Chapter 10
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 10
Chapter Title: Offering Table Freeloader (3)
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All the villagers who could be said to hold any real decision-making power had gathered. For the record, that power was limited to decisions over their own families.
Naturally, the people assembled were all the village elders who lorded over their respective clans.
But in a rural hamlet of just twenty-odd houses, crammed together with barely a hundred and fifty souls in total, how impressive could these so-called powerhouses really be?
In the countryside, the basic rule was to share and reuse everything you needed. Still, these elders took nominal ownership of such resources and put on airs about it—that was their pastime and their version of authority. But that only worked in times of plenty.
Especially now, with the village teetering on the brink of collapse, there was no point clinging to old grudges. No one needed to put up with the elders' pretensions just to stay and scrape by.
This led to a situation where no one had to show deference anymore. For the first time in nearly half a century, the village was as equal as it had ever been.
Ah, the fleeting nature of power. It wasn't just for kings, nobles, and generals—it was a lesson even lowly villagers could grasp.
In any case, the few spots in a village like this suitable for a group discussion were limited: the Shrine Maiden's house, the laundry spot, or the clearing beneath the sacred village tree for offerings.
Truth be told, the area under the sacred tree wasn't so much an offering site as a communal space for the village. They dried crops there, held feasts, let the kids run wild, and all sorts of other things—a true eco-friendly multipurpose spot, constantly repurposed.
But that benevolent spirit was currently monopolizing the eco-friendly shared facility to enjoy the offerings.
The next best option, the laundry spot, was where the village women usually held their constructive meetings. There were plenty of seats, but it felt too mundane for the elders to decide the village's fate. So, they gathered in the Shrine Maiden's courtyard, just like old times.
The first to speak up was old man Wang from the Wang family—the one who'd once owned the village's only cow.
Past tense, because long ago, one of his daughters had married into a well-off family as their youngest daughter-in-law, and the dowry gift was that very cow. It had been over twenty years since she left, so the village no longer had that lone bovine.
How many households were in his family? How much had he bragged about occasionally lending out that cow? How nitpicky he'd been about fieldwork, nagging everyone...
No need to dwell on old man Wang's petty flaws.
At any rate, the much-flawed elder Wang was the first to open his mouth.
"Jina, girl. So, what exactly did the Divine Spirit say? Spit it out straight for once!"
Unlike usual, Wang Elder took the lead, and the sharp-eyed villagers chimed in agreement, all eyes fixed on the new Shrine Maiden. Jang Jina responded calmly with the plain facts as she knew them.
"The shrine service is simply a rite to serve the Divine Spirit. As for the requests I made afterward, the Spirit gave no response whatsoever—which I take to mean refusal."
Jina had more to say, but she could tell the elders had plenty of their own words bubbling up, so she waited patiently for them to vent first.
"We've been offering up that table not just this once, but every New Year, every full moon—pouring our hearts into those rituals. And this is how it ends?"
"Exactly. With all these ominous events piling up in the village already, if the Spirit won't help us, will the heavens step in? Especially once word reaches the lord of the land—we'll be left with nothing but scorched earth."
Even as the elders grumbled and aired their complaints, they subtly kept glancing at the Shrine Maiden. Only when they'd all fallen silent did Jina speak again.
"Though unworthy, I've divined the Divine Spirit's will as best I can. It seems the Spirit hopes we'll avoid needless calamity by leaving this ill-fated village land and seeking refuge elsewhere."
On this point, every elder thought the inevitable had finally arrived. Abandoning the village was easy to say, but for farmers, it meant at least half would die on the road before settling anywhere new. No one wanted to be the first to voice it.
If someone rashly pushed for it, whose karma would it be for all those who perished along the way?
Families with few ties here or recent arrivals had already packed up and fled to other villages among themselves.
Those with deep roots and households to feed—they were the ones who couldn't let go of that final thread, weighing their options over and over.
A few more words were exchanged after that, but in the end, the elders' discussion turned to where and how they would leave. Departing the village was now a foregone conclusion.
At that moment, Yuyeon had at least filled her empty stomach.
Having spent eight years in this world blending Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism, Yuyeon naturally had a sense of propriety and conscience—she'd had no intention of touching the food.
But once they cleared out, everyone returned home without so much as glancing toward the sacred tree's offering table, lest they disturb the Divine Spirit partaking of the tribute.
Yuyeon immediately recalled the lessons from her eight years of freeloading life.
In this world, all principles and the Dao flowed from above to below: what the higher one ate and left behind belonged to those below.
Conversely, the underlings could only scavenge comfortably after the superiors had eaten. So, even if she truly didn't want to, Yuyeon always made sure to take at least one snack from the dish each time.
This followed the same logic, so Yuyeon anxiously polished off every dish evenly, lest some go untouched by the villagers. She even deliberately left traces of her indulgence.
She'd always seen herself as a heroic man of noble spirit, after all, and believed one should eat boldly.
Bold didn't necessarily mean making a show of taking all the side dishes, but with this tiny body and mouth, how much could she really devour anyway?
Truth be told, her appetite wasn't even stirring much, so she just picked at the food. She wanted to be magnanimous, but she ended up eating daintily like a proper lady. It was then that Yuyeon finally empathized with why girls nibbled at the table.
Her ingrained etiquette also meant she hated dirtying the table, so she always ate neatly—unintentionally prettily, even.
But today, she finally fulfilled that grand purpose. Looking at the evidence of her feast, Yuyeon felt a quiet swell of pride.
Yuyeon didn't realize it, but by loving herself this way, she was acting every bit the clever young lady for whom being loved was her natural role and essence. It just had nothing to do with cultivation, so she gained no insight from it.
With her belly full, Yuyeon quickly slipped away. But leaving the offerings like this would force the villagers—discovering them much later—to divide up the stale food.
The thought made her feel a twinge of unease. After a moment's hesitation, she figured since they already mistook her for the Divine Spirit, she could drop a blatant hint. She couldn't solve their dilemmas, but at least she could let them eat their fill.
Suddenly, it felt like she was the generous young master treating everyone to a lavish spread—neither grown nor cooked by her own hands. Her Dao Heart felt firmer already.
Her Dao Heart didn't actually solidify, but Yuyeon circulated her spiritual energy, expelling it from her chamber. She'd formed formations with spiritual energy before, but harmonizing it outward like this was new—a good chance to practice, she thought.
The spiritual energy flowed out, aligning with her intent. It blended wood and fire from the five elements, mutually nurturing until it softened into a gentle breeze that rippled softly across the entire village.
People wondered at first when their door latches rattled as if touched, but soon grew frightened at the lack of shadows beyond. No eerie aura came from outside, though, and the sun still hung in the sky, so they ventured out and looked toward the sacred tree.
Everyone realized the Divine Spirit had dined and left the rest for them. Deep down, they hoped it was because the Spirit was full.
Even among the lowly, there was hierarchy. Though excluded from the elders' meeting, one middle-aged man—respectable in his own right—picked up a piece from the noticeably depleted braised meat dish first.
He'd heard that food offered to spirits tasted like nothing or crunched like sand. But this was chilled yet flavorful, unmistakably proper sustenance.
"Everyone, come here. This is definitely what the Divine Spirit left for us."
Only then did the hesitant crowd swarm, scooping and sharing the food.
Watching from a hidden vantage point, Yuyeon confirmed it: her Dao Heart did feel a bit more condensed, truly.
Someone had watched the whole affair from afar earlier—and luckily for him, he was well away from Yuyeon.
From a shady spot midway up the mountain, he overlooked the village. The commotion by the great tree drew him out to investigate.
At first, he didn't grasp what the humans were doing, but he pieced it together from the ravings of one deranged woman screaming loudly.
"Divine Spirit!"
Well-traveled young master that he was, he'd once scorned a shaman and knew exactly what this was.
A true shaman performing a shrine service was a rare prize.
A real shaman in this backwater? He was mildly surprised. That would have made subduing the village far harder.
A quick reflection brought to mind the old woman he'd killed recently—she must have been the true shaman.
Which made this woman likely her disciple at best, and he doubted she'd properly inherited the role.
Naturally, he expected the service to fail, smoothing his cleanup.
He watched to confirm if the true service had succeeded, growing puzzled. His spiritual vision showed nothing, yet the people bowed to empty air and dispersed.
If it had worked, the shrine's spirit should have descended—he saw no such thing.
'The service failed. But it's not a total loss.'
Still, they'd gotten some response to cause such a fuss. Perhaps a revelation through the fake Shrine Maiden. If so, things could get messy.
Especially if the villagers fled the "livestock pen" on their own or mounted some resistance.
'Can't be sure yet. Better report to the master and await new orders.'
The sinister presence vanished into the mountains.