Chapter 497
[Host, this man is stubbornly set in his ways—in the end, won't he bring disaster upon his entire family?]
"We'll see if they believe it once they see the rain." If they believe it in time and head up the mountain, they'll survive. If not, fate will decide for them.
Wah! Wah!
Just then, Yue Fuguang and the others suddenly heard the sound of crying.
Yue Fuguang followed the sound of the sobs and saw, first, a man in his thirties. He was squatting in the vegetable plot he had carved out of his own courtyard, both hands braced on the ground, fingers digging into the cracked, dry earth. The greens in the plot had withered to yellow, clearly beyond saving.
In the past, these plots had grown flowers and herbs that could be sold for money. Only later, forced by circumstance, had they been converted into vegetable patches—but unfortunately, not a single plant had survived.
The crying came from a woman who had collapsed on the ground beside him. Her surname was Liu, and she had three children, the youngest only three years old.
She had heard from traveling merchants that the Divine Maiden of Fengcheng had brought rain, and her heart had been filled with envy. Then they said that Nanzhao would also see heavy rain soon. Before she could even feel glad, they added, as they spoke to the neighbors, that the heavy rain would bring floods!
Some believed it; some didn't. Her family was one of those that didn't.
But she believed it! She believed the Divine Maiden would not use such words to deceive common folk like them.
Yet her in-laws were stubborn, and her husband and brother-in-law both listened to their parents. She and her sister-in-law were just two women with little say in the matter.
But ever since she had returned from her natal home that morning, her heart had been in a panic. Thinking of her family members who had already headed toward Baiyao Mountain, along with her eldest son they had taken with them, and then thinking of her little girl of three and her second son still at home, she couldn't hold back her sobs.
Her tears kept falling—one drop, two drops—hitting the dry earth, carving out tiny pits that were instantly absorbed, leaving not even a mark behind.
She tried to wipe her face with her sleeve, but her hand stopped halfway. She went completely rigid, mouth open, chin trembling—because when she looked up, she saw her mother-in-law's gaunt face and those triangular, downward-slanting eyes.
Instinctive fear made the woman shiver involuntarily. But before she could say anything, the old woman suddenly burst into loud wailing.
It wasn't soft whimpering—it was a howl torn up from the depths of her heart, exploding like a clap of thunder in the household. The sound was loud, yet not a single tear fell. Her commotion immediately attracted the neighbors.
She plopped down on the ground, both hands slapping the dirt, sending puffs of dry dust into the air.
"Who have I done all this for! My daughter-in-law won't listen, and she's even trying to turn my son against his own mother!"
"My son and daughter-in-law are unfilial—this old woman might as well be dead!"
Seeing his mother like this, the man had no choice but to stand up and explain helplessly, "Mother, Huijie didn't say anything, please stop crying. The ground is hot."
"I won't get up, let me burn to death, then!" She turned to her husband, who had just returned from outside, and said, "Old man, your children are heartless. I'll go on ahead—don't you miss me!"
The old man watched as his wife produced thunder without rain, knowing she was just scaring the children again. He shook his head helplessly. "Alright, I understand. I won't miss you."
The old woman's mournful face froze mid-cry. She hadn't expected that her husband of a lifetime, who had yielded to her every time, would say such a thing today.
"Wah! I really can't go on living!" she cried, covering her face with her hands while peeking through her fingers at her husband.
"Father!" the couple both looked at the old man, thinking that their father must have had a change of heart today—he wasn't even coaxing their mother anymore.
The old man nodded. "Eldest, Second—fix up the cart and load the grain."
Glancing at his wife, whose cries were growing softer, he then instructed his two daughters-in-law, "Eldest's wife, Second's wife, you two go cook right away. Make as much food as possible, especially things that will store well—the more, the better!"
The eldest son was stunned by his father's words. "Father, what are we—"
The old man's face turned stern, and he said flatly, "Up the mountain. We leave at dawn tomorrow!"
Once the rain came, it would be heavy. If they delayed and tried to flee with their whole family and belongings, it would be far too difficult.
The second son, though a little puzzled as to why his stubborn father had suddenly changed his mind, was overjoyed that the old man had finally seen reason. He eagerly agreed and went off to work.
But the eldest son couldn't help asking, "Father, weren't you the one who never believed in the Divine Maiden's words?"
Had his parents not been so stubborn, he and his wife wouldn't have had to send their eldest son to his maternal grandparents, asking them to take the boy up the mountain.
A flicker of embarrassment passed over the old man's face, though his skin was dark enough that no one could see him blush. "Hmph!" He put on the air of a family patriarch and waved impatiently at his eldest son. "None of your business—just do as I say!"
As the eldest son ran off to work, he figured his father must have heard something from someone outside just now.
[Master, this family got lucky—they came to their senses before the great rain. Far better off than the shopkeeper at the general store!]
Yue Fuguang nodded. This seemingly small choice would ultimately decide the life or death of an entire family.
"I hope we see more people like them these next two days." People follow the crowd. Even if they didn't quite believe her words, seeing others flee would stir unease in their hearts, and they'd find themselves following along.
[Master, look—is that the government office of Baihua City?]
"It should be. From the outside, it doesn't look much different from the government offices of Dayan."
[The six nations were all split from one Great Yong Dynasty. They all inherited their 'father's' cultural foundation. Even after a few hundred years, similarities are hardly surprising.]
Yue Fuguang commanded the flying chariot to draw closer. She wanted to see exactly what the government office of Nanzhao looked like.
The government office of Baihua City stood on the city's busiest street, facing south, occupying a vast area. With its gray bricks and dark tiles, tall walls and deep courtyards, it carried a stern, awe-inspiring air—yet to her eyes, it was a typical southern-style building.
Facing the street stood a tall spirit wall, its white surface and black eaves featuring a painted mural of a beast resembling a qilin, called "Tan."
Behind the spirit wall was the main gate, three bays wide with an open central section. The vermilion doors were studded with copper nails, and above the lintel hung a black-lacquered plaque bearing five gilded characters: "Government Office of Baihua City"—written with vigorous brushwork, though whose calligraphy it was remained unknown.
Flanking the gate stood two stone lions, the male on the left and the female on the right. Beneath the gate's canopy were two tiger-head plaques reading "Silence" and "Step Aside," their lacquered surfaces gleaming with reflected gold under the blazing sun.
[Master, that up ahead is the ceremonial gate. Shall we go in and take a look?]
"Past the ceremonial gate lies the core of the government office. Little Zhu, are you trying to eavesdrop?" She had seen through this trick all along—the little thing was deliberately flying this way, wanting to save its own energy for gathering information by listening in on conversations already happening here.
"I'm not, I didn't—Master, don't falsely accuse little me!"
Crossing the ceremonial gate was the main hall, five bays wide with a single-eaved hard-ridged roof. Chiwen beasts crouched along the ridge, layered bracket sets clustered under the eaves, and the black-lacquered beams and columns were thick as a pair of outstretched arms.
Beyond the main hall, the first thing that came into view was the warm chamber at the center, a private space partitioned off by a wooden screen.
The floor of the warm chamber was half a foot higher than the rest of the hall, and at its center stood an ebony judge's desk.