“Brother, how did you come up with this idea?” Ram asked curiously.
Lai Yi gave a half-truth explanation: “For decades, the village has been using this same old road to get to town. It’s incredibly inconvenient. When it rains, it turns into a muddy mess that’s impossible to traverse. Since I was young, I’ve thought about how great it would be if we could open a path through the mountain.”
“That’s absolutely true,” Ram said, and Brian and Lis nodded in agreement.
Since childhood, their trips to town had always required long detours. Sometimes, even for simple errands, it would take several days to return. It was a huge waste of time.
In truth, Lai Yi’s motives weren’t as pure as he made them sound.
There’s an old saying: “If you want to get rich, build roads first.” Lai Yi wanted to improve his life by farming and selling vegetables, but if the produce couldn’t be transported and ended up rotting in the fields, it would be a problem. So, after visiting the town, he started thinking about cutting a road through the mountain—he just hadn’t known how to put the plan into action.
“Lai Yi, go home and rest for now. If anything comes up, I’ll send Ram to fetch you,” Haggard said.
“Alright, Uncle.”
Haggard watched Lai Yi’s retreating figure intently, as if seeing someone else’s shadow in him.
When Lai Yi returned home, he washed his face, prepared a bowl of oatmeal porridge for breakfast, and after eating, fell into a deep sleep.
In the afternoon, Haggard sent Ram to summon him to the Clan Elder’s house, saying there was something to discuss. As soon as Lai Yi entered, he saw Clan Elder Barnett, Haggard, and three unfamiliar middle-aged men sitting together, drinking barley tea.
“Come sit, young Lai Yi,” Barnett called out.
Lai Yi respectfully took a seat at the lower end of the group.
“Lai Yi, explain your idea from this morning in more detail,” Barnett requested.
Lai Yi glanced questioningly at Haggard, who smiled back encouragingly. “It’s fine, go ahead.”
Reassured, Lai Yi gave a brief explanation, omitting anything too forward-thinking. He trusted that the Clan Elder and the others would find their own solutions.
However, he did voice some additional concerns without holding back. “We also need to consider where the Goblins will go after the work is done. We can’t just leave them with nowhere to stay—there are children and pregnant women among them.”
“That is indeed an issue,” Barnett mused. After a moment, he added, “Why not let them settle on that mountain directly?”
“Barnett, since ancient times, Goblins and humans have never lived together. Aren’t you afraid the villagers will curse you for this arrangement?” Luke exclaimed, slamming the table in agitation.
“Then what do you suggest we do?” Barnett retorted.
“Just send them to the church and be done with it,” Luke proposed.
“No one handles things quite like you do,” another man sneered, clearly disapproving of Luke’s idea. The two began arguing fiercely over the matter.
The others calmly sipped their barley tea, allowing the two to quarrel. After a while, the argument died down—such scenes had clearly played out many times before.
“If we’re really going to open a road through the mountain, our village shouldn’t bear the burden alone,” Barnett said, setting down his cup. “Several other villages also use this route to get to town. It’s best to involve them as well. As for the Goblin placement issue, we can discuss it later.”
“If we want to use this road by tax season in autumn, our village’s manpower plus those Goblins still won’t be enough. I support the Clan Elder’s idea,” Haggard agreed. No one else raised any further objections.
“How should the village’s losses be resolved? We can’t exactly make those Goblins spit everything back out.”
Another middle-aged man who had remained silent finally spoke up.
This concerned the interests of all affected villagers and couldn’t be taken lightly. Moreover, if this matter wasn’t properly resolved, it would inevitably create conflicts between the villagers and the Goblins, which would be highly detrimental to future operations.
“Purchase some bird eggs from the village. Give some silver coins to experienced villagers to hatch a batch of red prairie birds. For every bird lost, compensate with two chicks.”
Barnett took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled a long stream of smoke.
“Buy from households that didn’t suffer losses. If others want chicks later, make them pay. That’s the only way to handle this.”
“The money can come from me.”
Haggard and the other three fell silent. Barnett had dipped into his own pockets for the village’s sake more than once before, and no household was particularly well-off. Though Barnett didn’t mind, he had a family to feed and needed to make a living too.
“Charge it to the village account.”
Haggard made the final decision, and the others nodded in agreement. Thus, the matter was settled.
Lai Yi sat idly for a while longer. The subsequent discussions didn’t concern him, and it wasn’t appropriate for him to participate. Showing good judgment, he bid farewell and left.
In truth, no concrete conclusions were reached this time either – the matters would require further discussion.
The Goblins were locked in the warehouse under specialized guard. Someone brought them food and water daily, so they wouldn’t starve.
Lai Yi went to see them too.
The Goblins had gathered in three separate groups in different corners, likely representing three distinct factions.
The last captured group of young adults formed one faction, the eight caught in the second batch another, and Iru’s family made up the third. Only Jielu, Helu’s younger brother, sat alone in a corner, expressionless with his head bowed.
His brother had betrayed all the Goblins and escaped during the chaos – a true traitor. Jielu had been abandoned by his brother and was now isolated by his former companions due to his association.
Upon returning home, Lai Yi’s first order of business was to check his vegetable garden.
With ample rainfall recently, the vegetables in the garden were thriving, each plant lush and vibrant. Similarly, the weeds were also growing exceptionally well.
Lai Yi often weeded during the cooler hours, avoiding the hottest part of the day.
The potatoes and sweet potatoes had already sprouted green leaves, the pea seedlings were just showing small buds, and the cucumbers had begun bearing tiny fruits. Other vegetable varieties had also entered their rapid growth phase.
The only thing missing was chili peppers, which was somewhat regrettable for someone like Lai Yi who enjoyed spicy food. Though there were alternative varieties, none could stimulate the taste buds quite like chili peppers.
Food without that spicy kick lacked a certain distinctive flavor.
Lai Yi picked a bunch of greens, planning to stir-fry them for dinner.
After a few more sunny days, he could go hunting in the woods and wouldn’t have to eat vegetarian every day.
The resolution for the red prairie bird situation was finalized, and a few days later the Clan Elder notified each household. Some families weren’t entirely satisfied with this outcome – Maggie for example – but no significant opposition emerged.
The Clan Elder’s stance was clear: take it or leave it, as other households were waiting to buy. Eventually, those few dissatisfied families let the matter drop.
Lai Yi’s household could receive two birds for free. Since raising two was no different from raising three or four, he simply spent an additional silver coin to reserve ten more.
When the weather turned cold and mountain trips became inconvenient, he could slaughter them directly for meat whenever he craved it.
The wheat in the fields was about to enter its flowering period and required no attention for now.
While Lai Yi was hunting with Lis and the others to capture Goblins, Neil hadn’t been idle these past few days either. Whenever he had time, he would carry stones and pile them up in his yard. After several days, he had accumulated quite a few, enough to build a low wall.
Lai Yi pushed down the already tilting section of the wall, cleared it away, and rebuilt it with suitable stones. He carefully repaired the missing parts as well.
During the days when Lai Yi was busy repairing the fence and cutting dead trees in the forest, the matter of tunneling through the mountain was finally settled.
The Clan Elders from the three villages took the lead in reporting the matter to the town. After the mayor’s wife received the “gratitude” sent by the villages, the mayor promptly approved their application and even allocated some funds to them.
Barnett also asked Tiemuqi to bring back a reliable old craftsman from Eaton City to provide guidance.
Now, back to the Goblins.
The matter eventually became known to the Clan Elders of the other two villages, but their reactions were not as intense as imagined.
Eaton City’s unique geographical location, combined with this being the most mature and safe route to the Great Eaton Forest, meant the city was frequented by people of various races. As a result, the residents here were more tolerant compared to those in other places.
After several discussions among the Clan Elders, it was finally decided how the Goblins would be handled.
The three villages would send some tight-lipped and physically strong young men to work during the day, providing them with two meals—lunch and dinner—and a payment of 50 copper coins.
At night, the Goblins would continue the work they did during the day, also receiving meals but no copper coins. They could settle on a nearby barren mountain but were not allowed to escape or harass the villagers again. Any Goblin caught attempting to escape would be sent directly to the church for handling.
This outcome took everyone by surprise.
The villagers had few complaints because the Goblins would provide free labor, and the issue of the red prairie birds had already been resolved. The Goblins, who had thought they were doomed, never expected the villages to make such a decision.
Did this mean that they, the lowly Goblins always looked down upon by everyone, could finally have a home of their own?
When Iru learned of this outcome, tears welled up in his eyes. The life he had been pursuing for decades could actually become a reality.
Since leaving his parents, he had been searching for a place to settle down and live, but for various reasons, it had never worked out. The hardships he endured were too many to recount. He felt deeply grateful to the villagers and ashamed of his own theft.
In truth, he hadn’t intended to do it in the beginning.
The prolonged rainy season made it impossible for him to catch any prey, and his wife, who was nearing childbirth, needed nutrition. After more than ten days without any success, he finally made up his mind and sneaked into the outermost household in the village—Lai Yi’s home—to steal a red prairie bird.
Little did he know that Helu would see him successfully catching a red prairie bird in the village and lead the young Goblins following him to steal frantically from the villagers. The situation quickly escalated.
The tunnel construction soon began.
On the day work started, the Clan Elders arranged for a Gulu Beast to be slaughtered as an offering to the heavens, and each household received a few pounds of meat.
This was a major event concerning the interests of all the villagers in the several villages, and every household took it seriously. Upon hearing that the Goblins would work through the night, their attitude toward them improved somewhat.
Unwanted stones were piled by the roadside for villagers from various villages to take freely, greatly benefiting every household. Every day, people from different villages would drive their livestock to transport the stones.
Although these stones couldn’t be used for building houses, they were perfectly suitable for paving roads. Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.
As temperatures continued to rise, the small mountain village finally welcomed the height of summer.