Our Village Has Many Divine Objects

Gao Yiye raised her head, wanting to ask the Heavenly Deity for his opinion.

Li Daoxuan spoke up ahead of her, "Yiye, a family has been slaughtered by bandits, and their house is currently vacant. Take San Shier's wife and daughter over and settle them in that room."

Gao Yiye hurriedly acknowledged the order and walked in front of San Shier's wife and daughter, "You folks, come with me."

Neither the servants nor the maid dared to speak, and the ten-year-old girl was still afraid of strangers, shrinking back without a word. Third Madam, on the other hand, had a bit more boldness. Seeing that Gao Yiye's features seemed rather kind and she looked like a good person as well, she walked along and gathered the courage to ask, "Young lady, what is this Gao Family Village of yours all about? How could it have such a huge city wall? This city wall is far more formidable than the one at the County Seat."

Gao Yiye said, "That city wall is a blessing from the Heavenly Deity. Our Gao Family Village is under the protection of the Heavenly Deity and possesses many divine objects. Since you have come here, you will witness them very soon."

Third Madam wore a blank expression, "Protected by a deity? Divine objects?"

She didn't quite understand!

In truth, all along the way here, she had been cursing her own husband in her heart. Previously, she thought fleeing out of the city meant hiding in a village not far from the County Seat, but who would have thought Gao Chuwu would lead them on a walk of over thirty miles.

Over thirty miles!

For a middle-aged woman who shunned physical labor and had a plump figure, this was nothing short of hell-level torture. Several times along this journey, she wanted to just lie down on the ground and stop walking. But thinking of the huge battle cries ringing out from the city not long after they left, she gritted her teeth and continued her arduous trek behind Gao Chuwu.

Now they had finally reached their destination, yet it was just a tiny village the size of a palm. If not for the strange, multicolored city wall, she wouldn't have been able to spot anything eye-catching about this village at all.

Just as Third Madam was cursing her husband to high heaven in her heart, she suddenly raised her head and noticed that in the open space ahead, a row of racks stood erect, covered completely with salt-cured chicken strips that were drying in the wind...

Normally this wasn't considered a rare sight, but if there were countless racks like this, arranged densely and stretching forward as far as the eye could see to blanket an entire area, then that was extremely rare.

This was a large-scale wind-dried chicken strip production site!

Third Madam was completely dumbfounded. Wasn't there a drought? Wasn't the populace suffering? Weren't the peasants lacking food and driven to rebellion out of hunger? What was the deal with these countless wind-dried chicken strips here? To think they even had this much salt to use for curing-it was simply outrageous to the extreme.

The maids and servants of the three families were likewise struck dumb, their gazes locked onto those chicken strips in a state of "Ah, could I perhaps be dreaming?"

Gao Yiye led them to a dilapidated house, "You can stay here temporarily."

The house before them was truly somewhat shabby, and Third Madam felt a bit of aversion, but since she figured they were only "taking temporary shelter here and would return to the County Seat once the rebel army left," she didn't say anything.

Gao Yiye heard the voice of the Heavenly Deity ring in her ear again, "This place isn't comparable to the County Seat; even if they have money, they won't be able to buy food. Issue them two grains of rice, a tiny piece of vegetable leaf, a few chicken strips, and a pinch of salt to let them fill their stomachs first."

Gao Yiye acknowledged the command, went home, and brought the food back over.

The moment she placed these few food items before Third Madam, the latter was scared nearly to half-death, "This... what is this... what... rice? Why... is it so large? And this salt, the grains are so huge, looking like little blocks of white crystal."

Gao Yiye said, "Didn't I tell you just a moment ago? There are many divine objects in our Gao Family Village. This rice and salt are divine rice bestowed by the Heavenly Deity; just receive them with a heart full of gratitude."

At this point, Third Madam finally understood what a "divine object" meant. She hurriedly pressed her palms together and bowed twice toward the sky before finally accepting the food.

Li Daoxuan had no other instructions for the moment, so Gao Yiye paid no more heed to Third Madam's group. She stepped out of the house and headed toward the direction of the city gate.

Third Madam had the family servants and maids clean the room and tidy up the bedding, but she herself had nothing to do. Impulsively, she took her daughter by the hand, slipped out of the house again, and wandered around the village at will.

The entire village was enclosed by the colorful giant city wall, giving her a rather reassuring feeling.

The patch of chicken strips in the open space beside the house shocked her once more, but that wasn't even the half of it. Very soon, she spotted a huge pond filled with clean water. This was no small shock-this was currently a year of severe drought where rivers everywhere ran dry and vegetation withered, yet there was such a large pond right here? This was simply preposterous.

"Heave..."

"1, 2, 3..."

Shouts from the villagers rang out from the direction of the distant city gate. Third Madam turned her head and saw four or five villagers using all their might to hoist up a huge city gate they had just bound together, intending to install it in the city gate opening.

The city gate was made entirely of solid wood bound together and was incomparably heavy. One of the villagers slipped and fell, and the massive city gate toppled toward the side with a creak, about to crush the elderly village chief.

The villagers cried out in alarm!

Third Madam and her daughter both got a massive fright.

Right at that moment, the half-fallen city gate suddenly suspended itself mid-air, failing to drop down and crush anyone...

The villagers also froze, maintaining various bizarre postures.

After several breaths, they heard Gao Yiye shout loudly, "The Heavenly Deity has reached out and grabbed the city gate! What are you all still standing there in a daze for? Hurry up and steady the city gate again!"

Gao Chuwu ran over from the side and grabbed the city gate to steady it. Lately he had been eating well and growing fast, and muscles were already visible on his arms. The moment he joined in, the people supporting the city gate immediately felt the pressure lighten considerably.

The other young men also pitched in, and everyone worked together to raise the city gate once more. With utmost care, they installed it into the city gate opening and tied it securely with the Divine Rope, only then letting out a breath of relief.

Seeing this scene from afar, Third Madam rubbed her eyes frantically, "Just now, was that... an invisible hand that propped up the falling city gate? My goodness! Oh, my heavens!"

Third Madam was actually a follower of Taoism. Whenever she had free time, she would visit Taoist temples, burn a few sticks of incense for the Heavenly Venerable, donate a bit of charity, and pray for small wishes. She could recite several Taoist scriptures fluently, and incantations like "By decree of the Supreme Lord Laozi, execute this with all haste" rolled off her tongue no worse than a Taoist priest.

Yet she "lacked sufficient karmic affinity," and despite a half-life of devout belief, she had never once witnessed immortals manifesting their presence.

This time, it was finally granted to her own eyes to see it.

Without a second word, Third Madam dropped to her knees with a thud, pressing her forehead directly against the ground and kicking up a cloud of mud and dust. But she didn't care in the least as she shouted loudly, "The Heavenly Venerable has manifested! Your disciple is blessed to witness it-it is the fortune of three lifetimes, and I have no regrets even in death."