Despite the turmoil in Liu Sheng’s heart, she remained calm and composed, swinging her hoe in the fields.
Of course, she didn’t need to do the manual labor herself; she had other hands for that.
Numerous Little Tentacles busied themselves in the fields, quickly loosening the soil until it was as fluffy as the shredded pork sold at Qinghe Liang'an Shop.
“Speaking of which, I kinda want to eat shredded pork now… When can we get out of here?”
“Soon! Soon!”
“But it seems we’re quite good at farm work!”
“You should say, ‘many good hands’!”
“I imagine when we retire to the countryside in the future, it will be effortless.”
“We’re still taking the exam… We haven’t even become officials yet, and you’re already thinking about retirement.”
“Who doesn’t work for retirement?”
“Exactly!”
“It’s a pity there’s no Spiritual Qi here, so I can’t use the farming Spells I specifically learned.”
“Having ‘Mama’ is enough; she’s a multi-purpose farming Divine Artifact!”
The Little Tentacles were also exceptionally pleased to hear this, swinging their hoes so rapidly that only blurs could be seen.
Mud splattered everywhere, drawing an angry roar: “You! What are you doing! Farming is not playing around!”
On the field ridge, an old farmer stood with hands on his hips, glaring angrily at Liu Sheng.
Fortunately, Liu Sheng was wearing a large straw hat to shield herself from the cyber sun, covering her face, so the old farmer couldn't tell that the person playing in the mud was the famous Grand Divine Official.
“Oh no…”
“What was this called again? I don’t remember, but Tian Shikang brought it back.”
“Anyway, it’s really fierce!”
So Liu Sheng pulled down her hat brim and made a swift escape.
As she ran, she shouted, “Uncle, this field’s soil has been loosened. Please enjoy it!”
The old farmer was left standing there, looking bewildered at the rapidly disappearing figure. He went into the field, bent down, scooped up a handful of soil, and muttered to himself, “Don’t tell me, it really is well-loosened.”
…
Liu Sheng ran through Liantang Village, subtly increasing her speed, and in a few steps, she arrived in Xuan Thirty-Nine City.
The city now was vastly different from the desolate and barren state she had first seen.
On the main streets of the city, people walked in twos and threes, their faces no longer showing neurotic vigilance and fear, but rather relaxed ease and cheerfulness.
Many small stalls had been set up along the streets, selling agricultural products or wild game from the mountains, as well as handmade daily necessities like pots, bowls, ladles, and basins.
Some shops had even reopened, displaying banners and attracting passing customers.
Since most shop owners had fled or disappeared, these properties had become ownerless. So Liu Sheng discussed with the county magistrate and decided that these ownerless shops would be taken over by the county yamen. If citizens needed to open a shop, they just needed to find a low-ranking official at the county yamen and fill out an application.
This was also due to the seamless cooperation between the county yamen and the temple.
Ever since Liu Sheng helped the county magistrate cure his daughter’s strange illness and restore her humanity, the delighted county magistrate, shedding tears of joy, naturally felt immense gratitude towards the Earth Mother Divine Official and, with his entire family, embraced the Earth Mother.
Not only that, since he had personally witnessed the Earth Mother’s power to cure strangeness, he also ensured that the entire county yamen worked wholeheartedly with the temple. He had yamen officials patrol the city with divine officials to maintain order and also help build the new temple and solve the problem of housing for displaced people.
With the assistance of official forces like the county yamen, it was naturally much easier for Liu Sheng.
Moreover, the yamen official team was a trained, formal group. Although they might not be exceptionally disciplined or uniquely capable, they were at least better than the untrained divine officials Liu Sheng had personally trained.
Especially in the role of “city manager,” no one could surpass them.
Thinking this, she saw a young boy in yamen official attire hurrying past her. His tender, youthful face was filled with anxiety, and he was muttering softly, “Oh no, oh no,” and “I need to find the Divine Official,” and similar phrases.
Liu Sheng saw that he was running towards the new temple and quickly stopped him.
He was initially anxiously struggling, but when he looked up and saw it was the Grand Divine Official, he immediately saluted with excitement, worship, and shyness, his face flushed, stammering, “E-E-Earth Mother above, G-G-Grand Divine Official…”
Liu Sheng raised her hand to stop him and asked directly, “What’s wrong?”
This young official also knew the situation was urgent. Since the Grand Divine Official was here, there was no need to find anyone else. He quickly said to the Grand Divine Official, “Grand Divine Official, please follow me, something big has happened!”
Then he led the Grand Divine Official through the city, winding this way and that, explaining as they went: “Sir, I was patrolling the city today and found some strangers sneaking in and out of an alley… I quietly followed them and found a group of people building some strange thing in an empty house!”
In his urgency, he no longer stammered, and his small face was full of focused seriousness.
A warning bell suddenly rang in Liu Sheng’s heart, but she still needed to clarify.
“Can you recognize who is a stranger?”
“Of course, Sir. There are only about a thousand people coming and going in our city, and only five hundred fifty-six people live in the city. Not many come and go. I patrol and guard the gates every day, so I’ve recognized everyone long ago.” The young official’s face was full of pride.
“Hiss, that amazing?”
“Can you do it? I certainly can’t.”
“If one person can’t do it, no one can.”
“Crying, I’m so envious as someone with face blindness!”
“I don’t even remember this little guy in front of me… even though there are only a few yamen officials.”
“That’s amazing!” Thinking this, Liu Sheng praised him, then asked, “What’s your name, and why are you a yamen official at such a young age?”
The young official instantly wilted like an eggplant hit by frost.
“Sir, you really forgot me… My name is Zhao Laifu. My dad… he was a yamen official before, but he died due to strangeness, so I took over. Before… when I passed the county yamen’s examination and became one of the new yamen officials, you even personally gave me a red flower…”
His face was grayish-purple, and he looked worried, even more like a frosted eggplant.
Liu Sheng awkwardly tried to recall. There really seemed to be a little guy in there, but his appearance was like a mosaic, impossible to remember.
However, Zhao Laifu wasn’t angry, just a little sad. His admiration for the Grand Divine Official made him a bit blind; he just blamed himself for not being outstanding enough…
And Liu Sheng didn’t have time to regret or make amends. At this moment, they were standing outside a small alley on the edge of the market.
“Sir, we’re here… It’s in the alley ahead.” Zhao Laifu pointed to the depths of the alley and whispered, “The entrance to that house is at the very end. I’ve observed, there are nine people in total, all men, and they all have weapons.”
Liu Sheng nodded and told Zhao Laifu, “Wait for me here. Don’t follow me in.”
Although Zhao Laifu was a bit worried, he also knew his own limitations and decided not to cause trouble for the Grand Divine Official.
So he could only watch the Grand Divine Official’s back disappear into the alley, nervously rubbing his hands and pacing back and forth.
