When suffering has spread to every corner of Jiuquan Village, an unprecedented miracle shall arrive.
A green light suddenly ignited on the horizon—soft and warm, standing out brilliantly amidst the swirling wind and snow.
"Do not be afraid, fellow villagers."
A gentle voice seemed to descend from the heavens.
Su Xue, dressed in green silks and treading upon a massive orchid, slowly descended.
Behind her, Poison-Wing had transformed into a giant divine bird. Though he looked quite fierce, he had retracted his toxic aura for now, holding his head high with an air of dignity.
Beside Su Xue stood a dark, thin monk wearing a gold-thread cassock: Ku Chan.
In the most inconspicuous corner, Piao was sprawled on the ground, frantically gnawing at the permafrost and solid ice that had accumulated over the years.
'Mmm... the taste... it’s a bit astringent... but edible.'
Piao’s cheeks were puffed out, and an excited light flickered in her heterochromatic eyes.
With every swallow, she gulped down the perennial snow and the desolation contained within the frozen earth.
Beneath the ice and snow, the long-lost black soil was revealed—the life-force of the Northern Region that had vanished for centuries.
As a Great Fiend whose origin was famine, she was born with the power to control desolation.
Seeing that the time was right, Ku Chan immediately straightened his back, cleared his throat, and used his spiritual power to let out a loud shout:
"Amitabha! This poor monk is a walking envoy under the Bone God: Ku Chan."
"Seeing your suffering, I have specially invited the Harvest Goddess from the God's side to descend and save the world."
"The God is merciful and cannot bear to see all beings suffer. He has bestowed divine medicine and divine grain to bring salvation to all."
After speaking, Ku Chan pressed his palms together.
Su Xue cooperated perfectly, scattering a shower of emerald-green light-points from her hand.
This was the detoxification powder she had spent the entire night grinding from herbs, mixed with spiritual qi capable of stimulating plant growth.
As the light-points fell, the villagers' intense pain was instantly relieved, and waves of warmth surged through their bodies.
Upon the black earth that Piao had just gnawed clean, Su Xue casually tossed a handful of seeds.
"Grow."
Su Xue gave a light command.
The seeds broke through the soil, budding and sprouting at a speed visible to the naked eye before flowering and bearing fruit.
In the blink of an eye, a field of golden wheat had matured amidst the ice and snow, its fragrance wafting everywhere.
The villagers were stunned.
They forgot their pain, they forgot to pray; they just stared blankly at that golden field of wheat and the woman standing on the orchid, looking like a goddess descended to earth.
"A... a celestial?"
"She's not an Immortal Master from the Heavenly Sword Sect; she's some kind of Harvest Goddess?"
"This wheat is actually real? It can grow even in heavy snow?"
Striking while the iron was hot, Ku Chan plucked a palm-sized ear of wheat directly from the field and threw it to Old Man Li.
"Eat! This is food bestowed by the God. Eat it and you will not hunger; eat it and you will not feel the cold!"
With trembling hands, Old Man Li peeled away the husk and stuffed the plump grains into his mouth.
Sweet, soft, and glutinous, with the unique fragrance of plants, it slid down his throat and into his stomach.
"It’s delicious... it’s so delicious..."
Poison-Wing, who had been posing nearby, followed Ku Chan’s prior instructions and secretly shouted in a shrill voice:
"Thank the Goddess for the food! Thank the Bone God for saving our lives!"
Hearing this, Old Man Li burst into tears, flopped to his knees, and shouted along.
"Thank the Goddess for the food! Thank the Bone God for saving our lives!"
When people experience life and death, they do not have time to think too much.
Under extreme terror and shock, the vast majority of people will blindly follow what the leader does.
As Old Man Li knelt, more and more villagers followed suit.
Over the next few days, the outer borders of the Northern Region became thoroughly lively.
Ku Chan led Piao and Su Xue to rapidly expand their business range.
Piao was responsible for acting as a bulldozer, eating her way wherever they went, consuming all the desolation and permafrost.
Su Xue acted as the seeder, planting wherever they went and stimulating massive growth of grain and herbs.
Poison-Wing was responsible for posing in the sky, acting as a shill for Ku Chan, and occasionally releasing some toxin to intimidate any uncooperative troublemakers.
In just a few days, the legend of the "Harvest Goddess" began to circulate through various villages, becoming more and more miraculous with each retelling.
Interestingly, because everyone focused on different things and because the trio occasionally swapped shifts during their collaboration, the legend actually split into two distinct versions.
In the villages near Jiuquan Village, the villagers witnessed Piao’s cold expression as she domineeringly swallowed the desolation of heaven and earth, combined with Poison-Wing’s ferocious appearance.
Thus, the rumors became:
"The Goddess has heterochromatic eyes of black and gold, copper-colored long hair, and a cold, aloof beauty that forbids approach."
"I saw it with my own eyes; the Goddess only needs to chew a few times to swallow the freezing chill of heaven and earth."
"She is too strong. Although the Goddess doesn't like to speak, the food she gives is truly fragrant!"
In other more distant villages, Su Xue was primarily responsible for treating illnesses and distributing grain, while Piao only worked secretly late at night.
Thus, the rumors became:
"Nonsense! The Goddess clearly carries the scent of orchids, has long ears, and possesses a gentle, kind, and peerless appearance!"
"The Goddess is the incarnation of plants; with a mere wave of her hand, she can make grain grow wildly and bring spring to withered trees."
"The Goddess speaks so gently. She even healed my child's leg; she is simply a living bodhisattva!"
Believers of the two versions held firmly to their views. Some villagers even got into brawls on the field ridges over what the Goddess actually looked like, hitting each other with the sweet potatoes they had just been given.
"It's the cold and elegant Goddess with heterochromatic eyes!"
"Bullshit! It's the gentle Goddess with long ears!"
But regardless of the version, they all converged in the end on one point that everyone agreed upon:
The Harvest Goddess was one of the many divine messengers under the Bone God, a goddess in charge of life and harvest.
Facing this divergence in faith, Master Ku Chan fully displayed his high-level professional skills as the God's envoy.
The next day at the preaching assembly, while distributing grain and herbs, Ku Chan sat cross-legged on a high platform, looking at the arguing villagers with a profound and inscrutable expression.
"Amitabha. Benefactors, you are too attached to appearances."
Ku Chan’s voice was ethereal, carrying its own echo.
"The Harvest Goddess under the God possesses boundless power; naturally, she has a thousand dharma images and ten thousand incarnations."
"In the lands of extreme cold, she manifests as the cold beauty with heterochromatic eyes to swallow the frost and protect you from freezing and hunger."
"In times of harvest, she manifests as the gentle one with long ears to stimulate the five grains and nourish your bodies until you are full."
"Cold elegance is mercy; gentleness is also mercy."
"What you are arguing over is but one facet of the Goddess."
This explanation was a perfect logical loop, flawless and unassailable.
The villagers below were instantly enlightened, each showing a look of adoration.
"So that's how it is! The Master is truly a high monk!"
"It was our shallowness. The Goddess is actually so great; she has to change her form back and forth just for us. It must be so exhausting!"
"Gratitude to the Bone God! Gratitude to the Harvest Goddess!"
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