The massive gangplank on the side of the tower boat lowered, and Shen Jue and Feng Chunya led the Zhenbei Army soldiers off the ship in an orderly fashion.
Meanwhile, Pei Du walked toward the Divine Lady, who was holding the spirit fox.
It was no exaggeration to say that their journey at sea over the past few days had been several times more comfortable than their life back in Xindu City.
There was likely no other deity in the world who cared for mortals as deeply as the Divine Lady did.
Originally, they had not even planned to step inside the cabins of the tower boat.
It was only when the Divine Lady personally told them that the rooms were for them to rest that they gathered the courage to step inside.
The rooms inside completely surpassed their imagination. It was like living in a celestial palace; not only was there hot water available at all times, but there was also an endless supply of food and countless novelties they had never seen before.
Stopping three paces away from the Divine Lady, Pei Du bowed respectfully and said, “Divine Lady, the villagers here are living in extreme poverty. May we use the food from the tower boat to provide them with some relief and help them get through this crisis?”
“Go ahead,” the Divine Lady replied with a gentle nod.
Her hand rested on the back of the spirit fox, gently stroking its fur.
Knowing that the Divine Lady had granted her permission, Pei Du bowed to her once more. He turned and left, quickly discussing the plan with Shen Jue and Feng Chunya before immediately putting it into action.
Shen Jue led a group of soldiers back to the tower boat to carry the supplies down, while Pei Du and Feng Chunya took charge of distributing the food.
The villagers, already terrified by the recent display of heavenly fire, trembled even more when they saw the imposing, battle-hardened soldiers of the Zhenbei Army marching toward them. They knelt on the ground, not daring to raise their heads for a single glance, terrified that they would be dragged away.
Zhu Jingzhe also pulled his sister down to kneel beside him.
“Brother, those people have blades on them,” Zhu Guyu whispered, her voice trembling. “They look just like the bad men who used to come to our village and force people to fight in the wars. Are they here to drag us away too?”
Zhu Guyu grew more frightened the more she spoke.
In recent years, wars had broken out all over the south, and death was a constant companion. People starved to death, died in battles...
For commoners like them, the thing they feared most was encountering men clad in armor. In this chaotic world, rogue armies were no different from pirates and bandits—sometimes, they were even more ruthless.
“Brother, maybe we should run,” she murmured, tugging at Zhu Jingzhe's sleeve. “I still have a pouch of soul-enthralling powder Mother gave me for self-defense before she passed away. It should make them dizzy for a short while...”
She had originally planned to use it on the pirates, but just as she was about to throw the powder, the pirate leader had been incinerated.
At that thought, she couldn't help but steal another glance at the Divine Lady standing by the shore. It was Her who had slain the pirates.
Realizing what Zhu Guyu was planning, Zhu Jingzhe quickly pinned her hand down and hissed in a low voice, “Don't do anything foolish!”
A master of illusion's greatest skill was actually not sleight of hand or cheap tricks, but medicine making—especially stupefying drugs.
By combining cheap tricks with these drugs, an illusionist could make their illusions indistinguishable from reality.
But while these cheap, underhanded tricks might fool ordinary people, they could never deceive a deity with boundless divine power.
“That is a deity. How could we possibly escape?”
“Then are we just supposed to wait for death, Brother?”
While the siblings whispered to each other, Feng Chunya approached with a small squad of soldiers. They were carrying bulging, dusty gunny sacks, though it was impossible to tell what was inside.
Seeing Feng Chunya reach into a sack, Zhu Jingzhe warily shielded Zhu Guyu behind his back.
But in the next second, a rough hand was extended toward Zhu Jingzhe.
In her palm lay a large, steaming steamed bun. The rich aroma of wheat was incredibly distinct in the salty, fishy sea air.
Zhu Jingzhe snapped his head up and saw the tall, sturdy female general crouching before him. Though her appearance was somewhat intimidating, her gaze was surprisingly gentle.
“Don't be afraid.” Feng Chunya grinned, offering the bun again. “It's clean. Fresh out of the steamer.”
Zhu Jingzhe froze. “For... for us?”
Instead of immediately reaching out to take it, he asked, “Why are you giving us food?”
When his father was alive, he had taught him a saying:
"Beware of those bearing gifts without reason, for they harbor ill intent."
Seeing his hesitation, Feng Chunya didn't get angry. She simply stuffed the large, white steamed bun directly into his palm.
The warm touch sent a jolt through Zhu Jingzhe's heart.
“These buns were bestowed by the Divine Lady,” Feng Chunya said. “We have more than we can eat, and it would be a shame to let them go to waste.” She looked at Zhu Guyu, who was hiding behind her brother, and pulled another bun from the sack to offer her. “Here, little girl, this one is for you. Don't be afraid. We in the Zhenbei Army aren't bad people.”
Zhu Guyu stared at the large steamed bun for a long time, swallowing hard, but she didn't dare to take it.
Feng Chunya simply smiled and gently set the bun on the sandy ground by the girl's feet.
“I'll leave it here. You can take it whenever you want to eat.”
Then, she stood up and waved to the soldiers behind her.
“Disperse! Distribute the buns house by house, and have some men set up pots to boil white porridge. Let the elderly and children eat first.”
The soldiers dispersed at her command.
Carrying the sacks, they headed toward the entrance of the village.
Zhu Jingzhe watched as Feng Chunya helped Uncle Wang up from the ground and handed him a large steamed bun as well.
Only after Feng Chunya had walked far away did he look down at the large steamed bun in his hand, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
He remembered the last time he had eaten a steamed bun was three years ago.
It was an exceptionally cold winter that year. His father had carried half a bag of mixed flour back from the city, and his mother had mixed in a bit of tree bark to steam a few dark wowotou. The family had gathered around the hearth to share them.
He and his sister had eaten two each, but their parents had waved their hands, claiming they didn't like them, and only broke off small pieces to dip in water.
Back then, he and his sister had been foolish enough to believe that their parents truly didn't like them or simply couldn't eat them.
Only later did he realize that it wasn't because they didn't like them or couldn't eat them, but because they wanted to save the food for him and his sister.
“Brother...” Zhu Guyu called out softly.
“This bun isn't an illusion. It's real, and it's edible...”
Hearing her words, Zhu Jingzhe realized that his sister had already picked up the bun from the sand and taken a small bite.
Since she had already eaten it, there was no point in saying anything else. He handed his own bun to his sister as well. “Eat up.”
“Brother, aren't you going to eat?”
“I don't like them.”
With that, Zhu Jingzhe raised his eyes and looked around.
On the rocky beach not far away, a young soldier was crouching in front of a white-haired old man, breaking a steamed bun into small pieces and feeding them to him one by one.
The old man's hands trembled as he took the food and stuffed it into his mouth. After chewing a couple of times, tears suddenly streamed down his weathered face. His withered hands clutched the soldier's arm, his voice hoarse and shaking, “My son... my son was also conscripted into the army by the imperial court. He was the same age as you when he left. It's been five years, and he hasn't returned home...”
The soldier froze, a wave of mixed emotions washing over him.
Hearing the old man say his son had been conscripted, the soldier's first instinct was to argue that such a thing couldn't possibly happen. But the words died in his throat as he remembered that this was the war-torn south, not the peaceful and prosperous north.
Only after leaving the north and arriving in the south did he realize how precious the things he took for granted were in the eyes of others.
He was fortunate to have been born in the north, to have become a believer of the Divine Lady, and to live under Her divine protection.
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