"..."

"It's all set!"

Bo Luopi nodded forcefully and said, "The No-eating Bull Gua Character Sect disciples are skilled in shadow puppetry."

"The Ping Character Sect disciples are best at fanning the flames!"

"When do we start?"

"..."

Brother Laozao stood up and picked up a bowl of porridge, slurped it with a sound, wiped his mouth, and looked back at the surplus army with a slightly somber face. Around them were flickering flames and sounds of cheerful encouragement. To them, a porridge of this flavor was as if celebrating the New Year.

He slowly put down the bowl of porridge and said, "We'll start as soon as they fall asleep."

Once a belly that hasn't had a full meal in ages is filled, it starts to feel sleepy, especially since this was a rare hearty meal in many days, with oil in the porridge, and it had some strength."

Moreover, the entire surplus army had a sense of desperate revelry as if the end of days was near. So after drinking their fill, they cheered and laughed, their heads dizzy, and one by one, they fell asleep.

Since they gathered, they first followed the ways of the regular army, with guards and night patrols.

Now, they didn't care at all.

Only piles of firewood burned quietly in various places.

And the No-eating Bull Gua Character Sect disciples carried large boxes up the small hill, lit the bonfire, set up frames, and took out sets of shadow puppets, arranging the shows according to Brother Laozao's prior instructions.

The show was titled: Prince Changping's Insanity, Black Magic Chen Manipulating Corpses for Grain.

"Brother Laozao, I wrote the play myself. It'll surely incite hatred, but how do we project it into dreams, do you have a plan?"

In the Path, there are many methods for dream projection.

But this time, they needed to project dreams for the people of the Four Prefectures and Seven States, so they had to think carefully about the method.

Brother Laozao said, "I know a few methods, but I'm afraid they're not vivid or grand enough."

"Since you're asking, do you have a method?"

"..."

Bo Luopi laughed heartily and ordered the servant beside him to fetch a long box. After opening it, they saw nine glazed lamps of varying sizes but all equally exquisite. He laughed and said, "These nine lamps are my treasured creations."

"They're specifically for dream projection, guaranteeing lifelike clarity, just like in the human world."

"..."

"Such good stuff..."

Brother Laozao, a connoisseur, just by looking at them, knew they were excellent. Hearing their function, he found it intriguing and said, "If these lamps are only for projection and can't harm, what's their use? How did you come up with this Qi Men gadget?"

Bo Luopi chuckled and said, "To tell you the truth, I used to stick images of palace-dressed beauties on these lamps."

Brother Laozao didn't quite catch on: "Hmm?"

Bo Luopi whispered, "And all of them were nude palace-dressed beauties."

Brother Laozao was taken aback for a moment and said, "If they're nude, how do I know they're palace-dressed beauties?"

Bo Luopi said, "Because of their headdresses..."

Brother Laozao was stunned for quite a while before he realized it, and then he looked at the nine lamps with sudden excitement:

"Damn, I want to try this when I get the chance..."

Bo Luopi instantly thumped his chest and said, "We're brothers, it's in the heart. No worries, I'll stick the best ones for you later."

Amidst the thousands of sleeping people, a beating of gongs and drums sounded on the hill, beginning a shadow play with no audience. The shadows on thin bamboo rods were cast onto the screen.

There was a general, an old master, talented people, and poor civilians. The general couldn't bear to see infants starve, so he begged the old master for grain, only to be beaten by the house servants and thrown out. The general got angry and became a general.

He led people to seize grain, came back, and distributed it to the poor, but the general himself died under the old master's knife.

The general's subordinates returned to tell the poor there was grain, and the poor rejoiced, finally having a chance to survive.

The old master cursed, saying those who deserved to starve to death couldn't eat his family's grain, so he invited a talented person to chant spells, summon corpses, and destroy the grain, pointing at the screen outside and cursing: "Our grain is better left to rot than given to you people."

The play was well-written.

And unlike usual plays where heaven opens its eyes, and evil men meet disaster, in this play, evil men didn't meet disaster.

The poor were destined to starve, and the general was destined to be beheaded.

Scene after scene played out, while beside, one by one, the glazed lamps were lifted, casting their light on the shadow play. The lamps swirled, and then scene after scene projected into the hearts of countless dreaming people in the Four Prefectures and Seven States.

So, the expressions on the faces of those who had managed a full meal began to twist.

Inside them was a profound worry of not knowing when the next meal would come after this rare feast.

Now, such worry was triggered.

Originally, this worry was confusing, not knowing why things were like this.

But this time, it seemed as if someone had brought the answer.

When alive, they dared not get angry, dared not utter a word. In dreams, could they still be so oppressed?

Finally, something was stirred, people began gritting their teeth, some started to sob, and some clenched their fists in their sleep, seizing the thigh of the person next to them.

The person beside shivered in pain but in the dream, watched the old master grinningly clutching their thigh. Unable to bear it, they finally raised the hands that had only ever tilled the soil and slapped that face hard:

"Let go of my thigh!"

"..."

"..."

"The wind's rising!"

On the hill, Brother Laozao watched as a thin trickle of cold wind started blowing between the earth and the darkened sky. He watched as these winds grew from thin to strong, from few to many, watched as they gradually formed a wind strong enough to uproot grass and move stones. He saw the flickering flames of the bonfires around, trembling.