Ch 4: My Multiverse Supermarket

Zhao Changyan had not fallen asleep.

Ever since her escape began, she had never known a peaceful night’s rest.

And now that fortune had suddenly turned her way, her heart was burning with excitement, making sleep even more elusive.

She was already planning how to seize this opportunity—to build power, to take revenge, to reclaim what was lost.

Her thoughts turned to those refugees who had eyed her with hostility, and she began devising ways to use the “Little Boss” to teach them a lesson.

The night deepened, and fog mixed with the poisonous miasma drifted between the mountain ridges.

Zhao Changyan could hear the hum of mosquitoes around her, yet none bit her.

After so many nights of sleeping rough, it was the first time she found the night bearable.

Meanwhile, down by the Yangshan Pass ancient road—

Most of the refugees had spread mats on the ground and fallen asleep.

A few night sentries crouched by the fire, talking quietly.

Suddenly, the old man rose and walked over to them.

“Village Chief? It’s late—why aren’t you asleep?” one of the watchmen asked.

“Chen San,” the old man whispered, “tell me, where is Chang Qiniang?”

The watchmen exchanged uneasy looks.

Chen San feigned confusion. “Chang Qiniang? Isn’t she here?”

The old man fixed his gaze on him. “Don’t play dumb. I saw Chang Qiniang enter the mountains with your group.”

Chen San said, “Village Chief, you must have seen wrong.”

“I may be past fifty,” said the old man, “but my eyes are not failing yet.”

Realizing they couldn’t hide it, one of the watchmen sighed. “It’s true, I saw her in the mountains, but she didn’t stay with us. I don’t know where she went.”

The old man didn’t believe him—he suspected they had harmed her.

Annoyed, Chen San snapped, “That fierce woman? What could we possibly do to her?”

The old man’s expression flickered with uncertainty, as if recalling something.

Chen San smirked. “And besides, that strange girl—whether she’s dead or alive has nothing to do with us. Who knows if she’s some fugitive? If she stayed with us, she might drag us into trouble. I know you wanted to bring her back as a granddaughter-in-law, but your grandson Chen Bao could never handle her!”

The old man fell silent, clearly struck by the remark.

After a long pause, he sighed. “Forget it. Fate decides all.”

*

At dawn, the refugees began to stir.

Among the Chu group, the old man decided they would continue southward.

The Dayue refugees, on the other hand, planned to settle nearby and build a stockade.

Both groups prepared to part ways.

Suddenly, a figure burst out from the forest.

The Chu refugees recognized her.

“Chang Qiniang!?”

Chen San’s eyes widened.

Zhao Changyan—alive!?

Impossible!

How could a lone woman survive a night alone in the deep, wild mountains?

The old man was the first to recover. “Chang Qiniang, where have you been?”

Zhao Changyan noticed that the Dayue refugees not far away were pricking up their ears, eager for gossip.

She deliberately cried out with excitement, “I met a divine lady!”

In that instant, the crowd’s reactions were varied and vivid—some skeptical, some curious and leaning closer, some confused, some sneering or disappointed.

Zhao Changyan had spoken in the local dialect, which the Dayue refugees understood.

The leader of the Dayue group strode forward in great haste.

“What divine lady? Where?”

He had heard the Chu people talking last night—about the cross-dressed girl who went into the forest and never came back. Chu, being a vassal of the Central Plains, mostly spoke the standard court dialect, while near the Dayue border, locals also used regional and Hakka tongues. The Chu refugees didn’t know he understood the common dialect as well.

He too had assumed the girl was dead.

Yet here she was—alive, and claiming an encounter with the divine.

Following his question, Zhao Changyan answered, “Up in the mountain! There’s plenty of food and clean water. Last night, under the divine lady’s protection, I escaped the beasts safely.”

To prove her words, she held up a honey bun. “Look—this is a bun the divine lady bestowed upon me.”

When she had gone into the forest, she had nothing but an axe.

Now, out of nowhere, she had a kind of bun no one had ever seen before. Her story immediately gained credibility.

Everyone’s gaze locked on the bun in her hand, their eyes burning with hunger.

The Chu refugees, already starving, rushed forward. “Where is the divine lady? Take us to her!”

Behind them, Chen San and the others whispered, “Could this be a trap?”

“Unlikely,” one muttered. “Even if she wanted to harm us, does she have the strength to take on so many?”

Chen San thought about it and nodded. “True enough.”

At that moment, the Dayue refugees insisted on accompanying Zhao Changyan up the mountain.

The Chu refugees, unwilling to fall behind, urged her to lead the way as well.

Still, since the forest was dangerous, they sent only the able-bodied men.

The Dayue people, used to living amid miasma and rough terrain, were unafraid.

And so, a large mixed group set out in search of the so-called goddess.

Zhao Changyan had marked the path on her way back, so this time she moved quickly.

After crossing only two ridges, they saw it—the towering “building” standing proudly atop the next hill.

Zhao Changyan pointed ahead. “That is the divine lady’s dwelling.”

The weary group instantly came alive, quickening their pace.

“We’ll soon meet the divine lady!” someone exclaimed.

Encouraged, even the children who had been crying from leech bites and scratches quieted down.

Finally, after circling a cliff face, a full view of the three-story structure emerged before them.

*

The supermarket’s business hours were 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.

It was just past seven now.

Zhou Li had just woken up and was heading downstairs to fetch a pack of frozen dumplings to boil for breakfast.

As soon as Zhou Li turned on the light, she saw a dense crowd gathered outside the supermarket.

Each person’s face was sallow and thin, their eyes fierce as they stared at her through the glass.

“Sh—” Zhou Li almost blurted out a curse, but thanks to years of self-restraint, she barely swallowed it back.

She said to the system, “For a second, I thought you’d quietly transported me to a zombie apocalypse plane.”

System: “…The system cannot perform plane jumps without authorization. Any exceptional case would still require your consent.”

Zhou Li asked, “Then what’s with those… people outside?”

The system gave no clear answer. “Perhaps it’s related to last night’s customer.”

Hearing that, Zhou Li walked over and opened the door.

Her action startled the refugees outside, who immediately backed away.

They looked her up and down—some with curiosity, others with fear or suspicion.

Some even showed contempt, seeing that she looked like an ordinary woman.

But none of them wanted to be the first to act.

Until Zhou Li spoke. “The supermarket isn’t open yet. If you want to buy something, prepare money or valuables first.”

The refugees didn’t understand the word “supermarket,” but they caught the meaning of the second half.

They just couldn’t understand why this so-called “divine lady” would speak of buying and selling.

Chen San whispered to his companion, “I don’t think she’s any divine lady—just some peddler woman selling goods.”

“Big Brother, I’m so hungry.”

“I saw buns inside.”

“Is that glass? How could it be so smooth and clear?”

“A door made of glass—how extravagant!”

The refugees muttered among themselves.

Zhou Li ignored the noise, picked up a pack of frozen dumplings, and went upstairs to cook.

Soon, the smell of food drifted down from the second floor.

“Mother, it smells so good,” murmured a Dayue child, tugging on his mother’s sleeve.

“Wait a bit longer. The divine lady said she’ll start selling once she opens for business,” the mother said.

“When will that be?” the child asked, not knowing what “opening for business” meant—only that he wanted food.

The crowd waited a long time, growing restless.

Chen San and his men exchanged glances—they decided to sneak inside and take what they wanted while Zhou Li was gone.

He shouted to the others, “If she’s truly a divine lady, she should save the people, not demand payment! She’s no goddess—just a merchant pretending to be one to cheat us! Look at all that food inside—why don’t we take it and share it ourselves?”

His words made no sense, but in a world where the strong ruled, reason was useless.

Besides, the refugees had no money. The goods inside looked expensive—they couldn’t afford them anyway.

If they had to pay, it would likely mean selling their children just like with corrupt merchants.

The moment they saw food, the thought of taking it had already taken root—they’d only kept silent out of fear.

Now that someone had spoken up, they eagerly followed.

Meanwhile, among the Dayue group—

Someone tugged on the leader’s sleeve. “Chief, should we…”

The leader, Dou Dailang, scanned the crowd.

He noticed that “Chang Qiniang,” the one who first met the “divine lady,” had stayed hidden behind everyone.

That made him wary. “No one move without my order,” he said sharply.

“But what if the Chu people take everything?”

“If you disobey and join in the looting, I’ll expel you from the Dou clan,” Dou Dailang growled.

The man shrank back immediately, abandoning the idea.

On the Chu side, a dozen men rallied around Chen San.

He mimicked Zhou Li’s movement from earlier and went to push the glass door.

From the speaker above the entrance came a cold, mechanical voice: “Outside of business hours.”

The crowd flinched in shock.

Chen San frowned, looking around. “Quit pretending to be some spirit!”

Rage emboldened him—he drew his axe and struck the door.

Sparks flew from the impact.

But the glass door remained perfectly intact—while his axe now had a crack in it.

The voice came again: “Violent intrusion detected. Unauthorized entry.”

The instant the words ended, a powerful gust erupted from the ground. Chen San was lifted off his feet.

Worse, he couldn’t breathe—his chest tightened as if the air itself had vanished.

He flailed, reaching toward the others for help.

His companions grabbed for him, only to be swept up too—the air around them seemed sucked away, leaving them all gasping for breath.

By the time their faces turned purple and their trousers soaked, the wind suddenly ceased.

They crashed to the ground, limp and unresponsive.

The onlookers screamed, “Mountain ghosts! The mountain ghosts are eating people!”

At that moment, Zhao Changyan, who had been watching the spectacle with relish, stepped forward and scolded sharply, “Nonsense! The divine lady merely cast a minor spell to punish the wicked. To say she eats people is blasphemy!”

Her words silenced the crowd instantly.

Dou Dailang gave Zhao Changyan a long, thoughtful look. He understood now—this clever young woman had used the divine lady’s power to deal with Chen San and his gang.

The Dayue refugees silently rejoiced that they had obeyed Dou Dailang’s orders and not acted rashly.

…

Meanwhile, Zhou Li, eating breakfast on the second floor, remained unaware of the commotion outside.

After finishing her dumplings, she changed out of her pajamas and went downstairs to open the shop.

Something felt off the moment she saw the scene.

The refugees were keeping their distance, and a few were sprawled on the ground, panting heavily.

Asthma attacks?

She didn’t have any medicine for that.

As soon as she opened the door, Zhao Changyan stepped in first.

“Little Boss.”

Zhou Li asked, “These are the fellow villagers you mentioned?”

Zhao Changyan nodded and gestured toward the ones on the ground. “Those fools tried to rush in. Fortunately, Little Boss is mighty and gave them the punishment they deserved.”

Zhou Li: …

So they weren’t sick—they had tried to attack the supermarket and triggered its defense system.

She had still thought too kindly of human nature.

[Author’s Note]

Zhao Changyan: Borrowed the knife to kill—successfully. √

☢️☢️☢️