Suddenly, an untimely cry came from afar.
Lin Wen turned around and saw a group of people coming from the mountainside. There were more than ten dusty men protecting a woman who was crying and stumbling over.
Behind them, more people were gathering from the foot of the mountain, behind the mountain, and at the top of the mountain.
Clearly, this was another batch of refugees.
They surged over, obviously hearing something.
A few leaders ran over and excitedly told them something. They pointed at the corpses at the foot of the mountain.
These people's expressions changed. Suddenly, a middle-aged man ran over. After carefully looking at every corpse, he waved his hand and said loudly, "It's those animals! That's right, they're all dead!"
A few of the people in the group broke down and started crying. Someone was crying while cursing. "Serves you right!"
"Dammit! They should have died a long time ago!"
Someone shouted, "He's the Great Immortal, it's him! I've read the newspapers!"
"The Empire has nominated the immortal as the governor!"
"We're saved!"
"Xiuyu, Xiuyu! Quickly ask the immortal to save your child!"
The woman stumbled over and cried, "Great immortal, save my children! The flood washed away my home, the plague killed my man, and I only have my children left, I only have them. If they are gone, I only have…"
The tears flowing down her face made her unable to speak.
The refugees quietened down, looking at the great immortal in their eyes.
The Great Immortal was looking up at the sky at a 45-degree angle, but his eyes were closed. Faint golden light shone around his body, as if he were communicating with the heavens.
The silence only lasted about ten seconds before a large group of people ran over from behind.
They shouted as they ran, "The imperial army is here! The imperial army is here!"
"The army is going to kill us all!"
"He's a liar! He's a liar!"
"Everyone, don't believe him! It must be the imperial army he sent!"
There was a sudden commotion in the crowd. Some were skeptical, some were shaken, but some remained firm.
"Bullshit!"
"Don't talk nonsense!"
"Are you a spy?"
Just as they were arguing endlessly, the imperial army arrived.
After all, they were well-trained soldiers. Under Fang Dashan's lead, they were still in formation even though they were marching at full speed.
Fang Dashan shouted anxiously, "Quick, go protect County Head Lin!"
Even though Fang Dashan was trembling from head to toe facing refugees that were ten times as many as his men, he didn't show any signs of it. On the contrary, he charged forward even more decisively.
If he allowed the regional leader to be taken hostage by refugees or even killed in front of the imperial army, he would have to go to military court.
According to the laws of the Empire, the county governor had already issued a suppression order. If he allowed his superior to be harmed, he would definitely be severely punished. There was a high possibility that he would be sentenced to death.
Hence, he had to act as though he did not care about his own safety. Even if he really started killing the civilians, according to the Empire's rules, it was still better than losing his superior.
He had always been clear about the priorities, so when he arrived at Changle Town and heard that the county governor only brought a few people to the riot area, he immediately rushed over without stopping.
Fortunately, the situation was not the worst.
As Fang Dashan ran, he shouted loudly, "Imperial army! Prepare for battle! Rebels, if you dare to act rashly and touch a single hair on County Head Lin's head, I will kill you without mercy!"
This sentence had a huge counter effect, and the refugees were in chaos.
"They are in cahoots!"
"We've been tricked!"
"I don't believe it!"
"This isn't real!"
"Great Immortal, say something!"
Someone said sternly, "Let's kill this bastard first! He will die with us!"
"We have tens of thousands of people! What's there to be afraid of! Everyone, charge down!"
The crowd surged like a flood. With a loud crack, Fang Dashan made a first-level combat gesture. Three thousand people flicked away the safety. As long as the situation wasn't right, he would immediately give the order to shoot.
At that moment, Lin Wen finally woke up from his "sleep". He opened his eyes and looked around. He immediately knew what had happened.
He shook off the people who wanted to catch him and his clear voice resounded through the valley once again.
"Comrades!"
He secretly enhanced the glimmer and walked down the mountain at a speed that was neither fast nor slow.
"Trust me!"
With just this sentence, the refugees calmed down a lot. Many people looked at Lin Wen in the light and cried.
"Fang Dashan!"
A loud sound was heard.
Fang Dashan was excited and immediately replied, "I'm here!"
Although he had used all his strength, his voice was still like a mosquito's compared to Lin Wen.
"Listen up!"
"Put down your weapons! Stay where you are!"
Fang Dashan's joy was about to explode. He immediately shouted, "Put down your weapons! Stand by!"
He was the first to carry out the command, pulling the safety on and leaving the gun on the ground.
After a crack, all three thousand men pulled the safeties of their guns back on, and threw them on the ground, stirring up three thousand clumps of dust that drifted away with the breeze.
In front of them was Lin Wen, who was shining with golden light.
Lin Wen turned around and raised his right hand.
"I am Changshan County's leader, Lin Wen!"
"I will bring food, hot water, tents, medical care, medicine, and justice and dignity."
"Anyone who insults you, tramples you, and disregards you will be killed without mercy!"
"Even gods can't save him! I said it!"
It was like a level-18 gale that blew away all doubts and distrust. There was no longer any doubt. Those who didn't believe him changed their mind, those who were suspicious were no longer so, and those who had believed him could never be swayed anymore.
Only Fang Dashan looked doubtfully at the golden light on Lin Wen's body, and then at the leaden clouds and the sunless sky. He felt a little incredulous.
Lin Wen quietly lowered the intensity of the golden light and said, "Fang Dashan, leave a group of people to take back their weapons. You don't need to bring them out. The others, follow me."
He said loudly, "Comrades! Follow me."
Even Fang Dashan rarely heard the voices of tens of thousands of people agreeing.
Lin Wen took the lead and walked to the other side of the mountain. The refugees spontaneously surrounded him, and the Empire soldiers followed behind.
Fang Dashan forced his way over and was about to suck up to him when Lin Wen stopped him with a look.
Along the way, the refugees gathered and dispersed. Quite a few people rushed out, urgently wishing to spread the news and let more people know.
Dozens of imperial newspapers had been passed around by countless people, filled with dust and creases. The refugees from the outer circle had tirelessly told the newcomers about the process and the truth of everything that had happened. Even though they had repeated it many times, they still enjoyed it.
The inner circle was the most fanatical. They remained unmoved, only following Lin Wen and looking up at his figure.
The group marched on, growing larger and larger. By the time they reached the dam of Changpai Village, it had expanded to seventy or eighty thousand men, and more were passing the message.
Lin Wen walked to the bottom of the dike and randomly chose a group of people to accompany him up the dike. He let the others wait under the dike.
No one had any objections. They watched as Lin Wen led his "apostles" up the levee.
They did not suspect what he wanted to do. If the Great Immortal said that he was looking for hope, then he was looking for hope. If they found the child, that naturally meant that hope would not be lost. If they did not find the child, then hope was already in everyone's heart.
Only the child's mother, Xiuyu, was still extremely nervous. She no longer doubted the Great Immortal's authenticity and believed that he could help her find them. However, she was afraid that the children were already dead. What the Great Immortal found might be skeletons.
She was so worried that she could barely walk. If not for someone supporting her, she would not have been able to walk up the embankment.
When they reached the great dike, the surging river water rushed over. The great winds that were already cold sliced over like ice blades, but no one felt any discomfort. They were all excited to see this miracle.
Lin Wen felt a little nostalgic. This was the place where he had fought hard, but unfortunately, he had failed to reincarnate.
However, it did not matter. Not long after, he would be reincarnated with even more Kindness and obtain an even stronger start. He would bring infinite Opportunity and Luck to destroy all the immortals.
When he saw the monument that had been carved for him on the dike, he couldn't help but twitch his lips. What unparalleled benevolence? It was as if he were a Bodhisattva. And that Perfected Immortal Light Breaker, it was simply trash. Lin Wen didn't want to acknowledge such a title.
What he wanted was a mighty and domineering title. He wanted to kill in all directions, his will soaring into the sky and sweeping through the universe.
Forget it.
Lin Wen didn't think too much about it. After all, it was a monument of the physical world. It was useless.
He walked upstream of the levee. Upstream of the levee was a small mountain called Clear Wind Mountain. While guarding the levee, Lin Wen slept in a cave here for a few days.
The three children were in this cave.
This was the answer that Lin Wen had painstakingly obtained. When he first asked Immortal Guiding the Way where the child was, no matter how he asked, it was a huge expenditure.
He could not figure it out no matter how hard he thought about it. Were these three children kidnapped by the gods or had they successfully transmigrated? Why did it cost so much Kindness to find out where they were?
Moreover, he had no choice but to find them. Not to mention how much suspicion this would bring to him, that grieving mother of theirs would be able to obstruct his mind.
After thinking hard, Lin Wen suddenly realized that when he was researching spells, there was a spell that was almost identical to Immortal Guiding the Way.
Asking the Heavens
Their only difference was that the former answered subjective questions, while the latter answered objective questions.
If that was the case, the presence of a child should be an objective fact, not an abstract matter where human factors were important.
To answer the objective question with an abstract method, this could be 'cross-platform', leading to a surge in fees.
As expected, this question only consumed 10% of his Soul Essence.
However, since Lin Wen only had 4% of his Soul Essence left, he could only helplessly spend 13 points of Kindness to use magic.
Fortunately, Lin Wen thought quickly and solved the problem.
If he hesitated any longer, a bloody conflict might have already occurred, and the consequences would be unimaginable. Perhaps his Evilness would instantly soar and completely destroy his cultivation plan.
He was still not proficient in using spells.
Lin Wen thought fiercely.
When he went back, he had to train hard. He had to memorize every word on the spell, and he had to engrave every spell's effect into his brain. Otherwise, if he used the wrong spell when facing enemies in the future, it might cause him to lose at the crucial moment, or even die.
This was absolutely not allowed to happen.
As his thoughts raced, Lin Wen skillfully jumped over rocks and trees into the cave, and found the three children.
Their small bodies were huddled in a corner of the cave. Their tattered clothes were covered in mud and dried water stains. Their exposed skin was covered in bruises and scratches. It was obvious that the person who had kidnapped them couldn't enter and leave as skillfully as Lin Wen. It had taken quite a bit of effort.
The three children were sleeping soundly. They were only five or six years old. One of them was an elder brother while the other two were younger sisters. All of them were emaciated. There were needle holes on their tiny arms. It was obvious that they had been injected with anesthesia.
Lin Wen's face darkened. He knew that he would have to do a thorough checkup on the three children when he went back. Hopefully, nothing would happen to them.
He would get the Special Investigations Bureau inspector? to investigate this matter properly. Whichever bastard did this, he would definitely give them a special treatment.