As Xiaosuisui spoke, she couldnât help but fiercely ruffle her hair. She was hesitating whether to try and voice the ideas of His Majesty, her foster father.
"But what?" Uncle Niu asked eagerly.
Others, even more surprised, hurriedly chimed in.
"Is it true, benefactor? Is our home still there? Can we return to both banks of Yunhang and continue our previous lives?"
At these words, Xiaosuisui grimaced and said with difficulty, "Actually, what I wanted to say is that you probably canât go back to living on the shores of Yunhang."
"Ah? Why?" everyone exclaimed in unison.
Xiaosuisui helplessly ran her fingers through her hair again and then said, "Itâs nothing much, really. Itâs just that I feel the two shores of Yunhang are very unsafe. Tornadoes occur there every few years, which is very detrimental to your lives. So, I was wondering if you would consider the courtâs suggestion to relocate?"
"Ah!"
"Relocate?"
"What does this mean?"
Most of the people in the crowd were between their thirties and fifties. Upon hearing this, they began to whisper amongst themselves.
"Benefactor! What exactly is this relocation all about? How come weâve never heard of it before?"
Xiaosuisui looked puzzled at their words. She was only a child of four or five, her face soft, pink, and chubby. Being one of their saviors, and seeing such a childish expression on her face, everyone instantly found her adorable. For a moment, no one pursued the topic of relocation anymore.
One middle-aged woman reached out and gently touched her little cheek, saying, "Our benefactor is just a five-year-old child; how much can she know about the matters of the court? In my opinion, we should stop asking. With so many of us returning, we should first go to the County Yamen and find the County Magistrate. Let the County Magistrate decide for us. Wherever the Government Office tells us to build our homes and live, thatâs where weâll build and live."
This woman was older, in her fifties. For now, among those who had been awakened, she was the oldest and most seniorâGranny Niu.
"Granny Niu is right," a woman in her thirties spoke up. "Our benefactor has great abilities; she managed to awaken all of us. Iâve heard my father say since I was little that capable people are not like us. They all live in deep mountains and old forests and donât deal with the Government Office at all. Therefore, how could our little benefactor, whoâs just a child, know about the affairs of the court? Letâs stop asking these things; itâll only trouble our benefactor!"
Xiaosuisui observed that this woman didnât seem ordinary. Seeing her refined speech and extraordinary demeanor, a term came to Xiaosuisuiâs mind.
The kind her third and second maternal aunts always hoped she would grow up to beâa well-bred young lady!
"Mistress Li is correct. She is a scholarâs daughter who later married a scholar. Sheâs knowledgeable, so what she says must be right."
Xiaosuisui was taken aback.
Yun Kuo, who was meditating on the side, couldnât help but twitch the corner of his mouth.
These common folk from the shores of Yunhang are really easy to fool!
he thought.
When we awakened the first person, he asked who Xiaosuisui and I were. At the time, Xiaosuisui didnât reveal her identity. I, on the other hand, said, "Iâm from Yunzhou Island, three hundred miles away. I came here today with my niece and found that you all seemed to have been turned into Puppets by Witch Power. So, I took the liberty of dispersing your Power and restoring your consciousness!" Just like that, with only those words, they actually believed me! They didnât ask any further questions, nor did they doubt our identities at all! On the contrary, when Xiaosuisui and I asked about their own affairs, they would answer everything in detail.
Yun Kuo was determined to be a good person, to perform good deeds and accumulate merit. Thus, being the kind-hearted man he was, he felt compelled to see this through.
"Actually! I suggest you listen to her," he said. "Perhaps after hearing her out, youâll be able to solve the problems youâve never managed to resolve."
Indeed, both he and Xiaosuisui felt that these inhabitants of Yunhangâs shores, likely because the Witch Power had turned them into Puppets, had suffered a decline in intelligence and were now quite gullible.
"Ah! Can it solve our problem? But the little benefactor is only four or five years old! How can she help us solve it? Is she an Immortal? Can she perform magic to make the Yunhang Sea vanish, allowing us to cultivate fertile land and build our homes there from now on?"