An old refugee man took the baked buns from his son and handed them to Wan Lei with an attentive smile.
"No, thank you, we are monks and don't need to eat."
Wan Lei smiled and pushed back.
"Oh, okay."
The old man smiled, picked up the steamed bun and ate it hungrily, making a child beside him drool with greed.
The scene just now did not move Wan Lei's heart much.
In the past year, he has seen too many refugees migrating due to famine, and he has also seen too many people starve to death on the way.
The old man invited him to eat the little food left, which was a kind gesture.
Indeed.
But it's hard to say how simple it is.
It's just because he's strong and he wants to please you so that you can be more secure in the journey ahead.
At the very least, he is a wise old man.
No misfortune, no moral kidnapping.
He knew that the more powerful this type of ranger was, the more unrestrained they were, and the more they hated bringing some unknown trolls with them, causing trouble for themselves.
It is a good story that the knight robbed the rich and gave to the poor, eliminating harm for the people.
But of all the good stories in this world, the reason why they are good stories is because they are too rare, so they can be spread.
Most rangers still regard human life as nothing.
The old man was eating steamed buns, and the man next to him baked some steamed buns and gave them to others.
From their chat, Wan Lei learned that these two families were neighbors, and now they chose to migrate north to avoid famine.
This is the northern area of Xirenjia, and it is also the place that suffered the most serious persecution from the war. To the north, the Cao family did not suffer much harm from the war, but because many people were drafted to become civilian husbands, many civilian husbands died on the battlefield.
As a result, no one took care of the crops planted in the fields during spring plowing. Weeds grew everywhere and almost no grain was harvested.
It's a pity that they don't know this. They instinctively think that since there is no war in the Cao family's territory, they should have food.
Everyone must be able to walk there, whether it is begging or working for the landlord, he can make a living.
Wan Lei had been to the Cao family's territory and knew the conditions there, but he did not tell these people because he did not want to destroy the last bit of thought that supported their survival.
In troubled times, people are worse than dogs.
The young man went to the river and knocked a piece of ice, then set up a small iron pot on the fire, put the ice cube in, and burned it.
There is no shortage of firewood, and there are dilapidated houses everywhere. Just tear down a few beams.
"Oh, this fire is a good thing, it's so warm."
The old man stretched out his hand to warm himself by the fire and smiled kindly.
Wan Lei's heart moved. This sentence seemed to have some meaning.
He took out two jars of wine and handed them to the old man.
"Drink some wine to warm yourself up."
The old man stared at him, "This wine is getting harder and harder to find now. When the war started, no one produced it, everything was in short supply. Wan Lei actually gave such a precious thing to the refugees?"
But he soon realized that they were just two jars of the cheapest sorghum wine, not a good thing, and he lowered his head again.
"Oh, thank you sir, thank you sir."
The old man nodded his thanks repeatedly, took the wine, and gave a jar to his old neighbor.
"Old sir, this junior has a question that I don't understand. I would like to see you clear it up."
Wan Lei asked with a smile.
"Oh, look at what you said, my lord, this little old man doesn't know a few Chinese characters, how can he be considered a gentleman?
If you want to chat, I will chat with you."
"The old gentleman just said that fire is a good thing, but what is so good about it?"
The old man smiled. After hearing this, the other party seemed to be just looking for a topic to talk about when he was bored, so let's chat for the sake of two jars of wine.
"Little brother, do you know where the first ray of fire in the world came from?"
After two sips of wine, the old man felt comfortable all over, the distance between them had also shortened, and he no longer called himself "adult" when speaking.
Wan Lei thought for a moment, and it was naturally impossible for him to tell the other party that at the beginning of the birth of the universe, the rules appeared, the fire element appeared, and there was the first ray of fire.
The other party can't understand it.
But he knew that the other party would definitely have something to say later.
"Please ask the old gentleman to clarify my doubts."
"Hey, at the beginning of the world, we humans were no different from wild beasts. We gathered together, held stones and sticks, and fought with the wild beasts with our fists and teeth.
Whoever loses becomes the other person's food, just pick it up and tear it into pieces and eat it.
But people at that time had short life spans. One reason was that if they didn’t live long, they would be killed and eaten by wild beasts, die in battles, or be too old and weak to hunt, and be abandoned by their own race.
Become food for wild beasts.
But the main reason is that eating raw meat is too dirty and unclean, which leads to more diseases and makes you die early."
Wan Lei didn't say anything. Although what the other party said had nothing to do with fire, he thought the next step was to get to the point.
"Until people discovered that thunder fell from the sky and struck the trees in the mountains and forests. The thunder from the sky caused fires on the ground. The fire burned the mountains and forests, and all the beasts, snakes and insects inside were burned to death.
After the fire went out, people picked up the roasted animals to eat, and found that they were particularly delicious. From then on, humans learned to keep fire and use fire to roast food.
People think that fire is given by God through thunder to mortals, so that mortals can eat healthy food and drink clean water.
Since then, people have developed more uses for fire.
At the beginning, people discovered that fire could be used to boil water, cook, and keep warm in the cold winter.
Later, they discovered that fire could be used to bake pottery and make crocks for storing food and water.
Fire can be used for smelting. The metal in the ore can be extracted through fire and smelted into copper and iron.
These copper and iron can be smelted again using fire.
They can be made into swords to protect against wild beasts.
It can be used as a kitchen knife to divide food and make it easier to cook.
It can be used to make hoes, sickles, and catalpas, which can better help them plow the land and harvest crops.
Fire can be used to drive away wild beasts, and can be used for lighting and heating. The land burned by fire will be more fertile in the coming year.
During war, fire can also be used to send signals."
Having said this, the old man took a sip of wine and
"In fact, I have little knowledge. I have heard that gods like you can also use fire to practice or make elixirs. This practice can make people stronger, and elixirs can heal injuries.
Oops, that’s too far-fetched.”
The old man waved his hand and pointed at the fire in front of him.
"For example, if it weren't for this fire, I would probably freeze to death in this cold night, and how could I have said so many words to you.
Therefore, it is not an exaggeration to say that fire generates all things."
Wan Lei sat cross-legged, staring blankly at the fire in front of him, the fire flickering in his eyes.