Time-traveling island

Anxing County, the prefectural governor's office.

"My lord!" A staff member from the prefectural governor's office rushed in and found Prefect Li Boyi, who was admiring calligraphy and paintings in his study.

"What is it?"

"There's more news from outside the city."

"What?"

Li Boyi, who had been somewhat lazy, immediately put down the calligraphy and painting and hurriedly asked, "What's going on outside the city?"

The aide said, "We just received news that Magistrate Wang left early this morning with the gentry and elders; I heard they went to see that 'Immortal Lin'!"

Li Boyi frowned, and after a long pause, asked, "How did they leave?"

"Just like before, they suddenly disappeared."

"Did they really just disappear suddenly?"

"I personally asked some people close to the Wang family, and they saw it several times. First, it was Magistrate Wang's daughter who went to see the deity, then his son went, his maid went, and Zhou Yong and others also went."

After listening to his advisor's words, Li Boyi frowned deeply.

He was already troubled by the internal strife in the court and the uprising of rebels—worried that his patron in the court would fall, and also worried that the city would be besieged by rebels and could not withstand the attack.

Now, with the addition of Immortal Lin, he's really having a headache.

"Bring me rice!"

Li Boyi suddenly called out to the outside, and the servants outside hurriedly went to relay the message. Soon after, a bowl of fragrant white rice was served. Under the watchful eyes of his advisors, the prefect took a deep sniff of the rice before picking up his chopsticks and slowly enjoying this special bowl of rice.

The aide swallowed hard, sniffed the aroma of the rice, and said, "My lord, this spirit rice is indeed extraordinary! That Immortal Lin is probably not someone to be trifled with."

"How so?" Li Boyi asked slowly as he ate. The rice filled his mouth with fragrance, which gradually calmed his agitated heart.

The aide bowed and said, "That Immortal Lin is on good terms with the Wang family. Why doesn't Your Excellency personally pay him a visit and request an audience? As the head of a prefecture, Your Excellency is far more esteemed than a mere county magistrate."

Li Boyi pondered for a moment and found it reasonable, so he instructed, "Tell the steward to prepare a gift; I'll be leaving the city shortly!"

"Yes, sir!"

The advisor glanced again at the remaining half-bowl of rice. If it were any other kind of rice, the prefect would have invited him to stay for a meal if he asked. But this spirit rice had become the prefect's treasure, and even his wife and children could only eat one bowl a day.

Not long after, Li Boyi left the city by carriage.

……

Wang Wanxiu returned to Shunguo, and her father, along with the gentry and elders, also returned.

No sooner had he returned than Wang Haiqing rushed forward to report, "Father, the Prefect has come to visit!"

"When did you arrive?"

Wang Zhixing snapped out of his daze at the rapidly changing scenery around him and hurriedly asked his son.

Wang Haiqing pointed to the distance, where seven or eight people dressed in fine silk and satin were looking at them in disbelief, presumably having just witnessed the sudden appearance of the crowd.

"Fu-kun!"

Wang Zhixing hurriedly stepped forward, cupping his hands in a respectful bow.

"You're too kind, Lord Wang!" Li Boyi didn't dare to be presumptuous and quickly returned the greeting, asking with a smile, "Lord Wang, did you just go to see Immortal Lin? What a coincidence! I was just about to come and ask to pay my respects to the immortal, and I didn't expect to run into you returning from your celestial abode!"

Looking at Prefect Li's beaming face, Wang Zhixing was filled with emotion.

Just a few days ago, he had been waiting outside the prefect's mansion, and it took him half a day of pleading to finally see the prefect.

But now, Li Boyi has come to the city gates in person to visit him!

Oh, he didn't even visit; he doesn't even have a door. He's currently living under a tree in the suburbs, in a camp of over 100,000 disaster victims.

Having met before, Wang Zhixing and Li Boyi sat cross-legged on the ground.

Wang Zhixing briefly recounted some events and remarked with emotion, "Young Master Lin doesn't claim to be a deity, yet the incredible abilities he possesses are even more wondrous than those of a deity. Without witnessing it firsthand, I wouldn't believe anyone could fly in the sky or shoot an arrow through a cliff!"

"Shot through the cliff?!"

"They are those elves, each of them has a lifespan of a thousand years."

"Truly wondrous!"

Li Boyi also sighed and tentatively asked, "Did the Immortal Lin mention the disaster victims again?"

"have!"

Wang Zhixing said solemnly, "Young Master Lin couldn't bear to see the disaster victims starve to death and wanted to help them. He summoned us to inquire how many of these 100,000 disaster victims were willing to go to the island to plant flowers and trees in exchange for food."

Li Boyi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled, "Immortal Lin's compassionate heart is truly a blessing for the people of Shun!"

Those around him nodded in agreement.

"But..." Wang Zhixing said.

"Just what?"

"It's not an easy task for 100,000 people to go to the Immortal Island. There are also sea monsters, deer monsters, tree monsters, and so on on the island. I'm afraid some people won't dare to go."

Wang Zhixing said with concern, "Furthermore, it will take some time to count the number of people. I am currently having a headache about what the disaster victims will eat during this period. I was just about to report to the Prefect and ask him to make a decision."

They said they were making decisions, but what they really wanted was food.

Li Boyi hesitated for a moment before asking, "How long is 'some days'?"

"Ten days."

"Ten days..."

"Young Master Lin will use his magic in ten days to summon the people..."

"Enough, enough!"

Li Boyi quickly changed his tune, "For the next ten days, the city will provide rations for the people. Those who do not wish to go to the Immortal Island will be given five days' worth of rations to leave Anxing County. What do you think?"

Wang Zhixing was overjoyed and rose to bow in thanks.

Li Boyi hurriedly said, "I would like to ask Lord Wang to introduce me to the Immortal Lin."

"Of course!" Wang Zhixing said with a smile, "My daughter is going to Immortal Lin's island tomorrow, so I can have her introduce you to the Prefect then."

"Alright, please thank your daughter for me!"

Li Boyi looked delighted, left behind a gift for Lin Shenxian, said a few more words, and then left.

……

On the island.

"Are you going back too?"

Lin An looked at Amberley. These elves had wandered around the island and taken some soil back, but they didn't take the missile spoils they had collected earlier. They seemed completely uninterested and had no intention of imitating them.

"Hmm." Amberly said in a gentle tone, "Olvia is researching how to remove the salt from the soil on the island in the royal city. We just talked about it, and I remembered that there is a kind of magical vine in the forest that might be used to purify the land."

Lin An laughed and said, "I was just thinking of using a heavy rain to dilute the soil salinity. If there's another way, that would be even better."

As he spoke, he glanced at the Su sisters.

Amberley knew they had the magic to cause thunderstorms, so she said, "Let's collect the soil again after it rains."

Lin An asked, "So you're not coming tomorrow?"

Amberley glanced at him and smiled, "I'll be coming again with some of my people, but I probably won't stay long."

Lin An said, "You can bring more people and have them put their fingerprints on the contract."

"I understand, thank you, Lin An."

"Why thank me? You're the ones helping me."

Amberley nodded slightly and said nothing more.

Lin An glanced at her again. The beautiful and pure Amberley possessed an even more noble and elegant air when she was silent.

As he was about to leave, Mathilde smiled and asked, "Mr. Lin An, if all the elves were to settle on the island, would you accept us?"

Lin An said, "This island can comfortably accommodate three or four million people, and I think it could even accommodate several hundred thousand elves. However—" He smiled, "If you all move here, there will definitely be many problems to solve. I can't guarantee that I can meet all your requirements, because I also have requirements for the residents."

Mathilde smiled at him. "I completely understand Mr. Lin An's concerns, and thank you for telling me the truth." She added with a smile, "I love islands and look forward to living here."

"welcome."

After seeing the elves off, Lin An turned to the Su sisters and smiled, "It's time to talk about your affairs."