After the fairy disappeared

Chapter 2515 Terraced Fields in the Mountains
Once the Cloud Gate had stabilized, Manager Wang said to the two men, "Come with me."

He stepped into the cloud gate, and his figure vanished instantly.

He Lingchuan and Xiao An exchanged a glance and followed closely behind.

After passing through the Cloud Gate, the scenery changed once again.

Before them stretched a range of rolling mountains, majestic and magnificent. The mountain they were standing on alone had a lake atop it that was hundreds of acres in size.

However, the entire mountain had been terraced, and the three of them stood by the lake at the top of the mountain. On one side was the shimmering lake surface, and on the other side were the terraced fields, layer upon layer, seemingly chaotic yet orderly.

There were many farmers in the fields, including humanoid monsters.

Tao Zhi said that the Heavenly Palace had transferred many people from outside, but still felt that there were not enough people, so they transferred some of the Night Demons away.

It seems that all the manpower has been used here.

He Lingchuan was certain of only one thing: what was planted in the field was definitely not crops.

Xiao An glanced down, then suddenly raised her wrist: "Oh dear, the mark isn't glowing anymore!"

The runes that Manager Wang used to imprint on their wrists used to glow green. Now the runes are still there, but they no longer glow or shine; they just look like tattoos.

"That's a one-time use rune. It'll be useless once we reach our destination," Manager Wang warned the two. "If you work obediently in Million Mountain, you'll have a long life."

Just then, a sculpture by the roadside suddenly came to life and approached the three of them.

It lurked in the grass, mostly covered by tall grass, looking like an abandoned stone sculpture, lifeless. If it hadn't moved like that, no one would have known it was a gatekeeper.

But when this thing came out, it was quite big, about ten feet long, looking like both a dog and a toad, with a wide, flat mouth, covered in hair, and with bulging eyes and a flat nose.

It seemed to recognize Manager Wang, hovering around him for a moment before sniffing the two newcomers closely.

Manager Wang then said, "Show it the runes on your wrists."

The two did as instructed, and the guardian beast, seeing the runes, retreated back into the grass and turned back into a stone sculpture.

Obviously, if the two people were undocumented immigrants without runes as their passports, this thing would definitely activate and alert the Heavenly Palace management.

Yuntai already has a very strict access control system, which can keep 90% of those with ill intentions out, but Lingyun Palace is still not satisfied and must put another layer of surveillance here.

Manager Wang then said, "Alright, come with me."

He led the two to the shady side of the mountain, pointed downwards and said, "Your task is to build up the edges of the newly terraced fields. Simply put, just do what others do."

The two people beside them remained silent, seemingly stunned.

Manager Wang grew impatient and raised his voice, "Did you hear me?"

Xiao An quickly replied, "I heard you, Lord Wang. What exactly are we going to plant here?"

What the two had seen on the sunny side of the mountain were ready-made terraced fields, filled with water; now, on the shady side, they found that terraced fields were being cultivated, the surface of the mountain forest had been turned upside down, and there was red mud everywhere.

There are more than twice as many people working here as there are on the sunny side of the mountain. Looking down from the mountain, the number of people is overwhelming and difficult to count at a glance. They are all working with their faces to the red soil and their backs to the sky, covered in dust and dirt.

There were also supervisors on site, waving whips to urge the laborers to work.

Compared to farming on flat land, terraced fields are more difficult to construct and harder to conserve water and soil. I don't know why the Tiangong space station had to do this.

Xiao An suddenly pointed into the distance: "There's another one on that mountain!"

He Lingchuan looked in the direction of the river and saw that there were several mountains at the end of the winding river, which had also been cleaved into terraced fields, where countless people were working hard.

But looking at these mountains, the soil is very new, indicating that the terraced fields were only recently created.

Just as He Lingchuan finished complaining about the mirror in his arms, Steward Wang summoned a supervisor and pointed at the two of them, saying:
"These two are fugitives brought in from outside. They're yours now."

"Yes, yes." The foreman bowed to Manager Wang, then his expression changed as he turned to the two men. "You two, go to the red house and get a set of tools. Now get to work in the fields!"

So a quarter of an hour later, He Lingchuan and the other man rolled up their sleeves and trouser legs and began piling up field ridges.

The main body of the terraced fields was excavated by giant puppets, which were equivalent to the golden-armored bronze generals that He Lingchuan once possessed. They were strong, tough, and durable, but they were also energy-intensive.

Long ago, he had to tighten his belt just to barely support a golden-armored bronze general; unexpectedly, Lingyun Palace used this siege weapon to cultivate terraced fields.

Remembering how hard it was to accumulate Xuanjing in the past, and looking at the golden-armored bronze generals striding back and forth in front of him, He Lingchuan cursed inwardly, "What a spendthrift!"

However, how to handle the excavated soil, the difference in elevation between terraces, the hardening of field ridges, soil and water conservation, and the pre-laying of fertilizer all depend on manual construction; supernatural powers and magic cannot accomplish this.

They were new recruits, and the overseer paced back and forth behind them, ready to give them a lash if they slacked off.

To everyone's surprise, the two men were quite skilled, stacking stones and building ridges more proficiently than many veterans. The supervisor watched for a short while but couldn't find any mistakes, so he left.

With a sharp "smack," someone nearby was whipped, their screams mingling with the overseer's shouts.
"If you slack off again, I'll chop you into eight pieces and bury you in the field as compost!"

Having said that, his bloodshot eyes swept fiercely around, and seeing the fear on the faces of the laborers, he was finally satisfied.

This is right.

He didn't turn around, unaware that Xiao An was watching him from behind, and licked his lips.

The mirror on He Lingchuan sneered: "How impressive! It'll get what's coming to it later... Has the Blood Demon returned yet?"

As soon as Steward Wang left, He Lingchuan released the Blood Demon to scout the terraced fields. Magical arts were flying everywhere on Jishan Mountain, especially where the giant puppet had passed, creating clouds of dust that were blown about by the wind. The Blood Demon, like a wisp of pale red smoke, blended almost seamlessly with the earth, flying close to the ground and inconspicuous.

It came to the edge of the terraced fields on the sunny side of the mountain and made a low-key turn.

The laborers here, bent over with their backs to it, did not notice its existence—or even if they did, they might not have taken it seriously.

Which slave is motivated to work?

The Blood Demon slipped across the ridge, evaded the overseer's gaze, returned to the dusty construction site, and finally returned to its master's sleeve.

The mirror asked impatiently, "Have you gotten it yet?"

"With me personally taking charge, is there anything I can't get?" Blood Demon chuckled and shoved something into He Lingchuan's hand. "I have fulfilled my mission!"

He Lingchuan had just finished stacking two stones when he glanced down at them.

The mirror exclaimed, "Isn't that a sea chariot?!"

What the Blood Demon scavenged from the terraced fields were actually several starfish!
However, most of the starfish He Lingchuan saw at the Yangshan beach were pentagonal, differing only in size, but these few starfish were all different in shape.

(End of this chapter)