Yefutidaolu

Chapter 216 The Needs of the Immortals

After stopping Dansha from continuing to eat, Gao Jian suggested taking Dansha to see the Zuo family's grave.

Of course, Cinnabar followed.

The two of them then settled the bill, which was paid by Dansha of course, and they also packed up the food because she was not full and planned to take it to the Zuo family’s grave to eat.

Apparently, she hadn't understood what Gao Jian meant by 'Zuo family's grave'.

The two were now walking on the road in the inner city.

Along the way, people often looked at Gao Jian.

Obviously, Gao Jian is the focus of the inner city at this moment. Everyone will pay attention to him, but no one comes forward to disturb him. Everyone is wondering who the fifteen or sixteen-year-old girl behind Gao Jian is.

It seems that this kind of person has never appeared in Cangzhou. Judging from his body, he should be a scaly insect transformed into a human form. Could he be related to the real dragon behind Gao Jian?

The appearance of cinnabar caused some small waves.

It’s just that Gao Jian and Dansha himself didn’t care much about these things.

On the way, Dansha kept asking, "Why do you say that if I eat like this, the Zuo family will be resurrected?"

"Nothing, just joking." Gao Jian shook his head: "The Zuo family will not be resurrected, but this kind of lifestyle will give birth to something similar to the Zuo family."

"Oh, you mean the extravagant life? Well... it's not that extravagant, it's all necessary." Dansha understood Gao Jian's meaning, but said, "If I don't do this, something bad will happen, right?"

"Something happened?" Gao Jian was a little surprised: "Do you have a disease that will kill you if you don't eat good food?"

"No, if I don't do something, I will get old and become like my uncle." Dansha jumped and followed Gao Jian and said so.

After hearing this, Gao Jian suddenly understood.

Obviously, Dansha has clearly told Gao Jian that this is also a problem for immortals.

Longevity, at least the longevity of cinnabar, can easily become boring.

Introducing some episodes or new changes in life is the only way to maintain vitality, to keep time fresh for the immortals, and to prevent them from feeling that time is long, boring or dull.

A new environment can give life a new feeling.

Changing the environment, traveling, and going to the amusement park on weekends are all for this purpose. Changing the environment and adding certain episodes to life can help eliminate fatigue. Of course, when the episode of life ends, the fresh feeling of time will also disappear.

When you move into a new place, you’ll feel a sense of freshness in the first few days, which means it makes you feel more energetic.

Then, as you get used to this place, you seem to gradually notice that life is getting tighter.

Anyone who clings to life - or, to be more precise, anyone who is reluctant to give up life - will be terrified to notice that the days are becoming lighter and lighter, and that they are slipping away silently, while the last few weeks are passing by at a speed that is so fast that one can't help but be afraid.

When we were young, everyone felt that time passed very slowly, because young people always felt that everything was fresh and the whole world was new.

After I became an adult and started working, I would find that a year had passed in a flash, and before I knew it, I had done nothing, but the next New Year was already here.

When you get old, it seems like ten years have passed in the blink of an eye, and your life is about to come to an end.

Just like the fight between Gao Jian and the Zuo family, for a thing like the Zuo family, half a year is actually not enough time for them to make a truly effective response and understanding. The centipede is very powerful, but the overall rigidity it brings is almost inevitable.

Moreover, this is almost inevitable because practitioners will inevitably have to face a long period of time.

Imagine that when you are at the bottom of a family, working hard and obeying the strong ones above you, and you have practiced for a long time and have acquired a high level of skills and great power, you will inevitably become a member of the family with a high status.

The fresh blood, that is, our former selves, those young people, will continue to work at the bottom level and they will not have decision-making power.

In other words, the decision-makers in the entire family will always be those who have suffered the ravages of time, but they are the only ones who can make decisions.

Similarly, for Dansha, she is probably facing the same situation.

If this method is not used, the immortals with long lives would easily fall into this state of overall rigidity.

So... they need to stimulate themselves?

"If stimulating oneself is necessary, then for those who live forever, luxurious enjoyment is a necessity?" Gao Jian asked Dansha.

"Well... I think that should be the case, right? But it didn't cost a lot, it's all within the normal range." Dansha tilted his head and said so.

Gao Jian nodded, his expression somewhat serious.

Dansha's words made him realize some things he had never thought about before.

Is luxurious enjoyment a 'necessity' for the immortals?
This is not just for enjoyment, but to awaken their awareness of time and stabilize their mental state?
Thinking of this, Gao Jian suddenly had an idea.

"Cinnabar." He stood still and looked at the girl behind him.

"Ah?" Dansha also stopped and looked at Gao Jian in confusion.

"It doesn't necessarily have to be something extravagant. You can maintain your mental health by doing other things, right?" Gao Jian asked.

"Other things? What?" Dansha didn't quite understand.

"For example, if I take you to see the Zuo family's grave, that would be considered something new, right?" Gao Jian gave an example.

"That definitely counts." Dansha nodded.

"Oh, then I understand. Let's walk faster. Follow me." Gao Jian also nodded.

If that was the case, an idea suddenly popped into Gao Jian's mind.

Cinnabar may be able to help him, and it is not a scam, but an exchange that is recognized by both parties.

Although I will use some tricks.

Gao Jian quickened his pace.

Dansha followed easily.

Soon, they crossed the bridge and returned to the outer city.

As soon as you arrive at the outer city, you can see small boats loaded with all kinds of goods and grain coming from the tributaries of the Baishan River and sailing into the outer city of Cangzhou.

After all, there are tens of millions of people living in the outer city of Cangzhou. It is impossible to support such a large city relying solely on the surrounding farms. Therefore, a steady supply of supplies is transported to the entire Cangzhou by water every day.

It was like a blood transfusion, with dates, oranges, lacquer, hemp, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, silk, rice, wheat, and all kinds of grains being sent in an endless stream. It could be said that there was everything and it was innumerable. Gao Jian stood by the river. Although the river water was smelly and black, it actually tasted much better because there were no corpses in it. In the past few days, the boat trackers had controlled all the river channels with thundering means, and Gao Jian's absolute violent suppression in the outer city, so now in the outer city of Cangzhou, although there was still a lot of domestic sewage discharged into it, and many workshops' dirty water and poisonous water were poured into the river, there were no so many floating corpses.

As for the dirty water, poisonous water, and domestic sewage, this is not something that can be dealt with in a short period of time. If the discharge of these waters is prohibited now, it will cause a large number of people to have no place to live. Therefore, Gao Jian did not do this.

First, gradually popularize the skills and accumulate enough practitioners. In the future, they will naturally have enough power to carry out large-scale transformation.

Gao Jian walked along the river in the outer city and looked back at Dansha.

Dansha did not show any expression of disgust. On the contrary, she even looked at the people walking around with some interest.

It was still morning, and the people walking outside were the corpse collectors.

Once upon a time, this profession appeared in large numbers in the outer city of Cangzhou, taking the bodies of people thrown on the streets as blood sacrifices in exchange for food.

In a sense, these people keep the streets relatively clean, but they are basically very poor, and only those who have no other way to make a living would do this, because such contact with corpses is actually equivalent to seeking death. The excessive negative energy and the evil spirits attracted make the average life span of corpse collectors very short. People with a way out rarely do this.

The only things most corpse collectors have are the clothes on their backs. All their belongings are carried with them. They live day by day and die day by day.

Now that blood sacrifice has disappeared, the profession of corpse collector will naturally disappear as well.

But... in fact, they did not disappear. A small number of corpse collectors are still living as before.

The laborers' gang and the trackers' gang have been trying their best to provide these people with new homes and new jobs, but there is always a group of people who, for various reasons, are unwilling to do the "unfamiliar" work. They would rather live their lives in their original way than give it a try.

Then, we can only wait for this group of people to die out naturally, there is nothing we can do about it.

What Dansha saw now was the group of corpse collectors who were still struggling and unwilling to give up.

"What are they doing?" Dansha watched a man pulling a small cart as he walked over.

"They are waiting to die," Gao Jian said.

"Hmm...is this also part of the Zuo family's tomb?" Dansha blinked.

Obviously, Dansha is a smart dragon. Although she is a little naive and simple, and sometimes her mind is straightforward, Gao Jian's words did not hide anything, so she easily recognized it.

"It's a manifestation. These people will gradually disappear. When all of them disappear, the Zuo family's influence on Cangzhou will completely disappear."

"Oh..." Dansha nodded.

She withdrew her gaze and continued to stare at the rivers.

The lifeline of the entire Cangzhou City is the Baishan River. Every year, countless grains and products of all kinds are transported from this river. The grain and various supplies used by the entire city all rely on ships for transportation.

At the end of the ship transportation are the laborers.

You can see small cargo boats parked on the shore. Some of these small boats are from large ships, while others are brought by city residents themselves. They rely on transportation for their livelihood. Laborers are carrying bags of grain from the boats to the shore. On another cargo ship at the other end, several servants are also carrying goods down from the boat.

At this time, busy water transportation had already begun. This was just a microcosm. It was from here that the lively scene of the entire Cangzhou outer city gradually emerged.

Standing at Dansha's current location and looking down at the river, you can see very clearly the many docks, many kinds of ships, with planks intertwined and stacked one on top of the other. The ships are equipped with living quarters and cargo holds. Many people live on the ship all their lives and rely on it for food and work.

You can see the boatmen taking a break from rowing, leaning forward and backward, looking up and down, each with their own expressions, working together, fighting the waves, with all kinds of expressions on their faces, which makes people feel a sense of vigorous power.

Dansha and Gao Jian were walking among them, and then someone came to say hello.

"Master!"

"High School Lieutenant!"

"Meet the adults!"

"My benefactor, it's me!"

In addition to people, from time to time, you can also see a water god emerging from the river and a local god emerging from the intersection, respectfully bowing to Gao Jian and calling him "Master." He also calls him "Captain Gao" or "General Gao."

"You are quite popular." Dansha looked at Gao Jian with some surprise.

"Of course, otherwise all my efforts would be in vain. But, Dansha, have you discovered anything new?" Gao Jian pointed at everything happening around him and asked Dansha.

Dansha looked around.

At this moment in the outer city of Cangzhou, the most active thing is not in the water, but on the shore.

Because it was already time to start working in the morning, groups of people of all kinds gathered at the entrances of every street and alley. Among them were carpenters and bamboo craftsmen, porters doing miscellaneous work, brick and tile workers, wet nurses and laundrymen, and many other craftsmen who did not have regular jobs would come to work for the day in the morning.

These craftsmen gathered together, some stood with their necks stretched, some played cards and boasted, and some arrived late, still holding breakfast in their hands, and were preparing to finish their meal quickly before going to find their employers.

Everyone is looking forward to being called and hired. The reason why these people from all over come out to sell their labor very early is because there are always people in big cities who need their skills. The huge demand and supply constitute a huge labor market.

In some families, the daughter-in-law cannot produce milk and has to find a wet nurse.

Some people have leaks in their houses and need to find a carpenter.

A dozen laborers pooled their money to find a laundryman to do their laundry.

Several craftsmen's clothes were torn and they needed tailors to help mend them.

A woman's pot at home was broken and she was in a hurry to find a pot repairman.

People of all kinds gathered at these street corners, some looking for things, some selling things, some both looking for things for themselves and seeking work.

The fried dough pancake shop and soup pancake shop have been singing since the fourth watch, the rhythm of the music continues to be heard from far and near, and the smell continues to spread.

The busy citizens make the city bustling and noisy.

There were carpenters, silversmiths, blacksmiths, coopers, potters, and painters.

There are people who make steamers and steamers, weave mats and sell shoes, handle snakes and sell medicine, sell incense and polish mirrors, make tongcao flowers, and make pot cakes and water pepper. There is everything here.

There are so many different kinds of things, filling the streets.

Dansha stared at all this, and suddenly turned to look at Gao Jian with surprise on his face: "Is this your plan?"

That’s right, Dansha, I seem to understand what Gao Jian meant.

But she curled her lips.

(End of this chapter)