The surrounding miners subconsciously clutched the hems of their clothes, their faces filled with anxiety and unease.
In the beliefs passed down through generations, a mountain collapse or a sinkhole meant someone had violated a taboo, offending the mountain god and provoking their wrath.
Fang Shuo also looked up, anxiously and eagerly hoping the Divine Lady would tell everyone to stop mining coal.
That way, he could leave the mine and return to Chaoyang City, and the miners wouldn't have to risk their lives mining coal anymore. Everyone would win.
The Divine Lady slowly turned around, her purple skirt swaying gently in the breeze as her silver ornaments chimed softly.
She did not answer immediately.
Instead, she first cast her gaze toward the collapsed mine shaft.
“There are no deities here.”
As she spoke, a wisp of pure energy gathered at her fingertips. “The mortal realm is sparse in spiritual energy, making it unsuitable for immortals to cultivate. Any being that has attained the Dao and ascended to immortality would not remain in the mortal world.”
Shen Jue froze for a moment upon hearing this.
Since the mortal realm was unsuitable for immortals to cultivate, wouldn't the Divine Lady staying here to guide and educate mortals delay her own cultivation?
Looking at the Divine Lady, who remained as calm and serene as ever, his eyes grew hot, and a wave of bitterness welled up in his chest.
He had originally thought that giving up her position as the Master of the Heavenly Palace, taking the trouble to guide mortals, and willingly accepting punishment to save the people of Yecheng was already the greatest grace she could bestow upon humanity.
Yet, he had never imagined...
The Divine Lady was bearing far more than just that.
Fuyan was right. They had to work harder to make the mortal world a better place so they could be worthy of her mercy.
The system's anxious voice rang in Yun Shu's head. “Oh no, we have a huge problem, Host!”
Yun Shu immediately got a bad feeling.
“Did a collapse happen at another mine? Which one?” she asked the system internally.
The system realized its slip and quickly tried to cover it up. “No, nothing is wrong with the mines! My programming just glitched a bit because I was hit by a massive surprise, causing me to talk nonsense...”
“What surprise?” Yun Shu pressed.
The system forced a smile. “Host, I have great news for you! The male lead's Favorability just went up by another 30 points. It's now at 60!”
Yun Shu: “...”
That was indeed some “great news.”
Last time, she had beaten Shen Jue up and intentionally provoked him just to finally lower his Favorability.
Who could have guessed that after a round of his own wild imagination, he would immediately slap another 30 points of Favorability onto her?
What was this? Was he winning his own heart?
What a disaster!
Fortunately, it was only at 60, not completely maxed out in one go.
Otherwise...
She really would have to close her eyes and accept a life of luxury.
Shen Jue mentally rehearsed his words for a long time before mimicking the scholarly tone of Shen Yu and the others. “Divine Lady, you abandoned the splendor of the Heavenly Palace and condescended to remain in this scarred mortal realm, sacrificing so much for us. If you ever have any commands in the future, my life is yours to use at any time.”
Yun Shu had no intention of responding to Shen Jue.
She had to give him the cold shoulder to stop his Favorability from rising any further. She was incredibly busy right now and had no time to log into an alt account just to beat him up again.
After a long moment...
Shen Jue realized he was being ignored by the Divine Lady. Panic seized him, leaving him at a complete loss.
“Divine Lady...”
“I have trained with weapons since childhood and am not good with words. If my clumsy speech has displeased you, please punish me...”
Seeing Shen Jue focus entirely on flattering and sucking up to the Divine Lady instead of asking about the actual issue, Fang Shuo couldn't help but interrupt. “Divine Lady, you said there are no deities here, but could there be some kind of barrier or restriction in these mountains? Did our mining disrupt it, bringing this disaster upon us today?”
His entire heart was filled with hope.
Please, let it be this!
He didn't want to mine coal for even one more day.
Compared to following the Divine Lady, he wanted more than anything to return to Chaoyang City and continue being a pampered, idle playboy. He had been a useless disappointment since childhood anyway. A person like him certainly wasn't worthy of being her devotee.
Hearing their inner thoughts, an idea came to Yun Shu. She turned her gaze to Fang Shuo, letting her eyes rest on him.
“Wisdom often hides behind a foolish facade. Your comprehension is quite good.”
“M-Me?” Fang Shuo looked around before pointing a finger at himself in disbelief.
Shen Jue looked at the dim-witted Fang Shuo, feeling that the guy had simply stumbled into this by pure, blind luck.
Just like that Li Qinghe.
Every time he recalled how Li Qinghe had been rescued from a cliff and granted a blessing by the Divine Lady, a strange, suffocating feeling welled up in his chest.
“Although there are no deities in the mountains, there is earth gas.”
The Divine Lady's long eyelashes cast soft, fan-shaped shadows over her eyes. “Deep beneath the ground where you mine coal, there exists not only coal but also a type of earth gas called gas. Over thousands of years, fallen trees, decaying leaves, and wild beasts were buried deep in the mire, pressed down by soil and rock, slowly transforming in the dark depths. That is how coal was formed, and that is also how this earth gas was created.”
“This earth gas is trapped within the crevices of the rock layers. It is colorless and odorless, invisible and intangible under normal circumstances. Only when you open mines and dig for coal does it escape from those rocky fissures.”
“And once this earth gas encounters an open flame, it triggers a catastrophe.”
Fang Shuo was both shocked and delighted. “Divine Lady, since this earth gas is so dangerous, can we stop mining coal?”
The other miners were also thoroughly spooked by the concept of earth gas, and fear began to take root in their hearts.
Shen Jue frowned and retorted, “The common people are waiting for coal to survive the winter. How can we stop mining?”
“Mining coal is dangerous, but weapons can also harm people, which is just as dangerous. We cannot give up eating just because we might choke!”
Looking at Shen Jue, whose mind was solely set on mining coal, Fang Shuo was so infuriated he wanted to call Ah Zheng to throw a sack over Shen Jue's head and beat him to a pulp.
“Fang Shuo, come to my side.”
The ethereal voice echoed in Fang Shuo's ear, startling him so much that his body shuddered and his knees buckled instantly.
A sharp, piercing pain shot up from his knees, and only then did he realize he had knelt down quite far from the Divine Lady.
Yet, he didn't dare to stand up.
Thus...
He had no choice but to crawl on his knees all the way to the edge of her skirt.
“Ow, ow, ow...”
“Why are there so many sharp pebbles on the ground...”
“Sob... I want to go home...”
As his tearful, wailing thoughts reached Yun Shu's ears, she easily maintained her composure. Her face remained expressionless, though her gaze toward Fang Shuo held a barely perceptible trace of pity.
Since arriving in this world, most of the people she had met were intelligent like Shen Yu. Someone like Fang Shuo, whose heart was kind but whose intellect was questionable, was a first for her.
The coal dust on Fang Shuo's face had been washed away by his tears, leaving his face a messy, streaked disaster. He looked incredibly pathetic.
Kneeling beside the Divine Lady, he felt the heavy pressure radiating from her, making his heart hammer wildly against his ribs.
Oh no. The Divine Lady was the one who instructed mortals to mine coal, yet he had just blurted out that they shouldn't do it right in front of everyone.
Now that she had called him over by name, was she going to make an example out of him to warn the others?
The more he thought about it, the more terrified he became.
With wet, tearful eyes, he looked up pitifully and stammered in self-defense, “Divine Lady, I... I wasn't trying to be lazy. I was just worried that more people would get hurt.”
He had originally wanted to make an oath like Shen Jue.
But his conscience was a bit too guilty for that.
Rate on N.U.
