The Great Ming in the Box
Chapter 9: The World of Tiny Kingdom
He needed to reevaluate his scenic box. Perhaps it wasn’t just for raising these forty-two tiny people, but… was it connected to another world of the Tiny Kingdom?
No, perhaps “connected” was inappropriate; “looking down upon” was more fitting.
He had thought he was raising a small box of tiny people, so he just cared for them casually, as if keeping a box of small hamsters. He didn’t delve into what these tiny people really were, but if he was “looking down upon” another world of Tiny Kingdom, many things were worth investigating.
Li Daoxuan turned his perspective back to the villagers.
At this moment, the official had already fled. The villagers were gathered together, cheering and bowing towards the sky.
As “the only one who could speak with the Great deity”, the girl figure was surrounded by the villagers, who all chattered at her about something.
Then the girl figure raised her head and shouted towards the sky, “Great deity, the villagers thank you for your help. Everyone also wants to ask you: are these divine rice bestowed solely upon me, or may all the villagers enjoy them?”
Li Daoxuan’s gaze fixed on the girl figure.
This girl figure could communicate with him; she could hear his speech. Through her, he could learn about the Tiny Kingdom world. It seemed time to exchange a few words with her.
Li Daoxuan spoke out, “Distribute the rice to everyone. Also, I have some questions I want to ask you.”
The girl figure was overjoyed and said, “Villagers, the Great deity says this divine rice is bestowed upon all of us; everyone can share it.”
The villagers immediately cheered.
“Great deity, protect us.”
“Hail! Hail!”
“Um, Yiye, is the Great deity a Buddhist or a Daoist god? Should we say ‘Amitabha’ or ‘Wu Liang Shou Fu’?”
The girl figure was baffled too. Although she could vaguely see the divine lord’s face floating in the clouds, she couldn’t discern whether he wore a Daoist robe or a monk robe. She truly didn’t know whether to say “Amitabha” or “Wu Liang Shou Fu” when praying; it was quite awkward.
If she uttered the wrong prayer phrase and angered the Great deity, she wouldn’t even know how to write the character for “death.”
However… they all seemed illiterate; no one knew how to write “death” in the first place.
The villagers froze; their prayers ceased.
Li Daoxuan shook his head, finding it both amusing and frustrating. These tiny people were quite interesting; they pondered whether he was a Buddhist or Daoist deity. Their culture in this Tiny Kingdom world seemed directly inherited from ours.
With a trace of amusement, he said, “Don’t mind Daoism or Buddhism; I am neither.”
The girl figure froze; this fell into a blind spot in her knowledge. Was such a deity even possible?
Li Daoxuan said, “Don’t worry about such trivial matters. Tell everyone to be quiet; I need to ask questions.”
The girl figure quickly called out loudly, “Everyone, quiet down! The Great deity has a few more questions to ask us.”
At her shout, all fell silent instantly.
Li Daoxuan said, “On which planet do you live? Or continent? Or dimension?”
The girl figure didn’t understand. She repeated the sentence word for word to the villagers.
Yet not a single tiny person present grasped it. Even among them, the Village Chief figure—who knew the most and had seen the widest world—wore a blank expression. What was a planet? What was a continent? What was a dimension?
From their faces, it was clear they had no concept of those terms.
Li Daoxuan understood. Though culturally inherited, their knowledge was centuries stale. “In which country do you live? What is the current era name?”
The tiny people had a shred of national concept; they knew they were in a country with a court and army. But what the country was called or what era it was, they all knew nothing and uniformly shook their heads.
Li Daoxuan frowned, “These guys couldn’t even tell me what country they were from or what era it was, that’s really illiterate beyond belief!”
But after thinking it over carefully, he understood!
Ancient farmers couldn’t read a word; they never left their villages, and the farthest they ventured from home was probably to the county town. If their birthplace was a bit too remote, with rarely any merchants passing by, villagers would be just like this group before him, knowing nothing, completely blind to the outside world.
Unaware of time passing in the mountains, they were helpless about the world’s rapid changes outside.
Li Daoxuan sighed deeply, “Forget it! I won’t get anything from you.”
The villagers looked at each other helplessly.
Gao Yiye murmured in a low voice to the villagers around her, “The Great Deity seems very disappointed.”
The Village Chief responded, “Huh? When we couldn’t answer the Great One’s questions, he naturally got disappointed.”
Gao Yiye asked, “What should we do about this?”
The Village Chief thought seriously, “You tell the Great Deity to please give us a little time. Let us figure out a way and find a learned person to come here.”
Gao Yiye said, “A learned person? There isn’t a single educated man in this whole village.”
The Village Chief continued, “Not in Gaojia Village, but in the county town there is. Let me think… I’ve met… the most learned person… that would naturally be the County Magistrate.”
Gao Yiye shook her head awkwardly, “How could we ever invite the County Magistrate?”
The Village Chief replied, “Then we’ll invite the County Magistrate’s advisor, Thirty-Two.”
Gao Yiye shook her head, “We can’t invite him either.”
The Village Chief chuckled, “Although the advisor is also an important man, he isn’t surrounded by officials every day like the County Magistrate, so inviting him would be much easier.”
Gao Yiye said, “???”
The Village Chief turned to look at a young man beside him, “Chuwu!” Gao Chuwu stepped forward, beaming foolishly.
The Village Chief instructed, “Early in the morning tomorrow, you will take a few young men from the village, eat more giant rice to fill your stomach and build strength.”
“Head to the county town and invite Advisor Thirty-Two to come to Gaojia Village.”
“If he is willing to come, invite him properly; if he is not willing, knock him out with a stick and carry him back.”
“Remember, our lives were given by the Great Deity; whatever the Great Deity wants, we must offer it to him, and we cannot let him be disappointed in us.”
Gao Chuwu grinned broadly, “Alright, alright! The Great Deity gave me giant eggs and giant rice; I must obey him. But I’ve never been to the county town, so how do I get there?”
The Village Chief said, “I’ll show you how…”
Li Daoxuan was still watching outside the box, seeing these villagers seriously discussing how to “invite” a learned advisor to answer his questions, and couldn’t help but feel amused; it sounded quite fun.
It seemed this Tiny Kingdom wasn’t small; with villages, county towns, officials, a county magistrate, and advisors, there must be an enormous country beyond.
He hoped they would “invite” the advisor from the county town back as soon as possible.