The female lead, Song Shuige, and the Xie father and son led the villagers to escape the sudden natural disaster. The female lead obtained Water Element Divine Power from the flood, while Xie Huaizhi also gained Earth Element Divine Power from the mudslide.
During their escape, they encountered the exiled group of the Xie family, but the Original Host was nowhere to be seen. The exiled group was already dead or injured, with half of the soldiers gone. They immediately inquired about the whereabouts of the Original Host.
But how would the soldiers know?
The Xie father and son then learned that the Original Host had fled before the confiscation of the family property. They felt both relieved and worried, concerned about her current situation.
On the third day after the Xie family’s confiscation, the imperial capital would be struck by an enormous Hail Disaster, and even the neighboring city, Qizhou, would not escape unscathed.
Hailstones as large as bucket mouths killed many defenseless people in open areas.
Many commoners perished, but some gained miraculous abilities from the harsh weather, known as Divine Power, such as the ability to shoot Ice Spikes to injure others.
Xie Zhizhi knew the truth behind this disaster: as long as people were exposed to the harsh weather, they had the chance to gain a miraculous ability.
For example, if struck by hail, there was a fifty-fifty chance of either awakening Ice Spike Divine Power or dying.
After that massive hailstorm struck the north, one hundred percent of the houses in the imperial capital were destroyed. Many people, however, turned misfortune into fortune and awakened Divine Power.
The Emperor was not struck by hail, nor did he even touch it, so he did not awaken Divine Power. He was dragged from power by a group that had awakened Ice Spike Divine Power, who looted the national treasury and took away many valuable items and food that would be difficult to grow again in the future.
Awakening Divine Power allowed one to evade natural disasters. Divine Power could be used in two ways: one for attack and one for protection. The protective method could spontaneously form an Ice Spike circle around oneself, like a shield, making one immune to natural disasters.
The higher the level, the larger the diameter of the protective circle, and its power increased tenfold with each level.
There were nine levels in total. At the First Level, the protective circle had a diameter of fifty centimeters, and with each level, the diameter increased tenfold.
At the second level, it would be five meters. When large enough, it could protect an entire city, which was why the commoners called it Divine Power.
Those who did not awaken Divine Power to resist natural disasters could only become lambs to the slaughter or serve as slaves to the strong, surviving within others’ protective circles.
Due to various natural disasters, the land suffered large-scale destruction, and food became a scarce treasure, accessible only to the strong who could seize it.
There were also many other natural disasters and anomalies. Each person awakened different Divine Powers from different disasters, leading to a world where the strong ruled, and power dynamics were reshuffled.
The novel only mentioned that the Original Host reunited with her father and brother in Qizhou, leading a group of villagers to establish their own faction. The rest was still being updated, and she hadn’t read it yet.
Would she be able to read the rest if she returned to her Space and connected to her phone now?
Probably not, since there was no internet.
Xie Zhizhi thought about all this in just a few seconds, yet she knew what kind of dangerous world she was about to face!
The Original Host seemed to have awakened Ice Spike Divine Power, so would she have it too?
Fortunately, she had stored enough supplies and had her Space as a refuge. She might as well treat it as an opportunity to see the world…
Strangely enough, perhaps because she felt fully prepared and unafraid, she even felt a sense of anticipation.
How bizarre.
After all, no matter where she was, she was already alone.
At this moment, there were still three days until the hailstorm. The dark sky above seemed to be brewing something.
She needed to think about what to do next.Snapping back to reality, she saw Jing Yi and Jing Er standing silently before her, their eyes glued to her great guandao.
The Original Host was probably carefree, lacking in political cunning, straightforward in nature, and bold and generous in character—quite similar to her own personality.
Persuading these two Hidden Guards would be simple.
She gathered her thoughts for two seconds, pursed her lips bitterly, yet spoke fiercely, “Confiscating our property? I won’t let the Dog Emperor confiscate my Xie family’s assets for nothing!”
A tear trickled from her deep-set eyes, and her slender back trembled slightly as she poured out her sorrow to Jing Yi and Jing Er, “Just now, I had a dream. Father appeared in it and told me… he never betrayed the Daxing Dynasty. It was all… all the Dog Emperor’s doing, all because of that military tally for three hundred thousand troops! You did the right thing. If I had died too, Father and Brother would have blamed themselves terribly if they were still alive.”
She sniffled, tears glistening in her eyes, and said with regret, “If only I had gone to the border with Father back then, would I have understood his hardships?”
The last sentence was actually the Original Host’s own thoughts. The moment she heard the tragic news, she had already regretted it.
There was a sense of sudden enlightenment, but it was too late. She thought the last time she would ever see them was when she was sixteen.
And the Original Host was only seventeen this year.
Fortunately, in the book, the Original Host reunited with her brother and father two years later.
Xie Zhizhi’s expression was filled with grief and anger. She gritted her teeth, clenched her fists at her sides, stared into the distance with tears silently streaming down her face, an indescribable sorrow enveloping her.
Jing Yi was attentive, treating wounds as if they were nothing. She quickly stepped forward to comfort her, avoiding the area near the great guandao, and stood by her side. “Miss, please don’t cry. Jing Yi and Jing Er will always be by your side. It’s good that you can understand the General’s hardships now. Don’t be sad.”
The valiant and taciturn Jing Er stood to the side, anxious but unable to find comforting words. She nodded stiffly and said, “Miss, don’t cry.”
“It’s not your fault, Jing Yi…” Xie Zhizhi’s sensitive little nose twitched slightly as she caught a whiff of blood. She turned to look at Jing Yi’s arm and asked in a slightly lowered voice, “Were you struck on the arm just now?”
Jing Yi brushed it off casually, “It’s nothing, just a minor wound.”
As she spoke, Jing Yi was about to tear off a piece of her clothing to bandage it haphazardly, but Xie Zhizhi stopped her.
“Do you have any wound medicine?” Even if she had medicine herself, she couldn’t just take it out recklessly, especially for a minor injury like this.
With her interruption, the sorrowful atmosphere dissipated.
Jing Yi’s face lit up with a smile as she waved her hand and immediately said, “For such a small wound, there’s no need for wound medicine. This subordinate’s body is used to it.”
“If it gets infected, you’ll develop a fever. A small wound can become a big one. If you have medicine, use it. Take it out. Jing Er, apply it for her. If there’s cloth, use it to bandage it properly.”
Her tone was firm. The Original Host actually had a very good relationship with the two Hidden Guards. Jing Yi and Jing Er had been by her side since she was five, accompanying her as she grew up and attended school, though what they learned was martial arts.
With that, Jing Er didn’t waste any words. She rummaged through the shattered carriage and pulled out a bundle, retrieving a small bottle of wound medicine to treat Jing Yi’s injury.
Jing Yi looked at her bandaged arm, put her outer garment back on—the black clothing showed no trace of blood—and gazed at the shattered carriage nearby. “Miss, now that the carriage is gone, you’ll have to ride horses with us to Qizhou to buy a new one.”
Qizhou was the largest city in the Daxing Dynasty closest to the imperial capital.Xie Zhizhi had her own considerations and did not immediately set off. Watching Jing Er pack their belongings, she softly asked, “Did you bring the military maps of Daxing and other countries?”
Maps were the most important thing no matter where one went. If you couldn’t even figure out the roads, how could you experience the world? She wanted maps of other countries to understand how the entire continent was divided, wondering if there was a chance to travel there.
Jing Er answered truthfully, “We only managed to buy a simplified route map from the capital to the border. The military map of Daxing is only held by first-rank ministers and the Dog Emperor. As for maps of other countries, only the general and the Dog Emperor have them, but we’ve never seen them.”
Jing Yi thought the young lady wanted to go elsewhere and asked, “Does the young lady wish to travel to other places?”
“Yes, and a simplified map of just one place is far from enough. The more detailed, the better. Otherwise, getting lost would waste a lot of time.”
“The world may change in countless ways in the future, but I can’t explain it to you for now. Are you curious about this large blade?” Xie Zhizhi raised the long sword in her hand.
Jing Yi and Jing Er both wore expressions full of curiosity.
Her eyes were as clear as a pool of water, and she smiled mysteriously.
“I’ll tell you the answer in a few days. For now, we must return to the capital to obtain the military maps.”
If possible, she even wanted to sneak into the imperial palace.
Although the two were very puzzled, they did not press further since the young lady did not wish to explain.
Xie Zhizhi put away the large blade and raised an eyebrow to ask, “Jing Er, you brought tools for disguises, right?”
Disguises were the only crucial method to evade soldiers and were a must-learn skill for Hidden Guards. Jing Er nodded obediently and took out the disguise toolkit.