Chapter 1569: Chapter 1569

Chapter 1569: Chapter 1569: Developing the Deserted Island

A group of villagers lay on the ground, holding their full bellies.

Lin Yingying curiously asked, “Why do they capture these ordinary people to mine stones? Wouldn’t it be faster to find some cultivators?”

Long Fei chuckled, “Ordinary people don’t understand the ways of cultivation, holding these spirit stones is useless for them. Finding some cultivators is inconvenient for control, and once they have spirit stones, they can cultivate. By then, the spiritual ore might not be mined, but you may foster a top expert instead.”

Lin Yingying raised her eyebrows, “How do you know so clearly?”

Long Fei said, “Within the Pass, we also have an island that specializes in producing spirit stones. Miners are also ordinary people, but now it’s more labor-saving here as we use machines for mining.”

“So, does that mean the resources on this island are quite good?”

Lin Yingying’s eyes sparkled with a businessman’s look.

Long Fei glanced around and said, “The sea is calm, there’s spirit stone below; it’s indeed good.”

He and Lin Yingying had the same thought. With such a good place, there’s no need to find another place to move to.

The only drawback was that this place was the territory of a group of pirates.

If they wanted to take root here, they had to first eliminate these pirates.

After a while, the pregnant woman with her big belly supported her father over to express their gratitude to Long Fei on behalf of the villagers.

Long Fei helped him up and asked, “Sir, what are your plans for the future? Will you go home or somewhere else?”

The old clan leader said with a worried face, “Not to hide the truth from the heroes, our homes were burned down by pirates, people either escaped or left, and there’s no one left within a hundred miles. You ask me where to go, I really don’t know!”

Chu Feng sat beside, drinking, and laughed when he heard the old man’s words, “Old man, do you still expect us to support you?”

The clan leader quickly waved his hand and said, “No, no, heroes, please don’t misunderstand. We have hands and feet and won’t be a burden to everyone.”

Lin Yingying wasn’t concerned about this and just asked the old clan leader, “With your woman , what do you plan to do with her after you return?”

The old clan leader blushed, looked down, and kept quiet.

The pregnant woman wiped her tears, clearly knowing she wouldn’t have a good outcome after returning.

This world may not be as feudal as traditional Confucianism, but people’s thoughts aren’t that open.

The pregnant woman was ravished by pirates, and even if the child were born, it wouldn’t have a good end.

Lin Yingying looked at the pregnant woman and said, “Don’t be afraid, tell us whose child it is? We will help you think of a solution. Since you were captured by pirates for not even a month, this child shouldn’t be this big, right?”

The old clan leader suddenly understood.

The pregnant woman knelt in front of him and cried out, “The child is Brother Zhuzi’s, it’s already three months old. When the pirates landed, Brother Zhuzi died to protect me.”

“You weren’t married. What’s going on?”

The old clan leader’s face turned red as he stuttered.

Lin Yingying and Long Fei exchanged glances and comforted the clan leader and his daughter, “What’s done is done, let’s not discuss who’s right or wrong. Do you plan to give birth to this child or not?”

The woman lifted her head and said seriously, “I plan to give birth. This is Brother Zhuzi’s flesh and blood; he can’t have died in vain for me. Even if everyone hates me, I must give birth to this child.”

“It’s a debt from the past!”

The old clan leader covered his face and squatted down in pain.

He had a daughter late in life, and this girl looked mature because she had been exposed to the wind and sun by the sea.

After coming ashore, she was ravished by a group of pirates.

At just eighteen, she appeared like a thirty-year-old woman.

Lin Yingying felt sorry for her and asked, “What is your name?”

The pregnant woman timidly replied, “Juan’er, Lin Juan’er!”

Lin Yingying smiled, “What a coincidence, you’re from my family then. I’ll take you as a sister, and no one will dare bully you in the future.”

Long Fei glanced at Lin Yingying and asked her, “What do you plan to do?”

Lin Yingying looked at the clan leader and said, “Sir, since you can’t go back now, why not stay on this island? The young and strong can continue mining, and the women can farm and cook. We will provide you with rewards and ensure your safety. How does that sound?”

Upon hearing this, the old clan leader trembled and said, “How do we dare talk about rewards? Just give everyone a bite to eat.”

He eagerly kowtowed and quickly spread the good news to everyone.

The villagers were worried about having no way to survive, and when they heard the clan leader’s words, they immediately came over to kneel and bow to Long Fei.

In this chaotic world, people’s requirements are low.

As long as they’re not bullied by pirates and have food to eat, they don’t even need wages.

Long Fei didn’t want to treat them poorly and still discussed wages with them.

A strong laborer would temporarily be paid ten silver coins a month.

In this world, the currency used for trade among common people was gold coins, silver coins, and copper coins from the Great Xia Country.

Spirit stones circulate among cultivators, and ordinary people couldn’t find a place to use them.

Even if they were lucky enough to obtain a batch of spirit stones, if they dared to exchange them with cultivators for gold and silver, they might even lose their lives.

It’s not a crime for a commoner to have a jade but having one can be fatal.

In this world, where the strong prey on the weak, it’s not easy for common people to live peacefully compared to the outside world.

When people heard Long Fei was giving money proactively, it seemed unbelievable, and they knelt again to thank him profusely.

Long Fei sent them away first and sat down to discuss with Lin Yingying, Chu Feng, and Shen Feng’s siblings.

Chu Feng complained to Lin Yingying, “Big sister, we’ve already done well by saving their lives. Why do you bother with this? With what we’re doing, do we have to leave people on the island to protect them now?”

Lin Yingying gave him a sideways look and said, “I’m doing this out of pity for that pregnant girl. I also have a baby in my womb, and I need to accumulate more virtue for him. If you all want to go back to the mundane world for work, I’ll stay to take care of them.”

Long Fei shook his head, “No need, this place has plenty of spiritual energy underground. It’s easy to set up a formation that even a few pirates can’t breach. I’ll set up the Island-Claiming Grand Formation, and we can all leave.”

He knew Lin Yingying couldn’t let go of mundane matters, and some worldly ties needed her to resolve.

Otherwise, it could affect her Dao foundation in the future, which would be detrimental to cultivation.

Lin Yingying looked at Long Fei worriedly.

Long Fei smiled and said, “Rest assured, this formation, even without being controlled, can withstand experts at the Soul Ascension Stage. No expert will come here just for a few villagers.”

Everyone nodded and agreed to his proposal.

Long Fei made arrangements for Chu Feng to be in charge of security and for Shen Feng’s siblings to assist him in setting up the formation, while Lin Yingying was to take care of the villagers and set some simple rules for them.

He retrieved the Thunderstruck Wood he once obtained from the Phoenix Nest from his storage ring and began refining it into the formation pillars.

Each piece of Thunderstruck Wood was ten meters long and about as thick as a barrel, all of them were top-quality timber.

In the small world, the Phoenix used it for nesting, indicating its preciousness.

Since Long Fei planned to establish a foothold here, the formation naturally had to be set firmly and exquisitely.

Using a formation flag as the base is simple, but not as sturdy as using this Thunderstruck Wood as the foundation.