Li Daoxuan gave the enclosure model a thorough check. He physically pushed and pulled on the walls, confirming the structure was solid. Every slab, every sheet of iron, was firmly secured—nothing could casually tumble down.
This place was meant for people. If the house collapsed, crushing the miniature folk, it wouldn't be divine intervention; it would be a disaster flick.
Satisfied with the stability, Li Daoxuan grabbed the remote. He nudged the stick, setting the speed to Gear 1. The Hakka fortress began to roll across the floor at an extremely slow crawl.
Gear 1 was snail-slow—barely a dozen centimeters per second.
But for Li Daoxuan, this was plenty. Transferred to the Ming Dynasty scale, that slow crawl would be 100 kilometers per hour—faster than a tank.
All checks were good. Time to put it in the box.
Divine Urban Renewal
Li Daoxuan lifted the diorama lid. Inside, the villagers were going about their day: some forging armor, some weaving cotton, others sawing furniture, weaving baskets, or patting clay pots.
The common laborers, who had no special skills, had nothing much to do and were simply relaxing and chatting in the empty space at the center of the village.
Li Daoxuan addressed the heavens over Gao Yiye's house: "Yiye, tell everyone: there's work to be done."
The moment he spoke, he watched through the ceiling hole as Gao Yiye scrambled from her loom, instinctively trying to cover the machine.
She instantly realized concealment was pointless; the god knew everything. She dipped her head, her voice thin with worry: "I obey! Tianzun... you saw me weaving... you aren't angry, are you?"
No, I think it's pretty cute.
Ignoring the question, Li Daoxuan focused on the mission: "Gather everyone. Retreat to the corner by the wall. The center of the village—fifty zhang around—must be empty. No one stays."
Gao Yiye quickly acknowledged the order and ran out, shouting the Tianzun's command.
The villagers immediately dropped their work and huddled with Gao Yiye in the corner, pressing against the wall, staring confusedly at the vacant central ground.
Li Daoxuan measured the space...
Not enough room. The villagers' flimsy thatched houses were in the way.
He couldn't place the structure outside the village, as that would ruin the farmland.
Though the fields were just cracked yellow dirt now, they were essential production tools come autumn. They couldn't be damaged.
So, the grass huts had to go. The first round of divine eviction was underway.
Li Daoxuan announced: "I am giving you a beautiful, massive new house. To do this, I must remove your old ones. Everyone will receive compensation for the removal. Any complaints?"
The villagers blinked, then erupted in delight: "We trust the Tianzun completely!"
"Good. I will now move your houses, taking care not to damage your possessions."
Li Daoxuan reached down and grabbed a villager's hut, lifting it along with a chunk of the underlying earth.
Every villager watched, stunned, as a house and its patch of ground flew upward, arced across the sky, and gently landed on the hillside outside the village walls.
"WHOA!"
"The Tianzun's power is unmatched!"
"Look! My house is flying too! It's going outside the village!"
The houses flew out one after the other.
Soon, the center of the village was clear, save for the "Dao Xuan Tianzun Grotto."
The Grotto also had to be cleared!
But since the folk had worked hard to build it, destroying it would hurt their feelings. Li Daoxuan offered a kind lie: "The temple is built well. I am taking it up to the heavens for my own contemplation."
Hearing that the Tianzun was so pleased he wanted the temple for himself, the tiny folk cheered, believing their work was divinely favored.
Li Daoxuan picked up the Grotto and placed it on his desk. Honestly, it's a decent little craft project. It had his one-centimeter statue, miniature tables, and prayer mats. He could probably sell it later.
The center was finally clear. Time to deploy the Hakka fortress.
The villagers looked up as the clouds seemed to part, and a huge structure slowly descended.
From high up, it was abstract. But as it landed, they realized it was an enormous fortified manor: 108 meters long, 128 meters wide, with walls 9 meters high.
The weird part? Two rows of massive black wheels were underneath, each wheel 12 meters tall. These wheels lifted the whole fortress more than three meters off the ground.
The villagers were speechless: A house on tires?!
Li Daoxuan felt a twinge of embarrassment. Crap. The wheels make it look ridiculous. The fortress was so high off the ground; would the villagers need ladders just to get in and out?
Too inconvenient. Should he remove the tires?
Wait, he had a solution!
Bury the lower half of the wheels.
He reached into the box and dug two long trenches in the ground, perfectly sized for the tires. Then, he lowered the fortress. The wheels slid into the trenches, and the composite chassis base settled perfectly level with the ground. He packed in the dirt, smoothed the foundation, and gave the structure a gentle shake. Perfect. Solid.
Hakka Fortress: Ready for Occupancy!
The villagers couldn't see his hand, but they saw giant trenches appear, dirt fly, and the colossal building being subtly nudged and shaken. They gasped in amazement.
Li Daoxuan commanded: "Yiye, with Shansier gone, you and the Village Chief are in charge. Assign one room to every family."
The villagers, hearing Gao Yiye's translation, cheered wildly!
Especially the refugees, who had been squatting without shelter, planning only temporary lean-tos before autumn.
The Tianzun, in his infinite mercy, had given them a fortress, with a private room for every family.
We gave the god a tiny clay shack; the god gave every person a stone room.
Their cheering grew deafening.
Li Daoxuan cut in: "Don't get too excited. These rooms don't have doors or windows. You have to build all that yourselves."
The villagers cheered even louder: "The Tianzun is kind!"
"May the Tianzun protect us!"
"Tianzun Forever!"
"You idiot! You're cursing him to only live forever? Gods have endless life!"
"Ah, this idiot is sorry! Tianzun... may your fortune be without limit (Wuliang Shoufu)..."
Amidst the shouts of devotion and minor theological corrections, no one worried about the missing doors and windows. Compared to building the entire fortress, basic carpentry was a simple chore for the hardworking people. They didn't consider it a problem at all.