Chapter 23 - Sincerely
After breakfast, Meg left to watch over the slaves who were working at the mines.
Some of them were searching the mountains to find enough trees to cut down so they could make a boat, because they wanted to see where the underground lake would lead.
Meirin herself got ready to take a good look around to find a good place to improve the land. She believed that land improvement was a priority. As long as the land changed, they would be able to settle down here and live with hope.
Although she did not know about Zhao's farm, after seeing how it could improve the land and the eighty thousand catty of radishes, she thought that his ability was related to agriculture. Meirin was a wise person that was rich in life experience, so her guess was pretty close. She decided not to ask Zhao about it.
Zhao went with Meirin to go check out the surrounding terrain. It was natural for Blockhead and Rockhead to follow behind Zhao, but this time Zhao only took Blockhead with him, while he sent Rockhead to help Meg look after the slaves. Meg shouldn't be alone while watching over one hundred slaves.
With Blockhead following them, Zhao and Meirin walked along the foot of the mountain.
Meirin, being older and a mage, had a weak body. But Zhao was also the same. The two didn't walk up the mountain because they were afraid that it would only tire themselves out until they couldn't move.
This was Meirin's and Zhao's first time walking so far from the castle. The Black Waste was a strange place, but at a glance, there was nothing to see. They had been walking along the mountain for three hours. With the absence of any discovery, it felt as desolate as expected. The black soil was still black. The barren land was still barren.
After looking around, Zhao turned to Meirin and said, "Grandma Meirin, let's take a rest. This is too tiring."
Meirin was also tired, since she was a mage and not a warrior. Her body was only strong enough to do some housework.
They found two stones and casually sat down. Seeing the two sitting down, Blockhead ran towards them and went to Zhao's side. "Master. You rest here. I go look."
Zhao nodded. "Okay, you go, but take care of yourself and be careful."
With a cry, Blockhead turned and ran up the mountain. From his appearance, he didn't look tired at all.
Meirin, while sitting on a rock, stared out at the large expanse of black land, and gave a long sigh. "When we first heard that the Empire was exiling us here, we were really desperate. Everyone knows that the Black Waste was a place of death. Nothing lasts long here. And it was right next to the carrion swamp. Once we were exiled, we couldn't do anything. We had no choice but to die out here." Having said that, Meirin lowered her head, her eyes revealing her memories. "When Green heard the news, he immediately exchanged all of the clan's money for some supplies. He wanted us to try to last for a few years. He believed that if we could just last a few years, we would be able to think of some way to make money. After all, we didn't want the Buda clan to die in our hands."
Meirin paused for a moment as she remembered the despairing scene. Zhao did not say anything.
Taking a deep breath, Meirin turned and looked at Zhao. "Fortunately, Master woke up with a magical ability to improve the land. Now our hope of reviving the Buda clan depends on you."
Green had also told Zhao much of the same thing. Although this was what Meirin and Green expected of him, Zhao knew that accomplishing such a task would be difficult. If he wanted to make the Buda clan thrive again, that would mean he would have to face pressure from the king and nobles of the Aksu Empire.
But he didn't say any of this. He only nodded and said, "Don't worry, Grandma Meirin. I'll try."
Meirin smiled at Zhao. "God does not want the Buda clan to die. Giving Master such an amazing ability means that God loves the Buda clan and wants us to flourish."
After hearing that, Zhao couldn't help but laugh. "Grandma Meirin, let me show you something amazing."
With just a thought, the two appeared in the spatial farm.
Zhao had never taken Meirin to the farm before, and it wasn't because he didn't trust Meirin and Green. It was because, in addition to security reasons, there were a lot of things in the farm that he couldn't explain to Meirin. And also, Zhao was afraid. He feared that they would somehow find out that he was an imposter who was possessing Adam's body, and that they would kill him because of it.
But now he wasn't afraid. Meirin and Green wouldn't doubt him because he was the Buda clan's last hope. After all, he was the sole heir to the Buda clan. If the two were to kill him, that was equivalent to letting the Buda clan perish. If there were no heirs in a noble family, then the title of nobility would be taken by the Empire.
Meirin was in shock the moment she stepped into the spatial farm. Her head swerved around, looking at everything, including the radish shoots and the corn that were about to ripen.
"This is my special ability, Grandma Meirin. This piece of land can be used to grow crops like grains and vegetables. Not only that, the crops would grow and mature faster than the ones on the outside. That was how I was able to come up with eighty thousand catty of magic radishes in such a short period of time."
While staring at the land, Meirin asked, "Master, the magic radishes that you had, where are they?"
Zhao pointed at the barn. "Inside of there is a room that is sort of like a spatial item. It can hold a lot of things, not just magic radishes. Any materials that I have, I can store in there for as long as I want, and I can always take them out whenever."
Meirin's eyes shined. To be honest, just this spatial barn ability alone was enough to give her a surprise.
Zhao continued, "This space can be used to improve the black soil outside with a mixture of spatial earth and water." He then walked towards the corn. "And this is a new crop that I planted. It's called corn. Once it matures, it will produce a ton of seeds, enough to plant acres and acres of land. But to be honest, I don't know if this space can produce seeds from these corn. I'm still testing it. And also, the corn stalks could be used as firewood. This is definitely the most suitable plant we need to grow."
Meirin looked at the patch of corn, her eyes shining, understanding what Zhao said. As long as the corn ripen, it could solve all of their food problems and give them firewood to use.
"Once we find a suitable location, we'll first transform a thousand acres of land and plant the corn. And when the corn is ripe, we do not have to worry about food and heating for our home. Also, we can sell magic radishes to make some money. With this, little by little, our Buda clan will develop and grow."
Meirin turned to Zhao. "Master, you must not tell anyone about this! How many people know about it?"
"Only Blockhead, Rockhead, and you know about this space." Zhao shook his head. "I haven't showed it to Grandpa Green and Meg yet."
Meirin nodded. "There are only a few people we can completey trust. If this gets out and people know about it, young master will be in danger."
"Don't worry, Grandma Meirin. I will not talk about it with others. We should leave now. Once Blockhead comes back, he will feel anxious when he can't find us." With a thought, both of them were back on the foot of the mountain.