Chapter 87: Planning Wang’an County
“How can it be this cold?”
Song Jiulai, who had returned to Wang’an County’s territory, shivered from the sudden heavy snow.
Even as a cultivator in the Mid Qi Condensation Stage, she could feel the chill brought by this heavy snow.
Cultivators still have spiritual energy circulation to keep warm.
She couldn’t imagine how mortals would survive.
Now, Wang’an County was covered in white snow all around, a vast expanse of white.
At first glance, the scenery was quite beautiful, but upon returning to Wang’an County and finding that most mortals here basically didn’t come out, she couldn’t help but feel a sense of desolation.
Only the pharmacy was still open.
After all, the pharmacy apprentices here were cultivators.
Su Huanli also frowned slightly, “With such heavy snow, has something gone wrong somewhere?”
Song Jiulai was already freezing, and before returning, Su Huanli had given her a plush coat from her Mustard Seed Bag to wear.
Song Jiulai rubbed her palms, “We’re so cold, what about those mortals?”
Su Huanli paused for a moment, perhaps not expecting Song Jiulai to ask this question. She said, “I don’t know, but every time extreme weather strikes, there are always mortals who freeze to death or die from heat…”
“How can that be?” Song Jiulai truly didn’t understand, “Can they freeze to death just by staying at home and not going out?”
If there’s no shortage of grain, they should be able to get through it by staying home.
Su Huanli glanced at Song Jiulai and then said, “This cold is not normal. Some mortals may not be able to endure it.”
Song Jiulai was silent for a moment, then asked, “Do they have anything to keep warm, like burning charcoal?”
“They can burn it, but it’s not very effective. Sometimes the temperature drops suddenly at night. It depends on how many days this weather lasts; no one can predict it.”
“……”
The Yunzhou Continent is naturally spring-like throughout the year and rarely experiences such extreme weather.
The extremity here is like modern society encountering a natural disaster.
The cause cannot be found, nor can it be prevented.
In such weather, mortals basically do not leave their homes.
Severe cold is one thing, but the probability of dying from the scorching heat is even greater.
Su Huanli thought of her childhood and murmured, “I remember my mother. My mother would always burn a charcoal stove, and I never got out of bed. The next day, I heard the neighbors say someone had frozen to death.”
Song Jiulai rarely heard Su Huanli talk about herself.
She cautiously asked, “What about your mother?”
Su Huanli paused for three seconds, “She was killed by a Demonic Beast.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Su Huanli shook her head, “It’s okay. Even without the Demonic Beast, my mother and I were only destined to be together for a few decades in this life. Cultivators should sever worldly ties…”
She said this, but her expression did not seem like someone who had severed worldly ties.
There was a hint of bewilderment and an unspeakable bitterness.
Because her Spiritual Root was discovered so early, memories in the Cultivation World are generally good. She also recalled her childhood, when her greatest anticipation was for her mother to bring back good things for her whenever she went out.
Later, after she joined the Flying Sparrow Sect, she heard little news from her mother.
She wanted to visit more often, but her Senior Brothers and Sisters always said that getting too involved with mortals would be detrimental to her cultivation later on.
So she rarely went back.
She only remembered the look of surprise and joy on her mother’s face when she saw her standing at the door every time she returned.
Later, her mother was gone.
Song Jiulai wanted to say something but stopped, not knowing what to say.
As someone without parents, she didn’t seem to be in a position to say anything.
……
The Players found that the situation of the mortals was more severe than they had imagined.
For example, Hao Kan, who was responsible for purchasing food.
The name Hao Kan clearly indicated it was a randomly chosen ID.
Because his original intention was to choose “Hao Kan” (meaning “good-looking”).
Hao Kan was one of the Players working with Fan Guozhou and Zhou Xiao on brewing wine and making gourmet food.
Due to the wine brewing business, they purchased a lot of grain, which they still had to buy from the mortals below the mountain. Therefore, Hao Kan got to know many mortals in Wang’an County during this process.
Mortals always held a sense of reverence towards cultivators.
It was like how lower-level cultivators looked at higher-level cultivators.
However, the Longevity Sect’s Players were ordinary people in reality, so they interacted naturally with the mortals.
On this snowy day, the tofu he had been collecting was not received today.
In the past, an old woman with her granddaughter was responsible for making it.
When Hao Kan went to pick it up this morning, it was the little girl, Xiao Ya, who came out wearing a thick fur coat and speaking while shivering, “Sorry, Brother Hao, it’s too cold today, Grandma can’t make tofu.”
“I know,” Hao Kan said, surprised for a moment, “I just came to say that it’s too cold these few days, so we won’t be making tofu.”
“Okay, okay.”
Seeing how understanding Hao Kan was, Xiao Ya’s face showed gratitude.
Even wrapped so thickly, Hao Kan could notice Xiao Ya’s purplish, frozen face.
It was so cold, abnormally so.
“You should go back inside. It’s warm inside. Stay indoors these past few days. If you can’t get food, I’ll bring some over for you.”
In such cold weather, getting food was also troublesome.
Xiao Ya couldn’t believe it even more, “How can this trouble you, Brother Hao.”
“It’s no big deal.” Such a young girl, only about ten years old, would still be in school in modern times.
But here, without a path for advancement, there seemed to be nothing to do.
What mortals aspired to was to live a peaceful life.
But a life like this…
Hao Kan scratched his head. He was just an ordinary person and couldn’t think about deeper matters.
Xiao Ya was indeed quite cold; her lips trembled as she spoke, letting the wind through.
Even wrapped in fur, it didn’t offer much protection from the cold. “Brother Hao, I’ll go back in then. We’re burning charcoal inside, and I need to watch it so the charcoal doesn’t go out from the cold. Grandma is old, and she can’t get up when it’s cold.”
“Mm, alright.”
Hao Kan then went to several other mortal households where he usually bought side dishes. Zhou Xiao had processed quite a few products. Even though she wasn’t here now, Hao Kan could make a lot based on the gourmet food list he found. Not many Players in the Sect were interested in making these, so they still had to cooperate with mortals.
But facing this situation, the mortals could only halt their operations.
Hao Kan discovered that they had no means of keeping warm other than burning fires. Cultivators had a type of mineral resource that could be placed in rooms to heat them, but the minerals also needed Spirit Stones to buy, and very few mortals could afford them.
Modifying rooms was simple now. Hao Kan was from the north in reality, and he thought the simplest method was to install heated brick beds in the mortals’ houses.
After all, some things couldn’t stop being made; if they stopped, they would spoil.
When Song Jiulai arrived at the mountain, Hao Kan had already found Fan Guozhou to discuss a plan to renovate the houses of the mortals below the mountain.
The main goal was to provide insulation against the cold and heat, and ideally, to dig wells or cellars to store ice.
Ice was even simpler; the main thing was that cultivators also wanted to eat ice cream.
For Players who only needed to move their fingers, this was too easy.
Fan Guozhou, who was currently in charge of the food business in town, didn’t disagree, only saying, “If that’s the case, it might as well be a complete redesign of Wang’an County.”
Keep what should be kept, and there will be space for more Players in the future.
Hao Kan was silent for a moment, “There are still the Flying Sparrow Sect’s shops and pharmacies on the street. Will they agree to us moving things around?”
Fan Guozhou said, “Find a designer and have them redesign a set of decoration styles for them. Guess if they’ll be tempted?”
The Cultivation World also had aesthetics.
The current pharmacies and shops were also simply decorated. Ordinary cultivators didn’t have much aesthetic sense.
But modern Players had all sorts of professions. Modern aesthetics were a dimensional reduction attack; this was simply too easy.
Developing Wang’an County was a matter of duty!
Of course, this matter still needed to be discussed with the Sect Master for his opinion.
The issue of carbon monoxide poisoning from burning charcoal was indeed not very reasonable, and it has been modified.
