Chapter 378 Miracle
When the Gu family heard the exclamation, they all turned around with a look of inquiry in their eyes.
A man in a coarse cloth jacket was standing with his hands on his hips, panting, with beads of sweat on his forehead rolling down his cheeks.
"Uncle Ah Gun, what miracle did you just say?" Gu Yuhe squeezed forward, his voice very loud. His expression was full of yearning for gossip.
Ah Gun wiped his face with his hand, pointing to the eastern hilltop, his voice trembling. "Just now, a golden light suddenly erupted from the east, blindingly bright. Then there was a loud boom! The village chief rushed us over to take a look. A hole had opened in the hillside, and inside, a Buddha statue had emerged! There were words engraved on the back of the statue, saying... saying there was going to be a severe drought, and the people were going to suffer!"
Hearing his cry, the villagers nearby all came over.
As soon as these words were spoken, the surroundings suddenly became quiet for a moment, and then even louder discussions broke out.
Is there really such a bizarre thing in this world?
"What exactly is engraved on the Buddha statue?" someone asked, stretching his neck.
The man shook his head, annoyed. "The village chief read it to everyone twice, but I have a bad memory and can't remember it all. But the meaning is correct. It means that there will be a severe drought, and people will suffer. Many people will be displaced and starve to death..."
"Oh, if you want to know, just go and see for yourself. It's at the mountain temple."
When Gu Jiayue heard this, she suddenly remembered Jiang Luli's mysterious look from before.
Is this the method he mentioned?
Most people in Annan believe in Buddhism, and using this kind of "miracle" to spread messages is indeed much more convincing than just empty words.
And even if there is a deviation in the end, everyone will only blame it on their own misunderstanding of the Bodhisattva's meaning, and will never think of anything else.
"Let's go and take a look!" Gu Jiayue pulled Gu Yuchuan's arm and walked towards the east, her steps hurried and her face full of curiosity.
Gu Yuchuan was dragged forward by her, but his mind was in turmoil.
He himself was reborn, so naturally he believed in these weird and supernatural things.
But this "miracle" was too strange and coincidental.
Looking at Gu Jiayue's reaction, he was almost certain that this matter was most likely related to his sister.
He looked up at the sky. The scorching sun was hanging above his head like a fireball, making the ground hot. There was not even a trace of wind in the air.
Indeed, if you count the days, it has not rained for more than a month.
The soil in the ground has cracked into pieces. If this continues, drought is inevitable.
But since you know it, why don't you just tell everyone directly? Why do you have to go through so much trouble?
He suddenly remembered the last flood and mudslide. Aren’t the series of events that happened in the past few days just aftershocks of the flood that Gu Jiayue told everyone about last time?
Perhaps, he was afraid of being suspected again this time.
Gu Yuchuan pondered in his mind, but he did not stop and followed Gu Jiayue up the mountain in the east.
This small hill is not very high. There used to be a mountain god temple on the hill, but it has been in disrepair for many years, and half of the roof has collapsed. The mountain god statue inside has long disappeared, leaving only broken walls and ruins.
But at this moment, a hole was blown out in the middle of the hillside, with a lot of gravel and soil scattered around the edge of the hole. In the center of the hole stood a statue of Bodhisattva, which was covered in mud and its original appearance could not be seen.
But there were indeed a few lines of words engraved on the stone wall behind the Bodhisattva statue, which were exactly the prophecy about drought that the villagers had just mentioned.
The villagers of Taohua Village gathered around the cave, all craning their necks to look inside, chattering among themselves, with different expressions on their faces.
"It seems like something serious is about to happen, otherwise why would the Bodhisattva appear to warn us?"
"That's right, haven't you noticed? It hasn't rained in over a month, the river has become much shallower, and the ridges are so cracked you can put your fingers through them!"
"The few acres of land at home are even worse. My wife and I go to irrigate the land before dawn every day, but the water seeps away immediately, and the soil can't even retain a trace of moisture."
"And that river, which was still mighty a month ago, is now exposed on its banks, and the water level is more than three feet lower than it usually is at this time of year!"
"What should we do? How about we run away?" a young daughter-in-law said timidly, her eyes full of fear.
"Escape? Where to?" someone immediately retorted, their voice tinged with despair. "The Bodhisattva has warned us that this drought will spread across the country. It doesn't matter where we flee to. We might as well stay home. If that happens, we'll die on our home soil, returning to our roots."
Listening to the villagers' discussions, the village chief stood aside with his brows furrowed as if tied in a knot.
His face was very solemn and he didn't say a word for a long time.
He didn't know what to do about this.
In the crowd, Jiang Luli could see everyone's reactions clearly.
Seeing that most people believed this "miracle", the stone in his heart finally fell to the ground, and a barely perceptible relief appeared on his face.
He leaned forward and suggested to the village chief, "Village chief, I think why don't we report this matter to the county magistrate and let him make the decision?"
The village chief suddenly raised his head, his eyes seemed to light up, and then he nodded repeatedly. "Master Jiang, what you say makes sense!"
Yes! Why didn’t I think of that!
I'm just a village chief, how can I take care of this drought?
Leave it to the county magistrate and let him worry about it!
After figuring it out, the village chief seemed to have unloaded a heavy burden. He turned around and ordered a young man behind him: "Hurry up and go to the county government office and tell the county magistrate everything that happened here!"
The young man nodded immediately after hearing this: "Don't worry, Village Chief, I promise to pass on your message!"
"Wait," the village chief called him, thought for a moment and said, "It's too hot. Go to my house and pull out the ox cart. Drive there so you can go faster and avoid getting heatstroke on the road." The sun was very hot, and he was really afraid that the child would faint on the road while walking.
The young man replied "OK" and turned around and ran to the village chief's house.
After the arrangements for reporting to the police were completed, Jiang Luli said, "Village Chief, since the Bodhisattva has warned us, we can't take it lightly. No matter what happens in the end, it's always better to be prepared in advance."
The village chief sighed, his brow furrowed again. "What are we preparing for? Water storage? We've tried before, but the water we stored either turned rancid and green after a while, or simply flowed away through the cracks in the soil. There's simply not enough, and we can't use it."
"Storing water is indeed important," Jiang Luli nodded, his tone becoming serious, "but storing food is even more important. No one knows how long this drought will last. Having food in hand will keep us from panicking."
They didn't lower their voices when they spoke, and the villagers around them could hear them clearly.
Everyone looked at each other, pondered for a while, and all felt that what Jiang Luli said made sense.
The Bodhisattva has given us a warning, we can’t just turn a deaf ear to it, we have to prepare something.
But when we thought about water storage, we became troubled again.
One villager couldn't help but grumble, "That's true, but what's the point if we can't store water? Even if we store a lot of food, we can't survive without water."
Jiang Luli waited until everyone had finished discussing the issue before clearing his throat and raising his voice. "If you, fellow villagers, trust the Bodhisattva's warning, go back and find a place to dig a cellar. Once you're done, come to the academy and tell me. I have a solution for the leaking cellar and the water spoiling."
He paused and added, "Of course, if you don't believe it, or are unwilling to dig, the village chief and I won't force you."
Although the village chief didn't know what Jiang Luli's method was, he knew that he was from Kyoto and must have more experience than the villagers. Maybe he really knew some tricks.
So he also tried to persuade them. "Everyone, go home and think carefully. If you're willing to dig, hurry up and don't waste time. Who knows, there might be even less water in the river tomorrow."
After hearing what the village chief said, the villagers wanted to watch the excitement for a while longer, but they also knew that the matter was urgent, so they walked back in groups of three or four.
On the way, everyone was still discussing whether to dig a cellar.
"Let's dig," a man said. "The weather is so dry that we can't work in the fields. We're just sitting there doing nothing. Even if we can't store water in a cellar, we can at least store some food and sundries."
"I think it's okay." The person next to him agreed. "It's a waste of time to do nothing. It's better to dig than not to dig. What if it really comes in handy?"
"Then let's team up?" someone suggested, "I'll go help you dig tomorrow, and then come back to my house. More people means faster work."
"Okay," the other person responded, "I'll ask my wife to cook more rice tomorrow so that everyone can eat their fill before we start working."
Some people were unhappy, a lazy voice echoed. "What are you digging for? Looking for something to do? Our soil is sandy, and digging won't hold water. It's a waste of effort. We can't work in the fields, so we might as well lie down at home. We can also eat less food, and maybe we can survive a few more days if a drought really comes."
"We don't dig at home either," another person curled his lips. "I've lived in Taohua Village all my life and have never seen anything like this. I think someone is playing a prank."
The person walking ahead heard this, turned around and glared at them, saying, "You can dig if you want! If there's really no water left, don't come to my house and ask for water!"
For a moment, the discussions on the road became louder.
There are disputes and calculations.
There are also people who are in a hurry, and no one knows what they are busy doing.
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