Chapter 46: More Catapults
Mr. Bai was truly astonished.
Just like when San Shier first arrived in the village, Mr. Bai hadn't believed in "Dao Xuan Tian Zun" at all, thinking him merely another cult deity like the "Unborn Mother." But now, he was beginning to believe.
After all, no one in ancient times was a true atheist.
Even a small divine miracle was enough to shake an ancient person's faith.
At that moment, Gao Chuwu, Zheng Daniu, and others gathered around the catapult, chattering excitedly about the one whose throwing arm was already upright.
Gao Chuwu, in his usual earnest manner, said, "This thing, after throwing once, the big scoop just stands upright. It seems unusable, doesn't it?"
Li Da, as an official artisan who had seen more machines than anyone, immediately spotted the crucial issue: "We need to press the big scoop back down and lock it into this mechanism before it can be used a second time."
"How do we get it down?"
"Isn't that obvious? Gao Chuwu, you're great at climbing trees. You go up first, tie the Divine Rope around the scoop's neck, then a few of us will pull hard together, yank it down, and it'll lock into the mechanism."
Gao Chuwu, nimble as a monkey, scrambled up the throwing arm.
The throwing arm, when upright, was over two *zhang* high—no more than a tall tree to him. In no time, he climbed to the scoop, tied the leftover Divine Rope from the city gate construction around it, and then slid back down.
Several villagers grabbed the rope, pulling together as if in a tug-of-war. "Heave-ho! Heave-ho! One, two, three!" they chanted, yanking the rope together. And indeed, they managed to pull the throwing arm down. Li Da and Gao Yiyi, the two blacksmiths, exerted their combined strength, striking it hard with hammers. *Clang!* The throwing arm locked back into its mechanism.
"We did it!"
The villagers cheered, "We've learned how to use the immortal weapons!"
Mr. Bai snapped out of his shock. Now, neither in his words nor his heart did he curse anything as a "cult" or not. Waving his hand at the villagers, he declared, "More people! Everyone, put your strength into pushing this catapult to the open ground behind the city gate. Aim it outside the city. When the mountain bandits come, we'll launch stones and crush them to death!"
The villagers cheered, "Alright!"
A large group ran over to push. Li Daoxuan had been worried they wouldn't be able to move it, but then he saw the villagers find tree branches as thick as a child's arm. Arranging them in rows on the ground, they created rollers. After pushing the catapult onto the branches, they could easily roll it away.
Well, these villagers, though uneducated and unworldly, were incredibly experienced when it came to "heavy labor." They didn't need Li Daoxuan's intervention; in fact, they were more professional than he was.
Watching the villagers push the catapults, Mr. Bai thought to himself: "These immortal catapults are excellent, but if there's only one... it doesn't feel like enough."
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind...
Gao Yiye loudly announced, "The Heavenly Lord says, since everyone has learned how to use them, he will bestow a few more upon us! Those people behind the city wall, please make way!"
Mr. Bai was startled, quickly turning his head to look.
The villagers behind the city wall scattered in all directions.
Another catapult descended from the sky. This time, it was already perfectly positioned as it landed, stirring up a plume of dust. Then came another, and another, and another...
In the blink of an eye, a row of twenty catapults stood behind the city wall, each a different color.
There were green ones, blue ones, gray ones, and even red ones...
They were vibrant and multi-colored, gaudy and outlandish, much like the irreverent colors of the city wall itself.
Mr. Bai: "!!!"
Such a bizarre spectacle truly opened his eyes.
Seeing the multi-colored catapults, he immediately understood: Gao Family Village's inexplicably massive city wall must also have been bestowed by immortals, hence the matching, odd-colored materials.
At this point, the villagers habitually began to kneel again. A swathe of Gao Family Village residents dropped to their knees with a rustle, prostrating themselves before the sky. "We humbly thank the Heavenly Lord!" they cried.
Mr. Bai turned his head and realized his own tenants had also knelt, joining the Gao Family Village residents in shouting skyward, "We humbly thank the Heavenly Lord!"
Even his dozen or so family guards were now trembling at the knees, on the verge of collapsing into a kowtow.
While Mr. Bai was still dazed, San Shier tugged at his sleeve. "Mr. Bai, there are now twenty more catapults. They need operators, so you'll have to rearrange things."
"Ah?" Mr. Bai snapped out of his reverie, mentally stuffing the exclamation marks floating above his head back into his brain. He quickly regained his composure and shouted orders: "You two blacksmiths, when the battle begins, don't go up to the city wall. Stay behind it and guard these catapults. When I tell you to smash, use your hammers to forcefully strike down the catapult mechanisms!"
Li Da and Gao Yiyi promptly acknowledged.
Mr. Bai furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then pointed at a group of elders and women in the village: "The rest of you, join the blacksmiths' group. You'll be responsible for reloading the catapults' big scoops with stones."
The elders and women looked a little bewildered. They were the old, the weak, and the women—where would they find the strength for such work?
Mr. Bai pointed at the Divine Rope tied to the catapult: "Although you may not have much strength individually, working together to pull this rope should still allow you to bring it down. Then, just move a smaller stone into the scoop, and that will be enough."
The group of elders and women quickly went to try it. And wouldn't you know it, as long as enough people pulled the rope, it actually worked.
Li Da and Gao Yiyi glanced at their new positions, then looked up at Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu, who were standing on the front lines of the battle on the city wall. The two blacksmiths simply stripped off their Two-Plate Armor and loudly called out, "Chuwu, Daniu, come here! These two sets of Two-Plate Armor are for you!"
The two young men didn't stand on ceremony, happily donning the Two-Plate Armor.
They were already young, strong, and tall. Now, clad in armor, they truly looked formidable.
Mr. Bai watched from the side, a doubt gnawing at his mind. Concealing iron armor was a capital crime, punishable by death. But then again... he considered the bandits who had attacked Bai Family Fortress. What crime did *they* commit? No one cared! The Provincial Governor himself had declared, "Things will settle themselves by next spring."
Even if the Provincial Governor learned about these two sets of iron armor in Gao Family Village, he'd probably just say, "The villagers forged armor to strike down bandits; when the bandit situation settles next spring, the matter of the armor will be settled as well."
Time ticked away...
In the evening, as the sun began to set, it seemed to dance a drunken boxing routine across the sky, its movements erratic, as if it might tumble below the horizon at any moment.
Li Daoxuan's takeout arrived: Shredded Pork with Garlic Sauce over rice, along with another complimentary 300ml mini-Coke. He devoured the meal, alternating bites with sips of soda, utterly delighted.
But suddenly, the little figures in Gao Family Village grew boisterous, a clamorous sound drifting from the box.
Li Daoxuan glanced into the box. "Oh, the main bandit force has arrived!"
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