Gao Yiye raised her head, intending to seek the Great deity’s guidance.

Li Daoxuan spoke first, “Yiye, one family was slaughtered by bandits. Their house stands empty now. Take Thirty-Two’s wife and daughter there. Settle them in that dwelling.”

Gao Yiye quickly acknowledged and approached Thirty-Two’s wife and daughter. “Follow me,” she said.

The servant and maidservant dared not speak. The ten-year-old girl, timid, also shrank back silently. Third Lady, however, had bolder spirits. Seeing Gao Yiye looked kind – clearly a good person – she found her courage as they walked. “Young lady,” she asked, “what’s the story with this Gaojia Village? Such enormous walls? These walls surpass the county town’s fortifications by far!”

Gao Yiye replied, “Those walls are a blessing of the Great deity. Our Gaojia Village enjoys the Great deity’s protection and possesses many divine objects. Now that you are here, you will soon witness them.”

Third Lady looked utterly bewildered. “Deity protection? Divine objects?”

She didn’t really understand!

In truth, throughout the journey to the village, she had been inwardly cursing her husband relentlessly. Initially, she assumed escaping the city meant hiding in a nearby village. Little did she know Gao Chuwu led them on a trek covering over thirty li.

Thirty-plus li!

For a pampered, portly middle-aged woman, this was torture of the most hellish degree. Several times along the way, she had wanted to simply collapse onto the ground and refuse to move. But the terrifying sounds of fighting echoing from the city shortly after their departure forced her to grit her teeth and continue the arduous journey behind Gao Chuwu.

Finally arriving at their destination, she found it was a tiny “blink-and-you-miss-it” village. Were it not for the strange, colourful wall, she wouldn’t have found anything remarkable about the place.

Inside her mind, Third Lady was harshly criticizing her husband. Suddenly, she looked up. On an open patch of land in front of her stood row after row of wooden frames. Hung densely upon them were countless strips of chicken meat, cured with salt, drying in the air…

Normally, this wouldn’t be unusual. But the sheer scale was staggering – countless frames, packed tightly together, stretching out as far as she could see, every frame hung with drying chicken strips. It was a veritable ocean of drying meat.

A massive chicken strip drying operation!

Third Lady was stupefied. Wasn’t this a severe drought? Weren’t people suffering? Didn’t the farmers have nothing to eat, starving to such desperation that they rebelled? How could there be these innumerable drying chicken strips here? They even had this much salt for curing? It was beyond absurd.

Her family’s maidservant and servant also stared dumbfounded, their eyes glued to the chicken strips, their entire beings radiating a “Is this a dream?” stupor.

Gao Yiye brought them to a dilapidated house. “You can stay here temporarily,” she said.

The building was truly rather shabby. Third Lady felt some disdain, but she assumed it was merely a “temporary refuge until the rebels left, then we return to the county town.” She held her tongue.

Gao Yiye heard the Great deity’s voice once more in her ear, “This isn’t the county town. Even with money, they couldn’t buy food. Give them two grains of rice, one small vegetable leaf, a few chicken strips, and a handful of salt. Let them fill their bellies.”

Gao Yiye acknowledged and went home to fetch the food.

When she placed these items before Third Lady, the woman was nearly frightened to death. “Thi… this… this rice? Why… why so big? And this salt… It’s enormous! Like chunks… chunks of white crystal!”

Gao Yiye said, “Didn’t I just tell you? Our Gaojia Village possesses many divine objects. This rice and salt are divine rice, precious gifts from the Great deity. Just accept them with gratitude.”

At that moment, Third Lady truly grasped the meaning of “divine objects.” Hurriedly clasping her hands together, she bowed deeply towards the sky twice before accepting the food.

Li Daoxuan had no further instructions for now. Gao Yiye thus left Third Lady and her group, exiting the house and heading towards the village gate.

Third Lady tasked her servant and maidservant with cleaning the room and tidying the bed, while she herself had little to do. Taking her daughter’s hand, she slipped back out of the house to wander casually about the village.

The entire settlement, encircled by the colossal, colourful wall, gave her a profound sense of security.

The vast spread of chicken strips near the house shocked her anew, but that was minor. Soon, she noticed an enormous pond nearby, filled with clean water. This astonishment was immense. We were amidst a severe drought! Riverbeds were parched and vegetation withered everywhere else. How could such a large pond exist here? It was utterly inconceivable.

“Ready…”

“One, two, three…”

Shouts rose from the direction of the village gate. Third Lady turned to see four or five villagers straining to lift a huge, newly assembled gate section upwards, aiming to install it in the gate opening.

The gate was solid wood, tremendously heavy. One villager slipped and fell. The massive gate structure groaned and tilted precariously sideways, threatening to crash downward directly onto the aged Village Chief.

The villagers cried out in alarm!

Third Lady and her daughter jumped, terrified.

At that critical moment, the half-fallen gate suddenly stopped. It hung suspended mid-air, not crashing down upon anyone…

The villagers froze mid-action, struck dumb.

Several breaths passed before Gao Yiye’s loud voice rang out, “The Great deity has reached out His hand and caught the gate! Why are you all just standing there? Quickly! Get a hold on it!”

Gao Chuwu rushed over, bracing the gate. Eating well recently, his body had grown swiftly; muscles were evident on his arms. Upon his joining, those supporting the gate immediately felt the pressure ease significantly.

Other young men swiftly joined them. Together, they painstakingly lifted the gate back up and cautiously maneuvered it into the gate opening. They secured it tightly with the “divine rope” before finally breathing sighs of relief.

Watching from a distance, Third Lady rubbed her eyes vigorously. “Just now… did… did an invisible hand halt that falling gate? My heavens! Great heavens above!”

Third Lady was a Taoist believer. She frequented Taoist temples when free, offering incense to the Deity, donating, making small wishes, and reciting Taoist scriptures fluently. Her mastery of chants and invocations, like “By the decree of Supreme Pure One, act swiftly!” matched that of any priest.

But she had “insufficient affinity with the divine.” Despite a lifetime of devout faith, she had never witnessed an actual divine manifestation.

Finally, here, she saw it with her own eyes.

Without a word, Third Lady threw herself to the ground. Her forehead thudded against the dirt, coating it in dust, but she paid no heed. Lifting her voice, she cried out, “Deity manifesting! This unworthy disciple is graced to witness it! May my three lifetimes be blessed! I die content, without regret!”