Chapter 920: Tell Me the Story
The forty-two original villagers from Gao Family Village settled temporarily in Luoyang, awaiting Bai Yuan's envoys to contact Lao Huihui.
Luoyang, a bustling city, offered a welcome distraction. Although the forty-two original villagers weren't in the best spirits, they decided to explore the city now that they were there.
Seizing a rare opportunity to accompany Gao Yiye, Li Daoxuan activated his Co-sensing ability, projecting his consciousness into the Puppet Heavenly Lord and walking alongside her at the head of the group.
"Why are all the trees here bare, without any leaves?" Gao Yiye asked curiously.
"Not long ago, there was a terrible locust plague," Li Daoxuan explained softly. "Almost all the plant leaves were devoured."
Gao Yiye gasped, "That serious?"
Just as she spoke, she noticed a scholar by the roadside loudly peddling a peculiar painting. It depicted Luoyang, with locusts swarming everywhere, but in the sky, a colossal deity held a tube-shaped divine artifact, through which the locusts were being sucked away.
The scholar shouted enthusiastically, "Paintings for sale! The 'Heavenly Lord's Divine Locust Eradication Painting'! Selling cheap! Take it home, hang it on your wall—what a magnificent sight!"
Gao Yiye pointed at the painting. "Oh!"
Li Daoxuan spread his hands. "That's exactly what happened."
Gao Yiye sounded a little regretful. "Ah? What a shame I wasn't there to see it! I really wanted to witness it myself."
The scholar was still shouting enthusiastically, "Paintings for sale, paintings for sale..."
Gao Yiye darted over, pulling out some silver. "I'll take this painting."
The scholar was overjoyed. "My lady, you truly have an eye for quality!"
Gao Yiye held the painting, but her words were for the scholar. "Could you tell me in detail what happened back then?"
The scholar replied, "My lady, have you just arrived in Luoyang?"
Gao Yiye nodded. "Yes, I'd like to understand the events in more detail, so I can put them into a story later..."
The scholar laughed. "My lady, you jest! As for the Heavenly Lord's stories, there's already a book in the world called 'Dao Xuan Heavenly Lord's Demon Extermination Legend.' That book was personally illustrated by the Heavenly Lord's Saintess herself! How could any mortal be qualified to write and publish a biography for the Heavenly Lord? For someone like me, painting a single picture is already pushing it."
Gao Yiye murmured, "Oh, right."
Suddenly, the scholar felt something was amiss. His gaze swept behind Gao Yiye, and he saw the person who had been walking beside her just moments ago: wasn't that "Miraculous Hero Xiao Qiushui"? And everyone in Luoyang now knew that this Miraculous Hero was the Heavenly Lord's incarnation in the mortal realm.
Sweat streamed down the scholar's face. "May I inquire, my lady, your esteemed name?"
Gao Yiye replied, "Gao Yiye."
The scholar's hands began to tremble. He reached into his sleeve, pulled out a copy of 'Dao Xuan Heavenly Lord's Demon Extermination Legend,' and flipped it open to the author's name: Gao Yiye.
His tongue tied in knots, the scholar stammered, "Saint... Saintess... Your Ladyship."
Gao Yiye asked, "I didn't personally see the Heavenly Lord gather the locusts. Could you tell me about it?"
The scholar replied, "This humble one will immediately, at once, tell you in detail everything that transpired then!"
It seemed their story wouldn't be finished anytime soon.
The Village Chief said, "Yiye is being looked after by the Heavenly Lord and the guard team; there's no need to worry about her. Let's continue exploring."
The rest of the group continued onward, wandering through streets and alleys.
As he walked, Gao Laba gazed at the shops lining the street. "You know, even though Luoyang looks a bit dilapidated, its population is much larger than our Gao Family Village. I've been wondering, if I were to open a shop here, wouldn't I earn a lot more?"
The Village Chief chuckled, "Are you not staying in Gao Family Village anymore? Leaving your hometown, you'll be asking to be bullied."
Gao Laba thought it over carefully. Indeed, how could he easily leave his own village?
He pondered for a moment. "I could open a branch here and hire a few people to run it for me."
Everyone laughed. "No, no, that won't work! It's too far. You wouldn't be able to manage the employees. If they siphoned off the shop's money, you'd never even know."
Gao Laba had no choice but to drop the idea, sighing. "It's all because of my son. He refuses to inherit my mantle; he insists on opening a bookstore and selling books."
The Village Chief, again scolding with a smile, said, "Gao Shan is an educated boy. Selling books is wonderful! If he followed you, selling rice noodles, he'd earn a lot of money, but he'd also reek of cooking oil all day."
Gao Laba conceded, "Village Chief, you speak wisely, wisely. It's perfectly fine for my son not to make rice noodles anymore."
The whole group laughed.
As they walked, a small shop appeared ahead, its signboard reading "Duck Blood Vermicelli Soup." Everyone's spirits lifted. "Oh, we haven't tried this before, and we're hungry! Let's go in and taste it."
Gao Yiye wasn't with them at the moment, but there were still a full forty-one people in their group. A tiny roadside vermicelli shop could hardly accommodate such a crowd. As they poured in, with four people squeezed around each table, all eight tables in the shop were quickly filled, leaving nine people still needing a place to sit.
The shopkeeper was startled. He quickly borrowed stools from the neighboring establishment, urging them to squeeze in and make themselves comfortable.
"Shopkeeper, forty-one bowls of duck blood vermicelli soup!" the Village Chief boomed with a laugh. "I'm paying for everyone!"
"The Village Chief is treating us, haha!" Gao Laba chuckled. "We get another free meal from him!"
The Village Chief smiled. "I don't have many years left anyway. The Heavenly Lord has bestowed so much wealth upon us, it's endless, truly endless! Might as well treat everyone to a few more meals."
Gao Sanwa piped up, "Grandpa Village Chief, you're just talking nonsense! You'll live for another hundred years!"
The Village Chief burst out laughing. "Hahaha, Sanwa always knows what to say!"
While they chatted and laughed cheerfully, the shopkeeper was bustling to the point of exhaustion. With forty-one customers arriving all at once, he was flustered, spinning around in anxious circles.
Just as he was at his busiest, a few more people squeezed through the shop entrance. The leader, dressed in eunuch's attire, had his left hand wrapped in bandages and suspended by a sling, looking quite pathetic. It was none other than Eunuch Zheng from the Prince of Fu's estate.
Last time, to atone for his wrongdoings, he had allowed his left hand to be broken. A serious injury like that meant a hundred days of recovery, and his hand still required considerable care.
The moment he stepped inside, Eunuch Zheng called out, "Shopkeeper? Is the shopkeeper here? This humble eunuch has come to... *hiss*... Why are there so many people here?"
He was utterly shocked by the forty-one people packed tightly into the small shop.
Forty-one pairs of eyes were all fixed on him!
The atmosphere was unsettling.
In the past, Eunuch Zheng would surely have sneered, "What trash dares to stare so boldly at this eunuch? Don't you know who I am?"
But after the last incident, he no longer dared to act so arrogantly.
He simply asked, with a strange expression, "What are you all doing?"
The Village Chief replied, "We're customers, waiting to eat vermicelli."
Eunuch Zheng uttered, "Ah, I see. Please, take your time waiting."
He then continued to call out towards the inner room, "Shopkeeper! Is the shopkeeper here?"
The shopkeeper quickly came out to greet him.
Eunuch Zheng pulled out a large money pouch, filled with silver fragments and copper coins, and shook it, making a clattering sound. "Our estate has carefully interrogated all the ruffians in the area. Anyone found to have eaten without paying on the streets was dragged out and given ten planks. We then ordered them to pay double in compensation, plus a small token of our Prince's goodwill..."
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