Chapter 297: Chapter 252: The Reply Letter
Deep into the night, Li Ang sat at his desk, flipping through letters from friends and relatives in Chang’an, his face flickering in the candlelight.
Remote communication via the Nearby Worm had a monthly usage limit. The younger the Nearby Worm, the fewer times it could be used each month. Therefore, even local officials couldn’t use this public resource for non-urgent private matters to "call" friends and family in Chang’an.
Most of the time, people still relied on written correspondence.
The Academic Palace had ended its winter break and officially started the new semester, propelling academic exchanges into a new phase.
The agricultural competition was divided into many categories, including flowers, fruits, vegetables, and potted landscapes, among others.
Agricultural doctors valued the fruit and vegetable categories more, looking for new crop varieties or innovative farming tools. Meanwhile, students and the general public were keener on admiring exotic flowers and potted landscapes, such as peonies, roses, orchids, and more.
At the competition, a white peony cultivated by an Academic Palace senior even sold for eight thousand strings of coins.
Besides that, there was also a mathematics competition.
Problems crafted by Doctors of Mathematics from various countries left many students groaning in distress, and the first prize in the mathematics competition was won by a frail student from West Jing, who didn’t seem at all typical of someone from Jing Country.
During the award ceremony, he even took the opportunity to make a few subtle digs, suggesting that dwelling on past glories only hindered current progress, or something to that effect.
This particularly displeased the Yu Country students, who had always prided themselves on their mathematical prowess.
Yang Yu wrote in his letter that if Li Ang were still at the Academic Palace, the first prize would definitely have stayed with Yu Country. He had even asked Doctor Chao Wen Yuan for a blank copy of the exam. He initially intended to mail it in the envelope but later decided against it, thinking it might disturb Li Ang. So, he held off on sending it, waiting for Li Ang to try the problems himself when he returned—eager for Li Ang to put that West Jing mathematics student in his place.
What’s this? Is he trying to say, ’Alas, my generals Yan Liang and Wen Chou are not here. If I had but one of them, why should I fear Hua Xiong?’
Li Ang couldn’t help but smile wryly as he began reading through other letters.
In their letters, Aunt Song and Song Shaoyuan advised Li Ang to keep warm and not catch a cold from the unseasonable spring chill.
Li Leqing’s letter talked about trivial daily matters, like the unprecedentedly grand wedding planned in the palace for her fourth brother, Li Hui.
The Emperor and Empress truly doted on this son the most. They not only used money from the Royal Treasury but also tapped into a substantial, undisclosed fortune—provoking other princes and princesses to feel extremely envious in private.
It seems the rumors in Chang’an are indeed true; those high-profile merchants in the East and West Markets, like Jin Wusuan, are, to some extent, agents for the Royal Family’s commercial interests.
Li Ang shook his head. Emperors of Yu Country, almost without exception, had a penchant for opulence and grandeur, each having their own private coffers—a common affliction of the Li Royal Family.
Cheng Juxiu, far away in Dengzhou, had heard of Li Ang’s trip to Suzhou to combat the Water Poison epidemic and had written to offer encouragement. He also mentioned the recent manned flight of a human-powered aircraft in Dengzhou. With a laugh, he expressed anticipation for the day Li Ang would develop a high-speed manned flying vehicle. Then, one could travel from Northern Yu to Yu Country’s Southern Border in a single day, family in tow—what a delightful thought.
Given the progress of Tantai Leshan and Dr. Su Feng, it’s quite possible that a manned aircraft will be made before cars. Yu Country’s tech tree is certainly taking a strange path.
Li Ang shook his head and wryly remarked to himself, By then, we might need to establish an Airspace Administration under the Six Ministries, solely to manage the airspace. Because of the Gang Wind Layer high in the sky, Cultivators using Flying Swords would have to notify the Administration to avoid crashing into planes...
As Li Ang’s position at the Academic Palace rose and he read more Forbidden Books, he increasingly realized the vast differences in the tech trees between Yu Country and his memories of another world.
The Iron Melting Skill and Iron Casting Technique were akin to CNC machine tools and industrial mother machines. The Rain Praying Talisman was comparable to an artificial rainmaking cannon. The Tunneling Technique was similar to a tunnel boring machine...
In his memories of the Otherworld, those products required countless precursor scientific technologies to be unlocked. In this world, however, they could be completely replaced by Spiritual Power and Magic Talismans. In some instances, Magic Talismans even exhibited superior effects.
More importantly, there were Mutated Objects.
Li Ang’s expression grew somber. He had actually lied to Qiu Feng during the day. In his communication with Chang’an via the Nearby Worm, the Mountain Master had revealed that the Academic Palace had secretly conducted a series of experiments. Some of the Mutated Objects in Dongjun Tower could exterminate nail snails and Blood-sucking Worms.
But without exception, these Mutated Objects had side effects.
For example, a thumb-sized fish harmless to humans and livestock, called the Double Guardian Fish, possessed the ability to split itself. One would become two, and two would become four. It preyed on small insects floating in the water, including the cercariae of Blood-sucking Worms.
However, the rate at which this fish species multiplied depended on the water system it inhabited. The larger the water system, the faster its reproduction. If released into the densely interconnected waters of Taihu Lake, all rice paddies would be overrun by these small fish within a few years. Not to mention the possibility of them swimming into the ocean via the lake waters.
There was also a greyish-white animal, the size of a dog and resembling an anteater, known as the worm-tongue beast. The primary diet of the worm-tongue beast consisted of various snails. It would use its long, slim tongue to flip nail snails out from the grass and soil and directly consume them. This was a thousand times more efficient than a human per day, and the beast itself was not susceptible to infection by Blood-sucking Worms.
The downside was that the worm-tongue beast’s excrement had an aerosolizing property. Upon contact with air, it formed a highly toxic, corrosive cloud. This was not only harmful to humans but also penetrated the soil, causing irreversible degradation of its fertility.
The Mutated Objects from Dongjun Tower were like double-edged swords; it was difficult to find one that was effective and completely free of side effects.
Destruction is always easier than construction.
Li Ang sighed and opened Chai Chai’s letter. Chai Chai mentioned some trivial matters in her letter: how difficult the exams were, how much homework she had, and when he, her young master, would return, among other things.
At the end of the letter, Chai Chai had also added a line: "The words above were all written by me using Telekinesis to control the paper and pen, isn’t that amazing?"
Li Ang could almost picture her smug little face, lips curled in a self-satisfied smile as she waited for praise.
I really should praise her properly when I get back.
Li Ang smiled, putting down the letter. He picked up a brush from the pen stand, ready to write a reply. However, the brush tip hovered above the paper for a long time, as he still didn’t know what to write.
The densely packed, shocking swarms of nail snails outside Suzhou City; the countless families in the sick wards experiencing separation by life and death; the once-bustling port, now desolate; Taihu Lake, teeming with contaminated water...
After much hesitation, Li Ang finally wrote in the most reassuring tone he could manage, with phrases like, "All is well, no need to worry," before placing the letter paper into the envelope. He would wait until tomorrow to entrust someone with sending it to Chang’an.
After writing the reply and washing up, Li Ang lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.
I might as well go take a look at Taihu Lake.
Li Ang opened his eyes and awakened the Ink Silk Clone lurking deep beneath the ground outside Suzhou City.