61 When Joy Turns to Sorrow (Part Two)
Standing outside the main gate, waiting for Wu Qingchen—also known as Los—to swallow the last few bites of his all-natural green food, the constables led Wu Qingchen’s family and several neighboring households onto the rural path.
“Why is there no sound?” “Is my speaker broken?” “Mine too!”
“They’re holding torches, so it must be the latest video, hasn’t been dubbed yet.” “Right, it’s much later than usual.” “Looks like the timing matches that giant global screen, must be the newest footage.”
“What does ‘the world’s largest screen’ mean?”
“Don’t get it? Look up.” “Oh, got it.”
“But how do you know if it’s important without audio?” “Same question.”
“Probably someone translated the gist, but hasn’t had time to dub it…right?” “Yeah, that must be it.”
So, in the silent video, Wu Qingchen and his companions crossed hills, forded streams, passed through fields—the sights growing ever more familiar to neighbors and countless puzzled Earthlings watching.
Wasn’t this the direction of the cowherd’s residence—the very place that made more than a thousand villagers of Aikeli grit their teeth, and seventy billion Earthlings curse in their hearts?
Exactly this direction!
Exactly the route Wu Qingchen had scouted many times, walking with the distinctive gait of a political dissident from a sandy, wind-blown region—translated as “desert guerrilla” in Chinese, “terrorist” in English.
Minutes later, the head constable Espier stopped in front of the former cowherd’s house.
Dominating the second rung in Aikeli’s village food chain, the cowherd’s living quarters were worlds apart from Wu Qingchen/Los’s own.
Behold this fine dwelling: it consisted of three wooden houses forming the “main building cluster,” all supported by thick, sturdy logs—none of them mere scrawny branches thrown in for numbers.
Observe the walls: densely packed wheat straw, tightly bound with thin vines, sealed every gap between the logs. Not a mushroom in sight, nor even a single bean sprout—unlike other villagers’ homes.
And the roof: thick, heavy thatch layered snugly, most of it so fresh that the wind-blown seeds could still take root and sprout green shoots.
To the left of the “main building cluster,” a fence of slender branches enclosed a quarter of a bull’s worth of vegetable garden, where peas and cabbages flourished. Behind, a spacious livestock shed stood, its hay piles silent testimony to the owner’s well-off status.
A true mansion indeed!
Yet the Earthlings, blind to its value, scoffed:
“Another garbage heap! The more I see these houses, the more depressed I get!”
“Given the owner’s profession, this pile is even filthier! Look at the scan results—the cowherd’s family has the most germs!”
“If this appeared in America, it’d immediately be classified as a bio-weapon terror attack!”
“Looking at all this makes me admire Wu Qingchen even more…”
“Same! Wu Qingchen—tall! Noble! Grand! Colossal!”
“It really isn’t easy; I don’t know how he survived…” “He hasn’t survived yet…” “He still has a long way to go!”
“If you threw me into a house like this, I’d rather run away as a fugitive slave!”
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“If you threw me into a house like this, I’d rather kill myself!”
“If you ended up in Wu Qingchen’s current house, you might have the strength to run away as a fugitive slave. If you were in his original house, you might barely manage suicide before you died. But in this place, you’d probably die from the stench before you could even try!”
“Is it really that terrifying?”
“Of course! Didn’t you see even their own people can’t stand it?”
The comments struck a truth: the mansion’s smell was indeed less than pleasant.
Look—even for Wu Qingchen, or for upper-class figures like Ifrit the steward and John Playa the priest, even the dozen villagers accompanying them stopped a dozen meters from the mansion.
“Looks like a big scene~” “Both the priest and steward are here.”
“Is something happening again?”
“Urgent question! What are the balls in the red pouch in the emergency kit from the community? How do you use them? Urgent! Waiting online!”
“Didn’t they explain when they handed them out? There’s a manual in the kit.”
“Don’t touch it!”
“It’s a distress ball—for difficulty breathing or movement, squeeze and it sounds an alarm, and transmits an electronic signal directly to the community! Very loud, extremely noisy—do NOT test it!”
“No need to be so tense; the priest and steward look calm, doesn’t seem bad.”
As Wu Qingchen’s group approached, Ifrit stepped forward. The video angle was good—one could see the steward’s mouth moving as he spoke.
“Can’t hear a thing, it’s maddening!” “Where’s a wild subtitle hero when you need one~”
“Wake up, everyone—this language doesn’t even have textbooks yet!”
“Never thought linguistics would be at the cutting edge of technology!”
“What did he say? The people nearby look a little off~”
A moving red frame circled William/Moore, who stared in shock: “Stunned expression…I have a bad feeling~”
Likewise, Jacqueline, Idra, Grace, Freeman, and everyone present except the priest and steward were left dumbfounded.
Slowly, those shocked gazes focused on Wu Qingchen/Los.
“I feel like they’re looking at a diamond…”
“With their intelligence, it’s more like they’re seeing a moving braised pork…”
“I’m starting to get a bad feeling too!”
Gradually, the villagers’ dumbfounded stares shifted to the cowherd’s mansion.
“Did they spot another chunk of braised pork that doesn’t move?”
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“No way. The situation isn’t about to unfold exactly as I imagined, is it?”
“I thought of it too—please don’t say it!” “If only bad omens didn’t come true…” “If only bad omens didn’t come true…”
The sense of foreboding grew ever denser.
“My dad says their expressions are exactly like when people in the eighties heard that the neighbor had been assigned a new apartment!”
As soon as this comment floated by, “Jinx!” instantly flooded the entire screen.
According to Murphy’s Law, if there’s any chance of tragedy, it will inevitably occur.
The comments vanished, and a “Notice of Tragedy” from the UN Special Committee for Astronomical Events’ Language Group appeared, shining brightly.
The emergency response group had urgently decrypted the video dialogue and issued an announcement, official and tactful—likely meant to soothe public sentiment as well. Its main content and central theme distilled thus:
“Los/Moore, a Free Citizen (i.e., Wu Qingchen of Country Z), has actively contributed to the construction of the territory, building bridges and roads, showing strong initiative and dedication, performing all labor duties with diligence and outstanding results.
Los/Moore, a Free Citizen (i.e., Wu Qingchen of Country Z), is devout, loves the lord, honors his parents, respects his elder brother, cares for his younger siblings, and is friendly with neighbors, enjoying high esteem among villagers.
Los/Moore, a Free Citizen (i.e., Wu Qingchen of Country Z), during the recent crisis involving injured draft cattle in Aikeli village, stepped forward to learn, sought medicine, healed the wounded cattle, mitigated losses, and under the leadership and coordination of the local lord, safeguarded the interests of the great lord and villagers.
Los/Moore, a Free Citizen (i.e., Wu Qingchen of Country Z), is hardworking, with rich experience in basic animal husbandry, tending poultry alone at age six, and draft cattle at age twelve. Recommended by the barony’s agricultural officer, Windwood/Ballis/Ackford, seconded by Priest John/Playa/Ackford and Steward Whedon/Ifrit of Aikeli village, and finally approved by Baron Ackford (full name not yet available):
Los/Moore, a Free Citizen (i.e., Wu Qingchen of Country Z), is deemed suitable to serve as the cowherd of Aikeli village. It is hoped he will continue to excel, raising livestock management to new heights. The local leadership and all free citizens and serf villagers are urged to support him with a sense of responsibility, and strive together for the harmonious, stable, prosperous Ackford barony!
Additionally: The village leadership is requested to provide Los/Moore, a Free Citizen (i.e., Wu Qingchen of Country Z), with appropriate office and work conditions, create a good environment, and improve efficiency.”
The “Notice of Tragedy” held its ground for three minutes before reluctantly shrinking to the fourth slot in the lower-left “Announcements” panel.
A flood of comments burst out.
“Emergency translation makes no sense—can anyone summarize?” “I didn’t get it either!” “No idea what it’s about! This emergency is so rushed it’s incoherent!”
“The gist is: the agricultural officer was impressed by Wu Qingchen’s cattle care, and along with the priest and steward, recommended him to be the village cowherd. The priest and steward are to arrange his meals and lodging—probably in the broken-down house seen in the video!”
“Cowherd? Is this new job any good?”
“Is being a cowherd good?”
“Is this really the time to be worried about that? Do you even know what being a cowherd means?”
“Damn, are they moving him?”
“Damn, just when he’d cleaned up the trash heap, he has to move?”
“Damn, these medieval world bastards can’t do anything normal!!!”
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