“Ou Ye, good to hear from you.”
“Following continuous heavy rain, Hongshan Town and Hongshui Town suffered mountain torrents, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and causing enormous casualties…”
Zhou You took out the letter, carefully reading each word, while also discerning the approximate age of the ink.
The ink was of poor quality, a low-grade product.
In terms of time, it was likely within ten days.
The letter was signed ‘Little Rabbit’.
“Little Rabbit?”
Zhou You walked back, “Is there someone named that?”
Ou Ye forced a smile, “She’s just an orphan who survived a disaster, nameless. The old couple who adopted her gave her that name.”
Zhou You pondered for a moment, “Didn’t you already get a considerable amount of money from Old Dog the first time you tricked him? Why didn’t you just go back?”
Ou Ye looked at Zhou You in astonishment.
Zhou You raised an eyebrow, “Is there a problem with what I said?”
Ou Ye gave a bitter smile, “You clearly haven’t experienced disaster relief. Ten thousand taels of gold on one person is a huge sum. But if it’s spread among ten thousand people, it’s only enough for a few days’ food. And in places hit by floods, many factors need to be considered. For example, medicines to prevent plague outbreaks, food and drink for tens of thousands, or even over a hundred thousand people, and then post-disaster reconstruction and food reserves. Farmland doesn’t just grow crops as soon as you plant them; there’s a cycle.”
“Not to mention, just take fifty thousand people. How much does it cost to feed and water fifty thousand people for a day? If you’re building ten thousand houses for these fifty thousand people, how much money is that? And you still need to leave them with food reserves and seeds. This all costs money.”
Zhou You frowned, “Doesn’t the Dynasty manage it?”
Ou Ye sighed in dejection, “With the severe Yao Beast infestation now, the Dynasty’s focus is entirely on combating the Yao Beast. How could they care about such trivial matters? Just preparing enough exchange rewards for those Loose Cultivators and Demon Subduing Masters is probably already giving the Dynasty a headache.”
Whether it was one town or three to five towns.
The Dynasty simply didn’t have the time to deal with it.
If the Yao Beast infestation wasn’t eliminated, no matter how well internal affairs were managed, it held no value for the Dynasty.
Ou Ye added, “As for the Sect forces, they have long since detached themselves from the common people. Each and every one of them is high and mighty; hoping for their help is even more futile. Moreover, doing such things inherently has no return value.”
Value?
Value was very important.
They were just commoners.
It didn’t matter how many died. For a Sect force, spending such a high price was a huge waste of time and resources.
All in all, it wasn’t cost-effective.
Sects didn’t need you to join them out of gratitude.
For them, it was meaningless.
Even if they were to recruit Disciples, they would only take those with extremely high Aptitude and extraordinary backgrounds.
Zhou You fell silent. These matters were very distant to him.
It was like the Six Flavor Emperor Pill he ate as food was a supreme treasure in the eyes of his elder brother, Zhou Chao.
The High-Grade Spirit Stone he didn’t even look at was enough for those Loose Cultivators to risk their lives to seize.
Zhou You returned the letter to Ou Ye, “You may stand and speak.”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Jing sheathed his sword.
Ou Ye put away the letter, cupped his hands, and said, “Thank you.”
Zhou You asked, “Roughly, how much money is needed?”
Ou Ye replied, “At least one million taels of gold must be prepared first. The specific situation will depend on whether a plague outbreak occurs later.”
If it was fifty thousand people, divided equally, that would be twenty taels of gold per person.
Zhou You had just taken out the hundred-thousand-tael gold note and instantly froze.
Did it really need that much?
He had no concept of money, but he had a concept of numbers!
Involuntarily, Zhou You looked at Old Dog.
That guy had the assets of the Fengyun Gang, the local forces, and the Sun family.
Old Dog shivered, trembling, “Don’t… don’t be like that…”
After speaking, he hurriedly pointed at Ou Ye, “He’s a liar! Maybe he’s still tricking us this time?”
Zhou You looked back at Ou Ye.
Ou Ye said, “Seeing is believing. I will take you to see the true disaster. If I lie, you can kill me directly.”
Xiao Jing pursed his lips, picked up the bundles, and placed them in front of Ou Ye.
Old Dog cried even louder, “It’s not that I’m stingy, but you guys are so out of line! Why are they the ones suffering, but I’m the one getting hurt?”
Xiao Jing softly said, “This wasn’t ours to begin with.”
This was just something they got by chance.
Old Dog clutched a small knife, “I’ll fight you, you deceptive liar!”
Xiao Jing was startled. Old Dog had already rushed forward, and the small knife pierced Ou Ye’s ribs.
Ou Ye didn’t dodge, and his expression didn’t change at all.
Old Dog was stunned for a moment, “You… why didn’t you dodge?”
Ou Ye said, “It’s true that I tricked you, and it’s right for you to hate me. I also know my methods aren’t clean, so I have no face to dodge.”
Old Dog sheepishly withdrew his hand, his expression complex.
Blood welled from the wound. Ou Ye pursed his lips, a slight frown on his brow.
Zhou You placed his gold notes on the bundle, “These are yours.”
Old Dog retreated, blocking the last bundle.
But in the end, he still took it, “Consider… consider me not having that fortune.”
He only kept his weapons and Spirit Stones.
Ou Ye gave a bitter smile, “If I had known you were so easy to talk to, why would I have gone through all that trouble?”
Zhou You thought for a moment, “If it’s not enough, I’ll sell some Spirit Stones to make up the difference for you.”
Upon hearing this, Ou Ye shook his head, “That cannot be.”
Zhou You was puzzled, “Why not?”
Ou Ye sighed, “I know you mean well. I once had the same idea you just had. I used to have a lot of Spirit Stones, but in the end, they didn’t support me for long at all. In less than ten years, I squandered them all. Only then did I finally understand that simply emptying your own pockets to help will only drag yourself into the abyss.”
“To walk this path, you need to constantly generate wealth, and you need all forces to act together.”
Zhou You was quite surprised, as he had never encountered such an idea.
Ou Ye looked at Zhou You, “Does this idea seem unusual? But this is reality. Even with such good intentions, in the end, you might only receive a barrage of curses. And at that time, your own cultivation will also be delayed. In this matter, you will receive no reward. I am a living example right now; I am completely bound by these matters and can no longer escape.”
Zhou You smiled at him, “Then why do you still do it?”
Ou Ye paused, then after a while, said, “Perhaps, it’s just a momentary reluctance when passing by. It’s like when you see a small dog on the roadside that’s about to starve to death, and you just can’t bear to let it die like that. Yes, it’s just a moment of reluctance. But when you save this small dog, you’ll find that what it brings you might just be trouble.”
His voice became very small and light at the end.
In his tone, there was a faint sadness.