Clan Cultivation: Starting with Building an Island Immortal City

28: Acts of kindness and goodwill can sow the seeds of future disaster.The next morning, the sky was faintly lit, and the chill had not yet receded.

Outside Linhai City’s west gate, beside the overgrown official road, the previously empty field was now densely packed with four to five hundred people.

Men, women, old, and young, dressed in rags, with sallow, emaciated faces, either leaned against withered trees or huddled in grass nests, their eyes hollow.

Only the sound of suppressed coughing and faint cries of infants could be heard, and the air was filled with the scent of despair and hunger.

These were all refugees who had fled from the Central Plains.

Suddenly, a dull sound of wheels and footsteps came from a distance.

The crowd stirred, looking with both apprehension and a glimmer of hope.

A procession could be seen approaching from the direction of the city gate.

More than ten servants of the Li Family pushed five flatbed carts, each carrying a large iron pot, as well as sacks of rice and bundles of firewood.

The elderly man leading them was none other than Butler Uncle Zhong; he wore a neat grey cotton robe, his expression solemn, and his steps steady.

The procession stopped at a relatively open area on the edge of the refugee gathering spot, and the servants, well-trained, began to unload the carts, build stoves, set up pots, and gather firewood, working swiftly and without delay.

”Clang! Clang! Clang!”

Three crisp gongs echoed across the wilderness, silencing all the noise.

Uncle Zhong stepped onto a slightly raised mound, holding a horn made of rolled tin, and spoke loudly:

”Fellow villagers! Elders!”

”I am Shi Zhong, the butler of the Li Family in Linhai City! By order of my Eldest Young Master, I have set up a porridge stall here to temporarily relieve your suffering from hunger!”

As his voice fell, a low murmur and stir immediately arose among the refugees.

Serving porridge? In these turbulent times of war, could there actually be such a good deed?

”Light the fire! Cook the porridge!”

Uncle Zhong said no more, waving his hand to give the order.

The servants immediately lit the firewood, and flames blazed beneath the five large pots.

Clear well water was poured into the pots, followed by large scoops of white, plump rice grains, and the aroma of rice slowly rose with the steam.

What made the refugees’ eyes widen even more was that the Li Family servants even brought out several large jars of dark brown, fragrant pickled vegetables.

The pickled vegetables were chopped into pieces with an axe and thrown into the large pots to be cooked with the rice.

The salty aroma mixed with the scent of rice wafted out, which, to the hungry, was the most enticing smell in the world.

The porridge was cooked very thick, the rice grains almost dissolving, sticky, soft, and steaming hot.

”Line up! Don’t push! Elders and children, come to the front! Everyone gets a share!”

Uncle Zhong commanded calmly, as several tall Li Family guards maintained order.

The refugees were initially a bit chaotic, but under the Li Family’s orderly arrangements, they quickly formed five long lines.

Bowls of thick, hot porridge and spoonfuls of glistening pickled vegetables were handed to trembling, dirty hands.

”Thank you... thank you, Master!”

”Living Bodhisattva!”

”Child, eat quickly, slowly, it’s hot...”

Sounds of gratitude, choked sobs, and children’s impatient slurping instantly filled the air.

Many elderly people, holding their porridge bowls, shed tears and continuously kowtowed towards Linhai City, oblivious to the dirt on their foreheads.

Uncle Zhong watched the scene before him, his expression calm, a trace of pity and compassion flashing in his eyes.

He raised the tin horn again:

”Fellow villagers! This porridge will be served by my Family for three days! Eat with peace of mind, there’s enough for everyone!”

”Today, there is only plain porridge and pickled vegetables, not because the Li Family is stingy, but because you have traveled a long distance, your stomachs are weak, and suddenly eating meat and fish might cause illness and harm you!”

He raised his voice, ensuring more people could hear:

”Tomorrow, chopped meat and ginger shreds will be added to the porridge to ward off the cold! The day after tomorrow, there will be well-cooked meat bone soup! Eat your fill for three days and regain some strength!”

At these words, bursts of joyful sobs erupted among the refugees.

Meat! There’s even meat!

Uncle Zhong changed the subject and continued: