Hearing the Divine Lady's words, Pei Du could not suppress the excitement in his heart, and his heartbeat accelerated uncontrollably. To think that gaining the Divine Lady's recognition could be so deeply moving.
Unbidden, a stinging sensation rose in his eyes.
Over the years, he had watched those who had followed the Divine Lady alongside him from Xindu City achieve success in their respective fields one after another, earning her recognition. Only he had remained obscure, never once catching her eye. How could he not feel disheartened by this?
At first, he had thought it was because of his background in an elite family like the Pei Clan of Heluo that the Divine Lady disliked him.
But after careful consideration, he dismissed the thought. If it were truly because of pedigree, how could Shen Yu and Pei Wanning, who also came from elite families, have received her high regard?
This question had troubled him for a long time.
Only today, when the Divine Lady finally acknowledged him, did he suddenly realize where he had gone wrong in the past.
Everything the Divine Lady did was for the common people.
Yet, while he claimed to be her devout follower, his first instinct when facing any situation was always to plan for the interests of the elite families. Compared to Shen Yu and Pei Wanning, he truly fell far short.
As Pei Du's thoughts swirled, the little fox, invisible and perched on Yun Shu's shoulder, remarked with emotion, “Host, in the original book, this Pei Du was a staunch defender of the elite families' interests. For him to think of saving the commoners now is truly rare.”
Yun Shu's gaze lingered on Pei Du for a moment. She had to admit that the children of elite families possessed a far broader horizon and greater knowledge than ordinary people; this was an indisputable fact.
Moreover, there was a saying that held very true: where you stand determines what you think.
People like Shen Yu and Pei Wanning, who detached themselves from their own social class for the sake of the commoners, were an absolute minority.
Most people would always have their own selfish motives.
Furthermore, along her journey, she had witnessed Cui He transform from a rootless peasant girl into a city governor. A century from now, the Cui name would undoubtedly become a new elite family.
This forced her to re-evaluate the issue of elite families.
If these children of elite families could work for the benefit of the commoners, regardless of whether they were sincere, as long as the people's lives saw tangible improvement, she should encourage them to do so. Only in this way could a virtuous cycle be maintained.
Calculating the time, Shen Jue should be arriving soon.
Wasting no more time, she directly activated the formation component of the Mirror of Retrospection, summoning the wisteria flower gate. “Pei Du, Feng Chunya, come with me to Wuling City.”
To her, a Shen Jue with a Favorability rating as high as 70 was no different from a ghost chasing her down with a blade.
Once Wuling City stabilized, she really had to find an opportunity to lower Shen Jue's Favorability.
Sigh, she had never expected that karma would come back to bite her in such a manner. It was incredibly vexing.
With this in mind, she couldn't help but complain bitterly to the little fox in her mind, “Tongzi, I've always had a doubt. Isn't this book a story about the male lead conquering the world during a chaotic era? Why is Shen Jue acting like he has a love-brain? This doesn't make sense, does it?”
The little fox explained, “Host, because I am a romance system, as long as the male lead falls for you, this world will automatically develop into a romance novel.”
“As you know, a romance novel must revolve around the romantic plotline. The male lead having such a love-brain is actually inseparable from the romance plotline arranged in advance by the Great God. According to the usual nature of most romance male leads, once they fall in love, everything else takes a backseat, and even their IQ drops to negative numbers.”
Yun Shu: “...”
No wonder she had felt lately as if Shen Jue had been possessed by some unclean spirit. It turned out it wasn't just her imagination.
She was genuinely terrified now.
Although she didn't feel any changes in herself, she still asked tentatively, “Tongzi, the Great God didn't add any strange attributes to me, did he?”
The little fox patted its chest. “Host, I've always been guarding you against that old geezer of a Great God. It won't be able to harm you!”
Reassured, Yun Shu stepped into the portal, with Pei Du, Feng Chunya, and the others quickly following.
In the blink of an eye, they arrived in Wuling City.
The moment they stepped out of the portal, a thick stench of decay rushed over them.
It was a mixture of the smell of rotting corpses and long-neglected open sewers.
Walking down the long street, the group, with their clean clothes, looked entirely out of place amidst the gray, decaying surroundings.
Even though he had prepared himself mentally, Pei Du still couldn't control his physical reaction. He bent over and covered his mouth.
Feng Chunya clenched her hand tightly around the hilt of her blade, her knuckles turning white as her eyes grew uncontrollably red.
The scene before her brought the same shocking impact as a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood on a battlefield.
The streets were filled with people.
There were decaying corpses, as well as living skeletons.
They leaned or lay scattered beneath dilapidated eaves and against the bases of walls, looking like trash discarded at random.
How was this the mortal realm? This was clearly purgatory!
A young soldier of the Zhenbei Army stumbled half a step backward, his boot heel clacking against the stone pavement. This startled a man sprawled on the ground, who slowly raised his head to look at him.
The man's eyes were exceptionally large, cloudy and hollow. Gazing at the soldier, his lips quivered a couple of times as if trying to make a sound, but only a dry, raspy wheeze escaped his throat.
“Hungry... So hungry...”
With trembling hands, the soldier pulled out half of an unfinished flatbread from his breast pocket and handed it to the man on the ground.
As if by tacit agreement, everyone quietly began sharing whatever food they carried with the commoners on the street.
But it was not enough, far from enough.
“Divine Lady, please save them.”
The Divine Lady let out a soft sigh.
In the next instant, her toes lightly tapped the ground, and she transformed into a streak of flowing light, soaring straight into the heavens.
Immediately, boundless golden light poured down from the vault of heaven.
As the golden light fell into everyone's hands, it instantly transformed into bowls of steaming hot white porridge.
Every single one of the tens of thousands of people in the city received a bowl.
“This is all I can do to help you. You must overcome the hardships that lie ahead on your own.”
The Divine Lady's voice drifted down from the sky.
【Pei Du Shock Value +100】
【Feng Chunya Shock Value +100】
【Zhang San Shock Value +100】
【...】
【Current Shock Value: 65,550,000】
Invisible, Yun Shu sat on a rooftop. “This infinite white porridge skill is really great. It comes in handy everywhere.”
“Host, Shen Jue heard that you brought Pei Du and Feng Chunya to Wuling City, and he has followed you here.”
The little fox lay beside Yun Shu.
“Did he chase after us alone?”
Yun Shu felt a dull ache in her temples.
The little fox glanced at the monitor. “No, he's bringing the Zhenbei Army, and they're transporting a lot of fish.”
Yun Shu breathed a long sigh of relief. “It seems Shen Jue still has his wits about him and hasn't been completely consumed by his love-brain.”
“By the way, Tongzi, how long until Shen Yu and the others arrive in Wuling City? Eating fish every day won't do forever. If they're too slow, I'll have to figure something out.”
The little fox said, “With Fang Shuo, that mascot, around, they should arrive in Wuling City in about ten days.”
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