Mastering the Sword Manual, sweeping across the globe

Third tone.

"Roll—"

This sound was the longest and the strangest. It rang on and on, as if something enormous was slowly moving.

Li Fugui lay on the hillside, staring intently at the opposite ridge.

In that direction, across the valley, that familiar mountain ridge I've known for decades—with a large rock on top shaped like a horse's head, which the villagers call "Horse Head Rock"—is sinking.

It felt like something invisible was pressing down on it.

No—it's a downward cut.

A section.

Another segment.

Another section.

The stone is gone.

The horse's head is gone.

The entire ridge lowers down, with a flat and even cross-section, as if it had been sliced ​​flat by a sword.

Li Fugui's mouth was agape as the fertilizer bag slid off his shoulder and rolled to the side of the road without him noticing.

Fourth tone.

"Click—"

It was crisp and bright, coming from a more distant valley.

Li Fugui's gaze followed.

A huge boulder, several stories high, blocking the road, has cracked open.

From the middle.

An unseen sharp edge sliced ​​through the boulder, splitting it in two, then into four pieces, then into eight... Large and small stones fell from mid-air, and when they were halfway down, they were suddenly supported by invisible forces, stacked up one by one, forming a neat stone wall that extended along the newly opened path.

Every stone has a clean, even cross-section.

It was like being cleaved in two by the same sword.

Li Fugui's knees buckled, and he knelt on the mountain road.

In the village.

The barking of dogs, the flapping of chickens, and the thumping of pigs against the fence—all were mixed together.

Then came the sound of the door being pushed open.

The first one, the second one, the third one...

More than thirty households, including the elderly, children, and a few women who hadn't left their homes that day, all came out.

They stood at their respective courtyard gates, on the threshing grounds, and by the roadside, looking up at the distant mountains.

No one speaks.

No one dared to move.

After a few sounds, the mountains fell silent.

The silence was so profound that it was hard to believe what had just happened.

It was so quiet that I could only hear my own heartbeat.

Then they saw:

A road.

A brand-new, wide, and smooth road stretches from the foot of the mountain all the way to the entrance of the village.

The original rope still lies crookedly to the side, like a thin rope about to break, bearing the footprints of generations of mountain people.

The new road lies straight beside it.

Straight to the point—

Like a sword mark.

……

"grandfather……"

The little one's voice was soft and delicate, as if afraid of disturbing something.

The old man didn't say anything.

He stared blankly at the road and at the young man standing in the courtyard.

The young man stood there, his right hand hanging at his side, his two fingers already clenched.

She still had that particularly heartwarming smile on her face.

It was as if nothing had happened.

ten seconds.

From the moment the young man raises his hand to the moment he lowers it, it takes a maximum of ten seconds.

In the distance, nestled among the mountains, two roads, one old and one new, lie side by side.

One is curved, the other is straight.

One is old, the other is new.

One is memory, the other is tomorrow.

Goodbye, sir.

Goodbye, little friend.

The young man waved to the two men and then soared into the sky.

Halfway up the mountain, Li Fugui finally climbed up the slope.

He stood there, looking at the new road and then at the old road beneath his feet that he had walked for decades.

Suddenly, I don't know which path to take.

--------

"Boom-"

Under the osmanthus tree in the backyard of the county government office, Yu Gu was reading documents.

The impact from beneath his feet caused his pen to leave a crooked, distorted mark on the paper.

earthquake?

The documents in my hand suddenly lost their appeal.

My mind raced through emergency plans—where was the epicenter, what was the magnitude, which towns were near mountains, and which villages had difficult roads…

"boom--"

They've arrived!

It was louder and deeper than before, and the whole room was trembling slightly.

The fluorescent light overhead swayed twice, and the celadon vase that had been sitting in the corner for decades shook slightly before settling back down.

Yu Gu put down his pen, stood up, and walked to the door.

"Xiao Lin!"

The secretary jogged over from the next office, phone still in her hand: "Your Excellency, I sensed it, I'm contacting them—"

"Contact the emergency management office first," Yu Gu said steadily. "Ask them where the epicenter is and what the magnitude is. Then contact the earthquake bureau and ask them to provide preliminary data as soon as possible. Call the power, water, and communications departments one by one to confirm the status of all townships in the county."

He paused, then added, "Please prioritize asking about the towns and villages near the mountains, such as Qingya and Shipan."

Kobayashi nodded, his fingers already flying across the screen.

In the office, several young staff members had already put down their work and started making phone calls.

Some people were going through their contacts one by one, while others were staring at their computer screens scrolling through the duty phone numbers for various towns and villages. The air was filled with hushed conversations and the sound of keyboards clicking.

"boom--"

Third tone.

This sound was the longest and deepest, surging in from all directions, as if something was slowly moving in the heart of the mountains.

Yu Gu stood on the threshold, the vibrations coming from his feet in waves, lasting for several seconds before stopping.

He frowned.

Qianyuan County is located in a plate tectonics zone, and small earthquakes are frequent. The locals have long been used to it, but Yu Gu has never been used to it, nor dared to.

But... this commotion... doesn't seem like an earthquake.

An earthquake is just one.

This happened several times in a row...

Aftershocks shouldn't happen this quickly, right?

A major earthquake... Pshaw, pshaw, pshaw!!!

He glanced instinctively toward the mountains.

Qingya Township, Shipan Township, Taoping Township... those villages hidden in the mountain valleys, those elderly people who have walked the mountain roads for decades, those parents who are always worried when it rains...

Please, please don't let anything happen.

"Yu County!"

Xiaolin's voice came from behind, tinged with obvious tension, "The emergency response office said they didn't detect an earthquake! The earthquake bureau also said the instruments showed no abnormalities!"

Yu Gu turned around: "What happened?"

"The earthquake bureau said the instruments weren't moved. The epicenter wasn't detected. The magnitude wasn't measured. Nothing."

Located in a seismically active zone, the earthquake bureau receives far more funding than ordinary counties and districts, so there shouldn't be any problems with the equipment.

Xiaolin, holding up her phone, was also pale-faced. "They said the situation was extremely abnormal and they were urgently checking the equipment..."

Yu Gu remained silent for two seconds.

My mind raced: Explosion? Which mine is being quarried? But the noise level is too high...

Whatever it is, do what you can do well first.

"Keep making calls," he said. "Electricity, water supply, communications—none of them can be missed. Have each township report that everything is safe, every half hour. If there are any abnormalities, report every ten minutes."

"Yes."

Xiaolin lowered her head again, her fingers flying across the screen.

Yu Gu stood at the door, looking towards the distant mountains.

Qianyuan County is surrounded by mountains on all sides. From where he stood, all he could see were layers upon layers of dark blue-green outlines.

Those sounds just now came from that direction.

It rained yesterday, so a landslide is very possible.

But it shouldn't have reached this intensity...

-

For the next ten minutes or so, the office phone rang incessantly.

The power company said the county's power supply was normal, the water resources bureau said the water levels in all reservoirs were normal, and the telecommunications company said all base stations were online. Reports from various townships also came in one after another: safe, safe, safe, safe...

The staff checked the list one by one, going through each township, and confirmed it three times.

Yu Gu sat behind his desk, looking at the newly compiled situation report in his hand.

The instrument didn't move.

The power grid was not interrupted.

Communication continued.