Early in the morning, facing the morning dew, a group of knights set off from the Lord's Mansion, heading straight for the Azure Dragon Gate. The Blue Beetle Horses trod across the smooth green stone road, making a series of crisp hoofbeats.
Ouyang Shuo and Song Jia brought along four personal guards and prepared to go to the Pool Water County in the east to find a suitable base for the sect. After the second city wall was built, in order to distinguish the city gate and avoid confusion. The four city gates of the core area were renamed. They were the Azure Dragon Gate in the east, the White Tiger Gate in the west, the Vermilion Bird Gate in the south, and the Black Tortoise Gate in the north. Ouyang Shuo and his party passed through the Azure Dragon Gate, and then passed through the East Gate, heading north to the East Gate.
After exiting the East Gate, it was the Eastern Wilderness. Due to strategic needs, the weeds in the eastern suburbs had long been cleared. There was nothing left, and it was extremely desolate.
From the east gate, a simple official road led straight to the docks of Shanhai County. Compared to the earliest days of the Shanhai Village, the pier had been expanded by twenty to thirty times. Since the Advanced Shipyard was transferred to Beihai County, the waters in front of the canyon were all under the jurisdiction of the dock. As for the jurisdiction of the docks, it was assigned to the Carriage Department. Today's Transport Department officially fulfilled the duties of the modern society's Ministry of Transport.
According to the plan, the bridge connecting the base camp and Pool Water County had yet to be completed. Countless stones were piled up on both sides of the pier. The stonemasons cut the huge rocks that were transported from the quarry on the spot, hammered them into smaller rocks, and then polished them into stone strips to be used as materials for the construction of the bridge.
Considering that warships were needed to cross the river, the design and construction of the bridge were far more complicated than the stone arch bridges in the city. According to the design draft submitted by the chief designer of the bridge, Wu Chi, the construction cost would be 500 gold coins.
The most difficult part of building a bridge was to set up a frame in the river as a support platform. In the upper reaches of the canyon, the Friendship River and the Qiushui River converged. The water flowed rapidly and roared angrily towards the sea. Therefore, to build a frame in such a river, with the construction conditions of ancient times, the difficulty could be imagined.
After Ouyang Shuo briefly checked the progress of the bridge project, he didn't stop and went to the other side of the river via the boat at the pier. The city walls of Pool Water County had already been built. Looking from afar, a small city stood on the plains.
Outside the city were fields of lush green paddy fields. Early in the morning, farmers were already busy in the fields.
"Blockhead, what are they doing in the field? Are they pulling out the seedlings? That's strange. Didn't they just plant them? "Song Jia was puzzled by the farmer's behavior.
Ouyang Shuo shook his head in amusement. "That's because the farmer is pulling out the weeds. After the seedlings are planted, it's easy for weeds to grow in the paddy field. If the weeds aren't removed in time, it'll invade the nutrition of the seedlings and affect the grain harvest."
"Oh!" Song Jia smiled in embarrassment.
Ouyang Shuo did not choose to enter the Pool County. Instead, he followed the river to the south, walked to the edge of the canyon, and then followed the mountain to the east. In fact, when Ouyang Shuo was certain that Song Jia was determined to build the sect outside the city, he took the time to look at the Geomancy Map of Lian Province. He already had a clear goal.
Unlike the base camp, there were no rocky mountains at the edge of the basin at Pool Water County. Instead, there was a line of trees. The forest and the plains intersected, forming a unique landscape. Walking on the grass, from time to time, he would encounter animals such as hares scurrying out of the forest.
Seeing the hare, Ouyang Shuo was delighted, he took out his bow, nocked the bowstring and shot an arrow. Unfortunately, with his basic archery skills, unless he was lucky, there was no way he would be able to hit the agile hare.
Missing an arrow made Ouyang Shuo feel humiliated, especially in front of a beautiful woman. In a fit of anger, he ordered the guards behind him to kill all the hares they encountered and bring them back to the Lord's Mansion.
Song Jia was smiling at the side. Even a blockhead had areas that he was not good at.
After walking for about ten kilometers to the east, Ouyang Shuo signaled the team to stop. He pointed at a mountain peak in front of them and said to Song Jia, "What do you think? Do you think that mountain is suitable?"
Song Jia looked at the direction Ouyang Shuo was pointing at. Amidst the smoke, the mountain range was undulating, and a lone peak stood proudly, looking extraordinary. What was even more amazing was that the lone peak looked like it was punched by an ancient giant. Only half of the peak was left, and it suddenly narrowed at the waist of the mountain, forming a huge platform.
"Alright, this is the place." Song Jia was overjoyed.
Ouyang Shuo nodded, "Let's go, let's go up the mountain to take a look."
"Yes!" Song Jia was a little excited.
Because it was not developed yet, there were few people here. The path up the mountain was very difficult to walk, steep and rugged. Ouyang Shuo and his team had no choice but to tie their horses at the foot of the mountain and walk up.
Four bodyguards held Tang knives, strenuously opening the path in front. After walking for more than two hours, they finally reached the platform. Not only were the four bodyguards panting from exhaustion, but even Ouyang Shuo and Song Jia had to circulate their inner force along the way to get rid of their fatigue.
The platform occupied a large area. Looking at it, it was no less than ten square kilometers, even bigger than the area of Shanhai Town. A waterfall flowed down the peak, forming a pool at the foot of the platform, making rumbling sounds. Water overflowed from the pool, forming a winding stream on the platform, and then flowed down the platform. The splashing water formed rainbows under the sunlight.
Next to the pool, an ancient locust tree stood alone. On its branches, a flock of unknown birds were jumping around. When they saw Ouyang Shuo and his team, they were not afraid of strangers. They flew up from the locust tree and circled above their heads, chirping.
When Song Jia saw this place, she muttered to herself, "So beautiful!"
Ouyang Shuo observed carefully and realized that there was no lack of wood or stone materials in the mountain. They could use whatever they wanted. Since there was a water source on the platform, they could grow their own vegetables and fruits. As long as they sent some food up the mountain on time, they could be self-sufficient. As players had divine artifacts like storage bags, it was very easy to transport food up the mountain.
"Jia Jia, bring Little Yue here tomorrow. She's a design consultant. Get her to survey the area and come up with an overall design plan for the sect, including how to plan the path down the mountain. There needs to be a unified arrangement. Once you're done with the design, I'll arrange for the Construction Division to start. "
Hearing Ouyang Shuo's arrangements, Song Jia smiled gently. "Blockhead, you're the best!"
"Alright, Great Sect Leader Song, give your future sect a name!"
"That's right." Song Jia immediately became excited. "Blockhead, why don't we call it Dreamlike Sword Sect!"
Ouyang Shuo nearly fainted. He said with a bitter smile, "Your name is Dreamlike Beauty and the courtyard you live in is Dreamlike Veranda. Now, even the sect you're establishing is called Dreamlike Sword Sect. That sounds very lacking."
Song Jia said with a bitter face, "Hmph, then tell me, what should we call it?"
Choosing a name was not a problem for Ouyang Shuo. He pondered for a moment and came up with an idea. He said with a smile, "This lone mountain is located to the east of the territory, facing Shanhai County. In the poem 'Drinking Wine', Tao Yuanming wrote, 'Picking chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence, leisurely gazing upon the southern mountain. Why don't we call it the Eastern Fence Sword Sect? What do you think? " Ouyang Shuo was completely far-fetched. Poor Tao Yuanming. If he knew that his poem had been misinterpreted in such a way, who knew what he would think?
Song Jia punched Ouyang Shuo and said crisply, "Blockhead, I couldn't tell that you're quite talented! Alright, I'll listen to you. We'll call it the Eastern Fence Sword Sect. "
When it was close to noon, Ouyang Shuo and company decided to eat on the mountain. The guards cleaned the wild hares they had hunted by the pool. They then found some dry firewood and barbecued the hares in the wild.
As an adventure-type player in his previous life, Ouyang Shuo often spent the night in the wild. Eating wild hares was a common occurrence for him. He proudly showed off his barbecue skills in front of Song Jia. The wild hares were crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Song Jia was full of praises as they ate the delicious wild hares. The four guards also benefited from it. After eating their fill, Ouyang Shuo and company didn't stay any longer. They immediately went down the mountain.
It was already four o 'clock in the afternoon when they returned to the Lord's Mansion.
After two days of publicity, there were already people who came to the Lord's Mansion to sign up and prepare to be apprenticed to a master. Zi Su registered them one by one and told them that they would come to the Lord's Mansion on the morning of the first day of the ninth month to participate in the final selection.
During dinner that night, Ying You mentioned something. "Big Brother, Second Child told me that he wants to be apprenticed to a master and doesn't want to go to the private school anymore. He kept begging me to plead with you. What do you think?"
At first, Second Child was kept by Ouyang Shuo's side. Later on, Ouyang Shuo became busy, so Ying You was in charge of disciplining him. Ever since he went to the private school, Ying You was in charge of all his meals.
But in the end, Second Child was still a member of the Lord's Mansion. Back then, it was Ouyang Shuo who made the decision to let Second Child stay in the Lord's Mansion instead of being a herdsman. Now that Second Child wanted to give up his studies and pursue martial arts, he naturally had to get the approval of Ouyang Shuo, the master of the Lord's Mansion.
Ouyang Shuo nodded. It seemed that Second Child didn't go to the private school for half a year in vain. At least he started to understand how to conduct himself and knew that he had to ask for his permission. Speaking of which, this kid could be considered as an old member of the Lord's Mansion.
Ouyang Shuo was also a nostalgic person. He said to Ying You, "Since it's his own will, I naturally won't obstruct him. Let him be apprenticed to Jia Jia as a personal disciple." Ouyang Shuo looked at Song Jia and asked for her opinion. Song Jia nodded. She would definitely satisfy Ouyang Shuo's request.
Hearing Ouyang Shuo agree, Ban Xia, who was waiting at the side, had an indescribable emotion in her eyes.
Ying You had always treated Second Child as her own younger brother. Hearing Ouyang Shuo's arrangement, she was naturally very satisfied. Although she wasn't a member of the martial arts world, she still knew the difference between a personal disciple and a registered disciple. A personal disciple was an existence that could inherit the mantle of a master. The selection process was extremely strict.
Ouyang Shuo continued, "This child can be considered as our family. Since he's sensible, we can't call him Second Child anymore. We have to give him a proper name. Ying You and your brother have a deep relationship. Let him take your surname and you can give him a name. "
"Yes." Ying You nodded. (To be continued.)
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