Chapter 499: I Can Do It
Everyone respectfully waited to see how the Heavenly Lord would arrange their living quarters.
Just then, Gao Yiye raised her hands and declared loudly, "The Heavenly Lord is here!"
No sooner had she spoken than the clouds in the sky parted, and two colossal golden hands descended simultaneously. One hand held a massive iron plate. With this giant plate, it scraped the ground, carving out a path that led to the mouth of an adjacent valley.
Next, the enormous hand pressed into the valley. With a thunderous crash, the valley floor was flattened by the immense pressure. In that brief instant, another habitable valley was sculpted into existence.
But clearly, the Heavenly Lord was not satisfied!
Perhaps it felt that the newly opened small valley couldn't accommodate thirty thousand people. They needed not only living space but also room for textile and dyeing factories.
So, the giant golden hand focused on yet another adjacent valley. With another resounding smack, it flattened that valley's ground as well. Then, the enormous metal plate scraped the earth once more, and another road extended into place.
This process continued...
Before long, three new valleys had been successfully cleared. Combined with the original valley, this made a total of four valleys. The four roads converged, resembling the shape of a lucky four-leaf clover.
This entire spectacle was witnessed not only by the thirty thousand newly arrived refugees—the old, the weak, women, and children—but also by the ten thousand former bandits already undergoing labor reform.
This awe-inspiring, earth-shattering power left everyone trembling with fear.
Even those who had harbored thoughts of escape were now too terrified to even consider it.
Finally, the Heavenly Lord lowered a vibrantly colored fortress from the sky, which rose majestically at the central point where the roads from the four valleys converged.
Gao Yiye climbed to the top of the fortress and announced loudly, "The Heavenly Lord rewards good and punishes evil. Those who commit evil deeds will be punished according to the severity of their actions. Those whose wickedness was great, deserving of death, have already suffered divine punishment. The reason you are still alive now, witnessing all of this, is because your wrongdoings have not yet reached the point of deserving death..."
"The Heavenly Lord is merciful and has spared your lives. You are expected to dedicate yourselves wholeheartedly to labor, using your toil to cleanse your sins. The day your labor reform ends will be the day you are reborn."
The Guyuan rebels under Lao Nanfeng were the first to respond, "We will surely turn over a new leaf and become new people."
With them leading the way, the other labor reform prisoners also clamored, "Become new people!"
Boosted by this fervor, the thirty thousand new arrivals immediately found their spirits settling. They obediently followed the militia's arrangements, splitting into three groups, each entering a separate valley, and settling in.
The Heavenly Lord then rapidly bestowed a multitude of temporary plastic houses. Their eventual replacement with cement versions would be a story for later.
Shi Kefa, witnessing these thirty thousand troublesome people being managed with a mix of benevolence and power in such a short time, couldn't help but inwardly marvel. He looked up at the sky, his heart filled with complex emotions.
By this time, Gao Yiye had already led a large contingent of militia soldiers deep into the populace to commence grassroots work. Shi Kefa found no one to converse with, and somewhat dejectedly, he gathered his own thousand men, heading back with drooping spirits.
As they walked, a subordinate suddenly cried out, "Look, in the sky ahead!"
Shi Kefa looked up: The Heavenly Lord was flying towards them!
Of course, the Heavenly Lord did not actually fly. This was Li Daoxuan, without his Infinite Gauntlet, carrying a silicone Heavenly Lord statue with his hand as it "flew." Since others couldn't see his hand, they perceived the silicone figure to be truly soaring.
It flew to a spot not far in front of Shi Kefa, slowly descending and settling firmly. Then, the unseen hand retreated to the heavens. With Co-sensing activated, the silicone Heavenly Lord's expression subtly shifted, becoming strangely animated. Its mouth stretched into a stiff, uncanny smile: "Shi Kefa, we meet again."
Shi Kefa dared not delay, and immediately bowed deeply: "Greetings, Heavenly Lord!"
Li Daoxuan chuckled, "Well, what you've seen here, has it been interesting?"
Shi Kefa sighed deeply, "The blessings bestowed by the Heavenly Lord have truly broadened this humble official's horizons. Yet, with the Heavenly Lord's boundless power, why not extend these blessings across the entire world?"
Li Daoxuan: "Is this world yours, or mine? If you yourselves can't manage it properly, do you expect me to worry about everything? I give as I please; what I don't wish to give, you cannot demand!"
Shi Kefa was speechless.
The words held truth. Shi Kefa quickly bowed again, "This humble official was presumptuous."
Li Daoxuan suddenly cracked another smile: "However, I have already given you many things."
Shi Kefa looked bewildered.
Li Daoxuan pointed at his own head: "I've placed them right here, in your mind."
Shi Kefa hadn't felt anything particular before, but with that gesture, he suddenly felt a faint tickle in his mind. Indeed, it was as if something truly had grown within his thoughts.
He then pondered his experiences in Gao Family Village more carefully. He seemed to grasp something significant, and quickly bowed deeply once more: "This humble official understands."
"Good, it's enough that you understand!"
Li Daoxuan chuckled, "I reiterate my previous statement: Everything you have seen and heard here, you are free to report to the imperial court. That is your duty as a Jinyiwei, and I do not blame you. However, consider carefully what should be reported and what should not, otherwise... the imperial court will certainly encounter unnecessary trouble."
Having said this, Li Daoxuan shot into the air, vanishing instantly.
Shi Kefa bowed to the sky once more, bidding farewell to the departing Heavenly Lord. As he lowered his gaze, he felt an immense weight settle in his heart.
Everything he had witnessed here, though much of it remained beyond his comprehension, had profoundly shaken him.
It was as if flowers had bloomed in his mind, giving rise to a chaotic profusion of ideas.
He sorted through them again and again!
Finally, he made a decision: The matter of the Heavenly Lord would not be reported. Otherwise, the imperial court might mistake this place for a White Lotus cult, insisting on sending troops to suppress it. That would be courting disaster.
As for the extraordinarily high grain yields here, that could certainly be reported. The Saintess had said that mortals could now produce Celestial Fertilizer. He would buy a packet of Celestial Fertilizer from the Gao Family business district, take it back to present to the imperial court, claiming it was a discovery by the artisans of Gao Family Village, so the court could replicate and promote it.
Once the grain output of our Great Ming court increased, wouldn't that be a magnificent boon?
As long as there was enough grain, no problem would be insurmountable.
The revival of the Great Ming Dynasty would then be within reach.
Shi Kefa's spirits lifted. "I am still young," he thought, "and I can do it."
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