In the sky, flying boats shuttled back and forth. Jiu Hui had already encountered several flying boats helping cities transport items. Some flying boats were resplendent and magnificent, while others were simple and unadorned.
Cultivators carrying supplies in their storage rings flew past on their flying swords, like elusive streaks of light. The sky had never been so lively.
“Immortal, the city of Xining is just ahead.” On the flying boat of Jiu Hui and Zhi You, there was a soldier from Zhucheng who pointed to the front and thanked Jiu Hui and Zhi You, “Xining City has many fruits and vegetables, but lacks medicinal materials. Fortunately, with the help of the two immortals, this batch of medicinal materials can be delivered to the city in time.”
The flying boat landed in Xining City. Jiu Hui noticed that in addition to their flying boat, there were several other flying boats from different sects parked in the city. Some guards were unloading medicinal herbs and food from the flying boats, while other guards and civilians were helping to load bags of white-stacked flowers onto the flying boats.
The guards of Zhucheng jumped off the flying boat and exchanged letters from the City Lord with the guards of Xining City. Jiu Hui waved her sleeve and used her spiritual power to help them unload all the medicinal herbs and food from the flying boat. Some civilians came over to thank them, then shouted slogans and carried these things away.
In the icy wilderness, these people were busy sweating profusely. In the distance, there was a row of makeshift wooden sheds. Someone was cooking food in the sheds, and the billowing heat turned into white mist, creating a lively scene in the snowy weather.
“Which city is short on honey-roasted ginger? We can spare three thousand catties.”
“Bamboo shoots, dried bamboo shoots have arrived, one thousand catties per city, come and sign to receive them.”
Soldiers from various cities stood in a circle, holding letters from their City Lords and exchanging supplies. Several sect cultivators stood in the distance. Neither they nor Jiu Hui could participate in this bustling activity.
The young cultivators who helped deliver the supplies looked very unfamiliar. Jiu Hui and they exchanged greetings, then each of them helped the people.
Cultivators didn’t know how to cook, but they could help ordinary people remove snow from their roofs and clear away snow on the roads. Several young cultivators quickly lost their way amidst the cheers and applause of a group of children filled with admiration, and in the end, they even took these children for a spin in the air.
Jiu Hui turned the snow piled in the corner into several adorable little animals, which indeed attracted a group of children to watch.
“Sister, can I touch them?“carpreads.pages.dev
“Of course you can, it’s all made of snow, don’t be afraid.” Jiu Hui stroked the child’s head.
“Thank you, sister.”
The children gathered around, chattering and making a racket. They didn’t understand what a snowstorm was, they only knew that the adults weren’t paying attention to them today, so they could play to their heart’s content.
“Sister,” a little girl timidly approached her. “Are you a deity?”
“Sister is not a deity.” Jiu Hui crouched down in front of the little girl and touched her flushed little face. “Why don’t you go play with them?”
“I don’t want to play.” The little girl shook her head slowly. “Daddy hasn’t slept for a day and a night. Mommy said that Daddy won’t be able to sleep peacefully until the snow stops falling.”
“The snow will eventually stop falling.” Jiu Hui took out some candies from her purse and put them in the little girl’s hand. “These are all things that we adults should worry about. You children have another important thing to do.”
“What is it?” the little girl asked again.
“Be happy,” Jiu Hui said. “I heard that the cold snow fears the sound of children’s laughter the most. The braver you are, the weaker the snow’s power will be.”
“Really?” The little girl looked at Jiu Hui with doubt.
“Of course not. You’re not a three- or four-year-old kid. Why would I lie to you?” Jiu Hui dragged the little girl into the group of children. “Go play with the others.”
Watching the little girl distribute the candy to the other children, Jiu Hui said to the silent Zhi You behind her, “Let’s go and have a look around somewhere else.”
“She’s the City Lord’s daughter,” Zhi You said. “I heard someone call her Young Master.”
“No matter who she is, she’s still just a child.” Jiu Hui opened an umbrella and waved her sleeve to remove the snow that had accumulated on the roofs of the houses on both sides of the road. “There are four seasons in a year. We can’t let these children develop a fear of snow after seeing it.”
She turned her head to look at Zhi You. “Spring flowers, autumn moon, summer lotus, winter snow, they should all be beautiful things.”
Zhi You fell silent.
Boom.
Thunder rumbled in the sky, and the old man shoveling snow by the road showed a distressed look, clasping his hands together and praying to the sky, “Heavenly Father, please spare us commoners a way out.”
Zhi You looked at Jiu Hui in confusion, as if he didn’t understand why the common people were so afraid of thunder and lightning in the snow.
“There’s a rumor among the common people that thunder and snow are an ominous sign,” Jiu Hui shook her head. “In fact, it has nothing to do with omens. It’s just that people’s fear of the cold has created this illusion.”
Zhi You thought of the corpses that could be seen everywhere in the village five hundred years ago, the lonely graves all over the mountains, and the people who survived but were numb.
Would everything repeat itself?
“Line up in order. Two representatives from each village will sign and receive the medicine.” After turning a corner, the street had already been cleaned up by other cultivators. Medicine shop doctors wearing blue robes were distributing wrapped medicine packets to people.
“Don’t take more than you need. This is medicine to prevent the cold plague. Taking too much won’t help.”
“Which village hasn’t received it yet? Come to me to sign and receive it!”
Further ahead, someone was registering the sick and injured. The scene was bustling but not chaotic.
“Immortal Masters!” The Zhucheng guard ran over, his face full of guilt. “Eight hundred miles away, there’s a small city that lacks medicine and winter supplies. I wonder if we could trouble you two Immortal Masters to accompany the Xining City guards on another trip?”
“Alright.” Jiu Hui nodded. “Let’s go now.”
The supplies sent to the small city eight hundred miles away were gathered from Zhucheng, Xining City, and several other cities. When Jiu Hui arrived at this city, she realized that it was an old place she had visited before.
Hecheng*.
TN: I think this is Tianhe City in previous chapters, author just dropped the Tian, oh the fun of working off a serialized text
Compared to cities protected by sects, the situation in Hecheng was much more difficult. The City Lord’s mansion had no choice but to write letters to nearby cities, asking for help.
“City Lord, the charcoal and food in the city treasury have run out.” The steward looked at the heavy snow in the sky with a worried expression. “I wonder when this snow will stop.”
“Have all the disaster victims moved in together?” The City Lord shivered, his face turning a little blue. “It’s warmer when people huddle together. If there’s no more coal, move in firewood. There are so many elderly, weak, women, and children in the city. We can’t let them freeze to death.”
“City Lord, do you think the other City Lords will be willing to help?” The steward looked at the sky, shivering. “It’s almost dark…”
“I don’t know.” The City Lord jumped down the steps and helped the guards push a dilapidated wooden cart up the steps. “Every city is struggling these days.”
Cities with the protection of a sect didn’t need to worry too much, but for poor and remote places like theirs, there was no other way but to ask for help from other cities.
“There’s someone giving out porridge up ahead, hurry and go get some!”
Cheers erupted from the streets as the City Lord gulped and craned his neck to look in the direction of the porridge distribution.
Alas, he was not hungry.
He climbed up the city wall, hoping to see a flying boat. As the sky gradually darkened, his heart sank. He looked back at the people sweeping snow on the streets, the people lining up to receive porridge, and he couldn’t imagine how long the people of Hecheng could last if the snow continued to fall.
Suddenly, a glowing flying boat appeared in the sky. He rubbed his eyes hard. It wasn’t his hallucination. The flying boat floated over his head and landed in the city.
The city lord rolled and crawled down the city gate. When he was a dozen steps away from the flying boat, his foot slipped, and he rolled out in a mess.
“Are you alright?” A young girl reached out to help him up and brushed the snow off his clothes.
The girl was wearing a bright red cloak, like a blazing fire or the scorching sun. The City Lord ignored his bleeding forehead and asked cautiously, “Are you all here to help Hecheng?”
“I’m just a deliveryman.” Jiu Hui took out a handkerchief and covered the City Lord’s forehead. “This is a guard from Xining City. He’ll give you the details.”
“A flying boat?”
“The food and medicinal herbs that other cities gifted us have arrived!”
“Excellent!”
Amidst the cheers of the crowd, the kind-hearted person serving porridge was startled by the words “flying boat” and “immortal” and turned pale. He dropped the large spoon he was using to ladle out the porridge and ran away.
“Benefactor, where are you going?”
“Benefactor?”
The kind-hearted “person” panicked and ran in the opposite direction, but before he could get far, he saw another flying boat descending from the sky. He had no choice but to turn around and change direction.
“Benefactor!”
“Why are you running?” Jiu Hui flew over the crowd and grabbed the chubby person.
“Immortal, please spare my life, Immortal, please spare my life, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone!” The kind “person” saw that Jiu Hui had easily captured him and knew that he was no match for her, so he quickly cupped his hands and begged for mercy: “I heard that the city was short of rice, so I came in to distribute porridge. I had no intention of hurting anyone.”
Jiu Hui saw that there were flying boats from other sects entering the city, and seeing that the little yao was scared out of its wits, she said helplessly, “You’re doing a good deed by saving people in the city, why would I capture you?”
“Really?” The little yao carefully sized up Jiu Hui and Zhi You. Seeing that they really didn’t mean to attack, it reluctantly became less afraid. “I was originally an orange cat. Twenty years ago, I received a favor from the people of this city. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to transform into a human form. I’ve been living in the mountains ever since.”
“I heard that the city was hit by a disaster, so I brought out the grain I’ve been hiding all these years.” The fat-faced orange cat yao spoke with his chin wobbling, “Back then, I ate the food from a hundred families. Now I’m giving it back to them. It’s not like I’m trespassing in the human realm, right?”
“Benefactor?” A commoner who had received porridge passed by and looked at Jiu Hui and Zhi You in confusion. Seeing that they were dressed in fine clothes, he asked, “My lady and sir, are you old acquaintances of the benefactor?”
“Yes, he is… our distant relative,” Jiu Hui said. “We came to deliver food, but we didn’t expect him to be here.”
When they heard that they were the ones delivering the grain, the people quickly bowed and thanked them. Jiu Hui hurriedly said, “We are just helping to transport it. The grain was sent from other cities.”
Seeing these commoners, Jiu Hui jotted down the names of these cities one by one. She took out a sign of Taolin City and handed it to the orange cat yao: “Continue to distribute the porridge. If any cultivator makes things difficult for you, show him this sign and ask him to come to me.”
“Thank you, Immortal. Thank you, Immortal.” The orange cat thanked him and went back to serving porridge. This time, even if other flying boats appeared, he wouldn’t be too scared.
The City Lord of Hecheng watched the flying boats landing one after another, and tears streamed down his face. He could only express his gratitude repeatedly.
As the City Lord for decades, he had never seen so many flying boats or so many cultivators.
“City Lord, no need to be so polite. This happened so suddenly, we’ll help clear the snow first.” A young cultivator looked at the city with a nostalgic gaze. “Don’t worry about us, go do what you need to do.”
“Shiyi?” Jiu Hui returned to the flying boat and saw the person standing in front of the City Lord: “It’s actually you?!”
“Eldest Senior Brother said that these cities are not protected by any sects, so it might be difficult to do things here, so he specially sent someone to be in charge of these cities.” Shiyi smiled. “I didn’t expect that the other cities would reach out to Hecheng for help, so I didn’t end up being of much use.”
“Who says it’s useless?” Jiu Hui said. “The snow on the roof and the road, as well as the houses that need to be repaired, all need someone to do it.”
Jiu Hui blinked. “You should go and take charge of… the area around Wutong Street for now.”
“Wutong Street?” Shiyi was a little absent-minded.
“Yes, Wutong Street.” Jiu Hui waved her hand. “Go quickly. There are many residents on Wutong Street, so be careful.”
With the cultivators from the Jiutian Sect present, the cultivators from the other sects left after delivering their gifts. Jiu Hui and Zhi You didn’t stay either. They returned with the guards from Xining City.
“I didn’t expect Nan Feng to be such a thoughtful person.” Jiu Hui leaned over the side of the boat. “He even specially arranged for Shiyi to be in charge of the disaster relief efforts in Hecheng.”
Zhi You: “He’s not like Bu Ting. It could be regarded as… an old vegetable farmer who grew a good head of cabbage.”
Jiu Hui was amused by his words, then sighed: “I wonder how long this snow will last?”
“It won’t snow forever.” Zhi You looked up at the sky. “Even if the mandate of heaven is capricious, it can’t snow forever.”
The heavy snow had fallen for nine whole days before it finally stopped.
“Nine is the ultimate number…” Jiu Hui wondered, was this snow a sign that the heavens no longer wished it to fall, or that it could no longer continue to fall?
Because the various cities pulled together and, in addition, there were cultivators who lent a helping hand, although this snowfall was unprecedentedly heavy, the number of people affected by the disaster was much lower than expected.
After taking inventory of their supplies, some wealthy cities were able to spare a portion to donate to smaller cities, barely helping the people of those smaller cities make it through the new year.
“Young Master, you’ve finally returned.” Yu Li and the other two had been eagerly waiting in Taolin City day after day. Later, they got bored and helped the city’s residents shovel snow.
The only inconvenience was that, in order to avoid revealing her true identity, she couldn’t use magic techniques.
However, Yu Li still earned the title of “Strong Delicate Female Gentleman” because she could split a bowl-sized tree stump with her bare hands and eat five bowls of rice dumplings in one sitting.
The people of Taolin City were relatively well-off, so the snowstorm didn’t affect them much. Instead, they even gave some of their food to other cities.
As soon as the snow stopped, someone went to the moat to go ice skating.
As soon as Jiu Hui, Zhi You, and Yu Li met up, they saw their Eldest Senior Brother Yan Bo sneaking into a bookstore with something in his arms.
“Eldest Senior Brother?” Jiu Hui and Zhi You exchanged a glance and followed him.
Author’s Note
Little Garlic Chive: Curious~
Zhi You: Follow the curiosity~
Eldest Senior Brother: I’ll be of great use soon! Just you wait and see.