Chen Xu repeatedly reflected on the insights he gained.

The dragon roams the sea of clouds, vast and boundless.

One can see the vastness of heaven and earth, the endlessness of the four seas.

Although he stood on a certain mountain peak at the moment, seeming to have reached high enough and seen far enough, like the small village below the western cloud cliff, which in Chen Xu's eyes looked as tiny as an ant's nest.

But in reality, outside the mountain, there must be even higher peaks, and beyond the clouds, there must be endless oceans.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, facing the little hedgehog, suddenly beginning to recount the scenes he glimpsed in a flash when he destroyed the "River God Temple" plaque earlier.

"Ah Yuan," Chen Xu said, "your teacher left this 'Chronicles of the Strange and Mysterious' in your book box, surely hoping for you to venture into the vast and infinite world."

Wei Yuan, with clear and bright little eyes, spoke with a tone of reminiscence and self-doubt: "But the teacher often said I was stupid."

Chen Xu chuckled softly and said, "How are you stupid? You're just too young. When a teacher says a student is stupid, it's only out of fear that the student will become arrogant and frivolous, failing to be diligent, thus intentionally being a bit suppressive.

Actually, saying so is because the teacher still holds great expectations for the student.

If there's no hope for a student, a teacher wouldn't say they're stupid."

The little hedgehog exclaimed, "Ah, is that so? If there's no hope, what would they say then?"

Chen Xu laughed, "If there's truly no hope, then nothing at all would be said."

The little hedgehog immediately straightened its posture, sitting properly on the stone, muttering, "Is it really so?"

Chen Xu confidently said, "Ah Yuan, you must trust me. I've been many teachers' students.

My teacher, Master Wu, even repeatedly warned me not to be too aggressive, but when it was actually time to make decisions, he acted decisively, not hesitating a bit."

Wei Yuan listened intently, quickly nodding, "Yes, Mr. Chen, you're right.

Earlier, that holy child... no, that demon child harmed me, just because I was too weak, I fell for his scheme.

Otherwise, I have the Earth Escape Technique, and definitely wouldn't have been caught by those bad people, and you, Mr. Chen, wouldn't have had to rescue me."

The topic finally returned to the matter of Wei Yuan's previous capture.

Chen Xu saw the little hedgehog appearing carefree on the surface, as if it had forgotten the previous demonic obstacles and pain.

But in fact... in fact, it was still affected.

While Chen Xu was brewing Jade Needle Grass, Wei Yuan would secretly glance westward towards the small village now and then.

Even after the traces of flames in the small village disappeared completely, Wei Yuan still couldn't help but glance quietly.

It thought Chen Xu hadn't noticed, but actually, Chen Xu observed all its small actions with clarity.

As Wei Yuan brought it up, Chen Xu said, "Ah Yuan, do you know why this village's demonic barriers appeared?"

Wei Yuan shook its head, somewhat ashamed, saying, "Earlier I had talisman paper stuck on me and when I woke up, I was locked in an iron cage, that, that wicked person hid very well, I couldn't see her true origins."

Chen Xu said, "It's not surprising you couldn't see, because although this wicked person practiced evil techniques, she was actually a native of the village."

In a calm tone, he narrated a bizarre yet tragic story concisely yet profoundly.

"A hundred years ago, this mountain road was impassable, and there was no village under the mountain.

Later, there was a great drought in the Northern Land one year. A group of famine refugees fled from the north and arrived in Yunjiang Prefecture, only to miss the resettlement quota for arriving too late.

The Government then issued a policy stating that if a hundred famine refugees from the Northern Land gathered, they could form a village.

As long as they found a piece of land with no previous cultivation, they could report it to the Government and then establish a village to live.

Of course, establishing a village independently came with conditions.

First, each person had to cultivate at least ten acres within a year. Once those ten acres were cultivated, they'd be exempt from taxes for the first five years; after that, they'd be taxed one-tenth."

Listening to this, Wei Yuan gradually became enthralled.

While listening, it nodded, "Five years tax-free, the Imperial Court's disaster relief effort is quite commendable."

Chen Xu laughed, though he didn't directly refute Wei Yuan, he just said, "If taxes weren't exempt, those people would have been forced to death back then.

Even so, with five years tax-free, when people cultivated in barren mountains and wild lands, five years later the Imperial Court could gain a large amount of matured fields, making this deal profitable regardless."

Wei Yuan pondered, saying, "This is indeed a long-term strategy, but cultivating must have been incredibly difficult, especially for a group of people fleeing from famine, traveling thousands of miles, already exhausted to the bone.

In such circumstances, if the Imperial Court could not only exempt taxes but also provide some relief grain, that would be even better.

Otherwise, it's hard to imagine how these disaster refugees endured the early stages of land cultivation."

Chen Xu praised, "Ah Yuan, you've learned to see the key problem at a glance.

Indeed, a group of people with nothing, barely any strength remaining, were given just a piece of land and told to cultivate...

No, they were even required to find the land themselves. The Government only assisted in demarcating boundaries and setting boundary stones after they selected a site.

Under such harsh conditions, how difficult it must have been to cultivate.

Especially with the requirement of ten acres per person per year, if they couldn't fulfill this task, they would be expelled from Yunjiang, sent back to their place of origin.

Having drifted thousands of miles, reaching the Southern Border was already a blessing from the heavens. Who could guarantee they'd survive another forced journey back?

Thus, this became a path of no return, one they could only navigate with herculean determination."

Wei Yuan couldn't help but exclaim, "Mr. Chen, so the Imperial Court really didn't provide any relief grain at all?"

Chen Xu paused, then said, "Actually, not necessarily. Considering the context, I suspect that the Imperial Court did issue relief grain.

However, you must realize, sometimes things are decreed well from above, but when it comes to local execution, it's not always implemented properly.

This village... ah, this village is too remote. Their relief grains were likely devoured entirely at some point in the process.

By the time it reached them, they were left with nothing but bare ten-acre plots."

Wei Yuan then anxiously asked, "Then what happened later, Mr. Chen?"

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