Rumble—

A dazzling thunderclap exploded in the sky, and the streaking lightning split the dark sky, providing a momentary glimmer of light to the earth filled with unease and fear.

"Hurry up, hurry up! If you want to live, move faster and don't dawdle."

An impatient urging sounded, and in the fleeting brilliance of lightning, a long, winding procession could be seen slowly crawling along the official road. This procession started from a great city that lay like a giant beast on the earth and stretched into the darkness shrouded by wind and rain, with no end in sight, inspiring despair.

Despite the terrible weather with its fierce winds, torrential rain, and flashing thunder, people kept coming out of the city and joining this large, mixed group, struggling forward in the wind and rain with their families.

"You idiots, do you think you're moving house? With so much trash in your hands, how far do you think you can go? When the flood comes, you'll all sink to the bottom and become fish food..."

At both ends of the procession, every so often, several people dressed in official robes guided the people forward. At the city gate of the large city, there were even more officials who would inspect the people's belongings. In the heavy rain, their clothes were soaked, and their tone was even more rude.

"Are we going to throw all of these away?"

An old man dressed in hemp clothing, carrying a heavy bag, was pulled out of the line by an official. When he heard the official ask him to throw away the bottles and jars, his face was full of reluctance.

"Sir, could you please have mercy? These items are all useful and valuable. If they are lost, who knows how long it will take to collect them back?"

"Of course we have to throw it away. Do you know how long this trip will take? Carrying all this junk, do you want to be worked to death?"

The official, soaked to the bone by the torrential rain, was almost too exhausted to even get angry. He had seen far too many people like him, and his voice had gone hoarse from talking.

These people had no idea how terrifying the disaster they were about to face was. Staying where they were meant to die. Even after explaining this to them, many of them still couldn't understand.

Those people who were used to living in poverty, upon hearing that the government was mobilizing them to go to more distant places, immediately packed their belongings, wanting to take everything they could with them. If they could dig up the land and carry their houses, they probably would have even tried to carry their houses away.

Although their behavior is understandable, it must be stopped. All the people must travel light after bringing enough food. They must not be allowed to bring pots, pans, or other miscellaneous items.

This would not only cause them to die of exhaustion halfway through, but it would also affect the migration progress of the entire prefecture. If it is not stopped from the beginning, others will inevitably follow suit, and when the flood comes, who knows how many people will die.

"Sir, I'm just born to be a laborer. I'm used to hardship. I do heavy work every day. This little thing is nothing. It won't kill me. Please let me carry it!"

The dark-skinned old man looked at the slightly overweight official in front of him, who was soaked in the rain and had no dignity whatsoever, and a fawning smile appeared on his face.

"No, the Prefect has already given the order that each person should only bring a few sets of clothes to change into, in addition to dry food and water. Nothing else is allowed on the road."

The official firmly shook his head in refusal, knowing that words alone were not enough to persuade these poor people to give up their ideas. So he pointed to the soldiers standing to the side, still clad in armor and armed with weapons, braving the wind and rain.

"If you still refuse, I'll have them help you. What gets thrown away then won't be up to you."

"Sir, I won't leave, okay?"

The old man looked at the armor and spears that gleamed even in the wind and rain, and subconsciously shrank back, his face showing fear, but he couldn't help but feel a little rebellious.

"I'm staying at home, I'm not going anywhere!"

"Do you want to die? A flood will sweep through this area in three days. Even if you had ten lives, it wouldn't be enough to kill you."

"Then let him die."

The old man glanced back at the rather bulky baggage on his back and smiled nonchalantly.

"Bullshit!"

The slightly overweight official, whose clothes were completely soaked, flew into a rage, grabbed the old man by the collar, and spat in his face.

"What do you think I've been standing in the rain for all day? Trying to die? Dream on! Your life is now in the hands of the government. Give me two men to rob this old man of his belongings and give him a few pancakes!"

While the old man was still in a daze, two burly soldiers came up and dragged him aside. Then, amidst his cries of pain, they took all the pots and pans he was carrying off his back and smashed them to pieces right in front of him.

"It's gone, all gone!"

The old man stared at the shattered pieces on the ground, utterly dejected. They were all his possessions, and he had only intended to take them with him, but now they were all destroyed.

"Here you go, this is your rations for the next three days!"

Amid the old man's wailing, a still slightly warm oil paper package was stuffed into his arms. The aroma of scallion oil wafting from the oil paper, which even the wind and rain could not dispel, made the old man swallow hard and stop wailing.

"What are you still sitting there for? Hurry up and catch up. Lord Huang has given you his own rations."

An overwhelming force struck him, and the old man was forcibly pulled up by his collar.

"The adults' rations?"

The old man's expression was somewhat puzzled and strange.

He saw the slightly overweight official who had just been cursing at him pull another middle-aged man, somewhat similar to him, out of the migrating procession. This man was also carrying pots and pans, and there was a woman dressed similarly beside him. Several children with bewildered eyes were also with them.

"Lord Huang just gave the order because he saw you crying pitifully. Don't be ungrateful. Hurry up and get on your way. The government is doing this for your own good. You can earn all of this back when the floodwaters recede."

"I've worked hard for most of my life to earn this much..."

The old man clutched the slightly warm oil paper package tightly to his chest, muttering as he smelled the aroma of scallion oil, but the indifferent attitude he had shown earlier was gone from his face.

He glanced at the slightly overweight official who was cursing loudly while carrying a man with his family in tow. Urged on by the soldiers beside him, the official joined the migrating crowd and headed into the distance in the torrential rain.

"well!"

High in the sky, amidst the thick clouds, a divine general clad in crimson armor looked down at the migrating caravan below, whose cries and curses echoed intermittently, and couldn't help but sigh.

He witnessed the government's brutal treatment of those "stubborn" people. Anything they carried that exceeded the limits would be forcibly dragged away and smashed to pieces in front of them.

For ordinary people, this was far more cruel than being beaten. Forced to go on the road, they were filled with resentment and cursed under their breath.

Although the government had clearly informed them that a major flood was coming, they remained somewhat skeptical until they saw it with their own eyes. After the government destroyed most of their belongings, their skepticism grew to seven-tenths.

Public discontent is boiling

However, high in the sky, Feng Bingwen, who had noticed all of this, did not follow the will of the people, because he knew that the government's approach was correct; three days was simply too short.

There wasn't much time to explain things to those people who couldn't even read. Even if we explained it to them, some people still wouldn't believe us; they only believed what they saw with their own eyes.

Once the flood comes and submerges the entire prefecture, the boiling public resentment will dissipate, and everyone will sing praises to the government in their relief at surviving the disaster.

Even if this migration, braving fierce winds and torrential rains, could lead to the deaths of many people with poor health, it is still the same.

"There are still people!"

The god's gaze swept across the migrating procession, finally settling on the once bustling and vibrant city, where he sensed faint signs of life in many of the houses.

The deity leaped into the air, transforming into a crimson rainbow. With the wind and rain, he landed in the now-empty city. Perhaps because the government's order came too suddenly, most of the stalls on both sides of the street had not been put away. Now, under the ravages of the wind and rain, various vegetables and goods were scattered all over the ground, adding to the desolation.

"I see!"

Feng Bingwen's divine sense guided the divine general's actions as he walked through the somewhat quiet and desolate city. Soon, he arrived at a faint aura that he had sensed earlier in the sky and saw clearly who it was.

There sat an old man, dressed in thin clothes, leaning on a withered wooden cane, sitting expressionlessly at the gate, staring blankly at the torrential rain.

This is an elderly man whose muscles have atrophied, and his wrinkled skin clings tightly to his bones. Due to the decline of his vital energy and blood, he can no longer straighten his back and walk with difficulty.

He was abandoned!

That may not be the most accurate way to put it. The government also wants to save everyone, but making an elderly person of this age walk dozens of miles in the wind and rain on muddy roads would undoubtedly kill him. It would be better to let him stay at home.

And there are tens of thousands of elderly people like this in this city, sitting silently at home, watching the government organize their descendants to evacuate the city in the pouring rain.

Humans are not plants or trees; how can they be without feelings?

Feng Bingwen raised his palm, but just as he was about to do something for these old people, a strong sandalwood scent, so strong that even wind and rain could not dispel it, wafted through the street. In a flash of divine light, Feng Bingwen saw a divine general clad in golden armor appear before him.