Chapter 33: Increasing the Population
Li Daoxuan had "vanished into the clouds," but he hadn't truly departed. He was still watching from outside the box, simply having closed the glass lid and observing through it.
Through his observations over the past few days, he had discovered that if he opened the lid to peer inside, Gao Yiye could perceive his "appearance in the clouds." However, if he watched through the glass, even Gao Yiye couldn't see him.
Humans were strange creatures! It was perfectly fine to watch openly, yet there was a peculiar thrill in watching secretly.
Witnessing the true personalities of Gao Yiye, San Shier, and the others, unleashed after the Heavenly Lord's "departure," was quite amusing.
Li Daoxuan felt that building temples and sculpting his likeness was entirely unnecessary. However, if the little people enjoyed making a fuss, he'd let them indulge; there was no need to interfere. With only forty-odd residents in the village, anything they intended to do would be impossible without sufficient manpower anyway. He'd simply watch what they came up with.
San Shier's first directive was for the villagers to bring out every oil jar and bottle from their homes. Each person filled their containers with rapeseed oil, and every household's vessels were brimming, yet still half a pool of oil remained.
Next, he organized the young, able-bodied men of the village to collectively lift the mineral water bottle cap, which was filled with the remaining oil. Like a swarm of ants moving a heavy load, they transported that half-cap of oil to his temporary small house, after which they would deal with the mound of flour.
All the flour Li Daoxuan had placed into the box was spherical. San Shier borrowed a millstone from the Village Chief and instructed Gao Chuwu and the other young men to grind the spherical flour into powder, making it look like ordinary flour.
As Gao Chuwu ground the flour, he grumbled, "Grandpa San, why do we have to crush them again? It's such a hassle!"
Gao Chuwu, with a simpleminded grin, suggested, "If the officials see it, just tell them the Heavenly Lord gave it to us."
San Shier "pat!" smacked him again. "You still don't get it! For years, the imperial court has been cracking down on the White Lotus Society, slaughtering all cultists and sorcerers without mercy. If I go around with spherical flour claiming it's a gift from the Heavenly Lord, it would be 'walking straight into a trap'!"
Gao Chuwu scratched his head. "Ow! Stop hitting me! I'm already dense enough; if you keep hitting my head, I'll get even dumber!"
Li Daoxuan found it highly amusing. He turned his attention to the other side, where Mrs. San sat with Gao Yiye under the eaves, holding a Daoist classic and reading aloud from it.
As Gao Yiye listened, her head felt like it would split in two, yet she diligently paid attention, striving to memorize, showing no intention of backing down.
The little people were working hard!
Li Daoxuan mused, "I should work hard too. For my own living, I'll take on another small job."
He opened his work messenger app and clicked on the contact who assigned tasks. "Hey bro, any work available these past couple of days? Toss another one my way, will ya?"
The other party chuckled. "Been waiting for you! Here, catch this one: monster design blueprints for a certain game company. They want the main color to be black, fierce, disgusting, something that makes you nauseous just looking at it. 800 yuan, due in two days."
-----
Two days passed in a flash.
At dusk, with the sun sinking in the west, Li Daoxuan stretched, loosening his limbs.
The client had just approved the deliverables; they were generally satisfied with his monster design, but felt it needed a pair of fangs. He added them at top speed, only for the client to decide fangs were too common and a long tongue would be better.
He then gave the monster a long tongue, but after reviewing it, the client thought the tongue should have barbs. So, he shrunk the fangs and affixed them to the tongue.
The client was extremely pleased, and Li Daoxuan's bank account gained 800 yuan.
Busy with work these past two days, he hadn't paid much attention to the little people in the box. Now that his task was complete, he finally had time to check in.
The moment he directed his attention into the box, he spotted San Shier leading a large group of ragged people through the city gate. Counting them, Li Daoxuan realized there were actually one hundred and two individuals.
The newcomers' eyes swept across Gao Family Village's "towering walls," likely awe-struck. They hesitantly shuffled into the village, standing awkwardly in the central clearing, unsure what to do with their hands or feet.
San Shier stood before the crowd and announced loudly, "Everything that needed saying, I've already told you halfway here. In short, once you're in Gao Family Village, you'll never lack for food. But let me be blunt: if you eat the Heavenly Lord's bounty, you must work for the Heavenly Lord. Do whatever the Heavenly Lord asks, obey diligently, and don't slack off. Otherwise... heheh..."
He paused deliberately, then chuckled darkly, his face twisting into a villainous sneer. "Going hungry will be the least of your worries. If you anger the Heavenly Lord, I promise you'll learn the true meaning of 'Divine Punishment'!"
Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly. *This guy, he's intimidating the newcomers! Making me out to be quite fierce.*
Just then, the Village Chief of Gao Family Village approached. "Grandpa San, who are these people?"
San Shier chuckled. "These are villagers from Wangjia Village, Zhengjia Village, Zhongjia Village, and several other nearby settlements. Wang Er's rebellion swept away most of their people, leaving their villages almost deserted. I went over and called out a few times, and they followed me here."
Humans were communal creatures; if a village's population dwindled past a certain point, the remaining inhabitants couldn't survive and would have to migrate elsewhere.
Originally, farmers were tied to their land, preventing them from wandering aimlessly. But after three years of severe drought, the land was utterly useless. A few people guarding a village of cracked, parched earth faced only a dead end.
The Village Chief looked a little awkward. "So many people all at once... where will they live? The village doesn't have enough houses."
San Shier grinned. "I couldn't care less where they live. I'll just provide them with food and let them figure it out."
The Village Chief suggested, "Perhaps... we should ring the bell again and ask the Heavenly Lord for help?"
San Shier's eyebrows shot up, and he glared angrily at the Village Chief. "Don't bother the Heavenly Lord with every little triviality! We only trouble the Heavenly Lord when we absolutely cannot solve a problem ourselves. If we can handle it, we should do our utmost to take care of it! Otherwise, one day, the Heavenly Lord will kick you square in the crotch and tell you to scram!"
Li Daoxuan, who had been cutting an aluminum can, paused, putting down his scissors and the can. *He has a point,* he thought. *Am I being too much of a nanny?*
He decided against cutting the aluminum can further. He would just watch how the little people solved the problem themselves.
Just then, his takeout arrived. Li Daoxuan picked up his shredded potato and pork with rice, eating while observing the box.
San Shier distributed a small bag of flour to each of the new villagers. These famished people, their faces pale with hunger, were overwhelmed with gratitude, tears streaming down their cheeks. They borrowed a pot, cooked a thick gruel, and ate their fill.
The sky was darkening. Unconcerned about having no shelter, they went outside, gathered some dry grass, piled it at the foot of the city wall, and lay down fully clothed. After all, it wasn't going to rain these days, so what did a roof matter?
No sooner had they settled than they noticed lights flickering on along the city wall, one after another, encircling Gao Family Village's massive rampart. Every ten paces, a lantern glowed, not with a candle, but with an oil lamp. The rapeseed oil burned with a fragrant aroma, casting a faint, dim light around the wall.
Two villagers, armed with bows and arrows, ascended the wall and began their patrol.
The new villagers were astonished: burning rapeseed oil like this? Just how wealthy was Gao Family Village?
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