Chapter 265: Fine, I’ll Make It for You
Chapter 265: Fine, I’ll Make It for You
Xu Dafu rolled his eyes. “Still going on about ‘slaying gods and buddhas’? Before spouting such arrogant words, think about how powerful the Deity’s magic is?”
Cheng Xu’s expression instantly froze awkwardly.
Oh no!
That phrase “slaying gods and buddhas” was just an idiom, something he had blurted out casually in haste, forgetting that Gaojia Village truly had deities—it wasn’t like other places where gods were just boastful nonsense.
Cheng Xu quickly glanced up at the sky and caught sight of a low cloud drifting about sixty or seventy zhang directly above his head, meaning… the Deity was exactly there.
“Ah!” Cheng Xu screeched weirdly and hastily knelt down. “Deity, this humble man’s tongue was unruly; I definitely didn’t mean it that way earlier.”
Li Daoxuan wasn’t so petty; he chuckled lightly, pulled out a piece of A4 paper, and unfurled it in the sky. “No problem! Prepare for battle; the border army has truly arrived.”
Cheng Xu was rushing with pride; the border army really came.
He hurriedly went to gather the militia and prepare for the expedition.
Xu Dafu nearby also knelt down with a “thump” and shouted to the sky. “Deity, this humble man… this humble man followed your orders to research the fire cap, but for some reason, as I studied, it veered off course, and I inexplicably created a bomb that explodes when thrown. Please punish me, Deity.”
He waited quietly to be scolded, but instead, another large paper unfurled in the sky. “No punishment! Well done! There’s a reward.”
He was literate and could recognize the words.
A silver sphere descended from the sky and landed right in front of him.
Xu Dafu looked closely; this… this… this was exactly the reward he and the lamp maker had seen those three plasterers receive on the day they arrived at Gaojia Village!
It was called the “Deity’s Special Prize.”
It had been utterly awe-inspiring at the time!
Who would have thought he would get one himself someday—hahaha.
Xu Dafu nearly laughed wildly toward the heavens, but his face suddenly darkened as if he remembered something. He leapt to the roadside, grabbed a handful of grass, covered the silver sphere with it, and glanced around. Seeing nobody nearby, he sighed in relief. “Phew! Conceal your riches; if others find out I have this, they might rob me. Must be careful, absolutely careful—can’t get too arrogant and end up dead.”
Li Daoxuan stared blankly.
Xu Dafu then spoke to the sky again. “Actually, this humble man didn’t just make one; this thing is easy to produce—I whipped up ten in one breath. Earlier, I only took one out for them to test. Since the Deity thinks this is alright, this humble man will hand them all over to Instructor He for use against the border army.”
Li Daoxuan lit up a paper. “Agreeable! Go quickly.”
Xu Dafu dashed back to the cave, quickly emerged carrying a large cloth sack filled with dried grass; nestled among the heaps of dried grass were nine more gunpowder spheres like the earlier one. He passed the entire sack to Cheng Xu. “Instructor He, tally them up—nine in total. For this battle, you must hear nine explosions. If one falls short, find out who hid it without throwing, and reclaim it. This thing cannot be privately stored by a Militia Soldier, or the consequences would be extremely severe.”
Cheng Xu extended his hand to take it, overjoyed. “So there are nine more, hehe! Just with this, we might not even need the Deity’s help; we alone could make the border army cry for their parents.”
Xu Dafu interrupted impatiently. “Hey, did you hear what I said? Don’t just laugh—remember, nine explosions. You must hear nine explosions.”
Cheng Xu retorted, “Who the hell can count how many firecrackers set off in the middle of a battle?”
Gao Chuwu’s head popped up from the side. “I probably can.”
Cheng Xu just stared, speechless.
Meanwhile, Li Daoxuan opened his frequent military history forum and anonymously posted: Hello everyone, I’m back again with that Ming Dynasty time-travel question. If I time-travel to the Ming Dynasty and already have flint-ignited black-powder bombs, what’s the best one to turn it into a more powerful hand grenade?
Reply 1: How about a hand-thrown nuke? If you throw it far enough, it won’t blow you up.
Reply 2: Burying floor one here. I don’t really know this well—would WWII-type stick grenades work? Any experts explain?
Reply 3: Hand grenade tech from the world wars is super complex, with springs, detonators, all kinds of chemical stuff. Think you can build it in the Ming Dynasty? Got a chemistry plant? Stop dreaming. Suggest not overcomplicating it: mix tiny steel balls into black powder, wrap the grenade in thin iron, add a wooden handle to throw farther, and ignite with a fuse. That’s doable. Too much high-tech won’t be mass-produced.
He even attached a diagram he drew himself of a working black-powder hand grenade for the Ming Dynasty.
Reply 4: Wow, what god is the third floor? So awesome!
Reply 5: Floor three is right, but we shouldn’t stay primitive forever. If possible, start a chemistry plant—history should progress.
Reply 6: Agreed, chemistry must happen. With chemistry comes black silk; outfit all the girls on the Qinhuai River in black silk to dance…
Everyone angrily replied: “Where are the moderators? That troublemaker is out again!”
Li Daoxuan joined in scolding floor six a few times, thanked floor three, downloaded the diagram back, shrunk it, and printed it in a corner on the paper…
By then, Xu Dafu had finished handing over the bombs to Cheng Xu and turned to leave. After just two steps, he saw a huge sheet of paper suddenly float down from the sky, bearing a strange design labeled: “hand grenade.”
“Huh?” Xu Dafu understood instantly; it was the Deity’s manufacturing blueprints for “immortal realm bombs.”
He leaped forward swiftly and rolled up the paper at top speed, glancing around nervously. “Whew, good thing I’m the only one who saw this. If it got out, who knows how the world would blow apart?”
Li Daoxuan chuckled to himself: This guy remained as cautious as ever—good that this hand grenade didn’t land in others’ hands. If wild figures learned and used it against his own, he’d surely be devastated.
Xu Dafu hid in the firearms bureau, scrutinized the blueprints for half a day, then sneaked into the artisans’ well and found Gao Yiyi. “Artisan Master, on the Deity’s orders, I wish to create some items.”
Gao Yiyi heard it was the Deity’s command and naturally agreed. “What to make?”
Xu Dafu replied vaguely. “Iron balls—tiny particles will do—and thin iron shells like this.”
He didn’t show Li Daoxuan’s blueprint to Gao Yiyi but sketched only the iron shell himself, omitting all interior details.
Gao Yiyi scanned it. “A thin-walled iron container slightly larger than a fist? What’s this for? Holding water?”
Xu Dafu said stiffly, “What it’s used for can’t be revealed. It’s something the Deity wants.”
Gao Yiyi chuckled helplessly. “Still secretive with me? Alright, alright—fine, I’ll make it for you.”
Hiding ammunition was always a major issue for soldiers, never fully eradicated even today.
Just recently, news surfaced: an old woman went to the police station and surrendered a large basket of bullets. Her late husband was a veteran who trained new recruits in shooting in our army—each session, he secretly stashed away unused training bullets, bringing them home until amassed a whole large basket. Only after his death did she discover and turn them in. You can look it up on Baidu.