Refugees (1)
âHey, what are you running for? Iâm here! Didnât you all want something to eat? I have a lot with me!!â When Ye Lang saw the refugees underestimate his presence, he had to immediately show them what he was worth!!
Ye Lang poured a pile of food out of his space ring. Although there were many types, they all tasted good. Ye Lang had spent a long time collecting them, they were all luxury food!
At this point, âluxuryâ was just a word. They were all food. To the refugees, anything edible was the same, as long as it filled their stomachs!
Humans are the same as all other living things. Under starving conditions, we have only one goal leftâ to eat!
And then warmth, and thenâŠ
âFood!! Food!!â
The refugees roared, shoving each other to snatch Ye Langâs pile of food. Those who first arrived didnât stop when they took enough to fill their stomachsâ they continued taking to fill their pockets.
Perhaps this was a form of selfishness, a dark streak in humans. Then again, it was human nature- or the nature of any living thing. Any animal would first stock some food for themselves, they wouldnât care if the others of the same species starved.
Unless it came to their offspring!!
At this point, if this continued, itâd definitely escalate into fights. Ye Lang was initially being a kind soul but he couldâve done something bad here!
Other people might ask them to slow down, to not fight. Theyâd tell the refugees there was enough for everyone. But Ye Lang didnât know he ought to stop them, or rather he knew nothing would change even if he tried.
Ye Lang and Little Xin retreated aside, watching the refugees fight.
At this moment, a dark, thin refugee was watching from the outer circles. He wanted to squeeze into the crowd but failed. He made many attempts but gave up out of frustration in the end.
Suddenly, he seemed to recall something. He looked around, then his eyes stopped once they found Ye Lang, immediately running towards Ye Lang.
Ye Lang looked into the pair of eyes, puzzled. He could see the desire for survival within them, but there was a deep clarity in them too. It didnât feel like they should belong to a refugee, especially not on this dark, thin person.
The owner of the intelligent eyes arrived by Ye Langâs side. He reached out with a dark, thin little hand, then with a raspy voice, âCan you give me some food? I havenât eaten in five daysâŠâ
Everyone seemed to have forgotten Ye Lang was the person who gave them the food. They didnât have to fight for the pile, they could get it straight from the source.
However, under the influence of âone drop of honeyâ, everyone forgot about Ye Lang. They only saw the âone drop of honeyâ!
And this skinny person, other than his clear eyes, he had a pure heart too. Although he was tempted too, at least he could quickly find a solution.
âYeah, I have a little with me here,â Ye Lang gave him some food.
Once he received the food, he didnât swallow it all whole but carefully pinched off small pieces. He seemed to understand that this was the way to best absorb the nutrients in them, the most efficient method to utilise all the energy in this food.
Of course, if someone saw him and wanted to take his food away, heâd swallow all of it whole!
Fortunately, no one noticed him by Ye Langâs side. They were split into two groups: one still taking food, the other eating the food they snatched!!
âCome, have some water. Tell me, what happened?â Ye Lang gave the person a bottle of water. He was interested in what happened.
âWeâre the villagers of the Gomera district. There has been a drought in recent years, our wheat fields havenât had a good harvest at all. This year was the driest in a hundred years. We couldnât harvest a single grain!â he said with a raspy voice, still chewing his food slowly.
âI see. Didnât the authorities do some sort of crisis response?â asked Ye Lang curiously.
âCrisis response? Hmmph, why would they care about us? They only know how to enjoy themselves, they never cared about us,â he clenched his jaw, as if ready to eat someone.
There was another story here!
The villagers once revolted against the Lord of Gomera but they were repressed by the authorities. Some escaped, but many lost their lives!!
âDoesnât Ai Laâs emperor care?â asked Ye Lang, frowning. Did the empireâs emperor not care about such a serious crisis?
If that were the case, then this empire would fall apart very quickly!
âOf course he does! But itâs useless! The emperor allocates funds for disaster victims every year, but the gold coins never reached our hands. Theyâre all swallowed by the corrupt officials!â he was still clenching his teeth.
Sigh, it didnât matter the year, the place or the world, there would always be people like that around!
They said a person who killed a hundred people needed a lifetime to pay for their crimes. These people probably killed hundreds of thousands of people, a hundred lifetimes might not be enough to pay for their sins!!
âIsnât there the fucking law?â cursed Ye Lang.
âWhat can the law do about them? Even if the emperor knows, theyâd only be mildly punished. Worst case scenario, their property would be confiscated. Theyâre aristocrats, theyâd still live fine!!â the person spat, his voice filled with hatred.
Aristocrats. They were a very frustrating problem- not only for the commoners but also for the authorities. Even if they wanted to eliminate the aristocrats, they couldnât because they needed them.
The ones in power could only hope the aristocrats would be a little more civilised, that theyâd act like an aristocrat!
Of course, under usual circumstances, these aristocrats were aware of what they had to do. No matter what, it was still for their own future, for their familyâs future. However, there were still rotten apples among them, and there were many.
About the matters of aristocratic propertyâ even the authorities might not be able to interfere under normal circumstances. In simple words, the aristocrats owned their land, they were basically a small king.
Take this problem in Gomera. Ai Laâs emperor might ask a few questions, help them out a little, but never interfere with the internal politics of the district as long as it wasnât in chaos.
Of course, if the problem was severe enough, and the Gomera district authorities didnât care, itâd affect the nearby districts too. Then theyâd have to deal with this problem.
However, how many of these villagers would still be alive when that day came? How many would have to die?