The wind howled past Yun Shu's ears as pouring rain fell from the sky, yet not a single drop touched her. Below her, the low-lying hills were already mostly submerged by the floodwaters.
As she flew over Wuling City, she looked down.
Most likely around the time the little fox had returned to report the news, the floodwaters had already breached Wuling City's low walls, swallowing the streets and rooftops. The entire city had been transformed into an endless river, littered with floating wooden beams, door panels, children's tiger-head shoes, and silent corpses.
Just as the little fox had said, this flood had come far too suddenly, catching her completely off guard. The commoners of Wuling had surely been just as unprepared. Before the flood hit, they were probably still rejoicing that the Zhenbei Army was helping them rebuild Wuling City, believing they would soon live the good life they had always dreamed of.
No one could have expected that after surviving the chaos of war and the ravages of famine, they would ultimately perish in a flood.
Yun Shu clenched her hands into tight fists, her nails digging deep into her palms, yet she seemed completely oblivious to the pain.
She was not surprised that such a day would come; she had simply not expected it to arrive so soon.
From the very beginning, her enemy had never been anyone in this book world, but rather natural disasters, the feudal system, the harsh living conditions, and that high-and-mighty Great God!
She had already guessed it.
This flood was the Great God's warning to her. It likely wanted to tell her that no matter how she tried to change the destinies of others, everything remained within its control. It could effortlessly reduce everything she had built to nothingness, erasing it from existence.
At this moment, many of the questions that had once puzzled her were resolved, and she finally had the answers.
Why didn't the Great God choose wicked people to bind to the system for missions? The main reason was likely not because of merit, but because such people usually possessed a highly dominant sense of self and lacked any moral compass, making the likelihood of them being tamed virtually zero.
As for why a dress-up system that relied on collecting Shock Value to draw outfits—with outfits that granted immortal-like abilities—had missions that focused on romancing the male lead...
That point.
She had been equally bewildered by it in the beginning.
It was only when the little fox mentioned that Shen Jue would be affected by the romance storyline arranged by the Great God that she finally figured out the key to it all.
Since the target of the romance mission would be affected, the task-taker would surely not escape either. She was simply fortunate to have met such an exceptionally good system as the little fox, which had shielded her from many troubles.
The Great God's ultimate goal was to claim this book world for itself once it was turned from the unreal into reality. Naturally, it had to eliminate all potential risks and prevent the task-takers from causing any trouble.
Therefore, it set up romance missions. As long as the bound host chose to romance the male lead, the Great God could influence both the host and the target, forcing them to prioritize love above all else and preventing them from ever harboring any ambitions of vying for power or wealth.
Without a doubt, the Great God's method was a disguised compliance test. It wanted everyone to follow its preordained path to turn this book world from the unreal into reality.
The further she went into the city, the more desolate the scene became.
The plaque of a medicine shop was thrust askew into the water, its four-character inscription, "Practicing Medicine to Help the World," so waterlogged that only the word "World" was still barely recognizable.
The shop doors were half-open, with countless medicinal herbs drifting out from within.
An elderly physician floated by, clutching a drawer from his medicine cabinet.
The drawer was completely empty, yet he still gripped it tightly, as if it were the last hope of his life.
Several bloated, pale corpses floated past, their arms still frozen in an upward, hoisting gesture—parents who, in their final moments, had tried to lift their children above their heads.
Witnessing this, Yun Shu desperately wanted to save them, but she was not a true deity after all. She could not bring the dead back to life.
Suddenly, the fierce sound of war drums pierced the air.
She whipped her head around, looking toward the source of the sound.
On the only remaining high ground near Wuling City, the bright red banner of the Zhenbei Army fluttered in the wind. A figure as straight and upright as a pine tree stood beside the banner, braving the torrential rain. Raising the drumsticks, they struck the drum face over and over, each beat heavy and powerful.
The drumbeats were desolate yet free of despair. Instead, they brought a glimmer of hope to the people struggling in the torrent below. As long as they followed the direction of the drumbeats and fled to the high ground, they could survive.
Meanwhile, the soldiers held their spears horizontally, allowing the commoners to grasp the shafts to wade through the raging currents.
A Commandant stuffed a child, who had cried themselves hoarse, into the front of his chest armor. He carried an elderly person on his back as he trudged through chest-deep water, his feet sinking into the mud with every step, forcing him to pull them out with great effort.
Horse reins were tied together into a long rope. Dozens of soldiers stood in the rapid floodwaters, using their own bodies to form a human dam. They let the commoners hold onto their shoulders and arms to pass through one by one.
“Hurry!”
“Everyone, retreat to the slope with the Zhenbei Army banner!” Hoarse, strained shouts pierced through the sound of the rain.
Supporting one another, the commoners surged toward the hillside.
A massive wave crashed down without warning. A young wife holding a swaddled baby was stepping onto the stone stairs when her foot slipped, sending both her and the child plunging into the water.
The water was not deep, but the ground beneath was incredibly slick. She could not find her footing, falling back down just as she managed to scramble up.
The swaddled baby slipped from her grasp and was on the verge of being swept away by the floodwaters. Her eyes nearly split from anguish as she tried to rush forward to save her child.
“No! No! My baby!”
A nearby soldier reacted with lightning speed. He first held back the young wife, then dove forward without a second thought. He scooped the baby out of the water, but the wave slammed him far back. His spine crashed violently against a large boulder, causing him to cough up a mouthful of blood.
Supporting himself with his arms to push himself up, he did not even bother to check his own injuries. Instead, he immediately looked down at the bundle in his arms.
The baby's round eyes flew open, and they burst into a loud wail.
He instantly let out a sigh of relief.
“The baby is fine, the baby is fine...” He returned the swaddled child to the young wife.
Holding her recovered child, the young wife fell to her knees with a thud, repeatedly kowtowing to the soldier.
The soldier quickly squatted down, grabbing her arms to pull her up, and urged, “Don't kowtow! Hurry and leave!”
After sending the young wife on her way, he returned to the line, continuing to block the torrent with his body for the commoners.
“You took all the credit again, kid.”
Hearing the bitter-sweet teasing from his comrade, the soldier who had just saved the baby said helplessly, “Then you go next time. I'll hold the line for you here so you can take some credit too.”
“Forget it, I don't care about credit. I just hope everyone can survive this damned flood safely.”
The raging floodwaters constantly battered their bodies, yet they stood firm in their positions, refusing to budge even an inch.
Yun Shu felt her eyes sting with tears at the sight.
These soldiers of the Zhenbei Army were merely ordinary people whose bodies had been strengthened by the Body Tempering Technique. Yet, in this moment of peril, they stood up one after another, becoming the guardian deities of the commoners in her stead.
They had never been people who simply waited for her to save them; they had always been fighting to save themselves and others.
Yet, the heavens seemed intent on driving them to a dead end, leaving absolutely no way out for these people who were struggling so desperately to survive.
Rate on N.U.
