CHAPTER 168: CHAPTER 167: HUNGER

Zhu Yu, not far away, seeing this scene, quickly pulled the reins and stopped the horse.

The other workers seemed unfazed by such incidents; they silently unloaded the burdens from their shoulders. A few of them went forward, hoisting the man who had collapsed into the mud with difficulty, and carried him to the roadside. Finding a spot where the water hadn’t completely submerged, only soft, soggy mud remained, they laid him there facing upwards. They then returned to pick up their heavy loads again, continuing their struggle forward, one foot deep in mud, the other barely finding solid ground.

Other than the addition of a lifeless figure lying on the ground by the roadside, about whose life or death nothing can be said, everything returned to its previous state. The sounds of labor chants even rang louder than before.

Zhu Yu dismounted and rushed to the man by the roadside, seeing him lying there soaked, eyes tightly shut, almost imperceptible rise and fall of his chest from breathing.

She placed two fingers on the side of his neck, feeling a heartbeat not strong but steady, which allowed her some relief.

This man appeared to have sunken cheeks, hollowed eye sockets as if he hadn’t had a good meal in a long time; presumably, he had fainted from exhaustion.

Some others had dismounted and followed.

Fu Lu stopped a young fellow passing by with a burden: "Do you know this person?"

The young fellow had actually seen the unconscious man from afar, so being stopped by a stranger did not require special confirmation, he nodded: "I know him, he’s from my village. We came together to haul stones for the canal, how could I not know him!"

"So you just leave him here and do nothing?" Fu Lu did not expect the young fellow to recognize the man but act so indifferently.

"What else can we do?" The young fellow drooped his eyebrows, sighed, and glanced at his fellow townsman lying beside the road. "It’s not a fatal illness, just hunger and exhaustion, couldn’t hold up, and fell.

If he can hold on, once he regains his strength, he still has to continue working, if not, that’s his fate.

He isn’t the first to collapse from exhaustion, surely there will be others later too.

If we drop everything to care for him, who’ll do the work?

Should the canal be left unbuilt?"

"Could it be that you are all forced by the government to dig the canal?" Fu Lu noticed the young fellow was also pale and thin, his face looking greenish, and asked quickly.

"Does that still need force?

This rain pours endlessly day after day, if we don’t hurry to build the canal, water won’t drain away, our families, the old, young, will starve to death! No one will survive!" The young fellow waved impatiently at Fu Lu, his eyes glancing at the wet Taoist robe peeking out from under Fu Lu’s oil vest, "You monks and Taoists, if you truly have the power to dispel clouds and hold the rain, we wouldn’t have to race against time constructing the canal!"

Fu Lu was at a loss for words after being retorted.

After all, their identity right now is "Daoist," and besides, the young fellow is pale and thin, clothes muddy, the shoulder strap worn from heavy burdens, clearly working day and night fiercely.

There was no reason to be harsh on the young fellow.

Zhu Yu had already instructed Fu Lu to lift the man’s upper body, soaked steamed buns in water, trying to feed him a little bit.

The man, probably collapsed due to hunger and exhaustion, had lain by the roadside. Now, after swallowing a few soggy bites of bun, hazily regained consciousness.

Zhu Yu broke another piece, soaked it with the water from the water pouch, handed it over to let the man eat, then repacked the remaining buns for Fu Lu to tuck away.

Under normal circumstances, seeing someone faint from hunger due to lack of money would be enough for her to offer a whole bun, even buy a steaming basket of meat buns, she wouldn’t hesitate.

But the present situation differed; it was difficult to procure food in Huazhou. They needed to endure until reaching the border of Shuo Country.

The clean water and buns five people carried were limited. From what the young fellow said, in this place, many faint from exhaustion and starvation working frantically.

In extreme hunger, people often lose their rationality.

If others on the brink of endurance witnessed them generously distributing food to aid someone, and a frenzy broke out, it could become unmanageable.

Even if three among them possess considerable skills, a good tiger could not beat a pack of wolves. Handling such a large group of crazed, hungry villagers would be impossible.

At times like this, it’s better to avoid trouble. Although Huazhou citizens suffer due to continuous heavy rains, the traditional rebellion accusation from the vassal states Jie and Shuo remains a looming threat over everyone like a sharp knife.

If the truth isn’t timely uncovered and that knife is allowed to descend, the world will descend into chaos. Jin Country and Jie and Shuo would clash openly, war ensues, affecting various factions in Jin’s court and whether Fan Country and Lan Country would incite or worsen the situation remains uncertain.

The present fact is someone intent on causing trouble, plunging the world into upheaval. If so, those suffering wouldn’t merely be Huazhou’s few counties, plagued by floods.

The man’s throat twitched a few times, swallowing the softened bun which alleviated his hunger temporarily, but certainly not enough to satisfy.

He swallowed some saliva again, pitifully smacking his lips at the flavor of bun lingering unfaded, stood up from the ground, bowed to Zhu Yu and company: "Thank you all Daoists for saving my life!"

Then, without delay, despite staggering as he walked, he headed for the burden abandoned by the roadside, strenuously picked it up, and continued forward, with deep and shallow strides.

Lu Qing watched by the side, approached two men carrying a large basket of stones: "Gentlemen, may I ask where you are taking these stones?"

The two men glanced at him, initially reluctant, but recalling his identity as a Daoist, and seeing his particularly solemn appearance, inexplicably gave them an impression of depth, causing them doubts.

If he were someone invited by the authorities, should he have real power to halt the rain, they wouldn’t have to endure such hardships.

Thus, the older one, grudgingly patient, turned his head, continued carrying stones forward as he spoke to Lu Qing: "We’re taking stones up ahead, County Magistrate Cao and a major official from the Capital are there overseeing the work!

We have to complete the canal before the river rises in the west, or once the water spills, all the manors around here will be finished!"