Chapter 882: The Mohist Who Can Cultivate (Part 2) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]
"You two actually know each other?"
This was truly beyond Liao Jia's expectations.
He had known Zhoukou for quite some time and knew about her early life from the occasional glimpses she revealed. She was a wandering Mohist, constantly on the move, living a nomadic life, earning a meager living by crafting tools for those in need, struggling on the poverty line, often going hungry. If it weren't for the chaotic times that led to disorder and lax management in various places, an orphan like her, without land, house, or household registration, would basically have no choice but to make a living in the deep mountains and forests, accompanied by wild animals and poisonous insects.
On the other hand, what about Yun Ce?
He acquired profound skills at a young age.
That murderous aura could only be cultivated through countless battles.
No matter how you look at it, the two don't seem like they'd ever cross paths.
Yun Ce smiled, his smile as pure as snow: "Yes, Qiuqiu is a close friend I met not long after I went down the mountain to travel. However, she was ordered by her sect to find a sacred object, so we parted ways along the way. I never expected to run into her here after all this time."
Liao Jia's expression was strange: "Searching for a sacred object?"
Without Bei Qiu's permission, Yun Ce couldn't reveal the name of the sect's sacred artifact, so he could only remain silent. However, he hadn't expected Liao Jia to ask, "Are you referring to 'The Creation of Heaven and Earth'?"
"How did you know, sir?"
Liao Jia smiled mysteriously.
How did he know?
Lin Lingde and Qi Yuanliang used that set of "Tiangong Kaiwu" to completely keep Bei Qiu. At first, they were attracted by Bei Qiu's talent - she made the farm tools that the government urgently needed in just one night with only a notice and simple requirements.
Based on Bei Qiu's work, Hu Cao mass-produced usable cotton-removing machines. With Bei Qiu's improvements, the cotton-removing machines went through several generations, increasing efficiency while greatly reducing labor input. She also improved several agricultural tools based on "Tiangong Kaiwu" (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature), and even the discerning Qi Yuanliang regarded her as a treasure.
Yun Ce understood immediately.
He asked, "Could it be that Chuchu has already found the sacred object?"
As they were talking, Bei Qiu, who was at the center of the conversation, stepped forward and patted Yun Ce on the shoulder: "Yun Yuanmou, what did you just say?"
Yun Ce smiled and said, "I'm amazed by fate..."
He swallowed the rest of his words.
Just now, Bei Qiu was sitting in the carriage, only his head showing. Now that he was closer, he realized that the other person's appearance hadn't changed much, but he was much taller than he remembered. Before, it was difficult to even pat his shoulder, but now it was just right…
Isn't it said that a girl stops growing after she reaches the age of 14?
Bei Qiu waved her hand in front of his eyes: "It hasn't been that long since we last met, and you don't recognize me? Or did you hurt your eyes in the war?"
Yun Ce honestly revealed his true feelings: "You've grown quite a bit taller."
As he spoke, his gaze fell on the large wooden box that Bei Qiu was carrying.
In his memory, this large wooden box was a head taller than Bei Qiu. During the time they traveled together, he politely helped her carry the weight. Yun Ce even thought Bei Qiu was quite pitiful, being stunted by the weight of the wooden box. When they walked together, an old woman with poor eyesight even mistook him for carrying an old garment, only to realize upon closer inspection that the old garment was actually a person.
The northern chick in front of them was even taller than the large wooden box.
She's grown quite fast.
Bei Qiu scratched her haphazardly piled-up bun and said familiarly, "You've definitely grown quite a bit taller. The food at the government office is too good; I can't fit into any of the clothes you bought me..."
Before joining the government and receiving a salary, the Northern Chicks' food supply depended entirely on luck. If they got work, they could eat their fill; if they didn't, they would drink more water and go hungry, supplementing their diet with hunting. They often went hungry one day and full the next, and their survival to this age was entirely due to the grace of God.
Things are different now.
The government canteen would always send someone to deliver her food, always a huge bowl full of meat, and the wheat rice was always pressed down, making one bowl as heavy as three other people's. Occasionally, when she went to the canteen, the cooks' hands would shake when serving others, leaving only two or three pieces of meat with each spoonful, but when they saw her, their hands would immediately stop shaking, and they would become more energetic. With such pampering, it would be hard not to grow tall.
"I'll pay you back the money I borrowed from you before."
Before Bei Qiu and Yun Ce parted ways, she borrowed some travel money from him. She thought she'd never get a chance to pay it back, but unexpectedly, her luck turned around, and she landed a job at the government office with room and board provided, managing to save a considerable amount of money each month. She's definitely richer than Yun Ce now!
Yun Ce nodded: "Yes, there's no rush."
He led Liao Jia and his party to his garrison camp, letting them rest there for the time being, and that he would personally escort them to see their lord the next day. The camp appeared simple, but it was well-organized, and even Liao Jia could not find anything wrong with it.
"Can Chiu Chiu cultivate now?"
Watching Bei Qiu discussing something with someone in the distance, Yun Ce suddenly called out to Liao Jia beside him. With more and more women capable of cultivation appearing, Yun Ce knew this matter was related to his lord. Bei Qiu's dramatic growth spurt was clearly not due to improved food or nutrition. After much thought, he concluded it must be the nourishment of heaven and earth's energy, allowing her to grow a second time. Many of the female soldiers in the camp could attest to this.
Liao Jia countered, "The general didn't notice?"
Yun Ce said, "The aura emanating from Qiu Qiu is very strange."
What's strange about it?
The aura emanating from Bei Qiu was neither scholarly nor martial; Yun Ce only felt that it was balanced, peaceful, and refreshingly natural. However, it was too faint and weak for him to draw any conclusions. The only thing he was certain of was that Bei Qiu could cultivate.
Liao Jia didn't hide anything: "She can indeed cultivate, but it's slightly different from what you and I understand. Qi Yuanliang and I have also studied this for a while, but we don't have a definitive conclusion yet. It just so happens that our lord urgently needs skilled craftsmen, so we brought her along as well."
There's one more thing Liao Jia didn't mention.
Because of Bei Qiu's unique situation, Qi Yuanliang even went to the Northwest Continent branch of the Gods' Guild, attempting to find answers in the guild's vast library, but the results were unsatisfactory. Even the Gods' Guild had no answers regarding Bei Qiu's condition.
Qi Yuanliang had a bold guess.
The situation with Bei Qiu might be an alternative force independent of the Wenxin Wudan system. However, it lacks the unpredictability of Wenxin and the power and destructive force of Wudan; it is a force that leans more towards rules, order, and creation.
This has never happened before!
Fearing that the gods would take notice, Qi Shan even abused his power for personal gain, blocking and intercepting all intelligence related to Bei Qiu.
Yun Ce asked worriedly, "Will it harm her?"
Liao Jia's lips twitched slightly: "If you'd seen her sawing a wild boar alive, you wouldn't ask that question..."
The security situation in Sibao County was relatively good, but bandits still roamed some remote mountains and forests, barely surviving despite repeated crackdowns by the government. Bei Qiu heard of a village with unique architecture from a hundred years ago and went to learn from it, but encountered bandits on the way.
And a wild boar enraged after falling into a bandit trap.
The entourage was just a hundred paces away.
They didn't even have time to rescue the pig from Bei Qiu's grasp.
One step away, and the bandits would have followed in the footsteps of the wild boar.
Yun Ce: "...Huh?"
Bei Qiu had also arranged for people to come, and they were carrying the heavy wooden box over here. Liao Jia coughed lightly, made a lame excuse to leave, and hurriedly left behind the words: "...There are still some minor details, you can learn about them later."
Bei Qiu is a very special person.
Yun Ce was confused by the nonsensical words, but he quickly composed himself and went to catch up with his best friend. He had specially hunted a few pheasants today and learned a special way of roasting chicken from his junior brother Xianyu Jian, so he was ready to show off his skills.
Crispy on the outside and tender on the inside, its aroma wafts far and wide.
Yun Ce had excellent hearing and could vaguely hear the soldiers whispering. Bei Qiu took a bite and was about to praise him when he turned his head and saw a blush drift from his friend's cheek to his ear. He asked in surprise, "Aren't martial artists supposed to be immune to heat and cold?"
The campfire actually made his face turn red.
Yun Ce coughed: "I've been getting chilled lately..."
Bei Qiu asked, "Has the cold entered your body? You have a fever?"
That's really strange.
She remembered Yun Ce saying that he could create ice and frost with his martial energy all year round. If he didn't want to fight, he would make ice for wealthy families and sell ice water during the hottest days of summer, guaranteeing a thriving business. Yun Ce had indeed done just that.
He earned his travel expenses by making ice.
It once made Bei Qiu both envious and jealous.
Yun Ce gave a vague answer: "It will be fine in a couple of days."
Bei Qiu said no more after hearing this.
She hadn't had much contact with martial artists and scholars before, and her understanding of them was limited. But after joining the government, she could observe the extraordinary literary talents and martial prowess of these individuals up close. She knew the difference between these people and ordinary people was greater than the difference between a dog and a person. If Yun Ce said everything was alright, then everything was alright. Unbeknownst to her, Bei Qiu had single-handedly devoured three plump pheasants, spitting out chicken bones all over the ground…
She was slightly embarrassed.
"Yuanmou, let me perform one for you."
As compensation for one person taking three pheasants by himself.
Yun Ce was completely bewildered, but he still followed Bei Qiu's lead and was led to a secluded spot. For a moment, his heart pounded like a drum.
"What are you looking at?"
Bei Qiu said mysteriously, "Don't make a fuss."
"good!"
"Don't be surprised by anything you see."
Yun Ce, puzzled, exclaimed, "Okay!"
"And you must keep your mouth shut!"
Bei Qiu raised her hand and placed it on the tree trunk beside her.
Just as Yun Ce was puzzled, she flicked out a ball of dark green light from her palm. The light instantly transformed into a strange wooden cart upon landing. Although it was called a cart, its appearance was very peculiar; the wheels were flat, and the body extended out with something resembling "arms." Yun Ce had never seen anything like it before. Just as he was about to ask what it was, Bei Qiu jumped inside and gestured for him to come in as well.
Yun Ce: "..."
He was much larger than Beijiu.
The only "window" that allows entry into the vehicle is too small.
It was already cramped for Bei Qiu to sit inside by himself, let alone let him in. Yun Ce could only carefully step onto this strange wooden cart, stand next to the carriage, look inside through the "window," and say gently, "I'll just stand here and take a look."
Bei Qiu realized this as well, and blushed with embarrassment.
He said softly, "I haven't been cultivating for very long, so this is the largest I can make. After I've cultivated for another year or two, I'll be able to modify it."
Yun responded, "Mm."
Bei Qiu's spirits rose again.
Pointing to something resembling a wrench inside the carriage, he said, "The blueprints for this thing were given to me by Chief Clerk Qi. He said that those blueprints were all the Lord's paintings. However, the Lord's paintings were too complicated, and the things were really profound. I studied the text descriptions next to the blueprints for more than a month before I figured out the general structure. On the day I figured it out, I had a very strange dream."
"Dream?"
“Yes, I saw it in my dream… I can’t tell you yet. Chief Clerk Qi said he would tell the Lord. I’ll tell you after I’ve finished talking to the Lord.” Bei Qiu swallowed back the words she was about to say and awkwardly changed the subject. “When I woke up, my meridians had undergone some inexplicable changes. I can turn the blueprints I know in my mind into reality, like this. This is really fun.”
He then pushed both wooden wrenches forward at the same time.
The wooden cart under Yun Ce's feet moved forward.
"What... what is this?"
Even the chariots created by the Martial Gallant Warriors require horses, but the wooden chariot created by Bei Qiu had no horses, and it did not consume any martial energy during its movement.
How exactly does it move?
Bei Qiu didn't answer, and at the same time, he pulled the wooden wrench back.
The wooden cart then reversed backward.
When the wooden wrench on the right is moved, the wooden cart turns to the left.
When the wooden wrench on the left is moved, the wooden cart turns to the right.
Bei Qiu, still using a wooden wrench to manipulate the large wooden arm extending from the vehicle body, flexibly swayed and waved it in the air: "According to the lord's blueprints, this thing is called an 'excavator'!"
Yun Ce was stunned for a long time: "Very impressive!"
Bei Qiu blushed slightly: "I'm not that great, it's my lord who's truly amazing. Even the leader of the Mohist school doesn't have her strength. Those blueprints, those designs, are absolutely captivating!"
Moreover, the lord was also a master of secrecy.
Each drawing was kept ingeniously confidential.
Even experts would struggle to decipher the true meaning from the chaotic drawings without a solid foundation! Bei Qiu initially struggled to understand it and even doubted its contents, but quickly dismissed his audacious idea—this was a treasure personally drawn by a powerful ruler!
If outsiders didn't understand, it's because that person's skills weren't up to par!
Every stroke of your pen, my lord, must have a profound meaning!
Bei Qiu suppressed her frustration and diligently studied the numerous Mohist texts provided by Qi Zhubu. Through disassembly, reconstruction, and reverse engineering, she finally solved the mystery. However, her lord's level was too high; she could only grasp a fraction of it, and many structures could only be reconstructed in her own way. Upon waking, she was astonished to discover that she could create it!
Others commute to work by carriage or on horseback.
She's different; she drives an excavator!
Later, Clerk Qi said she was too high-profile, so Bei Qiu found a way to replace the excavator's outer shell. In Xiaocheng, everyone knew that the strange carriage with the long arms was her ride!
Bei Qiu was happy, and Yun Ce was happy for her too.
Only Shen Tang, who received the letter two days later, was not happy. She almost choked on her tea: "What is this?"
"excavator???"
Qi Shan's letter arrived just moments before.
Yun Ce escorted Liao Jia's men and horses and arrived shortly afterward.
Shen Tang also saw the "excavator" mentioned in Qi Shan's letter. Putting aside its internal structure, its appearance was quite convincing. And the one who manufactured the "excavator" was the unfamiliar woman in front of him. The cotton-removing machine manufacturer, Mo Zhe Bei Qiu.
"Get me one!"
Fifteen minutes later—
A strange "chariot" was running rampant in the training ground.
Every now and then you can hear your lord's cheerful shouts.
"Wuhu—"
|ω`)
(End of this chapter)
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