Chapter 103: So Bright
Royal City.
The Royal Palace, the King’s bedroom.
A gaunt man draped in a nightgown sat on an old velvet sofa, his thin, bony fingers clutching the collar of his fine linen nightshirt, his chest heaving violently, his throat emitting a hoarse, grating sound like a broken bellows.
His other hand gripped the sofa tightly, preventing himself from collapsing onto it.
He gasped for breath, speaking to the black-robed figure in front of him, word by painful word: “You… gather… royal… family… in the royal city… what… exactly… is your… intention…”
The “Vice-Chairman” in front of him had just enjoyed a hearty meal from the high-level ability users in the royal city, and now his complexion was rosy and his movements were fluid.
He stared at the King, who was clearly overwhelmed but still refused to collapse, and shook his head:
“Why won’t you willingly accept my help?”
“Look at you, how much pain you’re in now.”
King Asuke raised his skeletal face, his hollow eye sockets fixed on the black-robed man:
“Get… out…”
“Let… me… die…”
The Vice-Chairman laughed, his smile wide, revealing his fleshy red gums.
“Don’t forget, you made an agreement with me first.”
“Now that the agreement has not been fulfilled, how can I let you simply ‘perish’?”
With his unrestrained laughter, several white worms fell from his mouth, scurried across the dark carpet, climbed onto the deep red sofa, and burrowed into Asuke’s body amidst his heavy breathing.
A moment later, His Majesty the King sat up straight.
He even stood up.
His eyeballs rolled, finally fixing on the Vice-Chairman.
The Vice-Chairman spoke, “Your Majesty, do you still feel any discomfort?”
Asuke: “No, I’m fine.”
Vice-Chairman: “Do you remember what I need you to do for the True God?”
Asuke: “I remember.”
Vice-Chairman: “Then go and do it.”
“Let the grace of the True God bathe every member of your royal family.”
Asuke nodded woodenly.
He turned and walked towards a corner of the bedroom, raising his hand to twist a candlestick embedded in the wall.
“Rumble” …
A secret door slowly opened.
Asuke looked blankly as the Vice-Chairman walked past him and entered this secret door that only the King was qualified to enter.
Asuke followed behind the Vice-Chairman and also went in.
He heard the black-robed man in front of him cackling, marveling, “No one would have thought that I would raise the worm core here,” “Soon, the ‘feast’ I have been preparing for so long can begin…”
There was no reaction on Asuke’s face.
He only knew that he was now a servant of the True God.
He had to fulfill the True God’s instructions and integrate the grace into the royal bloodline.
*
The same day.
At dawn.
On the road leading to Bean Village.
Chu Jiu poked his head out of the carriage, looking around curiously.
He noticed that the carriage hadn’t stopped even once on the way from Sea Moon City.
In the past, no matter who was driving the carriage, they would have to stop to “eliminate demons.”
…Could it be that the person driving this time was a particularly powerful high-level ability user, so the demons didn’t dare to approach?
Chu Jiu voiced his doubts to the guard.
Unexpectedly, the guard smiled and shook his head, “Sir, no.”
Chu Jiu: ?
Guard: “Lord Chu Jiu, our City Lord said it’s all thanks to you.”
Chu Jiu: “Ah? Me?”
Guard: “The City Lord said that you, along with Village Chief Chang and Mr. Douglas, have built Bean Village into an unprecedented miracle village.”
“Since last month, the entire area from your Bean Village to our Sea Moon City has been under the protection of the ‘road signs,’ and no demons dare to break in anymore.”
Chu Jiu looked astonished, “What?!”
“Such a large area, all protected by road signs?”
Admiration shone in the guard’s eyes, “Yes! Exactly such a large area!”
Chu Jiu: “…”
Wow.
When he left, this protective range seemed to have only extended to Emerald Town, right?
What had happened in Bean Village in the past half a year?
…It seemed that what Clara called “interesting things” mostly referred to this.
Chu Jiu thought with anticipation.
*
Chu Jiu’s carriage stopped at the entrance of Bean Village.
Chu Jiu noticed at first glance that even though it was just dawn, several carriages had already driven over from the direction of Emerald Town and Amber Town.
So early in the morning, what were these people… coming to Bean Village for? To buy sugarcane candy? To get ironwork done?
But Chu Jiu didn’t have time to stop and chat with them in detail.
He jumped out of the carriage and headed straight for the clinic.
He hadn’t walked a few steps when he heard a voice filled with surprise and joy, “Brother Chu Jiu! You’re back! Heavens! It’s Brother Chu Jiu!”
Turning his head, he saw Aman.
He hadn’t seen the boy for more than half a year, and he had grown taller again, his eyes even brighter.
Aman ran straight towards Chu Jiu and hugged him tightly without saying a word:
“Brother Chu Jiu!”
“We all missed you so much!”
“You’ve been gone for so, so long!”
Chu Jiu patted his head, just about to walk and ask how everyone had been lately, when the boy had already run off like a small cannonball—saying he was going to tell Grandpa and Uncle Douglas that Brother Chu Jiu was back!
Chu Jiu quickened his pace, continuing towards the clinic.
By this time, it was broad daylight, and Chu Jiu couldn’t help but notice that there were more houses in the village.
It seemed that many new villagers had arrived—had there already been 400 people? Perhaps even more?
Thinking this, Chu Jiu finally stood outside the clinic.
Before he could knock on the courtyard door, he first noticed through the clinic’s unique glass window that the clinic was brightly lit, a sheet of white light.
This brightness was commonplace on Earth. Any school or hospital had no less illumination.
But in this world, Chu Jiu had never seen such bright lights.
Could it be Tata…?
Just as he was guessing, a glass window opened from the inside, and a round, translucent little head floated out: “Chu Jiu! Chu Jiu! You’re back!”
It was Tata.
Tata, even brighter than a small light bulb.
Chu Jiu was overjoyed, “Tata! You’re so bright now!”
When Tata floated in front of him, Chu Jiu was even more surprised, “Wait, you’ve floated out, why is it still so bright inside the clinic?”
Tata happily and proudly narrowed his eyes, “Because Tata’s tentacles are still inside!”
Chu Jiu looked closely: indeed.
The little guy’s thin, long tentacles were still floating in the clinic, weren’t they?
Tata said, “As long as Tata eats enough, Tata’s tentacles can also glow!”
“And Tata’s tentacles can become very, very long—that way, the whole clinic can be very bright!”
“Not just the clinic! Also the ‘dining hall’ where the children read and write! If the weather is bad one day, Tata will let his tentacles float over, so there’s no need to worry about the little ones not being able to see the words in their books!”
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but praise, “So amazing! Tata is great!”
At this moment, the system [Ding]ed and began to broadcast a notification:
[Congratulations to the host for achieving the hidden condition “Extremely Bright Little Lighthouse”!]
[After achieving this condition, residents in the area where the Little Lighthouse is located will receive a significant bonus to their professional skills!]
[Note: The improvement of residents’ professional skills has affected all aspects of Bean Village. The system will successively retrospectively settle rewards for the host.]
…It seemed that the changes in Bean Village during the more than half a year he was away were more than just a little bit.
It was just that the backend hadn’t synchronized the updates, so he didn’t know.
Chu Jiu had just finished reading the system notification when a small skeleton rushed out: “Chu Jiu! Chu Jiu! Little Ku has been waiting for you!”
“Little Ku knew that Chu Jiu would definitely bring the medicinal materials back to Bean Village!”
The little skeleton kept gesticulating excitedly, every white bone radiating happiness.
Chu Jiu first patted the little skeleton’s head, “Yes, I’m back, and I’ve brought back what we need.”
He then took out bucket after bucket of [Mucus of the Nine Heavens Jiaolong] from his backpack.
Little Ku Physician’s bones rattled with excitement, “So much! So much! Enough, enough!”
“Enough for Little Ku to concoct many, many potions!”
“Little Ku will go make the medicine now! Chu Jiu, wait for Little Ku, okay!”
With that, the little skeleton flew back into the clinic.
As he flew, he called out several names that Chu Jiu hadn’t heard before: “Physician Carrie, Physician Chu, Physician Zhou, let’s work together to prepare the antidote!”
Several young people followed behind the little skeleton, their footsteps hurried.
Tata beside Chu Jiu smiled and explained, “Those young physicians are all Little Ku’s apprentices!”
“They are all learning medicine from Little Ku Physician, and they are studying very diligently!”
“When they finish learning, they can go to other towns to treat patients!”
Chu Jiu smiled and said, “Indeed, that’s great.”
That’s great.
The knowledge imparted by that undead old gentleman, the experience accumulated by those physicians through generations, was spreading little by little from this small village through Little Ku Physician.
While they were talking, a series of calls came from behind Chu Jiu:
“Little Jiu!”
“A’jiu!”
“Two-legged beast! Two-legged beast!”
“Friend! Friend!”
Turning around, whoa!
Old Village Chief and Douglas were striding towards him urgently.
Old Village Chief’s steps, although still a bit limping, looked much steadier than before.
Douglas, needless to say, was as energetic as ever.
And on the other side, Little Gray Bird, who had heard the news, was flapping his wings and flying over, Little Squirrel was wagging his tail and trotting in unison, and Little Chestnut Spirit was rolling over!
For a moment, Little Gray Bird, Little Squirrel, and Little Chestnut Spirit made a racket, each little fellow having countless things they wanted to say to this two-legged beast.
Finally, Chu Jiu said, “Little ones, I need to discuss things with the Village Chief and the others—how about we have a big dinner together at the Pioneer Cabin tonight?”
Little Gray Bird: “Chirp chirp chirp! Quick Feather wants to eat grilled chicken!”
Little Squirrel: “Eat! Chestnuts!”
Little Chestnut Spirit: “Okay, Teacher Chu Jiu! We’ll help with the cooking!”
Thus, the little fellows dispersed.
Only then could Old Village Chief and Douglas reach Chu Jiu’s side.
Tears welled up in Old Village Chief’s eyes, “You’re finally back. As long as you’re safe.”
Douglas hugged the young man tightly, “Little Jiu. You’ve worked hard.”
Chu Jiu briefly recounted his experiences during this time and then said, “Why has the village changed so much? I heard there aren’t even any demons on the road anymore?”
Old Village Chief and Douglas both laughed.
Douglas looked excited:
“Little Jiu, come, come quickly, I’ll take you to see the village’s new facilities.”
“From the first day we started building it, we’ve been saying how happy you’d be when you came back and saw it.”
“New facilities?” Chu Jiu was extremely curious.
Since the system still hadn’t updated the dynamics of Bean Village at this time, he still didn’t know what new things were in the village.
He could only guess, “What new facilities? Is it an oil press? For pressing corn oil?”
Douglas pretended to be mysterious, “You’ll know when you see it.”
With that, he led Chu Jiu towards Black Wheat Village.
As they walked, he kept chattering to Chu Jiu about how many fields the village now had, how much land they had cultivated, and what crops they had…
Chu Jiu listened along the way, looking at the fields by the roadside:
Now in this village, there were corn, soybeans, wheat, upland rice, sugarcane, cotton, bamboo…
Greenery was everywhere by the fields and by the river.
Even the small courtyards of each household had opened up a small plot of land to grow some tomatoes, cucumbers, and other vegetables, enough for daily consumption.
“And,” Douglas said quite proudly, “we haven’t forgotten what ‘Teacher Rawr Rawr Rabbit’ taught us: to accumulate fertilizer, to rotate crops and leave fields fallow, and to intercrop—look over there, our corn and soybeans are intercropped now.”
Hearing Douglas’s words, Rawr Rawr Rabbit, who had been lying in Chu Jiu’s backpack looking around, suddenly turned even his long ears red and “roar”ed repeatedly, “Roar roar, so Rawr Rawr Rabbit is also a teacher now, roar roar…”
As they spoke, the two had already reached the vicinity of the Bean Village small square.
Chu Jiu looked at the newly opened “Bean Village Grocery Store” in the square and said in surprise, “Grocery store! We actually have our own grocery store!”
This was great!
Although the two traveling merchants, Marco and Anthony, came every week, there would always be one or two days when the villagers couldn’t buy anything.
Now that the village had its own grocery store, they no longer had to count the days to find the traveling merchants!
Douglas smiled and said, “Yes! Our own grocery store!”
“Mrs. Rose opened it, right next to her husband, old Mr. Nicholas’s ‘lens grinding workshop.'”
“Mrs. Rose is a very capable boss! She manages the stocking and selling very efficiently.”
Chu Jiu nodded repeatedly, “That’s great, that’s great—”
He paused and looked at Douglas, his eyes shining, “Douglas, just now I asked you how many new villagers had come to the village, and you deliberately didn’t say.”
“Now, let me guess—our new Bean Village definitely has more than 400 villagers now, right?”
If the number of villagers was too small and the customer base too small, the “grocery store” wouldn’t be able to open.
Joy that couldn’t be concealed was on Douglas’s face, “A’jiu, I originally wanted to keep it a secret for a while longer.”
“But it looks like I can’t hide it anymore.”
He smiled and held up five fingers, “550 people.”
“A’jiu, our new Bean Village, counting the villagers of all races, now has a total of 550 people!”
550!
Chu Jiu couldn’t help but exclaim in admiration:
“So many! That’s so much more than the 400 people the king asked for!”
“Then shouldn’t we, shouldn’t we have already been upgraded to Bean Town?”
Back then, didn’t the king’s decree say that as long as they exceeded 400 people, they could go to the royal capital to receive a hearing, and if the hearing passed, they could be upgraded?
Douglas said, “Yes. We discussed this matter.”
“Everyone said that we should wait for you to come back, wait for Chu Jiu to go see His Majesty the King together, and then let our Bean Village be upgraded!”
A wave of emotion washed over Chu Jiu’s heart.
He nodded and said seriously, “Yes, we’ll go see His Majesty the King together, and then we’ll show him what an amazing village we are!”
Crossing the small square, passing another area of sturdy wooden houses that had been repaired, and walking a little further, they reached the “Glup-Glup Road” that Glup-Glup had opened up.
Douglas praised, “Thanks to this ‘Glup-Glup Road,’ the sugarcane and cotton grown in our fields here can be easily transported to the Wheat River for processing.”
“Without this road, we would have to go around the original village entrance—it would take so much more effort.”
Glup-Glup, hanging on the backpack, blushed and wiggled his little tentacles, “Glup-Glup… Glup-Glup…”
Passing through this road was the former “Black Wheat Village.”
The dilapidated village, once destroyed by fire and locusts, now flourished with greenery.
The fields were full of green crops, and outside the fields were rows of neat wooden houses, exuding vitality everywhere.
Of course, the most eye-catching things were the large and small waterwheels on the Wheat River and the row of workshops along the bank.
That one was the sugar mill, that one should be the newly built textile mill, and that… seemed to be the oil press?
So good…
Chu Jiu identified them one by one, constantly praising.
Douglas interjected, “These are all good—but what I most want you to see is this.”
Douglas pulled Chu Jiu to a row of brick houses not far from the paper mill, his eyebrows filled with unconcealed excitement, “This, Chu Jiu, take a look at this.”
Chu Jiu pushed open the door and walked in:
A strong smell of ink.
Facing him were two wooden frames, with grids of metal blocks arranged on them.
On the side was a rectangular “wooden table” with obvious grooves, and next to it was a device similar to a roller.
And beside the wooden table, stacks of neatly arranged paper were piled up.
Chu Jiu stood there blankly, his lips moving a few times, but he couldn’t speak.
Several seconds later, he finally turned around, incredulously saying, “Movable type printing?! You, you made movable type printing?!”
Douglas nodded repeatedly, as happy as a child in his fifties.
He pointed to the metal blocks on the frame, “A’jiu, do you remember, when you left, you brought a few books to find me?”
Chu Jiu remembered the situation at that time.
He had discovered that the most popular “Story Collection” was in short supply, and there weren’t even enough scribes.
He had originally wanted to spend some time figuring out “movable type printing,” but at this time he learned about the “need for an antidote to neutralize abilities” and had to set off immediately.
So, Chu Jiu gave the original books in his backpack to Douglas, asking him to arrange for people to copy them, and casually mentioned, “If the words could be engraved on metal blocks and then printed in batches, there would be no need for painstaking hand-copying.”
Chu Jiu was very clear: like all milestone inventions, movable type printing sounded simple in principle, but actually making it work with limited materials was still quite difficult.
For example, finding metal that wouldn’t deform due to temperature, ensuring that the type blocks could withstand the pressure of printing…
These all required repeated experiments and repeated corrections.
Therefore, he had never expected that the villagers of Bean Village would actually have made “movable type printing”?!
Douglas told Chu Jiu with great enthusiasm:
Chu Jiu’s few short words had lingered in his mind.
Later, he told these words to Old Village Chief, to old Mr. Nicholas, and also to Marco…
Old Village Chief praised repeatedly, “If it can really be made, old He’s spirit in heaven will also feel very gratified.”
Mr. Nicholas pushed his newly prescribed glasses, “You country folks are quite good at coming up with new things—this requires skillful hands to make. In your village, are there people who are literate and have more skillful hands than me?”
Marco patted his big belly, “This must be made! What a great product! How much money can it make!”
Everyone felt that if Chu Jiu’s idea could become a reality, coupled with the paper mill that Bean Village already had, how many books could Bean Village produce?
At that time, not only the old and young in Bean Village, but also the lords and ladies in Emerald Town and the wealthy people in Sea Moon City would be able to get these thin, easy-to-turn books!
And so, they began rounds of trials, failures, and more trials.
After they invited the white-bearded little squirrel to help and assist them in finding suitable metal, this matter finally made a breakthrough.
Finally, three months ago, this unique “printing house” was completed by the Wheat River.
From that day on, Bean Village began to sell “printed books” one after another.
These books were, of course, based on the collection that Grandpa He had left to Chu Jiu.
From children’s stories to literacy picture books, to popular novels about treasure hunting, monster slaying, or romance, they printed them all.
Now, these “Bean Village printed books” had surpassed honey, surpassed sugarcane brown sugar, surpassed various soy products, and had become the best-selling product in Bean Village! Every morning, merchants from other towns waited at the entrance of Bean Village wanting to buy more books to take back!
Chu Jiu was stunned again.
After a long while, he finally spoke his truest thoughts, “You… are amazing!”
Really, amazing.
Finally, at this moment, Chu Jiu received a long string of notifications.
[Population of Bean Village increased, various new facilities added to Bean Village, exploration degree increased to an astonishing 79%, residents comprehended various recipes such as [Movable Type Printing] and [Plant Oil Extraction]… as well as the overall state changes of Bean Village]
[Honorary Region: Bean Village]
[Village Evaluation: The most legendary village in all of Carrot Continent.
This once dilapidated village now continuously radiates light and warmth.
Through this small village, lost medical skills are inherited and spread outward.
Through this small village, interrupted writing and culture begin to flow again.
Through this small village, countless forgotten technologies are once again used by people…
It is a well-deserved miracle village, and also the future miracle town, miracle city.]
[Village Specialties: Soy products, sugarcane brown sugar, books, cotton cloth, bamboo paper, poultry meat and egg products, honey products, edible oil, glass products, “Dwarf Beastman Blacksmith Shop” forgeries]
[Resident Status: Residents firmly believe that “today’s efforts will bring tomorrow’s rewards.” In their eyes, Bean Village is their only, irreplaceable, and inviolable home. They will fight to the death to protect this home.]
[Precautions: This village seized the development window period of “reduced external obstacles,” and its exploration degree has leaped forward. However, external obstacles are now making a comeback with doubled strength. This village has reached a critical turning point.
Please use all the experience, knowledge, and skills you have accumulated so far to spare no effort in defending this village!]
Spare no effort in defending this village…
The smile on Chu Jiu’s face gradually faded, and he subconsciously clenched his fists.
Two days later.
Little Ku Physician produced the first bottle of [Ability User Specific Antidote].
Validation successful.
Chu Jiu did not have all the ability users in the village drink this antidote. Instead, he had the accompanying guards, who had followed him back to Bean Village and had been waiting for news, rush back to Sea Moon City first to report to Clara.
Chu Jiu and Douglas had discussed it and decided to wait for Clara’s reply before promoting the medicine.
This morning.
Chu Jiu and Douglas were discussing how to improve the waterwheels by the Wheat River when a patrol security team member came to report, “There’s a caravan! And a long one at that!”
Chu Jiu’s first reaction was that Clara had replied.
But then he thought again: if it was just a reply, why send a caravan? And a “long caravan” at that?
Chu Jiu had a bad feeling in his heart.
Before long, the carriages stopped.
Many people wearing red uniforms jumped out of the carriages, their expressions stern as they strode towards the Wheat River.
Seeing the dazzling uniforms that looked like moving targets, Douglas said in a deep voice, “It’s the King’s direct guard.”
The King?
…What was the King sending his guards here for?
Although the King had previously issued a decree asking them to go to the royal city for a hearing, it shouldn’t be to the extent of personally sending guards to escort them, right?
The bad feeling in Chu Jiu’s heart grew stronger.
Finally, a captain-like figure at the head walked directly to Douglas, his head held high, his face as cold as iron:
“His Majesty the King has decreed—”
“‘Bean Village dares to use ingenious tricks to privately print indecent reading material, which is truly a blasphemy against the True God.'”
“‘It is hereby ordered that the villagers of Bean Village immediately dismantle all related facilities and burn them on the spot!'”
