65: Qinghe Christians, the first in the new town

Ever since Li Qinghe took over the spirit fields and several youngsters, the lives of these five children changed instantly.

Previously, after finishing the work in the spirit fields, they would be locked in their rooms, staring blankly at that "Qingxuan Qi Nurturing Art". Even if their small faces turned red from exertion, they couldn't feel any Qi; it was incredibly dull.

Now, things were much better!

Every day, after tending to those two precious spirit fields and watching Brother Qinghe summon a patch of thin clouds with a wave of his hand to sprinkle fine spiritual rain on the seedlings, the work was considered done.

As for the remaining time? Brother Qinghe said that cultivation wasn't about stubborn persistence; there had to be a balance between tension and relaxation.

Thus—

"Let's go! Today I'll take you to see a Shadow Puppetry show! Old Sun's skills at the east end of town are superb!"

With a wave of Li Qinghe's large hand, the little kids cheered and followed closely behind him.

At the busy street corner, light and shadows shifted behind a simple curtain. The children watched without blinking, laughing until they doubled over. After the show, they went to the market, where he bought each of them a sweet sugar person. They licked them, seeing who could lick the most patterns. He Baibai was always the most reluctant to eat hers, taking only tiny sips.

"Want to go fishing?"

The next day, Li Qinghe brought out several sharpened thin bamboo poles and small wooden buckets:

"In that small creek by the spirit fields, the fish are quite foolish."

How could the children be unwilling? Carrying their fishing rods and buckets, they ran to the riverbank in high spirits.

The result? After sitting for most of the day, they didn't even catch a single fish scale.

Li Youfu scratched his head in frustration, and Pu Liangmu almost threw his rod into the water. Li Qinghe wasn't annoyed; he sat steadily, and as the fishing line trembled slightly, he flicked his wrist, and a palm-sized Crucian Carp was tossed onto the shore.

"What's the rush?"

He looked at the dejected little ones:

"Fishing is about one's Heart-Nature. If your mind is restless, even the fish will despise you. Aim true, calm your heart, and what is meant to be yours cannot escape."

He slowly placed the fish into the bucket:

"Keep fishing."

The most exhausting time was when he would pull the five children, who were sleeping soundly, out of their beds in the middle of the night.

"Wake up! Everyone, get energized! Follow me!"

Then the yawning children followed him dizzily, stumbling along to the small creek at the foot of Black Mountain where Li Qinghe used to often meditate. The clear moonlight poured down, the creek gurgled, and the surroundings were so quiet that one could hear the chirping of insects.

"Right here, sit down!"

Li Qinghe pointed at several large stones by the creek, "Meditate and nurture your Qi."

"Huh? Brother Qinghe... in the middle of the night..." Lin Luo rubbed his eyes, yawning incessantly.

"Exactly... I'm exhausted..." Liu Yaowen muttered.

Li Qinghe sat cross-legged on a smooth stone by the creek, the moonlight plating him with a silver edge.

"Too sleepy? During the day, there are many people and the Qi is chaotic. Here it is quiet, and the Spiritual Qi is a bit more abundant than in town. Don't just sit there like a fool; try to listen to the sound of the water, feel the wind blowing through the grass... think of nothing in your heart, just treat yourself as a stone..."

The children looked at each other and had no choice but to sit down. At first, they yawned constantly and were restless.

But as they listened to the gurgling water, that bit of irritability slowly calmed down. The night wind was slightly cool, and their hearts gradually settled.

After spending a long time with Li Qinghe, the smiles on the children's faces significantly increased, and the gloominess suppressed by cultivation dissipated. Even the most dull-witted Li Youfu could occasionally crack a joke.

Hard work pays off.

During these days of balanced living, that kid Lin Luo was the first to touch the threshold of "Qi"!

That day, while meditating by the creek, his small face was flushed red. Suddenly, his body trembled, and a weak but clear current of Qi swirled in his Dantian!

He snapped his eyes open, so excited he couldn't speak clearly:

"Brother... Brother Qinghe! I... I think I felt it! It's warm... and it moves!"

Li Qinghe just nodded: "Mhm, not bad. Continue to consolidate it, and don't get carried away."

What surprised Li Qinghe a little was that the second one to successfully achieve Guiding Qi into the Body was actually that quiet little girl, He Baibai!

"Brother Qinghe, I... I think I felt it too! It's cool, like creek water..."

He Baibai's small face was flushed, filled with uncertainty and excitement.

Li Qinghe investigated carefully, confirmed it was correct, and praised her sincerely:

"Good! Very good. Your Comprehension Ability is truly not bad! Your heart is as still as water and your character is serene; instead, this fits the true meaning of nurturing Qi."

Seeing the excited Lin Luo and the shy but joy-filled He Baibai, the three boys—Li Youfu, Pu Liangmu, and Liu Yaowen—inevitably felt a bit dejected.

Li Qinghe tapped each of their foreheads:

"Why are your heads hanging? Those two were a bit faster because of their good foundations and luck. For you three, the road is still long! What's the rush? Eat your food bite by bite, and nurture your Qi bit by bit. Put your hearts at ease, practice well with me, and what should come will eventually come!"

Days slipped away amidst the children's play, cultivation, watching shows, and fishing. In the blink of an eye, it was November.

The weather had noticeably turned cold, and the north wind was a bit biting on the face. The work in the fields was mostly finished, and New Town welcomed its first major migration since its completion.

After the disaster of the Demon Python in Black Mountain Town, the people of the three villages finally understood that a town protected by an Immortal Master was truly safe.

As soon as New Town was built, the migration was like a floodgate being opened; it was unstoppable. Except for a few stubborn old-timers who truly couldn't bear to leave their ancestral homes, almost all the able-bodied men from the three villages brought their families and swarmed into New Town.

New Town was large enough, and there were enough houses to go around, but for the matter of distributing houses, Li Qingfeng set a rule:

"Calculate 'Contribution Points' based on the effort put in when the town was built! Those who carried many stones for the walls? Those who were particularly hardworking in clearing land? Those who donated money and materials to support construction? All of these have records. The higher the contribution value, the better the location of the house allocated—closer to the Town Guardian Residence, and the house will be larger and sturdier."

"Those who didn't contribute much during construction, or those who joined later, can also get a house, but the location will be more remote and the house smaller. Once this rule was presented, most people were satisfied. After all, it's only natural that those who sweated more back then should live better now."

The land was also redistributed. Li Qingfeng set a new rule: distribute land by head! Only those at least twelve years old count as a person, receiving two mu of land. If a person passes away, the land is returned to the town to be redistributed to newly matured individuals or newly moved-in families.

"For the first year of New Town's completion, let's give everyone a bit of good luck!"

Li Qingfeng announced: "All taxes will be reduced by thirty percent across the board! For families that have a newborn this year, the tax will be reduced by another ten percent! This tax reduction blessing for the little ones can be enjoyed until they are six years old. However, if the child doesn't survive, this additional tax reduction will stop."

Once this policy came out, families with newborns were overjoyed, feeling that life had more to look forward to.

A new School was also established in the town. Li Qinghe made the suggestion, and Li Qingfeng thought it was good, so it was settled:

"Children who have reached the age of six can all come to the School for free to learn characters and principles! Tuition is completely waived! However, you must pay for your own books, brushes, and ink. If you're truly penniless? Fine, auditing is also allowed; learning a few characters is better than none."

Those doing business also received benefits. Following Li Qinghe's advice, Li Qingfeng posted a notice:

"For setting up stalls or opening shops, from now until January of next year—three months—stall fees and shop rents will all be halved." Once this news came out, many peddlers and stallholders soon appeared in the town, and the atmosphere became much livelier.

The regulations were also made stricter. Three major Iron Laws were posted at the entrance of the Town Guardian Residence:

[For those who steal: if caught, thirty lashes! Then sent to do hard labor, building roads and digging ditches, for three months of reform!]

[For those who dare to rob: sixty lashes! Sent to do the heaviest hard labor for three years of reform! For those who rob violently or injure people, immediate beheading!]

[For human traffickers: no questions asked, beheading upon capture! No mercy!]

On the day the notice was posted, the onlookers discussed it animatedly. Some clicked their tongues saying it was too harsh, while others clapped in approval.

"It should be this way! Without some harshness, those with wicked intentions won't be suppressed!"

New Town was like a well-oiled machine; under the rules set by Li Qingfeng, it began to operate in an orderly manner.

During the day, people came and went on the streets, the sounds of buying and selling were constant, and the sound of children reading came from the School.

At night, patrolling Qingxuan Guards held torches as they walked through the quiet streets, and the Night Watchman struck his wooden clapper.

Li Qinghe still took his little kids back and forth between the spirit fields and the creek at the foot of Black Mountain. The weather had turned cold, and the children were wrapped in thick padded coats, but their enthusiasm for practicing and meditating had not diminished.

Looking at the gradually forming shape of New Town, then at the hardworking little ones beside him, Li Qinghe looked up at the silent Black Mountain to the north, then looked down to calculate the progress of the Moonlight Collection in his Sea of Consciousness. His heart was unusually calm.

Yet beneath this calm, he knew that whether it was the time needed for his own Breakthrough or this seemingly stable New Town, both were like this winter sky—pregnant with the unknown within the stillness.