"Don’t go, lest you accidentally get hurt. Just watch! These people won’t end up well. Let’s wait here; when things get out of hand, the government will surely step in."

"Waiting again! If we wait any longer, we’ll starve to death!" A man said helplessly, touching his hungry, concave stomach. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

He stood up reluctantly, grabbed a handful of wild vegetables from the basket beside him, and prepared to light a fire to cook them.

"Dad! I don’t want to eat wild vegetables anymore. It’s wild vegetables every day. When can we have porridge?"

A child of about seven or eight years old tugged at the man’s clothing, his wax-yellow, emaciated face looking up at the man with hope.

The man’s nose turned sour, as he stroked the child’s dry and sparse hair, speechless for a long while.

Gu Chengyu lifted the curtain of the carriage and found that the rain had significantly lessened; now it was just a fine drizzle.

"Have we arrived at Hangtian Prefecture?" He looked at the city gate in the distance and then at the densely packed figures outside the gate, his heart involuntarily sinking a little.

It seemed the disaster was far more severe than he had imagined, and so many disaster victims had already gathered outside the Prefecture.

"Sir, up ahead is the city gate of Hangtian Prefecture." Ding Shiliu, sitting on the driver’s seat of the carriage, cracked a whip, urging the horse to go faster.

There were two more carriages following Gu Chengyu’s. These were the guards from the Ding Generation he had summoned.

This time, coming to Hangtian Prefecture, relying solely on himself and Ming Mo was far from enough. The number of disaster victims was too large, and fewer people couldn’t manage such a big scene.

...

"You say I stole your pocket, what evidence do you have? Did anyone see me stealing your pocket?"

A tall, burly man angrily looked at another short, fat elderly man dressed in silk and satin; anyone could tell at a glance that this silk-clad man was from a wealthy family.

His corpulent body and the square golden rings on his fingers all declared, I have Silver, I have a lot of Silver!

"You were the only one squeezing towards me, if not you, then who?" The old man beckoned to his household guards to step forward, encircling the man.

"Do you look down on me just because I’m a disaster victim? And now you accuse me of stealing your pocket? Though I’m poor, I would never do such sneaky things."

The man, dragged by the disaster victims beside him, couldn’t move. Yet his face was full of anger, having a look at that old man that wished to devour him alive.

"Don’t think you can get away with it by saying that. And who are you people anyway? Look at you mud-legged folks, a bunch of homeless and destitute, still thinking of entering the Prefecture? Simply delusional. My pocket had three hundred taels of Silver; if not you, then one of yours has stolen it."

The corpulent elder surveyed the ragged disaster victims before him with his pea-sized eyes, pointed disdainfully at those holding the man. His disdained demeanor made many disaster victims clench their fists.

The city-guarding government officials couldn’t step away, seeing more and more people gathering here, they sent someone over.

The official had just come forward and scolded, "What’s going on? Why are you all gathering here? Trying to make trouble?"

"Do you have no backbone left? Why are you still holding me back? I’m going to teach him a lesson today."

The fat old man in front was asking for it; the man couldn’t bear it anymore. Seeing the official getting closer, knowing that soon it would be him who’d have to apologize.

His mind made up, he stepped forward and punched the fat face directly.

"Ow!" The fat elder wailed out, feeling a warm fluid slowly flowing under his nose.

"Quick! Hit him! Beat him to death!" He barked furiously, indistinctly.

In just a few breaths, the situation here turned highly chaotic, as many disaster victims started fighting with the old man and his household guards.

Even though the guards were numerous and skilled, the number of disaster victims was simply overwhelming.

Gradually, all that could be heard were the cries of the old man and his guards.

"The disaster victims are trying to storm into the city! They want to drive all our Hangtian Prefecture people out to seize Hangtian Prefecture. We can’t let them in the city, or else they’ll loot, burn, and plunder!"

Someone shouted, leading the originally peaceful citizens preparing to enter the city to glare angrily at the disaster victims.

Initially, they were intimidated by the large numbers of disaster victims, but now those people were at their doorstep.

"They want to enter the city, steal our grain, even occupy our houses. Stop them, we can’t let them enter the city."

The riot, on the verge of sparking, was suddenly ignited by those words. The observing citizens of Hangtian Prefecture raised whatever was handy and joined the clash.

The going-to-approach official was stupefied, scared, spinning around to run away and shouting while running, "It’s a fight! A riot is about to happen!"

"Quick! Report to the official, the disaster victims are rioting!" An official shouted in panic.

"Sir! Please hurry."

Official Wang Chu, walking ahead, urged anxiously; when he came over, the disaster victims were already fighting with the old man, and now the outcome was unclear.

A few officials, holding drawn sabers, rushed forward, striking the back of the blades onto the three most aggressive rioters.

Seeing the fierce approach of the officials, some disaster victims who had initially not intended to take part could no longer stand by.

For days, they had been sleeping rough, while watching the local citizens freely entering and leaving the city, living peacefully. Yet they had neither food nor drink, how could they not feel aggrieved?

Perhaps it was to vent their dissatisfaction, or maybe it was the attitude of that old man and the government that infuriated the disaster victims, leading some to act recklessly.

Since they would starve to death without food, and having already lost their homes, while the court didn’t care for them, they might as well rebel, since they would die eventually anyway.

Once Yang Chao had this thought, many disaster victims, eyes reddened, joined in the fray.

When Yang Chaoying finally arrived, both he and Wang Chu were taken aback. Outside the city, a chaotic brawl was happening, making it impossible to discern which were the citizens and which were the disaster victims.

The air filled with screams, the heartbreaking cries of children, and the shrill screams of women, a chaotic mess like a pot of stew.

Yang Chaoying swallowed, and shouted at Wang Chu, who was stunned beside him, "Quick! Get the bows and arrows."

Upon hearing this, Wang Chu snapped back to reality, quickly trembling as he ran out.

Min Feng and the officials from the Ministry of Industry arrived shortly after, and were astonished by the scene before them. Seeing the situation, Min Feng took several steps back.

This was not the time to step forward; the disaster victims had lost all reason. If he got injured by accident, he would unjustly suffer.

Yang Chaoying stepped out of the city gates, shouting hoarsely, "Fellow townsmen, everyone stop! Speak nicely, don’t hurt anyone!"

"Look! That corrupt official’s come out, he’s the one stopping us from entering the city; he wants us to starve us. Just now, I heard him order people to bring bows and arrows, surely wanting our lives. What are we waiting for? Waiting for him to kill us? Quick, seize him."