Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio  Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

“Wow, what happened?” Two police officers arrived at the reported location and saw a dead sheep and five people collapsed on the ground.

“Police comrades, our sheep was stolen,” the man in charge said. “We chased after them, but he beat us up and called us the thieves instead. The other person called the police!”

A police officer shone his flashlight onto the men. He recognized one of them. “Zhao Dehan, right? Would you even believe what you've just said? Where do you live? It's at least 10 miles away from here. In the middle of the night, five burly men came here to catch the sheep stealer. I think you stole the sheep and waited here for people to pa.s.s by and make them the scapegoat. Come on, get up!”

“Police comrades, we can't get up!” Zhao Dehan exclaimed

“What's the matter?” a police officer asked.

“If we could get up and run, why would we have waited here for you to catch us?” a man muttered in a low voice.

“That makes sense,” a police officer said. “Wait here!”

There were five thieves and only two police officers. The police car couldn't fit them all. After a while, another police car arrived along with two other police officers. They were also amused when they saw the five people.

After listening to the description of their colleagues, they thought that what had happened tonight was very interesting. These men were obviously trying to blackmail others but had gotten what they deserved instead.

“Let's take them back to the station,” a police officer said.

“Excuse me, police comrade, I won't end up in jail, right?” a man asked.

His entire body was shaking. This was the first time he had such close contact with a police officer.

“It will depend on your performance,” the police officer said. “Let's go. Stop dawdling.”

All of the men's bodies were weak. They were like soft-footed shrimps. They were half-dragged into the police car by the police officers and taken to the police station.

“Look at your pathetic state,” Zhao Dehan said.

“I'm afraid,” one of his men said.

“What are you afraid of?” Zhao Dehan asked. “You've just stolen a sheep, not a human.”

“I won't take part next time,” the man said.

“What? Didn't we agree to share happiness and hards.h.i.+p?” Zhao Dehan asked.” Are you already retreating upon encountering this bit of difficulty? Do you still want to be successful?”

“Bro… Brother, how… How can we be successful when we are like this?” the man asked.

“You straighten your tongue before you speak!” Zhao Dehan yelled. “We are already at the police station. If we go on like this, we will have to end you in the cell!”

“Well, I won't take part,” the man said.

In a short time, two of Zhao Dehan's cohorts had backed out. The newly established group was about to split up.

“Zhao Dehan, come out,” a police officer said.

It took less than five hours and a s.h.i.+ning lamp to render the comrade who had some “ambition” to spill everything. It was all about petty things. They weren't the type to commit major crimes but kept on committing petty crimes. They were the type of criminals that caused difficulties and frustration for police officers and the court.

Each of them was called in one after another. None of them could survive for more than two hours before spilling everything. All of their crimes were little things like sneaking around and hara.s.sing people. Those weren't serious enough to grant them a sentence, so the police could only retain them for a couple of days and fine them.

“Boss, why did you confeth?” a man asked with a lisp.

“Your tongue, straighten it,” Zhao Dehan said. “I'm retreating in order to advance. You know nothing!”

“Boss, we, we were just sneaking around and stealing,” another man said. “We didn't commit murder and arson. If you can't handle the interrogation, so be it. There's no shame. The police also said that we won't get the death penalty!”

“Are you stupid?” Zhao Dehan became angry. “Do you possess any basic legal knowledge? It must be a golden sheep if we could get the death penalty just from stealing sheep!”

A police officer yelled, “What's with all the noise? Settle down, all of you!”

Everyone settled down.

In the mountain village, w.a.n.g Yao parked his car and returned home. He greeted his family before going to Nanshan Hill. He switched off the light and rested after reading a pa.s.sage of scripture.

In the middle of the night, w.a.n.g Yao's dog, which was sleeping in the kennel, suddenly stood up. The dog went to the herbal field and nervously paced back and forth.

The eagle standing guard at the top of the tree was flapping its wings.

Huh?

w.a.n.g Yao, who was lying on the bed, suddenly opened his eyes and sat up. “What's happening?”

He suddenly felt the aura changing all around him. The ground under his feet started fiercely shaking.

Earthquake!

Woof! Woof! Woof! The dog continuously barked.

The eagle spread its wings and rushed into the dark sky.

The earth shook violently for more than a minute.

An earthquake could cause devastating damage within dozens of seconds, let alone a minute. In this minute, there seemed to be no obvious changes on the hill. The trees were still there, and the hut was still standing. The dog became quiet, and the eagle in the sky circled Nanshan Hill several times before landing.

Is everything alright at the foot of the hill? w.a.n.g Yao thought.

He was worried about his family, so he hurried down the hill. In the dark night, his speed was extremely fast. In a blink of an eye, he arrived at the foot of the hill and edge of the mountain village.

The village was quiet. Not even a barking dog could be heard. He inspected the village, especially outside his home.

It was fine. Nothing happened in the mountain village. There probably hadn't even been an earthquake there. Otherwise, people in the village would still be reacting. The abnormality had only happened on Nanshan Hill.

w.a.n.g Yao thought, Is the hill growing again?

When he arrived at the border of Nanshan and Dongshan hills, he found that Nanshan Hill had increased in height by about six feet.

“Strange!”

w.a.n.g Yao stared at Nanshan Hill for a long time before returning to his hut. Nothing else happened that night.

The next morning, just after dawn, w.a.n.g Yao inspected Nanshan Hill.

“It's growing quite fast!” w.a.n.g Yao exclaimed.

The dog wagged its tail.

“San Xian, did you feel anything last night?” w.a.n.g Yao asked.

Woof! Woof!

“Nanshan Hill is growing again,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “The speed of its growth is faster than yours!”

Woof!

“If it continues to develop at this speed, it'll surely grow another dozen feet this year,” w.a.n.g Yao said.

He looked at the border between Dongshan and Nanshan hills. In less than half a year, the hill had grown by more than six feet. He thought, This mountain has a spirit! I need to plant more trees!

Most of the land on and under the hill was barren. The remaining villagers were all old people who were satisfied as long as they could grow enough vegetables to eat. No one was willing to put in effort on the hill. Even if they planted food, the transportation to the bottom of the hill was a big problem come harvest season. There was no mechanized equipment. Even if it could be driven up the hill, it would be costly. It was uncertain if they could even make profits by farming on this acre of land. The elderly in the village were satisfied with just earning enough to spend.

In the afternoon, w.a.n.g Yao found Zhong Liuchuan. “Want to help me do some work?”

“Sir, order away,” Zhong Liuchuan said.

“We're going to plant trees,” w.a.n.g Yao said.

“Still planting?” Zhong Liuchuan was stunned.

“Yes,” w.a.n.g Yao replied.

“No problem,” Zhong Liuchuan said.

After receiving the call, Li s.h.i.+yu quickly towed three trucks of trees to the bottom of the hill. w.a.n.g Yao and Zhong Liuchuan dug and planted the trees. Both of them were very fast, especially w.a.n.g Yao, who dug a big pit suitable for planting trees with a shovel in his hand in a matter of minutes. No matter what was in the ground, he would dig it out easily.

This is also cultivation! Zhong Liuchuan thought. He clearly remembered that w.a.n.g Yao had once said, “Eating, living, sitting, and lying down are all cultivations.”

In the afternoon, after the master and apprentice came to the border of Dongshan and Nanshan hills, Zhong Liuchuan said, “Sir, I think Nanshan Hill is different,”

“Oh, what difference do you see?” w.a.n.g Yao asked with a smile.

“It seems to be a little higher,” Zhong Liuchuan replied.

“Your eyesight is very accurate,” w.a.n.g Yao said. “It is indeed higher. This hill is growing taller.”

“For real?” Zhong Liuchuan was shocked.

“Of course,” w.a.n.g Yao replied. “Come on, let's practice boxing.”