lovenovelstory Chapter 33 Winning People Over with Trust
Chapter 33 Winning People Over with Trust
The porridge in the pot had already thickened, and the aroma of rice filled the air, making one's stomach rumble with anticipation.
Li Sheng walked to the pot, and Liu Wu followed behind him.
The people automatically parted to make way for him, looking at him with eyes full of gratitude.
Li Sheng stood in the middle of the three large cauldrons, turned around, and faced the crowd.
It was already bright outside, but the sun was temporarily obscured by clouds.
Just then, a ray of sunlight pierced through the clouds and shone from the east, falling on Li Sheng.
His leather armor was still stained with dried blood, and his figure was upright, like a war god descending from the sky.
The sunlight gilded his silhouette with a golden sheen.
At that moment, he seemed to be glowing.
The people looked at him with eyes full of piety and awe.
"This... our benefactor is truly extraordinary!"
No one knows who knelt down first, but one after another, all the people knelt down, prostrating themselves on the ground with their foreheads covered in dirt.
"A deity...a deity has descended to earth..."
An elderly man with white hair shakily raised his head, tears streaming down his face.
"In my entire life, I've never met such a kind person... You must be a deity, a god descended to earth to save us from suffering..."
"A god has descended to earth!"
The people shouted all at once, their cries and shouts blending together.
Sunlight bathed Li Sheng, and the people prostrated themselves in worship, chanting prayers.
Li Sheng looked at the foreheads covered in mud and sighed with a sense of doubt.
Such people are truly...
He slowly untied the straps of his leather armor.
"Fellow villagers, please stand up and speak."
As he spoke, he took off his leather armor from his shoulders and placed it at his feet.
The leather armor landed heavily on the ground with a dull thud. Then he began to untie the ropes of his coarse cloth undershirt. The temperature near the stove was still quite high, making him uncomfortable.
He was preparing to distribute porridge to the people.
When the people stood up and looked up to see him taking off his clothes, they were stunned.
Li Sheng ripped his shirt off, revealing his muscular upper body.
On his sun-tanned, tanned skin, old and new scars were intertwined. The most striking feature was a fist-sized scar on his left chest, radiating outwards like a frozen sun.
"With such severe injuries, can a person still survive?"
Everyone was puzzled.
Li Sheng looked at everyone, his tone calm.
"You just called me a god, and my benefactor. But let me tell you, six months ago, I was just an insignificant young man in the surrounding villages, just like you, farming, chopping wood, paying taxes. At night, I would lie in bed and think that if I could have enough to eat the next day, I would feel very content."
He pointed to his chest.
"Let me introduce myself again, please remember this. My surname is Li, my given name is Sheng, and I'm from Dongping Village. Some of you may have heard of that place; it's not very poor, but it's not very wealthy either. Like you, I've experienced hunger and beatings..."
As the people listened, the awe in their eyes gradually turned into astonishment and doubt. How could this man, covered in blood and so imposing, speak like an old farmer?
Li Sheng changed the subject.
"But I've already died once."
The room fell silent.
"The authorities arrested us without explanation and killed many of my brothers. When I woke up, there were three brothers' corpses lying next to me, and my own blood had soaked the ground."
Upon hearing Li Sheng say this, everyone looked surprised and doubtful.
But as they listened to Li Sheng's detailed account, the scene he described seemed to appear before their eyes.
"I died, I really died. After I died, my soul went to the Yellow Heaven and met the Heavenly God of the Central Yellow Heaven. The Heavenly God sat on the ninth heaven, surrounded by light. He looked at me and said, 'The Heavenly Realm is dead. You still have a mission to complete. Go back.' So I was resurrected and returned to the mortal world."
He looked down at the scar on his chest.
"This mark was left after I was injured by soldiers..."
Zhonghuang Taiyi, Taiping Huangtian.
When these eight words reached the ears of the people, their expressions instantly became complicated.
Some people stared wide-eyed, while others trembled and couldn't utter a word.
Finally, a middle-aged man asked in a trembling voice.
"Tai...Taiping Huangtian? Isn't that...Taiping Dao?"
"The Way of Peace...aren't those rebels?"
"Are you...are you in cahoots with those bandits?"
Whispers spread through the crowd, and fear and unease spread rapidly like a plague.
They had just been ravaged by bandits, whose leader claimed to be from the Way of Peace, and even a "Taiping Colonel." So they were instinctively afraid of the words "Way of Peace."
An old man asked in a trembling voice.
"My benefactor...you mean you've returned from the Yellow Heaven?"
"right."
Li Sheng answered affirmatively.
This wasn't the first time he had preached these words to the people; he had said them many times in Dongping Village.
Now, Li Sheng himself feels that he came into this world with a mission.
Then he changed the subject, and his voice suddenly turned cold.
"But what about the bandits who came today? They also waved the banner of the Yellow Heaven, shouting 'The Blue Heaven is dead, the Yellow Heaven shall rise!' What did they do? They robbed your grain, burned your houses, and humiliated your wives and daughters. Why didn't they rob the government offices? Why didn't they attack the powerful and wealthy? Why did they have to come and rob us, the poorest of commoners?"
He spat heavily on the ground.
"That's not heaven, that's a beast!"
The people lowered their heads, ashamed of their earlier doubts and fears, and some even had tears in their eyes.
"Yes, although both our benefactor and the previous bandits believed in the Yellow Heaven, they are completely different!"
At this moment, Li Sheng's gaze swept over everyone, and his voice softened.
"Think about it, everyone, is Heaven still alive? If Heaven is still alive, why do good people die young while bad people enjoy long and prosperous lives? How corrupt has the government become? They don't treat us like human beings. Think about it, in all these years, has the government ever done a single good thing for you? When bandits come, they hide in the city; when powerful people oppress you, they help collect rent; when you can't survive, they call you rioters and arrest and behead you."
Some people lowered their heads, while others gritted their teeth.
"Let me speak frankly from the bottom of my heart: Heaven is long dead. The Heaven that ruled over the people is gone. Now, the sky above our heads belongs to the officials, the powerful, and those who devour people without spitting out their bones; it does not belong to us ordinary people. That is why the Great Teacher Zhang Jiao initiated the uprising in Ji Province, to end the mandate of Heaven for the Han Dynasty and establish a peaceful world under the rule of the Yellow Heaven!"
He paused.
"That's why I led my brothers to train as local militia and prepare weapons, not to fight anyone, but to protect our small plot of land and the lives of our fellow villagers."
The group of local militiamen stood aside. Although it wasn't the first time they had heard it, they still felt a surge of emotion and couldn't help but puff out their chests.
Then Li Sheng's voice turned somber again.
"My brothers and I killed these beasts, and we're safe for now. But this is just the beginning. Do you know? The entire city of Xiapi to the north has been captured by the rebel army, and King Liu Yi of Xiapi has fled. Today these bandits are dead, but what about tomorrow? The day after? Who knows, another wave of bandits might come. Will the government care about you then?"
Li Sheng stopped speaking.
The porridge in the pot bubbled and steamed, its aroma of rice so rich it seemed to waft through the air. The people remained silent; some wiped away tears, while others were lost in thought.
No one answered.
But everyone knows the answer.
The government won't care.