Chapter 241
“Yeah, which family hasn’t lost someone in the past years? These last few months... it seems like we haven’t heard of any daughters being taken, any elders starving to death, or any children dying from lack of milk.”
“I know of a few deaths. Besides those struck by lightning in the valley, they all died on the mountain.”
“There’s nothing we can do about it.” Someone shook their head. “The rain in the mountains is heavy, and the paths are slippery. You never know when someone might fall…”
“Who doesn’t die on the mountain? If no one died, where would the mountain mushrooms come from? I say, life in Ban Shan Cheng has been good enough; it’s like a dream!”
…
“Xiao Qing, go find some people to check how many mountain mushrooms are in these jars,” said the Lord of Thunder as soon as Xiao Qing stepped into the temple.
“Jars?” Xiao Qing slapped her forehead, remembering the jars blessed by the Lord of Thunder.
“Mountain mushrooms? Can they really grow in jars?”
Curiously, she pulled out the jars from behind the statues.
Then she went outside to call over a few elders.
A group of people began to pick the mountain mushrooms from the jars.
Ban Shan Cheng didn’t really have any precise measurements or weights. Or rather, no one collected taxes, and there wasn’t much trade, so such things had gradually been forgotten.
Thus, the count of mountain goods was done by baskets.
The group busily counted the mountain mushrooms in the jars.
Xiao Qing ran back to report:
“Lord of Thunder, the jar with the least has at least one-tenth of a basket.”
“And the most has two-thirds of a basket!”
“Are the most mushrooms ones you used to eat?”
“Yeah! We used to eat them often!”
Xiao Qing nodded.
Zheng Fa looked at the large half-basket of mountain mushrooms, surprised—this yield was astonishing!
It even surpassed the highest-yielding mushroom farms in modern times.
But to be honest, Zheng Fa’s current conditions were quite rudimentary.
Perhaps it was just the variety that was different.
The most important factor was still the spiritual energy in the environment:
With spiritual energy, many vegetables in the nursing home grew tall and strong.
The spiritual energy in the Tian Bei realm was abundant.
Zheng Fa began to understand why Ban Shan Cheng could support tens of thousands of people.
The spiritual energy brought harsh thunderstorms to the Tian Bei realm.
But on the other hand, it also nurtured the beings within the realm…
…
“Lord of Thunder, are you saying… these jars can grow mountain mushrooms by themselves?”
Xiao Qing stared blankly at the statue, seeming to doubt the Lord of Thunder.
“They don’t grow by themselves. You use these wood shavings and straw to come to my temple—after the blessing, you can plant the mountain mushrooms in them, and you can grow them at home. It doesn’t have to be in clay jars, but you need to be careful; if other types of mushrooms grow, they can’t be eaten.”
Zheng Fa explained.
The initial strains and culture mediums had been selected.
Naturally, he wanted to promote this in Ban Shan Cheng, or rather, to promote it in the sealed earth.
Ban Shan Cheng was more of an experimental base.
After all, although Xiao Qing was young, she was quite capable.
The results produced in Ban Shan Cheng would be easier to promote to other gathering points.
“No need to go up the mountain, and we can eat mountain mushrooms?”
An old man said, dazed.
The others were equally stunned.
“We can even eat our fill!” someone calculated, “One jar has half a basket; if we grow more, it’ll be enough for us!”
“…”
After these people left, Xiao Qing sat on a cushion, smiling proudly: “They were saying that life lately feels like a dream.”
“If you ask me, they can’t dream of such a good life!”
“Because there’s no Lord of Thunder in their dreams!”
Zheng Fa watched Xiao Qing mumble, but soon saw her start to cry.
“Lord of Thunder…”
“Hmm?”
Looking at Xiao Qing’s tear-streaked face, Zheng Fa felt puzzled.
In his impression, Xiao Qing had always been strong.
Even when she was so hungry that she stole offerings, he hadn’t seen her shed a tear.
But now, she was crying without saying a word.
Zheng Fa tried to listen to her heart, but it seemed she didn’t even know why.
After all, she was just a mortal, and she cried herself to sleep against the base of the statue.
It seemed she was dreaming.
“Mom, I don’t want to eat mountain mushrooms anymore… Dad, I want Mom to come back…”
“Dad… we have food now…”
Zheng Fa’s heart jolted.
Suddenly, he understood why Xiao Qing was crying.
“Mom is gone, and Dad is gone.” In her dream, Xiao Qing’s brows furrowed tighter, as if she was having a bad dream.
“I want to protect the temple left by Dad…”
“…”
“Lord of Thunder, don’t go…”
…
Xiao Qing slept in the temple all night.
She was awakened by a commotion outside.
Peeking out, she saw that everyone from the city had come.
They were carrying burdens, shovels, and various tools, ready to get to work.
“What are you all doing?”
In her daze, Xiao Qing even thought the Pīlì Jiào (Thunder Sect) had returned.
“Repairing the temple!”
The first person said.
“Repair the temple?” Xiao Qing looked confused.
“We’re going to build a bigger and better temple for the Lord of Thunder!”
As soon as he said this, everyone behind him cheered in agreement.
Zheng Fa looked out from the temple at their expressions—calling them fanatics would be an understatement.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 228: Snatching Men
“Lord of Thunder said! You shouldn’t build a temple!” Xiao Qing shouted to the crowd, “Disperse!”
But to her surprise, the people didn’t budge at all; they just stared at her.
“You… don’t even listen to the Lord of Thunder’s words?”
“It’s not that we don’t listen…” The leading man turned to the crowd and said to Xiao Qing, “It’s just that we’re not at ease.”
Xiao Qing was taken aback.
He continued, “We can’t just take the Lord of Thunder’s mountain mushrooms for free.”
“…”
“What if… the Lord of Thunder thinks we’re ungrateful and leaves?”
Xiao Qing’s face turned pale, and she slowly nodded her head.
“So you’ve turned traitor?”
Zheng Fa looked at Xiao Qing beneath the statue, feeling a bit speechless.
Is she really that afraid of me leaving?
Xiao Qing, feeling embarrassed, said, “Well… they do have a point.”
Zheng Fa still wasn’t keen on repairing any temple. These people had just started enjoying a better life; building a temple was too big of a project, a drain on resources.
If it truly benefited him, that would be one thing.
But all he wanted was the heavenly merit; it was more important for these people to live well…
“Alright, you go talk to them about clearing the land in the valley below.”
“Clearing the land?” Xiao Qing asked, confused. “What does that mean?”
“…”
Zheng Fa planned to use the Tian Bei realm as the base for the Jiu Shan Sect.
He liked to prepare for the worst—
For instance, due to researching new methods, the Jiu Shan Sect might be jointly targeted by both the Immortal and Demonic sects.
Then the Tian Bei realm would need to have higher productivity—able to produce spiritual plants and materials, sustain the Jiu Shan Sect, and even provide a steady stream of disciples.
Developing agriculture was imperative.
Zheng Fa didn’t know if Ban Shan Cheng had a history of farming, but it certainly didn’t now.
They lived a lifestyle based on hunting and gathering.
Thus, Xiao Qing didn’t even know what clearing land meant.
Previously, Zheng Fa hadn’t allowed them to cultivate fields, partly because his control over the thunder laws was insufficient to provide a stable climate for crops.
On the other hand, he was also concerned about the physical condition of the residents of Ban Shan Cheng—they were in such poor shape that farming could be deadly.
Now that these people had been well-nourished for two months, Zheng Fa felt a bit more at ease.
More importantly, even without mastering the spiritual wood thunder, Zheng Fa had developed ideas for cultivating spiritual plants using the Fusang tree.
He could start preparing for farming.
…
In the valley.
The people of Ban Shan Cheng were divided into two groups.
One group was fishing in the river with nets.
The other group, led by Xiao Qing, was clearing land by the riverbank.
Most of those clearing land were women and children; the work wasn’t heavy—the soil in the valley was soft, formed from accumulated silt, making it quite fertile and easy to turn.
Their main task was to pull out weeds and clear stones from the land.
Beside Xiao Qing was a little boy who was pulling weeds while gazing at the boats in the river.
Or rather, he was staring at the lively fish on those boats.
As he watched, the boy’s mouth nearly watered.
“What’s wrong? Want to go fishing?” Seeing his expression, Xiao Qing laughed.
“No!” To her surprise, the little boy wiped his mouth and shook his head vigorously.
“Hmm?”
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