Southern Jambudvipa Continent, Xiahe Village, Qinglin County
A middle-aged farmer, pale and thin, was digging up a few wilted wheat seedlings in the cracked field, occasionally scooping a spoonful of muddy water from a bucket and pouring it at the Root of the seedlings.
His Li Laoshi, an ordinary farmer in Xiahe Village. He has a wife and a son, and they make a living from five mu of meager land.
In previous years, when the weather was good, five acres of barren land could barely support a family, but this year that's not possible.
The weather is dry; there hasn't been a drop of rain for over a month, and the wheat seedlings in the fields are almost withered and dying.
If all this Maze dies, this year's harvest will be zero. The family will not only be unable to pay taxes, but they will also lack enough food to survive.
But Li Laoshi had no choice but to go to a stream at the foot of Yin Mountain outside the village every day to fetch muddy, low-water sewage.
Unfortunately, even with his diligence, his efforts were insufficient to combat the natural disasters.
"Sigh! Let's go get another load. A little muddy water is better than not watering at all."
After emptying the muddy water from the bucket, Li Laoshi walked towards Yin Mountain under the scorching sun.
Although it takes half an hour to go back and forth, farmers who rely on the weather for their livelihood have no other way to exert themselves except with this kind of physical strength.
Inside the Sky-Patrolling Bureau, Xu Xiao's fingertips lightly caressed the All-Heavens Star Mirror, on which was reflected a scene of a farmer carrying water to irrigate his seedlings.
" Southern Jambudvipa Continent, Xiahe Village, Qinglin County, Li Laoshi..."
As Xu Xiao murmured, a line of small golden characters appeared above the farmer's head, recording the trajectory of his life—poverty and illness, starving to death in the fields at the age of forty, his remains devoured by wild dogs.
The only connections to this, besides the wife and son at home, are a few scattered relatives with the same surname in the village.
These are all people who, to varying degrees, would have had a causal connection with Li Laoshi in their original destinies.
However, now, the traces of Li Laoshi's destiny are quietly changing. The golden dotted lines of cause and effect, which are not intertwined with other lines of cause and effect, are spontaneously shining.
The original ending of Li Laoshi's fate in the mirror, which was supposed to end with him "starving to death in the fields," was quietly changed, replaced by another inscription. "He will be extremely wealthy and die a natural death."
With the emergence of this result, the causal chain spontaneously trembled, and subsequently, many people who were originally unrelated to him became connected with him without his knowledge, forming a causal relationship.
Among them, the two largest causal lines are one in the field not far from Li Laoshi, and the other in the Yamanaka he is traveling through.
Clearly, the reason why Li Laoshi was able to change his fate lies in these two places.
"First determine the result, then examine how the cause came about."
Xu Xiao muttered to himself inside the Sky-Patrolling Bureau, his Magic Power already reduced by 20%.
While directly activating the causal chain is quick, it is also incredibly costly, far more so than if one were to intervene personally.
If he were to act on his own, whether it's directly bestowing some wealth or imparting some Daoist techniques, it would be as simple as waving a hand.
But that would mean losing this one and only advantage.
By combining the All-Heavens Star Mirror with his own Reversing the Dao of Cause and Effect, he can achieve the great supernatural power of 'result before cause, reversing cause and effect' without even appearing in person, and without leaving any trace or giving away any clues.
"Let me see how this transforms cause into effect, and how much Power of Variables it will bring by reversing the cause and effect of a mortal!"
The image in the mirror then appeared, and Xu Xiao continued to observe it carefully without saying a word.
Li Laoshi from Xiahe Village carried his water buckets to a mountain stream at the foot of Yin Mountain. He followed the dried-up stream and soon arrived at a rock.
But then they saw a hole in the rock, about the size of a water vat, from which water mixed with mud and sand slowly seeped out.
Seeing this, Li Laoshi, as usual, lay down by the cave entrance and used a gourd ladle to scoop the muddy water into the bucket bit by bit.
It took almost half an hour to fill the two buckets to about seven-tenths full. Seeing this, Li Laoshi sighed and happily prepared to carry the water away.
For no apparent reason, when Li Laoshi got up, he glanced at the opening of the flowing water, and then a thought suddenly popped into his mind.
'Everyone in the village says this stream flows out from a crevice in the mountain. It's such a big hole, why don't I crawl inside and see if the water is even bigger?'
The thought suddenly occurred to Li Laoshi and lingered in his mind.
Seeing the stream cave entrance that most people in Xiahe Village knew about, he, who was usually honest, immediately took action.
He put the bucket aside and shuffled himself over, reaching into the large hole that resembled a water vat.
At first it was a bit narrow, but after one person squeezed in, it became much more spacious inside. However, it was pitch black inside, and one could only see a little bit of the ground with the help of the outside light.
Li Laoshi could only rely on his senses, groping his way forward along the stone wall, his feet sinking into the soft mud and sand, inching his way into the cave step by step.
"My God, this place is actually connected! No one has ever come in here before. Could there be some kind of monster?"
Li Laoshi didn't know why he, who was usually timid, had the courage to barge into such a place today. But since he was already there, he was unwilling to leave without going in and taking a look.
And so, this honest, simple farmer, relying solely on a sudden inspiration, managed to reach the interior of the mountain wall.
Apart from a damp wall that was seeping water, there was nothing else there.
"Huh? What's this?!"
Suddenly, Li Laoshi seemed to see something special. Having been in the cave for a long time, he had become accustomed to it and vaguely saw a small white flower in the corner under the stone wall.
The white flowers looked quite striking in the dark cave, and Li Laoshi was immediately drawn to them upon first sight.
A sudden urge to devour the other person arose in his mind, and that's exactly what he did.
After eating the small white flower he saw, Li Laoshi felt warm all over, as if he were soaking in warm water, and felt completely comfortable.
The process lasted for quite a while before gradually dissipating, and only then did he realize the inappropriateness of his behavior.
'Did I bump into something dirty?'
With this thought in mind, Li Laoshi quickly squeezed out of the cave, then carried the two buckets of water from the cave entrance back to the fields without looking back.
In his haste, he didn't notice that his steps were more agile than usual. In the midst of the chaos, he carried the water and ran quickly without spilling a single drop.
Back in the field, still shaken, Li Laoshi checked himself over and, finding no injuries, rested in the shade for a while before picking up his hoe again to dig.
As soon as he started digging, he immediately realized that he was different.
The once hard, dry land now resembles soft, yielding mud in his hands, easily turned over without much effort.
Surprised and delighted, Li Laoshi had no idea what was going on and could only deduce that it must be related to the little white flower he had eaten earlier.
Fortunately, the rural men were not very knowledgeable, so they didn't have many worries. Being strong meant they could do more work, which was a good thing!
So he continued wielding his hoe, working in the field, digging harder and more excitedly, until he unknowingly dug into the wasteland beside him.
With a clang, the hoe struck something hard.
Li Laoshi dug through the soil and found a rusty iron box. He smashed the lock with a hoe and took a look.
Good heavens!
It was filled to the brim with a whole box of silver!!