Chapter 406: Autumn Wind Sweeps Away Leaves

Zhengjing Village, the sky was faintly bright.

When many people successfully reclaim wasteland in a plot of land, the sky-light reflects off one another, creating an illusion that makes people feel as if this place is no longer the New Land.

Of course, the sky-light of the New Land is not as dazzling as the sunlight of the Proper Land, but as the sky-light of various plots interweaves, it is not much different from dawn in the Proper Land.

How many plots of successfully reclaimed wasteland are there near Zhengjing Village?

This matter requires a thorough count.

Li Li Banfeng led the land reclaimers to a forest; they were still over five *li* away from Zhengjing Village, but one could already see many civilian houses and even a restaurant.

Some hunters were visiting Zhengjing Village for the first time, and they were very curious: opening a restaurant here, where do the ingredients come from?

There isn't much to eat on the New Land. In the past, most of the ingredients in Zhengjing Village relied on the oranges from the orange grove, the fish in the lake, and a portion of edible wild beasts.

But the situation is different now. Many Farming Cultivators have successively succeeded in reclaiming wasteland in the surrounding territories, planting plenty of food and raising many livestock.

With stable ingredients, the number of people temporarily residing nearby has increased—those reclaiming land, hunting, hiding from disasters, cultivating, filming shadow plays... Civilian houses have expanded from inside the village to outside.

Upon arriving near Zhengjing Village, Li Li Banfeng saw two old men sitting under a large tree at the village entrance, playing chess.

One was thin and small, the other fat and burly.

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

The fat old man pushed the chess piece away: "What does it matter if I move or not? I never knew how to play chess in the first place. People are already here, what am I still pretending for?"

These two were none other than Shui Shui Yongquan and Qiu Qiu Luoye.

Seeing Li Li Banfeng, Qiu Qiu Luoye greeted him and called Li Li Banfeng to the side: "Old Seven, you brought so many people this time; is there something you need our help with?"

Li Li Banfeng nodded and said, "There really is a small matter. People like Duan Duan Wuchou and Liang Liang Wucai have performed many meritorious deeds for me, and I want to keep them by my side."

Qiu Qiu Luoye laughed heartily: "I thought it was something major; just keep them! Ma Wu borrowed A-Qin and Huo Ling from me; when have I ever asked him for them back?"

"Brother Qiu, I'm not borrowing; I'm asking you for the people, including their contracts."

"Easy to say, I'll give them to you. It's just that they are ultimately seeds of the New Land; you still need to discuss it with Old Shui and use more techniques to cover for them."

Shui Shui Yongquan stood to the side with a smile on his face, never having spoken.

Qiu Qiu Luoye frowned: "What's the meaning of this? Old Shui, do you want to raise the price? Old Seven brought so many people today; can't you even help with this little favor?"

Shui Shui Yongquan shook his head and said, "Look at how you put it. I don't hesitate when it comes to helping, but regarding this land reclamation, can we slow it down a bit?"

Once these words were spoken, Li Li Banfeng was stunned.

How could Shui Shui Yongquan have this attitude?

Don't the Local Deities all hope for land reclamation?

Qiu Qiu Luoye couldn't understand either: "Slow down what? Old Shui, what's wrong with you? Did you drink too much morning wine and get muddled?"

Shui Shui Yongquan laughed: "Don't be anxious; let's find a place to talk."

Shui Shui Yongquan had built a wooden house in his own territory, usually pretending to be a hunter to chat with people around him.

After entering the wooden house, Shui Shui Yongquan poured tea for the two of them. Qiu Guogua Qiu Daxiang pushed his cup aside, looked at Shui Shui Yongquan, and said, "We knew Old Seven was coming today, so we agreed to come out together to receive him. If I had known you had other thoughts, I wouldn't have come out with you; I would have welcomed Old Seven directly to my territory."

Shui Shui Yongquan frowned: "Qiu Guogua Qiu Daxiang, what you said is a bit off."

"What's off? What exactly do you mean?" Qiu Qiu Luoye was truly angry. "Did you climb a high branch? Want to partner with someone else? Do you look down on me, or do you look down on Old Seven?"

"Looking down on us doesn't matter; we don't need your favor. Old Seven, I'll give you all the manpower I mentioned. I'll find someone to help you hide their identities. I have other good hands here; I'll bring them over in a moment, you can pick whoever you want! I, Qiu Qiu Luoye, act with a clear conscience!"

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

"What else could it be?" Qiu Qiu Luoye pounded the table. "At the beginning, no one came to our desolate place to reclaim land. How many people has Old Seven brought us back and forth? You climb a high branch and want to dump them? Did you let your conscience be snatched away by yourself?"

Shui Shui Yongquan sighed: "To tell you the truth, in my territory, there are 10,900 plots within a one-*li* radius, 900 of which were given to me by Qiu Qiu Luoye."

Qiu Qiu Luoye waved his hand: "No need to tell me that; I can't calculate it!"

"I didn't ask you to calculate; I've calculated it for you," Shui Shui Yongquan took out an account book. "In my territory, a total of over 2,700 plots have been reclaimed, and in your territory, over 2,500 plots have been reclaimed!"

Qiu Qiu Luoye's expression was solemn, his gaze cold: "Are you saying that the New Land I reclaimed is less than yours?"

Shui Shui Yongquan said helplessly: "Does this even need to be said? Can't you count?"

Qiu Qiu Luoye lowered his voice and asked Li Li Banfeng: "I wasn't wrong, was I? It is less than his, right?"

Li Li Banfeng nodded firmly.

Shui Shui Yongquan said: "The meaning of my words is that nearly 30% of our two families' land has been reclaimed. If we continue like this, the Inner Prefecture will take notice of us."

Qiu Qiu Luoye snorted: "Let them notice, what's there to fear? We are reclaiming land according to the rules; can they control us?"

"The rules haven't been broken, but our situation is special. This is Deep Land, not Shallow Land. I'm afraid the Inner Prefecture will play tricks on us!"

Li Li Banfeng was stunned for a long time.

What is Deep Land, and what is Shallow Land?

The concept is easy to understand.

Shui Shui Yongquan explained: "The so-called depth is the distance from the Proper Land. New Land close to the Proper Land is called Shallow Land. My territory and Qiu Qiu Luoye's territory are very far from the Proper Land, separated by several layers of New Land, so it is called Deep Land."

"Logically speaking, the closer to the Proper Land, the more convenient it is to transport food and supplies. Therefore, the shallower the land, the more land reclaimers there are."

"Old Seven, ask around along the way; which Local Deity's territory has had 30% reclaimed? Those plots right next to Green Water Bay, how many percent have been reclaimed? As far as I know, less than 20%!"

"And now, in our Deep Land, 30% has already been reclaimed. Can the Inner Prefecture not know about such an eye-catching matter? If they know, can they not cause us trouble?"

Li Li Banfeng was very curious: "How can they cause trouble?"

"Hard to say," Shui Shui Yongquan shook his head. "They might send people to find trouble, or they might destroy our contracts."

Li Li Banfeng was even more confused: "You say the Inner Prefecture can send people to find trouble; can people from the Inner Prefecture come to Puluo Prefecture at will?"

"That, they can't," Shui Shui Yongquan smacked his lips. "But they definitely have other ways. What exactly those ways are, I haven't investigated clearly yet."

Li Li Banfeng asked again: "You said they could destroy your contracts. Your contracts are buried in your territory; how can they destroy them?"

Shui Shui Yongquan said: "Little brother, you haven't seen a contract; you only know one thing but not the other!"

Who said I haven't seen a contract?

I've seen two!

Of course, this cannot be said out loud.

Shui Shui Yongquan took paper and pen and drew an arch: "A contract looks like this. It is proof that a Local Deity occupies a territory. Everything big or small that happens in the territory is recorded on the contract."

"When I defeated Qiu Qiu Luoye, Qiu Qiu Luoye ceded 30 *li* of territory to me. This matter is recorded. If you don't believe it, let's dig up Qiu Guogua Qiu Daxiang's contract right now and take a look. Every single stroke is written clearly!"

Qiu Qiu Luoye spat: "Bah! Why don't you dig up your own contract and take a look?"

Shui Shui Yongquan continued: "Not only are land cessions recorded, but land reclamation matters are also recorded, plot by plot, all written clearly."

Li Li Banfeng remained calm; he thought Shui Shui Yongquan was talking nonsense.

He had seen two contracts; there were no records of land reclamation on the contracts of Mount Bashan and Bei Bei Wushuang.

Wait.

Was there any land reclamation in those two places?

Those places were much more remote than the territories of Shui Shui Yongquan and Qiu Qiu Luoye.

In the territory of Mount Bashan, there had been no land reclaimers before. You Tao, He He Yuxiu, and Zhang Wanlong successively succeeded in reclaiming land. By that time, the Local Deity had already changed to Li Li Furong.

There was a high probability that there were no successfully reclaimed plots in Bei Bei Wushuang's territory, so Li Li Banfeng hadn't seen any records.

In this way, Shui Shui Yongquan's words should be true.

"Are you worried that too much reclaimed wasteland will attract the attention of the Inner Prefecture?"

Shui Shui Yongquan said: "With a pile of contracts placed there, the people of the Inner Prefecture are definitely too lazy to look. Suddenly, a contract has a large piece of text added to it; the people of the Inner Prefecture will definitely take a look."

Li Li Banfeng was confused again: "Where is the pile of contracts placed?"

"Placed in the library of the Inner Prefecture, hanging in rows," Shui Shui Yongquan drew another arch. "A contract is divided into two halves. We hold one half, and the Inner Prefecture keeps the other. The two halves combined form a ring. If the Inner Prefecture destroys their half, it's hard to say what will happen to our half."

This time Li Li Banfeng understood.

The Lady had once said that the Inner Prefecture could see the text on the contracts. It turns out it was because the contract was divided into two, and both sides changed synchronously.

Hanging in rows, if there were major changes, it would indeed be clear at a glance.

The Lady turned Mount Bashan into Li Li Furong; this change was not too big and should not attract the attention of the Inner Prefecture.

It shouldn't, right...

Li Li Banfeng felt a bit uneasy in his heart, suddenly hearing Qiu Qiu Luoye say: "Let's not talk about the ring anymore."

Qiu Qiu Luoye seemed a bit afraid.

He also has times when he is afraid?

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

Shui Shui Yongquan said: "There are quite a few people in our territories. I've roughly counted; coming and going, there are over a thousand people. This is human vitality."

"With human vitality, we can accumulate cultivation base; why be in such a hurry?"

Qiu Qiu Luoye couldn't calculate the numbers, but he knew that over a thousand people were definitely not enough: "Just relying on these thousand-plus people to accumulate cultivation base, how many years will it take? According to your method, when will we ever reach the third layer?"

"What's the rush?" Shui Shui Yongquan was very patient. "We have five times the lifespan of ordinary people; let's take it slow."

The second layer above the clouds has five times the lifespan; this concept was the first time Li Li Banfeng had heard of it.

But this matter is not critical now; the critical thing is that Shui Shui Yongquan does not want to continue reclaiming land.

Qiu Qiu Luoye was silent for a long time and walked out of the wooden house.

Amidst the heavy footsteps, the withered leaves remaining on the trees fell one after another.

He turned his head and said to Li Li Banfeng: "Old Seven, bring all your people to my territory and prepare to reclaim land. After the matter is done, you can pick whoever you want from my subordinates."

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

"No, I didn't hear a word," Qiu Qiu Luoye answered very honestly. "Old Shui, if you want to wait, then wait; you can wait as long as you want."

"I won't wait. Old Seven is a noble person. Heaven is good to me, letting me meet a noble person, and I must be worthy of Heaven. I will do this to the end!"

(End of chapter)

(End of Chapter)