Chapter 139: The Divine Siege Spring
Today, I walked 3 kilometers to buy mung bean cakes, and then another 3 kilometers home. My legs went completely numb, and by the time I finished, I didn't even want the mung bean cakes anymore. So, here's an extra update for not wanting to eat them.
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Li Daoxuan knew it was time for him to intervene again.
Searching through the toolbox on his desk, he quickly found a disposable lighter whose liquid gas had run out.
He disassembled the lighter, counting twenty-seven tiny parts, and extracted a small spring.
The spring was only a few millimeters long!
He held it delicately between his fingertips and gently dropped it down.
At that moment, Cheng Xu was about to leave when he suddenly saw a peculiar coil of wire slowly descending from the sky, landing before him and Li Da.
The artisans nearby, long accustomed to such sights, bowed in unison, offering their thanks.
Li Da peered closer, his face lighting up with joy. "The Heavenly Lord has bestowed a celestial spring!"
Cheng Xu, too, focused his gaze. Alright, wasn't this just a giant spring? A spring nearly half his height.
He had just crushed a small, crude spring made by Li Da with his bare hand. Now, seeing the Heavenly Lord bestow a large one, his curiosity immediately ignited. "Fascinating! One look, and you know how this thing works. Allow this General... *cough*... this Instructor to give it a try."
The spring Li Da had made earlier was tiny; he could flatten it with his hand. But the spring the Heavenly Lord had bestowed was half a man tall, so he obviously couldn't press it down with his hands. Instead, he walked to the spring, propped it upright, then took a mighty leap and sat squarely on it.
"Haha, easily flattened!"
No sooner had Cheng Xu spoken than he felt something was amiss. A colossal force erupted from the spring coils beneath him, launching him with a "thwump" high into the air.
Cheng Xu let out a bizarre yell as he shot forward, soaring over the entire Craftsman Well courtyard, crashing with a loud "smash" through the window of an artisan's house opposite. He flew inside, scattering wood splinters and paper shards.
Everyone in the Craftsman Well courtyard stared, dumbfounded, at a loss for words.
A full thirty seconds later, Cheng Xu's bruised and swollen face emerged from the broken window. He burst into boisterous laughter. "I understand! Hahahaha! I know what this thing is for! This is a divine siege weapon! From now on, when we besiege a city, we won't need scaling ladders! We'll deploy a row of these celestial springs beneath the enemy walls, have our brave soldiers sit on them, and in the blink of an eye, they'll be launched into the city! A divine army descending from the heavens, catching the defenders completely off guard! Hahahaha, truly, the Divine Siege Spring is magnificent!"
His words illuminated the situation for the crowd, and they instantly grasped it. "So that's it!"
The artisans nodded in agreement. "So, a city can be attacked this way? A method from the immortal realm, truly eye-opening! Instructor He mastering the use of a celestial weapon so quickly is astonishing."
San Shier sighed. "General Cheng... *cough*... Instructor He, you truly are clever! No wonder the Heavenly Lord specifically named you to train the militia. You are a capable individual. It is called, 'knowing how to employ talent effectively!'"
Cheng Xu puffed out his chest, immensely pleased. "Hahahahaha, this Instructor's capabilities are certainly not just talk!"
Li Daoxuan couldn't stop laughing. A bunch of goofballs, what in the world were they up to?
He then unfurled a large piece of paper and displayed it to the people below. "Melt it down. Make small springs for flintlock rifles."
Cheng Xu looked up and saw the Heavenly Lord's decree, immediately aghast. "Heavenly Lord, why melt such a divine artifact to make flintlock rifles? This thing can replace siege ladders; it's a million times more useful than a flintlock rifle!"
He spun around, only to see that San Shier had already conveyed the Heavenly Lord's decree to Li Da, who was obediently lifting the large spring and tossing it into the furnace.
Cheng Xu was so distressed he could barely breathe. He cried out, "Stop! Don't burn the Divine Siege Spring! Stop, nooooooo... my siege weapon... my divine siege weapon!"
Li Daoxuan was practically dying of laughter. He quickly retrieved the paper and moved away to chuckle unseen.
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The sun began to set, and the vibrant green wheat fields swayed gently in the evening breeze.
Gao Yiye and Gao Sanwa had been playing with the solar cars all afternoon and were a bit tired.
Today, the Heavenly Lord hadn't summoned her for a message. Instead, he had communicated with San Shier and Instructor He using large pieces of paper bearing concise decrees, which gave Gao Yiye a lot of free time.
She had indulged in half a day of freedom, calling Gao Sanwa to drive around and play. It wasn't until sunset, when the sunlight could no longer power the solar cars, that the two returned to the fortress.
Gao Sanwa had barely jumped out of the car when his mother grabbed his ear. "Not studying properly, running off to play again! I'll beat you senseless!"
"Learning to drive is also studying!"
"Still trying to argue?"
The sound of a spanking echoed, and the nearby villagers burst into laughter.
Gao Yiye also jumped gracefully from the car and returned to the watchtower, drenched in sweat. But since it wasn't yet dark, bathing was inconvenient, so she stood on the balcony, leaning over the railing, gazing down at the entire Gao Family Village.
Just as she was enjoying the pleasant coolness, the Heavenly Lord's voice suddenly resonated from the sky. "Yiye, I have a few things to discuss with you."
Gao Yiye's spirits lifted, and she quickly bowed in reverence.
"Alright, sit down and let's talk leisurely."
Li Daoxuan's voice was gentle, filling Gao Yiye with warmth. She sat cross-legged on the balcony, listening intently.
"Cheng Xu has begun training the militia."
Hearing this, Gao Yiye couldn't help but look out. On the open ground outside the Gao Family Fortress, dozens of villagers were practicing formation drills, their shadows stretching long and distorted in the setting sun.
Gao Yiye nodded. "Yes, General Cheng is very diligently carrying out the Heavenly Lord's orders."
Li Daoxuan said, "Cheng Xu's arrival will accelerate the militia's growth, making them increasingly powerful. But humans, once they gain strength, tend to become arrogant. As their martial arts grow stronger, their equipment more sophisticated, and the battles they fight more frequent, they will become increasingly aware of their own transformation, growing more and more overbearing. From being cautious and discreet at first, they will turn arrogant and tyrannical, eventually becoming the very image they once despised."
Gao Yiye's heart jolted. "Oh? Do you mean... they'll become as wicked as those yamen runners and imperial soldiers?"
Li Daoxuan replied, "If left to develop freely, they will inevitably become that way. Because the entire world is teaching them to be that way."
Gao Yiye exclaimed, "I don't want that! I don't want Brother Chuwu and Brother Daniu to become like that!"
Li Daoxuan smiled. "Indeed, I don't want them to become like that either. Therefore, I'm entrusting you with a glorious, yet arduous, mission."
Gao Yiye pointed at her own nose. "Me?"
Li Daoxuan affirmed, "Cheng Xu will teach them martial arts; you will teach them the principles of being human."
Gao Yiye gasped. "What? Me? How could I possibly do that?"
Li Daoxuan instructed, "After Cheng Xu has finished teaching them about warfare, you will give them a lesson on ideology. Every day, make them recite ten times: 'They are the children of the common people, soldiers of the common people, always acting for the common people...'"
He then elaborated in detail, for Gao Yiye, all the principles he knew that could forge the souls of soldiers.
As soldiers, virtue and martial skill are both indispensable.
For they can be both the sword that saves lives and the blade that takes them.
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