Chapter 265 - Birthday Time for Cake
Discover the story in "Red Heart Patrols the Sky" Chapter 265: âXiang Qian!You will forever move forward!You will never retreat!ââBut Iâm too tired, Master, too tired.Iâm... Continue exploring!
âXiang Qian!You will forever move forward!
You will never retreat!â
âBut Iâm too tired, Master, too tired.
Iâm so tired!
IâŚ
donât want to walk anymore!â
âHave you forgotten?
Have you forgotten?
Have you forgotten everything?â
âForward!
Forward!
Forward!â
Xiang Qian suddenly awoke.
Glancing around, he paused for a moment, then remembered he was in the town hall of Qingyang Town.
The cold sweat climbing his spine reminded him that it had been a long time since he had dreamed.
A long time since he hadâŚ
remembered.
Every day he deliberately scattered his Path Origin, drunkenly dropping off to heavy sleep, waking up with a splitting headache, unable to remember anythingâthat was the best state.
How rare inner peace was.
If you canât obtain peace, then you seek a state of Chaos.
If you canât achieve liberation, then you seek to let go of yourself.
To let goâŚ
At this moment, dawn was just breaking, and the town hall was strewn with constables sleeping soundly.
Xiang Qian got up and walked out of the town hall, donning a thin jacket, randomly choosing a direction to start patrolling the townâthis was the work he had been doing lately.
With the current outbreak of the rat epidemic, only Transcendent cultivators could ensure their own safety.
Where people needed supplies, where people were infected and needed relocation, where people took advantage of the chaos to stir up troubleâŚ
all required his attention.
Whether it was the naĂŻve and clumsy Zhu Bijing or Zhang Hai, who could hardly bear to leave his pill furnace, it was the sameâthey stayed busy without rest.
Only now had they managed to get a chance for a short break.
Jia City had already publicized the true situation of the epidemic and had started a full-scale response, with support from all sides arriving.
The road was treacherous, but finally, there was a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.
All of this had been brought by that young man.
The confident young man who said that Godâs Inner Mansion was not his final destinationâŚ
But Xiang Qian couldnât afford to idle.
He had to keep himself immersed in his busy work to fight against the dream that had just woken him upâyes, he had discovered a new method to combat his pain during this period: in addition to alcohol, non-stop work was also a way.
After completing his patrol, he transported the two newly-discovered infected patients to the isolation area in the west of the town.
Anyone who had been in contact with them had already been marked for close observation.
The number of patients gathered in the isolation area in the western part of the town had risen from one hundred thirty to two hundred forty-seven.
However, it was evident that, after the implementation of strong measures, the number of new cases had significantly decreased.
Two medical Cultivators dispatched by the Zhong Xuan Family were here, doing their utmost to treat the infected.
Creating medicine that could cure, or at least delay, the progression of the disease was the best option because once the epidemic symptoms developed, patients had only a short three to five days until death.
Relying on two medical Cultivators to treat patients one by one, many might not even last until it was their turn.
Such medicine was not unavailable, but what could be found currently was far too expensive and unrealistic to implement on a wide scale.
For example, a single Channel-opening Pill could resolve the infection, but who could afford two hundred forty-seven Channel-opening Pills for the two hundred forty-seven infected people of Qingyang Town?
What about the entire city domain?
What about the whole Yang Country?
There was simply no power that could or would bear such a cost.
Transcendent Cultivators were unaffected by the rat epidemic not because they had a specific method against it, but because they possessed extraordinary bodies.
In fact, the round-the-clock efforts of the two medical Cultivators represented an enormous investment.
The Prime Stones they consumed and the consultation fees they charged were beyond what ordinary people could imagine.
Only someone as wealthy and generous as Zhongxuan Sheng would willingly send them to assist Jiang Wang.
After putting the infected into their isolation rooms, personally issuing identity tags, and registering names for the unified distribution of suppliesâŚ
Xiang Qian turned to leave only after finishing all this work.
A gaze followed him, lingering closely behind him.
Xiang Qian turned sharply, just in time to see the owner of the gaze peering out from a little window propped open on the right-hand upper floor.
Bang!
When he turned around, the window was slammed shut.
He probably hit his forehead.
âAh!â
A sharp scream followed.
He must have fallen over.
Despite only a fleeting glance, Xiang Qian, with the eyesight of a Transcendent Cultivator, saw the situation through the small window.
It was a child.
A child so thin he appeared malnourished.
Xiang Qian contemplated whether or not to go up and have a look, but then the small window creaked open again.
The young boy must have stood on a stool to reach the window, leaning through it to look at Xiang Qian with a mix of curiosity and fear.
Xiang Qian did his best to give a smile.
Though his smile was not particularly bright, it seemed to give the young boy the courage he needed.
âToday,â his lips turned pale with a hint of blue.
Speaking also seemed to take effort, âitâs my seventh birthday!â
This young and tender voice shattered many dust-laden fragments.
Xiang Qian was suddenly reminded, he too was still considered young.
By counting on his fingers, after reaching the age of adulthood five years had passed, he should be a splendidly vigorous young man.
But with his appearance neglected for so long and the somewhat sorrowful stubble, he looked much more weathered.
Regrettably⌠How could Xiang Qian not see that this little boy was like a flickering flame in the wind?
âAh!â Xiang Qian said, âCongratulations on turning one year older!â
âThank you!â The little boy first nodded in appreciation, then asked with a blend of curiosity, âSir, are you one of our Buddhas?
Mother says⌠you are Buddhas.â
The Hanging Monastery, one of the holy sites of Buddhism, was located in the Eastern Region.
Here, Buddhist teachings were widespread.
A Bodhisattva is a rank within Buddhism, and sometimes it also refers to a person of great merit and virtue.
âWe donât rely on Bodhisattvas.
Facing hardship, we rely on our own efforts!â
Xiang Qian instinctively wanted to say that, but he felt truly unworthy to utter such noble-sounding words.
Where could he count himself as a person who makes great efforts?
So he simply asked, âDo you have a wish?â
The little boy thought for a moment, a bit shy, a bit hesitant, yet with some irrepressible hope, âEvery birthday, Mother would give me two eggs to eatâŚâ
This should be easy to solve.
Xiang Qian thought to himself.
âWhere are your parents?â he asked the little boy upstairs.
With a touch of sorrow, the little boy said, âFather told me they went out to earn some cured meat for me, otherwise, when the plague leaves, I wonât be able to go to school.â
Xiang Qian fell silent.
At this time, in this place, where could they go to make money?
The parents of this little boy only had two ways to leave: to be cured, or to die.
If they were cured, they wouldnât stay away from their child.
So the conclusion was evident.
Earning cured meat was but a tender lie.
âOne must eat eggs on their birthday!â Xiang Qian said.
âYou wait for me!â
He turned and ran outside.
He bumped into the constables guarding the checkpoint, not allowing anyone to enter or exit.
âDo you have any eggs?â Xiang Qian asked.
âAh?â The two constables looked at each other perplexedly, not understanding the intent of the transcendent lord.
Xiang Qian leaped away from there.
âDoes anyone have eggs?â
âWhich family has eggs?â
Xiang Qian couldnât care less; he continued to walk and asked loudly.
An elderly woman tremblingly took down a knife and cured meat from the beam, âDo you want cured meat?â
âNo need, thank you!â
After asking many people, Xiang Qian realized that in Green Sheep Town nowadays, finding eggs was actually quite difficult.
Never mind eggs, chickens had been eaten to extinction.
As a transcendent cultivator, he had never concerned himself with these trivial matters and thus, was unaware of the severe scarcity of living supplies.
In the end, he rushed back to the town hall, and shouted at the petty official buried in paperwork, âWhy are the supplies in Qingyang Town so meager?
Canât Jiang Wang come up with even this little amount of wealth?â
The petty official looked up in bewilderment, âDonât you know?
The entire Yang Country is suffering from a rat-related epidemic, and itâs not about wealth now; people with money simply canât buy supplies!â
âSo this matter should just be ignored?
Because supplies cannot be bought, we give up?â
Xiang Qian couldnât explain his sudden rage, he just felt a fire burning in his heart, it was agonizing.
Asking for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and all sorts of votes!
I feel like thereâs a chance this week to climb upon the tail end of the recommendation crane in the category of fantasy novels!
(That is to say, currently only eight votes behind the hundredth placeâŚ)
Although itâs of little use, itâs still a goal to strive for.
Lift me up there!
Make it to the top hundred today, aim for the top ten tomorrow!
(One must always have dreams.)