Li Daoxuan pulled out his phone with his right hand.
He aimed it carefully at the miniature figures inside the Diorama Box and snapped several close-up photos, capturing the moment of tense confrontation.
At the same time, his left hand hovered above the box.
He lifted the lid.
His palm stayed poised in midair, ready to descend at any second.
The instant any of his villagers faced mortal danger, he would reach in and eliminate the five outsider officials.
Just like he had done to the bandits.
Below, Gao Yiye was seized by panic.
She saw it clearly.
High in the sky, the faint outline of Tianzun had appeared once more.
But that was not what terrified her.
What froze her blood was this.
Tianzun had already raised his hand.
She knew what that meant.
Only yesterday, she had watched him flatten every bandit into bloody paste with a single slap. The image remained vivid in her mind. Terrifying. Absolute. Unavoidable.
She threw her head back and screamed with everything she had.
"No! Tianzun, do not kill them!"
Above the box, Li Daoxuan blinked.
"Hm?"
"They are government officials!" Gao Yiye cried. "If you kill them, our entire village will be doomed!"
Her voice rang across the courtyard.
Everyone heard.
The villagers froze.
The five officials were equally stunned. They looked upward instinctively.
What was she shouting at?
Who was she talking to?
There was nothing in the sky.
The lead official frowned.
The Village Chief had just claimed this rice was bestowed by Tianzun, and that touching it would cost them their lives.
Now this woman was shouting at the sky, begging something not to kill them.
A chill crept into their spines despite themselves.
"Hmph." The lead official forced a sneer. "What kind of farce is this?"
Another muttered, "You nearly scared me. I truly thought something was about to strike. Turns out it is just these lowlifes putting on a show."
One official pointed his iron ruler at Gao Yiye.
"You wretched woman. Threatening government officials is defying the imperial court. Do you have a death wish?"
"I am not threatening you!" Gao Yiye shouted. "I am saving you! Leave quickly! Tianzun has already raised his hand. If you stay, he will strike you down with a single slap!"
The five officials exchanged glances.
Their rational minds rejected it.
But the words still made their scalps prickle.
The lead official subtly signaled one of his men.
"Seize her. Take her back to the county yamen for interrogation. She may be a White Lotus cultist."
The constable gripped his iron ruler and advanced toward Gao Yiye.
She did not retreat.
Instead, she looked upward again.
The clouds had parted.
Tianzun's enormous hand was descending, already hovering directly above the official's head.
She understood.
He was protecting her.
If that official laid a single finger on her, Tianzun would flatten him.
But bandits were one thing.
Officials were another.
Bandits could die and be buried quietly.
An official dying in Gao Family Village would bring catastrophe. The government would assume rebellion. Soldiers would come. The entire village would be exterminated.
She ignored the approaching constable and screamed upward again.
"Tianzun, you must not kill them! Absolutely must not! Just let them know you are here. That is enough. They will not dare disrespect you!"
Above, Li Daoxuan heard her.
For a moment he was confused.
She was pleading to protect these five men?
Then he understood.
No.
She was protecting everyone.
Behind these five stood the machinery of the state.
This Diorama Box was more complicated than he had thought.
This time, he would follow her judgment.
He withdrew the hand he had intended to use for crushing.
Instead, he extended two fingers.
Gently.
As if plucking a tiny flower.
He pinched the advancing official.
"Aaaargh!"
The official screamed like a pig being slaughtered.
One moment he had been striding forward to arrest Gao Yiye.
The next, an immense invisible force clamped down on his shoulders.
His bones creaked. His joints groaned. It felt as if he were being torn apart.
He twisted his head left and right, searching for what held him.
Nothing.
Only overwhelming pressure.
Then his feet left the ground.
He rose into the air.
Ten feet up.
Suspended.
The other four officials stared upward, faces drained of color.
The villagers dropped to their knees in unison.
"Tianzun has revealed his divine power!"
The official dangling in midair began sobbing. Tears and snot streamed down his face. His trousers darkened in humiliation.
"Heavenly mercy! Spare my life! This humble one meant no offense! I was wrong! Mercy!"
The remaining four stood frozen.
Li Daoxuan pursed his lips.
Then he leaned forward and blew.
"Whoosh."
A violent gust of wind roared down.
The blast struck only the four officials.
The villagers were untouched.
The four constables were lifted off their feet and hurled backward ten to thirteen feet before crashing into the dirt.
For a moment, none of them moved.
Then, as if struck by enlightenment, they scrambled upright and dropped to their knees, pressing their foreheads into the sand.
Above, Li Daoxuan spoke.
"Tell them to get out. And forbid them from speaking a single word about what happened."
Gao Yiye immediately relayed, voice ringing clear.
"Tianzun commands you to leave! You are forbidden from speaking of what happened here today!"
The four officials kowtowed frantically.
"We will obey! We will obey!"
They scrambled up and fled.
The suspended official screamed, "This humble one also wishes to leave! Spare me! I will not breathe a single word!"
Li Daoxuan released his grip.
The man fell ten feet and hit the ground hard.
He bit back a scream, staggered up, and limped after his companions.
Li Daoxuan narrowed his eyes and watched carefully.
He wanted to see how they would leave.
The five officials ran out of the village, across the sandy wasteland, and reached the edge of the Diorama Box.
A glass wall stood there.
They did not slow.
They passed straight through it.
They did not emerge outside.
They simply vanished.
Gone.
As if the glass were a gateway to another world.
Li Daoxuan stood in silence.
Did they walk out?
Or were they absorbed?
The box had rules.
Rules he still did not understand.
And that unsettled him far more than five terrified officials ever could.