Yefutidaolu

Chapter 281 The Power of the Banner

Two children squatted in the corner of the wall, blowing sand, pinching ants, tearing leaves, breaking grass stems, and chatting about a bunch of trivial things.

They patted each other's empty bellies and asked, "What did you eat?"

Then they answered each other again: "What to eat? Farts!"

Then he would repeat these words, laughing each time as if he had told a particularly funny joke.

But after talking for a while, the two of them seemed to get hungry, so they stood up together and ran to the village clinic.

Gao Jian and Yang Ling went along as well, and kept an eye on the two children.

There was also a clinic in the village, but the doctor inside was of unknown origin. Gao Jian stood at a distance and glanced at him; he could tell that the doctor's medical skills were not very good.

It's easy to see that in the Divine Dynasty, doctors would definitely take care of their own bodies. After all, how could you dare to treat others if you couldn't even take care of your own body?

His physical body showed that he had cultivated himself, regulated his internal energy and blood, and maintained various balances, making him slightly better than ordinary people, but still very clumsy, not even reaching the first realm.

However, the medicine is genuine; you can smell the medicine, and the price is reasonable.

Moreover, he had also been brewing a large pot of medicinal soup at the entrance, which Gao Jian recognized as a nourishing soup.

This soup can replenish vital energy, treat sores and ulcers, spleen and stomach deficiency, fever and chills, deficiency of blood and qi, fatigue, emaciation, sallow complexion, shortness of breath, poor appetite and thirst. It is most suitable for use after a serious illness.

However, it's clear that they were poor; many of the ingredients had been changed. For example, ginseng had been replaced with radish, so the effects were naturally vastly different. They even added pig bile, making it bitter and unpalatable.

If someone came to see a doctor or wanted a drink, he would scoop out a bowl for them and charge them one copper coin.

The two children secretly ran over here, took a gourd ladle, and when the doctor wasn't looking, they scooped up a ladleful and poured it down his throat.

The medicine was both bitter and scalding hot; I don't know how they managed to swallow it.

Before long, the two children had drunk a bellyful of medicine, were so full they kept burping, stuck the gourd ladle into their waistbands, and ran away.

The doctor noticed it, but didn't say anything and just let the two children drink it.

Gao Jian and Yang Ling didn't say anything, they just continued walking around the village.

As I walked, I saw another child wearing open-crotch pants, probably still learning to walk, being surrounded by several families.

These families, each accompanied by a pregnant woman, kept asking the little child, "Is the baby in my belly a little brother or a little sister?"

The child didn't want to answer, so the people gave him candy. The child took it, but couldn't resist being urged, so he casually said, "It's my little brother." Then the family left happily, as if they had encountered some great joy.

"Is there any reason for this? Or is there really a theory behind it?" Gao Jian asked Yang Ling.

Yang Ling chuckled lightly: "What explanation could there be? It's all just the imagination of ignorant men and women. To put it nicely, it's a custom, but in reality, it's just ignorance."

As he spoke, he began to explain: "Here, any pregnant woman who wants to know whether the baby in her belly is a boy or a girl has to stop a little child when she goes out and ask him. Because the little child is still young and can talk to the baby in her belly, he is a golden mouth. If he says it's a little brother, everyone is overjoyed. If he says it's a little sister, everyone just pretends not to have heard him."

Gao Jian asked curiously, "Whatever? Why is everyone asking this kid? Is there anything special about him?"

Yang Ling then explained, "In this case, it's usually because the person who predicted it correctly first, so everyone thinks his predictions are particularly accurate and can tell."

“Oh…it seems I was right about that place?” Gao Jian pointed to a house next door, where a young wife was taking care of a pair of babies, a boy and a girl, who seemed to be twins.

"How did you know, sir?" Yang Ling asked, somewhat surprised.

“The child is young and couldn’t possibly be running around, so his home must be nearby. These pregnant women and their families have come all the way from other places, which means that what he said must be very accurate, not just a normal guess of the sex of the child. So I speculate that he guessed that it was twins, which is why some people came all the way here to ask.”

Upon hearing this, Yang Ling blinked and then exclaimed, "My lord, your observation skills are truly remarkable... But this is a good thing, because this way, you should be able to see more things clearly, right?"

"I don't know, I haven't seen enough. But that kid is quite interesting, I'll watch him more." Gao Jian smiled, found a place to stand, and stood there like an ordinary village idler.

Of course, because of his clothes and demeanor, it was obvious at a glance that he wasn't the one in question, so no one dared to come this way, and they would avoid doing anything from this side.

But no matter where the villagers were hiding, to Gao Jian's perception, there was no difference at all; he could still see them.

Yang Ling could obviously see it too, so he stayed with Gao Jian and watched the child's experience.

The little boy, who was so young and couldn't even speak clearly, was surrounded by adults who invited him to look at his belly. People even came from far away to ask him to come.

Unfortunately, Gao Jian knew very well that the child did not possess any supernatural eyes or mouths, nor did he have any power or magic to support him, so he could not see whether the children in those women's wombs were male or female.

Poor child, in Gao Jian's eyes, he was too young, a two or three-year-old child, still wearing open-crotch pants, who might not even know what a boy or a girl is, how could he be accurate?

However, those foolish men and women insisted that he say it, and even offered him candy as a lure, so he made up some nonsense in order to get the candy.

Most people are just trying to get a good omen; they'll be happy if someone mentions a younger brother, but if someone mentions a younger sister, they'll change the subject and pretend they didn't hear it.

But some people are not normal. For example, after Gao Jian had been watching for an hour, there was a man who seemed to believe the child's words. After the child said "sister", he scolded his wife and kicked her, saying that her stomach was sick and she could only give birth to girls.

Gao Jian watched from the side without saying a word.

On the contrary, Yang Ling immediately rushed out, shouted loudly, and drove the person away, thus avoiding a beating today.

However, we won't be able to control it anymore.

I also saw officials coming to arrest people, saying they were in arrears with their wages. The patients in the clinic were gritting their teeth and waiting for their bones to be set. There were a bunch of people working in the fields next door, and some people were chasing after children asking them if they were boys or girls.

This is life here.

Boring, ignorant, tired, laborious, repeated sleepless nights, hunger, thirst, long periods of starvation, cold, imprisonment, and no clothes to wear.

There was little to do with entertainment; it was limited to a few things. Children could only play with mud, leaves, stones, and trees, while the adults mostly gambled or worked. Soon, as they observed this, the sun completely set. The two watched the sky gradually darken, and as a wisp of smoke disappeared, the entire village fell into darkness and silence.
Working at sunrise and resting at sunset, that's how it is.

A dull daily routine, a meaningless life, not knowing why one is born, nor why one dies.

The calendar is getting thinner and thinner, and the number of torn pages is piling up.

Every day, without any surprises, I would tear off a page, crumple it up, and throw it away.

Every day is a brand new day.

But is every day truly brand new?

Nothing has changed; every day feels like yesterday, and every yesterday feels like the day before yesterday.

Every new day is just like every day that has passed.

Waiting is pointless; it's practically suicide.

These are the days that everyone experiences the most.

It wasn't until it was completely dark, the clouds obscured the moon, and darkness enveloped the surroundings.

A cool breeze blew gently, and her hair swayed slowly in the breeze.

In the pitch-black night, Gao Jian, who was standing outside observing the surroundings, sighed: "Well then, we've seen enough of this village. Shall we go? Let's go back to sleep. We'll go to Yongning tomorrow."

Yang Ling nodded and said, "That's how it should be, but... Mr. Gao, what do you think of the current situation?"

"What do you mean by the current situation? The Divine Dynasty has been like this for thousands of years, so it's nothing special. It has always been like this."

"In that case, Mr. Gao, Lord Gao... do you intend to make any changes?" Yang Ling asked.

These words can be described as utterly treasonous.

Perhaps Gao Jian revealed some quality that made him trust him, or perhaps Yang Ling was just that reckless, leading him to say such things at this moment.

If Gao Jian wanted to, these words could almost certainly kill Yang Ling right here, and might even implicate his entire family, with everyone associated with him dying here.

But Yang Ling remained unfazed, seemingly convinced that Gao Jian would not turn against him.

And this is indeed the case.

Gao Jian said with some surprise, "You should know that the only things that remain unchanged in the Divine Dynasty are the following situations, while for cultivators, the cultivation world is constantly changing. New methods are proposed almost every day, and new immortal sects appear almost every month, while old immortal sects are destroyed."

"And I am a student of the Imperial Academy. Everything I have is because of this. It is because of all this that I am able to become a person above others, and hear you address me respectfully as 'Master' or 'Teacher' here. I am respected in Liangzhou City because of this."

"So why should I change? What good would it do me to change these things?" Gao Jian asked him, his tone somewhat mocking.

“Mr. Gao, why would you ask such a question?” Yang Ling blinked. “If you cared about this, would you still be here testing each other? To be honest, I even think it’s a bit of a waste of time.”

"We both felt that what the other was doing was dangerous, and we both felt that what we were doing was also dangerous, so we were testing each other to see if the other thought the same way we did."

Yang Ling continued, "But I think once or twice is enough. There's really no need to test them so many times, is there? Mr. Gao, I'm not discussing the merits or demerits of the Divine Dynasty, nor am I qualified to do so. But for these common people, making their lives a little easier shouldn't be a sin, right?"

After saying this, Yang Ling cupped his hands and said to Gao Jian, "I am just a clerk in the prefectural government. In terms of status, I am about the same as the deputy general of the Demon Suppression Division. I can barely be someone's lackey in Liangzhou City."

"I don't have that much time to think about world affairs or whether the cultivation world is changing. That's something for geniuses like you, students like you who are destined for high positions in the Divine Dynasty, to consider. To put it bluntly, the future of the Divine Dynasty is decided by you."

"All I want is for ordinary people to be able to afford food and not have such a hard life, that's all... Lord Gao, I don't think this is anything excessive, and... you should think so too, right?" Yang Ling said.

At this point, Yang Ling continued to bow, kneeling down directly: "Lord Gao, you are here in Liangzhou on the orders of an imperial envoy. For you, it is just a task to complete, a final assessment. But for the common people of Liangzhou, the lives of at least 100 million people are in your hands."

“If you assign the task to the Liangzhou aristocratic families and the Taotie tribe, then the common people of Liangzhou… will not be able to recover within ten years. Although I don’t know if nine out of ten houses will be empty, it is definitely possible that half of them will die. Because to raise this million gold, and to feed the aristocratic families who come to collect taxes, at least four million gold will be needed. How much money do these common people have? All they have left is their lives.”

Yang Ling bowed, his tone sincere in every word. Although there was no emotional fluctuation, one could still sense the emotions he was trying to express.

But... don't you understand these points?
No, Gao Jian understood it very clearly; in fact, it could be said that few people in the Divine Dynasty understood it better than him.

But Yang Ling didn't stop. He continued, "Lord Gao, you may not know this, but because of this matter, Youming Land has already sent people over in advance. Every time something like this happens, it's a time when a large amount of human spiritual materials are wholesaled."

"They have been doing this business under the cover of darkness for a long time. The various networks they have built within it will inevitably bribe powerful families and force farmers to sell their produce on a large scale, because... the cost of self-sale is lower."

Finding cultivators to actively harvest, or even killing people on a large scale, or forcing them into prisons and transporting them over, is indeed a method. However, this method not only easily attracts some so-called 'righteous paths' to cause trouble, but the karmic consequences are also difficult to deal with, and the loss rate will also increase due to resistance.

In this way, compared to finding many cultivators to arrest people on a large scale, it is definitely cheaper to directly create a disaster and then bring the entire disaster area under control.

Catching fish is much faster than waiting for them to swim over on their own.

However, creating a disaster can easily be resolved by others or it may provoke others, so... this is not the optimal solution.

What is the optimal solution?

Very simple.

That is to let the Divine Dynasty take the lead and personally trigger the disaster. In this way, no one will dare to question the Divine Dynasty's decision, not even those so-called righteous sects.

This is the power of the banner, and this is also the greatest profit for the Netherworld.

Gao Jian frowned.

(End of this chapter)