Chapter 653 Sharing a Room
Bai Yuan understood. "Heavenly Lord, I comprehend."
Xiaolangdi was to go into full combat readiness, starting now...
However, combat readiness was Bai Yuan's concern, not Gao Yiye's.
Gao Yiye was there to enjoy herself. "Heavenly Lord, I want to explore the Yellow Flooded Area and see what it truly looks like now."
"Let's go," Li Daoxuan said. "We'll take a look around Mengjin County first."
The two, accompanied by their guards, descended Eagle Beak Mountain and first arrived at Hengshui Town.
After several months of reconstruction, Hengshui Town had regained its vitality. Numerous displaced people had settled there, and the rapid influx of population made the town extraordinarily lively, with streets teeming with people.
Not only were supplies abundant, but some had even begun selling Hengshui Town's specialty cuisine: Hengshui braised meat.
Gao Yiye, of course, had to buy a piece!
Gao Yiye asked, "Heavenly Lord, would you like a piece?"
Li Daoxuan pointed at his silicone mouth. A layer of silicone skin encased a steel skull, not much different from a Terminator. How could he possibly eat in this form?
Huh?
Wait a minute!
On second thought, he had tested it last time. If he wanted to, the Co-sensing function allowed him to feel "wind and temperature." Could it also allow him to sense taste?
He took a piece of braised meat from Gao Yiye's hand and tossed it into his mouth.
Steel teeth crunched, pulverizing the braised meat.
Without an esophagus, he couldn't swallow, but as the meat was chewed, its flavor was "co-sensed" back to his true self.
He could actually taste it!
Li Daoxuan was elated. "Hahahaha, I'm unstoppable now! I'm going to eat my way across China, no, the whole world! Once my Field of View Expansion reaches Beijing, I'll devour Beijing Roast Duck. In Guangzhou, I'll feast on Guangzhou-style beef offal stew. In Thailand, curry rice. In Japan, sushi..."
No!
Hold on, sushi probably hadn't been invented in Japan yet. What would he eat then? Perhaps some teachers of "virtue and artistry"?
Gao Yiye's voice pulled him back from his absurd fantasy. "Heavenly Lord, you're smiling so peculiarly. Did you think of something amusing?"
Li Daoxuan quickly composed himself, spitting out the chewed Hengshui braised meat. "Nothing, I was just thinking about delicious food. Yes, that's exactly it."
The two passed through Hengshui Town and continued eastward, entering the Yellow Flooded Area.
The official road had been dug up by the common people, allowing them to travel normally, but on either side, thick layers of mud and sand were piled up.
These deposits, twenty to thirty centimeters thick, covered the vast plains, as if blanketing the earth with a yellow crust.
The sun had baked this crust dry, making it taut and seemingly solid.
Gao Yiye knelt by the roadside, digging at the yellow mud crust with her hands. She couldn't budge it; it was utterly unyielding.
She finally stood up, her face filled with sorrow. "If our Gao Family Village's farmland had turned out like this, I'd cry myself awake even in my sleep. How can these common people survive? Mr. Bai must have arranged many jobs for them, right?"
Li Daoxuan nodded. "Bai Yuan has resettled many people from Mengjin County to Xiaolangdi, distributing them among the various villages and settlements there. For now, they earn wages by helping to build the villages and doing manual labor."
Gao Yiye's spirits lifted slightly. "Thankfully, we came."
The two continued along the official road, as if walking in an earthen trench dozens of centimeters deep. After a long journey through this trench, Mengjin County town appeared before them.
The residents of Mengjin County now had close ties with Xiaolangdi. The gate guards, upon seeing the emblem of the Golden Thread Heavenly Lord on Gao Yiye's chest, immediately recognized that this couple came from Xiaolangdi and held high status.
The guards quickly sent someone to inform the magistrate, while simultaneously opening the city gates to invite the pair inside.
As they entered, a guard respectfully inquired, "Esteemed Sir, Madam, what is your relation to the benevolent Mr. Bai?"
Li Daoxuan smiled. "My name is Xiao Qiushui, and this is my wife, Tang Fang. Mr. Bai and I are old friends."
"Friends of the benevolent Mr. Bai are friends of Mengjin County."
A moment later, Liu Bawan, the magistrate's aide, came out to greet them. Upon seeing the pair, he immediately bowed respectfully, uttering an endless stream of polite words.
"Young Master Xiao, as a friend of the benevolent Mr. Bai, the Magistrate himself had intended to personally host you. However, just half an hour ago, a large detachment of soldiers arrived in Mengjin County. The Magistrate is currently entertaining the generals, and for this oversight in etiquette, I beg your forgiveness."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. "No problem at all, it's a minor matter."
His tone shifted immediately. "What brings these soldiers to Mengjin County? They aren't here to help with disaster relief, are they?"
Liu Bawan offered a bitter smile. "You jest, Sir. How could soldiers possibly help with disaster relief? This unit is likely here for something happening across the Yellow River."
Li Daoxuan understood at once. "The Shanxi bandits have breached Zezhou, so our Henan soldiers are here to prevent them from crossing the river."
Liu Bawan nodded. "Young Master Xiao is truly perceptive; you understood immediately."
His tone grew heavy. "The Shanxi bandits are all gathered in Zezhou, which is directly across the river from our Mengjin County. They could cross at any moment. We've just suffered a flood; if another calamity of bandits strikes... alas..."
As they spoke, a large detachment of soldiers ran past them in the street. Their attire was disorderly, their armor askew, and their morale was poor. They exhibited none of the bearing of a "strong army of a great nation"; instead, they looked more like a gang of street thugs.
They did nothing proper in the streets, simply helping themselves to goods displayed in nearby shops without paying, swaggering through the streets and alleys.
The shopkeepers dared not intervene.
Li Daoxuan's brow furrowed.
Gao Yiye pouted. "The calamity of bandits hasn't arrived, but you're already suffering a calamity of soldiers."
Liu Bawan sighed. "We can only hope these soldiers leave the county town quickly so we can have some peace and quiet."
He led the way, taking Li Daoxuan and Gao Yiye to the magistrate's residence and ushering them into a guest room. They had too many guards, and the magistrate's house couldn't accommodate them all, so the guards had to be housed in the servants' and guards' quarters.
Li Daoxuan and Gao Yiye looked at the small guest room, where a single large bed stood.
Their hearts simultaneously skipped a beat.
"Oh?"
This was their first time spending a night away from home, and since they were posing as a couple, being assigned to a single guest room was perfectly normal. They couldn't sleep separately, or it would certainly arouse suspicion.
Li Daoxuan looked at Gao Yiye with a peculiar expression.
Gao Yiye, however, sat on the edge of the bed with feigned nonchalance, a forced calmness on her face. "I've slept beside the Heavenly Lord's statue countless times, so I don't mind at all. In fact, I'm quite happy."
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