Golden-thread nanmu

"My lord."

At the sight of An Weiyan, Cheng Feng and the others immediately greeted him respectfully.

An Weiyan acknowledged them. "The second batch of grain I ordered arrived in Linbei County before dawn today. It has all been put into the warehouse now, so Linbei County need not worry about grain for the time being."

An Weiyan glanced at the commoners around him before saying this.

They all knew roughly how much grain he had bought before. His main purpose in saying this now was to let them know they no longer needed to worry about grain.

An Weiyan did not tell them how much grain he had bought in the second batch, making it easier to keep bringing more directly from the main world later.

If the grain in the warehouse never ran out in the future, they would not think much of it.

None of the commoners doubted his words. After all, last time, a batch of grain had been hauled in from outside in person.

From this, they could tell that their lord of Linbei County had considerable wealth behind him. More importantly, he was truly too kind.

Those who had provided disaster relief in the past would simply have used wheat bran. Who would have bought fine rice like this for disaster relief?

"My lord, we humble folk will forever remember your great kindness."

The commoners nearby who heard the news dropped to their knees in a great wave.

They had still been muttering privately that the grain their lord had bought would not last very long.

Never had they imagined that the second batch would arrive after just a few days.

Although they had not seen this second batch of grain themselves, they did not doubt An Weiyan.

This was the trust they had developed in An Weiyan over their days together.

Watching these commoners kneel to him at the slightest provocation gave An Weiyan something of a headache, and he waved for them to rise.

"All right, those who should be farming, get back to farming. Also, is there anyone in town who knows bookkeeping?"

"My lord, this humble one taught for some years and knows a little arithmetic."

As An Weiyan finished speaking, an elderly man with a white beard tottered forward.

An Weiyan said, "Then I am sorry for the trouble, old sir, but please help record the houses, fields, and farmsteads in town."

He wanted to record all the vacant houses and such that remained throughout the town, as well as how many mu of farmland there were outside.

All of this needed to be recorded one item at a time.

The old man cupped his hands, voiced his assent, and went off to work.

Once everyone had dispersed and gone about their tasks, An Weiyan breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as he was about to attend to his next tasks, the Earth God's voice suddenly rang out nearby.

Hearing his voice, An Weiyan hurried over to the Earth God's temple.

"My lord, I shared some divine power with you earlier, and now this minor god has very little left. You must make haste..."

Ever since An Weiyan first met him, the Earth God's voice seemed to have carried a trace of weakness.

He sounded rather feeble and listless.

The Earth God did not actually want to rush An Weiyan, but his divine power was insufficient. Once the peach tree demon underwent its tribulation, whether it succeeded or failed,

all those demons would have their hands free to cast covetous eyes upon Linbei County.

Things would be troublesome then.

Demons loved eating humans. Humans were the foremost beings of heaven and earth, born from the gathered Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, and eating them provided great nourishment.

Now that Linbei County had gained quite a few more people, it would only attract more covetous demons.

Even if the Earth God wanted to protect all these people, he had the will but lacked the strength.

Hearing the Earth God's words, An Weiyan knew the matter was rather urgent. He had been keeping it in mind all along.

He immediately gave his assurance. "Rest assured, Orthodox God Fude. I am already doing my utmost to arrange incense offerings. I believe sufficient offerings will be presented within a few days."

The Earth God breathed a sigh of relief at this. It was enough that An Weiyan was keeping the matter in mind.

"What did you call us over for?"

Outside Linbei County, a woodcutter pulled several of his fellows aside.

Seeing how furtive he was being, the men were puzzled and immediately frowned as they asked.

"I want to make a trip up the mountain and cut down those golden-thread nanmu trees I saw before, to repair His Lordship's offices. Several parts of the offices are already damaged, and there isn't a single decent table or chair in the yamen."

"The roof leaked a few days ago, and there wasn't even any timber to patch it. Are you willing to come up the mountain with me and cut down those golden-thread nanmu trees?"

The woodcutter gritted his teeth as he looked at them and spoke.

He had eaten several meals provided by His Lordship, yet even now he had no way to repay his kindness. It left him feeling troubled.

Now that he had heard His Lordship had spent silver to buy a second batch of grain, he felt all the more guilty.

He wondered what he could do to help His Lordship.

The other woodcutters froze at his words, then their expressions changed drastically.

"But there are so many demons on the mountain. Wouldn't going up there be dangerous?"

A somewhat younger, burly man beside him spoke, looking both tempted and worried.

"Don't worry. I heard the Earth God say that the demons on the mountain have all gone deep into the woods lately. It seems they've gone to watch the peach tree demon undergo its tribulation. It's relatively safe to go up now."

The old woodcutter's words left the others even more tempted.

"Are you going or not? Even if you won't go, I will!"

Seeing that they were still hesitating, the old woodcutter snapped angrily.

The newly arrived county magistrate was an exceptionally good man. He hoped to show him some goodwill, so that His Lordship might grow a little fonder of Linbei County and stay here in the future.

This could also count as a small token for His Lordship on Linbei County's behalf.

They ordinarily lived in grinding poverty and truly had nothing else they could give His Lordship.

He had only discovered those golden-thread nanmu trees because he used to go up the mountain often to cut timber.

Hearing this, the others gritted their teeth and stamped their feet. "Let's do it. We'll go and come straight back. Once we've cut the timber, we'll return. Nothing much should happen."

The younger woodcutter spoke fiercely.

The others nodded one after another.

Seeing that they had all agreed, the lead woodcutter immediately told them to go home for their billhooks, and they headed up the mountain together.

An Weiyan still had no idea that some people in the county had secretly gone up the mountain to cut timber.

At that moment, An Weiyan sat down at his desk and carefully read the poetry collection before him.

To be honest, after constantly reading these poetry collections lately, An Weiyan truly felt that his eyes had become considerably brighter, and even his bearing had gradually begun to change.

His eyes, in particular, were growing ever brighter and clearer.

An Weiyan reckoned that, if he read some more, perhaps he would experience the state the Earth God had described: with poetry and books within, one's bearing naturally shone.

When evening came, An Weiyan brought out rice for everyone to cook and eat, while he returned to the main world.

He wanted to see whether those reporters had finished writing their articles and how much publicity they had generated online.