Chapter 671: Divine Bird

Tang Family Ridge was a large village under Tongli Town, Ping'an County. Secluded Prefecture was desolate and borderland, yet the settlements were fairly close-knit. About sixty to seventy percent of the Tang Family Ridge residents surnamed Tang were the original villagers; the rest were descendants of exiles or people from nearby scattered villages who had moved in. Although it lay in a mountain valley, there was plenty of arable land around, so the population kept growing.

Goose-feather snow fell loudly, as if someone had ripped open the sky. So last night the villagers were mentally prepared; after dark they still came out from time to time to clear the roofs, fearing the heavy snow would collapse their houses.

After midnight the snow gradually lightened; just as everyone had relaxed their guard and fallen asleep, the wind suddenly rose.

The wind sounded like wolves howling, echoing through the not-so-tight houses, one gust louder than the next. Then came the sound of snow being blown sideways across the windows and roof, like countless hands slapping the house. The beams and pillars creaked—old wood groaning.

Tang Wu woke with a start, called everyone up, and the family huddled under blankets in the corner of the kang, staring at the beams.

With a crack, a huge bang—the beam of Tang Shan's house next door snapped. Then came a muffled boom; Tang Wu pressed his ear to the window crack, hearing only the wind's howl. He called his adult sons out to check, but the door was blocked solid by snow; pushing from inside, it wouldn't budge.

Faint shouts came from next door on the wind; the children cried out in fright. Tang Wu led the men to pry open the door—they couldn't just wait to die, as his own house also faced collapse.

That night, no one in the village of the mountain valley slept.

As dawn approached, Tang Wu and his three sons finally managed to open the door, climbed onto the snow pile in the yard, and looked out: Tang Shan's house had become a snow mound, only two charred rafters sticking out at an angle, like ominous tombstones.

The old man's face changed drastically; he called his sons to hurry and rescue people.

Even though farm tools were cheap in Secluded Prefecture, having a decent iron implement per household was already good; fortunately the snow had just blown in and wasn't frozen solid, so they could shovel with wooden hoes. At that moment someone from the eastern household also crawled out, saw the scene, and immediately burst into wailing—it was Tang Shan's own younger brother.

With such thick snow, rescue would take time, and the village only knew the condition of a few nearby households. The worst part was that the wind never stopped, and the temperature didn't rise with dawn; the villagers digging snow soon had numb hands. That morning, Tang Family Ridge was shrouded in despair.

The wind wailed in their ears, the whole village seemed like a huge graveyard, and they were merely struggling in vain. Tang Wu was over fifty, an old man who had seen everything, yet he couldn't help shedding a few tears. Just then, a huge black shadow drifted from the north; up close they saw it was a terrifyingly large bird with vast wings.

Sky-Covering Lord was on a transport job today, flying lower than usual. As it passed over the rooftops of those few households at the village head, it finally realized the tiny black dots in the snow were people!

Oh no, it flew past!

It examined each bulge in the snow—hmm, familiar, likely the ruined homes of its own kind, and the location was correct.

Sky-Covering Lord braked sharply and turned back, thinking these things were different from dead enemies; it lowered its altitude and threw the stuff onto an open space—or at least, it wasn't sure if it was open ground, but it delivered them anyway.

Just as it was about to fly off, it saw these 'our people' pitifully gathered around a snow mound, digging while crying, looking miserable. Sky-Covering Lord glanced around, understood. The Great King had said, people were buried underneath.

It flew over the collapsed house and wanted to flap its wings to blow the snow away, but realizing these fragile humans might be blown away too, Sky-Covering Lord lowered again, grabbed them one by one with its claws, and tossed them onto the snow pile!

Tang Wu was old; after finally clearing his own roof, he had just climbed into the neighbor's yard when he was seized and flung out……

The old man lay in the snow, still dazed, when the big bird threw his son over as well, then rose again and flapped its terrifying huge wings~

A tearing sound rang in the wind, and everything turned white. When they opened their eyes again, the collapsed house of Tang Shan was revealed, with dozens of meters of ground exposed!

Divine Bird!

It actually could flap its wings to blow away the accumulated snow!

Tang Wu got up and kowtowed; Sky-Covering Lord glanced at him and said, 'Fine, you lot are still decent to look at.'

Sky-Covering Lord was easy to please; it began wandering the mountain valley, grabbing anyone it saw and lifting them away, flapping its wings wherever there was a bulge.

Right now the Great King was still halfway there, muttering complaints about Sky-Covering Lord.

"At this distance, Sky-Covering Lord should have made ten round trips by now—why hasn't it returned? Could it be refusing to come find me and just gone home?" After all, White Marsh was at home……

Little Gold and the horse couldn't speak, so he could only talk to himself: "No postage paid—could it have run off on a solo job?"

Still uneasy, the Great King pulled a full topographic map of Secluded Prefecture from Little Gold's back, began locating Tang Family Ridge, and upon seeing it felt deeply moved.

"I had originally planned to write this off, but now my conscience aches……"

When the Great King arrived, the village's houses were already exposed; Sky-Covering Lord sat proudly chest-out on the big poplar at the village entrance.

Its gaze seemed to spell out in large letters: 'Praise it, don't stop.'

The Great King's Owl Cavalry wore white belts; the Cloud-Rolling Eagle could take on a hundred foes alone.

He rode around the village and found that the only usable person was Zhang Tonghe, with many wounded. From the faint cries he judged that perhaps some had already perished.

The Great King sighed, didn't ask further, personally set up a cold‑proof tent at Sky-Covering Lord's supply drop point, told the Village Chief he would take in the wounded, and said the physician would arrive shortly.

The Village Chief didn't know the Great King's identity, but this didn't stop him from revering the Great King as a deity, since the divine bird that saved their village was perched beside the Great King—and it looked quite familiar!

The Great King's feeling……was very complicated.

For the first time, he was treated well not because of his own status, but because he basked in Sky-Covering Lord's glory!

When Lingyin and Wei Shen arrived with the Owl Cavalry, three or four tents had already been set up at the village entrance; under nightfall, the Great King, Little Gold, and Sky-Covering Lord crouched there……eating roasted potatoes.

Wei Shen rode over, saying, "How are you already eating? Wait, I recall we didn't bring any potatoes."

"The villagers gave them to us—our supplies aren't unpacked yet!" The Great King had been running around all day and was hungry.

Wei Shen: ……

Indeed. Coming to relieve disaster, they first ate the victims' food?

Wei Taiping could survive anywhere!