Good Samaritan (1)
Jun Wu Xie walked an entire round around the city and the number of refugees she saw was less than she thought, at several thousand at most, a complete mismatch from the figure she had loosely calculated earlier.
While Jun Wu Xie was observing the things in the city, she coincidentally saw the group of refugees who had just been allowed into the Clear Breeze City being ushered by soldiers of the city to a place. That place had highly dilapidated houses and it was dim and highly dank. The people staying there looked very haggard and their clothes were filthy.
Jun Wu Xie observed them from the shadows and she gained a complete understanding of the situation from the words she overheard.
That place was used specifically to harbour refugees who had just come into the city not too long ago and they mainly consisted of the elderly and young children. Without having much money on them, they were unable to get themselves a place to stay and had to rely on people within the city to make the arrangements for them.
Those people who entered the city, although looking highly haggard, had expressions a little more relieved, as if having come into the Clear Breeze City would take them far away from suffering and danger. Even if the environment here was not good, it was a whole lot better than living in fear and terror outside the walls.
The soldiers left immediately after sending the refugees here, reminding them not to move about on their own and to remain there to wait for people who would arrange for places for them to go to in the coming days.
When Jun Wu Xie saw the soldiers leaving, she smeared some charcoal onto her little face and clothes before she slipped herself in among the refugees.
Within each dim and wet earthen house, it was filled with quite a number of people. In the rooms, there was only one large common bed, the blankets made very dirty. All the people placed here were just a bunch of old folks and little children and women who had finally just managed to escape the nightmare to hide in here, where they would not really dare to make any complaints about the undesirable conditions.
In actual fact, besides this group of frail elderly and weak children, the other refugees allowed into the city everyday were the rich who bribed their way in, like the way Jun Wu Xie had done. As those people had money, they would naturally not have to suffer in such a place like this.
Besides the group of people who had just been let in today, there were also some staying there who were people who had come into the city not too long ago. Seeing that there were new people joining them, they went up to the new group with a smile, to chat a little in greeting.
Don’t worry, we will not stay at this place for long. At most, it will be a week and the Clear Breeze City’s City Lord will arrange a good place for us, with work for us to do, a place for us to live and rice for us to eat.
Obviously having stayed at this refugee camp for a few days, an elderly aunt helpfully told the group of people who had just come into the camp, about the situation in there.
That’s right. The Second Aunt from the Eastern House came here two days before us and the City Lord had arrangements made for her to go somewhere else just the day before, and she even came back here yesterday to give us some nice food. We will only need to suffer another few days here and we’ll soon have a nice place to go too as well.
Another elderly woman said with a smile, her well wrinkled face filled with anticipation.
Having suffered so much, they really just yearned to be able to live in peace.
The new group who had still been rather distraught were quickly put much more at ease from the reassuring words from the others in there, confident in the knowledge that things would turn out well for them in the end.
Jun Wu Xie watched it all from the shadows, nagged by the feeling that something was not right.
As she was still deeply contemplating while hidden, she suddenly noticed several lavishly dressed men with highly arrogant demeanors walking into the dirty refugee camp.
And from the group of refugees who had already been in the Clear Breeze City for several days, they immediately started shouting when they saw the men appear.
Everybody come out quick! The good Samaritan is here!
With that chorus of excited shouts, the people who had been hiding within the houses suddenly all came rushing out, to squeeze on both sides of the narrow path, their eyes watching the group of men eagerly, who looked completely out of place here.
Jun Wu Xie followed the crowd and slipped unnoticed among the refugees.
