Chapter 16
Chapter 16
The County Soldier leaned in to take a look, but he didn’t recognize the characters.
He was just about to nudge Chief Clerk Li to ask what instructions the god had sent down when he heard a sudden, rushing roar.
One grain, two grains…
The unique aroma of raw rice wafted through the air as grains the size of half a person converged into a waterfall, cascading from the heavens.
They piled up entirely within the backyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion.
The deafening sound drowned out the startled cries of the citizens throughout the city.
Soon, the backyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion was submerged under the massive accumulation of giant rice grains.
Han Lie, who was still standing before the offering table clutching his incense, was completely stunned.
Was the Supreme Deity in a hurry? He was still holding the incense in his hand!
Seeing the tide of rice grains surging toward the main gate, the honest-faced County Soldier raised his voice and shouted, “Quick, close the gates!”
Chief Clerk Li was startled out of his daze by the loud shout.
He spat out the finger he had been biting in shock.
Looking at the rice pouring into the backyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion, his eyes suddenly filled with tears.
Yunwu County had originally been a Great County of the Northwest. That it had fallen into such a state of desolation could not be blamed on the County Governor alone.
Silent beneficiaries like them had also aided the tyrant in his misdeeds.
Chief Clerk Li prostrated himself on the ground in a fit of repentant weeping.
“I remember my youth, when I harbored great ambitions to change this dark world.”
“Yet as the years passed, I became a man who sought gain while fearing for his own safety, chasing petty interests and forgetting great righteousness. I actually forgot my original intentions and colluded with treacherous men!”
Chief Clerk Li silently recited the Divine Revelation once more: “Regain your confidence and show your manly prowess.”
It was an exhortation to the masses not to lose heart because of their hardships!
The Supreme Deity was enlightening all living beings, telling them they must show their prowess to break through the darkness.
Chief Clerk Li slammed his forehead against the stone pavement, tears and snot streaming down his face.
“I understand! Supreme Deity!”
Like a fanatic, he raised a fist and shouted, “We vow to restore our manly prowess!”
Led by him, the County Soldiers-who had no idea what was happening-inexplicably began to shout along.
Han Lie, standing by the offering table, was bewildered.
Restore what now?
“What are they shouting about?”
Qin Ying, holding a paper tube rolled from a pharmacy flyer, paused her hand as she poured rice into the box.
She had been secretly looking forward to seeing the little people in the city jumping for joy at the sight of the massive amount of white rice.
Who would have thought that they would start shouting some completely unrelated slogan inside the box?
Qin Ying, who wanted to enjoy the pleasure of being a savior, clicked her tongue in annoyance.
It would have been fine if they were praising her, but what on earth were they yelling?
Qin Ying squinted her eyes, trying to find the instigator.
But from the moment she started pouring the rice, fragmented sounds had been coming from the city. By the time so many people had joined in to shout this messy slogan, she could no longer find the source.
“Which bastard started this nonsense?”
She grumbled a complaint, but as her gaze flicked over the pharmacy promotion flyer in her hand, she felt she had nothing to say in her own defense.
Her complaint was heard clearly by Han Lie.
His expression turned stern. He snatched a Long Halberd from the County Soldier beside him and strode up to the Fusi erected in the Front Courtyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion.
With a swing of the Long Halberd, he struck the hanging bronze bell.
The resonant toll of the bell broke the mysterious, fanatical atmosphere and interrupted the crowd’s nonsensical shouting.
Chief Clerk Li, whose forehead was bruised dark blue from his kowtowing, was tugged by someone.
The scene gradually fell silent.
“Everyone, shut up!”
Han Lie stood by the bronze bell and let out a furious roar.
Chief Clerk Li, still clutching the blood-written petition he had composed, twisted his mouth in defiance and asked, “Why?”
However, before Han Lie could answer, the Divine Shadow in the sky nodded.
Chief Clerk Li’s heart full of grievances was instantly swallowed back down.
Outside the box, Qin Ying was quite satisfied to see the shouting stop.
Only then did she continue her actions.
She deployed white rice and drinking water.
She didn’t calculate the exact amount; in short, it would be enough to stabilize this World in the Box for a while.
Qin Ying then mixed rehydration salts and anti-inflammatory medicine according to the dosage for children, dissolved them in warm water, and poured the mixture into a paper cup she had cut in half.
She then lowered the paper cups into the box, hanging them down beside the Watchtower at the Commandery Governor’s Mansion.
Set up like this, the paper cups were just a bit shorter than the Watchtower. That way, the little people inside the box could use ropes and buckets to draw up the medicine, just like hauling water from a well.
Qin Ying had already explained to Han Lie exactly how to administer the medicine.
All she had to do was keep dumping things in with a clatter.
The people of Yunwu County could only watch as something or other occasionally fell from the sky.
In no time at all, several giant disposable paper cups took up most of the Front Courtyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion.
…
The night grew deeper. From the narrow alleys came faint, intermittent groans.
The Zhang family had no oil left for a lamp. In the darkness, Zhang Family Second Son lay curled up on his side.
Then came a sudden knock at the door.
Zhang Family Second Son jerked awake, unable to imagine who would come calling at such an hour.
A sliver of torchlight leaked through the crack, and his heart lurched.
That stone that crushed the County Governor during the day-he’d been part of that.
Cold sweat poured off him, but someone outside shouted, “Open up. Medicine delivery.”
The voice was familiar. It was their Li Chief.
Zhang Family Second Son opened the door and was momentarily dazzled by the torch glare.
No questions needed-the Li Chief took one look at his bulging belly and sidestepped out of the way.
A middle-aged Physician pushed forward from the crowd.
Zhang Family Second Son stood there like a block of wood while he was made to drink several cupfuls of medicinal liquid, some sweet, some bitter.
Before he could even get his bearings, torchlight washed over the Physician’s face, leaving it half bright and half in shadow. “Pants off. Stick your butt out.”
People forced to stay up working through the night were rarely in a good mood.
At first there’d still been patience for explanations; later on, they simply had the County Soldiers hold people down and administer the treatment.
Zhang Family Second Son didn’t even have time to react before he was forced down right in his own yard.
“Wait-what are you do-ah!”
His shriek didn’t move the Li Chief in the slightest. “What are you screaming for? If you can’t pass that Guanyin Clay, what-are you planning to bloat up and die?”
The Li Chief was conscientious. He knew Zhang Family’s Second Son still had an old mother at home.
Hearing that, the Physician went into the Zhang house’s reeking room. After taking her pulse, he came back out frowning. “It’s pretty serious. Send her to the Commandery Governor’s Mansion.”
Zhang Family’s Second Son finally snapped back to reality. Tears in his eyes, he clutched his waistband, only to feel a coldness between his legs. “What are you doing? What are you all doing?!”
“Saving your life,” the Li Chief finally explained. “You people ate Guanyin Clay and can’t pass it. You have to be dosed with medicine.”
“In the past, this was treatment only a County Governor could enjoy. Thank the Supreme Deity for bestowing the medicine.”
At that, Zhang Family Second Son’s expression eased a little. He stammered, “Th-the Supreme Deity even cares about this?”
The Li Chief, the Physician, and the County Soldiers had heard that question countless times. In the beginning it sounded bizarre; now they were all numb to it.
The Li Chief said, “Quit the nonsense. Help send your mother to the Commandery Governor’s Mansion for treatment.”
He pointed to a wooden handcart behind him.
Someone was already lying on it, but if they squeezed, there’d be just enough room.
The moment he heard the word “treatment,” Zhang Family Second Son forgot the pain. He hurriedly tied his pants and helped lift his mother onto the cart.
Halfway there, a vicious cramp twisted through his belly. By the time they reached the Commandery Governor’s Mansion, his face was deathly pale-and in the end, he bolted straight into the latrine.
That night, the back courtyard of the Commandery Governor’s Mansion was in utter chaos.
Qin Ying wasn’t interested in watching any of it.
After telling Han Lie she’d come back periodically-and that she’d be collecting the paper cups and water bottles when she did-she shut the box and locked it away in her wardrobe.
She bundled up the sheets and everything else that had been soaking in bleach and disposed of them.
With an old electric fan creaking away, she continued sorting through the luggage she’d brought back.
At seven in the evening, Qin Ying sat by her vanity, studying the miniature Dragon Bone inside a shoebox.
It was an utterly ordinary shoebox, yet the scattered little skeleton inside gave it an uncanny air of mystery.
She used a pair of cell forceps to hold a tiny scale up to the light when, suddenly, a cat’s meow came from outside the window.
Then an elderly voice followed: “Rourou, what on earth scared you that badly?”