The female cultivator knew nothing of Hunchback and Wang Quan's past.
After some wild speculation, she asked, "Are you really coming tomorrow?"
Hunchback nodded. "Absolutely!"
"I'll be there within two hours of gathering purple qi!"
"Oh, right, tell me the location!"
The female cultivator immediately gave him the location.
Hunchback said, "Mm! Got it!"
Early morning:
The female cultivator, who had stayed up all night repeatedly studying the design and making minute adjustments, saw a dark mass of cloud drifting over from afar.
The cloud blotted out the sky, circled above the valley, then descended.
When it was still three or four meters above the ground, the dark cloud suddenly dispersed, and a crowd of spirit monsters tumbled to the ground like dumplings dropped into a pot.
The spirit monsters rose, cursing and looking around.
"They're here!"
The female cultivator's eyes lit up. A strange wind rose beneath her feet and swept her into the air above the spirit monsters.
She chanted Daoist script and cast a spell:
Whoosh!
A ball of light burst, enveloping all the spirit monsters.
The next breath, the spirit monsters felt their wrists grow warm, then saw numbers appear on them.
The female cultivator smiled. "Everyone, I'll be directing your work from here on."
Her voice was quiet, but every spirit monster could hear her.
The spirit monsters were skilled at hard labor, so they listened attentively to their assignments.
The female cultivator had her methods, too, and organized the spirit monsters into orderly groups:
Tiger spirits, bear spirits, and other strong spirit monsters hauled huge rocks.
Ox spirits were harnessed to iron plows and began plowing.
Pangolins, rock maggots, and other spirit monsters cleared out caves and crevices.
Some spirit monsters tidied the paths up and down the mountain; some cut down trees