Two days later, the small track connecting Gaojia Village to Bai Family Fortress was finally laid. This small track, were it placed in the real world, would stretch a full hundred ters and was truly quite long.
Li Daoxuan had spent considerable ti setting it up. Along the path, he had used tal scrapers on nurous sections to level the ground and smooth the road, minimizing the frequency of sharp curves and uneven sections along the small track.
Passing by two desolate villages, Li Daoxuan deliberately placed two interdiate train stations. Though empty now, he knew people would eventually settle there. Soday, experts would marvel, finding it inconceivable that soone in this world would take a train back to their ancestral village to farm, surpassing even the invention of driving a personal vehicle ho for farming – a whole new level!
As soon as the small track reached Bai Family Fortress, Bai Yuan was the first to rush out, elated: “Has the Deity bestowed a train upon Bai Family Fortress too? Fantastic! Hahaha! This ti, the engine driver simply must be , right?”
Once the small train was placed down, Bai Yuan eagerly jumped onto the engine.
He personally piloted the small train on its “trial run,” chugging noisily all the way from Bai Family Fortress to Gaojia Village and then chugging back again.
The forty-mile journey, including ti stopped at stations and in motion, took a full half-hour. After just one test run, Bai Yuan realized he didn’t have enough ti to drive this small train daily.
He couldn’t spend all his ti mastering only the “art of charioteering” when the other five arts demanded his attention. Reluctantly, he gave up the position, personally teaching two villagers from Bai Family Fortress how to operate the small train and handing over the helm.
Just as Bai Family Fortress rejoiced over the small train’s arrival…
anwhile, at the City God Temple in Chengcheng County.
Third Lady was reverently expounding Taoist scriptures to the believers when she noticed soone slip through the side hall door – her husband, Thirty-Two.
“Hm?”
Third Lady made a soft sound of surprise but showed no outward reaction. She continued to lecture with perfect composure, rely speeding up her delivery slightly.
Before long, she dismissed the congregation after they had finished listening.
She hurried over to Thirty-Two, delighted: “Husband, what brings you to the county town?”
It had been so ti since they’d seen each other, and they missed one another sowhat. Thirty-Two took his wife’s hand and said with a low laugh, “I’ve co by order of the Deity, delivering a batch of books to the county town. Naturally, I had to visit my wife, heh heh. It’s been so long, we must enjoy… the brief separation feels better than the wedding night?”
Third Lady scoffed, her gaze drifting downwards, sweeping over Thirty-Two’s crotch: “Can you manage?”
The question instantly made Thirty-Two’s expression awkward: “Well… um… still…”
Third Lady: “I thought as much! If you can’t manage, then no separation, however brief, feels better than the wedding night.”
Thirty-Two flopped face-first onto the ground, unable to get up.
Li Daoxuan, observing from the sky above, felt a pang of awkwardness himself upon hearing this. So that’s it! No wonder Thirty-Two had co to make that particular wish when the “Dao Xuan Deity Cave” was first built. No wonder Third Lady stayed permanently in the county town, never returning to Gaojia Village to see her husband…
Of course, of course!
So many details he hadn’t noticed before.
This fellow wasn’t really a man anymore; he was a eunuch.
Harsh!
Fellow man here, sending unlimited sympathy his way.
Third Lady’s expression turned serious: “Stop wallowing in gloom. Haven’t you long since made peace with this? Let’s discuss business. What are the Deity’s orders?”
Thirty-Two instantly sprang up from the floor, his expression back to normal. True, it was water far under the bridge. When chatting with his wife, he even occasionally jokingly referred to himself as “Thirty-Two the Eunuch,” embracing self-deprecation and open-mindedness.
He pulled a thin book from his sleeve and handed it to Third Lady: “Take a look at this. The Deity had bring you three hundred copies. They’re piled up outside now, awaiting your instructions.”
Third Lady took the book. On the cover were the words Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale, alongside a sacred image of the Deity. She bowed deeply in reverence before slowly opening it to look inside.
Reading it, her delight was imdiate: “This… this… such a wonderful book!”
Thirty-Two whispered, “The Deity bid bring you over three hundred copies to distribute as you see fit. Furthermore, two thousand more are to be printed. They’ll arrive in a few days for the Chengcheng Bookstore. You know, Chengcheng Bookstore was secretly bought by Gaojia Village a while ago; it’s just registered under Mr. Wang’s na. Those two thousand copies are to be sold there.”
Third Lady frowned: “Will they sell? It’s a year of great disaster now. People struggle just to eat. Can we expect them to buy books?”
Thirty-Two chuckled: “Why would the Deity overlook that? The venerable Deity has already decreed: purchase one book, get two taels of flour free.”
Third Lady: “!”
With that, Third Lady understood completely.
“If the Deity has arranged this,” she thought rapidly, “it ans He intends to extend His divine grace to the county town. The Deity is benevolent; He doesn’t wish to manifest directly and frighten the common folk. So first, we must spread tales of the Deity’s deeds, broadcast His na far and wide. Once the people of the county town all know His sacred title, when the venerable Deity manifests His powers again, it will startle no one.”
Thirty-Two nodded: “Exactly. That’s what I also think.”
Third Lady: “Understood. Where are the three hundred copies? I’ll arrange distribution imdiately.”
Thirty-Two led her out to the adjacent reception room. The three hundred copies ford a sizable pile on the floor. Gao Chuwu and Zheng Daniu stood beside the pile, offering Third Lady a dopey grin.
Third Lady directed them to move all the comic books into the room where she was staying…
Half an hour later.
A shabbily dressed poor man ca in, kneeling before Third Lady. He tearfully explained that his son had been feverish for two days without improvent and begged for immortal dicine…
As usual, Third Lady gave him the dicine. Then, suddenly, she asked, “Do you know which deity bestowed this dicine upon you?”
The poor man quickly kowtowed: “I know! This humble one knows! It’s the Dao Xuan Deity!”
Third Lady: “And do you know which demons He subdued, which fiends He vanquished?”
The poor man looked utterly blank-faced. He genuinely didn’t know.
Asked about the Supre Venerable Deity (Lord Lao), the Primordial Deity, or the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, he could have prattled on a little. But about the Dao Xuan Deity? Hmph… it was obscure. Far too obscure.
Third Lady snorted: “Your heart lacks sincerity. Even with this dicine, your son may not recover.”
This terrified the poor man; half his soul seed to flee. He cried out desperately, “This humble man is sincere! Truly sincere! I am rely ignorant, unaware of the Deity’s deeds! It’s my fault! I will diligently study the scriptures, commit the Deity’s feats to mory…”
Seeing the groundwork sufficiently laid, Third Lady swiftly drew another book from her sleeve and handed it to the poor man: “This is Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale. Take it back and study it diligently. Then you will know the Deity’s deeds.”
The poor man was overjoyed: “Many thanks, Esteed Lady!”
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