Chapter 12 | Playing Goddess in a Dying Dynasty

Over the next few days, Yun Shu appeared at the Divine Lady Temple every morning at the exact same time to distribute porridge, almost like she was clocking into work.

Initially, it was only the group of refugees who had built the temple.

Later, new faces gradually began to appear, most of them likely relatives or friends of the original refugees.

This was only natural.

In these troubled times, let alone the commoners at the bottom of society, even small landowners couldn't afford to drink white porridge thick enough for a pair of chopsticks to stand upright in every day. Most of them ate bean or barley rice.

The bean and barley rice of this era was very different from the finely processed coarse grains of later generations. Eating bean rice easily caused bloating, and the bran of barley was extremely hard, making the texture coarse and difficult to swallow.

Sensing the Divine Lady’s tacit approval, Shen Yu sat by the stream and thought for an entire night. Afterward, he had the refugees spread the news of the Divine Lady descending to grant porridge to other refugees around Xindu City.

As the number of refugees coming to the Divine Lady Temple increased daily, the open space in front of the temple became barely large enough for everyone to kneel.

The trouble Yun Shu had previously anticipated did not occur; Shen Yu kept these people perfectly in line.

From beginning to end, not a single person caused a disturbance.

Everyone who came to the Divine Lady Temple to wait for the porridge was profoundly grateful, moved to tears by her mercy.

Having finished today’s distribution, Yun Shu tapped the tips of her toes and flew away under the devout gazes of the crowd.

Landing on a hillside, Yun Shu marveled, “That Shen Yu really is a talent.”

Shen Yu was very good at manipulating hearts, and being educated, the refugees had subtly come to view him as their leader.

From among these refugees, he had selected twenty strong young men and had Shen Da teach them martial arts.

This was the fundamental reason he could keep the refugees under control.

“Host, it looks like they’re planning to build shelters.”

The system opened the camera and projected what was happening at the Divine Lady Temple onto the system screen.

Yun Shu looked at the screen with interest.

Once their hunger was satisfied, the people had the spare energy to think about more.

Shen Yu was not idle.

He stood before the temple, addressing the refugees who had just finished their porridge. His voice wasn't loud, but it was steady and powerful.

“The Divine Lady gave us a bowl of porridge so that we would have the strength to survive. But in the days to come, we cannot simply rely on the Lady to provide porridge every day.”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

Shen Yu didn't intend to preach grand theories to these illiterate refugees. He pointed to the mountain forest next to the temple.

“I went to check just now. There are wild bamboo and dead trees in that forest. If we cut them down, we can build shelters.”

At first, no one moved.

These people, accustomed to wandering and displacement, had long forgotten how to settle down. They only knew how to flee, how to wait, and how to kneel on the ground and beg for a bite to eat.

“Xiao Shen, I’ll go with you.”

Zhao Erniu was the first to step forward.

He had been learning martial arts from Shen Da for a few days, and with enough food lately, he looked much sturdier.

Immediately following him, the others who had participated in building the temple also stood up.

“Young Master Shen, I’ll go with you too.”

“Young Master, I’m going too.”

“Me too.”

Shen Yu felt a surge of gratification. “Good.”

He didn't force the others, taking only Zhao Erniu and the rest to gather materials locally, cutting bamboo and felling trees.

Then, they found a spot near the Divine Lady Temple that was sheltered from the wind and faced the sun, building a row of simple but sturdy bamboo shelters.

The roofs were covered with thatch, and the perimeters were enclosed with bamboo fences.

Though crude, they could provide shelter from the wind and rain.

The day the first bamboo shelter was completed, several women carrying children walked inside. Feeling the dry ground, their eyes turned red uncontrollably.

“Finally, a place to shelter from the wind and rain...”

Previously, they had fled from famine everywhere with no fixed place to stay. At night, they were cold and hungry, constantly worrying about wild beast attacks or encountering man-eating bandits. Their children had cried night after night.

Now, lying in the bamboo shelter and listening to the gurgling stream, they slept more soundly than ever before.

Before long, the bamboo shelters expanded from a few to over a dozen, arranged haphazardly along the stream bank, actually taking on the appearance of a small village.

Cooking smoke rose from the open ground, clay pots were set up, and rows of drying wild vegetables hung on bamboo poles, looking vibrant and green.

Children chased and played in the open area, women sat in front of the shelters mending clothes, and men were busy building more shelters.

“Mother, my second brother and I gathered more water grass today to feed the carp in the stream next to the Divine Lady Temple.”

Cui San Ya ran over, panting.

“Look at you, running until you're covered in sweat.” The woman wiped the sweat from the girl’s forehead with her sleeve. “Those carp are the Lady’s followers. You even took a bite out of one before; we must make up for our mistake.”

Cui San Ya blushed and said, “I was just so hungry then. I feed them water grass every day now.”

“Yes, Mother, Little Sister is very diligent. She heads out with her basket to gather grass before dawn.”

An honest-looking man walked over.

“Good children.” Tears shimmered in the woman’s eyes, but a long-absent smile appeared on her face.

The originally lifeless refugee group slowly gained vitality and order, and there was even laughter.

They were no longer a group of refugees fleeing in panic.

They had porridge to drink and shelters to live in.

They began to live like human beings.

All these changes started from that one bowl of white porridge.

Shen Yu stood on the bank, watching the life unfolding before him. His gaze drifted instinctively toward the Divine Lady Temple.

The temple doors were open, and the statue was solemn, as if that white-clad figure had never left.

The merciful Divine Lady had brought life to this troubled world.

He firmly believed that as long as she was there, scenes like this would only increase in the future.

And he was willing to offer himself like a candle, even if he had to burn his last inch of bone and blood, to pull a clean and peaceful world out of this famine-stricken land.

To make this world worthy of her compassion.

Carrying this conviction, he turned and left.

On the other side, the final image on the system screen was fixed on a lean, upright back.

His green robe billowed slightly in the wind, his spine held straight as he walked further away, merging into the vast twilight.

Then, the screen gradually dimmed.

Yun Shu withdrew her gaze.

“System, how much Shock Value do I have now?”

A bowl of porridge was indeed a life-saving thing for the starving refugees, but to change this troubled world, a bowl of porridge alone was far from enough.

The little fox said, “Host, with so many refugees coming to the Divine Lady Temple lately, the Shock Value has accumulated to 15,900.”

It was the first time it had seen so much Shock Value. Its previous hosts were considered high achievers if they managed to save up a few hundred.

“Host, do you want to pull for outfits?” it asked.

“Pull.”

The prize pool interface immediately popped up.

Yun Shu looked at the ten-pull button. She thought for a moment, turned to wash her hands first, and then clicked to pull.

【Congratulations, Host, for obtaining a Floating Dream Set accessory (5/6): Dream-Entering Bell.】

【Item Description: When shaken, it can hypnotize and weave dreams, making the listener feel as if they are personally on the scene (48-hour cooldown).】

【Set Skill: Collect all parts to unlock the Medical Encyclopedia and the Dream-Entering skill.】

This ten-pull only yielded one high-level outfit piece with a skill; the rest were low-level cosmetics.

Yun Shu ground her teeth in frustration.

“There must be some shady business going on! How could my luck be this bad? Only one in a ten-pull?”

Refusing to believe her luck, she opened the gacha interface again.

To her surprise, she found a limited-time prize pool next to the permanent one.

【Limited-Time Prize Pool High-Level Outfit Preview: Goddess of Harvest Set, Pomegranate Abundance Set. (7 days remaining)】

“What is this limited-time pool?”

“Host, the limited-time pool only opens after a certain amount of Shock Value has been spent,” the system explained. “The two sets in the pool cannot be obtained once the time limit passes, and you’ll have to wait for a rerun.”

Yun Shu clicked on the skill preview for the Goddess of Harvest Set.

Increase crop yield?

Without hesitation, she clicked the ten-pull button.

【Congratulations, Host, for obtaining a Goddess of Harvest Set handheld item (1/4): Nine-Ear Grain.】

【Item Description: When waved, it can randomly provide one type of crop seed (four-month cooldown).】

【Set Skill: Collect all parts to unlock the Vast Fertile Fields skill. Increases crop yield.】

Again, there was only one high-level outfit piece.

The system comforted her, “Host, getting two high-level pieces in twenty pulls actually isn't that unlucky.”

“It’s just that this Nine-Ear Grain doesn't seem very useful.”

“However, this Dream-Entering Bell is quite good. When the time comes, we can hypnotize the male lead and do this and that to him in his dreams, letting him get a taste of it so he’ll never forget it...”