Chapter 906
Making things easier for Mr.
"Master has arrived." Master Kulian looked up, his beard curling slightly from the steam. "Two thousand more Rejuvenation Pills have been produced, and three hundred Fire Extinguishing Talismans have been made."
Zheng Yi nodded and walked to the cauldron: "Tomorrow, take some men to the North Mountain mine and use the Gold-Identifying Talisman to examine the stones. Iron One-Eyed said there was a cave-in in the mine that injured people, so bring some medicine with you."
Master Kulian stroked his beard: "I will prepare immediately. But sir, the spiritual energy in the mine is chaotic, and it is difficult to set up an array. I am afraid that the effect of the Gold Identification Talisman will be reduced."
Zheng Yi pulled a small purple-gold sword from his sleeve. The sword was only three inches long, but the sword intent was as solid as silk: "Take this with you. The sword intent can suppress the turbulent currents and stabilize the talisman's effect."
Master Kulian took it, his eyes narrowing: "You refined it yourself, sir? Very well, I'll set off first thing tomorrow morning."
The next day, just as dawn broke, a crowd had already gathered at the entrance of the North Mountain mine. The mine was thirty li north of the city, the mountain road rugged; horse-drawn carts could only go halfway up, the rest had to be carried by hand. Zheng Yi didn't ride a horse, but walked up with Guo Tianyou and Zhao Sanhuai. The mountain wind howled, making the bare branches creak; the remaining snow on the ground hadn't completely melted, and each step made a crunching sound. The mine entrance was pitch black, like an open mouth, from which came the clanging and low groans of hammering.
Several injured miners lay on straw mats at the entrance of the tunnel, their legs wrapped in coarse cloth, blood seeping out. Master Ku Lian had already arrived and was feeding medicine to one of them, the medicine dripping from the corner of his mouth. Upon seeing Zheng Yi, he quickly stood up: "Sir, the collapse occurred on the third level inside, destroying ten zhang of the tunnel. Fortunately, no one was buried."
Zhao Sanhuai walked over, squatted down to examine the wound: "Sir, two bones are broken, they need to be set. We brought splints."
Zheng Yi didn't rush into the cave; he went to the miners first. A middle-aged miner was deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down his forehead. Seeing Zheng Yi, he tried to get up, but gasped in pain, "Sir...we...we weren't slacking off, it's just that the lower iron vein was too hard, and it collapsed as we dug..."
Zheng Yi pressed down on his shoulder, and golden flames seeped from his palm into the wound. Fine threads, like needles, pierced the broken bone, which snapped open with a soft "crack" and automatically aligned itself. The miner's eyes widened: "It doesn't hurt anymore... Sir, is this magic?"
"It's not magic," Zheng Yi said softly. "It's about stabilizing your condition. You all rest first; there's plenty of medicine."
He got up and led his men into the cave. The cave was damp, the air thick with the smells of earth and rust, and the torches made the stone walls glow red. When they reached the third level, a pile of rubble blocked the way at the site of the landslide, with fresh soil still clinging to the rocks. Guo Tianyou tapped it with his pickaxe: "Sir, there's an iron vein down there, as hard as black iron, but it loosens as soon as you dig it."
Zheng Yi crouched down, placing his palm on the pile of rocks. Golden flames surged forth, like a net covering the entire pile of stones. The stones slowly floated up, automatically stacking to the side, revealing the pit below. Sure enough, there was a crack in the pit wall, within which iron sand glittered and spiritual energy surged chaotically.
“Here’s the problem,” Zheng Yi said. “The iron vein is mixed with earth fire, which explodes when it encounters spiritual energy. Zhao Sanhuai, you take some men to dig a foot deeper on both sides of the crack, fill it with black rock, and then embed ‘fire-suppressing nails’ after filling it.”
Zhao Sanhuai responded and rolled up his sleeves to get to work. Seeing this, the workers followed suit, and the clanging of stones resumed. Guo Tianyou wiped his sweat: "Sir, if we do it this way, we can get two cartloads of stone today. They're waiting over at the city wall."
Master Kulian handed over a gold-identifying talisman from the side. The talisman glowed with a yellow light and swept over a pile of newly dug black rocks: "Seventy percent good, thirty percent bad. Sir, with your sword intent, even the bad ones can be used with difficulty."
Zheng Yi nodded: "Bring the bad ones back to the city and melt them down to make arrowheads. Tell the foreman not to rush the progress, safety comes first. If there is another landslide, evacuate immediately."
Around noon, the first cart of stones was loaded, and the oxcart creaked and groaned its way down the mountain. Zheng Yi didn't go back with the cart; instead, he turned and went deeper into the mine. It was dimly lit inside, so Guo Tianyou lit two lanterns, the smell of lamp oil mingling with the earthy odor. After walking about half a mile, they suddenly heard arguing ahead.
"Why should our group get 20% more! Your group is always slacking off, and you still want the same amount of food?"
"Bullshit! We found an iron vein yesterday, and we're so exhausted we can't even straighten our backs!"
Several miners stood in a circle, their faces flushed and necks bulging. Some of them still held pickaxes, the pickaxe heads gleaming coldly in the lantern light. The foreman, who was in charge, saw Zheng Yi and quickly parted the crowd: "Sir... this... this is just a small matter, we'll handle it ourselves."
Zheng Yi approached, his gaze sweeping over the crowd: "Tell me, what happened?"
A tall, thin miner bowed his head and said, "Sir, our group worked two extra hours yesterday when the cave-in happened, and the foreman said he would give us an extra half bowl of meat porridge. But today when we were distributing the food, the other group said they were also tired and insisted on splitting it equally. We don't agree to that."
Another burly man snorted, "Tired? Who isn't tired? We still have to lift stones onto the cart, our shoulders are all chafed!"
Zheng Yi didn't rush to speak. He first took out two small porcelain bottles from his sleeve and handed them to the foreman: "One bottle is for wound medicine, and the other is for replenishing qi. Apply it to the injured first, and drink it if you're tired. As for meals... starting today, we'll calculate based on the amount of stone we dig. More work, more pay. Less work, no one to blame. But anyone who dares to slack off will have three days' meals deducted."
The workers' eyes lit up, and one of them whispered, "Sir, this... is fair."
Zheng Yi looked at the foreman: "Got it? Report the number of workers at the end of each day to Guo Tianyou."
The foreman nodded repeatedly, and the argument instantly ceased. The crowd dispersed and resumed swinging their picks, their voices much more synchronized than before. Guo Tianyou whispered from the side, "Sir, that's a good idea. I used to manage construction sites and encountered similar situations; it was a real headache."
Zhao Sanhuai carried over the newly filled black rock, his face covered in dust: "Sir, the crack is filled. The fire-suppressing nails are also in place. I tested it, and the spiritual energy is stable."
Zheng Yi grunted in agreement and led his men out of the cave. The sunlight outside was blinding, but the mountain breeze invigorated them. The oxcart procession had already formed a long line, with piles of stones resembling small mountains. Zheng Yi watched the procession head towards the city, his boots crunching on the gravel.
Returning to the city wall in the afternoon, most of the stones had already been unloaded. The craftsmen were working enthusiastically, and the top of the wall had risen another half foot. Han Wuhen came over with several Han family guards, carrying a roll of blueprints: "Sir, I've revised the blueprint for the southern moat, widening it by two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) and burying iron caltrops inside. The Han family will pay for it, and construction can begin tomorrow."
Zheng Yi took the blueprints, unfolded them, and glanced at them: "Okay. But we need to dig a pit at the bottom of the river, insert bamboo sticks into the pits, and smear poison on the tips of the sticks. We'll get the poison from the alchemy room; it's from Master Ku Lian."
Han Wuhen nodded, then lowered his voice: "Sir, Elder Liu sent someone today to say that two thousand arrows are missing from the Liu family warehouse, claiming that the warehouse manager embezzled them. I'm worried about affecting morale. Should we investigate?"
Zheng Yi rolled up the blueprints: "Investigate. But don't make a big fuss. Stabilize the construction site first. Repair the arrow gaps with Iron One-Eyed; he has enough melted arrowheads."
Just then, a shout came from below the city wall: "Oh no! The foundation has cracked!"
Everyone was startled. At the base of the city wall, beneath a newly laid foundation stone, a long crack suddenly appeared in the soil, from which black water oozed, as if something was pushing against it. The craftsmen dropped their tools and retreated. Someone shouted, "Sir, it's an earth dragon! There's something alive down there!" Zheng Yi quickly went over and squatted beside the crack. The black water had an earthy smell, and tiny scales shimmered faintly within. He reached out, and golden flames probed into the ground like a golden needle. A sharp screech came from underground, and a black earth dragon as thick as an arm was forced out by the golden flames. It twisted its body, trying to burrow back into the soil, but was entangled in golden threads and unable to move.
“This is a Tier 3 Earth Armored Dragon,” Zheng Yi said. “It was awakened by the shaking of the city wall. Zhao Sanhuai, put it in a cage, don’t kill it. Give it to Master Kulian for alchemy.”
Zhao Sanhuai quickly found an iron cage. Zheng Yi flicked his wrist, and the golden wire loosened, allowing the earth dragon to obediently crawl into the cage. The craftsmen breathed a sigh of relief, and one of them wiped his sweat: "Sir, thanks to you, otherwise this foundation stone would have had to be rebuilt."
Zheng Yi stood up and said to Guo Tianyou, "Dig three feet deeper under the foundation stone and tamp it down with glutinous rice mortar mixed with black rock powder. Before digging the foundation in the future, sweep it once with a ground-detecting talisman."
Guo Tianyou noted it down and directed the men to start digging again. Han Wuhen, standing to the side, exclaimed, "Sir, your skill is worth ten array masters."
As evening fell, construction on the moat began. Along the farmland south of the city, hundreds of laborers wielded shovels, digging the riverbed, piling up two small mounds of earth. Water, drawn from a tributary of the Hanyuan River, was being poured into the newly dug ditches, gurgling softly. Iron One-Eyed led his men to bury iron caltrops, their tips pointing upwards, gleaming coldly in the setting sun.
“Sir, we buried five hundred.” Iron One-Eyed walked over, wiping his sweat. “But the riverbed is too soft, and the caltrops won’t stick. I’m afraid they’ll be washed away when the beast tide comes.”
Zheng Yi jumped into the river, his boots sinking half an inch into the mud. The water was already up to his calves. He reached down and pressed his hand against the riverbed, and golden flames surged out, compacting the mud into a hard shell. Beneath the shell, barbed wire automatically stood up, like rows of iron spikes.
“Like this.” He withdrew his hand. “Bury another thousand. Dig trenches on both sides of the riverbank and bury bamboo sticks in them.”
Iron One-Eyed's eyes lit up: "Sir, your technique... we can't learn it."
Zhao Sanhuai laughed from the side: "If you can't learn, then work! If the teacher says one thing, we'll work ten times harder."
At night, the construction site was adorned with lanterns, their lights forming a long, continuous line. Zheng Yi stood atop the city wall, looking down. The wind rustled his fox fur coat, and the distant Blackwater River shimmered with even more intense purple light. Guo Tianyou approached and handed him a pot of hot tea: "Sir, the moat has been dug for three miles today, and it will connect to the east side tomorrow. The laborers are tired, though, so I had the orphanage send them some hot porridge."
Zheng Yi took the tea and sipped it: "If you're tired, we'll take turns. Tomorrow I'll go to the training ground to see how the shield formation is doing."
The next morning, before the fog had lifted from the drill ground, the recruits were already lined up. The sound of shields clashing echoed, and the ranks moved with increasing stability. Xiao Liu and Xiao Shitou were mixed in at the back; Xiao Liu shouted the loudest as he pushed his shield forward: "Left! Right! Forward!"
Zheng Yi walked over, took a shield, and demonstrated. The shield was pushed out with a force that was both soft and strong, and the formation instantly moved forward half a zhang (approximately 1.3 meters). The recruits' eyes lit up, and one shouted, "Teach us, sir!"
After practicing until noon, Zheng Yi asked Zhao Sanhuai to lead a team to help carry wooden stakes to the moat. The stakes were made of freshly cut pine wood, with the tips sharpened to a fine point. When they were transported to the riverbank, the laborers were already planting them into the moat. Halfway through, a small section of the riverbank suddenly collapsed, and mud and sand slid into the river, almost burying two laborers.
"Sir! The bank has collapsed!" someone shouted.
Zheng Yi arrived quickly, raised his hand, and golden flames transformed into a long rope that wrapped around the slipping mud and sand, pulling it back to the shore. After the mud and sand were piled up again, he drove several black iron stakes into the bank, engraving array patterns on the tops of the stakes to stabilize the soil.
“The bank is too loose,” he told Guo Tianyou. “Add a layer of turf, and bury drainage pipes under the turf. Borrow the pipes from the irrigation ditch in the backyard of the welfare home.”
Guo Tianyou nodded: "I'll take care of it right away."
Trouble struck one after another. In the afternoon, during the assembly of the catapult, the black iron rod of one of the arms suddenly cracked. The craftsman said it was due to material fatigue. Zheng Yi went over, re-tempered it with golden flames, and the crack healed as before. He also added a layer of sword intent to reinforce it.
That evening, a message arrived from the alchemy department saying they were short of talisman paper for refining array flags. Zheng Yi personally went to the Han family's warehouse to select a batch of high-quality talisman paper, and also investigated the matter of the arrows. Han Wuhen accompanied him, and the warehouse manager knelt on the ground, trembling: "Sir, I...I really didn't embezzle, it was the warehouse rats that chewed up the ledgers..."
Zheng Yi didn't ask any further questions, only instructing them to replenish the arrows and then transferring five hundred mid-grade spirit stones from his private treasury to buy new paper. Han Wuhen wiped his sweat: "Sir, your magnanimity... our Han family is truly impressed."
On the third day, the city wall was completely topped out. The craftsmen carved the final "Thousand-Pound Solid Earth Array" on the top of the wall, and the array patterns glowed with a pale golden light, like a thin film covering the entire wall. Zheng Yi stood on the top of the wall, the wind so strong that it made his clothes stick to his body. He looked down and saw that the moat had formed a half-circle, the water reflecting the sunlight, and the iron caltrops were faintly visible underwater.
Zhao Sanhuai climbed up, panting, "Sir, the scouts at Black Pine Forest report that two more packs of wolves have appeared, led by a fourth-rank wolf, and they're roaming around the edge of the forest. Should we send someone to drive them away?"
Zheng Yi shook his head: "Don't move. Let them see. Let them see our walls, let them see our river. Once they've seen enough, they'll know what's what."
Guo Tianyou called out from below: "Sir, the basement of the welfare home has been deepened by another ten feet. The children carried the soil themselves, saying they wanted to save you some effort."
Zheng Yi's lips curved slightly, but he didn't speak, only gazing into the distance. The purple light of the Blackwater River still lingered, but the city walls were now like an iron wall, the river channel like an insurmountable chasm, the shield formations like a forest, and the elixirs like mountains. The sounds of hammers, shouts, and laughter from the construction site mingled together, undiminished by the wind, carrying ever further.
Iron-Eyed arrived with a convoy of newly forged arrowheads, the wheels rumbling on the bluestone. He looked up and shouted, "Sir, 1,500 arrowheads! Enough for two volleys!"
Han Wuhen also arrived, followed by a group of Han family guards carrying several boxes of spirit stones: "Sir, the Han family has raised another 20,000 mid-grade spirit stones. We've agreed that as long as the city stands, we'll stand."
Elder Liu, with a gloomy face, still brought over a batch of Ice-Sealing Pills: "Fellow Daoist Zheng, the Liu family is not to be outdone."
Zheng Yi stood atop the wall, looking down at the faces below. The wind blew, carrying the pungent smell of fresh earth, the aroma of medicine, and the stench of sweat. He spoke, his voice not loud, but loud enough for everyone to hear: "Keep going. Raise the wall another foot, widen the river another ten feet, add another layer to the defenses. If the beast tide doesn't come, we'll prepare until it dares not come."
The crowd responded in unison, their voices rising like a tide. The construction site below the city wall bustled with activity again, the sounds of hammers, shovels, and shouts mingling as lanterns were lit one after another, illuminating the entire night. The purple light of the distant Blackwater River seemed to have dimmed slightly. (End of Chapter)