Chapter 527
Li Mo: "??"
"Fairy sister, you can't be directionally challenged, can you?"
"How could that be? I was just lost in thought."
"True."
That day, the fairy sister must have come specifically to save him.
Though he didn't know the reason, if she were really directionally challenged, how could she have found him so precisely?
It seemed impossible... or maybe not... perhaps it was possible...
A quarter of an hour later, Li Mo looked seriously at a group of mountain chickens not far away, their fierce eyes fixed on him as they scratched the ground with their claws.
These mountain chickens had a strong sense of territoriality, and they could fly; even a tiger would suffer if it entered their domain.
Since he was already there...
On the way back, Li Mo carried a few frozen mountain chicken ice sculptures on his back.
"So, fairy sister, did you come here just because you wanted to eat wild mountain chicken?"
"Exactly."
The fairy sister maintained her aloof demeanor, making it hard to associate her with being directionally challenged. She added, "Alright, let’s hurry back; it’s almost dark."
Then she followed closely behind Li Mo.
Li Mo: "....."
By the time they returned home, the last rays of twilight had just faded.
The forge was ablaze, but instead of the usual smoke, it wafted the aroma of cooking. The bones of the mountain chickens were simmered into soup, the meat shredded for hand-pulled chicken, and the scraps stir-fried into a spicy chicken mix—three dishes from one chicken, all neatly arranged.
Ying Bing twirled a needle made of ice crystals, threading it with the firelight.
"I wish it could stay like this forever."
Li Mo thought to himself.
And indeed, it was true.
The landscape of their lives seemed to have been fast-forwarded.
In the following decade, they lived a life of farming and weaving, during which Little Li the blacksmith transformed into Li the blacksmith, and the village children grew up.
The old village chief passed away, handing the key to the village shrine to Li Mo, allowing him to carry his own tablet into the shrine, signifying that he had become the new clan leader.
Of course, during this time, the area and population of Da Wang Village had doubled, with the "Qian Xing Jue" (Thousand Forms Technique) providing the village with abundant productivity.
Moreover, over the past decade, demons and monsters had become increasingly unable to threaten the village. In the past, if luck was bad, only a few villagers might survive.
Now, encountering a couple of them was merely facing some oversized beasts.
This unique martial art had spread to several neighboring villages, and more and more people were learning it.
Everyone said it was the fairy from the celestial clan who was imparting the teachings.
"I just love a good rural love story!"
"Why is everything fast-forwarded? What am I supposed to watch?"
"I want to see all those years; such a short time is just a snap of the fingers."
Of course, only a small number of people were dissatisfied with the time jump in the landscape of their lives.
After all, every round of natural disasters had to be spaced fifty years apart.
Shang Qin Qing was unhappy mainly because she was still in her rebellious phase after thousands of years.
"Has the underground city seemingly submitted to the heavenly city's rule?"
"The gap between the heavenly city and the underground city is just like that between the underground city and the human city..."
"Oh right, there were three people participating in the celestial-human trials this time."
"Jiang Yu's idea is good; if the three cities can become a whole, the chances of weathering the storm will increase significantly. After all, the people of the human city can't even attempt to fight against natural disasters."
"Why does this sound familiar? Inner city, outer city, beyond the Central Divine Continent..."
Many martial artists from outside the capital exchanged glances.
They were laughing, but suddenly, the laughter faded.
"Ahem, at this rate, the top spot in this trial will probably go to the Crown Prince?"
"After all, every decision he makes can impact the entire Celestial Human City, while Li Shaoxia and Han Xianzi have just been playing at farming."
Moreover, Li Shaoxia had practiced the "Qian Xing Jue" for many years, but essentially, he was still born in the human city.
His lifespan would last at most until the first round of natural disasters, after which it would come to an end.
But no one knew whether Han Xianzi would return to the heavenly city by then, so it was hard to draw conclusions.
At this moment.
In the landscape of their lives, Jiang Yu's policies had begun to radiate outward from the underground city.
In the remote shrine of Da Wang Village, two men and one woman sat beneath the ancestral tablets.
They wore exquisite and luxurious clothing, their every gesture exuding the authority of the elite. Though not as inherently extraordinary as the celestial clan, they were still markedly different from the villagers gathered inside and outside the shrine.
"Who is the village chief?"
The leading middle-aged man from the underground city took a sip of tea, frowned, and spat it back out.
"I am."
Li Mo stepped forward, sitting squarely across from him without averting his gaze.
The three envoys from the underground city exchanged glances, finding Da Wang Village rather peculiar. Usually, rural villagers would either tremble in fear or fawn over them upon seeing them.
What was up with the people of Da Wang Village and the surrounding areas?
"We have come this time with a decree from the upper clan of the heavenly city, and the demands are quite simple."
"You will replace the ancestral tablets in the shrine with those of the celestial clan, and from now on, the grain collected each year will be divided three to seven with the underground city."
After saying this, he calmly wiped his mouth.
The villagers in the shrine exchanged glances.
"How can we change the ancestral tablets?"
"We work hard all year; how can we only get seven parts?"
"Seven parts belong to them!"
Ignoring the noisy villagers, the leading middle-aged man turned his gaze to Li Mo.
"Village chief, what do you think? No matter the cost, it’s not as important as the safety of future generations."
"As far as I know, the people of the heavenly city do not need to eat, unless they are feeling peckish. Why do they need so much grain?"
Li Mo neither agreed nor refused; instead, he posed a question.
The three men: "?"
How did he know that the celestial beings only ate when they were hungry?
The young man from the underground city, less composed, impatiently replied, "Naturally, it’s for us."
"But aren’t we protected by the celestial clan?"
"First, it’s for us; if we can’t handle it, then it’s for the celestial clan. Therefore, the offerings and respect are for the upper clan of the heavenly city, while the grain is given to us."
Li Mo stared at him: "With a thirty percent yield, even in a good year, everyone would barely have enough to eat. If that’s the case, wouldn’t we just be living like livestock?"
"Living is living; what’s wrong with scraping by? If it weren’t for the size of your Da Wang Village, many would want to be livestock but wouldn’t have the chance."
*Smack—*
A sickle was slammed onto the table.
Li Mo asked again, "This, can it sustain life?"
"It can, but you’ll have to live like livestock."
*Smack—*
A forging hammer was slammed onto the table.
"This, can it sustain life?"
"It can, but not for many."
He picked up the hammer and placed it on top of the sickle, the two overlapping.
"This one, plus this one, can everyone live with dignity?"
---
Chapter 598: Just Say Da Wang Village is Off!
"What do you mean?"
The three guests from the underground city stood up, their expressions unfriendly as they stared at Li Mo. They had encountered resistance and defiance before, and not a small amount.
Perhaps even Jiang Yu, who issued the decree, hadn’t anticipated that the underground city would be so ruthless in extracting benefits.
Using chicken feathers as orders, daring to push the villagers of the human city to the brink of starvation.
And this confidence stemmed from the fact that, aside from being peckish, the celestial beings didn’t need to eat at all.
"I find your proposal uninteresting."
Li Mo filled his cup with tea: "Show them the door!"
The villagers inside the shrine opened the door, revealing a sea of dark faces peering in from outside.
They were all very calm.
A decade ago, Da Wang Village, like any ordinary village, had been terrified of demons and monsters.
But now, they had banded together to drive away and even kill several demons that had wandered near the village.
They were no longer afraid of those terrifying creatures; why would they fear a few stronger individuals?
Moreover, Village Chief Li would periodically explain the reasoning to them.
The human city would inevitably face years of disaster; if everyone had no food, they would have to sell the land they had worked so hard to cultivate.
The land would fall into the hands of the underground city people who had grain, and once the disaster passed, the future bountiful years would no longer belong to their descendants.
Others might not understand the reasoning, but they all understood this land that nurtured them.
"Please, if the door closes again, it won’t be so easy for you to open it."
"....."
Seeing this, the young man from the underground city was about to make an example of someone, but he was stopped.
The middle-aged man nodded to Li Mo: "We’ll meet again by the rivers and mountains!"
With that, he led the other two away.
"Uncle Deng, they’re just a bunch of villagers. Why stop me earlier?" the young man said indignantly.
The middle-aged man named Deng glanced at him and snorted.
Table of Contents
