asked, "What did you say?"
An Lu's throat rolled, and he tried to raise his voice: "Brother, do you have food to eat... I have relatives in the city, brother, save my life... I can take my brother into the city..."
When the man heard that he was asking for food, he didn't want to pay attention to him anymore. He sneered and said, "Do you want to eat shit?"
As for the following words, the man didn't believe them at all. Going to the city?
Bullshit!
Flies can enter the city, insects can enter the city, but people like them cannot enter the city.
An Lu didn't speak anymore. He was speechless. He lay motionless on the ground. The scorching sun in the sky did not make him close his eyes. The warm white light made him feel dizzy and in a trance. He saw a figure.
Brother Ning Xian, have you brought the porridge back?
…
As night falls, few people come to the edge of the refugee camp, because this is where people urinate and defecate, and the smell is worse.
Ning Yan groped An Lu's body carefully and found only a pure white jade pendant half the size of a palm, with a single word - Wan - hollowed out on it.
Rubbing the white jade in her hand, Ning Yan's face showed neither sadness nor joy.
Brother An, I didn't harm you, I just didn't save you.
This is what you said.
