Thirty-Two was getting anxious. “Hundreds or even a thousand? What bandits could possibly have numbers like that?”

Mr. Bai shook his head with a sigh. “More than half a month ago, Bai Shui Wang Er rebelled, attacked and took over the county town. You know about that, right?”

Thirty-Two replied, “Of course I do. That’s why I’m holed up here in Gaojia Village right now.”

Mr. Bai continued, “After Wang Er rebelled, he immediately hid in the nearby mountains with several hundred rebels. Patrol Officer Cheng Xu took his soldiers to capture them, but even after several days searching the mountains, they couldn’t even find a trace of Wang Er.”

Thirty-Two: “…”

Mr. Bai let out a long sigh. “His rebellion set a bad example. Uprisings broke out everywhere one after another. Many farmers who couldn’t pay their taxes followed Wang Er’s lead and rebelled. Patrol Officer Cheng Xu only commands about a hundred soldiers. He can’t split himself into pieces, so how could he possibly manage farmers rebelling all over the place? He was constantly on the go all day, snuffing out rebels in the east only for them to flare up in the west, putting down troublemakers in the west only for them to rise again in the east… It’s said he’s been lamenting lately that he’s so exhausted he’s seeing his great-grandmother beckoning to him.”

Upon hearing this, Li Daoxuan nearly burst out laughing with a “Pfft.” So Cheng Xu is the military officer who ran away scared stiff by the ghost woman’s laugh I played last time? So lately he’s just been playing whack-a-mole these days.

Thirty-Two said, “Hiding away in this little village, news doesn’t reach me easily. I didn’t know about this. With rebels rising up and Patrol Officer Cheng lacking enough troops, he should have reported this to the imperial court and requested a large army for suppression, right?”

Mr. Bai looked both exasperated and amused. “They did report it! Many officials, local gentry, and scholarly families jointly sent petitions. Even I went and signed one! But Hu Tingyan, the Provincial Governor of Shaanxi, is old, sluggish, and muddle-headed. He’s terrified this matter getting reported upwards might lead to him being punished. So he desperately tried to hide it. Why would he be willing to report it? He ordered everyone who petitioned for aid given twenty strokes of the rod and chased out of the Provincial Governor’s office. He even said, ‘These are just hungry peasants looting. By next spring, it will naturally settle down.’ Does that sound like something a sane man would say?”

Thirty-Two froze, momentarily speechless.

Beside them, Gao Chuwu asked curiously, “‘Looting through next spring and it settles down naturally?’ I didn’t understand that sentence.”

Mr. Bai cast a sideways glance at Gao Chuwu. Seeing he was just a young farmer with thick eyebrows and big eyes, he didn’t feel like explaining.

But Thirty-Two quietly murmured, “What he means is, let the rebels loot as much as they want. Once they rob till next spring, they’ll naturally stop and go home to plant their crops.”

Gao Chuwu: “!!!”

The villagers nearby: “!!!”

Everyone was instantly rendered speechless…

After several seconds, Gao Chuwu roared in anger, “So, if I grab a knife right now, go out, and rob anyone I see, no one would stop me? I could rob till next spring, come back to plant my fields, and be a decent citizen again?”

No one answered him, but the grim expressions on Thirty-Two and Mr. Bai’s faces gave him his confirmation.

Gao Chuwu declared, “Screw it, I might as well damn well rebel too.”

Gao Yiye gave him a resounding slap: “Snap!”

“Chuwu-ge! Wake up! Have you lost your mind in anger?”

Gao Chuwu: “…”

Slapped by the Saint Lady, Gao Chuwu instantly calmed down. People in Gaojia Village didn’t need to go out and rob others. They were protected by the Deity. Moreover, the Deity disliked people burning, killing, plundering, and looting. The way His Holiness dealt with bandits was one slap each, smashing them all into meat patties.

If he became a bandit, maybe he’d be the next meat patty.

Mr. Bai’s face darkened. “The Provincial Governor ignores the problem, doesn’t report it, doesn’t send troops. This quickly became common knowledge. Knowing this, the rebels became even more brazen, and their numbers grew ever larger. In just half a month, several bands of rebels roamed the countryside, hundreds or even a thousand strong at a time, pillaging villages within a radius of dozens of li. Anyone willing to join them was forced in, those unwilling were killed outright, and their property stolen.”

The crowd: “…”

Just as everyone reached this point in the conversation, the bandits outside the city walls suddenly began clamoring loudly.

Soon, one man emerged from the bandit throng. Tipping his head back, he bellowed towards Gaojia Village, “What rich man built this city? Tell him to come out and talk!”

The villagers all turned their gazes towards Gao Yiye.

Seeing this, Gao Yiye made to step forward, but Thirty-Two blocked her. “Miss Gao, you are the Saint Lady. Speaking directly with such men would demean your status, and demeaning you would be demeaning the Deity. We absolutely cannot do that. Let me speak. You just relay His Holiness’s commands.”

Gao Yiye fell silent, standing quietly.

Thirty-Two stepped to the very front and shouted loudly, “What scum dares trespass on our Gaojia Village? Get lost this instant!”

Thirty-Two had been an advisor for many years, and when facing common citizens, he naturally exuded an aura of authority.

That group of bandits didn’t recognize Thirty-Two either. They thought he was the wealthy gentry who built this city, so they loudly shouted, “You’re the spokesman here, right? Good! We give you half an hour to hand over ten stones of food, and we’ll spare your life. Otherwise, all the valiant men from our stronghold will swarm here and utterly crush this small city, just like Bai Family Fortress.”

Li Daoxuan was amused: This group didn’t charge over directly but resorted to threats and negotiation. It indicated they were scared of this city wall. They knew that breaching such a two-zhang-tall wall would be difficult and could lead to heavy casualties or even failure. So they avoided confrontation and aimed to seize food through intimidation.

This was the so-called “With a big fist, others reason with you.”

The large city wall of Gaojia Village transformed unreasonable bandits into reasonable ones.

Thirty-Two turned to Mr. Bai and inquired, “Are there really many of them?”

Mr. Bai replied, “Many—hundreds or even thousands. Honestly, I’m unsure of the exact number. When they attacked, they were overwhelming, and my Bai Family Fortress couldn’t withstand them at all.”

Thirty-Two then asked, “Mr. Bai, what do you think? Should we hand over the food or defend?”

Mr. Bai was stunned for a moment.

He looked outside.

Then he turned and surveyed Gaojia Village.

The tall city wall gave him a tiny boost of confidence.

But the villagers defending on the wall didn’t seem capable.

At a glance, it was clear they had no combat experience.

They were even less effective than his own family soldiers.

After pondering for a few seconds, he said in a low voice, “If you aren’t short on food, give them ten stones to end this disaster safely. That’s the best plan. After this storm passes, I’ll present you with twenty stones of food as my Bai family’s gift of gratitude. You know, in the Six Arts of Gentlemen, I value the art of ‘courtesy’ very highly.”

Thirty-Two didn’t reply to him.

Instead, he turned toward Gao Yiye, his gaze clearly seeking her opinion.

Mr. Bai was slightly stunned: Huh? Third Lady isn’t the decision-maker here? This young lady is? Who on earth is she?

Gao Yiye tilted her head and listened intently.

Then she called out loudly, “The Deity says, don’t be afraid of them!”

Everyone…

Third Lady wiped her sweat beside them.

She whispered, “Saint Lady, when you speak for the Deity, your phrasing needs more elegance.”

Gao Yiye replied, “Those are the Deity’s exact words: Don’t be afraid of them!”

Third Lady…

An awkward silence hung for several seconds.

Then Gao Chuwu suddenly burst into loud laughter, “Hahaha, hahaha, the Deity has spoken, so don’t be afraid of them!”

Zheng Daniu also laughed heartily, “Yes, yes, don’t be afraid of them!”

The two blacksmiths raised their hammers and yelled, “Don’t be afraid of them!”

The villagers all thumped down onto their knees.

They bowed toward the sky.

Then they shouted in unison, “Don’t be afraid of them!”

With over a hundred voices booming the same phrase, the noise was deafening.

It sent tremors that stunned the bandits outside.

What was happening in this village? Were they ungrateful? Did they deserve punishment instead?

Mr. Bai was completely dumbfounded, “What… is going on? Your village… how is it so bizarre?”

…

Everyone was talking about water spraying, but I wasn’t doing it, so I must explain.

In the story’s timeline, it was currently August, the hottest part of summer. Spraying water wouldn’t work, as crops couldn’t be planted anyway.

We had to wait until autumn came and crops could grow before spraying water. In this situation, providing a big pond was better than spraying water, so the villagers could draw water whenever they needed it.

Additionally, using items like water sprayers was unworkable. Water mist of 0.3 millimeters in diameter, sent into that late Ming-era space, would turn into water spheres six centimeters across. Falling from two hundred meters high, that would be a natural disaster.