Proxy Mode!
Light and shadow surged, carrying Shen Le's consciousness forward. It pierced through barriers of darkness, through kaleidoscopic waves of light.
The scene before him kept changing, as though decades, centuries, even millennia were being dragged into fast-forward by a mouse, twisting on a screen into light and shadow too blurred for the naked eye to distinguish.
When the shifting light finally stopped, he found himself amid a raging storm, its sounds filling his ears.
Shen Le instinctively tried to rise and close the window. But the moment he moved, he realized that he could not affect the world before him at all.
The good news was that he finally would not have to fight in someone else's place this time, nor would he have to serve as that family's nanny day after day, as he had grumbled about.
The bad news was that he could do nothing but watch. Perhaps the Pottery House had heard his complaints and decided that it would no longer trouble him with work...
The storm darkened the sky. Naturally, the chickens in the coop had obediently huddled in their nests, not making a sound. Beneath the bean-sized flame of a lamp, only the rustle of people could be heard as they discussed in hushed voices.
"What do we do? Do we hand over the grain or not?"
"The Way of Five Pecks of Rice wants grain, and the government wants grain too. We only have one bucket of water—how many scoops can it withstand? And they're fighting each other—
"If we do not hand over grain, the Way of Five Pecks of Rice will break through our gates tomorrow. If we do hand it over, the government will come attacking another day, brand us rebels, and bring ruin upon our household!"
Shen Le