CHAPTER 308: CHAPTER 308: BEING A USEFUL PUPPET!

Ordinary farmland grows various kinds of ordinary vegetables, but they have a relatively short maturity period.

Some leafy greens can even be harvested the day after sowing, so Jiang Yuan always uses his rich experience from farming games to plan rationally, ensuring that neither land nor time is wasted, and that there is a plentiful stock of various melons, fruits, and vegetables.

Dragging the required vegetables for the order to the trade item bar and pulling down the wooden lever to complete the order, with a "ding" sound, Gold Coins jump with a melodious sound, and the reward is immediately received.

[Moon in the Water +1; Three Pristine Ones Grass +1]

[Faith Value +21620]

"Harvesting every day and then having to complete orders, there really isn’t that much stock in the warehouse. But with less than a month left of spring, when summer comes, the farmland will have to switch to summer’s cultivable melons and vegetables. What if there are still many orders required for spring vegetables? What to do?" He sorted the warehouse and saw piles of big cherries, feeling that he had been harvesting daily but hadn’t consumed any, thinking there seemed to be a bit too much of this stuff.

But then, thinking that in the main quest there will definitely be a need to build a juice factory, perhaps cherries and strawberries could be processed there, so it didn’t feel like they were taking up too much space after all.

Anyway, there’s still space in the warehouse now. If nothing else works, gather materials and upgrade first.

The cracked earth still floated quietly, and the glaring white sun seemed never to have moved since it was hung on the sky, quietly watching everything happening here.

A pile of fresh green vegetables suddenly appeared on the altar, and the villagers who had been praying devoutly burst into cheers!

"Indeed, the Gods can hear our hearts!"

"Great, we’ll be able to get whatever we want in the future. What a good life that would be!"

"Still not enough, is there someone among us who’s not putting in effort?"

"Yeah, why is there not even a bit of meat?"

Excited jubilation was followed by discussion and questioning. Some felt the vegetables gained from praying were too few, not enough for everyone to eat freely for a few meals; some were intent on eating meat yet didn’t see a trace of it.

"Quiet!" The old Priest slowly stood up and said in a deep voice: "Remember, do not be greedy! Do not forget that it is us who need the protection of the Gods, it is us who actively pray for Their protection. They grant us food and the hope to survive without ever asking for anything. Therefore, do not make harsh demands on the Gods!

The same sentence still holds: sincerity brings forth spirituality.

If you want to receive the compassionate gift from the Gods, ask yourself first if your heart is sincere enough?

Feigning devotion on the surface, but being dismissive inside while blending among the villagers, sharing the food earned with true devotion, and complaining that the Gods should give more and better food. Naturally, the Gods will not argue with humans, but the guilt of deceiving and blinding the Gods must ultimately be borne by oneself."

The buzzing voices of discussion under the altar gradually fell silent, as people began to realize that relying only on praying to the Gods for a life of plenty without hard work and getting spoiled by luxury at home every day was mere fantasy.

Li Shuiwang distributed the prayed-for vegetables evenly and sarcastically remarked: "If it weren’t for my grandmother persistently praying to the Gods, finally finding a merciful Celestial God willing to listen to our hearts and bless everyone, everyone here would have starved to death long ago!

You were told clearly to exchange sincere faith for the Celestial God’s protection. Some people eat the food bestowed by the Gods but are stingy with a sincere heart. Look at the people around you, maybe it’s because too many are just pretending, causing our dedicated faith not to bring fragrant meat.

If everyone was as sincere as my grandma and I, we’d have been eating meat three times a day!

Now some people are dragging everyone down from obtaining more and better food. Soon, as it gets colder, who doesn’t need cotton clothes and quilts? Anyway, I’m putting it out here first, those who don’t sincerely bring in resources are deservedly going to freeze or starve!"

With those words, coupled with two charred corpses struck by lightning lying not far away, a powerful deterrent, the once domineering Second Prince and his lackeys trembled all over, utterly subdued.

"These vegetables and rice are enough for everyone to eat for a few days." The old Priest sighed when he saw this, waving a hand and said, "Don’t be greedy, and don’t think there’s food now so you can eat like crazy, because if the Gods are busy and can’t hear our prayers, without surplus food again, it will be back to being hungry."

As the crowd lined up obediently to receive their vegetables dispersed, she looked up with squinted eyes at the white sun and murmured, "The sky collapsed, the ground cracked, there is not even night anymore. Even with the Gods granting food, how long can we go on? The village has less than a hundred people left, enduring slowly, won’t we all die out..."

The strong wind swept through, the wind howled as the sky grew even darker.

"Spring is almost over, and even the weather has become somewhat more turbulent." Hu Zhile sat on the Cloud Tier of the Tree House, looking at the gloomy sky of the early morning that seemed like it was going to rain, and called out with a smile: "Yun Shu, the Venerable Family’s new purchases of cinnabar and talisman paper are almost used up, you should at least take a break and chat for a while."

Yun Shu was engrossed in working as a "printing worker," her talisman painting movements flowing like water, akin to a programmed input, with the same pen height and pressure for every talisman paper, making each one identical without any difference.

Upon hearing this, she didn’t even lift her head as she replied: "The master said the talismans I paint are especially popular. I want to seize the time to help the master earn more money, so I won’t be abandoned as a useless puppet."

Abandoned?!

Hu Zhile was obviously taken aback by her words, and immediately asked, "Why would you be abandoned? Just because you’re not useful? Have you ever seen an abandoned puppet?"

"I haven’t." Yun Shu shook her head and looked up at her without stopping her hands, "But ever since I was created, I knew this truth - useless puppets get abandoned. They would either be disassembled with their parts used for other puppets, or they’d lose energy completely and be stacked in a corner waiting to rot away.

If the former, assembling a new puppet means it’s no longer my thoughts and will. I would be dead; the latter is even more hopeless, with no chance of resurrection, as intelligence dissipates after prolonged deathly silence."

Pausing for a few seconds, she intensified her tone, "I want to live, I have to strive to live, so I must become a useful puppet!"

Unexpectedly, even puppets have such worries and crises.

"The Venerable Family isn’t that strict, you can spare a break."

Hu Zhile lightly stepped down from the Cloud Tier, gently taking the pen from her hand and setting it aside, taking her hand to sit on a stone by the Spirit Pool, softly asking, "Can you remember things from before?

I think, since you can paint talismans and know some minor magic, you might have learned specifically before the shipwreck. If you can recall more past events, perhaps there are abilities more useful than talisman painting."

Yun Shu obediently sat and blinked her big eyes, shaking her head, "I can’t remember much, just vaguely... I seem to have been captured..."

"Captured?!" The other party was instantly stunned, "I heard rumors that the Red Dragon was a tribute sent to the Immortals from the Celestial River to the Celestial Realm. How could you be captured onto it?"

Capturing a puppet, it sounds a bit unreliable, wouldn’t they be afraid the Immortals find out the puppet gift was not meticulously prepared?

Or, does the Red Dragon hold another secret?

Unfortunately, Yun Shu couldn’t recall anything, and the unsolved mystery of the Red Dragon teased at Hu Zhile’s curiosity. That was the legendary shipwreck associated with the Celestial River and Celestial Realm. If more shipwreck artifacts could be salvaged, would it reveal hidden secrets of the past?

If only there were ships to go to sea, it would not only allow attempts to salvage the Red Dragon but also to explore the Celestial River’s whereabouts, perhaps really following the Celestial River to find traces of the Celestial Realm!

"Woo~"

Jiang Yuan had just finished chores in the poultry house and livestock sheds when suddenly a wailing, half-crying, deep yet powerful howl came again from the Teleportation Array.

[The Teleportation Array has received a distress signal from the void transport coordinates ???, quick transportation point marked, would you like to teleport?]