Chapter 11: Chapter 71: God of Heaven Interferes in Mortal Matters
Mount Taicang, the Crown Prince Summit.
It was at the time of the day when visitors could no longer linger, and were asked to leave the Huang Ji Pavilion in droves. Sounds of chanting sutras came in waves from within the Xian Le Pavilion, and some thousands of cultivators were conducting their evening rituals with the four Guoshis leading the service beneath the feet of that five meters high golden divine statue.
Within the Temple of the Crown Prince, on either sides of the walls were innumerous everlasting lamps in rows that hung from the ground to the ceiling. Xie Lian descended from the sky, lightly landing on the altar, and seated himself in position right before his own statue.
He waved a hand. A light breeze blew from nowhere, and the countless lamps spun gently. With the swaying light, many of the cultivators looked up, voicing their awe, whispering among themselves. The Guoshi who was composedly seated with his eyes closed suddenly blinked them open and said, "That'll be it for today. You are all dismissed."
The cultivators rose to their feet and left. The other three Deputy Guoshis couldn't see Xie Lian's form but could also guess that something had descended, so they also departed the hall, closing the doors behind them. Once those tall doors were shut, Xie Lian immediately spoke, unable to wait another second, "Guoshi, did you know about the drought in Yong'an? There's been no word from father, did something happen at court? Or is it that he's unaware of what's happening?"
Heavenly officials were not allowed to secretly show themselves before mortals but there were exceptional cases, such as Guoshis, religious ministers or such high level cultivators. Those who had cultivated to certain levels were representatives of heavenly officials in the mortal realm, thus, Xie Lian could speak directly to the Guoshi. The "no prostrating within the Temple of the Crown Prince" rule was thus dictated through the mouth of the Guoshi from Xie Lian.
He had originally thought there were some exceptional circumstances that made the king unable to free himself to handle the disaster at Yong'an, or, the king had no idea that the situation had worsened to the point of massive deaths. Unexpectedly, however, the Guoshi replied, "His majesty the king is doing well, nothing major has happened, and knows very well of what's happening in Yong'an."
Xie Lian was taken aback, "Then how come every time when Father visited the Huang Ji Pavilion I've never heard him pray for Yong'an once? Not even a word?"
Even if he didn't get along well with his father, he also knew that the king was not a fatuous leader. He may have seen himself high above others as the son of god, and highly regarded hierarchy, but that didn't mean he wouldn't care for refugees. The Guoshi replied, "This has nothing to do with his majesty. It was I who advised him to not have him or the queen mention Yong'an in their prayers."
"..."
"Why?" Xie Lian demanded.
"Because it's pointless." The Guoshi replied.
Xie Lian was shocked, "What do you mean by 'pointless'?"
A moment later his mind worked it out, "Are you saying that because I'm a martial god with no control over droughts, telling me would be pointless? Did you forget that I may be a martial god, but I'm also the Crown Prince of Xian Le? My people are in trouble, how can I sit back and do nothing?" After a pause he continued, "The most important thing right now is to save the disaster victims and take care of them. Please speak to my father on my behalf to stop constructing any more temples; there's already too many Temple of the Crown Prince in this kingdom, I don't need them. And those golden statues – they could be melted down to help fundraise for the disaster. Yong'an sits in the west, and they need water. We can dig a canal, irrigate the waters from the east, water the crops and nourish the land..."
As he spoke, the Guoshi only shook his head, muttering, "Too early. Too early."
Xie Lian didn't understand, "What's too early?"
"Do you understand now why I said you shouldn't ascend too early?" The Guoshi said, "It's because your people haven't died out completely yet."
"..." Xie Lian's eyes widened, and shouted in outrage, "Guoshi! WHAT... WHAT ARE YOU SAYING? WHAT DO YOU... WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY PEOPLE HAVEN'T DIED OUT COMPLETELY YET??!"
"You've already become a god, but you couldn't forget who you were as a mortal, unable to let go and differentiate between the two realms." The Guoshi replied, "You're involving yourself but you are also powerless, and in the end it will only result in an utter mess."
Xie Lian was seated upon the altar and the Guoshi stood below; even though it was obvious Xie Lian's the one looking down, but when the Guoshi spoke, it was like he was the one above.
"How can I be powerless? As long as I act, there will be results. Every small bit counts, even if I could save but one, it's still better than none. If you won't speak for me to my father then I will go seek him out myself." Xie Lian said.
Xie Lian jumped to his feet but the Guoshi grabbed at the corner of his sleeve, yelling, "COME BACK! Do you know why heavenly officials can't show themselves before mortals at will? There's a reason behind that thousand-year rule, don't do anything foolish!"
Xie Lian whipped his head around, "THEN WHAT CAN I DO? I CAN'T DO THIS, I CAN'T DO THAT; Guoshi, THERE ARE PEOPLE DYING RIGHT NOW IN MY LAND! AREN'T GODS CALLED GODS BECAUSE THEY CAN SAVE THE PEOPLE? IF I DON'T APPEAR NOW THEN WHEN CAN I APPEAR?? WHAT WOULD BE THE MEANING OF MY ASCENSION THEN??!!"
The Guoshi held him down, sighing, "Your Highness, sigh, Your Highness. Do you know what I've seen?"
Xie Lian huffed and forced himself to calm down before sitting again, "Please enlighten me."
The Guoshi stared at him, "I've seen your future, and it's pitch black."
Xie Lian looked him straight in the eyes and said, "You must've seen wrong. I only like to wear white."
"I worry that not only would you be unable to save your people, they will turn around and drag you down from the divine altar." The Guoshi said.
"My people aren't like that, they can clearly recognize what's right and wrong. If I can't save them, then there'd be no meaning to me being on this altar anyway." Xie Lian replied.
A moment later, the Guoshi sighed, "What your father has done can't be said to be right, but it can't be said to be wrong either. You said to fundraise, but it's not like your father hadn't tried, and you can go see how that ended. You said to dig a canal to irrigate the waters, then go see that river for yourself whether if it could be done."
Xie Lian inclined his head, "I understand. Thank you, Guoshi."
Upon leaving Mount Taicang, he headed westward and arrived at the city of Yong'an of the Kingdom of Xian Le.
In the twenty years of his life, Xie Lian had never thought the sun to be so scorchingly deadly. The first step he made upon that earth, he could already feel how wretchedly hot and dry it was, like everything in the air had been contorted. With the blazing sun above, the land had already cracked into broken chunks of earth, horrifyingly aged. There was a deep gutter that seemed to have been a river once, but it was already dried up to the bottom, and the blackened riverbed was emitting a strange stench. He walked for a long time and didn't see a single field. Maybe there were fields once, but they must be unrecognizable at this point.
Xie Lian looked around as he walked, that dry and hot breeze blowing his long hair into a mess, but he was too occupied to mind it. Just then, someone suddenly called for him from behind, "Your Highness!"
Xie Lian turned his head and saw two silhouettes in black approaching in a rush. It was Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Xie Lian cut straight to the heart of the subject, "Any news?"
Feng Xin flapped his shirt to fan himself, "Yes. In the past two years the entire western territory experienced a water shortage, and it finally erupted this year. Yong'an is the worst affected: the river's dried, the rain doesn't come, so the crops won't grow. The wealthier families are still faring alright; as long as there's money then food and water can be bought from elsewhere. However, most of the wealthy have already moved to the eastern territories. Those who are left are either poor or handicapped."
Xie Lian knitted his brows, "The Guoshi said my father didn't just sit back and also fundraised, so why is it still so serious?"
Mu Qing said coldly, "When funds go through government checkpoints, each checkpoint will strip an amount until finally there's nothing left. Of course it's still this serious. If it were up to me, it'd be better not to have sent anything rather than feed those parasites."
Xie Lian held his breath, forcing his anger down, "I will tell those parasites to throw every single cent they've eaten back up."
However, Mu Qing reminded him, "Your Highness, did you forget? This is not within your control. Heavenly officials can't interfere in mortal matters. Three meters of ice weren't formed by one day of cold; his majesty the king is the one responsible for the mortal realm, this is his duty, and he still couldn't deal with it. You've got your hands full of countless prayers from your devotees, so how can you handle that too? Mind this, mind that, in the end you'll only bring trouble unto yourself. Besides, that only cures the symptoms, not the root cause."
Feng Xin blocked out the sun with his hand, "To cure the root cause there still needs to be water. How about, Your Highness ask the Guoshi to tell his majesty to irrigate the waters from the east to the west for now?"
Xie Lian shook his head, "I suggested that to the Guoshi already."
"What did the Guoshi say?" Feng Xin asked.
"..." Xie Lian swallowed, "More or less that it's not feasible. But now I've realized it really can't be done. To irrigate we'll need to bore the river. However, something like boring for a canal requires mass conscription; who knows how many years that'd take, and it'd only exhaust the people and the treasury. It won't do."
Feng Xin nodded, "True enough. Distant waters can't put out nearby fires."
Xie Lian hummed, "But, if this can't be solved by mortal means, maybe we can try divine methods. I heard the Rain Master has changed in recent years. The new ascended Rain Master seemed to be a reclusive person, but I'll see if I can pay a visit and request for moving waters in the east westward in the form of rain."
Ever since Xie Lian ascended, other than greeting Jun Wu, he had never personally paid any visits to any other heavenly officials, and never tried to purposely befriend anyone, treating all as equals within the spiritual communication array. Him taking the initiative to pay visits was thus a rare occasion. Mu Qing, however, objected, "No."
Xie Lian turned his head, "Why not?"
"Your Highness, I've investigated thoroughly. In truth, these past two years, it's not just Yong'an or the western territories that were experiencing a shortage of water, but the entire Kingdom of Xian Le. Only, the eastern territories are close to the sea, have surrounding lakes and ravines, so it's not as obvious, and hasn't become an issue yet. But overall, the amount of water and rain have significantly decreased compared to before."
Xie Lian's eyes widened as Mu Qing continued, "If we really dug a canal or used rain to move waters from the east to the west, then it may temporarily relieve Yong'an but it won't save it completely. It would only be helping them hang on to a thread. At the same time, the eastern territories can very well fall into disaster."
Xie Lian's heart squeezed, "And most of the population of Xian Le along with the busiest places are all in the east, more than three times the size of the west, especially the royal capital. If drought was to happen there..."
Feng Xin immediately understood too, "The consequences would be way more serious than Yong'an. A greater number would die!"
Mu Qing nodded, his expression solemn, "There'd be a much bigger riot born from it."
Xie Lian took a deep breath, "So, is that what Guoshi meant when he said what father did wasn't right but wasn't wrong either? Only that he made a choice."
"So, Your Highness, that no one went to your temple to pray was a good thing." Mu Qing said. "Leave it to his majesty to decide what to do."
Xie Lian didn't respond and turned around.
The entire time they walked, everyone he saw were skin and bones, men and children had their upper bodies bare, rows of ribs visible and clear on their torsos, and the women bore dead eyes, their faces bereft of life. No one wanted to move; they didn't have the energy to move, and everything emitted the disgusting stench of death, making one want to scream and escape this decaying earth and return to the glory of the bustling royal capital.
It was a long time before he finally said, "You two stay here and assist me, deliver as much water as you can. Let me think on this."
"Fine. Go and think carefully." Feng Xin said, "Just let me know what to do once you've decided."
Xie Lian patted his shoulder, then turned to leave. Behind him, Mu Qing said quietly, "Your Highness, do think about this carefully. We can help ten days, maybe twenty, but not one or two years. We can save one hundred lives but not a hundred thousand. You're a martial god after all, not the god of water. Even if you were the god of water you can't create water from nothing. If we can't fix the root of this problem, we can't keep going like this. We are not strong enough."
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