Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“S-Squad Leader Han!”

Shang Lin stared at the mountain of rice and the water bottle just a few paces away, his hand trembling so much he could barely hold his blade.

Even though he had personally witnessed the Divine Shadow appear and send down rain before, this situation was entirely different.

A Deity bringing rain was something spoken of in myths and legends.

But who had ever heard of a god tossing a mountain of rice into the mortal realm?

Shang Lin licked his dry lips and asked a nearby County Soldier, “Am I dreaming?”

The County Soldier’s eyes were glazed over. Upon hearing the question, he reached out and pinched Shang Lin hard.

“Hiss-”

Shang Lin let out a sharp breath like a snake’s hiss, his face contorting in pain.

The County Soldier replied in a sleepwalker’s daze, “It shouldn’t be a dream.”

People tend to unite when faced with sudden, overwhelming change. These two men, who were trying to kill each other just fifteen minutes ago, now stood together in harmony to verify whether they were dreaming.

Han Lie swept a glance over them. Suddenly, his ears twitched, and his expression darkened.

He heard many footsteps approaching their location.

Turning back to look at the mountain of rice in the clearing, he furrowed his brows and shouted an order.

“Guard every alleyway! Tell them… the Supreme Deity has bestowed food. They must kneel and wait quietly for half an hour to show their gratitude to the heavens. Anyone who loots or creates chaos will surely suffer divine retribution!”

Han Lie wasn’t doing this to be difficult or because he was unwilling to give the city’s residents food and water.

It was simply because the city had been in the grip of famine for so long. If he didn’t use the name of a god to suppress them, the starving masses would surge forward in a frenzy, inevitably leading to stampedes and violent looting.

When that happened, the law of the jungle would take over. The weakest and most desperate would be trampled underfoot, losing any chance of receiving aid.

Han Lie quickly organized the soldiers to guard the entrances of the main alleys and shout the announcement.

The soldiers’ voices echoed through the streets.

Faced with a visible, undeniable miracle, the starving citizens actually believed the explanation.

Outside the box, Qin Ying felt half the weight lift off her shoulders as she watched.

She asked Han Lie, “The County Soldiers are listening to you while the County Governor is away. But if the County Governor arrives and orders you to stop the relief efforts, what will you do?”

Her question was like a job interview, and the answer Han Lie provided satisfied her.

Standing in a spot hidden from view, he pondered for a moment.

“Xu Tan is the County Commandant in charge of the Yunwu County City defenses. I dealt with him back when I was moving bodies in and out of the city. He harbors some dissatisfaction toward the County Governor.”

“I will win over Xu Tan. I will win over the County Soldiers.”

The bodies in Corpse-Dumping Alley had to be transported to the mass graves outside the city for burial, and Han Lie was a diligent man.

Even though the work of a corpse collector was considered lowly and carried a high risk of contracting disease, he had worked with steadfast dedication.

Since his arrival, he had buried the majority of the neglected corpses in Corpse-Dumping Alley.

Naturally, this had caught the attention of County Commandant Xu Tan.

Xu Tan was in charge of guarding the city gates and had a general idea of the grain flowing in and out of the county.

He knew that the county wasn’t truly without grain for disaster relief.

It was just that all that grain was kept safely piled in the Granary, without so much as a single flake of wheat being distributed.

Watching people die everywhere weighed heavily on Xu Tan’s conscience, but what could a mere military man do against the prevailing tide?

However, in his speech, he often betrayed a sense of resentment.

He was a man with a conscience, so Han Lie decided to start his efforts there.

He was a man of action; he immediately dispatched Shang Lin to invite Xu Tan over.

Qin Ying nodded in satisfaction.

“I’m going to prepare some things. You keep things stable here.”

“If anyone tries to interfere…”

She left the sentence hanging, but Han Lie had already bowed deeply toward the shadow in the sky.

His head was lowered, his voice calm and steady. “If anyone comes to loot or interfere, I shall kill them.”

After a moment of silence, he heard the Supreme Deity let out a soft chuckle.

There was a hint of approval in the laughter. “Very good.”

Why stay a corpse collector? He should strive to climb higher and attain more power.

So that he could find more interesting things for her.

Satisfied, Qin Ying closed the lid and placed the box inside her bedroom wardrobe.
Then the Supreme Deity, clad in her sun-protection jacket and shuffling in her slippers, stepped out onto the sun-baked street.

She needed to buy some rice and some life-saving medicine.

…

On a secluded patch of open ground in Yunwu County City, a mineral water bottle with its label torn off stood tall.

In the Great Xia Dynasty, this bottle dropped by Qin Ying was nothing short of a miracle.

Transparent water sloshed within the vessel, casting ripples that refracted the sunlight, bathing half the city in a shimmering halo.

Xu Tan, the Yunwu County Commandant, was in his thirties. He had the typical look of a man from the Northwest, with a section of his right eyebrow missing, giving him a fierce appearance.

He looked up at the bottle of water Qin Ying had set down.

In this desert region of the Northwest during a year of great drought, clear water was the exclusive privilege of the nobility. For rank-and-file soldiers like them, having a mouthful of bitter, salty water to stay alive was already a blessing.

Before fear could set in, he first swallowed hard, his throat parched.

He wiped the corners of his mouth with his thumbs before asking Han Lie, who was walking toward him, with a face full of shock.

“Han Lie, is this the water and…”

“Food the Deity has bestowed upon us?”

Xu Tan’s gaze darted back and forth between the skyscraper-like water bottle and the mountain of white rice. He blurted out, “With such generosity, this must be a true, orthodox Deity!”

Han Lie found himself in complete agreement with this sentiment of “whoever provides food is my master.”

Compared to those clay statues in temples that did nothing but receive incense and offerings-only to be dragged down and whipped by the people when they failed to deliver-the Supreme Deity who had appeared in the sky was far more practical. She fit the human ideal of a god who saves the suffering much better.

Even if her occasional mutterings were a bit strange.

But that didn’t matter. Han Lie would never breathe a word of those oddities to a third party and tarnish the Supreme Deity’s image.

He quickly brought the conversation back to the matter at hand. “Commandant Xu, the Supreme Deity wishes to distribute the water and grain to the people. I need your assistance.”

Xu Tan glanced at Han Lie but didn’t ask why it was him conveying the divine decree.

He simply asked the most practical question: “How do we get the water out?”

The giant grains of rice were manageable; they could be partitioned by using door planks and kitchen knives. But this massive container of clear water looked like jade or crystal and was of such immense size. How were they supposed to pour the water out?

Han Lie had already asked Qin Ying this question. He said with certainty, “The Supreme Deity has told me the way.”

“I only need Commandant Xu’s help to maintain order. Do not let anyone interfere.”

Xu Tan’s heart skipped a beat. After a moment of deliberation, he gritted his teeth. “Squad Leader Han, I’ll follow your lead!”

He would take this gamble with Han Lie. If they lost, the worst that could happen was losing his position or his head for unauthorized troop movement.

But regardless of the outcome, they could secure a mouthful of food and water for their suffering kin.

Xu Tan roared at his subordinates behind him, “Go to the city gates and bring the Cheval de Frise! Follow Squad Leader Han’s orders!”

With that, while the starving commoners were still praying in half-belief, he led the soldiers to establish a defensive line.

At that moment, Shang Lin arrived with a group of men.

They brought back several Fireproof Vats that were nearly as tall as a man.

Han Lie walked up to the plastic water bottle. After gauging the height, he aimed his cloth-wiped Ring-Pommel Saber at the side of the bottle.

He pressed his palm against the hilt, driving it in inch by inch, the muscles in his arm bulging from the effort.

The standard-issue Ring-Pommel Saber of the Great Xia Official Army pierced through the bottle wall, sinking in about half a palm’s width.

Even though Han Lie had wiped his blade, he didn’t want a weapon that had just killed people to contaminate the water. Relying on his sense of touch, he felt the moment the wall was punctured and immediately withdrew the blade.

In the next instant, he was drenched from head to toe by clear, cool mineral water.

There were countless people on the open ground, yet for a moment, it was pin-drop silent.

That silence lasted until a stream of clear water, as thick as a fist, carved a muddy hollow into the yellow earth.

Han Lie was the first to react. Wiping the water from his face, he shouted urgently, “Push the vats over!”

Then, the streets and alleys began to boil with excitement.