Chapter 33: Bread Falling from the Sky, the Appearance of a God

Capital City

Inside Bai Wan’s laboratory, she sat alone.

Her expression was extremely haggard.

She had already deciphered the modified original code from the game.

But the truth was something she couldn’t accept.

Because that piece of code had altered the entire ecological environment of Great Liang: earthquakes exceeding magnitude eight, mudslides, floods, extreme heat…

A series of disasters, rarely seen in decades, had been placed into an ancient, fictional kingdom.

How could people possibly cope?

Even in the modern era, with its advanced technology, such catastrophes would result in massive casualties.

The source code had been modified for too long. Attempting to change it now risked causing the game to collapse entirely, severing the connection between the ancient and modern worlds forever.

This made Bai Wan anxious.

She thought that if she could make Jiang Qingqing a paying player, perhaps she could travel from Great Liang to the modern world.

The more anxious she became, the more she fumbled.

She altered a series of codes, but then she realized—

Jiang Qingqing didn’t meet the conditions for in-game purchases.

Great Liang had no mobile phones, no accounts, and certainly no RMB for transactions.

Left with no choice, she had to revert the role back.

After much contemplation, Bai Wan dialed Bai Jing’s number.

“Help me arrange a meeting with Fu Zhengnan. I need to see him.”

---

Jiang Qingqing was hiding inside an abandoned shop with Jiang Yu.

She peered outside through a small hole in the window.

The streets were filled with refugees.

They had no shelter and could only pile up bundles of straw to sit on.

Elderly people, young children, pregnant women struggling to move—each occupying a spot, their faces pale and emaciated.

They wanted to die but couldn’t bring themselves to do it.

They wanted to live but didn’t know how to survive.

They just sat there, expressionless, staring blankly in silence.

“Why hasn’t the imperial court opened the granaries to distribute food?”

Jiang Qingqing was confused.

How could such a situation occur in Great Liang?

Among the four kingdoms, Great Liang was the wealthiest nation.

It was impossible for an entire city’s populace to starve to this extent.

Jiang Yu looked at the civilians he had once sworn to protect—now homeless and without food.

Hatred for the Empress Dowager’s faction burned in his heart.

With a harsh tone, he said,

“The Empress Dowager’s faction has always been like this. Ever since they stole the city’s defense maps and sold them to Tianqi, I had no expectations of them.”

“They are nothing but a bunch of selfish traitors.”

Jiang Qingqing didn’t argue. She simply asked, “Are we going to look for the Weizhou magistrate now?”

It was still broad daylight.

Their portraits were plastered all over the city walls, labeling them as wanted criminals.

Yet, Jiang Yu showed no concern.

“Let’s go to the magistrate’s residence and find Xu Jifeng. If we cover our faces well enough, we’ll be fine.”

Seeing Jiang Yu’s confidence, Jiang Qingqing didn’t question him further.

When it came to things she was unfamiliar with, she trusted those who had more experience.

However—

This time, Jiang Qingqing made the wrong bet.

As the two of them walked through the streets with half of their faces covered, the refugees gathered along the roadside all turned their heads in unison.

They stared at them, scrutinizing them from head to toe.

Their gazes were not friendly.

Pairs of bloodshot, gray-yellow eyes locked onto them like starving wolves spotting fresh prey.

It was as if they would pounce at any moment.

Jiang Qingqing felt uneasy.

“Did they recognize us?”

Jiang Yu wasn’t sure. He raised his hand to adjust his face covering.

“I don’t think so. They’re probably just wary of unfamiliar faces.”

Jiang Qingqing nodded and followed his example, pulling her mask up higher, nearly covering her eyes.

But before they had taken more than a few steps—

Suddenly, someone in the crowd of refugees shouted,

“Catch them! They’re fugitives! If we capture them, we’ll get food!”

The starving crowd reacted as if they had just seen their last hope for survival.

In an instant, they rioted, charging toward Jiang Qingqing and Jiang Yu.

“Run!”

Jiang Yu made a snap decision.

Without a second thought, he grabbed Jiang Qingqing’s wrist and dashed toward a narrow alleyway with fewer people.

As they ran, he knocked over water jars and wooden racks along the way, using anything he could to block the mob’s path.

But the refugees kept coming, emerging from every corner.

They were starting to surround them.

As they ran, Jiang Qingqing glanced back at the crazed, starving mob.

She clenched her whip tightly, hesitation in her voice.

“Should I strike them?”

These people had already lost their sanity from hunger.

Jiang Qingqing feared that if even one of them started eating human flesh, the others would follow suit.

Desperate people had no humanity left.

Just like today—

With their faces covered, the refugees couldn’t possibly recognize them as fugitives so quickly.

The relentless pursuit was simply because any potential suspect was included in their hunt. They were too desperate to claim the food reward.

Soon, the alleyways grew narrower.

More and more refugees joined the chase.

Jiang Yu had already drawn his flexible sword, prepared for combat.

But ultimately, these were the very citizens he had risked his life to protect on the battlefield. How could he bring himself to harm them?

Jiang Yu stood in front of Jiang Qingqing, shielding her from the approaching refugees.

The crowd pressed closer, and those at the front even started fighting among themselves over who had the right to claim the reward.

“I was the one who spotted them first!”

“So what if you spotted them? I caught them first! My family of seven relies on that food to survive!”

“I have three young children at home! In times like these, who isn’t suffering?”

“Do you know how long it’s been since I last ate? My family was doing well in Yingzhou, but after the Jiang family’s army was defeated, I can’t even beg for food on the streets anymore!”

“……”

As a princess of the Liang Dynasty, Jiang Qingqing had once been nourished by the wealth of the people.

Hearing the refugees’ words now, she felt a bitter ache in her heart. Their suffering was not their own doing—it was the imperial court’s negligence that had forced these once-prosperous citizens into destitution.

In the end—

Amidst the chaos, even several seven- or eight-year-old children had joined the fight.

They didn’t even understand the full situation. They simply believed that as long as they won, they would get food.

But how could their small bodies stand a chance against grown men?

Within moments, they were thrown to the ground, coughing up blood.

“Enough!”

Jiang Qingqing pushed aside Jiang Yu, who was shielding her, and stepped forward.

Inside her sleeve, she gripped the newly crafted jade token that she had requested from Fu Zhengnan just a few days ago.

It was made of the finest mutton-fat jade, meticulously carved to match the design she had drawn herself. The openwork engraving displayed an ancient, elegant pattern, faintly revealing the shape of a dragon.

It was the Dragon Seal, the symbol of the Liang Dynasty’s crown prince.

Jiang Qingqing wanted to reveal her identity—to make them stop and give her two days. In that time, she would find a way to convince the court to open the granaries and distribute food.

Just as she was about to speak—

Countless small bags of bread rained down from the sky, landing among the crowd, falling onto the children who had been beaten to the ground.

An endless supply.

Someone curiously tore open the packaging.

The sweet aroma spread through the air, causing the starving refugees’ eyes to turn red with hunger.

Fortunately, there was enough bread. Although it was barely enough, each person present managed to grab two or three bags.

Everyone bent down to pick up the food—

Everyone except Jiang Qingqing and Jiang Yu, who stood in the center.

Jiang Qingqing looked up.

As she watched the countless bags of bread descend from the sky, she felt a momentary daze.

Was it the divine being?

Had it come to help her again…?