Chapter 360: Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale Part Five

Bai Yuan whispered: “That’s not the only issue. If Wang Jiayin’s men recognize you during the battle and angrily shout ‘Wang Er, why are you standing with the enemy?’, many on our side would hear your name. That might be problematic.”

Wang Er jolted awake to the realization. He was the world’s greatest rebel, a prime target for government crackdowns wherever he went. If he was to join Gaojia Village in the future, he needed a new identity to avoid bringing trouble to the village.

If these thousand-plus people from Heyang County heard his name, the news could easily leak. Future headaches would multiply.

Wang Er grabbed a piece of cloth and covered his face. He stretched out his hand: “Give me a yellow hat.”

Bai Yuan: “Seems like you should wear a white hat.”

Wang Er: “White hats are for learned men, blue hats are for skilled men. Someone like me only needs a yellow hat.”

Bai Yuan considered this carefully and found it reasonable. Wang Er would just have to make do with a yellow hat.

He put on the yellow hat and covered his face, then instructed his hundred-plus men from Wangjia Village to do the same—all wearing yellow hats and covering their faces. They now looked like ordinary laborers shielding themselves from dust during work.

Meanwhile, Zhang Yuanwai was organizing the Heyang County militia. Their equipment was far worse than the Gaojia Village Militia—no armor, and their weapons were a chaotic mess of random gear. They happened to notice the yellow hats left behind by the more than a thousand laborers who had just fled.

These hats were quite sturdy; they’d make decent makeshift helmets. So the entire Heyang County militia picked up yellow hats to wear. These men weren’t wearing armor either, just various chaotic mismatched clothes. With the yellow hats on, they blended perfectly with Wang Er’s group. Indistinguishable.

Wang Er finally breathed easy. There was no way he’d be recognized now.

…

Li Daoxuan’s view couldn’t reach Qiachuan Port, so he focused it above Heyang County town.

Inside Heyang County town, slight chaos reigned.

Hearing that bandits were approaching, the common folk panicked without even knowing who these incoming bandits were. The streets filled with people scattering everywhere.

“Heard? The County Lord took the militia to Qiachuan Port.”

“Heard a large bandit force is landing there.”

“Know who?”

“No clue. Surname Wang, they say. But heard they’re fiercer than Fan Shanyue.”

“Goodness! Terrible!”

“Why block them at Qiachuan Port? The County Lord should defend the town!”

“Nonsense! Just defend the town? Abandon the outside? If they hold Qiachuan, they hold the whole Heyang County!”

People on the street started arguing quite fiercely.

After a brief exchange of information via insults invoking each other’s ancestors, they all rushed to the southeast corner of the county town, straining to look towards Qiachuan.

This gazing was absolutely useless. Qiachuan Port was over thirty li away. How could they possibly see anything? They could only stare foolishly into the void.

Gao Yiye, Thirty-Two, Qiu Ju, and Dong Xue moved through the chaotic crowd. With no combat skills among the four, navigating the disorder felt risky. However, the Sharp Knife Troop of low cloud floating above their heads gave them considerable peace of mind.

Gao Yiye remarked: “People here don’t yet know the Deity protects them from above. They panic merely hearing of bandits. It wouldn’t be like this back in our Gaojia Village.”

Thirty-Two responded: “Therefore, we must quickly bring over our comic books, Dao Emotion plays, and such. It’s time for the Deity’s name to spread through Heyang County.”

Mentioning this made Thirty-Two recall something: “Saint Lady, how far along is your comic Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale?”

Gao Yiye chuckled: “Working on Part Five right now!”

Thirty-Two couldn’t help but become curious: “What was this episode about?”

Gao Yiye: “This episode told how Immortal Chang’e fell in love with the Deity, but Marshal Tianpeng became jealous, so he went to flirt with Immortal Chang’e, angering the Deity who defeated Marshal Tianpeng, captured him, and handed him over to the Jade Emperor, who then demoted Marshal Tianpeng to the mortal realm, turning him into Zhu Bajie…”

“Pfft!” Thirty-Two nearly spat out a mouthful of tea.

Outside the box, Li Daoxuan was happily eating an old-fashioned fluffy cake; hearing this, he was a bit startled—a twisted version of Journey to the West? Inserting strange plots into Journey to the West? What frightening fan fiction was this? Without realizing it, he clenched his hand, crushing the cake entirely, and the crumbled bits fell from the sky…

“Oh no!” Li Daoxuan swiftly reached out to catch the cake crumbs, but he wasn’t really a deity, just moving at a mortal’s pace; how could he catch the falling crumbs? He only grabbed the larger pieces, but the powder-like crumbs still fell into the box.

A resident of Heyang County was rushing chaotically down the street when suddenly he felt something “bonk” his head—it seemed like a fluffy object had struck him.

“Who’s throwing things at me?” He looked up and saw many strange round objects in the sky, big and small, falling like rain, covering everything.

“What happened?”

“Weird things are falling from the sky.”

“Watch your heads!”

Some covered their heads and ducked into houses.

But others were hit, discovered it didn’t hurt, and didn’t hide at all, just gaped foolishly upward.

The items falling from the sky were very fluffy; they landed on people’s heads without causing harm and on roofs without breaking tiles; their size was clearly not proportional to their weight, and some even felt a bit bouncy.

They drifted down, blanketing everything, and instantly coated the whole city.

The city’s entire populace was collectively dumbfounded.

Only Gao Yiye, Thirty-Two, and the others felt no surprise; the four gazed upward and said, “The Deity is casting a spell.”

The common people had never seen cake before, but this was Heyang County!

China’s Yellow River Eco-Gourmet Capital!

The residents here excelled most at eating!

In just a flash, they linked these strange falling things with the word “eating.”

Someone remarked, “It looks like it’s made of flour!”

“I smell a strong sweet fragrance.”

“And there’s an egg scent inside.”

“Why overthink it? Just taste it and find out.”

One bold individual, uncaring if it was poisonous, snagged a piece and stuffed it into his mouth; instantly, his expression shifted, and with a tiger-like pounce, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, shielding several cake crumbs beneath him, with a face that screamed “I’ll kill anyone who takes this.”

In many spots around the city, such brave tasters appeared; after one bite, without a word, they crouched and began scooping up crumbs fiercely.

This behavior was highly contagious, and soon, nearly everyone in the county seat was collecting cake crumbs.