Chapter 5
Chapter 5
“This should be enough to eat for now…”
Qin Ying finally stopped her singing, which had been so off-key it was practically unrecognizable.
Following the principle of seeing a good deed through to the end, she had considered the issue of food while preparing the water.
Qin Ying didn’t have much to eat at home-only two packs of scallion oil crackers and half a bar of chocolate.
If she dropped a whole cracker down there, she might accidentally crush a person or two.
Using a paper towel to hold the cracker, Qin Ying used a water bottle to carefully crush it into fine crumbs.
She filled a mineral water bottle cap with the cracker crumbs.
Then, she tied a piece of cotton thread to the cap and lowered it inside.
Leaning against the edge of the table, she used her phone to observe the situation inside the box.
To Qin Ying, a mineral water bottle cap was tiny, but to the little people in the World in the Box, it looked like a massive cauldron that could stew ten people with room to spare.
That single capful of scallion cracker crumbs was nothing less than life-saving rations for these little people who had endured drought and famine.
To Qin Ying’s surprise, no one rushed forward to snatch the food.
The little people gathered around the bottle cap, kneeling on the ground in concentric circles.
The remaining elderly, weak, sick, and young were mostly illiterate. Using their limited vocabulary, they repeated words of gratitude over and over with profound sincerity.
Listening to them, Qin Ying couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt.
It was just a bottle of water and half a cracker. Was all this really necessary?
She shifted her phone’s focus toward Han Lie on the high platform.
Because he had been offering a sacrifice to the heavens, Han Lie had removed his armor. His inner robes were now soaked through by the rain.
Through the wet fabric, the excellent lines of his latissimus dorsi were faintly visible.
Qin Ying clicked her tongue and moved the camera away.
She said to Han Lie, “Han Lie, stop kneeling. Go organize everyone and distribute the crackers.”
Hearing this, Han Lie finally straightened up. “Yes, Supreme Deity.”
Qin Ying was about to tell him to put his leather armor back on so he wouldn’t look so indecent, but she was startled in the next second.
Han Lie threw on his leather armor and leaped down from the high platform. He performed a forward roll to dissipate the force of the fall, landing with an agile grace that made the feat look effortless.
After landing, Han Lie tilted his head and asked tentatively, “Supreme Deity, is something wrong?”
He had just heard Qin Ying’s breathing hitch.
Qin Ying swallowed the startled profanity that had almost escaped her lips. “It’s nothing.”
Though she said it was nothing, Han Lie felt a bit apprehensive.
The sacrifice had been offered to pray for rain, but what would be the price for this food?
Frowning, he walked over to the mineral water bottle cap Qin Ying had lowered.
First, he saw the heaped cracker crumbs, and then he smelled the rich aroma of scallion oil.
Han Lie was quite tall, yet he was still shorter than the mineral water bottle cap filled with crumbs.
He reached out and touched the ridged surface on the side of the cap.
It felt strange-neither metal nor jade.
Though his heart was full of doubt, his movements were efficient.
He began to carry out the task Qin Ying had given him: distributing the crackers.
The soldiers were naturally the main workforce.
“Shang Lin.” Han Lie called over his most capable Team Officer and said, “Take some men to find some firewood.”
Han Lie looked around. Everyone nearby was soaked to the bone and covered in wet mud.
“Start a fire and boil some thin porridge.”
The Team Officer named Shang Lin was about thirty years old but looked older than his age. He cupped his fists in acknowledgment and was about to turn away.
Qin Ying suddenly reminded them, “There’s no firewood nearby. It’ll be more convenient if you dismantle that wooden scaffold.”
Qin Ying could see the terrain of the entire valley. This creek valley was covered in lightning scars; the vegetation had long since died out.
Her words left Han Lie utterly astonished.
The Supreme Deity had actually permitted them to dismantle the sacrificial altar for firewood?
Though he had never encountered a god before, this Supreme Deity seemed almost too kind and approachable.
With Qin Ying’s permission, the work of dismantling the altar and starting fires progressed rapidly.
They erected a makeshift ladder against the giant cracker lid and began hauling the broken fragments down to the ground.
The soldiers contributed their helmets, scrubbing them clean to use as cooking pots.
With the water they had collected and the cracker crumbs provided by Qin Ying, they simmered batch after batch of thick porridge in their small helmets.
Looking down from above, the sight of this orderly, organized labor was quite therapeutic.
Qin Ying watched with growing interest. The only downside was that as long as she observed them, her shadow continued to loom over the valley.
The little people would often be in the middle of their work when, perhaps reminded of some past sorrow, they would suddenly drop to their knees and kowtow to her.
This was proving to be a serious distraction to Qin Ying’s observations.
By a creek stone, Team Officer Shang Lin handed Han Lie a wooden bowl.
The hastily carved bowl still bore the rough texture and splinters of the wood, and it was filled to the brim with thick cracker porridge.
As the bowl changed hands, the porridge sloshed, releasing a rich, savory aroma.
Shang Lin’s stomach let out a loud growl.
Han Lie, who had been the primary force behind chopping the wood and stoking the fires-his brow still glistening with sweat from the exertion-glanced at him.
Han Lie took a large gulp first, then handed the bowl back to him. “Sit down and eat together!”
Shang Lin wasn’t one for pointless formalities; he sat cross-legged beside Han Lie.
After sharing a few mouthfuls from the same bowl, they, like the other commoners in the valley, let out a collective sigh of deep satisfaction.
The porridge, made from the cracker fragments, was savory and fragrant.
Shang Lin rubbed his belly, his eyes narrowing contentedly. “Truly a blessing from the heavens.”
“Fine flour, salt, and that savory…”
What was that savory scent?
He scratched the scar on his chin, unsure how to describe it.
Born a commoner, he had never tasted the scallion oil fragrance found in the crackers.
Rubbing his stomach again, he remarked, “The Deity is truly generous!”
Far more generous than the old Emperor!
During this great drought, while the people were dying, the Imperial Court had refused to release grain for disaster relief or pay the soldiers’ wages.
Yet, they had the leisure to command them to hunt a Monstrous Beast and transport it thousands of miles to the capital just to treat the Imperial Concubine’s eye ailment.
At the thought, Shang Lin let out a cold sneer.
Han Lie knew what he was thinking and gave him a warning look.
“Say no more. Go and push the cage of the Danghu Bird over here.”
Qin Ying had a sense of environmental responsibility; she naturally intended to recover the plastic mineral water bottle lid.
However, this action was misinterpreted by Han Lie, who believed she was waiting to collect her sacrifice.
Upon hearing the command, the smile gradually faded from Shang Lin’s face.
Han Lie said, “Once you return to Luoyang, Dong Hong will certainly make things difficult.”
In the distant mud, Dong Hong was thrashing about like a worm.
Han Lie was a straightforward man; since Qin Ying had forbidden giving Dong Hong a single drop of water, he hadn’t given him a morsel of food or a sip of water.
Taking a deep breath, Han Lie continued, “But you needn’t worry. He will shift all the blame onto me.”
“The achievements will only be exaggerated. In that sense, you all will have a blessing in disguise.”
Hearing these ominous words, Shang Lin couldn’t help but ask, “And what about you?”
Han Lie’s expression remained calm. “I made a vow to offer myself as a sacrifice.”
The Supreme Deity had fulfilled the promise of rain; he could not go back on his word.
Han Lie looked up at the giant shadow in the sky and said in a heavy voice, “From the moment the rain fell, everything I am has belonged to the Deity.”
Whether it be life or soul, past or future.