Chapter 526: Clear the Way, We're Here to Rescue
Qiu Qianfan saw that the noblewoman wouldn't be dissuaded, insisting on going to such a dangerous, desolate place. He stopped trying to talk her out of it and simply pointed the way: "The Jiguanshan Iron Mine at Shuiyukou isn't far from the city, just five *li* to the southwest. After you leave the South Gate, follow the earthen official road for five *li*, climb a small slope, and you'll be there."
After giving directions, he rushed back to the Prefectural Yamen, ordering his secretary to organize civilian laborers to re-excavate the iron mine. This wasn't just to save lives, but also to ensure the mine could continue operating in the future. It was a government-owned iron mine, and they couldn't just abandon it because of a collapse.
Gao Yiye, meanwhile, hurried out of the textile factory. Outside, guards had already prepared a carriage for her. The three women quickly climbed inside, while the hundred-plus guards, all mounted, swung onto their horses and followed, the entire party galloping towards the Jiguanshan Iron Mine at Shuiyukou.
The five *li* distance passed in a flash. After climbing a short, not-too-steep slope, they reached the mid-slope where a small mining village was situated. Dust filled the air throughout the village, with many figures scrambling around in the haze, running about like headless flies. Cries and screams echoed everywhere.
As soon as Gao Yiye and her group entered the village, they were enveloped in the dust, their visibility severely limited. They could only see pale-faced, panic-stricken villagers occasionally rushing past them.
Padi Tu reached out and grabbed a villager, shouting: "I can't see a thing! What exactly happened here?"
The villager replied: "It's the dust stirred up by the landslide on the slope. The mine shaft, the mine shaft is buried! Dozens of people are still trapped inside!"
Padi Tu: "Ugh? It's hard to do anything when you can't see."
Gao Yiye: "Don't panic, the Heavenly Lord is about to act! Tell everyone to grab onto something nearby, or they'll be blown away by the wind."
The common folk scrambling in the dust were already terrified. At this moment, they desperately needed guidance. Hearing someone shout, they complied without thinking.
Some hugged nearby trees, others clung to house pillars, and some even embraced large rocks.
Immediately after, a gust of fierce wind swept across the sky. With a whoosh, the dust blanketing the entire village was instantly swept clean, and visibility became clear in an instant.
No one else noticed, but Gao Yiye had kept her gaze fixed on the sky. She saw it: the Heavenly Lord wielded an enormous fan, waving it once across the sky... Could that be the legendary Plantain Fan? No, no, it couldn't be. The Heavenly Lord's fan had a truly peculiar shape. It had a yellow monster drawn on it, with the three characters "Pikachu" written next to it. She had no idea what it meant. Could the name of this magical fan be "Pikachu"?
Only then did the villagers see the large group that had entered the village. At the front were three young women, clearly a wealthy lady and her maids. Behind them, over a hundred guards were meticulously equipped, armed to the teeth.
This group clearly possessed significant power and brought a sense of reassurance.
The common folk rushed over, crowding around Gao Yiye and her companions, speaking all at once: "Lady, save us!"
"The mine pit is buried!"
"So many people are buried inside!"
"Please save my husband..."
Gao Yiye: "Where is the mine pit?"
The villagers quickly led the way, and the group soon arrived at the edge of the slope. Here, there was a massive pit, dug for hundreds of years, no one knew how long. A shaft was visible in the pit wall, but its entrance was completely blocked by a massive amount of mud and rocks.
Everyone couldn't help but glance upwards. These mud and rocks must have slid down from the hillside, rather than collapsing from inside the shaft. So, the debris only covered the entrance. This meant the people inside the shaft could still be saved.
A group of villagers had already rushed forward and begun digging at the mud and rocks.
Padi Tu called out loudly: "Let's help too! If we dig away these mud and rocks, we can save the people inside. Everyone, quickly get to work!"
Zheng Gouzi shook his head: "There's too much debris from this collapse, piled up to an unknown depth. Even with our hundred people, plus the villagers, less than two hundred in total, how long would it take to clear all this collapsed debris by hand and shoulder? By then, the people in the mine shaft would surely be dead."
Padi Tu: "Then I'll put my specialty to use! This Rabbit Lord will dig a small hole and burrow in to bring the people out."
Zheng Gouzi: "Don't be foolish. This collapsed debris is very loose; you can't dig a small hole through it. You'd get buried too."
Padi Tu: "Oh dear... oh dear... What are we going to do?"
The tiny Heavenly Lord embroidered on Gao Yiye's collarbone spoke: "Evacuate the common folk. Tell them to stop moving stones and retreat further back."
Hearing the Heavenly Lord speak, the militia's spirits brightened: "The Heavenly Lord is going to act personally!"
Everyone quickly shouted at those who were moving the mud and rocks: "Everyone, move back, move back! Stop moving them for now."
The villagers: "How can we stop moving them? There are still people inside!"
"My brother is still in there."
"My husband is in there."
Gao Yiye: "If you move back, it will be easier for us to rescue them."
Her appearance was sweet, and her demeanor kind, instilling a profound sense of reassurance in everyone. The common folk were reluctant to trust the militia soldiers, but they were willing to trust Gao Yiye. They put down their work and retreated.
"Retreat further!" Gao Yiye said: "Everyone, pull back thirty meters... no, ten *zhang* away!"
Gao Family Village had already started using "meters" as a unit of length, but people outside the village didn't know what a "meter" was, so she had to switch to *zhang*.
The villagers were a little confused, thinking: *Even if they think we're getting in the way, there's no need to retreat so far, is there? If we stay closer, we can still help at any time.*
"Retreat! Retreat!" Gao Yiye didn't care if they were confused or not; she continued to urge the villagers back. Only when they had moved more than thirty meters away did Gao Yiye lower her head and say to the embroidered Heavenly Lord: "It's done."
"Hm!" The embroidered Heavenly Lord ended the co-sensing, and with a swift whoosh, returned to its true form outside the box.
Looking down into the box, the massive pile of mud and rocks that would take days for the little people to clear was, to Li Daoxuan, merely a heap of miniature rocks in a flowerpot.
He went out to the balcony and retrieved a small shovel. It was a gardening trowel, specifically for planting flowers on a balcony, no bigger than his palm. He took it and returned to the box.
At this moment, the villagers were growing anxious. They had retreated thirty meters, expecting to make way for the "noblewoman's" subordinates, assuming the hundred-plus soldiers would come forward to move stones and dig away the mud. To their surprise, that group stood completely still, looking as if they intended to watch a spectacle.
The villagers looked perplexed.
Just as they were filled with doubt, all one hundred soldiers raised their heads and looked toward the sky, cheering, "Woah!" and "Here it comes, here it comes!"
The villagers couldn't help but follow suit, looking up at the sky...
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