Li Daoxuan secured the sprayer nozzle, set the atomizer to run on its own, and finally had a moment to rest. With nothing else to fiddle with, his eyes casually wandered over the celebrating villagers.
That's when he spotted him — a middle-aged man, completely out of sync with the crowd.
While everyone else was happily splashing in the drizzle like kids at a festival, this man slowly walked away from the people and toward Gaojia Fort, step by heavy step, rain soaking his shoulders.
Li Daoxuan tilted his head, curious.
The man reached the stone gate of the fort, dropped to his knees, and knocked his forehead on the ground several times.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun, please save me."
"Huh?" Li Daoxuan blinked. "Is this one of mine?"
He could easily recognize the original forty-two little clay guys from the box. But after Shansier used flour to trick a hundred more into joining, he lost track. Then came nearly two hundred forced-labor prisoners… after that, every new face just blurred together.
Only when he noticed the bundle on the man's back did it click.
"Oh. Not one of my locals. This one's a wild clay guy who wandered in from outside."
The man kowtowed again and again.
"Dao Xuan Tianzun saves all living beings! Please rescue a humble man from misery!"
He soon launched into a rambling introduction. He was a seated craftsman from the county's official workshop, just like Li Da used to be — a low-status artisan forced to labor for the government.
After watching two model-sculptors get rich under the blessing of Dao Xuan Tianzun, he memorized the deity's name by heart, asked around everywhere, got directions from a wandering lay believer, and finally found his way here… all for a miracle.
Li Daoxuan called out,
"Yiye! Hey, Yiye! Bring Li Da over here."
Gao Yiye, who had been playing in the drizzle like a happy duckling, instantly straightened up. She scanned the crowd, found Li Da, and dragged him along at a fast trot. Both were half-soaked, but the thick cotton clothes prevented any wardrobe disasters.
As soon as they arrived, Li Da froze.
"Luo Leg-Hair?"
The middle-aged man flinched. His surname was Luo, but because his leg hair could be braided like rope, his coworkers gave him the most elegantly hideous nickname possible. Literacy was low; insult quality was high.
Luo Leg-Hair stared at Li Da as if he'd seen a ghost.
"Li Da? How are you here? When that troublemaker Wang Er revolted last time, you vanished. We all thought you had been… well… gone."
Li Da scratched his cheek.
"Ah… that's awkward. I used Wang Er's chaos to slip out. I didn't want to be ordered around like a dog every day."
Luo Leg-Hair's eyes bulged.
"Are you insane? You know that makes you a 'runaway laborer,' right? You lost your artisan status! You can never go home!"
Li Da grinned proudly.
"But here? I eat well, sleep well, live well. Why would I ever go back? Artisan status? Whoever wants it can keep it. Even as a runaway, life here beats the official workshops any day."
When he first came, his dream was to become a free commoner.
Now he realized: in Gaojia Village, status didn't matter. You lived well regardless.
Luo Leg-Hair stood there stunned, as if someone rewired his worldview.
Li Da nudged him.
"So? Why'd you come? Did you run too? Threw away your artisan license?"
Luo Leg-Hair flushed.
"I… heard the two model-sculptors got rich thanks to Dao Xuan Tianzun, so I… followed the trail…"
Li Da burst out laughing.
"Oh, that explains everything! Well, you came at the perfect time. You're the best papermaker in the county. And guess what?"
Luo Leg-Hair blinked.
"What?"
Li Da pointed at the newly built fort.
"This whole place has over two hundred rooms — and not a single one has window paper yet. Every window is empty. Third Steward was about to go back to the county to buy some. And now you've walked in? Perfect timing!"
Luo Leg-Hair whispered,
"You want me… to make paper for the village? For window pasting?"
Li Da nodded.
"Exactly. Isn't that your specialty?"
Luo Leg-Hair's face twisted.
"But I only have ten days! I have to return to the government workshop. Only ten days!"
Li Da waved dismissively.
"Pah! Return for what? You've got no wife, no kids. You're already out — don't crawl back into the cage. Stay here. Do like me. Be a runaway. It's freedom, buddy."
Luo Leg-Hair shook his head like a panicked chicken.
"No, no, no. I can't be a runaway. I don't have your guts…"
The moment he said that, Gao Yiye suddenly spoke:
"Dao Xuan Tianzun has issued a decree. If you stay, make paper for Gaojia Village, and teach the villagers your craft, you will receive every month: one hundred jin of rice or flour, ten jin of meat, one jin of salt, one jin of sugar, and one jin of oil."
Luo Leg-Hair froze mid-breath.
He turned his head toward her like a rusty hinge.
"Miss… what… what did you just say?"
Gao Yiye smiled serenely.
His whole body trembled.
"For real?"
Li Da clapped him on the back.
"Of course it's real! I get the same monthly rations. And if you earn extra merit, you get bonuses. Though honestly… with your frail noodle-limbs, extra merit might be rough. Hahaha!"
Luo Leg-Hair stared at Yiye.
"This young lady is…?"
Li Da straightened, suddenly solemn.
"She is the Saintess chosen by Dao Xuan Tianzun — the divine envoy who delivers the heavenly decrees. Lady Gao Yiye."
Luo Leg-Hair's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
Li Da snorted.
"Look at you, acting like you've never seen the world. Don't worry — when I first got here, I was just as clueless. So? Staying? Being a runaway isn't bad at all."
The decision barely took a breath.
Luo Leg-Hair threw away his artisan status on the spot and embraced the glorious life of a runaway.
Gao Yiye nodded.
"Come with me. Dao Xuan Tianzun said you'll be given a house. You'll live next to Li Da and the two model-sculptors. All artisans live in the same courtyard."
Li Da grinned.
"Gaojia Fort has nine halls and eighteen courtyards. We artisans get our own courtyard — the Artisan Well. And we're not downtrodden at all. In fact, we get the most rations every month!"
Luo Leg-Hair followed behind them in a daze.
To him, the Hakka fortress was like a towering castle — grand, intimidating, awe-inspiring. Walking inside, he felt small and out of place.
After a maze of winding passages, they reached the Artisan Well.
There he saw the two master model-sculptors sitting under the eaves, tinkering with two strangely textured figurines — miniature custom-made faces.
Upon spotting him, the two sculptors exchanged a knowing grin as if saying, "Ah, another one finally arrived."
Then they immediately went back to carving, far too busy to make small talk with the new guy.