Xiao Yan tried to lift it again, but it still wouldn't budge. It wasn't until he used eight-tenths of his strength that he managed to lift the entire sheet of paper.
He copied Xiao Ning and rolled up the paper in his hand, only to find that the paper, which had felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, had returned to normal and was now the weight of a normal sheet of paper.
"Brother Ning, what's going on?"
Xiao Yan was filled with doubt. Such a illogical phenomenon was hard for him to accept for a while.
Xiao Ning smiled, took the rolled-up Xuan paper from his hand, tied it with a silk ribbon, and asked with a smile, "You must have heard of a word weighing a thousand pounds, right?"
"A word worth a thousand pieces of gold? Brother Ning, are you talking about Lü Buwei from the Warring States period? I've heard of him. It's said that he wrote a book called 'Lüshi Chunqiu' and posted the whole text on the wall, asking people to find the errors. As long as someone found a single mistake, they could exchange it for a thousand pieces of gold!"
Xiao Yan thought for a moment and replied.
Xiao Ning shook his head and said, "No, I meant the 'jin' in jinliang (a unit of weight), not the 'jin' in jinhuang (another unit of weight)!"
"The meaning of 'a single word weighs a thousand pounds' is that after cultivating to a certain level, one can infuse one's essence, energy, and spirit into the words one writes, thereby adding some magical effects to the words, making them as substantial as a thousand pounds!"
Xiao Yan's mouth dropped open, an expression of disbelief on his face: "A single word carries a thousand pounds of weight? So that's how it came about? What's the wonder of this word?"
Xiao Ning handed him the three calligraphy scrolls she had prepared and explained, "These three characters contain a portion of my essence and spirit. When you want to use them, simply tear off one scroll and you can summon a clone of my will to protect your safety!"
"Therefore, when you look directly at it, you will be hurt by its aftershocks and almost unable to hold on."
"However, once it rolled up, it returned to its normal weight."
"It's worth noting that the will clone summoned by this word can only last for ten minutes before it dissipates!"
"Therefore, you should never use these three words unless you are in dire straits, otherwise, once they are used up, they will be gone forever!"
After hearing Xiao Ning explain the uses of these calligraphy and paintings, Xiao Yan instantly understood that this was the life-saving method Xiao Ning had mentioned before, which he had prepared for him.
He quickly bowed respectfully.
"Brother Ning, I can't thank you enough. Don't worry, I will definitely return safely!"
Xiao Ning waved his hand: "Alright, all I can do is write a few words. Keep it safe and go be with your little girlfriend!"
Xiao Yan put the three calligraphy scrolls into his storage ring, a smile spreading across his face: "Brother Ning, then I'll take my leave!"
"Get lost!" Xiao Ning laughed and cursed.
………………
Wutan Town, Xiaojia Village.
As the morning sun shone down, the sounds of roosters crowing, dogs barking, and people talking filled the village.
Smoke rises from chimneys as villagers head out early in the morning to work in the fields, tending to their crops in hopes of a bountiful harvest this year.
This is a mountain village reminiscent of ancient China, with rows of thatched houses standing tall, wisps of smoke rising from their chimneys, and the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking all around. In front of the village stretches an endless expanse of farmland, with crisscrossing paths and waves of rice seedlings rising one after another.
The village is small, with only about 500 people. They are all tenant farmers of the Xiao family, who have lived by renting land from the Xiao family for generations. They are considered one of the Xiao family's affiliated forces.
Although this force is inconspicuous.
In the very center of the village stands a three-courtyard house with blue bricks and red tiles, standing out starkly from the dilapidated thatched huts around it.
A huge plaque hangs above the main gate of the courtyard, with the three characters "Village Government" written on it.
At this moment, the courtyard gate creaked open, and a servant dressed as a servant bowed as he opened the gate. Behind him, Xiao Ning walked out from inside the gate with his hands behind his back.
This servant boy was brought by Xiao Ning from the Xiao family in Wutan Town; his name was Xiao Erniu.
He is only 15 years old this year. Although he has never cultivated the Battle Qi Manual, he is big and strong, and his strength is as great as an ox. Ordinary people cannot get close to him.
"Young master, the family's tax payment day is approaching. Should we go and urge those peasants to pay this year's grain tax first?"
After Xiao Ning left the courtyard, Xiao Erniu followed closely behind, bowing low, and whispered a reminder.
In the countryside of Wutan Town, there are nearly a hundred villages of all sizes, all of which have been divided up by the three major families in the city. About thirty villages, all of which are about the size of Xiao Family Village, belong to the Xiao family.
According to the clan rules of the Xiao family, all affiliated villages must pay a certain amount of grain tax every year, calculated based on the yield per mu, which is basically two-tenths of the tax.
Xiao Ning managed Xiaojia Village, which had 480 tenant farmers and more than 200 able-bodied laborers, who rented more than 5,000 mu of land near Xiaojia Village.
Every year, Xiaojia Village is required to pay 200,000 catties of grain as land rent, and the remainder belongs to the tenant farmers.
In a good year, the tenants have enough to live a good year.
In years of famine, the villagers of Xiaojia Village could only hunt wild game and pick wild vegetables in the mountains to survive. Otherwise, after paying taxes, the remaining grain would not be enough to sustain them.
They did consider resisting, but unfortunately, each attempt ended in failure, with their people being brutally suppressed and slaughtered.
In a world where fighting spirit reigns supreme, ordinary people can't stir up any trouble at all. They can only serve as the foundation of the world, powerless to resist the oppression of those above.
Even if a lucky person happens to obtain a secret manual of fighting spirit, thus escaping from a farming background and soaring to the top to become a distinguished figure.
However, tempted by power and wealth, they are often assimilated by the upper class, and the dragon-slaying heroes eventually become the dragons themselves.
"It's tax time again? Time flies!"
Hearing the words behind him, Xiao Ning raised an eyebrow and said with a touch of感慨.
More than a year has passed since he was exiled to this small village, but the scene of his arrival is as vivid as if it were yesterday, lingering in his memory.
After the family coming-of-age ceremony, the Xiao family made arrangements for all those who were over 17 years old and whose fighting spirit was below the seventh level.
They could be assigned to work as outer gatekeepers in the town's shops, responsible for managing the shops and collecting commercial taxes; or they could be sent to villages as village heads, responsible for collecting grain taxes and managing the villages.