Gao Yiye lifted her head, about to ask Tianzun for guidance. Before she could speak, Li Daoxuan's voice came first.
"Yiye, a family was wiped out by mountain bandits. Their house is still empty. Take Shan Shi'er's wife and daughter there and settle them in."
Gao Yiye answered at once, then walked over to Madam Shan and her daughter. "You four, follow me."
The servant and maidservant dared not utter a word. The ten-year-old girl was timid around strangers and kept her head down, too frightened to speak.
Madam Shan, however, was somewhat bolder. After taking a good look at Gao Yiye's kind, approachable face, she decided the young woman seemed trustworthy.
As they walked, she gathered her courage and asked, "Miss, what exactly is going on with your Gaojia Village? How did you build such an enormous wall? It looks even more formidable than the walls around the county town's!"
Gao Yiye said, "That wall is a gift from Tianzun. Our Gaojia Village enjoys Tianzun's protection and possesses many divine treasures. Since you have come here, you will see them soon enough."
Madam Shan looked lost. "Tianzun's protection? Divine treasures?"
She had no idea what the young woman was talking about.
In fact, she had been cursing her husband inwardly for most of the journey.
When they first left the city, she had assumed they would merely hide in a village somewhere nearby, far enough away to avoid the fighting. Never had she imagined that Gao Chuwu would lead them on a trek of more than thirty li.
More than thirty li!
For a middle-aged woman who did not labor, who had grown plump and comfortable, it was hellish torture. Several times, she had been tempted to throw herself onto the ground and refuse to take another step.
But whenever she considered giving up, she remembered the terrifying sounds of fighting that had erupted in the city shortly after their departure. Gritting her teeth, she had forced herself to keep trudging along behind Gao Chuwu.
Now, at long last, they had arrived.
Yet the place was nothing more than a tiny village. Were it not for the strange, brightly colored wall surrounding it, she might not have found anything remarkable about it at all.
Madam Shan was still cursing her bloody idiot husband in her mind when she looked up.
Rows of racks stood in the open ground ahead, each one covered with salt-cured chicken strips drying in the wind.
One rack was nothing. Two racks were nothing. But the racks went on and on, packed side by side, stretching across the clearing until they blurred together in the distance. Every single one was covered with the same thing.
What kind of village is this?
Madam Shan was utterly dumbfounded.
Wasn't there a severe drought? Weren't people starving? Weren't ordinary families struggling to find enough food to survive? Hadn't the peasants been driven to rebellion because they had nothing left to eat?
Then what on earth was all this chicken doing here?
And where had they obtained so much salt to preserve it? This was absurd!
The maidservant and servant accompanying her were equally stunned.
Their eyes remained fixed on the rows of chicken strips, their expressions practically screaming the same question.
Ah, am I dreaming?
Gao Yiye led them to a dilapidated house. "You can stay here for the time being," she said.
The house was undeniably shabby. Madam Shan glanced at its worn walls and battered appearance. She said nothing, but her face said enough.
Still, she reminded herself that this was only a temporary refuge. Once the rebels had left, they would return to the county seat and resume their comfortable lives. With that thought, she kept her complaints to herself.
Then Gao Yiye heard Tianzun's voice again in her ear.
"Yiye, this place is not like the county town. Even if they have money, they cannot buy food. Give them two grains of rice, a small piece of vegetable leaf, a few chicken strips, and a handful of salt. Let them fill their stomachs first."
Gao Yiye acknowledged the instruction and returned home to fetch the provisions.
When she placed the food before Madam Shan, the woman was frightened half to death.
"Th-this... what is... what is this... what kind of rice is this? Why... why is it so big? And this salt, each grain is huge, like chunks of white crystal."
Gao Yiye said, "Did I not tell you already? Our Gaojia Village has many divine treasures. This rice and salt are divine rice granted by Tianzun. Just accept them with gratitude."
Only then did Madam Shan truly understand what "divine treasures" meant. She quickly pressed her palms together and bowed twice toward the sky before accepting the food.
Li Daoxuan had no other orders for now. Gao Yiye stopped paying attention to Madam Shan's group, left the house, and headed toward the village gate.
Madam Shan told the household servant and maidservant to clean the room and tidy the bed. She herself had nothing to do. She took her daughter's hand and slipped back outside to wander around the village.
The whole village was surrounded by the giant, colorful wall. It gave her a deep sense of safety.
The spread of chicken strips in the open ground beside the house shocked her again. But that was nothing. Soon she saw a huge pond filled with clean water. This shock was no small matter. This was a year of great drought. Rivers had stopped flowing. Grass and trees had withered. How could there be such a large pond here? It was beyond belief.
Before she could make sense of it, shouts rang out from the direction of the village gate.
"Get ready..."
"One, two, three..."
Madam Shan turned toward the noise. Four or five villagers were straining with all their might to lift a massive wooden gate into position. The gate was made entirely of solid wood bound together, extremely heavy.
One of the villagers suddenly lost his footing. With a loud creak, the gate tilted sideways and began to fall, straight toward the elderly Village Chief.
"Look out!"
The villagers cried out in alarm. Madam Shan's daughter screamed and buried her face in her mother's sleeve. Madam Shan herself stood frozen, her hand flying to her mouth.
The massive gate was about to crush the old man. There was no time for anyone to pull him out of the way.
Then the falling gate stopped.
It hung motionless in midair, suspended as though an invisible hand had caught it just before it struck the ground.
Nobody moved.
The villagers remained frozen in their awkward positions, staring at the gate in disbelief. They scarcely dared to breathe, let alone understand what had just happened.
Several breaths later, Gao Yiye's loud voice rang out. "Tianzun reached out and caught the gate. What are you all standing there for? Hurry and hold it up again!"
Gao Chuwu ran over from the side and braced the gate with his hands. Recently he had eaten his fill, and his body had grown fast. Muscle could already be seen on his arms. The moment he joined in, the others holding the gate felt the pressure ease.
Several other young men joined too. Together they lifted the gate again, carefully fitted it into the gate opening, and tied it firmly with the Divine Rope.
Only then did they breathe out.
Madam Shan watched from afar and rubbed her eyes hard. "Just now... was that... an invisible hand holding up the falling gate? My heavens! Oh my heavens!"
Madam Shan was actually a Daoist believer.
Madam Shan was actually a Daoist believer. In normal times, when she had nothing to do, she would visit Daoist temples, burn incense for Tianzun, donate some money, and make small wishes. She had several Daoist scriptures memorized. Incantations like "Taishang Laojun, swift as the law commands" rolled off her tongue no worse than any priest.
But her fortune with the divine was not enough. She had believed faithfully for half her life and had never seen a god manifest.
This time, at last, she saw it with her own eyes.
An invisible hand had stopped a massive wooden gate from crushing an elderly man. No rope held it. No beam propped it up. It had simply stopped in the air, as though caught by a palm larger than the sky itself.
Madam Shan did not say another word.
She dropped to her knees with a thud, forehead striking the ground and covering herself in dust.
She did not care at all. She cried out loudly, "Tianzun has manifested. This disciple has been blessed to witness it. Three lifetimes of fortune. Even if I die now, I have no regrets."