“Why are you looking at me like that?”
Yang Yi really couldn’t stand that scrutinizing look in Hei Lie’s eyes anymore. Unable to keep pretending nothing was wrong, he put down the pen in his hand, lifted his head, and met Hei Lie’s gaze.
Hei Lie chuckled, pulled out a chair, and sat down across from him.
“Everyone was really surprised by your performance today. None of us expected the Divine Envoy to have such a tough side.”
Yang Yi couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He hadn’t really done anything special. He’d merely talked back to those people and then had them ‘sent’ back.
As for how exactly they would be dealt with, that wasn’t for him to decide. Everything was up to Jing.
After all, those people were under Jing’s command. Back when they first started preparing to build the new city, Yang Yi and Hei Lie had already discussed with Jing, Rong, and the others how the responsibilities and powers in the new city would be divided.
The new city couldn’t be independent of the Spark Tribe’s rule. The appointment of all important officials had to be approved and made by the Spark Tribe.
All of the new city’s policies must not contradict those of the Spark Tribe. Adjustments could be made in minor details according to specific circumstances, but everything still had to align with the general direction set by the Spark Tribe’s central leadership.
It possessed a high degree of autonomy, but its axis was completely centered around Yi City.
The new city was under the jurisdiction of the Spark Tribe, just like Yi City. But its administrative level was lower. Yi City was the Spark Tribe’s cultural and political center, the very axis of the tribe, while the new city was simply an ordinary city within it.
Jing’s authority and position were lower than Hei Lie’s, because Hei Lie was not only the City Lord of Yi City but also the Chief of the Spark Tribe.
And the Divine Envoy stood even higher, above both the Chief and the shaman. He is a special existence, without any successor.
Even if the temple wanted to select another Divine Envoy in the future as a kind of commemoration, that person would only exist as a symbolic mascot, nothing like Yang Yi, who truly held great power. But that was merely the plan between Yang Yi and Hei Lie. They hadn’t officially brought it up.
Hei Lie still granted Jing considerable authority. As long as the construction and administration didn’t violate the main principles of Spark, and there were no major mistakes that delayed the city’s development or governance, Yi City wouldn’t interfere.
Because of the new city’s particular circumstances, it initially required some iron-fisted measures, unlike Yi City, an “old city” that had already become relatively stable.
If the restrictions imposed by Yang Yi and Hei Lie were too tight, it would only make Jing’s hands and feet bound, which would be very unfavorable for construction and management.
Since Hei Lie and Yang Yi had already decided to entrust Jing with the task of building the new city, it showed their deep trust in him. As the saying goes, “If you trust someone, don’t doubt them. If you doubt them, don’t employ them.”
Jiao would also often go there to carry out ideological work, maintaining unity of thought, and had even assigned one of her most outstanding disciples to serve as the new city’s shaman.
“You make it sound like I’m usually some kind of saint. Others might not know, but you should. What’s so strange about this?”
Yang Yi indeed wasn’t as accustomed to bloodshed and death as Hei Lie and the others, nor were his methods as ruthless. But that didn’t mean he was some harmless good guy.
He simply couldn’t act directly himself and was at times constrained by the education he’d received in the past. Yet whenever someone touched his bottom line or posed a threat, he had never once hesitated to strike back.
In fact, he was a bit of a hypocrite. He’d let others handle the dirty work while he stayed behind, keeping up the image of a saint.
Hei Lie, on the other hand, especially liked to protect that saintly image of his, making Yang Yi feel like whenever he walked among people, he practically glowed.
“Was what I did inappropriate?”
Hei Lie quickly waved his hands. “No, no, no. In the current situation, this is exactly what you should be doing. When even you take this kind of stance, some people with little schemes in their hearts will finally know to stop.”
Wherever there are people, there will be power struggles. There will always be those who yearn for power, especially in a place with such potential.
“Looks like things on Jing’s side are still quite troublesome. They actually came all the way to me. When Yi City was first established, we didn’t have this many problems.”
Yang Yi shook his head. These people still weren’t desperate enough.
“You’ve just forgotten,” Hei Lie said with a laugh.
“Really?” Yang Yi tilted his head slightly.
Hei Lie didn’t bother to explain further. Since Yang Yi had forgotten, there was no need to bring it back up. Some memories weren’t exactly pleasant ones.
What Yang Yi had done this time truly helped Jing a great deal, forcing those people to behave themselves.
Besides, Jing himself was a man with skill and tact, and the people he brought along were all highly experienced. Very soon, the framework of the new city began to take shape.
After dealing with over a hundred problematic individuals, the remaining four thousand people finally started to settle into normal production and daily life. Just as planned from the beginning, all the children among them were sent to Yi City.
Everyone trusted Yi City completely, so they didn’t hesitate at all. They all sent their children away.
The new city was only just beginning construction, and food was extremely scarce. Everyone could only eat one meal a day. Even Jing and his group of official Spark members didn’t make any exceptions for themselves.
Yang Yi had originally thought they didn’t need to push themselves so hard. After all, they had done so much for the Spark Tribe. It was both within their ability and entirely reasonable to make sure they had enough to eat.
But Jing and his people insisted. They said it was all or nothing. If they didn’t succeed, they would die trying.
If they continued to enjoy the same comforts as those in Yi City, they wouldn’t be able to truly empathize with the others. Without that, they could never give their all.
This kind of action truly moved the newcomers deeply. They could see that Jing and his group genuinely wanted to build a city together with everyone, one like Yi City.
That sincerity not only earned greater trust but also inspired stronger motivation.
Sending their children to Yi City meant those kids could receive an education, quickly become official members of the Spark Tribe, and one day contribute to the construction of the new city. It also meant they would never have to worry about food.
Since everyone was new, the age requirement for the first group of children was made a bit more flexible. Anywhere from four to eight years old could be admitted.
In the end, they enrolled more than two hundred children. Among them were, of course, a few trying to take advantage of the situation. Some are older than allowed, some are younger than the minimum age.
But the Spark Tribe turned a blind eye to it, partly because some parents simply didn’t know how to count.
If the new city hadn’t been so underdeveloped, with the top priority being food production, then everyone would’ve been required to attend literacy training. But for now, they couldn’t afford to be that strict.
“Are they back? Have the children come back yet?” A young mother gazed anxiously into the distance, her voice trembling with worry.
Beside her, another woman wove a bamboo basket while glancing toward the horizon. She shook her head.
“Nothing yet. Don’t worry. The Divine Envoy sent word that they’d be back today, so they’ll definitely be back today.”
The young mother still couldn’t ease her anxiety, but her hands didn’t stop moving. She continued deftly weaving her bamboo basket, not daring to fall behind in her work.
The baskets had countless uses, and they needed a great many of them. Skilled women were assigned to learn and weave them. The young mother was one of them.
The other woman smiled and said, “This is your first child, isn’t it?”
“How did you know?”
There were many new people in the tribe, and not everyone knew each other.
“Only a new mother would be that nervous. Don’t worry. Yi City is a great place! Even if we wanted to go, we couldn’t.”
The young mother knew that very well, but she still missed her child. She still wanted to know how her child was doing.
In truth, everyone present couldn’t help but worry. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have come to wait by the roadside.
They wanted to know what the children had gone through these past ten days. Without any adults around, had they been bullied?
There were people who liked eating children. Even though they believed the people of Yi City would never do such a thing, they couldn’t stop worrying deep down.
While they were talking, they suddenly saw movement at the end of the road.
“They’re back! They’re back!” someone shouted excitedly.
Soon, they saw a group of children sitting on a wooden cart pulled by horses, rushing toward them.
“Mom! Mom! We’re back!”
The children cheered, waving enthusiastically to their mothers, who had been working while waiting by the side.
“That’s my child. Oh my heavens, what are they wearing? They look so beautiful!”
“Is that really my child? I can hardly recognize them!”
The young mother who had gathered everyone also quickly spotted her own child among the group. Like the others, her eyes widened the moment she saw them.
Her child had not only changed into a clean, soft, and beautiful new outfit, but their little face had also become rounder. The whole person seemed completely different.
It was hard to say exactly what had changed. Just that everything about them felt different.
Ah, right, more and more like the new chieftain!
The young mother’s eyes welled with tears as she began asking about their time at Yi City’s school.
All the children spoke excitedly about their experiences during this period, their words full of joy, chirping and chattering noisily.
Even after returning to their new homes, they still couldn’t stop talking.
“Mom, the place we live in is way better than here! The teacher said that as long as we work hard enough, we’ll get to live in even better houses in the new city in the future!”
The construction site for the new city was set up right where the old houses had been built for convenience during the canal digging, so some people were able to move into those already completed houses.
Although compared to Yi City, they seemed rather shabby, they were still far more comfortable than the old animal-skin tents.
The young mother wiped away her tears. “What the teacher said must be true.”
“Mom, when that time comes, you’ll have a nice house to live in, too!” The child suddenly remembered something and quickly took out a meat pie from their pocket, offering it to their mother.
“Mom, hurry and eat this meat pie! It’s super delicious! I saved it just for you.”
The young mother was astonished. “How did you get this?”
“Of course it was given to us! I just didn’t eat mine because I wanted you to taste it.”
“I won’t eat it. You eat it.”
But the child stubbornly pushed the meat pie into their mother’s mouth. “I eat it all the time at school! If they didn’t make us finish everything right away and forbid us from saving any, I’d bring one back for you every time.”
The young mother ate the meat pie through her tears, chewing slowly. It had already gone cold, yet it still tasted wonderfully good.
“Mom, isn’t it delicious? There’s so, so much good food there! When I first arrived, I thought I was dreaming!”
The child chattered on about life at the school in Yi City. The young mother, who had been uneasy at heart, finally relaxed. She smiled warmly as she listened to her child’s excited stories.
The same scene played out in other tents and houses. Those without children, upon hearing the children’s laughter and cheerful voices, also began to look forward to the future with greater hope.
Once the new settlement had stabilized, it was time to officially name and inaugurate the new city. To let everyone know that such a city had been founded.
Jing specially sent a letter, asking Yang Yi to set a date for the city’s establishment and announce the official founding of Rong City.
“Let’s set it for June fifteenth,” Yang Yi said, glancing at the calendar. “Will you all have enough time to prepare for the celebration?”
The messenger sent by Jing smiled and replied, “Divine Envoy, that’s a perfect date! We’ve already prepared everything. We’re just waiting for the day to come.”
Hearing that, Yang Yi immediately confirmed it. This was a decision within his authority. He didn’t need to consult anyone else.
“I don’t think I’ve seen you before. You’re new, aren’t you?”
“Divine Envoy, you’re amazing! Yes, I’m new. I just joined the communications team not long ago,” the messenger said excitedly, introducing himself.
At first, when Jing displayed his thunderous methods, everyone thought that newcomers like them would probably have a hard time in the days ahead.
Some of the important positions and good posts probably wouldn’t fall to people like them. After all, quite a few people had been sent over from the Spark Tribe. Each one of them was remarkably capable.
They were literate, good at arithmetic, and worked with incredible efficiency. Sometimes, before the others even understood what was going on, the Spark people had already arranged everything neatly and properly.
At first, when they were told what to do, how to do it, and how much strength to use with each tool, they found those people annoyingly fussy.
Wasn’t it all just about using strength? What difference did a little bit make?
But it turned out that a little difference actually made a huge difference. The more precise their actions, the faster and better the results. And it was even less tiring.
Only then did they begin to understand why, in the beginning, so much effort had been spent on training instead of hurrying straight to farming or other work. They had thought it was a waste of time. But after seeing the results, they finally grasped the truth behind that saying: “Sharpening the axe won’t delay the work of chopping wood.”
Though everyone knew they couldn’t compare to those people, they still couldn’t help holding onto some hope. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have chosen to join in the first place.
They had come only after carefully learning about the situation and making up their minds.
Unexpectedly, once the new settlement began to stabilize, those who had gone through military training were gradually reassigned to different posts according to their skills, many of which turned out to be important positions.
For instance, because he was good with ostriches, had a good memory, and could express himself well, he was chosen to join the communications team.
He often rode ostriches to deliver messages and was also responsible for taking care of carrier pigeons.
That was an incredibly honorable job. He was someone who actually owned an ostrich!
In Yi City, not many people had that privilege!
This kind of equal treatment made everyone realize that they were truly a part of the new city, and that the earlier displays of authority had only been for the sake of maintaining order.
As long as one had ability and loyalty, they would receive the same treatment as the people from the Spark Tribe. The only difference was that everything had to be earned through their own hands.
On the day the new city was officially declared established, Yang Yi, Hei Lie, and the key members of the Spark Tribe all rushed to the new city together to celebrate this great moment.
When the plaque inscribed with the words Rong City was hung on the temporary gate of the newly built walls, the second city founded by Yang Yi in this world was officially born.
