Chapter 16: First, Solve One Problem
Beside Gao Family Village, a massive pond appeared, over thirty meters long, sixteen meters wide, and twenty-six meters deep.
The water in the pond was modern tap water, truly crystal clear. The villagers, suffering through a severe drought, hadn't seen water this good in years.
"Water! It's water!"
"Oh heavens, such a massive pond!"
"And it's so clean!"
"Is this... a gift for us?"
"I can't believe it."
"Long live the Heavenly Lord!"
Li Daoxuan lowered his gaze, looking at Gao Yiye. "Yiye, tell the villagers that from now on, I will replenish the water in this pond every day. They can use this water for their daily needs or to irrigate their fields."
A cheer erupted from the villagers. "Now we don't have to fear the drought anymore!"
"We have water to plant our fields! This is amazing!"
"Our precious reserved seeds can finally be put to use!"
"What are we waiting for? Let's go home and get buckets to fetch water!"
"What's the rush? It's too hot for any crops right now. We'll have to wait until early autumn."
"Ah, that's right. I got ahead of myself in my excitement."
The villagers were beside themselves with joy, almost dizzy with confusion, forgetting where to even begin. The women, however, had their eyes light up. With so much water, they could finally wash clothes and bathe! They'd been living in filth and stench for half a year; no woman could bear that. They quickly rushed to fetch water, at least to fill their own water jars first.
San Shier's drowsiness was now completely scared away. He glanced up at the sky, seeing nothing, then looked at the pond before him, which was undeniably, palpably real.
That scene just now hadn't been him being lightheaded; it was truly an invisible, unseen force that had conjured a pond out of thin air. A torrent of water, seemingly conjured from the sky itself, cascaded down, filling the pond to the brim.
If anyone dared to claim this wasn't the work of a deity, he'd be the first to jump up and slap them silly.
As he stood there, bewildered, Gao Yiye spoke up. "Master San, the Heavenly Lord has words for you."
San Shier's mind snapped awake. He hurriedly bowed deeply towards the sky. "What are your commands, Heavenly Lord?"
Li Daoxuan: "You're the county magistrate's advisor, aren't you?"
Gao Yiye quickly relayed the message. (It was understood she continued to relay his words hereafter).
At this, San Shier's face fell. "A few days ago, this humble one spoke up for the common folk, advising the esteemed magistrate not to levy taxes. That angered him, and I was dismissed, cast out, no longer employed. It is called 'playing with fire and getting burned'."
Li Daoxuan: "Oh, so you've lost your livelihood?"
San Shier kowtowed. "Uh... that... indeed... it is called '..."
"Silence! You're annoying." Li Daoxuan said, exasperated. "Don't you realize how irritating your way of speaking is? No wonder the magistrate cast you out."
San Shier froze.
Li Daoxuan: "I thought, as an advisor, you could read official documents at the county office and bring news to Gao Family Village. But now, it seems you're quite useless."
Hearing this, San Shier's heart stirred. *What does the Heavenly Lord mean? Could it be... he originally intended to employ me? To serve an immortal is a blessing cultivated over lifetimes. I must not miss this chance. I'll cling to it, even if it means being a mere errand boy for the deity.*
He quickly spoke up. "This humble one is useful, truly useful! Although I no longer work in the county office, I am clever and quick-witted, skilled in writing and arithmetic. These villagers certainly... ahem... entrusting me would be more reliable. It is called '..."
Just as he was about to sum it up with four characters, he remembered the Heavenly Lord found him irritating. He clamped his mouth shut, stopping so abruptly his facial expression twisted.
Li Daoxuan was amused. "Alright then! I can't think of anything for you to do right now. You may return to the county town, keep your eyes open, your ears keen, and gather information about events happening around you. If there's any important news, send someone to inform Gao Family Village. When I need you to do something, I will send someone to notify you."
San Shier prostrated himself on the ground, forehead touching the earth. "This humble one obeys."
After completing his respectful bows, he rose to his feet and headed towards the county town.
Li Daoxuan mused: *Currently, I haven't found a way to expand my Field of View. The diorama box is locked above Gao Family Village, so I can't see what's happening outside. With this person, San Shier, it's like having an extra pair of eyes outside the diorama box. I hope these eyes can prove useful at a crucial moment.*
Turning his attention back, he saw that all the villagers were busy.
The young, strong men were digging and tilling in the fields. With such a large pond, they were confident they could cultivate crops. Although it wouldn't be ideal for sowing until autumn, their restless 'farming hearts' were beyond control. They began digging an irrigation ditch preemptively.
Li Daoxuan nodded. "Excellent." The villagers' self-sustaining capacity had been activated. For a few months, he would still need to provide for them, but by autumn, they would begin farming, and the cost of sustaining the village would start to decrease.
If he could use the same method to help more villages, he could save many people from starvation.
Next, it was time to address problem two: "The villagers need a way to protect themselves when I'm not near the diorama box."
He recalled the historical military forums he frequented and the historical novels he read.
His first thought was to arm all forty-two villagers, but he quickly realized this idea was temporarily unfeasible.
Leaving aside whether buying firearms in modern society would land him in jail with the police, even if he could legally acquire them...
But guns, even the world's smallest Swiss mini pistol, are 55 millimeters long.
If he put such a thing into the box, it would scale up 200 times. The villagers would see a super-gigantic pistol, eleven meters long.
How could anyone use that?
Who could wield an eleven-meter-long pistol to blast enemies?
Another idea was to commission "super miniature weapons," but that would require making various weapons only a few millimeters long, so that when magnified 200 times, they would become 1-2 meters in size, usable by the people in the box world.
Clearly, with the current known technology, no one could make a gun just a few millimeters long. And making ordinary swords and knives would only marginally improve the villagers' combat effectiveness.
Li Daoxuan's only solution, it seemed, was to teach the villagers to make their own firearms.
However, with the current technical prowess of the forty-two little people in the diorama box, let alone crafting firearms, even making a good quality sword would be difficult. They could only forge crude items like hatchets and kitchen knives.
This path was a dead end for now; he'd have to consider it later.
In the short term, there was perhaps only one way to protect the villagers...
A sturdy family fortress.
This was the most common method of self-preservation for ancient villagers: hunkering down inside a robust stronghold, able to withstand most bandit and marauder attacks. The most representative example was the Hakka Walled House.
This was also something Li Daoxuan could create in the real world. He just needed to build a Hakka Walled House-like structure at a 200:1 scale, place it in the diorama box, and let the little people move in. That would make them much safer than they were now.
This was entirely achievable.
Only... it would be a bit expensive.
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