Fang Niangzi suddenly opened her eyes, and the biting cold wind mixed with snowflakes slapped against her face.
She was momentarily dazed, then realized she was standing under an ancient locust tree at the entrance of the village.
This familiar century-old locust tree has long since withered and decayed, its gnarled branches covered with a thick layer of snow, resembling a hunched snow sculpture.
The heavy feeling in her arms made her look down. The coarse linen bag was filled with snow-white rice grains, each one plump like a pearl.
"Fang Niangzi!" A hoarse cry came from afar.
An old man staggered over, leaning on a cane. His patched gray cotton robe was covered in snow and mud, and his worn-out cotton shoes dragged deep ruts in the snow. "Grain, so much grain!"
For a moment, Fang Niangzi was dazed. She turned around and was surprised to find dozens of ruts winding along the snowy road behind her. Rows of elm wood carts were parked quietly, each with bulging burlap grain sacks piled on it.
Is all of this Zhou family's grain? She brought so much grain with her?
Wait a minute, when those people came at us with their knives, didn't a blue divine bird suddenly appear? Where is that divine bird?
Fang Niangzi looked left and right but couldn't find any trace of the phoenix, so she felt as if she had just woken up from a dream.
However, when they turned around again, the grain had not disappeared!
“This is…” she said hesitantly.
"Fang Niangzi, have you forgotten? Just now, a divine bird carried you down and brought all this grain with it!"
The old man pointed excitedly to the sky, a few strands of gray hair peeking out from under his tattered cotton hat.
"It must be that our sincerity moved the heavens, which is why they sent us so much food!"
“No, this was given to us by the Mountain Goddess. Everything is thanks to the Mountain Goddess’s protection. This deity is truly powerful!” Fang Niangzi said firmly.
That night, the whole village gathered at the threshing ground. As Fang Fang stood on the stone mill made of bluestone and recounted her experiences, the torchlight flickered on the patched clothes of the villagers.
An old man in a tattered linen shirt sighed, "We've offended the Zhou family like this. What if they come back with a group of vicious servants again?"
The Zhou family has been colluding with the government and is said to be connected with the Mighty Army. They have been ruling the area for some time now. Who can withstand the Zhou family's revenge?
"Don't worry, we have the Mountain Goddess protecting us! They can't harm us!"
Fang Niangzi said with certainty, her figure standing on the stone mill appearing exceptionally tall in the firelight.
"Back then, so many people tried to attack me with knives, but they were all stopped by the golden light. As long as we all believe in the Mountain Goddess, they would never dare to come!"
The group exchanged glances, then all knelt before the wooden carving, their foreheads slamming heavily onto the frozen ground.
"Thank you, Mountain Goddess, for bringing us this food! With this food, plus the relief grain from the government, we will surely be able to get through this winter!"
"We hope the Mountain Goddess will protect us and help us escape the Zhou family's wrath..."
"Is this all there is to it?" the hunched-over village headman asked in a low voice. His brown cotton robe had been washed until it was almost white, and a straw rope was tied around his waist.
"No, that's not enough!" Fang Niangzi glanced at the old, weak, sick, and disabled, her eyes still shining brightly.
"Lord Village Head, we also need to build a temple to the Mountain Goddess so that more people can know the greatness of the Mountain Goddess!"
"Only in this way can we protect more people!"
Fang Niangzi had personally witnessed the Mountain Goddess manifest, and she felt she could do more! Only in this way could she help more people!
"Alright, then let's build a temple!"
The village elder made a decision and gathered the few able-bodied men in the village to begin building the temple. They used bluestone from the mountain to build the walls, used felled pine wood for the beams and pillars, and thatched the roof.
Something amazing happened.
Even though the temple was built in a very simple manner, and even though there was only a statue of a god made of yellow clay inside, the surrounding wind and snow stopped.
The heavy snow and strong winds couldn't get in, bringing peace to this small village.
The villagers instinctively knelt down, their rough hands pressed against the muddy ground, kowtowing again and again, praying to the mountain goddess in their hearts.
Outside the village.
The wicked servants brought by the Zhou family had already arrived here. They were dressed in uniform brown short jackets and had gleaming steel knives at their waists.
However, before they could even enter the village, they were swatted away again by a giant claw.
This time, even the Zhou family patriarch, who was wearing a brocade cotton robe, vomited blood repeatedly and collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.
His mink hat had rolled off his head and was covered in mud on the snow.
"Go! We can't mess with these people!" The Zhou family patriarch was utterly horrified.
He had been chased here long ago, but was trapped for three days, tormented by the ferocious bird lurking in the shadows for three whole days.
The family head was terrified and hurriedly led his men to flee, not even caring about losing their weapons.
"A bunch of cowards, I can subdue you with just one claw!" The Azure Phoenix gloated in the shadows as it landed on an ancient pine tree, its branches laden with thick snow.
"It's just that the Mountain Goddess won't let me speak, otherwise I would definitely be even more handsome!"
The phoenix raised its head high, took out a simple, antique-looking mirror from somewhere, and looked at itself.
The mirror is engraved with exquisite cloud patterns, which shimmer in the snow.
"Handsome, so handsome!"
"How come I'm so handsome!"
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