Chapter 167: God’s Favor (16)

Chapter 167: Divine Patronage (Part Sixteen)

Reclaimed...

The word carried a profoundly unsettling connotation, as if, in the eyes of the NPC, the child found by He Yanhui was not a human being but rather an object of some kind.

"What do you mean by 'reclaimed'?"

The NPC elucidated, "Children are gifts bestowed upon us by the compassionate deity. However, the deity is preoccupied, entrusting the task of gift selection to the divine servants. Occasionally, they make errors in their duties, gifting us with individuals who were not meant to be bestowed. In such instances, they are responsible for reclaiming these unintended gifts."

He Yanhui couldn't help but furrow her brows, finding something inherently horrifying in his explanation.

As the infant continued to cry, the players refrained from pressing further, realizing the priority was to locate the child's parents.

Initially, He Yanhui and her companions believed that finding the child's parents would be a straightforward task.

Qiming City was a place governed by faith alone, with divine servants taking on administrative roles. It seemed logical that they would maintain records of residents' relocations, marriages, and births.

However, to the players' surprise, although they found a "record book" within the Divine Residence Tower, it contained strings of incomprehensible numbers.

"What do these numbers signify?" Everyone was at a loss.

It was Zhong Daoan who chanced upon them and cast a casual glance over the information as he passed by.

"It seems to be a tally of the population."

The players quickly bowed their heads in scrutiny, unable to fathom how he discerned that. In the meantime, Zhang Dao'an had already vanished, leaving only his whispered words hanging in the air.

"Nevermind, since we cannot find the information we need inside the Divine Residence Tower, we might as well ask the nearby residents directly," one of them suggested.

Saying this, He Yanhui once again led the group of players, carrying the child, back to where they found him.

This place was near the city walls, quite isolated. While the entire Qiming City appeared impoverished, this vicinity seemed to be the most destitute area.

Upon arrival, the players easily gleaned information about the child's family situation from the locals.

Originally, a couple resided in the house, both of whom were impoverished. The husband was habitually drunk and abusive, having blinded his wife in one incident. One night, intoxicated, he accidentally fell and fatally injured the back of his head. The visually impaired woman found it challenging to care for the child, and just then, the divine servants brought good news of a new marriage prospect.

Following the "Guidance of the Gods," she left her child behind to marry her new spouse.

Mentioning the woman to the divine servants, the neighbors expressed a surprising degree of envy.

"The Gods acknowledged her difficult life and blessed her with a new marriage. Her current husband resides near the Divine Residence Tower and is a renowned wealthy man."

He Yanhui and the others exchanged bewildered glances, finding the whole situation utterly absurd.

"Shall we go back and find that pitiable woman again?"

"Let's go."

Without hesitation, the group retraced their steps hastily.

It was now noon, a time for meals. Following the clues provided by the neighbors, they quickly located the "enviable" blind woman.

As the aroma of food wafted from every household, the blind woman sat at her doorstep, emaciated and almost skeletal, busily mending clothes by feel.

Despite being termed a famous rich man, her new husband's standard of living wasn't considerably higher than the average residents of Qiming City, who all seemed to live in penury.

However, despite the poverty, the blind woman's face seemed to radiate a sort of happiness.

When He Yanhui and her group approached and identified themselves, the blind woman hurriedly rose to her feet.

"Honored ones blessed by the Gods."

The child in He Yanhui's arms recognized his mother's presence, reaching out earnestly with tiny arms while babbling unintelligibly.

Although the blind woman recognized her child's voice, she chose to ignore it.

He Yanhui held the squirming child, who stretched his arms towards his biological mother, a sight that instilled an uneasy feeling among the onlookers.

"This is your child, can you really abandon him just like that?"

The blind woman paused, momentarily stunned.

"Honored ones, it is the guidance bestowed upon me by the Gods," she explained. "The gift the Gods granted me is not suitable for me; They will bestow upon me a new gift soon."

"Children are not gifts!" He Yanhui exclaimed, somewhat angered.

Children are human beings, not objects to be recycled and bestowed anew. Have these locals gone mad in their devotion to the deity?

A player beside her gently tugged at her sleeve, seeming to have grasped something.

The blind woman stood there somewhat at a loss, confused by He Yanhui's remark.

At that moment, the sound alerted her newly wedded husband, who stepped out from the house.

Seeing the players, the man hurriedly approached them, a smile forming on his face.

"Honored ones by the Deity."

He appeared quite young, seemingly only just having reached adulthood, a few years younger than the blind woman, and quite handsome. Standing together, the couple seemed oddly mismatched.

The player next to He Yanhui exchanged friendly words with him, then led her away from the residence.

"Xiaohui, something is not right."

Once they reached a secluded area, they huddled together. One of He Yanhui's companions immediately began, "We discussed it earlier, right? For some reason, there are no elderly people in the city, and they don't understand the concept of 'elderly'. Today, as I was walking, I noticed... every household has a child, but not a single one is pregnant, and each family only has one child."

He Yanhui paused, taken aback.

The companion hesitated before continuing, "So I suspect... could their 'gift bestowed by the deity' actually mean 'bestowed as a gift'? That the children are not born from their mothers' wombs?"

In fact, from the first day they began searching for the deity's children, everyone had felt that something was slightly off.

This act of seeking out the deity's children and taking them away might cause the children's parents distress, considering these are their offspring, after all.

But to everyone's surprise, upon finding the deity's children and declaring them as such, the parents joyously handed them over to the players.

Why? If the children truly were "gifts bestowed by the deity", then what did this recycling entail?

With these doubts lingering, they could only bring the children back to the deity's dwelling.

It was lunchtime, and the other players were dining.

The atmosphere amongst the players had considerably changed from before. Everyone was praising the deity while enjoying their meal.

In the morning, they had assisted many residents of Qiming City, receiving their gratitude and ample divine power in return, which seemed to strengthen their connection with the deity.

Holding the unfamiliar child in her arms, He Yanhui couldn't shake off her maternal instincts which made her somewhat repelled by this scene.

A scene that, though seemingly blissful on the surface, appeared to conceal countless chilling "truths".

After a spell of crying, the child in her arms grew weary and fell asleep nestled against her.

Holding the small child, He Yanhui's expression portrayed a hint of bewilderment.

She felt as if she had been split in two. One part ceaselessly recounted to her how wonderful the deity was, granting her a beautiful dream where she could see her child again, basking in brief moments of happiness. Following that, the deity bestowed upon her numerous skills and items, bolstering her confidence to survive in this game, promising a chance to return to the real world eventually.

However, the hefty child in her arms seems to embody... something is off with this deity.

She felt she shouldn't question the god, but were the citizens of Qiming City truly happy?

Zhang Daoan glanced at her.

Xie Fangcheng sat beside him, harboring a bellyful of doubts.

When Zhang Daoan mentioned "wait", Xie Fangcheng initially thought this "wait" was just an adjective, that they would do something while waiting.

But nothing happened.

In the morning, Xie Fangcheng realized his dream, he lay on the bed like a salted fish all morning, Zhang Daoan even managed, by unknown means, to borrow a computer for him to play Minesweeper from a member of the Grim Reaper Guild, also leaving him a pile of snacks like chips and cola, letting him first experience the joy of being a shut-in in the dungeon.

However, doubts aside, Xie Fangcheng remembered Zhang Daoan's words that this dungeon was probably under Ji Chaoyang's surveillance.

So, Manager Xie stifled his doubts, only drawing closer to Zhang Daoan.

"Hey hey, do you want to come to my room again tonight?"

From the corner of his eye, Zhang Daoan saw Qi Chanyang's hand, which was scooping up rice, suddenly stop.

He smiled, "Sure."

Xie Fangcheng scratched his head.

Since all the God's servants had died, at Zhang Daoan's suggestion, everyone recruited a lot of resident NPCs to handle the tasks previously handled by the servants, such as cooking and cleaning.

Moreover, Zhang Daoan spoke with great compassion.

"If we are to recruit, let's recruit those with tougher lives. After their work is done, we can reward them, enhancing their living conditions."

The NPCs were very obedient, working diligently, and the players offered them satisfying rewards.

Anyway, what wasn't abundant in the God Residence Tower was indeed money.

From the outside, this tower didn't seem too extravagant, only appearing very sanctified. Once inside, one would find it incredibly opulent.

The floor was silver, seemingly made of silver. Large gems were embedded in the walls, the hanging chandeliers were intricately crafted, even the candlesticks were more exquisite than those in the temple.

The warehouse was perennially full, and the God's servants were quite diligent, replenishing fresh ingredients every three days while discarding the old batch.

Now that all the God's servants were dead, under Zhang Daoan's initiative, the food in the warehouse wasn't wasted as before, but given to the NPCs who helped out.

The NPCs seemed tearfully grateful, many holding the food wanting to kneel down to the players.

This kind of gratitude was very rewarding for many players.

"This dungeon is really too good!" exclaimed a player, "Qiming City is truly a paradise on earth!"

Hearing this, Zhong Dao'an could only muster a sardonic smile.

It seemed that Qi Chanyang was gradually understanding the true purpose behind his actions.

Is Qiming City really a paradise isolated from the outside world?

With the majority of the city’s populace teetering on the brink of starvation, the occupants of the God's Residence Tower, built on the sweat and blood of the citizens, had no right to declare this place a haven, did they?

In the past, the divine servants prohibited the city dwellers from entering the God's Residence Tower, even lingering near it was not allowed. But now, the relief station set up in front of the tower was recruiting NPCs to work directly within, offering all city residents a chance to glimpse inside the tower.

As the city’s inhabitants gradually realized the massive disparity between their lives and those of the "divinely favored" residing in the tower... would they continue to willingly support this so-called benevolent deity?