Chapter 234: Moving Mountains and Creating Lakes
The rhythmic clatter of bamboo clappers echoed, drawing all the villagers toward Bai Family Fortress.
Even now, Bai Family Fortress offered little security. Wang Zuogua’s rebels from Yichuan County were entrenched in the nearby Huanglong Mountain. Yet, having tasted defeat at the fortress before, Wang Zuogua wouldn't dare attack again, at least not for the time being.
But who could truly say if or when he might strike?
Consequently, Bai Family Fortress remained in a constant state of alert. Bai Yuan had established a clear protocol with the villagers: in an emergency, they were to sound the bamboo clappers, relaying the signal to nearby settlements. Any village that heard the clappers would then echo the alarm, and everyone would converge on Bai Family Fortress, seeking refuge behind its sturdy walls against any unforeseen danger.
When the clappers resonated now, the villagers, believing a crisis was unfolding, quickly grabbed their pre-packed necessities, gathered their children, and hurried to Bai Family Fortress.
In no time, hundreds had assembled within the modest Bai Family Fortress.
Militiamen, weapons in hand, eagerly scaled the fortress walls. Some even tore away the black tarpaulins draped over the massive Giant Crossbow Vehicles, readying them for loading.
Seeing their readiness, Bai Yuan quickly yelled, “No bandits! Put away your weapons! It is the Heavenly Lord who wishes for everyone to assemble!”
“The Heavenly Lord?”
However, the majority of villagers had never personally witnessed the Heavenly Lord’s divine manifestations. They only knew that Master Bai frequently spoke of the Heavenly Lord’s goodness, wonder, benevolence, and kindness, proclaiming him a benevolent deity who provided all their sustenance.
Beyond these pronouncements, their knowledge was limited.
“Observe closely, stand upright, open your eyes wide, and prepare to witness the Heavenly Lord’s divine manifestation!”
The villagers promptly obeyed. Bai Yuan, who understood the Heavenly Lord’s ways, saw the bewildered expressions on their faces and boomed, “Stop your idle chatter!” Hundreds of people stood with hands clasped respectfully, forming quite an impressive sight.
Seeing everyone assembled, Li Daoxuan prepared to act. With no Gao Yiye to relay his words here, he would skip the pleasantries and get straight to business.
He shifted his perspective slightly south of Bai Family Fortress, focusing on the center of the small lake. Then, he strained to lift a large bucket, carefully resting its rim on the edge of the diorama box before cautiously tilting it to pour water inside...
Inside Bai Family Fortress, every single eye was fixed in wide-eyed anticipation.
They watched as the low-hanging cloud in the sky abruptly drifted southward, eventually coming to a halt far off in the southern expanse.
Bai Yuan stared, his gaze fixed. Directly below the hovering cloud lay Horseshoe Lake – the very source of water for Bai Family Fortress and several nearby villages. Horseshoe Lake had nourished Bai Family Fortress and its neighbors, serving as the spiritual heart of all the villagers in the area.
However, by the close of the second year of drought, Horseshoe Lake had utterly dried, leaving the villagers feeling as though their very souls had withered.
Now, with the Heavenly Lord hovering above Horseshoe Lake, what exactly was he about to do?
Could it be...
A sudden realization struck Bai Yuan, and he couldn't help but bellow with wild excitement, “The Heavenly Lord is going to restore our lake! I knew it! He must be conjuring a heavenly spring to refill Horseshoe Lake!”
The villagers gasped, startled.
The very next instant, a colossal torrent of water burst forth from the heavens.
The sheer volume of that water was like a celestial river pouring from the sky!
It surged with a furious power, entirely unlike the stream that had filled the pond in Gao Family Village; this was on a completely different scale.
Even Bai Yuan, despite his mental preparation, was utterly stunned by the terrifying deluge.
The guards of Bai Family Fortress, and every single villager from the surrounding area, watched, mesmerized and dumbfounded.
The horrifying torrent roared down from the heavens, plummeting into the parched bed of Horseshoe Lake. In a mere blink, water began to collect. The deluge from the sky continued to surge, relentlessly filling the lake.
The lake's water level rose steadily.
Everyone in Bai Family Fortress seemed to lose their power of speech, simply staring in stunned silence.
Before long, the flow of water ceased...
A considerable depth of water had collected at the lake's bottom, though it still fell short of the banks. After a pause of what felt like dozens of blinks, another colossal surge of water erupted from the heavens with a whoosh, resuming its powerful injection into the lake.
The villagers remained utterly bewildered.
Still not enough?
Whoosh! It happened once more.
Li Daoxuan continued to pour several more large buckets of water into the box. At last, the small lake was completely filled. The majestic Heavenly Lord, utterly drained, slumped beside the box, panting with his tongue hanging out like a dog, utterly unwilling to move.
While he was utterly exhausted, the guards inside Bai Family Fortress leapt up with unbridled joy. “Horseshoe Lake is full again!” they cheered.
“Our Horseshoe Lake lives again!”
“Hahaha, this is wonderful!”
The previously dumbfounded villagers slowly emerged from their stupor. “So... this... this is the Heavenly Lord's power?” they murmured. “Moving mountains, creating lakes... truly omnipotent...”
“With Horseshoe Lake, even if the heavens don’t bless us with rain, I can still cultivate my crops!”
“We can finally... sniffle...”
At that very moment, the irrigation channels, carved around the lake's edge many years ago, began to fill. The lake water coursed along these channels,
spreading to all the surrounding farmlands, as if hope itself was being diffused across the entire region.
“This winter, I won’t have to live in constant dread. Come spring, I'll start planting crops without delay!”
“The Heavenly Lord is benevolent!”
“May the Heavenly Lord protect us!”
“Boundless blessings and longevity!”
Li Daoxuan lay by the edge of the box, his tongue lolling out. *You might be happy, but I had to lug countless heavy buckets, cradling each one as I poured it into the box, all while making sure not to spill outside the lake. I'm utterly knackered! Ugh, being a pet owner is truly exhausting work.*
The villagers poured out of Bai Family Fortress, gleefully rushing to the lakeside to splash their hands in the water. Others dashed home, returning to push small wooden boats into the lake; then a second family, a third...
It turned out many villagers owned boats. When the lake dried up, they’d hauled them home, fearing they’d be stranded on the lakebed. Now that the water had returned, naturally, they had to launch their boats!
Though the lake held no fish yet, they knew that soon, fish and shrimp would mysteriously appear...
“Where there is water, fish inexplicably appear.”
“It won’t be long before we can fish for a living once more.”
The ecstatic fishermen now dipped their oars into Horseshoe Lake, even challenging each other to races. Though still impoverished, a newfound optimism shone in their spirits.
“Hahaha, I won!”
“It’s been over a year since I last rowed, my skills are rusty.”
“Haha, mine too! Pure luck, just pure luck that I beat you!”
Bai Yuan emerged from Bai Family Fortress and walked to the lakeside. He squatted, scooped up some water, and splashed it playfully forward, then suddenly grinned. “Alright! Let’s have a boat race! I’ll put up two taels of silver. Whichever family is fastest will claim the two-tael prize!”
The fishermen erupted in delight. “Hahaha, splendid! Thank you, Master Bai!”
“Come on, come on, let’s race these boats!”
Watching their spirits lift, Li Daoxuan suddenly found his own mood brightening. Perhaps the arduous effort he’d just put in had been worth it after all.
Indeed, weren’t pets meant to be a source of solace and healing?
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