Chapter 431 Buzhou (3)
Leading five thousand armored soldiers on campaigns, if they were unable to be replenished, the daily food and supplies required would be a terrifying figure. Like Ji Rong, Jiao Jue was not capable of indiscriminate killing, so he thought of rushing back as soon as possible.
Therefore, the mountain python and the mountain rat stumbled through the contents of the wooden book, and Jiao Jue put them down and tossed them to Ji Rong.
Ji Rong grabbed one with each claw and said to Jiao Jue, "Big brother, leave Xiao Bai to me. That way, I won't have to be distracted by illusion magic."
Jiao Jue nodded and said, "Alright, the little thing is more affectionate towards you than it is with me, so let it stay."
Upon hearing this, the little white dragon immediately puffed out its chest, dismounted from Jiao Jue's back, and respectfully bowed to Jiao Jue, saying, "I will obey the command of the Divine Lord."
Then it happily flew to Ji Rong and rubbed against Ji Rong's face. It said solicitously, "Lord Ji, these two mountain gods are not reciting the rules properly. Let Xiaobai continue to watch over them for you."
Ji Rong smiled and said, "Good, Xiao Bai is the most considerate."
"Hmph!" Ji Rong had barely finished speaking when the little blue dragon on Jiao Jue's back poked its head out and angrily said, "Fawning little white dragon, you idiot!"
Jiaojue turned to look at him and shouted, "Who told you to talk like that?" The little blue dragon immediately coiled its body, its tail facing Jiaojue.
Ji Rong looked at Jiao Jue, who didn't ask any questions and just obediently did as he was told, and was moved. So she asked, "Brother, aren't you going to ask me why I stayed here?"
Jiao Jue squinted and said calmly, "You are the supreme ruler, and the only thing hanging on your forehead is probably the chain of heaven and earth order."
Logically, you should be able to go wherever you want and eat whatever you want; who can control you then?
But you have always been different from others. While other commoners enjoy power and privilege, you have to suffer. Perhaps only you can cure this wretched place like Buzhou.
"If it were someone else, even if they wanted to govern the prefecture, they would probably only be able to kill everyone, relocate the inhabitants, and rebuild."
Ji Rong nodded with emotion and said, "Big brother understands me the most."
"Hmph." Jiao Jue squinted and exhaled a puff of hot air with pleasure, saying, "After all these years, of course I understand you."
You are free to govern here as you see fit. If you lack funds or supplies, just send a letter and we will certainly gather the necessary resources and send them to you on time.
Before parting, Jiao Jue efficiently counted his troops. He ordered the soldiers to count and record the spirit crystals on their bodies, string them into storage rings, and hang them around Ji Rong's neck. He also ordered the soldiers to organize the magical cages of the eight thousand cultivators and pile them on the ground before leading his troops away.
Yu Cang and Lü Yao left their various belongings on the ground. Ji Rong looked at the cages and then at the mountain python and mountain rat who were still reciting the rules. She laughed to herself that she had really asked for trouble.
Where there are spiritual veins, there are cultivators. If the simplest way is to lead troops to clear this place, wait for the spiritual veins to be fully restored, and then recruit cultivators to settle here. This would be convenient and easy, but Ji Rong cannot do it.
These cultivators are not wrong; the fault lies with the distorted world. Only when the rules of the upper levels are in their favor can they have a chance to escape their predicament.
Moreover, if an entire state were to be massacred and then the entire population relocated there, it would be an extremely massive undertaking.
If the relocation is done in batches, it will give meat vendors a lot of room to operate and will also lead to many incidents of old vendors taking advantage of new ones.
Ji Rong didn't want to rush things; she wanted to shut the door and beat the dog, and properly clean up the atmosphere in Buzhou.
Thinking this, she said to Xiaobai, "Xiaobai, release the clouds and mist to provide cover."
The little white dragon nodded excitedly at Ji Rong. Its mouth opened wide, and wisps of white water vapor shot out, shooting into the air and instantly swelling into clouds of white mist, covering Ji Rong's entire body.
Ji Rong's heart sank, and she silently racked her brains, thinking, "Separate!"
Then, she took two steps forward and saw a short wooden stake with emerald-gold leaves left in the original spot. On the stake, thick aerial roots with flowing marks of order extended towards the magic cage, releasing the more than eight thousand cultivators inside.
Ji Rong, who had become thinner, walked out and said loudly to them, "You go back first. I will allocate land to you in a while. After you are allocated land, you should all farm the land well. As long as you farm the land well, you will not go hungry."
As soon as the cage was opened, the lesser cultivators scattered and fled, but some of the more powerful cultivators dragged some of the lesser cultivators along with them and stuffed them into their mouths and onto their bodies as they ran.
Upon discovering this situation, Ji Rong would have the roots grab the biting creature, roll it up again, and put it back in the cage.
She declared loudly again, "Stop this 'you eat me, I eat you' nonsense. If you continue to kill each other, I will arrest you one by one and send you to the front lines to be meat."
When the cultivators saw the sudden appearance of thick fog and countless roots, they assumed that the sovereign was like a god who could make the roots of plants work for him.
Some cultivators were terrified. As they left, they nervously ran towards the distance to spread the word, thinking to themselves, "We're doomed! A great god who can command roots has appeared in the continent!"
"Go back immediately and uproot the tree, so that the deity has no means to exercise his power!"
The cultivators outside were unaware of Ji Rong's true appearance, but the mountain python and mountain rat in the little white claws watched as Ji Rong separated the tree trunk from her body.
Upon seeing this, they were shocked, yet they couldn't help but want to lean against the wooden stake that exuded a mesmerizing aura.
Looking at their already tilted heads, Xiaobai said with rare disdain, "You've really never seen anything like this before!"
After releasing most of the impoverished cultivators, Ji Rong placed the cultivators who had been eating and bullying others one by one next to the tree stumps, listened to their innermost thoughts, and then locked them up again.
She placed the Shoudao Palace on the shore of Bitterwater Lake and then ordered Yu Cang and Green Waist to use local materials to build a house.
She said, "This isn't the best location in the entire state, so don't build it too nicely. Just make do with what you have now so you can live here for another thirty or fifty years."
"Once the prefectures are pacified, we might have to move."
Hearing this, the mountain rat, who was being held back his bow by the little white dragon, hesitated and then fell silent.
Little White immediately whipped its tail and said, "Hurry up and carry it." The mountain rat then put the matter aside.
Because the governance of the western continent by the mountain elephants has improved, the western continents have also benefited.
The mountain rat thought to itself that the Lord was dissatisfied with Bitterwater Lake, but little did it know that this place was right next to the Western Continent and was built by Him and the mountain python. Otherwise, how could they have heard the call and rushed over so quickly?
“But…” the mountain rat thought as it recited the rules, “If the Lord could let my elder brother come and help with the cultivation for the sake of face, it would be much faster, and it might even be completed in a few decades.” Its mind was in disarray, and it made many mistakes in its recitation, which resulted in the mountain python being beaten as well, before it could concentrate again.
The mountain rat and the mountain python were not stupid; in just two days, they memorized the rules perfectly, but they could not understand them.
Seeing that they recited it well, Ji Rong wanted to test them, so she pointed to a sentence in the book: "Maintain equality and cultural exchange among races." She said, "Mountain python, mountain rat, tell me, how should this be done?"
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