I Come to Teach You Cultivation-Chapter 72 - 28: Witch

Gaotun Village, the back mountain of the Earth God Temple.

"A Witch is not the messenger of the Gods; the Witch is a Wise Man guiding the Mountain People to stand up for themselves."

Xiao’e looked at the Mountain People, kneeling and worshiping devoutly before Granny’s grave, but what surfaced in her mind were Granny’s teachings to her in life.

Those Mountain People were not the original residents of Gaotun Village, but slaves once captured by the Guifang Kingdom. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

The sentence Er Tu spoke before leaving quickly spread from one to ten, ten to a hundred, soon reaching all the slaves.

Thus, these slaves, whose hope had been rekindled, started moving southward and gradually arrived near Gaotun Village.

"Which batch is this now?"

I never expected that one sentence of mine would bring so many Mountain People here.

Now, Er Tu stood utterly at a loss before the Mountain People, completely lacking the carefree flair he’d had when leaving.

In this era, such a sudden influx of Mountain People brings not labor but obvious and visible dangers.

No food, no houses, and not even knowing exactly how many Mountain People have arrived...

If we can’t solve their most basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter, what awaits Gaotun Village—or even this whole region—is endless chaos and disaster.

"This is the sixteenth batch already..."

Upon hearing this, Xiao’e, who’d been counting, immediately looked worried.

And that’s just the number coming to worship at Granny’s grave.

As for the ones who haven’t come, and those still on the road—only Heaven knows how many there are.

"I went to ask the ’Non-crying’ Baby. He told us to first write down the names of those who’ve already arrived."

"In his words, it’s about ’registering and recording,’ noting every Mountain Person’s expertise and preference in advance..."

"Then, according to each person’s talents, assign them to suitable posts."

"Building houses, land-reclamation, farming, hunting..."

"Anyway, even if we just have them dig holes during the day and fill them at night, we absolutely cannot let them idle around."

Er Tu paused slightly here.

"Only by giving Mountain People hope and simultaneously using up their excess time and energy can we speed up their integration here."

As Granny’s carefully trained candidate Witch, Xiao’e immediately understood the purpose behind this strategy.

Only by genuinely taking part in the building of this place will those Mountain People, who came here as refugees, truly choose to fit in with all their hearts.

"But what about food? What do we do about food?"

With Granny and Xiao’e’s prestige in Gaotun Village, assigning some townsfolk to manage the Mountain People wasn’t too difficult.

As long as there wasn’t a sudden, overwhelming influx of outsiders at once.

Xiao’e had faith that she could make them identify with Gaotun Village, gradually making them part of it.

What’s more, before coming back, Er Tu had been taught some basic management concepts by Li Boyang.

For example, dividing the group, having early arrivals manage latecomers, selecting and rewarding the outstanding, and so on...

But all of this depends on having enough basic resources in the first place.

After talking with the chief, Xiao’e realized—

Even after three years of bumper harvests, Gaotun Village just didn’t have enough grain to feed so many extra Mountain People.

Not to mention, in this era there’s no tax system, and Gaotun Village isn’t a primitive communal (just in case) system; all the grain belongs to individual families.

If you want people to hand over their surplus grain to feed strangers whose backgrounds are unknown—

Even with Granny’s authority, that’s no easy task.

"You don’t have to worry about the food issue..."

"They’re here because I called them. I’ll take responsibility for solving this problem."

Er Tu’s face suddenly turned complex and heavy; his words left Xiao’e extremely surprised.

"What are you planning to do?"

Xiao’e had been chosen by Granny as the new Witch not for nothing; she was sharp enough to catch Er Tu’s implication at once.

"Just something I was planning to do anyway. The matter of food is just something I’ll take care of along the way."

...........................

At the same time, Li Family Village.

Just like Gaotun Village was receiving those extra Mountain People—

The same situation was happening in every village for hundreds of miles around. Li Family Village was no exception.

In fact, thanks to Er Tu’s final words, even more Mountain People came to Li Family Village seeking shelter.

In just a few days, dozens of Mountain People had come to Li Family Village, giving the village elder, now head of the village, a splitting headache.

"We may have more grain than other villages, but not enough to feed so many people."

Deliberately bringing Li Boyang to the Ancestral Temple hall, the village elder glanced at the heads of each household and said,

None of the villagers were surprised to see Li Boyang there.

Three years was enough to make everyone used to Li Boyang’s abilities.

As the wondrous ’Son of the Mountain God’, everyone believed he’d become a ’Chosen Priest’ just like Granny one day.

So even though Li Boyang was only three in biological age, everyone still regarded him as a decision-maker—perhaps even a future leader.

"So what should we do?"

"Should we go to other villages and try to buy some grain?"

"Otherwise, let’s just expel those outsiders!"

"We’ve all been through famine. We know exactly what horrifying things starving people can do."

...

The villagers whispered among themselves, but their eyes kept darting to the village elder, Li Yu, and Li Boyang.

After all, everyone knew that in such a small village, the only real decision-makers were the village elder, Li Yu, and Li Boyang.

"Let’s form a real ’production team’!"

After a short silence, the village elder put forward a suggestion that had previously been rejected by everyone.

"Bring those outsiders into the production team. We’ll take them hunting, open up new land, farm, and harvest crops..."

"After all, it’s only early July. We still have nearly half a year before winter comes."

He paused for a moment and took another look around, his tone utterly unyielding.

"And we can try harvesting early, then plant a second wave of rice before August."

Everyone was shocked at these words. The villagers stared at each other in disbelief.

To Li Boyang, who was from the twenty-first century, two rice harvests in a year—perhaps even three—was common knowledge.

But to this group of Mountain People living in primitive wilderness,

Harvesting grain as early as July was already unthinkable—let alone planting a second rice crop in the latter half of the year.

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