Chapter Summaries

On his birthday, Li Daoxuan opened a mysterious Scenery Box depicting a famine-stricken village and mistook its tiny, living inhabitants for toy figures. When bandits attacked the villagers and threatened a young girl, Li Daoxuan intervened by flicking one of them away, leaving him worried he had broken its mechanism.

• Li Daoxuan finished working late on his birthday and discovered a huge Scenery Box left at his door.
• He watched a tiny girl gather grass roots, bark, and wild vegetables, and assumed the box depicted a historical famine.
• Li Daoxuan called Cai Xinzi to thank him for the unusual gift, but Cai Xinzi said he had sent nothing and did not know it was Li Daoxuan's birthday.
• A band of tiny bandits raided the village, killed villagers, and attacked the girl and her mother.
• When a bandit killed the mother and raised his blade against the girl, Li Daoxuan reached into the box and flicked the bandit away, thinking he had broken its mechanism.

During a deadly drought in Gao Family Village, Gao Yiye watched a heavenly giant hand save her from the bandits who had killed her mother. Li Daoxuan, watching from the Scenery Box, crushed the remaining bandits, and Gao Yiye mourned her mother while believing Heaven had avenged her.

• Gao Yiye mourned her murdered mother as a bandit prepared to kill her.
• Li Daoxuan flicked the bandit away with an enormous hand, then killed the bandit leader the same way when he threatened Gao Yiye.
• Gao Yiye realized only she could see the giant hand and begged the Heavenly Deity to save her.
• Li Daoxuan slapped the Scenery Box, crushing the remaining bandits one by one.
• Gao Yiye held her mother's body and sobbed that Heaven had avenged her.

Li Daoxuan realized the villagers in his Scenery Box were alive and watched them bury the dead and recover from the bandit attack. After losing his job and sleeping, he saw Gao Yiye searching for food and heard her plead with him as the Heavenly Deity.

• Li Daoxuan concluded that the little figures had minds of their own after seeing the villagers respond to the bandits' deaths.
• The villagers divided the bandits' weapons and clothes, buried the dead, and returned to their homes.
• Li Daoxuan discovered his boss had fired him, then collapsed into bed from exhaustion.
• The next morning, Li Daoxuan saw Gao Yiye searching for grass roots and met her gaze after expressing pity for her.
• Gao Yiye recognized Li Daoxuan as the Heavenly Deity and begged him to save her from hunger.

Li Daoxuan heard Gao Yiye pray for food and gave her a boiled egg, which appeared enormous in the tiny world inside the Scenery Box. After eating her fill, Gao Yiye confirmed that other villagers could see and eat the egg, then called everyone to join her.

• Gao Yiye prayed to the Heavenly Deity for help, but when he vanished, she continued searching the sand for grass roots.
• Li Daoxuan realized Gao Yiye needed food, boiled two eggs, and placed one inside the Scenery Box for her.
• Gao Yiye failed to crack the egg, so Li Daoxuan peeled it and set it back before her.
• Gao Yiye ate the egg and asked whether the villagers could share it before it spoiled; Li Daoxuan agreed.
• Gao Yiye brought a piece of yolk to Gao Chuwu, who saw it and ate it, and she called the villagers to come fill their bellies.

After Gao Yiye shared a giant boiled egg from the Heavenly Deity with the starving villagers, Li Daoxuan decided to provide for the forty-two little people. He bought food and secretly filled Gao Yiye’s home with rice, leaving her to discover the unexpected gift.

• Gao Yiye told the villagers that the Heavenly Deity had given them the enormous boiled egg, and the Village Chief organized its careful distribution among all forty-two villagers.
• The villagers ate their portions, saved the leftovers for Gao Yiye, and prayed for the drought to end before returning to their search for food.
• Li Daoxuan worried that one egg would not be enough and decided to raise the little people by supplying them with food.
• Li Daoxuan found his kitchen nearly empty, went to a supermarket, and bought rice, pork, vegetables, and salt.
• Li Daoxuan poured a handful of rice through Gao Yiye’s window until it filled half her home, then waited for her to find it.

In drought-stricken Chengcheng County, magistrate Zhang Yaocai ordered yamen runners to brutally collect overdue taxes while Gao Yiye received a houseful of enormous rice grains from the Heavenly Deity. As the villagers gathered to decide whether they could share the rice, the yamen runners arrived, and the Village Chief ordered the young villagers to hide it.

• Zhang Yaocai dismissed his secretary’s warnings about the starving villagers and sent yamen runners to collect taxes by force.
• Gao Yiye returned to Gao Family Village and was buried beneath enormous grains of rice that the Heavenly Deity had left in her house.
• Gao Chuwu freed Gao Yiye, and the Village Chief warned everyone not to take the rice before learning whether the Heavenly Deity meant it for the whole village.
• Yamen runners arrived demanding overdue taxes, so the Village Chief told Gao Yiye, Gao Chuwu, and the other young villagers to hide the rice.

Li Daoxuan discovered five miniature constables had somehow entered the Scenery Box and were demanding taxes from the starving villagers. When the constables uncovered the villagers’ enormous rice grains, Li Daoxuan hesitated to intervene, still unsure where the newcomers came from or how the box worked.

• Li Daoxuan counted forty-seven little people in the Scenery Box and spotted five constables in matching uniforms near the village entrance.
• The constables threatened the villagers over unpaid taxes, and the Village Chief explained that drought had left them with no food or money.
• The constables searched the village, noticed everyone guarding Gao Yiye's house, and kicked Gao Yiye and Gao Chuwu away from its door.
• Rice grains spilled from the house and buried one constable, while the Village Chief claimed the rice had been bestowed by the Heavenly Deity.
• Li Daoxuan considered killing the constables as he had the miniature bandits, but held back because he did not understand how they had entered the box.

Li Daoxuan intervened when five constables threatened Gao Yiye, using his power to frighten and drive them out instead of killing them. After the constables vanished through the Scenery Box’s glass wall, Li Daoxuan wondered where they had gone.

• Gao Yiye begged Li Daoxuan not to kill the constables because their deaths would bring disaster on Gao Family Village.
• Li Daoxuan lifted one constable into the air and blew the other four away with a gust of wind.
• Gao Yiye relayed Li Daoxuan’s order for the constables to leave and keep the incident secret.
• Li Daoxuan released the suspended constable, and all five constables fled from the village.
• The five constables passed through the glass wall and vanished, leaving Li Daoxuan to wonder where they had gone.

Li Daoxuan questioned the tiny villagers about their world but discovered they knew little beyond their own village. The Village Chief decided to send Gao Chuwu and several young men to bring the county magistrate’s Secretary to Gao Family Village, while Li Daoxuan watched with interest.

• Li Daoxuan told the tiny villagers to share the Divine Rice and began speaking with Gao Yiye, the only one who could hear him.
• The villagers debated whether Li Daoxuan was a Buddhist or Taoist deity, and he told them he belonged to neither.
• Li Daoxuan asked about their world, country, and reign era, but the villagers could not answer.
• Gao Yiye and the Village Chief decided to seek help from the county magistrate’s Secretary, San Shier.
• The Village Chief told Gao Chuwu to go to the County Seat and bring the Secretary back, by force if necessary.
• Li Daoxuan watched the villagers plan their expedition and hoped they would bring the Secretary soon.

After Gao Yiye distributed rice to Gao Family Village, Li Daoxuan watched the villagers eat and began investigating whether the Scenery Box showed the Ming Dynasty. The next morning, he gave Gao Yiye a giant cabbage leaf as the villagers prepared to head to the County Seat and search for greens.

• Gao Yiye handed out ten grains of rice to each of the forty-two villagers, who cooked them with wild greens, bark, and roots.
• The villagers ate outside their homes, while Gao Yiye mourned her mother and Li Daoxuan compared their meal with his own.
• Li Daoxuan posted a photograph of Gao Yiye, Gao Chuwu, and the bailiffs on a history forum, where commenters guessed the scene was from the Ming Dynasty.
• Li Daoxuan woke on July 13 and saw Gao Chuwu and other young villagers preparing to invite the Secretary from the County Seat, while other villagers set out to gather greens.
• Li Daoxuan placed a cabbage leaf in the Scenery Box, and Gao Yiye found the enormous leaf as she prepared to leave the village.

Li Daoxuan gave the villagers a giant cabbage leaf, and they spent the day using their crafts instead of searching for food. Gao Yiye worried that the Heavenly Deity watched her constantly, but Li Daoxuan looked away while she bathed and wondered how Chu Wu and the other villagers were faring at the County Seat.

• Gao Yiye thanked the Heavenly Deity for a giant cabbage leaf, and the Village Chief organized its division among the households.
• The villagers sewed clothes, made pottery and baskets, and repaired tools using their skills.
• Li Daoxuan noticed Gao Yiye preparing to bathe, but she spotted him through a hole in her roof before he could look.
• Gao Yiye asked the Village Chief whether the Heavenly Deity watched her all the time, and he told her to accept it as divine favor.
• Gao Yiye returned home and bathed while Li Daoxuan put aside his magnifying glass and worried about the villagers at the County Seat.

Gao Chuwu and three young men from Gao Family Village went to the County Seat to recruit the dismissed Secretary, San Shier, and carried him away after knocking him unconscious. On their way out, they encountered the bailiffs who feared the Heavenly Deity, and both groups fled in opposite directions.

• Gao Chuwu and the three young villagers reached the County Seat and found San Shier pleading outside the County Yamen after County Magistrate Zhang Yaocai dismissed him.
• Gao Chuwu and his companions followed San Shier into an alley and demanded that he come to Gao Family Village.
• One of the villagers struck San Shier with a club, knocking him unconscious, and the four carried him toward the town exit.
• A squad of bailiffs recognized Gao Chuwu and feared that the Heavenly Deity had sent the villagers to watch them.
• The bailiffs and the villagers passed each other nervously, then fled in opposite directions.

Li Daoxuan questioned San Shier through Gao Yiye and learned that the village was in the seventh year of the Tianqi era, making him suspect the Scenery Box showed real Ming history. When San Shier refused to name the emperor, Li Daoxuan ordered the villagers to beat him.

• Gao Chuwu and his companions returned to Gao Family Village with the exhausted San Shier under guard.
• Li Daoxuan called on Gao Yiye and told her to question San Shier, whom the villagers gathered around at the entrance.
• Gao Yiye asked San Shier about his identity, position, education, and travels, and San Shier introduced himself as a dismissed county magistrate's secretary.
• Li Daoxuan asked the date and learned it was the seventh month of Tianqi's seventh year, prompting him to wonder whether the Scenery Box showed real Ming history.
• San Shier refused to speak the emperor's personal name, so Li Daoxuan ordered him beaten.

San Shier revealed that the emperor was Zhu Youxiao and recited news of the Jurchen campaigns, confirming to Li Daoxuan that Gao Family Village was in the late Ming Dynasty. While Li Daoxuan searched for historical information, San Shier discovered the village’s gigantic food and urged Gao Yiye to ask the Heavenly Deity for his title, but received no answer.

• Gao Yiye threatened San Shier with the villagers’ weapons, and he blurted out Emperor Zhu Youxiao’s name before reciting the latest news about the Jurchen attacks.
• Li Daoxuan recognized that the Scenery Box contained the late Ming Dynasty, stopped the villagers from harming San Shier, and searched online for historical information.
• Gao Yiye took San Shier to her home to feed him, where he was stunned by the enormous rice grains and cabbage leaf.
• San Shier asked which deity had provided the food, so Gao Yiye called to the Heavenly Deity and asked what title to use.
• Li Daoxuan did not hear Gao Yiye’s question, and she told San Shier that the Heavenly Deity did not want to answer.

Li Daoxuan identified the need to help the miniature people become self-sufficient and protect themselves, then built a reservoir to supply them with water. The villagers watched the Heavenly Deity fill it with a torrent from the sky, leaving San Shier awestruck.

• After reading historical records, Li Daoxuan listed his urgent concerns: the cost of helping more people, the villagers’ safety, and the Scenery Box’s limited view.
• Li Daoxuan decided to help the miniature people grow their own food rather than rely on him dropping food into the box.
• Li Daoxuan dug a large pit beside Gao Family Village and placed his Lock & Lock Container inside it to make a reservoir.
• Gao Yiye found San Shier still sleeping beneath her eaves and stopped the villagers from approaching when the ground began to shake.
• Li Daoxuan poured water into the reservoir, and the villagers watched a vast torrent descend from the sky.
• San Shier described the spectacle as the Milky Way tumbling from the highest heavens.

Li Daoxuan created a pond of clean water beside Gao Family Village and promised to refill it daily, then assigned San Shier to gather news from the County Seat. He began planning how to protect the villagers, settling on building them a fortified stronghold.

• Li Daoxuan created a large pond beside Gao Family Village and told Gao Yiye to announce that he would refill it every day for drinking and irrigation.
• The villagers celebrated the water, while San Shier realized that an invisible force had created the pond and waterfall.
• Li Daoxuan learned that San Shier had been dismissed from the County Yamen and ordered him to gather local news and send important reports to Gao Family Village.
• The villagers began digging an irrigation channel in preparation for planting crops in autumn.
• Li Daoxuan considered weapons for the villagers but concluded that their size and limited craftsmanship made them impractical for now.
• Li Daoxuan decided to build a fortified residential stronghold modeled on a Hakka Walled House to protect the villagers.

Li Daoxuan commissioned Cai Xinzi to build a 200:1 Hakka Walled House model outfitted as a rugged remote-controlled tank for the people inside the Scenery Box. After returning home, he delivered chicken to Gao Yiye and warned her that everyone should eat meat in moderation.

• Li Daoxuan set up a security camera to monitor the Scenery Box before visiting Cai Xinzi to commission a model.
• Li Daoxuan insisted on a 200:1 Hakka Walled House made from one-millimeter sheet iron, with detailed interiors, open door and window spaces, and modern drainage.
• Cai Xinzi jokingly suggested adding wheels, a motor, and remote control, and Li Daoxuan ordered those features along with larger tires for off-road use.
• Li Daoxuan paid Cai Xinzi and agreed to wait a month for the walled-house tank to be completed.
• Li Daoxuan bought a chicken breast and placed it before Gao Yiye, then warned the people inside the box not to eat too much meat at once.

Li Daoxuan provided Gao Family Village with chicken and salt, then earned money through freelance design work. When he returned to the Scenery Box, he discovered that unknown people had stolen water from the village pond and that the trail led beyond his view.

• Gao Yiye warned the villagers not to eat too much chicken at once, and the village chief rationed the meat and ordered the rest dried.
• Li Daoxuan gave the villagers a large supply of salt, and they salted and dried the chicken before sharing a chicken-and-vegetable congee meal.
• Li Daoxuan accepted a freelance game character-design job and earned three thousand yuan after completing the designs.
• After five days of work, Li Daoxuan checked the Scenery Box and found the villagers investigating a sharp drop in the pond's water level.
• Li Daoxuan traced the water thieves' footprints to the edge of the Scenery Box and realized he needed a way to see beyond the village.

Li Daoxuan discovered that desperate villagers from another village had been stealing water from Gao Family Village, and he told Gao Yiye not to pursue them. When the thieves returned that night, he secretly replenished the pond and left them a mound of flour, hoping to help them survive.

• Li Daoxuan reviewed surveillance footage and saw a group of impoverished villagers make three nighttime trips to steal water from Gao Family Village’s pond.
• Li Daoxuan told Gao Yiye to explain that the water thieves were dying of thirst and that he would refill the pond, so the villagers abandoned their plan to chase them.
• Li Daoxuan watched for the thieves’ return and replenished the pond with a cup of water.
• Brother Wang and the other thieves found the pond full again, wondered how it had refilled, then began drawing water.
• Li Daoxuan decided rice would be too cumbersome for the thieves to carry and quietly placed a mound of flour behind them.

Li Daoxuan watched Wang Er and the villagers mistake a pile of flour for a secret gift and learned that Wang Er would soon lead the late-Ming peasant uprisings. Realizing Gao Family Village could be caught in the coming war before its walled house was finished, Li Daoxuan searched for ways to protect its people.

• Wang Er and the villagers found a mound of flour balls after drawing water, and Wang Er decided the people of Gao Family Village had secretly left it for them.
• The villagers emptied their buckets, carefully carried away the flour, and Wang Er vowed to repay the village's generosity.
• Li Daoxuan recognized Wang Er from historical records as the figure who would begin the late-Ming peasant uprisings.
• Li Daoxuan worried that Gao Family Village would be exposed to war before its Hakka Walled House was completed.
• Li Daoxuan spotted rusty sheet metal and Lego bricks and considered using them to protect the villagers until the walled house was ready.