Bearing the blue sky

"That's not the case."

Zhu Ge simply shook his head slightly, then looked up at the tall and majestic phantom of the Tiger God:

"Mountain Lord, we from Jianshan Village simply want to live peacefully here. You have never encroached on your territory, so why are you pressing us so hard?"

His voice was neither humble nor arrogant, yet it contained a firmness and confidence.

Yu Xiucai is at the second level, and Xi Gui is at the second level; no matter how you look at it, they are no weaker than the Tiger God.

Furthermore, Mr. Insect might not necessarily help Tiger God, so Zhu Ge has no reason to be afraid.

In the jungle, bluffing is also a means of driving away enemies.

If you show weakness, you will attract endless covetousness and hostility.

"I am not here to force you."

Tiger God's voice carried a hint of coldness.

But perhaps because of Zhu Ge and Yu Xiucai's toughness and confidence, or perhaps because Zhu Ge's words gave him a way out, his tone did indeed soften:

"However, since your filthy husband hasn't returned yet, I have something to say to both of you..."

"If you utter another word against the master, I will kill you on the spot!" Yu Xiucai suddenly flew into a rage.

A burst of white light shot from his eyes, and the "Jianshan Terraced Fields Notes" in his hand slowly floated up, its pages turning with a "whoosh".

"You dare say that again?! I will die on the spot!" Yu Xiucai shouted.

This action startled Mr. Insect: "Why are you just as crazy as your husband?!"

The Tiger God's aura froze for a moment.

Zhu Ge simply stood silently beside Yu Xiucai, her red glow growing ever brighter.

We must not be weak when necessary.

The crazy are afraid of the foolish, and the foolish are afraid of the reckless.

If you want to live, you have to be unafraid of not living!

At this moment, even the Tiger God was stunned.

"...Never mind." The Tiger God's aura fluctuated slightly, then he said in a sinister voice:

"The Awakening of Insects is approaching. Your human race's Awakening of Insects official will be present then. Remember to keep your mouth shut, or there will be no place for you in this region..."

As he spoke, the phantom of the Tiger God disappeared inch by inch into the air, leaving only some fur and bits of flesh from the tabby cat on the ground.

"The Awakening of Insects Official?" Zhu Ge was taken aback and looked at Yu Xiucai.

The angry expression on Yu Xiucai's face had vanished, as if his previous outburst of rage had been an illusion.

He nodded slightly to Zhu Ge: "I'll tell you when we get back."

Then he said to Mr. Insect, "This time I will report the truth and will not deliberately speak ill of you and Tiger God."

Mr. Insect nodded:

"I'm not worried about that. It's no use you saying bad things about me. I'm a demon. You won't be able to find me if I disappear into the forest. All the Tiger God's followers are in this forest. He can't run away, so naturally he's afraid."

Upon hearing this, Scholar Yu said nothing, but instead bowed to Mr. Insect and said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Insect."

Although he thanked them respectfully, his legs were trembling.

Mr. Insect asked in surprise, "Why are you trembling?"

Yu Xiucai waved his hand awkwardly: "It's nothing, it's nothing, I just overexerted myself these past two days."

Mr. Insect suddenly realized: "That's right, it's normal that you two are exhausted. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

After saying that, Mr. Insect nodded slightly to Zhu Ge, then pushed off the ground with his strong, long hind legs, leaped into the air, and flew away.

Watching Mr. Insect depart, Yu Xiucai wiped away non-existent beads of sweat from his forehead and said to Zhu Ge, "Let's go, let's go, we'll talk as we walk."

Zhu Ge was both amused and exasperated: "You're so afraid of bugs!"

Yu Xiucai glared at Zhu Ge: "Don't you have anything to be afraid of? This insect is so ugly! Look at its mouth, look at its hands and the stiff hairs on it, it's truly terrifying!"

"Alright," Zhu Ge said helplessly, "What does the Awakening of Insects have to do with officials?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiucai frowned slightly: "I forgot before, sir. You are our village chief. Every year before the Awakening of Insects, the village chief needs to pay taxes in the city. The time is before the Awakening of Insects."

"They were also afraid of having no harvest after the Awakening of Insects, since insects are everywhere after that."

Therefore, this official position is called: Jingzhe Official.

Yu Xiucai seemed to think of the insects covering the mountains and fields, and couldn't help but shudder.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ge realized what was going on.

Taxes weren't always paid in silver; most villages and towns didn't actually have silver, so they could only pay in grain.

"So how much tax do we have to pay in our current situation?" Zhu Ge frowned slightly.

The Great Sheng Dynasty, though dead, did not fall into disrepair. After all, it was a thousand-year-old dynasty. Although the central court collapsed, it still retained some order.

Just like the late Eastern Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

However, nowadays each city produces its own officials, and these officials also come from within those cities.

For example, Jianshan Village is under the jurisdiction of Yuanyang City and is also protected by Yuanyang City...

Theoretical protection.

Zhu Ge, however, was not opposed to Yuanyang City. Now that the human race was in dire straits, it was impossible for them to kill each other again, let alone allow the people to be exploited.

He just didn't dare to gamble on human nature.

There is nothing new under the sun.

What if they see only a few cats and dogs and wipe them out, then take everything in the village for themselves?

Besides, even if taxes are to be paid, how much should be paid?

You should know that he originally planned to concentrate the best of the entire village on just a few of them.

In the past, the villagers basically ate only one meal a day instead of three, so their bodies were not getting enough nutrition.

Now that they are going to practice martial arts and study Confucianism, they have to eat as much as they want to provide their bodies with a lot of energy to repair their muscles and grow.

Three meals a day is too little; given how thin the villagers are, they probably need at least five meals a day.

In that case, some grains would have to be stored away in advance.

"There's no need to hide it. The amount of tax to be paid is determined by the officials in charge of the Jingzhe Festival; you can't hide it." Scholar Yu shook his head.

"Those who can move freely around Yuanyang City are all beings of the Third Realm."

"I didn't know what the Three Realms meant before, but now that I think about it, the Master did mention them..."

"Those at the third realm can already develop their own divine consciousness!"

"The first realm is to condense Qi, the second realm is to condense the mind, and the third realm is to condense the will! When you reach the third realm, your divine sense is concentrated, and with a sweep of it, nothing can hide."

"Three realms? Taxes?" Zhu Ge frowned deeply. "Taxes determined by the Jingzhe official based on the circumstances?"

He felt that this might be one of the main reasons for the decline of the Great Sheng Dynasty.

Of course, it's just "perhaps" or "one of them".

A powerful dynasty should naturally have a strong capacity to tolerate mistakes.

If it declines, it can only prove that there are too many "mistakes" to tolerate.

"That's right." Scholar Yu sighed, "If there are many people and little grain, then pay less; if there are few people and much grain, then pay more."

Zhu Ge: "Then wouldn't ours be...?"

Yu Xiucai nodded: "If the official Jingzhe discovers that we only have six people but a whole village's worth of grain, most of it will be confiscated, since everyone is starving."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Ge added, "Is it possible that the six of us could go to Yuanyang City to live, and then give him all the food?"

At this point, Yu Xiucai paused, shook his head, and continued walking: "Going to Yuanyang City is impossible... But now that you mention it, they might actually bring the villagers from the city here."

"Bring the villagers over?" Zhu Ge hadn't considered this possibility: "In that case, our Jianshan Village has houses, food, and fertile land, so it's certainly possible!"

"Yes," Yu Xiucai said in a deep voice, "However, since we are human, it is only natural for us to take in some people. I just hope we can hold on."

With more people, there are more targets, and the possibility of problems increases. This is probably how Ma Laizi was taken advantage of before.

Unlike now, with a total of six people, it's easy to spot any abnormalities in any of them.

With too many people, it becomes impossible to give them all the attention they need.

"Alright, I'm going back now. I'll practice some martial arts too. You're right, when Confucian and Taoist methods don't work, having more skills is always a good advantage."

"Alright, I'll continue cultivating the Great Sun Lapis Lazuli Body."

After parting ways with Yu Xiucai halfway up the mountain, Zhu Ge returned to the coffin, lay down, and closed her eyes.

Keep practicing!