25: Chapter 25 Who doesn't want a home?

"What? You don't believe me?" Lei Lie looked at the ashen-faced Refugee Leader and sneered, "Do you want me to bring over all twenty thousand of your brothers so you can take attendance one by one?"

The Refugee Leader's lips twitched as he wanted to say something, but in the end, not a single word came out.

They were merely a group of refugees driven out of the city, a mob that couldn't even feed themselves.

In front of a Professional, being quickly suppressed was simply par for the course.

This time, he was truly subdued.

And he was truly afraid.

In the face of such absolute strength, his ridiculous little tricks and bravado were just like those of a clown.

"Th-then..." The Refugee Leader swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his eyes filled with a final trace of pleading and tentative hope as he looked at the young figure,

"City Lord... what you said just now... about letting us eat our fill..."

"Is it... is it still valid?"

Hearing this, all the refugees in the hall held their breath.

In this world where the strong are respected, victors usually turn the defeated into slaves or slaughter them outright.

Just a moment ago, they had dared to bargain.

Now, they didn't even have the qualifications to bargain.

With just one word from Zhou Yun, they would be killed without a place to be buried.

A long silence.

It felt as long as a century.

Zhou Yun turned his face slightly, his calm voice still as gentle as a spring breeze: "Of course."

These two simple words almost made these refugees want to cry!

"Alright! As long as you let us have one full meal, we will leave immediately!"

The Refugee Leader stared fixedly at Zhou Yun, as if trying to find even a trace of a flaw on the young city lord's face,

"Although we are refugees, we still have a sense of honor! Once we are full and have strength, we will leave Flower City and will never cause trouble for you again!"

The refugees behind him also raised their hands one after another, loudly echoing:

"Right! Give us a bite to eat and we'll leave!"

"I did wrong, and I accept the punishment! But give us food first!"

"That's right! Even if it's a death sentence, I accept it!"

"Better to die than to be a starving ghost!"

"We'll leave after we eat, we definitely won't overstay!"

"We keep our word!"

Listening to these so-called "guarantees," Lei Lie, standing to the side, curled his lips into a cold arc, the contempt in his eyes undisguised.

Leave?

With tens of thousands of Professionals currently stationed in Flower City, whether or not you get to leave is entirely up to the City Lord.

Do you, a bunch of stray dogs, have the qualifications to bargain?

Do you have the ability to cause trouble?

It's simply a joke!

But Zhou Yun did not refute him, merely nodding slightly: "Then come with me."

With that, he turned and walked towards the West Gate.

Although the army of refugees was anxious, driven by hunger, they still supported each other and followed in a massive crowd.

However.

When the group passed through half the city and arrived in front of the tall gatehouse of the West City Gate, the Refugee Leader's footsteps suddenly stopped.

A feeling of being deceived instantly clouded his mind.

"Stop! Everyone stop!!" He turned around, spread his arms to block the crowd, and then pointed at Zhou Yun's back, shouting hysterically:

"Liar! You liar!!"

"You didn't keep your promise!"

"You promised to give us food! And what happened? You're just trying to trick us outside the city, then close the gates and let us fend for ourselves in the snow!!"

His voice became shrill and harsh due to fear and anger:

"As expected... as expected, there isn't a single good city lord in this world! Brothers, don't believe him! Once we leave this gate, we're truly doomed!!"

The refugees' already fragile nerves tightened again, and a riot broke out instantly.

"They actually want to trick us outside?"

"Fight them!"

"They won't even give us one meal?"

"Liar! Liar!!"

...

Looking at the restless crowd again, the killing intent in Lei Lie's eyes instantly surged, "A bunch of ungrateful wretches!"

Clang!

His long blade unsheathed, Lei Lie took a step forward, his Silver Rank battle qi erupting, ready to step forward and teach this ungrateful leader a lesson he would never forget.

"Lei Lie." Zhou Yun's hand gently pressed onto Lei Lie's shoulder.

He looked at those refugees who were as terrified as birds startled by the mere twang of a bow, not angry, but just shaking his head with some helplessness.

It was true, the construction site outside the West Gate was still under development and was still some distance away; it was normal for them not to believe it.

"Since they are unwilling to leave the city, then don't force them." Zhou Yun turned his head and instructed Wan'er, who had been following behind:

"Since they don't want to leave the city, then everyone will have to work a bit harder and bring the food in for them."

"Yes, City Lord." Wan'er did not hesitate at all and turned to make the arrangements.

This scene left the Refugee Leader, who was preparing to fight for his life, stunned.

Bring... bring it in?

Really give food?

Or was this just another delaying tactic?

Just as the refugees were suspicious and uncertain, still speculating whether Zhou Yun was going to call in archers to shoot them into hedgehogs.

A strange, fragrant aroma suddenly drifted over with the wind.

It wasn't the scent of ordinary food.

It was a rich, exotic fragrance that carried a subtle sweetness and warmth, as if just by smelling it, the cold in one's internal organs could be dispelled!

"Gulp..."

Someone didn't know who swallowed first, and immediately after, the sound of swallowing merged into one.

They saw hundreds of city residents outside the gate, each carrying huge wooden barrels as they walked in.

At the edges of the wooden barrels, white mist kept escaping through the gaps.

When the strong men placed the barrels on the ground and lifted the lids at that moment...

Whoosh!

Dazzling white steam rose up, and the fragrance instantly became ten times stronger!

The Refugee Leader widened his eyes and craned his neck to look into the barrel.

It wasn't the moldy rice bran he had imagined.

Nor was it murky wild vegetable soup.

What met his eyes was a full barrel of crystal-clear, plump grains of... rice, looking like white jade pearls?!

"Th-this is..." He felt like his brain wasn't working well enough.

"What? Stunned?" A middle-aged city resident responsible for delivering the food wiped his sweat, looked at the group of dumbfounded refugees, and snorted: "It's only because our City Lord is kind-hearted; anywhere else, you wouldn't even be able to smell such good stuff in your entire life!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" The Refugee Leader seemed to have received some kind of shock and shook his head desperately, "Rice this white... such a fragrant smell..."

"This is definitely not ordinary rice!"

"This rich Spiritual Qi... is this Spirit Rice?!"

"But Spirit Rice costs one hundred silver coins per jin! It's hard to buy even in lower-level cities! Let alone here, which is just a small city, how could they possibly use Spirit Rice to feed us?!"

"Fake! It must be an illusion!"

He shouted that he didn't believe it, but his body was terrifyingly honest.

He tremblingly reached out, ignoring the heat, grabbed a small handful of rice from the barrel, and stuffed it fiercely into his mouth.

Boom!

The rice melted as soon as it entered his mouth.

A pure and gentle energy instantly exploded down his throat, flowing to his limbs and bones.

His frozen hands and feet began to warm up, his shriveled stomach was instantly filled with a sense of happiness, and even the hidden injuries left from years of fleeing were now beginning to heal amidst a dull ache!

This texture...

This Spiritual Qi...

"It's... it's Spirit Rice... it really is Spirit Rice!!"

He hadn't eaten Spirit Rice before, only had the fortune to see it from afar.

But this texture, far superior to ordinary rice, and the extraordinary Spiritual Qi...

If this isn't Spirit Rice, what is it?

He fell to his knees with a thud, his mouth still full of rice, while tears flowed down like a bursting flood, "swish."

He looked up, through his blurred, teary eyes, at the calm-looking young City Lord not far away.

So... so he didn't lie to us...

He really kept his promise!

Not only did he give us food, but it was Spirit Rice!!

"What are you all still standing there for?!" The Refugee Leader, while crying, turned around and shouted at the group of brothers behind him who were equally stunned: "Eat!!"

"Spirit Rice bestowed by the City Lord!! Everyone eat it!!"

With his confirmation, the refugees, who had long been unable to restrain themselves from the fragrance, immediately surged forward.

No bowls or chopsticks? Use your hands!

Hot? Can't worry about that!

Dirty? Who cares!

The sounds of large mouthfuls of swallowing and chewing, mixed with the irrepressible sound of sobbing, echoed in the West City Gate tunnel.

This was the most expensive, luxurious, and warmest meal they had ever eaten in their lives.

Watching this scene, Zhou Yun gently exhaled a puff of white air, a smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.

...

Soon, when the last wooden barrel was licked clean, everyone finally quieted down.

Tens of thousands of refugees, whether old or young, whether youth or woman, all had a sense of satisfaction on their faces as if they had lived through a lifetime.

It wasn't just the satisfaction of filling their stomachs.

It was also because the Spiritual Qi contained in the Spirit Rice was nourishing their nearly withered bodies.

"Whew..."

The Refugee Leader exhaled a long breath of hot air, feeling the long-lost warmth in his stomach, and turned around to look at the young City Lord who had been standing in the wind and snow the whole time, without showing a hint of impatience.

Without any warning...

"Thud!" His knees hit the ground heavily as he performed the most standard full-body prostration to Zhou Yun, "Thank you, City Lord... for the grace of a meal!"

His voice was a bit choked, but incredibly sincere.

Behind him, tens of thousands of refugees saw this and also knelt down one after another.

A black mass of people, yet they appeared so solemn in the wind and snow, "Thank you, City Lord, for your great kindness!!"

This shout, although uneven, shook the accumulated snow on both sides of the street, causing it to fall with a rustle.

For those of them struggling on the line of life and death, this was more than just a meal.

This was a lifeline that pulled them back to the human world at the very moment they were about to starve to death, freeze to death, or even turn into beasts.

"To be able to eat such a meal in this life..." The Refugee Leader looked up and smiled with relief: "Even if I die now, at least we won't be starving ghosts. It's worth it! It's really damn worth it!"

After saying this, he stood up abruptly, waved his large hand, and shouted to his brothers behind him:

"Brothers! Remember this!"

"Zhou Yun of Flower City is a good city lord! He is a good person! He is a great benefactor who saved us!"

"He kept his promise and gave us the best Spirit Rice to eat; can we continue to loiter here and cause trouble for our benefactor?"

The refugees, with tears in their eyes, shouted in unison: "No!!"

"Good!" The Refugee Leader took a deep breath, his gaze resolute, "Then let's go!"

After saying this, he turned around and led the way towards the east.

"Clang..."

"Clatter..."

As the procession moved, a series of crisp metallic clashing sounds rang out.

That was the gold and silver jewelry, antiques, and paintings that the refugees pulled out from their bosoms; these were the belongings they had previously looted in the city.

At this moment, they consciously threw these things by the side of the road.

Seeing this scene, Zhou Yun's eyes flickered slightly.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

The Refugee Leader smiled, his tone very calm, "Heading east. One step at a time."

"The west is the wilderness; apart from man-eating savage beasts, it's a barren land. If we go there, it's certain death."

"Although there are Demonic Beasts in the east and the road is not easy to travel, at least there are tree roots and grass to eat in the deep mountains and old forests. If we are lucky, we can still linger on for a few more days."

"Why not stay?" Zhou Yun asked.

Stay?

Hearing these two words, the Refugee Leader's body trembled violently.

He finally turned around and stared blankly at Zhou Yun, as if to confirm the other party's intentions.

But the wind and snow were too heavy, he couldn't see clearly at all.

After a long while, he shook his head, "City Lord, you have seen our situation."

"If we stay, we will only hold you back."

"If it wasn't because we were worthless, if it wasn't because we were burdens, why would we have been driven out of the city?"

Speaking of this, his voice carried a trace of choking, "We... are just a bunch of useless people. Without the slightest bit of value."

A desolate atmosphere instantly permeated the entire scene.

All the refugees lowered their heads, making repressed sobbing sounds.

Yes, who doesn't want a home?

But although the world is big, there is no place for them to stay!

"Hold me back?" Zhou Yun's gaze swept over each and every one of them, "You all have hands and feet, you are physically sound, why would you hold me back?"

"Could it be... that you are inherently lazy and unwilling to work?"

This sentence seemed to touch the most painful scar deep in the Refugee Leader's heart.

"How could we be unwilling?!" The Refugee Leader suddenly looked up, his emotions so excited that the veins on his neck bulged,

"We dream of working! We dream of earning our food through our own strength!"

"But is there any? Is there any opportunity?!"

"No matter how we beg, those masters don't even look at us!"

"They despise us for being dirty, despise us for being stupid, despise us for not having an Awakening for a profession!"

"We are clearly willing to do anything! Even if it's carrying manure, even if it's reclaiming wasteland, even if it's giving our lives! As long as we get a bite to eat, that's enough! But... but no one wants us!!"

Men don't shed tears easily.

But at this moment, this man who hadn't cried even on the line of life and death, cried like a wronged child.

This was the despair of being abandoned by the world, this was the sorrow of wanting to prove oneself but having no door to enter.

Looking at these pairs of eyes filled with longing yet despair, Zhou Yun smiled.

"If that's the case," he looked at these refugees, took a deep breath, and said loudly: "Then stay!"

The Refugee Leader was stunned, tears hanging on his face: "St... stay?"

Everyone was also stunned, staring blankly at Zhou Yun.

Zhou Yun took two steps forward, walking in front of them.

On this street filled with wind and snow, he spread his arms, as if embracing this group of children abandoned by the world, his voice firm and powerful, echoing in everyone's ears,

"Have you forgotten what I said before?"

"In Flower City, under my rule, as long as you are willing to use your own hands to work, I guarantee that every one of you will be able to eat your fill, be able to dress warmly, and be able to have a place to live!"