Chapter 154: The Transparent Divine Artifact
The sun had just risen, stretching lazily, and some rays of sunlight, unable to be contained, spilled down onto the mortal realm.
As soon as the sun appeared, the public solar cars could start.
The two newly appointed public solar car drivers took their places, and more than twenty villagers from Zhengjia Village boarded the vehicles in turn, setting off towards their village.
Riding home every morning to tend their fields had become an indispensable part of life for the villagers of Zhengjia Village, but today, their mood was heavy.
The news brought by Xing Honglang was truly unsettling; if Heyang County descended into banditry, the outlaws could rush into Zhengjia Village at any moment, and then their crops... alas...
The Heavenly Lord had only just managed to summon the Dragon King, revitalizing Zhengjia Village. Since planting last autumn, everyone had meticulously cared for their wheat fields, and thanks to the "Celestial Fertilizer" bestowed by the Heavenly Lord, this year's wheat was growing beautifully. By harvest time, they feared they would achieve an unprecedented bounty.
What in the world was Heyang County doing stirring up trouble with bandits!
The two newly appointed drivers were overly cautious, driving the cars very slowly. It took more than half an incense stick's burning time to traverse the six li of paved road, and the villagers, impatient, practically leaped off the vehicles.
Zheng Daniu's father was the first to rush to the edge of his family's fields, just about to step in, when suddenly, a loud "snap" echoed from the sky, as if someone had clapped their hands overhead.
None of the two dozen villagers could read, so they didn't understand the meaning of the large paper in the sky. However, they knew that if the Heavenly Lord had given an instruction, there had to be a reason.
“The Heavenly Lord has issued a divine decree, but we don't know what it is,” Zheng Daniu's father cried out. “Everyone, keep your eyes sharp and be vigilant of your surroundings! Could it be that bandits from Heyang County are already here?”
At his words, everyone jumped, and their movements immediately became cautious, their vigilance far keener than before.
Amusingly enough, as soon as their vigilance sharpened, they immediately sensed that something was amiss.
Their own fields, how did they look a bit... skewed?
Indeed, the edges of the field paths seemed to be broken!
Though the villagers were uneducated and unsophisticated, they understood the basic common sense that "water refracts light," knowing *what* happened but not *why*.
Zheng Daniu's father exclaimed loudly, “Wow, has anyone else noticed? There's a transparent wall blocking off our fields!”
Of course, everyone else had noticed too.
A glass wall, if one were careless, could certainly be overlooked, but with just a little attention, it became clearly visible.
Residents of a large city would recognize this as "glazed tile" or "glass," but the villagers of Zhengjia didn't know what it was. The group exchanged bewildered glances, utterly confused: “What is this transparent wall? Why is it blocking our farmland?”
“Let's see if there's an opening to get in.”
The villagers circled the glass wall, completing a full round, but found no entrance.
Now they were even more bewildered!
“What on earth is going on?”
“Ah! I've got it, haha, I've got it!” Zheng Daniu's father suddenly burst into wild laughter: “Haha.”
“This is a divine artifact deployed by the Heavenly Lord! He's used it to encircle our farmland, blocking the bandits from Heyang County and preventing them from ruining our wheat fields.”
At his words, the villagers finally had an epiphany. The divine decree the Heavenly Lord had just issued must have been to tell them he had deployed a divine artifact, right?
Even though they couldn't read, they could tell that the Heavenly Lord's decree consisted of two characters. Wasn't it simply "Divine Artifact"?
Having received this "cheat" from a powerful benefactor, the villagers' minds instantly opened up. “This divine artifact is transparent! It only blocks the bandits but doesn't block the sunlight—it's truly incredible!”
“A divine artifact truly lives up to its name! This transparent wall is so thick; even if bandits came with sledgehammers, they couldn't smash it open, could they?”
“Let them watch our thriving wheat, unable to touch it. That'll infuriate them, haha!”
“Hey, we can't get in ourselves either! I was planning to do some weeding today.”
“This...”
Everyone was stumped.
Li Daoxuan deliberately refrained from acting, waiting until they had discussed it to this point, until they had almost figured out what they needed to. Only then did he reach into the box, gently pick up a bottomless fish tank, and lift it out.
The villagers only heard a rumbling sound as the transparent walls suddenly rose into the sky, flying into the clouds and vanishing from sight.
Zheng Daniu's father cheered, “I can enter my fields now, haha! I understand, I understand! The Heavenly Lord withdraws the divine artifact when we arrive, and then lowers it again when we're done with our work and ready to leave.”
One by one, the fish tanks were withdrawn by Li Daoxuan.
The Zhengjia villagers quickly rushed into their fields, finished the day's planned work at top speed, then retreated beyond the field boundaries and respectfully bowed towards the sky.
As they expected, when they finished their work and prepared to leave, those transparent divine artifact covers descended once more from the sky, covering all of Zhengjia Village's farmland with a series of resounding thuds.
The Zhengjia villagers cheered, “May the Heavenly Lord protect us!”
With this, the villagers felt an unprecedented sense of security about their fields. Their steps became lighter, and they happily boarded the public solar cars, cheerfully returning to Gao Family Fortress.
Li Daoxuan couldn't help but smile. He tapped the words “Gao Family Village” with his finger, and his view instantly switched back.
Once it returned, he saw quite a scene unfolding.
Gao Yiye, dressed in dignified clothes, stood solemnly before the militia.
The more than a hundred members of the militia all stood respectfully, feet together, ramrod straight, their faces serious and attentive as they listened.
Oh, with one exception... Padi Tu!
Padi Tu was muttering softly, “What's the meaning of this? I finally passed several trials to join, and they still won't teach me martial arts. Instead, they inexplicably drag me here to listen to lectures.”
Gao Yiye cast a glance at him. “Padi Tu, you're new here, aren't you?”
“Yes!” Padi Tu, having been called out, dropped a hint of his usual laziness and quickly snapped to attention. “This rabbit... has only been here one day.”
He had originally intended to say “this rabbit lord,” but facing the Saintess, he truly dared not be presumptuous, so he dropped the 'lord' part.
Gao Yiye smiled. “Newcomers often don't know the rules, and I won't blame you for that. But if you continue to be so lax and undisciplined in the future, even if I let you off, the Heavenly Lord himself will deal with you.”
Those words startled Padi Tu significantly. “What? Not paying attention in class will actually provoke the Heavenly Lord to personally intervene? Is it that serious? I thought the Heavenly Lord was very kind to everyone! When Gao Sanwa skipped class, the Heavenly Lord didn't punish him. Why, when it comes to me, am I so singled out for attention?”
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