Chapter 649: The Outfit Is Finished |
Defending the city was no challenge whatsoever for Gaojia Village at its current state.
Firearm soldiers armed with Sharps Rifles stood guard atop sturdy city walls, rendering the settlement they protected a fortress that could hardly have been conquered even if the highest sovereign himself descended.
But…
The people of Gaojia Village differed fundamentally from the imperial court.
The court could hunker down behind impregnable walls, indifferent to the plight of peasants in the countryside.
Gaojia Village, however, could not.
Upon hearing the messenger’s report, Xing Honglang didn’t entertain the notion of “defending the city” for even a second. Her foremost concern was protecting the “salt villages.”
The forty-li stretch encircling Jie Pond was entirely occupied by Gaojia Village’s salt villages. Many salt craftsmen resided there, managing vast salt pans, while blue hat technical workers also lived in these villages, tasked with operating steam piston pumps for drawing water.
Moreover, several factories had been constructed around Hedong City. One was a salt refinery that processed the crude salt made by the craftsmen using “celestial realm” methods, transforming it into purer, snow-white table salt devoid of bitterness.
The surroundings of Hedong City had everywhere taken on the shape of Gaojia Village.
These were assets that demanded protection.
Reflecting on this, Xing Honglang felt the weight of responsibility pressing heavily upon her shoulders.
Gaojia Village’s scouts urgently fanned out toward Jincheng, determined to expose the minutest movements of the rebels, ensuring not a single maneuver could stealthily approach Hedong City unseen.
Meanwhile…
Inside Pu Textile Factory No. 1.
Steam spinning machines roared rhythmically as female workers operated them with practiced motions.
This year brought Puzhou a bountiful harvest; cotton farmers gladly accepted sacks of payment while their harvested cotton was gathered and transported to the textile factory. There, steam spinning machines transmuted the raw cotton into yarn and cloth.
In a small office at the back of Pu Textile Factory No. 1.
Gao Yiye threaded a needle, meticulously performing final stitches. After a while, she suddenly stood up, lifting a piece of cotton clothes from the table before her. With a brisk shake, the fabric unfurled—a handsome martial hero’s outfit.
“Ta-da!” Gao Yiye tilted her head, beaming. “Deity, Deity! Look! It’s done! The hero’s outfit I made for you is finally finished!”
The design for this hero’s outfit, naturally, had been provided by Li Daoxuan, infused with a postmodern wuxia aesthetic. Interwoven with threads of gold and silver, it radiated opulence.
Seated across the table, the Test–02 Deity figure—who had begun to doze off—was roused by her call. Rising, he smiled. “Excellent! I’ll try it on then.”
He was about to change!
But Gao Yiye showed not the slightest intention to turn away. Instead, she leaned in closer, appearing ready to help him undress.
Li Daoxuan chuckled uncertainly. “Ah… Isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”
Gao Yiye bit her lower lip playfully. “No problem at all! When this statue of the Deity was still in production… I’d already seen it. And back then, it wasn’t wearing even a scrap of clothing~”
Li Daoxuan: “…”
This was utterly absurd!
When he wasn’t sharing sensory input with the figure, it was merely an inanimate object—like a tailor’s mannequin. Dressing or undressing a display model felt perfectly normal.
But now, while synced with this figure… it felt like his own body! That made it fundamentally different from some store dummy. Allowing a woman to disrobe and redress him… something distinctly strange shimmered within that sensation.
However…
Speaking of such strange affairs would make one appear too attached.
Devotee, you cannot be attached!
How could it be good for others to know he was a pure, innocent little boy?
He raised his hands flatly and said, “Change it!”
Gao Yiye’s little face flushed slightly, her heart feeling mildly unsettled. In truth, she shared Li Daoxuan’s thoughts: when the Deity was not possessing the statue, she felt nothing no matter how she handled it. But when the Deity was possessing it, changing its clothes sparked a small thrill in her heart.
Ah, ah! She really was a bad girl.
With a red face, she peeled off Li Daoxuan’s robe, revealing the smooth silicone body. As she stripped the clothes, she pretended her hand slipped and lightly touched the Deity’s form…
The sensation felt remarkably like touching human skin.
It was as if she had truly touched the Deity!
Her feelings ran deep, tangled within her innermost depths—impossible to unravel, and she thought of it daily.
Biting her lower lip, she swiftly changed the Deity into the new outfit.
Only after it was fully dressed did she step back several paces, her mood finally calming somewhat. She fetched a mirror and showed it to the Deity.
Actually, the Deity didn’t need a mirror. He simply had to end the “cosense,” float his consciousness to his main body outside the box, then use that body to peer inside it, allowing a head-to-toe, 360-degree view with no blind spots to judge how handsome his model appeared.
Gao Yiye made this set of hero’s outfit for him to wear, feeling like the great hero Guo Jing—ah, no, Yang Kang.
Yang Kang’s clothes looked far better than Guo Jing’s.
Li Daoxuan wouldn’t wear Guo Jing’s clothes anyway; top priority was looking handsome, and everything else was secondary.
He laughed and spoke, “The clothes are made very well; I like them immensely.”
Gao Yiye exclaimed joyfully, “If the Deity likes them, that’s best of all.”
Li Daoxuan chuckled, “My clothes are done. Yours?”
Gao Yiye replied, “Mine is also ready; I’ll put it on and show you, Deity.”
With that, she pulled out another set of hero’s outfit from the cabinet—female style—and got ready to change into it.
She wasted no time; right in front of Li Daoxuan, she began unbuttoning.
Li Daoxuan shook his head, smiling and thinking: This little girl truly doesn’t avoid me at all?
However…
Ever since gaining the “focus” ability that let his vision penetrate walls, her avoiding him or not made little difference. Li Daoxuan solely relied on his gentlemanly cultivation to restrain himself.
Respecting women couldn’t just be an empty slogan.
Li Daoxuan closed his eyes. After a long while, he reopened them and saw Gao Yiye already clad in the hero’s outfit. Tsk, pretty nice—it was a style Li Daoxuan favored, Huang Rong’s design, except with an extra Deity Statue embroidered in gold thread over her chest.
As for Yang Kang’s clothes and Huang Rong’s clothes forming a pair, it wasn’t the focal point and should be ignored.
“So? Am I pretty?” Gao Yiye giggled, twirling around.
“Pretty!”
“We agreed: once the clothes were finished, you’d take me out to enjoy myself. To Luoyang!”
“Fine, fine, to Luoyang.”
Li Daoxuan said, “But you must prepare yourself. Luoyang was just devastated by a massive flood in June; nearly half the Henan plain turned into the Yellow Flood Zone. Perhaps… the scenery isn’t as lovely as you imagined.”
Gao Yiye nodded slowly, “I’m ready. To see the world’s suffering and save the masses with the Deity.”