Chapter 406: Autumn Wind Sweeps Leaves

Zhengjing Village, the sky was just beginning to lighten.

When enough people successfully reclaimed land in an area, the glow of their fields interwove, creating an illusion that this was not new land at all.

Of course, the sky-glow of new land was not as brilliant as the sunlight of the proper land; when the glows of all the plots intertwined, they resembled dawn in the proper land closely enough.

How many successfully reclaimed plots were there near Zhengjing Village?

This needed careful tallying.

Li Banfeng led the reclamation workers to a forest, more than five li from Zhengjing Village, where they could already see numerous dwellings and a restaurant.

Some hunters had never been to Zhengjing Village before and were curious: where did the restaurant get its ingredients?

There was little edible food on new land; in the past, most of Zhengjing Village's provisions came from oranges in the orchard, fish from the lake, and some edible wild beasts.

But now things were different: many cultivation practitioners had gradually succeeded in reclaiming land nearby, growing plenty of food and raising numerous domestic animals.

With food supplies stabilized, more people settled nearby—reclaimers, hunters, refugees, cultivators, film-makers… dwellings spread from the village into the surrounding areas.

When they reached the vicinity of Zhengjing Village, Li Banfeng saw two old men sitting under a large tree at the village entrance, playing chess.

One was thin and small, the other stout and imposing.

The thin old man said: "Are you going to move or not? You've been staring at that move for half an hour."

The stout old man shoved his piece forward: "What difference does it make if I move? I never knew how to play chess anyway. Since you're here, why pretend?"

These two were Shui Yongquan and Qiu Luoye.

Seeing Li Banfeng, Qiu Luoye stepped forward and pulled him aside: "Old Seven, you brought so many people this time—do you need our help with something?"

Li Banfeng nodded: "Yes, I do. Duan Wuchou, Liang Wucai, and others have done me great service—I want to keep them by my side permanently."

Qiu Luoye laughed heartily: "I thought it was something big. Just keep them! Ma Wu borrowed Aqin and Huoling from me—when did I ever ask him for them back?"

"Brother Qiu, I'm not borrowing—I'm asking you to give them to me, including their indenture papers."

"Easy enough—I'll give them to you. But they're still new land folk; you'll need to consult Old Shui and use techniques to conceal them."

Shui Yongquan stood nearby, smiling, saying nothing.

Qiu Luoye frowned: "What's this? Old Shui, are you trying to raise the price? Old Seven brought so many people today—won't you help?"

Shui Yongquan shook his head: "Don't say it like that. I won't refuse to help, but can we delay reclamation for now?"

At this, Li Banfeng froze.

Why was Shui Yongquan acting this way?

Didn't all land gods long for reclamation?

Qiu Luoye couldn't understand either: "Delay what? What's wrong with you, Old Shui? Did you drink morning wine and get drunk?"

Shui Yongquan smiled: "Don't rush. Let's find a place to talk."

Shui Yongquan had built a wooden hut on his land, posing as a hunter to chat with locals.

Inside the hut, Shui Yongquan poured tea for both of them. Qiu Luoye pushed his cup aside and stared at Shui Yongquan: "I knew Old Seven was coming today—we agreed to come out together to greet him.

Had I known you had other plans, I wouldn't have come out with you—I'd have welcomed Old Seven straight to my land."

Shui Yongquan frowned: "Qiu Daxiang, that's not fair."

"What's unfair? What's your meaning?" Qiu Luoye was truly angry. "Have you climbed to higher ground? Looking to partner with someone else? Do you look down on me—or on Old Seven?

If you look down on us, fine—we won't cling to your shadow. Old Seven, all the people you asked for, I'm giving you. I'll have someone hide their identities. I've got skilled hands—I'll bring them all, pick any you want! I, Qiu Luoye, act with a clear conscience!"

Shui Yongquan waved his hand: "Old Qiu, this isn't about conscience!"

"Then what is it about?" Qiu Luoye slammed the table. "No one ever came to our backwater place to reclaim land—how many people has Old Seven brought us over time? Now that you've climbed higher, you want to ditch him? Has your conscience been eaten by your own mouth?"

Shui Yongquan sighed: "I'll tell you the truth: on my land, there are ten thousand and ninety plots, nine hundred of which were given to me by Qiu Luoye."

Qiu Luoye waved his hand: "Don't bother telling me that—I can't do math!"

"I'm not asking you to calculate—I've already done it for you," Shui Yongquan pulled out an account book. "On my land, over two thousand seven hundred plots have been reclaimed; on yours, over two thousand five hundred."

Qiu Luoye's face darkened, his gaze cold: "So my reclaimed land is less than yours?"

Shui Yongquan sighed: "Do I need to say it? Can't you count?"

Qiu Luoye lowered his voice to Li Banfeng: "I'm right, aren't I? Mine's less than his?"

Li Banfeng nodded firmly.

Shui Yongquan said: "The point is, nearly thirty percent of our combined land has been reclaimed. If we keep going like this, the Inner State will notice us."

Qiu Luoye snorted: "Let them notice—what's the harm? We're following the rules—what can they do?"

"We haven't broken the rules, but our situation is special. This is deep land, not shallow land. I fear the Inner State will cause trouble for us."

Li Banfeng stood stunned.

What was deep land? What was shallow land?

The concept was easy to grasp.

Shui Yongquan explained: "Depth refers to distance from the proper land. New land close to the proper land is shallow land. My land and Qiu Luoye's are far away, separated by several layers of new land—hence, deep land.

Logically, the closer to the proper land, the easier it is to transport food and supplies, so shallower land attracts more reclaimers.

Old Seven, ask around—you'll find no land god whose territory has reclaimed thirty percent. The plots right next to Green Water Bay? They've reclaimed barely two percent!

And here we are, in the deepest land, already at thirty percent. Such a glaring anomaly—could the Inner State possibly miss it? If they find out, won't they cause us trouble?"

Li Banfeng was curious: "What kind of trouble?"

"Hard to say," Shui Yongquan shook his head. "They might send people to harass us—or destroy our indenture papers."

Li Banfeng was even more confused: "You say the Inner State sends people to harass us? Can Inner State agents just wander into Pulu Province?"

"No, they can't," Shui Yongquan clicked his tongue. "But they'll have other methods. I haven't figured out what yet."

Li Banfeng asked again: "You say they can destroy your indenture papers? They're buried in your land—how can they destroy them?"

Shui Yongquan said: "Young brother, you've never seen an indenture paper—you only know half the story!"

Who said I've never seen one?

I've seen two!

Of course, I couldn't say that.

Shui Yongquan took paper and brush and drew an arch: "An indenture paper looks like this—it's proof of a land god's ownership. All major and minor events on the land are recorded in it.

When I defeated Qiu Luoye and he gave me thirty li of land, that was recorded. Don't believe me? Let's dig up Qiu Daxiang's indenture paper right now—we'll see every detail written clearly!"

Qiu Luoye spat: "Pah! Why not dig up yours and see?"

Shui Yongquan continued: "Not only land transfers are recorded—reclamation is too. Each plot, every single one, is written down plainly."

Li Banfeng remained expressionless—he thought Shui Yongquan was making it up.

He had seen two indenture papers—those of Ba Shan and Bei Wushuang—neither had any reclamation records.

Wait.

Did anyone reclaim land there?

Those places were far more remote than Shui Yongquan's and Qiu Luoye's.

On Ba Shan's land, no one had reclaimed before; You Tao, He Yuxiu, and Zhang Wanlong succeeded one after another—by then, the land god had already become Li Furong.

Bei Wushuang's land likely had no reclaimed plots either, so Li Banfeng had never seen any records.

So Shui Yongquan's words must be true.

"You're worried that too much reclaimed land will draw the Inner State's attention?"

Shui Yongquan said: "A pile of indenture papers sits there—Inner State officials won't bother reading them. But if one suddenly has a huge new block of text, they'll definitely take a look."

Li Banfeng still didn't understand: "Where is this pile of indenture papers?"

"Hanging in rows in the Inner State's archives," Shui Yongquan drew another arch. "Each indenture paper is split in half—we hold one half, the Inner State keeps the other. When joined, they form a complete ring. If the Inner State destroys their half, ours might also be affected."

This time, Li Banfeng understood.

Madam had once said the Inner State could see the text on indenture papers—it was because the papers were split, and both halves changed in sync.

Hanging in rows, any major change would be instantly obvious.

Madam turned Ba Shan into Li Furong—that change was minor, unlikely to attract the Inner State's notice.

Probably not…

Li Banfeng felt uneasy, when suddenly Qiu Luoye said: "Forget about the ring for now."

Qiu Luoye seemed afraid.

He had moments of fear?

Qiu Luoye looked at Shui Yongquan: "Old Shui, what do you plan to do?"

Shui Yongquan said: "We have many people on our lands—I roughly counted, over a thousand come and go. That's qi energy.

With qi energy, we can accumulate cultivation. Why rush?"

Qiu Luoye couldn't do math, but he knew a thousand people wasn't enough: "With just a thousand people, how long will it take to accumulate enough? If you keep this up, when will we reach the third level?"

"Why rush?" Shui Yongquan was patient. "We have five times the lifespan of ordinary people. Take it slow."

The concept of fivefold lifespan on Cloud Level Two was something Li Banfeng had never heard before.

But right now, the key point was: Shui Yongquan didn't want to continue reclamation.

Qiu Luoye fell silent, then walked out of the hut.

With heavy footsteps, the dried leaves still clinging to the trees fell one by one.

He turned back to Li Banfeng: "Old Seven, bring all your people to my land. Prepare for reclamation. When it's done, pick any of my men you want."

Shui Yongquan frowned: "Qiu Daxiang, did you hear anything I just said?"

"Not a word," Qiu Luoye answered frankly. "Old Shui, if you want to wait, wait as long as you like.

I won't wait. Old Seven is a noble person. Heaven has been good to me by letting me meet him—I must repay Heaven's kindness. I'll see this through to the end!"

(End of Chapter)