Chapter 192 Approaching the Divine (Fourteen)
For the world, it never admits to encountering challenges or difficulties.
After all, with its continuously growing deductive ability, it has even grown to the point where it doesn’t know how to define itself. It never feels that there can be anything difficult in this world.
If there is, it must be that this world is wrong.
And not that it, the world, is wrong.
But now, it finally feels a slight Tricky.
For no other reason than the great task of editing it is currently undertaking.
The word “editing” was also newly learned; in Professor Tang’s world, it seemed to be a Demonic Technique.
According to Liu Sheng’s request, her actions had to be “edited” to convey a sense of mystery and wisdom, without exposing the irregular existence of Little Tentacle, while also being logical and appropriately enjoyable.
The world had not seen the “movies,” “TV shows,” or “short videos” of the information explosion era mentioned in the encyclopedia. It could only rely on imagination to piece together what it thought would meet Liu Sheng’s requirements and what humans would find reasonable.
Thus, the finished product seen by those outside the mirage was as follows:
After Liu Sheng finished copying the book, she asked the Dawn Priest to bind it into a volume. Then, holding the heavy divine book, she watched the pedestrians on the roadside who seemed to be looking for targets to evangelize.
However, she ultimately did not make a move, instead walking all the way to Sanyuan Ward.
Perhaps she had walked too much, or perhaps she was tired from copying books; in any case, she was hungry and bought a sweet potato from a roadside vendor to eat.
Or rather, it wasn't buying, but snatching...
Because she was holding the thick divine book in her hand, looking threatening.
The vendor was scared by her and could only give her the largest sweet potato.
As a result, snatching a sweet potato wasn't enough; Liu Sheng also very familiarly followed the trembling vendor back to her home.
Soon after, she was sitting at the same table eating with the vendor and her family of three.
...
“No, is she that hungry?” Hanshan Jun watched, dumbfounded.
Mei Yuanzheng also laughed, “Haha, she’s even mooching meals now.”
“This, perhaps it’s also a strategy?” Yan Xueshi was also a bit stunned.
Li Shangshu reluctantly said, “It’s not impossible. The best way to evangelize is to go among the common people and deeply connect with them. Isn’t this what Your Majesty has always said we haven’t done enough?”
“Li Shangshu truly understands.” Yan Xueshi nodded, then, with a humble expression, asked, “But why snatch the sweet potato first?”
“It's probably a strategy of 'suppress first, then uplift'. In this era, everyone is cautious. If you take a gentle and warm approach, people will suspect you have ulterior motives. It’s better to act like a bandit first, then a human.”
Hanshan Jun suddenly understood, “As expected of Li Shangshu.”
Yan Xueshi realized, “It truly is Li Shangshu.”
Li Shangshu humbly said, “You flatter me, you flatter me.”
In the Imperial Palace, the Emperor shook his head and sighed with regret.
The Princess asked curiously, “Doesn’t Imperial Brother value evangelism among the common people greatly? Isn’t he preparing to make a big move at the grassroots level next? Why the sigh?”
“This candidate’s idea indeed aligns with mine, although the process has some… well, peculiar twists. But time is pressing now, and evangelizing house to house like this, from the bottom up, is still too inefficient. It’s not as good as Xuanning’s top-down approach…”
After the Emperor finished speaking, his gaze still drifted towards the “xuan thirty-nine” mirage, frowning with concern.
...
On the way back to the temple, Liu Sheng asked the world.
“How is it? Is the broadcasted mirage going smoothly?”
“Smoothly, it has already passed muster.”
“It can’t just pass muster! This is an exam for me, I need to perform exceptionally.”
“Hmm, according to the evaluation, it’s quite outstanding,” the world answered honestly.
“That’s good.”
Liu Sheng didn't know how outsiders viewed her due to the world’s masterful editing.
She felt that she was quite efficient, gaining a lot of faith on her trip.
And she had other gains as well…
At that time, she followed the vendor home.
The vendor did not live in the city, but in Liantang Village, under the jurisdiction of Xuan Thirty-Nine City. It was about half an hour’s walk outside the city gate.
“Madam, are there any other people in your village?”
Liu Sheng looked at the tightly shut doors of every house in the village, the desolate fields, and the ponds that were clearly called Liantang Village but were all dried up. From time to time, one or two paper money spun in the air and then drifted away, making her feel a chill in her heart.
“Alas, there aren’t many people left. Those who could run have run. Our village has many strange things, no one dares to stay here.”
“Then why don’t you leave?”
“My son… can’t leave,” the vendor explained helplessly. “Besides, where can we run to?”
The vendor was very despairing: “Sòng Guǎfù’s sister-in-law, who married far away, fled here to seek refuge with her sister-in-law. I heard that a terrifying large weird objects appeared in her village, and basically the whole village was gone. She ran all the way here and saw many things, saying that nowhere is peaceful.”
Liu Sheng nodded, thoughtfully, “Is that sister still here?”
If she were still here, perhaps she could ask for information from outside Xuan Thirty-Nine City.
“She’s not here. Maybe she saw the situation in our village wasn’t good either and ran away with them,” the vendor shook her head.
“Maybe? You don’t know?” Liu Sheng asked curiously.
“She just suddenly disappeared one day. Sòng Guǎfù said she didn’t even say goodbye.” The vendor suddenly reacted, her face instantly turning pale, “Dawn Priest, do you mean…?”
“It’s just a possibility.” Liu Sheng sighed silently.
Passing by the dried-up Lotus Pond, the vendor carefully approached Liu Sheng and whispered, “You must be careful, Master. The weird objects inside are very powerful. Luckily, they don’t come out during the day.”
“And the weird objects in the fields, don’t walk through the fields at night…”
“It sounds like it’s relatively peaceful during the day?” Liu Sheng asked.
“In our Liantang Village, it’s relatively peaceful,” the vendor said, wiping the sweat from her forehead and adjusting the carrying pole on her shoulder. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t dare to go out.”
Suddenly, Liu Sheng frowned.
An object in her hand shot out like lightning, removing a reddish object from the vendor’s neck.
The vendor was greatly startled, covering her neck and looking in a panic.
At a casual glance, the object looked like a leech bloated with blood and covered in tentacles, but upon closer inspection, it was discovered that those tentacles were all tiny, reddish little arms, like peeled human hands, but much smaller than real human hands.
These miniature hands swayed weakly in the air, and the entire red, leech-like object was swollen from sucking, twisting and struggling.
The vendor almost vomited at the sight, her eyes wide with horror: “This, this is a blood leech…”
Looking up along the twisting blood leech, her eyes widened even further.
Only then did she notice that the small, young woman in front of her, who had grabbed the blood leech, was actually a black tentacle with specks of golden light.
Then, as the blood leech was entangled by the tentacle, it actually disappeared little by little…
This tentacle was actually eating the blood leech!
That was a weird objects!
Then this young woman… could she also be…
And she had spent so much time with her…
The vendor was terrified, yet her whole body felt as if it had fallen into an ice cellar, unable to move.
“Madam, you still have blood leeches on you, don’t you?” the young Dawn Priest, who called herself “Earth Mother,” suddenly said.
“Wh-… what?”
“According to the characteristics of this blood leech, it only wraps around a living being in groups until all the blood is sucked dry, so I estimate you still have some on you.”
Liu Sheng could, of course, see the vendor’s fear and hesitation at this moment.
But Liu Sheng would neither force her nor persuade her; she just waited quietly.
One was known to kill her, while the other had not made a move and had just helped her.
Any normal person, in such a desperate situation, would know who the lifeline was and to whom they should seek help.