prynovel 039 Tethering Ox Pavilion
039 Tethering Ox Pavilion
Players die and fall into the cycle of reincarnation, either in a daze or with their spirits intact.
Those who are extremely lucky will be conceived in the womb of a player or an indigenous woman, and upon birth, will still be the most intelligent of all beings.
Those who are slightly luckier will be reborn into the race of spirits and monsters, becoming sirens, naga, mermaids, demons, fox spirits, jorōgumo, minotaurs, and so on.
Those with average luck are born in [unit buildings]. Although there are many restrictions, they will most likely get a humanoid form.
Those less fortunate become ordinary species such as tigers, wolves, leopards, bears, pigs, dogs, cattle, sheep, sharks, whales, dolphins, and fish. If they encounter an opportunity to cultivate themselves, things are better; if not, they can only hope to meet someone like the "Thirteen Ants," who can understand animal language and communicate with them, thus avoiding being slaughtered.
If one is even less fortunate, one may become a bee, butterfly, mosquito, gnat, snail, cicada, mayfly, or flower, grass, or shrub, flourishing in the morning and withering in the evening, living less than a year.
In the dream, Li Yu had witnessed the suffering of reincarnation many times, but he himself had never experienced it.
In his first dream, his life span was 4/4, and in his second dream, it was even higher at 6/6. However, once he died, he awoke from the dream. He had never personally explored the secrets of reincarnation.
--------
Li Yu continued his studies.
"[System]: Congratulations to the player for reading the Gongyang Commentary on the Spring and Autumn Annals. You have gained 85 points of [Intelligence] experience."
[System]: Congratulations, player...
"[System]: Congratulations to the player for increasing their [Intelligence] level to 29."
His [Intelligence] experience soared. Li Yu's ranking on the "Intelligence Ranking" also rose rapidly. When his [Intelligence] reached 29, he entered the top 50.
The little maid came running again.
Li Yu asked her why Ma Xiaojiao had talked to them about murder.
Little Sparrow said, "A few days ago, Sister Little Horn borrowed a book, and today she came to say that the book and its contents were lost. She said that a friend asked her to borrow the book, and she lent it to him. But today, your friend was killed by you, my lord, and the book and its contents were also taken away in the chaos."
Remembering Ma Xiaojiao's unpleasant expression when he left the inner quarters, Li Yu asked, "What did your young mistress say?"
Little Sparrow thought for a moment and said, "The young lady asked Sister Little Horn a few questions about the book, but she couldn't answer them. So the young lady sent her back to find the lost book."
Li Yu said, "You should have less contact with her in the future."
"That's what the young lady said too." The maid nodded and said, "The young lady said that Sister Xiaojiao is talking nonsense."
Li Yu agreed.
Ma Xiaojiao had malicious intentions. If it weren't for the "construction blueprints," he would have shot him to death long ago to avoid upsetting people.
Next, Little Sparrow inquired about the village's construction the following day. Li Yu invited the two of them, mistress and servant, to attend the ceremony. She then ran to ask her mistress for her opinion.
Not long after, she ran back dejectedly. The young lady refused to go, saying that too many people would cause chaos and trouble.
Seeing her dejected and pitiful appearance, Li Yu took out a piece of [red donkey paper] and handed it to her: "Let me show you a treasure."
Little Sparrow reached out and caught it, then glanced at the attributes of the [Red Donkey Paper] and was overjoyed. She wanted to spit out her saliva, but Li Yu stopped her.
Li Yu laughed and teased her, "I've already cast a spell on this [red donkey paper]. Your saliva won't work; only your young lady's saliva will."
Little Sparrow was skeptical, but dared not actually test it with her own saliva, so she excitedly carried the [red donkey paper] back to the inner courtyard.
Li Yu vaguely heard her chattering voice—"Little lady, little lady," "You must spray water," "Ah, it's out," and so on.
Li Yu smiled.
He kept his head down reading until 9 PM.
After bidding farewell to his family, Li Yu took two volumes of the Spring and Autumn Annals back to his home and continued reading them in his [Fanghu].
In comparison, with the "Literary Style +50" attribute bonus from the [Immortal Abode], Li Yu gains [Intelligence] experience faster when reading in the [Pot] than when he reads in the Wang Family Study.
But his limited experience couldn't compare to the opportunity to interact and communicate with the young lady of the Wang family. He still had to go to the Wang family's study.
[Thirteen Ants] Still no sign of the ants. [Snake Princess] showed no interest in Jian Ce, and quietly stayed by Li Yu's side.
As night deepened and he grew tired of reading, Li Yu fell into a deep sleep, using the snake's tail as a pillow.
--------
The next day.
Li Min, accompanied by a group of beautiful women, hurried from Gan Dan City to Chen Wang Li.
I hadn't noticed before, but once I entered Moshang Township, I felt it was unusually lively.
The official road was bustling with pedestrians.
In small groups of three or five, or in pairs, with the occasional rumble of carts and the neighing of horses, are the curious yet wary indigenous people. In clusters and groups, speaking in different accents and making loud noise, are the simply dressed players.
The crowds rallied together, creating a lively atmosphere reminiscent of a temple fair or a traditional New Year's market.
Li Min estimated that with this momentum, it was hard to say what would happen in the county, but the players and natives of the entire Moshang Township were probably all attracted to the "Li Yu's Village Building" event.
Moshang Township has three pavilions and four li (a unit of distance).
Li, equivalent to a village in later times, was the place where villagers lived. Ting, on the other hand, was equivalent to a police station, which was responsible for handling cases, patrolling the villages, maintaining local security, and managing passing travelers.
The four villages are Chenwang Village, Heilong Village, Zhuniu Village, and Guying Village. The three pavilions are Heilong Pavilion, Jumang Pavilion, and Shuanniu Pavilion.
The Black Dragon Pavilion, located between Black Dragon Lake and the South River, was built to reduce drowning accidents, especially among children, while they played in the water. The Giant Python Pavilion, situated north of Chenwang Village on the road leading to the Northern Suburbs Cave, was built to facilitate the monthly ritual of the Corpse-Eating Python. It also served to warn travelers not to take the wrong path and accidentally enter the python's mouth.
Shuan Niu Ting is located near Zhu Niu Tun and Hu Qiu.
The names Zhuniutun and Shuanniuting have a long history and are said to be related to Mao Sui, who lived four hundred years ago.
Mao Sui, the protagonist of the idiom "Mao Sui recommends himself," was a retainer of Lord Pingyuan during the Warring States period. Initially unknown, he later recommended himself as an envoy to Chu. With his eloquent speech, he persuaded King Kaolie of Chu to form an alliance against Qin, earning Lord Pingyuan's praise that "his three-inch tongue is stronger than a million soldiers."
This village and pavilion once stood before the oxcart that Mao Sui rode on when he was sent to Chu. And the old pine tree in front of the [Ox-Tethering Pavilion], which takes three people to encircle, is said to have kept company with the old ox of the Mao family.
When Li Min and the others arrived at [Shuanniu Pavilion], the first thing that caught their eye was that old pine tree with its gnarled branches and sprawling branches.
It is covered with a canopy like an umbrella, providing shade over an area of several tens of feet.
What caught their attention next was not the tens of thousands of people gathering in a massive, bustling crowd, nor the hundreds of well-equipped natives in [Shuanniu Pavilion], but rather the quick-thinking players who were making a living by taking advantage of the crowd's popularity.
There were eight players who hired three oxcarts, which carried six large vats, each about half a person's height, filled with steaming hot tofu pudding.
Then ten long cases were laid out in a row.
Players and indigenous people, some squatting, some kneeling, crowded around the table. Each person held a cup-shaped pottery vessel called "Two-liter Cup," inhaling its refreshing aroma and savoring its fresh and delicate flavor.
Dozens of people were queuing up next to the oxcart.
The leader was a chubby player who clutched a five-zhu coin in his hand, constantly grumbling, "Just this small cup, and you're charging a qian! Liu Da Nao, you're just greedy!"
He clearly knew the tofu seller, but wasn't particularly close to him; otherwise, he wouldn't have spent that penny.
"Buy it if you want, otherwise move aside and don't delay us!" The players behind kept urging.
"I've long heard of the miraculous tofu-making techniques of the King of Huainan. Today, I can exchange a single coin for a cup of tofu. What is there to hesitate about?" At the table, a traditionally dressed aboriginal man raised his cup, drank deeply, and seemed quite pleased. He felt the price was very fair. "Planting beans yields few sprouts, my strength is exhausted and my heart is weary. If only I had known the Huainan technique, I could have easily obtained money. Wonderful! Wonderful!"
"What a load of crap! Hey you, hurry up and drink! Can't you see how many people are waiting?"
"Exactly, exactly! You're such a poet, hurry up and drink!"
"You brat!"
"What? You want to say... Holy crap, where's my money? Which bastard stole my money!"
Outside the chaotic tofu pudding stalls, onlookers mingled with players and local residents.
Some people were drooling, yet couldn't bear to waste a single five-zhu coin. Others gazed thoughtfully at the six large characters "Old Liu's Tofu Pudding" written in simplified and Han clerical script on the coarse cloth banner unfurled on the oxcart. Still others were counting on their fingers, calculating how much money they could make from the six large vats of tofu pudding.
On the other side, a dozen or so players, carrying or lifting a pile of furniture, set up a stall not far from the [Hanging Cattle Pavilion].
He shouted loudly, "From the south or the north, take a look! Local or from nowhere, come and see! No nails, no rivets, all made by mortise and tenon joints! Tables, cabinets, cupboards, chairs! With the waves of Heilong Lake crashing around you, you can have whatever you want! It won't break for three to five years, and it'll still look good for ten or eight years! I say it's good, but that's not all..."
These shouts sounded familiar and comforting to the players, while the locals found them novel and intriguing, and they all gathered around.
Although none of them were painted or decorated, these pieces of furniture were indeed reasonably priced, and many indigenous people bought them, attracting countless envious players.
Another group of players, supposedly from a "Shaanxi Qinqiang Opera Troupe," climbed to a high place and began to sing.
First came "Three Drops of Blood," then "Stealing the Tiger Tally," sung in a falsetto voice, pitching an octave higher, with dramatic rises and falls, truly "exciting and stirring, making one's blood and spirits surge." Then, five-zhu coins fell like rain, and cheers and applause rose and fell in waves.
Not far away, someone rolled up a piece of wood into a tube and shouted, "My home is on the Loess Plateau, and the wind blows across the slope..."
Some people even strung two bamboo clappers together with hemp rope, banging them while shouting: "Clang, clang, clang, forget the idle gossip, let's tell you about the hero Wu Erlang..."
……
Having fallen into this strange world, life goes on, but modern people live in very different ways.
Many young people, especially those who have played games, think that "attributes" and "level" are the most important, and regard "quests" and "leveling up" as the top priorities, striving to be the best and fearing to fall behind others.
The older generation often feels that "games" and "personal templates" are too unrealistic and detached from reality. For them, things that are closely related to daily life are the most real and authentic.
Like the clothes they wear, the food they eat, and the jingling coins in their pockets—these are the only things that truly give them a sense of security.
Dozens of women, of varying shapes and sizes, were the most eye-catching.
The women, however, paid no attention to the stares of the crowd, and chatted and laughed amongst themselves.
Li Min looked around but found nothing, and was about to look for a place to rest when she suddenly heard the players making a commotion—
"The dean is here!"