By the time they reached the village, it was already late at night. A torrential rain was falling from the sky, lashing down onto the muddy ground and gouging out a pit with every drop. The road had turned into an impassable sludge.
The old couple hurriedly thanked Wei Bai, grateful that he had extended his rain-proof cover to shelter them as well; otherwise, they probably would not have made it back.
In truth, without Wei Bai's group of five slowing them down, they would have been home in time. But how could they say such a thing to this great official? And so, they invited Wei Bai to stay at their home for the time being.
"Dad, this house is so run-down."
Ling looked around with disdain. Compared to the places she had slept before, this was not only damp and cramped, but the wooden planks overhead were still dripping water, and there wasn't even a floor.
"Just sleep. A lot of people live like this."
"Really?"
Ling tilted her head and thought about it. How could that be possible?
Wei Bai didn't answer her. He created a few cotton clothes with his ability, spread them on the dirt ground, and gently placed the two sisters, Nian and Xi, who had fallen asleep again, on top. Then he picked up little Shu, lay down, and went straight to sleep.
"Goodnight."
"Goodnight, Daddy."
Shu wrapped her arm back around her father's waist and drifted into a sweet sleep.
Ling, however, had trouble sleeping. She opened the wooden window a crack. A cold wind poured through the gap and into her collar. Outside, it was pitch black, impossible to see a thing, with only the incessant roar of the storm.
The common people of the world, the masses... what does that really mean?
Listening to the sound of the rain, the eldest daughter gradually fell asleep.
Early the next morning, just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Ling groggily awoke. Her father was holding her, with little Shu beside them.
The rain had stopped.
"Get up, get up." Wei Bai frantically rubbed Ling's smooth little face, but ended up waking Shu instead.
"Good morning, Daddy," Shu rubbed her eyes. "Good morning, big sister."
"What's so good about it? You get up too!"
Ling also extended her wicked hands and started rubbing her little sister's cheeks.
"Waaah."
And so, the three of them were awake. The two silly kids were still sleeping. Today wasn't about them, so Wei Bai didn't wake them.
Ling looked at her father in confusion, wiggling the hand he was holding tightly. He usually didn't do this.
But today was an exception.
Wei Bai led them out the door.
Outside was a world they had never seen before.
The sky after the rain was still gloomy and deathly silent, as if another storm was brewing—a storm utterly unlike the romance of a "city shrouded in misty rain" that she had seen in the capital.
Ling's eyes widened slightly, and she froze on the spot. The hand holding her father's tightened without her realizing it.
The vast, open plains had become a gathering place for tragedy. The storm had destroyed large swathes of wooden houses. How many people were here? One, two... probably about a hundred.
The older ones were lying on the ground in disarray, motionless, having frozen to death—which was a good way to go, as they at least died with their bodies intact. The younger ones had been crushed by house beams and turned into pulp.
There was no crying, no wailing. The world was on mute. The people were used to this. The able-bodied survivors held shovels, digging pits and burying the dead on the spot. Their numb, vacant eyes glanced in their direction.
The storm was not romantic. It was merciless, cruel, painful, and silent.
The history books had used only a single sentence: "In the early days of the nation, the people's livelihood was in decline."
"Dad..."
Ling stared for a long time before she managed to squeeze out a single word.
At the right moment, Wei Bai covered her eyes.
"Go and help them."
"Okay."
Taking a step, Ling walked unsteadily towards the crowd.
Shu didn't understand, but sadness was always contagious.
"Daddy, they... what happened to them?"
Wei Bai knelt down and hugged his sorrowful daughter from behind, his cheek pressed against hers.
He whispered in her ear:
"They're dead."
"Dead?"
"Yes, dead. It's when a group of people can never see a person again."
"Why... why did they die?"
"Because they are the great, ordinary people."
A few tears fell from Shu's eyes. "Daddy, will we die too?"
"Of course little Shu won't die."
"What about Daddy?"
Wei Bai curved his lips into a smile but did not answer.
He gently wiped away his daughter's tears, letting them fall to the ground. He looked up, and the sky began to clear.
Even though she didn't yet understand who she was, Shu's "Causality" had already taken effect.
Wei Bai brushed aside the sorrow in his heart and put on a big, smiling face, his spirit filled with optimism.
He used his Level Two "Forging" to create a bronze gong and struck it with all his might.
DONG DONG DONG, DONG DONG DONG...
It was as if he wanted to shatter the deathly silence, to drive away the suffering.
DONG DONG DONG, DONG DONG DONG...
Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at him.
Wei Bai coughed, then shouted in the local dialect:
"Folks, good news, good news!"
"I'm a great official sent by the Imperial Court! From this day forward, all the grain in the village, the houses... everything for food, clothing, and shelter, I will work with all of you to find a solution!"
After he finished speaking, there was dead silence below. Silence was normal; a response would have been abnormal. You couldn't expect Wei Bai to just flex his protagonist muscles and have the common folk be won over. That was impossible. Wei Bai was one of the common folk himself; he didn't even trust the officials from Lungmen.
If he did the work, the people would eventually see.
"Little Shu, can you help Daddy out?"
Wei Bai bent down, and the obedient Shu quickly nodded.
"I might have to ask little Shu to look after your younger sisters from now on... Can you do that?"
"Mhm!"
"Good girl."
Of his four daughters, Shu was the most worry-free. He had no idea how she grew up to be so well-behaved.
Watching Shu return to the house, Wei Bai drew the greatsword of black iron from his back. Controlling his strength, he swung it casually, and a pit appeared.
"Follow my command! After we've buried the dead, we build houses together!"
Perhaps it was because this official was a little different, or perhaps it was a life-saving straw they could grasp... in any case, Wei Bai really managed to get this group of people moving.
"These are tiles. Stack them like this and put them on the roof."
"Don't make the roofs flat anymore, make them sloped. And support columns... I can't manage it all myself, I need a quick learner to come here and..."
Wei Bai taught them patiently, step by step.
In Yan, the further one was from the capital, the less civilized it was. They didn't know how to build proper houses and lacked experience in dealing with disasters.
But Wei Bai had always believed in the wisdom of the common people. They had never read books, but they had honed their experience through trials of fire and water. They understood with just a little guidance.
They worked busyly like this until nightfall. Ling, who was perfectly fine, supported her exhausted old father back to the cramped, dilapidated house.
Little Shu was sitting by the bonfire, humming a lullaby to coax her younger sisters to sleep.
The dim yellow light filled the small hut with warmth. Wei Bai lay down, exhausted. Ling was a little angry. While massaging her father's back with a pained expression, she said resentfully:
"The least they could do is say thank you to Dad..."
Hearing this, Wei Bai, his eyes closed, raised the corners of his mouth. "Ling'er, why did you help them back there?"
"Ah..."
That's right, why did I? What do their lives and deaths have to do with me?
"Besides, how do you know they didn't thank me? Everyone sees what you do. Who wants to harm them, who has helped them... the common people are not muddled in the slightest."
Wei Bai's voice grew softer and softer, until it was as faint as the buzzing of a mosquito.
"Dad?"
Ling called out.
He had fallen asleep.
"Tch."
Feeling disgruntled, Ling crossed her legs. But just then, a call came from outside the door:
"Lord Wei? Lord Wei?"
Ling and Shu exchanged a glance. The eldest daughter got up and gently opened the door. It was the old couple.
Peeking cautiously inside, the old man's wrinkled face broke into a smile full of creases when he saw the sleeping Wei Bai.
He offered a bowl of porridge.
"Thank you, thank you..."
Repeating these two words, tears welled up in the corners of the old couple's eyes. It was unclear what they were feeling... gratitude, excitement, or something else?
Ling stared blankly at the bowl of porridge. It was filled to the brim with rice grains, the kind she hadn't seen them willing to eat all day. Unhusked rice grains, the kind she wouldn't have spared a second glance for before.
As if moved by some unseen force, Ling pushed it back.
"There's no need."
The eldest daughter closed the door.
"Was it them?" Shu asked curiously. "Strange, they were still so afraid of us yesterday."
"Hm? Big sister... what's wrong?"
"It's nothing."
Ling forced a smile.
"I was just thinking about how to properly help them."