The Faith and Salt

Xiao Yan held this little girl's hand.

This young child seemed unable to speak.

Underneath all that dirt, she actually had a very cute face. However, she seemed to have colored eyes and clearly had not washed herself for many days.

Just in case, Xiao Yan examined her closer.

Messy hair tied itself into hard knots behind her head.

She wore a thin, torn cotton jacket. This cheap piece of clothing looked way too big for her small body.

Thick dark mud completely covered her tiny bare feet. A few broken grass leaves were stuck tightly to her old gray pants.

Nothing monstrous.

Still, Xiao Yan wouldn't bet on it. He decided to take her with him.

They walked toward a public wooden board.

Morning dew had made this cheap paper completely soft and wet. Its dark ink was already running.

Someone must have just posted it early this morning.

Otherwise, yesterday's heavy rain would have washed it away completely.

Many words on it were very hard to read.

The first part talked about opium. More and more people were smoking it now.

They lost all their money, failed to pay government taxes, left their farms behind, and became wandering beggars. This official text then explained its harm using old Yin and Yang rules.

A second section mentioned a new county magistrate. However, those remaining words were too blurry to see.

Another part stated that monster attacks were increasing everywhere.

But the great Emperor had already sent elite soldiers down south. These wild beasts would be wiped out very soon.

A final paragraph talked about local school exams, but that ink was also completely washed out.

Right next to this government paper hung another written notice. A man named Hong Xiuquan had signed it.

This man claimed God had spoken to him in a deep dream, giving him a holy mission.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

He called himself a direct son of that Western God. He named his own writing a "poem to save the world."

He wrote that normal people lived in deep pain simply because they refused to follow God.

Disbelief brought nothing but endless suffering and misery. Being hunted by monsters was just a natural punishment for not believing.

He also warned against those fools who only wanted to hunt monsters instead of finding true faith.

Hong called these hunters, like Xiao Yan, God's biggest enemies.

Interesting.

It ended with bold words:

YOU MUST BELIEVE.

He needed to be more careful.

Hong's cult had spread too fast.

A local village guard carrying a long musket walked over.

He recognized Xiao Yan and immediately spoke first. "Were you inside that ancestral hall the other day?"

Xiao Yan gave no reply. He simply looked at this man.

This guard wore cheap, torn cotton clothes covered in dry mud. He looked exactly like any other poor farmer.

However, his heavy firearm told a completely different story. Its wooden stock and long iron barrel were wiped totally clean and oiled well.

This gun was clearly a real working tool to fight, not just some useless decoration.

This man squatted down and gently pinched this little girl's cheek.

"Do you know who her father is?" Xiao Yan asked.

He stood back up. "Old Li. He is a local fisherman. He went to Huai'an a few days ago to sell some dried goods and make a little extra money. They only have each other left. Poor folks."

"Why does this girl just wander around everywhere like this?"

"That water route to Huai'an is much more dangerous than simply wandering around here."

"I know, but I meant, does nobody in this village take care of her?"

"That is exactly my point." He let out a heavy sigh. "Times are hard, and people are only getting more selfish, aren't they?"

"How bad is this village right now?" Xiao Yan asked.

A local farmer walked past them, carrying a heavy iron rake on his back.

They stopped talking for a moment.

"In my eyes, this village is about to destroy itself."

"Destroy itself?"

"Yes. Rich people are running away, while poor folks just sit around and wait to die. I want to do something, or at least find a real way out."

He looked straight at Xiao Yan. "I know you look just as young as me, but you clearly have far more knowledge. Do you perhaps have any advice?"

Xiao Yan looked at that small wooden cross hanging around his neck.

"Who gave you that?"

"What? Oh, this." He touched his wooden charm. "Someone handed it out in town. They said wearing it keeps a person safe."

This young man then opened his eyes wide, waiting eagerly for a good answer.

Advice... advice...

This simple question put Xiao Yan in a very hard spot.

How should a person actually live during such a changing, broken, confusing, and completely chaotic era?

Xiao Yan thought for a short moment. "My advice is that you can do whatever you need to survive."

That guard looked quite disappointed right away. He clearly felt Xiao Yan was just pushing him away with empty words.

Xiao Yan noticed his changing expression. "Just never take my path."

"But I do not want to stay here and guard this dead place anymore," the young man continued. "Besides, poor folks like me only end up doing hard physical labor if we go to big cities. I truly want to become a Lieren. I feel this path can at least earn me a real future inside the Imperial Army."

Xiao Yan took a deep breath. He looked straight at him. "This path brings nothing but pain. Furthermore, nobody will ever respect you."

"I am not afraid of suffering. I also do not care if people curse at me."

"If you are this willing to sacrifice, you could do almost anything else," Xiao Yan repeated firmly. "Just don’t take my path."

He then pulled the little girl's hand and continued walking forward.

"Where are you taking her?" the guard called out from behind.

"To her father."