MTLNOVEL Chapter 195: Farming
Chapter 195: Farming
Except for the rattle drum, the children had no other glowing toys. The four of them made their way into the village.
When Xu Lian saw that Ye Beining, Shui Yingyue, and Xiang Chengxing were all pale, dripping blood, and stumbling as they walked, he worriedly asked, “Are you okay?”
Shui Yingyue replied, “We are badly injured. Under the suppression of the divine realm’s laws, healing pills are ineffective and healing techniques have little effect. We must ask the villagers for some medicinal herbs to treat our wounds.”
Xu Lian asked, “Will the herbs from this world work?”
Shui Yingyue nodded, “Yes, and they’re very effective. According to the records left by our Shui family’s predecessors, anything that glows becomes a treasure when it is taken out of this realm. Things that don’t glow can only be used within the secret realm and lose their effect outside.”
Xu Lian understood.
When they entered the village, the sight of the three of them covered in wounds and blood alarmed some of the villagers, who quickly gathered around them.
“What happened to you?”
“Do you need help?”…
Ye Beining coughed up blood as he spoke, “We’re travelers from out of town. We were attacked by bandits on the road and are badly injured. Do you have a doctor here who can treat our wounds?”
The villagers supported the three, and someone went to call the village doctor.
Soon the doctor arrived with a medical kit. After examining their wounds, he took out some herbs, crushed them, and applied them to their injuries. Then he bandaged them with a clean cloth.
Shui Yingyue expressed her gratitude repeatedly.
Xiang Chengxing also thanked the doctor.
However, Ye Beining remained silent, his face dark. He was probably still angry because the wounds had been inflicted by the villagers’ children. Why should he thank them?
The villagers, warm and hospitable, brought food for the four.
The village chief arrived and invited them to stay and recover at his home.
The four agreed and followed the chief to his house.
It was obvious that this was a poor village. Even the chief’s house was modest, with only a few mud-brick rooms. They managed to clear out two rooms for the four of them: one for Shui Yingyue and the other for Xu Lian, Ye Beining, and Xiang Chengxing.
Ye Beining and Xiang Chengxing lay side by side on a wooden bed, too injured to move.
Xu Lian poured a bowl of water for each of them and placed it by the bedside.
Ye Beining said weakly, “Xu Lian, you’re so lucky. You’re barely injured, and you even have a glowing drum.”
Xu Lian smiled but said nothing.
He then went to check on Shui Yingyue in the next room and found her also lying still, too weak to move. He poured a bowl of water for her as well and placed it by her bedside.
Afterwards, he wandered outside and watched the villagers working in the fields. Without exception, each of them glowed faintly. If these people were taken to the outside world, they would be like gods…
He wasn’t the only one who must have thought that. The geniuses who had entered the Hundred Boat Secret Realm a thousand, two thousand, or even three thousand years ago must have had the same idea. However, he had never heard Shui Yingyue mention it, which meant that it was impossible to take these people out of the realm.
“Why did my Withered Wood Technique from the Sacred Spirit Record work so well, while Shui Yingyue, Ye Beining, and Xiang Chengxing’s healing techniques were ineffective?”
Xu Lian pondered.
Perhaps it had something to do with the rank of the Sacred Spirit Record. As an immortal technique, it wasn’t suppressed by the laws of the Divine Kingdom, or at least not as much.
He tried a few of the techniques from the Sacred Spirit Record, and found that Calamity Finger and other techniques could be used normally, with little suppression.
Of course, if he used them against the people of this world, they would be useless.
Because while his combat techniques weren’t suppressed, his own strength was.
Just like when the four of them had rushed to the village earlier, it had taken him a long time, indicating that he too was being suppressed.
He might not be able to deal with the people of this world, but he could easily handle other geniuses…
“This is my advantage.”
Xu Lian realized this. While other geniuses were completely suppressed, he was only partially suppressed. His Sacred Spirit Record techniques remained largely unaffected, giving him a significant advantage in any confrontation.
Of course, it was possible that other top-tier geniuses from major factions also had immortal techniques.
“Little Xu, Little Shui, Little Ye, Little Xiang, lunch is ready!”
The village chief’s wife called warmly.
On the way to the chief’s house, the chief had asked for their names and now addressed them familiarly.
The three of them stood up and joined Xu Lian in the dining room, where the chief had prepared seven or eight dishes. Although they were simple and meatless, it was clear that he had put in a lot of effort.
“Tie Wa’er, come home for lunch!”
The chief’s wife had a loud voice, calling for her child to come home.
Soon a child ran back from the village entrance – it was the child who had been holding the drum earlier. “Oh, it’s you guys.”
“So your name is Tie Wa’er.”
Xu Lian’s heart stirred. With a smile, he reached out and tried to pull the child over to eat, but as expected… he couldn’t move the child.
Tie Wa’er sat down next to him to eat.
The Chief’s wife gave Xu Lian a strange look. “Do you know our Tie Wa’er?”
Xu Lian explained, “We met at the village entrance earlier.”
The chief’s wife didn’t push any further and urged the four of them to eat more.
While they were eating, a large group of villagers suddenly arrived at the door, carrying sticks and hoes, their faces filled with anger.
“Your injuries were not caused by bandits! They were hurt playing with the children. The children told us when they came home for lunch!”
“If they got hurt playing games, they should have told us! Why did they lie to us? These people are deceitful and evil!”
Xu Lian felt his scalp tingle. The villagers who had been so hospitable moments ago had now turned hostile.
Ye Beining’s face turned green. He regretted not thinking things through earlier and making up a story about being attacked by bandits. He hadn’t expected the villagers to react so strongly.
“Tie these people up!”
The village chief’s face darkened.
The villagers swarmed forward, capturing the four and tying them to trees in the center of the village.
Shui Yingyue and Xiang Chengxing shot Ye Beining angry looks. One moment they were eating, the next they were tied up. This was all his fault.
Ye Beining was also at a loss. “I was just worried about the healing and didn’t want the villagers to know that their children had hurt us, so I made up the story about the bandits. How was I to know that lying wasn’t allowed here?”
Not only were the four tied up, but the children were also bound.
The villagers took out whips and beat the children mercilessly, scolding them for injuring the four so severely.
The children cried and said they didn’t mean to hurt anyone. They hadn’t realized how fragile the outsiders were – just a push or a pinch had caused such injuries. They promised never to do it again.
Ye Beining said, “Since it was your children’s fault, why don’t you let us go? I didn’t mean to lie; I just didn’t want you to scold the children…”
“No!”
The village chief said coldly, “The children hurt you, so they must be punished. But you lied, so you must be punished as well!”
Shui Yingyue and Xiang Chengxing shot warning looks at Ye Beining, urging him to stop talking before he further angered the chief.
After harshly scolding and beating the children, the villagers took them home to tend to their wounds.
Xu Lian asked, “Didn’t the notes left by your family’s predecessors warn against lying?”
Shui Yingyue replied, “Everyone who enters the Hundred Boat Secret Realm appears in a random place. The customs and traditions are different.”
Alright… Xu Lian said, “I wonder what the punishment is for lying here.”
The four of them were tied to the trees and made to wait.
A day and a night passed, but no one came to check on them.
Ye Beining, Shui Yingyue, and Xiang Chengxing were starving, their stomachs growling.
Fortunately, Xu Lian had eaten his fill the previous day at the chief’s house. The other three had eaten slowly due to their injuries… and hadn’t eaten much before they were tied up. It was a miserable situation.
“These villagers seem kind-hearted. They probably won’t kill us.”
Xiang Chengxing muttered to himself, as if trying to reassure himself.
Ye Beining, however, had given up. “If they kill us, so be it. We’ll just resurrect outside. But it’s frustrating to leave without gaining any opportunities”.
The village chief returned with the villagers and untied the four.
The chief’s wife brought a bamboo basket with some flatbread. “Eat.”
The four exchanged glances and then devoured the food.
The chief said sternly, “According to the rules of our village, liars must be tied to a tree for a day and a night, and then they must help the villagers with farm work. You must work at least one acre of land before you can be released.”
The four breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a glimmer of hope. But they celebrated too soon…
After finishing the flatbread, they followed the villagers to the fields to plow.
Plowing in this case meant using hoes to dig up the soil, loosening it for planting.
When the four swung their hoes at the ground, the tools bounced back as if they had struck steel… Their faces changed as they remembered that this was a divine kingdom. Plowing was no difficult task for the villagers, but for “frail” outsiders like them, it was nearly impossible.
“Work faster! Don’t think of slacking off. Repent properly.”
“Didn’t you have breakfast?”
The villagers urged them on.
Xu Lian explained, “Our wounds haven’t healed, and we’ve been starving for a day and a night. We’re weak right now… Please understand.”
The villagers considered this and stopped pressuring them, allowing the four to work at their own pace.
The four put all their strength into plowing, but it was still incredibly difficult.
By noon, their backs and arms were sore, and they had only managed to plow a small section. They then returned to the chief’s house for lunch.
After eating, they finally had some time to rest.
Ye Beining said grimly, “If we keep plowing like this, it’ll take forever to finish one acre. Let’s escape tonight.”
Xu Lian shook his head, “You can escape if you want to. I’m not going. If we get caught, who knows what punishment we’ll face?”
Shui Yingyue and Xiang Chengxing, still traumatized by Ye Beining’s earlier mistake, also refused to listen to him.
Ye Beining’s face darkened, but after some hesitation, he gave up on the idea of escaping.
In the afternoon, the four of them returned to the fields to continue plowing.
As he dug, Xu Lian let his mind wander to pass the time. Before entering the Hundred Boats Secret Realm, he had never imagined that he’d end up farming here.
Ye Beining, Shui Yingyue, and Xiang Chengxing must have felt the same way. To think that top-level Great Grandmaster geniuses would be reduced to this…