Immortal Cultivation and Life-Saving Guide

Chapter 249 Refugees
"Li Feng?" Thinking of his not-so-sharp performance, even a suspicious person like Wei Xi would find it difficult to connect him with the battle for the throne.

"It's not Li Feng," Qin Feng did his homework, "It's his superior, Zhang Zhu, a third-rank general of the Cloud Banner. He rose to prominence through military merit and is related to the mother's family of Prince Yuzhang by marriage."

Wei Xi spent some time to finally figure out the connection between the belts of the powerful people in Jucheng. "You mean, this is related to the struggle between the Prince of Wuyang and the Prince of Yuzhang?"

"Prince Yuzhang's faction has been constantly using offensive tactics to instigate conflict. When the front lines were making no progress, they urged the emperor to replace the generals mid-battle, leading to a long argument. Now that Prince Wuyang has achieved a great victory at Qitiaogou, and there's a problem with food and fodder, Prince Yuzhang is the first to be suspected."

There was no sign of food or supplies, and two more suspects were added.

"So you were sent here?"

Qin Feng said helplessly: "What can I do about the mission assigned by the sect nearby? But you can go back to Qingcheng Sect and rest for a few days."

"I'm worried about you two being here," Wei Xi began to dig out his Qiankun bag. "The monks are only here looking for food. As for who did this, let them argue among themselves!"

Wei Xi pulled out a handful of rag dolls, each about the size of her thumb, roughly human-shaped, with some still visible thread ends. She drew a spell in the air, and the dolls stood up crookedly, clinging to Wei Xi's fingers and leaping to the ground.

Qin Feng was stunned. After a long while, he said, "Is this a magical weapon? Did you learn it recently?"

"I plan to become a weapon refiner," Wei Xi said, throwing the rag doll that was reluctant to go down. "This is a puppet, a kind of magic weapon."

"These little dolls are consumables. They can only execute one command and last for one hour." To be honest, Wei Xi felt that this thing was a bit useless, but Li Feng had already rounded up the refugees, and using this kind of small puppet could reduce the time of inspection.

"So what can these little puppets find?"

Wei Xi's eyes were heavy as he watched the last rag doll run out of his sight in a strange posture. He replied, "A well-fed person among the refugees."

In fact, it would be the same if Wei Xi went to investigate on his own, but there was no guarantee that Li Feng's soldiers would not think that "the immortal master determined that the food was stolen by refugees."

She had also gone hungry and didn't want to cause a conflict between the anxious soldiers and the starving refugees.

In addition, Wei Xi felt that it would take too much time to ask each one one by one. These little puppets had short legs and fast speed, so they were perfect for executing simple commands.

After arranging these puppets, Wei Xi took Qin Feng to the post station to rest.

Qin Feng had been running around for days, and when he got to the room he fell asleep as soon as he touched the pillow, and Gao Han held him in his arms.

Wei Xi covered her with a quilt and took a nap in the next room. When he woke up, he sat at the table and began to list the suspects in the missing food case.

First, Li Feng or his men were stealing from the camp. Wei Xi was skeptical when he saw that food and fodder had been quietly lost in the camp.

Secondly, Prince Wuyang was directing and acting in his own scheme. After all, although the amount of food and fodder lost this time was considerable, it wouldn't cause a major disturbance on the front lines. Furthermore, his father-in-law's student was the governor of a nearby prefecture, so it would be easy for him to arrange for someone to take action, and he could even throw the blame on his beloved brother.

Secondly, it was the Prince of Yuzhang who foolishly tampered with the food and fodder, giving his brother, who had won the battle, an advantage;
Finally, there were the hungry refugees. Wei Xi didn't think they had the ability to make the food disappear, at least not all of it.

Looking at the paper in front of him filled with guesses, Wei Xi shook his head. There were still too few clues. Currently, the only possibilities he could investigate were the first and fourth.

Wei Xi lit a fire with his fingers, burning the paper into powder. The ink was roasted by the flames and gave off an unpleasant smell.

The room arranged by the inn was nice, with a window facing a lake, which had now dried up and broken into shallow ponds, like mottled tear marks on a face.

At Wei Xi's window, a hot and dry wind blew in his face, without even a trace of moisture.

"A year of disaster..." Wei Xi murmured to himself, "I wonder how many people will die..." This emotion, which was almost sad, disappeared in a flash, and the released puppet climbed onto the windowsill with its butt sticking up.

Wei Xi chose to use a rag doll not only because it was easy to obtain materials, but also because she was quite good at sewing. Although this puppet was only just beginning to take human form, it still looked quite cute.

The rag doll that was white and clean when it was released was now covered in dirt. Wei Xi placed the dusty little puppet in the palm of her hand, watching it jump up and down, and gesture information to her.

Wei Xi frowned slightly: This rag doll really found some abnormal refugees.

However, Wei Xi, barely at the foundation-building stage, had devised several puppets based on Xian Hua's notes. Their functions were limited and their flexibility was limited. This little puppet only found refugees who looked well-fed, and Wei Xi had to investigate the situation himself.

Wei Xi woke up Qin Feng in the next room. The latter was sleeping so soundly that he looked a little dazed when he woke up. He did not look like a reliable immortal master at all.

The little puppet, feeling that he had successfully completed his mission, sat on Wei Xi's hand and pointed the way, always peeking out and never being quiet.

"Your puppet..." Qin Feng observed it for a long time before noticing something strange about it. "Why is it so spiritual?"

It wasn't that Wei Xi was skilled, it was that the cloth given to her by the Ten Thousand Swords Sect was good. At her current level, this slightly self-aware puppet still relied on the properties of the materials used.

In addition to conception, refining magical instruments also requires assistance such as formations, talismans, and materials.

Wei Xi briefly explained it to Qin Feng.

Wanjian Sect and Zhenhai Sect still felt guilty towards Wei Xi, so they specially sent elders to see her before she left. They not only expressed their concern but also gave her some gifts.

The one from Zhenhai Sect was probably prepared by Zheng Duo. Besides a layer of fire black iron ore on top, there were two boxes of spirit stones and a box of silver ingots underneath.

The Wanjian Sect may have thought that Wei Xi was really Xian Hua's disciple, so they sent two boxes of materials for weapon refiners, which gave her the basis to try to make puppets.

Wei Xi was angry because she had taken something from someone else, but she could only feel a little resentful towards the two sects. Most of her hatred was focused on Master Li.

Even with Wei Xi's explanation, Qin Feng still looked at the small rag doll curiously.

The two men soon arrived at the location indicated by the puppet, and Li Feng's order was carried out thoroughly: the soldiers cordoned off an area for the refugees to camp, and other soldiers escorted the other refugees away.

"I don't know how long General Li's food will last," Qin Feng turned his attention to the business, "There's no porridge in the camp..."

"We can't release food now," Wei Xi said in a steady voice. "Once the gate is opened, refugees from all around will flock in, and he won't have much food on hand. Even if he does, it'll be sent to the front lines. He won't have the final say."

"I guess Li Feng will only add some brown rice soup mixed with leaves after all the other refugees have been evacuated."

Qin Feng had never suffered such hardship in her life. She had only heard that some people on the battlefield had gone mad with starvation and eaten human flesh. So she was very surprised and asked, "Is it still edible?"

"When they're hungry, they'll eat anything," Wei Xi said, his eyes narrowed slightly. "These refugees haven't even started gnawing on tree bark yet. I guess they've received some help from the provincial government along the way."

Qin Feng nodded. "After all, when the drought is over, these refugees will return home and at least be able to cultivate the land allocated to them. The various prefectures are also trying to preserve their strength."

As the two were talking, the puppet in Wei Xi's hand held her middle finger and pointed at several middle-aged women in shackles in the camp.

(End of this chapter)