My brother entrusted his child to me, and I livestreamed raising the baby, making the Empress cry wi

Liu Dabiao also looked back at the sky, pretending to be attracted by the white light just like the others. He tilted his chin up, stretched his neck long, and his prominent Adam's apple bobbed up and down, looking completely focused.

But out of the corner of his eye, his gaze remained fixed on those eight silver-white houses. Those eight houses stood silently in his peripheral vision, like eight treasure troves overflowing with silver, waiting only for the right moment to open their doors to him.

This time, he no longer felt fear towards Lin Ye and the others; in fact, he was somewhat looking forward to it, hoping they would leave quickly, go as far away as possible, and ideally never come back.

Only then could he have the chance to obtain those magical clothes. Those clothes had now become countless amounts of silver in his eyes, the capital for his carefree and happy life in his later years.

He immediately started calculating in his mind. There seemed to be at least several dozen sets of clothes left. He would make his move as soon as it got dark after those people left!

However, he can't carry that many at once, so he'll have to do it in several trips... No, forget it, he can't be too greedy. If he takes too many, he'll be easily discovered. He should take five or six sets first and hide them, then find a way to transport them out when he gets back.

He had even decided on a hiding place in the blink of an eye: in the row of abandoned stables behind the drill ground.

The soil under the third trench on the east side is the loosest. He saw a stray dog ​​digging a hole there yesterday. If he digs a little deeper tonight, it shouldn't be difficult to dig three feet deep. Nobody goes there usually, and it's even less likely to go on a rainy day like this. It's an excellent place to hide things.

The clothes were all packaged, and he saw soldiers marveling at the transparent bags covering the clothes, saying that they were waterproof too.

That's brilliant! He won't even need to look for the oilcloth bundle anymore. He can just steal it and bury it—it's incredibly convenient. After ten days or half a month, when things have calmed down, he can dig it up under cover of darkness at night, run south, and who will be able to find him?

The rain was still falling, hitting the tent roof, the muddy ground, and the silvery roof, making different sounds.

The rain on the tent roof sounded muffled, like countless grains of sand scattered on thick coarse cloth. The rain on the muddy ground was dense and fragmented, interspersed with the soft sounds of bubbles rising and bursting. The rain on the silvery roof was the crispest, tinkling and tinkling, as if someone were playing a tune on the wall.

Liu Dabiao's breathing was light and rapid, and his cloudy eyes darted around in the shadows like a mouse hiding in the dark, calculating his chance.

His heart was pounding so hard it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest. Each beat made his eardrums buzz, and his palms were covered in a sticky layer of sweat. The sweat clung to his palms, and he rubbed them on his worn-out trouser legs, but he just couldn't get them clean.

He was so excited that his back teeth were chattering slightly. This excitement was even more intense than when he bet on the leopard in the gambling den years ago, making his whole body feel hot. In his peripheral vision, those eight silver-white houses were more alluring than the face of the top courtesan in the pleasure quarters.

Just as his mind was filled with images of gleaming silver ingots, the white light in the sky suddenly receded, and the entire heavens plunged into darkness. The scene shifted again, returning to the rain-soaked training ground.

The slanting rain shrouded the entire training ground in a grayish-white mist, blurring the distant weapon racks and flagpoles, leaving only faint, indistinct silhouettes.

The flag on the pole was beaten down by the rain and clung tightly to the pole. Occasionally, a gust of wind would lift a corner of it with difficulty, revealing the dark cloth soaked by the rain, before it would snap back onto the pole with a snap.

Raindrops pounded on the muddy ground, splashing up countless tiny water droplets. The vast training ground was no longer recognizable as its original surface. The mud was repeatedly washed and stirred by the rainwater, making the entire training ground look like a pot of boiling porridge, grayish-yellow and viscous.

The air was filled with an earthy smell, mixed with moisture, pressing heavily into everyone's lungs.

Lin Ye and the other two stood back on the command platform. Water flowed down the edge of the wooden platform, forming small waterfalls that fell into puddles about half a foot deep around the platform, making a continuous splashing sound.

A thin layer of water had accumulated on the table, reflecting the darkening sky and the figures of the three people. Every time a drop of rain fell, the reflection would shatter and then quickly come together again.

Dozens of medical officers landed around the command platform. Their figures appeared somewhat frail in the rain, their white protective suits covered by long, transparent raincoats that kept the rain out completely.

Raindrops pattered on the raincoats, sliding quickly down the smooth surface. Each of them stood ramrod straight, as steady as a pine tree, and even though the muddy ground beneath their feet was wet and slippery, not one of them swayed in the slightest.

Before them stood eight thousand soldiers, already lined up, their faces beaming with pride.

The eight thousand soldiers were all dressed in dark corduroy tracksuits, covered with transparent raincoats. From a distance, they looked like a tide gently undulating in the rain, or a large pine forest standing tall in the rain.

The rain pelted them, rolling down the long hems of their raincoats without leaving a wet patch on any of their clothes. Their posture was upright, shoulders wide open, chests puffed out, as if they had been infused with boundless strength.

Wearing these brand-new clothes not only warmed their bodies and protected them from the violent wind and rain, but also acted like an invisible armor, making everyone feel that their spines were stronger than before.

The entire training ground was silent, save for the pattering rain, which filled every crevice between heaven and earth, making the sea of ​​people standing solemn and dignified.

More than 8,000 people stood in the rain, but not one spoke, not one moved. They were like swords waiting to be drawn, silent yet possessing the sharpness to cut through everything.

In the ensuing silence, Lin Ye turned to Wang Meng and asked, "Within 300 li of the capital, which city has been most severely affected by the disaster?"

Wang Meng has been so preoccupied with the urgent reports lately that he can remember every disaster-stricken area by heart. The names of those places are as if they are engraved in his mind. He thinks about them during the day and dreams about them at night. Even when he is eating, the words from those urgent reports float before his eyes.

When Lin Ye asked, he immediately blurted out, "Suzhou! Suzhou is located in the lower reaches of the Wei River and was one of the first areas to be affected by the disaster. The city is also in a low-lying area and has long been turned into a swamp."

As he spoke, his brows furrowed unconsciously, and deep lines appeared on his forehead. He had read the urgent report from Suzhou countless times; the shocking numbers and words on it were like a red-hot iron branding his heart, bringing a burning pain every time he recalled them.

After hesitating for a moment, Wang Meng added worriedly, "Suzhou is about two hundred li away from here, with more than 30,000 registered residents. According to the last official who left, when he left, the deepest part of the city was flooded...enough to cover half of the government office..."