Chapter 722: The Heavenly Lord's Sky Lantern
Li Daoxuan chuckled, watching the "Twelve Widows of Tianbo Mansion" rehearse for a while.
The girls' graceful, though somewhat lacking in power, movements certainly lacked true force, but that wasn't a significant problem. With a bit of post-production editing, highlighting their strengths and downplaying their weaknesses, the footage would be perfectly usable.
After all, audiences of this era wouldn't have the same high expectations for film performances as those in later generations. They'd likely overlook minor imperfections, accepting them as part of the act.
"You keep practicing for now," he instructed. "I'll return when the official performance begins."
Li Daoxuan finished speaking, then performed a Co-sensing projection, shifting his consciousness to the tiny Heavenly Lord statue woven from cotton thread on Shi Jian's chest.
This was Gao Family Village's only active fighting force at the moment, and he needed to pay close attention.
The moment he shifted over, he sensed something amiss in the atmosphere.
Shi Jian looked weary, and Zheng Gouzi beside him wore a grim expression. Shi Jian's entire squad was moving slowly, cautiously advancing.
Li Daoxuan's gaze swept around, revealing that Shi Jian's unit was traversing a deep ravine, with slopes exceeding forty-five degrees rising on both sides.
The sight of his little people bearing wounds instantly unsettled Li Daoxuan.
A wave of fierce anger washed over him, as if seeing his own pet cat scratched by another's: "Someone's hurt!"
Shi Jian and Zheng Gouzi heard his voice and were simultaneously overjoyed. "Ah, greetings, Heavenly Lord!"
Li Daoxuan asked, "What's happening here?"
Shi Jian reported, "Reporting to the Heavenly Lord, this area is riddled with ravines and challenging terrain. Bandits frequently ambush us in these gullies. We've tried to advance as slowly as possible to avoid traps, but our scout teams, moving ahead, are almost impossible to protect from surprise attacks. So..."
Li Daoxuan understood.
This truly was a troublesome situation!
This area lay outside his expanded Field of View, preventing him from observing from above or lifting his little people to survey their surroundings from mid-air.
How, then, could he help his little people with reconnaissance?
The squad did carry a CC-01 Reconnaissance Heavenly Lord with them, but the miniature Heavenly Lord's mobility was poor; it took half a day to cover even a few miles, making it unsuitable for this kind of terrain.
What method could he use to scout for his little people in such conditions?
A lightbulb *pinged* above Li Daoxuan's head. "Can any of you make a Kongming lantern?"
"Yes, we can," several soldiers replied, "but not as well as a professional lantern maker."
Several soldiers raised their hands.
Kongming lanterns weren't particularly difficult to make; many soldiers had dabbled with them or had experience crafting their own.
Li Daoxuan instructed, "Excellent. Construct a Kongming lantern, paint my image on all four sides, then attach a cotton thread. Release it into the sky, allowing it to hover directly above your heads."
The soldiers didn't understand the purpose, but they knew to follow orders.
Soon, some began the task.
There was no bamboo readily available, but that was a minor obstacle. Some soldiers carried bamboo-tube rice, so they shaved off a few thin, lightweight strips from the bamboo tubes.
They then assembled a rectangular frame and pasted paper walls onto its four sides.
Creating an image of the Heavenly Lord on the paper walls, however, presented a challenge...
But someone quickly pulled out a copy of "The Heavenly Lord Dao Xuan's Demon-Slaying Chronicles" from their pocket, cut out the Heavenly Lord's image from the illustrated storybook, and pasted it onto the four sides of the Kongming lantern.
In short order, the Kongming lantern was complete.
Shi Jian personally ignited the lamp oil inside...
The Kongming lantern slowly ascended, trailing a long cotton thread, and drifted into the sky. Zheng Gouzi held the end of the thread, as if flying a kite.
Then, the Heavenly Lord's face, painted on the lantern's paper, sprang to life, blinked, and began surveying the ground below...
The Heavenly Lord from Shi Jian's chest spoke, "Three hundred meters to your front-right, look, that narrow gully. Behind the large rock at its entrance, there are a dozen or so unsavory characters hiding. Deal with them."
Shi Jian was overjoyed. He waved a hand and issued a low command.
Two scouts galloped their horses towards the narrow gully.
Inside the gully, fifteen hardened bandits were hiding behind a rock, hunkered down. Seeing the scouts approach, the bandits chuckled quietly, "They're here! The government scouts are back, and this time there are two of them."
"Get ready, everyone. If these two dare enter the gully, we'll rush out, drag them from their horses, hack them to death, steal their steeds, and disappear deeper into the ravine."
Their plans laid out...
The two scouts had now reached the gully's entrance.
The fifteen hardened bandits sharpened their blades, eager for battle...
Suddenly, the two scouts lit two small black spheres, and with a flick of their wrists, tossed them behind the rock.
All fifteen hardened bandits stared blankly. "What are those things?"
"Boom! Boom!"
Two explosions erupted, and all fifteen hardened bandits crumpled to the ground simultaneously.
The Heavenly Lord, now residing in the Kongming lantern, let out a soft "Hmph."
Next, the tiny Heavenly Lord statue on Shi Jian's chest spoke, "The ambushers are all down. This gully is safe... Now, pay attention to the gully entrance two hundred meters to your front-left. A different ambush team was startled. They've sprung from the grass and are turning to flee. Pursue them swiftly!"
Shi Jian quickly cracked his whip and personally spurred his horse in pursuit. Zheng Gouzi and three scouts swiftly followed suit. All five were mounted, their horses galloping with incredible speed, reaching the gully entrance two hundred meters away in the blink of an eye.
They glanced into the gully and, sure enough, seven or eight brigands were running frantically, scrambling deeper into the ravine.
Shi Jian, Zheng Gouzi, and the three scouts simultaneously raised their flintlock rifles.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
The fleeing figures were struck from behind and successively tumbled to the ground.
The militia soldiers immediately erupted in cheers: "The Heavenly Lord has arrived, and it's truly different!"
"With the Heavenly Lord's blessing, we no longer need to walk in fear!"
"All hail the mighty Heavenly Lord!"
Li Daoxuan was, in fact, having a blast. This Co-sensing experience, floating in mid-air within the Kongming lantern and looking down at the earth, was distinct from observing the box from the outside.
The level of immersion was incomparable!
Watching from outside the box always felt just a *little* bit detached.
But Co-sensing inside the box? The immersion was absolute.
It was the difference between playing a game with a mouse and playing it with a VR headset.
Simply no comparison.
Just then, Li Daoxuan suddenly noticed a mountain gully stretching northwest for several kilometers before opening into a small valley.
Within the valley, a distant force bore a banner emblazoned with the character 'Xue,' indicating they were bandits from Xue Hongqi's division.
Following the valley further northwest, another government force was visible in the distance.
It was the garrison army led by Yansui Governor Chen Qiyu, currently stationed in a temple several kilometers to the northwest.
The tiny Heavenly Lord statue spoke, "Xue Hongqi's division intends to ambush Chen Qiyu."
Shi Jian murmured in surprise, "This official, Chen Qiyu—should we save him?"
Li Daoxuan declared, "Save him!"
He had long since dispatched people to Yan'an Prefecture to inquire about Chen Qiyu. The official was reputedly honest, and in the half-year since taking office, while fending off marauding rebels, he had initiated coal mining operations and water conservancy projects, doing much good for the common people. The people of Shaanxi esteemed him; he was, by all accounts, a commendable official.
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