Only at the Mahayana Stage Does the Reversal System Appear - Chapter 218

Chapter 218: Craftsmen who cannot go home for the New Year

Jiang Li arrived at Duochi Country and found it decorated with lights and colorful lanterns, firecrackers blaring, and red lanterns hanging everywhere. The atmosphere was filled with joy, and everyone’s faces were filled with happy smiles.

“The Lunar New Year is almost here,”

he realized. It had already approached without him noticing. While

mid- and low-level cultivators and mortals alike would rush home for the Lunar New Year, most high-level cultivators rarely made a point of celebrating it. They often retreated for years or even decades at a time, and the annual festival meant little to them. They

celebrated it if they could, and let it go if they couldn’t.

Jiang Li also rarely celebrated the Lunar New Year. He had no feelings for the Jiang family and even deliberately avoided them. As a result, his most common Lunar New Year activities were to visit the Human Emperor Palace, stroll through Dao Sect, and chat with old friends.

It felt like Lunar New Year, but also like any other day.

Influenced by the surrounding atmosphere, Jiang Li stopped rushing and slowed his pace, strolling casually through the streets.

Seeing chubby children in red cotton-padded jackets chasing and playing with each other, he broke off a branch, squatted down, and magically transformed it into a small, sparking firework. He handed it to the children, who cheered with joy.

He saw someone writing Spring Festival couplets on the street. With their waist and horse in harmony, their energy focused on their dantian, their brush flowed with vigor and energy. Jiang Li took the initiative and, after obtaining the person’s permission, wrote a couplet as well, drawing applause from the onlookers.

He saw someone selling firecrackers and bought a few strings, hanging them from a tree and lighting them. The crackling sound brought a smile to his face.

The people of Duochi loved excitement, and every city set up a stage to perform opera, dance, song, music, crosstalk, skits, and more.

Skits didn’t exist in Jiuzhou originally; it was a new form of performance that Jiang Li introduced after he became the Human Emperor.

Jiang Li watched along with the others, smiling knowingly, amused by the crosstalk and skits.

The third candidate for commander was King Lupin of Duochi, who founded Duochi in eastern Jiuzhou a thousand years ago.

Jiuzhou boasts numerous kingdoms, large and small, founded by cultivators in the Fusion or Spiritualization stages. Some are as large as half an empire, while others consist of only a few cities. Duochi

falls somewhere in between, roughly the size of a prefecture within an empire, with dozens of cities.

The information provided by Commander Liu stated that the king of Duochi had already established his position as crown prince and could relinquish his throne, presiding over millions of people, at any time.

Perhaps influenced by the atmosphere, Jiang Li had a favorable impression of Duochi and considered its king a formidable ruler.

“The people of Duochi are still working?” Jiang Li was surprised to see many mortals repairing the official road. These mortals were all from other places, the ones most eager to return home for the Lunar New Year, returning home a few days before the Lunar New Year. Why weren’t they home yet? They were still working on the road, working

at night, even with lanterns lit.

“Does it seem the people of Duochi are more hardworking than the rest of Jiuzhou?” Jiang Li muttered to himself.

“Why are you still working? Why haven’t you gone home yet?” Jiang Li asked casually.

A craftsman wiped his sweat with the towel hanging around his neck, stood up, and tapped his back, stiff and painful from constant bending. He spat, “Going home? Going home? What the hell!”

“I was ready to go home a few days ago, even packed my bags, but the boss said something and kept me coming back.”

“The boss said someone from higher up might be coming to inspect, and told us to work overtime to get the road finished before the Lunar New Year. If we can’t, we can’t go home!”

“I’ve been taking three hours off a day to get home for the Lunar New Year, just to finish the work quickly. Now it seems like even after working so hard, I still can’t finish the work. Damn, is there any justice in the world? Is this even called celebrating the Lunar New Year?” The craftsmen, unable to go home, cursed and raged.

Finally, someone spoke to them, and they all complained to Jiang Li.

Of course, having cultivators build the road would be much more efficient, but cultivators’ fees were much higher than mortals’, making it uneconomical. That’s why the government always had mortals do the work.

“Did someone from higher up come during the Lunar New Year?” Jiang Li was curious.

“Who knows? Maybe some official doesn’t like going home and prefers to inspect everywhere, not even taking a break during the Lunar New Year!” a craftsman said unkindly.

“I’ll help you.” Out of sympathy, Jiang Li stepped in. As the stunned craftsmen watched, they witnessed the miraculous skills of the high-level cultivators. The soil, as if alive, laid itself on the road and compacted itself automatically.

A brand new official road appeared before them.

“Are you… Master Monk?” The craftsmen, suspecting this might be a high-ranking cultivator in the Jindan or even Yuanying stage, became extremely respectful, their profanity refraining.

“It’s still in time for the Lunar New Year, let’s all go home,” Jiang Li said with a smile.

The craftsmen thanked him profusely, and would have kowtowed had Jiang Li not intervened.

Even after the official road was finished, the craftsmen couldn’t just go home; they needed to inspect it before they could leave.

The head craftsman was surprised to hear the craftsmen report that kind-hearted cultivators had helped them build the road, finally completing it before the deadline.

He found the quality of the roadwork by the kind-hearted cultivators far exceeded expectations, indicating that the task had been completed ahead of schedule.

Jiang Li waved, calling the chief craftsman over. “I’m asking you, which official didn’t even take a break during the Lunar New Year holiday, ordering you to repair the road?”

The chief craftsman hesitated, then spoke truthfully. “Your Excellency, it wasn’t any official. I heard from above that Emperor Jiang might be visiting Duochi Kingdom. We need to finish the road before he arrives. Even if it’s not finished, we need to make it look good, so he’ll have a good impression. As for the reason, I don’t know.”

Jiang Li was silent for a long time.

He scanned the area with his spiritual sense and found similar situations happening everywhere. Some were planting trees along the roadside, some were repairing buildings, and still others were posting slogans such as “Jiuzhou is our common home,” “Duochi Kingdom strictly implements the requirements of the Human Emperor Palace, and vigorously cracks down on the methods left by the extraterritorial demons,” etc.

These people all had one thing in common: they were

all mortals who wanted to go home for the Lunar New Year but didn’t.

After the king of Duochi became a candidate for the leadership of the Human Emperor Palace, he had the mortals working overtime, not knowing when Jiang Li would arrive, and welcomed Jiang Li’s inspection.

Moreover, whether it was road construction or tree planting, Jiang Li would not necessarily look at it, or would just take a quick look and leave.

Even so, the King of Duochi still asked these mortals not to go home and to work quickly.

“This is making it impossible for me to even spend the New Year in peace,” Jiang Li lamented.

He wanted to help these mortals complete their tasks so he could return home for the New Year, but he realized there were too many of them. By the time he finished helping them, the New Year would already be over.

So he came to the city of King Duochi.

Compared to other cities, the city of King Duochi was naturally much more prosperous and bustling, with countless Spring Festival couplets, lanterns, and blessing characters.

But Jiang Li no longer enjoyed the New Year atmosphere as he had before.

(End of this chapter)