Ch 49: My Multiverse Supermarket

Zhou Li noticed that even after she explained how the vending machines worked, no one stepped forward to use them.

Had she been gone too long this time? Had the supermarket lost its allure for the refugees?

Soon, she spotted the real problem—any refugee who tried to approach was being blocked by a group of self-important-looking soldiers.

“What’s going on?” Zhou Li frowned and asked Zhao Changyan.

Zhao Changyan also saw the scene and said smoothly, “Little boss, these attendants came with His Highness Prince Wei of Dà Yuè to seek an audience with you. They are unfamiliar with your customs, so I ask for your forgiveness.”

Her tone sounded apologetic toward the soldiers, but her true intent was to distance herself from them—it was Feng Zhang’s entourage, not hers. If anyone was to be blamed, it should be him.

Even small details like this mattered. A single misstep could cost her everything.

Zhou Li didn’t care whether the visitor was a prince or an emperor. She asked simply, “Is he here to apply for a membership card?”

Zhao Changyan turned her head toward Feng Zhang and Gong Qiongxian, who were making their way up to the supermarket.

*

Feng Zhang had imagined immortals to be ethereal, radiant beings—elegant and graceful, or at least mysterious and profound like Fan Yuxian, who claimed to commune with the heavens.

But the “goddess” before him was neither voluptuous nor delicate; apart from her strange attire, she looked utterly ordinary—like any mortal.

He was bitterly disappointed.

Zhou Li blinked.

Why did she feel like someone was staring at her with a very unpleasant gaze?

“Are you here for a membership card?” she asked.

“Why do you call your believers ‘members’?” Feng Zhang asked.

Since that question related to the store’s rules, Zhou Li answered using terms he could understand.

“The word ‘hui’ means an association or society. The supermarket is a small kind of society. Those who join it are members of that society—‘members’ for short. Scholars have literary societies, poets have poetry circles, villages have local councils, and all these societies have rules or covenants. The membership card is simply a kind of written pledge that proves one’s belonging.”

It was the first time Feng Zhang had ever heard an immortal describe her followers as “members of a society.”

Gong Qiongxian leaned close and murmured to him, “The word ‘she’—society—also refers to the god of the earth. Combined with ‘ji,’ the god of grain, it forms the word ‘sheji,’ meaning the state itself. Because the divine woman is truly celestial, she has the authority to establish her own ‘society,’ and her followers may rightfully call themselves its members.”

Feng Zhang suddenly understood.

At last, he sensed something extraordinary about this “goddess.”

“Did you cultivate the Dao to become immortal?” he asked next.

That question had nothing to do with running a supermarket, and Zhou Li’s tone changed instantly. “My time is valuable. If you’re here just to satisfy your curiosity, find someone else.”

“What kind of attitude is that?” one of his eunuchs snapped angrily.

Gong Qiongxian quickly reminded Feng Zhang of their purpose and warned him softly, “If Your Highness doubts her divinity, you may test her—but the consequences of angering an immortal are unpredictable.”

Feng Zhang’s eyes gleamed. “And have you tested her?”

Gong Qiongxian had no intention of risking it. She wanted to use this chance to rise in rank, not die trying.

Besides, this massive structure had vanished overnight under guard and surveillance—no mere illusionist could have done that. She couldn’t help but believe.

She explained this to Feng Zhang and let him decide for himself.

Feng Zhang, after witnessing Fan Yuxian’s so-called miracles, already believed that real immortals existed.

Though Zhou Li didn’t look like the mysterious celestial being he had imagined, he wasn’t foolish enough to be used as someone else’s pawn.

“Gong Shizhong is my father’s most trusted aide,” he said. “How could I not believe her?”

The implication was clear: if the goddess turned out to be a fraud, the blame would fall on Gong Qiongxian—he was merely misled.

Gong Qiongxian didn’t show the slightest displeasure. Instead, she smiled brightly. “To be trusted so deeply by Your Highness—I am humbled.”

What she truly thought inside, only she knew.

Zhou Li, uninterested in the tangled power games of this world, turned and walked back into the supermarket.

Feng Zhang followed eagerly. The moment he stepped inside, his mind completely abandoned the grand animal garden he’d once been proud of—the supermarket was far more fascinating.

“The eunuchs you sent back never said this place was a whole world of its own!” he said to Gong Qiongxian.

She blinked, not understanding. “A world of its own?”

“Look at this place!” Feng Zhang said excitedly. “There are so many things here, yet it’s all clean and orderly. The floor tiles—perfectly square and smooth, shining like porcelain without a single crack! And there are no mosquitoes, no stench—only a cool, pleasant air like late autumn.”

No palace in Dà Yuè, no matter how lavish, was half as comfortable as this.

As he wandered around, something caught his eye. He picked up an item and asked, “What is this?”

Zhou Li glanced over. “A rope—for skipping.”

He examined the diagram on the package and exclaimed, “So this is what they call ‘jumping rope’? I didn’t know immortals played such games.”

Zhou Li sighed inwardly. So many kinds of people in the world… the refugees rush for food and water, and this one goes straight for the toys.

She said curtly, “If you’re going to buy something, buy it. Don’t block my business.”

“I’m not blocking anything!” Feng Zhang protested.

Gong Qiongxian coughed delicately. “Ahem, Your Highness, she means the people outside being stopped by the guards.”

Oh. Inside the divine dwelling, no one would dare harm him, Feng Zhang thought. He waved his hand grandly. “Let them in!”

The refugees didn’t care about Feng Zhang—they surged forward the moment the guards stepped aside, clutching whatever valuables they’d scavenged over the past few weeks to recharge their membership cards.

Zhou Li noticed many new faces among them.

When she asked, she learned they’d heard tales of the divine woman and her supermarket from Qiao Siniang, Dou Dailang, and the Chen clan, and had come all the way here out of admiration and hope.

“The rice here really is just three coins!”

“And it’s polished white rice too!”

The newcomers didn’t understand the vending machines or the supermarket’s rules.

They crowded inside in a noisy wave.

Then—suddenly—chaos broke out.

One ragged refugee snatched up a knife from a nearby shelf and charged straight at Feng Zhang, who was momentarily unattended.

“Ah—!”

“Ah!!”

“Huh?!”

A terrified scream and a roar of hatred echoed amid the confusion.

The next instant, two figures were hurled out of the store, tumbling across the ground outside.

“Ah… help! There’s an assassin!” Feng Zhang wailed in pain.

The attendants outside realized he was in danger and rushed forward to protect him, while others seized the attacker.

“Feng Zhang! I’ll kill you!” the captured man shouted furiously.

A guard drew his blade to execute him on the spot, but Gong Qiongxian stopped him. “Wait!”

Feng Zhang’s legs gave out, and he collapsed into the arms of a eunuch.

“This criminal dared strike His Highness—why spare his life?” the eunuch demanded.

Gong Qiongxian turned to Feng Zhang. “Where are you injured, Your Highness?”

Feng Zhang rubbed his backside. “That fall hurt.”

Gong Qiongxian said, “…That was the goddess’s doing.”

Feng Zhang frowned. “But I was the one attacked. Why throw me out?”

Zhou Li, who had been quietly watching the commotion, suddenly found herself questioned. She turned to the system. “Did the protection protocol get updated? Didn’t it just used to vacuum the air out before?”

The system replied, “The protection mechanism has indeed been upgraded. It now uses different responses depending on the situation. If someone directly harms the supermarket, it still uses the old punishment and blacklist method. But in cases like this—when the attack isn’t aimed at the store itself but could still threaten its interests—the system temporarily ejects all non-members involved.”

After hearing the explanation, Zhou Li rephrased it for everyone: “Anyone or anything that triggers the protective system or disturbs public order will be temporarily removed from the supermarket.”

The refugees, witnessing such power for the first time, immediately fell silent.

It was also the first time Gong Qiongxian had seen the goddess demonstrate her might. She was deeply relieved that her earlier caution had been justified.

Only Zhao Changyan, who was watching closely, noticed something subtle—the goddess’s handling of these incidents had changed.

She thought, “So from now on, even if someone doesn’t mean to harm the goddess or the divine dwelling, as long as they cause trouble inside, they’ll be expelled?”

That meant no one could take advantage of the supermarket’s safety as a shield anymore.

Zhao Changyan asked, “Little boss, what if the one attacked was innocent?”

If an innocent person was attacked and both the attacker and the victim were expelled, the unprotected victim would surely die outside. Would the divine woman really allow an innocent person to perish?

Zhou Li replied, “Oh, I forgot to mention—if someone is a supermarket member, the supermarket is obligated to ensure their personal safety while shopping inside.”

Zhao Changyan quietly exhaled in relief.

So, the goddess was still merciful after all. Beneath the seemingly cold, rigid rules, there remained a thread of compassion.

She looked over at Feng Zhang and the “assassin”—neither of them were members.

Feng Zhang shouted, “I want to apply for a membership!”

His panicked, fumbling appearance made the refugees snicker inwardly.

The mighty nobles—so lofty, yet so rotten and weak at their core!

Gong Qiongxian said gently, “Your Highness should rest in your tent for now. Let me handle things here.”

Feng Zhang, shaken and embarrassed, lost all interest in the supermarket and hurried back to his tent.

Gong Qiongxian had the assassin taken to another tent for questioning.

Before any torture began, the man confessed everything.

He was a hunter from Boluo. Years ago, because Feng Zhang loved collecting wild beasts, the local officials had forced the hunters to capture live animals as tribute to him.

Once, several hunters from his village went into the mountains to catch a tiger. After handing the beast to the eunuchs, they thought their service for the year was done.

But Feng Zhang, finding the tiger too unruly, beat it to death—and his attendants ordered the hunters back into the mountains for another beast.

On that trip, they encountered a bear. After a desperate struggle, only this man survived.

The families of the other hunters accused him of causing their deaths. Consumed by hatred, they killed his wife and children in revenge.

Homeless, he fled Boluo and wandered for years—until he saw the man responsible for his suffering, right here.

He seized the chance for revenge.

But before he could strike, an invisible force threw him out of the supermarket.

When he learned it was the so-called “goddess” who intervened, rage filled him.

Why would a celestial protect Feng Zhang? Just because he was a prince? A noble?

Did heaven not see the suffering of common people?

Gong Qiongxian was left speechless by the accusation.

At that moment, Feng Zhang’s eunuch entered the tent. “Has the truth been confirmed? If so, execute him immediately.”

Gong Qiongxian said, “He claims vengeance as his motive, but we can’t be sure he wasn’t sent by someone else. We should keep him alive for now and investigate further. Protect him well—if there’s a mastermind behind him, they might silence him.”

She didn’t say it outright, but the eunuch immediately made the connection.

If the emperor were to die of illness, Feng Zhang was the most likely successor. Perhaps one of his brothers had sent the assassin to eliminate him.

“Then keep the dog alive. We’ll take him back to the estate for interrogation by the Ministry of Justice.”

The hunter spat at him. “Mastermind? There is no mastermind! I am the mastermind! Kill me if you want, but don’t you dare use me to frame anyone else.”

The eunuch became even more convinced he was hiding something. “Watch him closely—don’t let him die!”

Then he went to report back to Feng Zhang.

Once the hunter was led away, Zhao Changyan stepped inside. “Gong Shizhong, you went soft?”

“What do you mean?”

“You know he has no mastermind. You spared him on purpose—to delay the execution.”

Gong Qiongxian said calmly, “That’s just your imagination.”

Zhao Changyan shook her head. “You know the truth. You didn’t kill him because you still know right from wrong. You still have a conscience—a heart that thinks of the people.”

“Spare me the flattery. I don’t buy it.”

“I’m not flattering you,” Zhao Changyan said quietly. “I’m offering an alliance.”

Gong Qiongxian narrowed her eyes. “What do you want?”

“I want troops,” Zhao Changyan said plainly.

Her sharp gaze met Zhao Changyan’s calm one.

The latter smiled. “You want power. We can work together.”

“I don’t need you.”

“Without me, your understanding and use of the supermarket will remain shallow. Take this trip, for example—you claim to represent the court for the sake of the people, but who will believe you? Promises and visions can’t fill stomachs. The people won’t support you unless they see real change.” Zhao Changyan lowered her voice. “This is a perfect opportunity to win their hearts.”

Gong Qiongxian’s composed mask finally cracked. “How so?”

“Prince Wei has angered the masses. If you use this chance as the court’s representative to gain the goddess’s recognition and become one of the supermarket’s official distributors, you’ll be seen by the people as more reliable than the prince himself.”

Gong Qiongxian asked, “And how do I do that?”

*

Zhou Li also wanted to know what would happen to the camp after such chaos.

Since Feng Zhang and the hunter had both been ejected, she had been monitoring everything through the system’s surveillance feed.

The good news: no one had been killed near her or the supermarket.

The bad news: tension between nobles and refugees had grown worse—bad for business.

By late morning, her breakfast sales were abysmal. She was about to give up and resell them as lunch snacks when Gong Qiongxian appeared.

She brought an imperial edict—she would officially represent the emperor of Dà Yuè and register the imperial court as a corporate member of the Good Life Supermarket.

The system approved the paperwork: “All documents verified. Corporate account creation permitted.”

Zhou Li uploaded the ten carts of gold and jewels to the auction platform in one click.

“After deducting auction fees, the total value converts to 34.21 million yuan.”

That was enough to buy thirty more supermarkets!

Gong Qiongxian asked, “May I become a recognized distributor of the supermarket?”

Zhou Li countered, “Aren’t you a government official? Trying to compete with civilians now?”

“I only wish to purchase in larger quantities,” said Gong Qiongxian, “so that I may distribute supplies to the people.”

“Oh.” Zhou Li gave a noncommittal hum.

“Every summer and autumn, the coastal provinces of Dà Yuè suffer from typhoons. Countless die. They can’t be predicted or stopped, so we can only provide disaster relief afterward. I wish to stockpile food in advance, on behalf of the court.”

Zhou Li nodded.

Typhoons—no matter the era—always caused casualties.

She said, “Instead of hoarding food, you should stockpile emergency supplies.”

“What do you mean by emergency supplies? Please, goddess, instruct me.”

“Tents and sleeping bags. Typhoons destroy homes, leaving people without shelter. Prepare tents and sleeping bags so they can stay dry and avoid illness. Food and water are important too, of course—but if you buy grain from me, it’s likely to be embezzled before it ever reaches the victims.”

Gong Qiongxian was secretly startled—Changyan was right.

The goddess possessed a heart of compassion. Though she did not meddle directly in worldly affairs, she clearly paid close attention to the corruption of officials and the suffering of the common people.

Therefore, if Gong Qiongxian could display her integrity and her concern for the people before the divine woman, she would surely earn the immortal’s favor.

Gong Qiongxian didn’t boast about eradicating all corruption from the world. Instead, she spoke from a practical standpoint:

“I plan to sell the supermarket’s refined rice to the nobles and wealthy households. Once the overall grain price drops, I’ll use the profit from those sales to purchase cheaper, older grain from merchants. However, to buy grain at low prices, I’ll need the goddess’s influence. If word spreads that her store holds endless grain supplies, merchants everywhere will rush to sell their stock, afraid of devaluation. When the market is flooded, grain prices will naturally fall.”

With lower prices, the people could buy more food with less money.

At the same time, if she used her influence in court to restrict excessive taxes, the noose around the common people’s necks would finally loosen.

Then, by leveraging the supermarket to strengthen her own power and reputation, she would gain more authority in the imperial court—and be able to do even more for the people.

Her plan might have been idealistic, but… how could she know her limits unless she tried?

Zhou Li recalled how Gong Qiongxian had handled the malaria outbreak earlier. She’d been proactive—unlike Feng Zhang, who only cared for his own pleasure.

“If your words match your actions,” Zhou Li said, “then I can indeed let you be a distributor. But I’ll only provide the goods. Don’t use my name—or the supermarket’s name—to exploit the people or scam them.”

Truthfully, even if Gong Qiongxian was only speaking nicely without genuine goodwill toward the people, Zhou Li would probably still make her a distributor.

Not for charity—just for a big business deal.

Overjoyed, Gong Qiongxian bowed deeply. “Thank you, goddess!”

She went on to request bulk purchases of grain, oil, salt, tents, sleeping bags, and medicinal supplies to prepare for future disasters.

Zhou Li told her to make a list so the orders could be arranged later.

After obtaining distributor status, Gong Qiongxian immediately worked to calm the newly arrived refugees.

Because of the hunter incident, rumors had spread that the imperial court might expel them, rekindling tension just as the settlement had stabilized after the malaria outbreak.

To ease their fears, Gong Qiongxian personally taught the refugees how to use the vending machines—narrowing the distance between them.

“A high-ranking official of the second rank, willing to teach us how to speak with the celestial child!”

“Didn’t expect this lady court aide to be so kind and approachable.”

“I think the bad one’s just that Prince Wei. The lady court aide seems all right.”

“Right, I heard she’s now a distributor. And since the goddess herself approved her, she must be a good person.”

Gong Qiongxian quickly clarified that she only represented the imperial court and was acting under the emperor’s will.

The people nodded—but didn’t really care.

Compared to the distant emperor in his palace, the woman standing before them felt far more trustworthy.

…

Gong Qiongxian had successfully shifted everyone’s attention to the vending machines.

The refugees felt reassured, and the tense atmosphere across the camp began to ease.

In his tent, Feng Zhang finally calmed down as well.

Fan Yuxian arrived, originally intending to perform a ritual to soothe him, but he waved her off.

Remembering the incident, he said to her excitedly, “She really is a goddess!”

He vividly recalled that at the moment of attack, only the hunter had been near him—yet both of them had suddenly been flung into the air.

That had to be divine power.

But Fan Yuxian couldn’t help overthinking.

What did he mean by that? A true goddess? Was he implying that she wasn’t a true immortal envoy after all?

A wave of panic rose within her. She could no longer avoid this threat to her identity.

She decided to act first—to probe the goddess’s power herself!

…

When Fan Yuxian arrived at the supermarket, she saw two long queues stretching out front—and at their heads stood Gong Qiongxian and Zhao Changyan.

“What are you two doing here?” she asked.

“Teaching everyone how to communicate with the celestial child,” Zhao Changyan replied.

Fan Yuxian looked around. “Celestial child? Where is it?”

Zhao Changyan pointed at the vending machine. “Right here. This is a divine monument—the celestial child has split part of its spirit to dwell within.”

Zhou Li, who overheard everything through the surveillance feed, was speechless.

That was definitely not what she had taught Zhao Changyan to say!

Clearly, Zhao Changyan had… filled in the blanks on her own again.

Fan Yuxian frowned.

So this was what a heavenly monument looked like?

She raised her hand and tapped on the machine’s metal casing. “I am an envoy of the Jade Emperor. Might this celestial friend reveal itself to meet me?”

Though it wasn’t very kind of her, Zhou Li couldn’t help but laugh.

☢️☢️☢️