At noon, wisps of cooking smoke rose from every household in the village, but Xiqingyue and Xiweilan hadn't even set foot in the kitchen.
The two of them moved their rocking chairs back into the main room, spread out a feast on the table, and began to eat greedily.
"Sister, we don't have a courtyard wall here. Will someone come at night and steal our mule cart?"
Xiweilan asked, her mouth greasy as she pointed at the cart outside. She was worried that if she fell asleep, the cart might disappear by morning.
Xiqingyue took out a tissue to wipe the oil stains from her mouth and smiled. "Don't worry, no one in the village will steal it. After we eat, I'll make a wooden fence with thorns—it'll be even sturdier than a rammed-earth wall."
Hearing this, Xiweilan patted her chest in excitement. "Sister, I want to help too! I'll go up the mountain with you to cut wood."
Xiqingyue patted her head and shook it gently. "No, you're still young. If you work too much, you won't grow tall. Sister can handle it by herself. You stay home and watch the cart. I'll be back soon."
Xiweilan pouted in protest but obediently nodded. "Alright."
After the meal, Xiqingyue picked up an axe and headed toward the mountain.
For her, making a simple fence was no trouble at all. A small yard the size of a palm would be nice, as long as there was enough space to park the mule cart.
She walked deep into the mountain with the axe, stopping only when she reached a secluded spot.
She scanned the surrounding trees, her gaze settling on a thick trunk. She then tossed aside the axe.
From her storage space, she pulled out a powerful electric chainsaw and began sawing at the tree. In less than a quarter of an hour, the tall tree came crashing down.
Using the chainsaw, she cut the tree into logs as tall as a man and as thick as a calf's leg. With wind blades, she trimmed the branches and stored them in her space to use as firewood.
After cutting down several trees, she searched for a patch of thorny vines. Using her wood-based powers, she made them grow until the thorns were longer than her fingers, then uprooted all the vines completely.
Once all this was done, she sat down on the ground, crossed her legs, and meditated to improve her supernatural abilities. An hour later, she leisurely carried a few tree trunks down the mountain.
The tree trunks hid her entire figure as they rested on her shoulder, with some vines tied on top. Before long, she returned to the thatched cottage.
"Sister, you're back!" Xiweilan ran over cheerfully.
Xiqingyue dropped her load onto the ground and smiled at the little one. "Are you hungry? What do you want Sister to feed you first to tide you over?"
Xiweilan nodded. "Mm, I'm a little hungry. Sister, I want meat pies and roast chicken later."
Xiqingyue led her inside, then placed two meat pies, a roast chicken, a plate of braised rabbit, a big bowl of rice, and a steaming bowl of yam-and-rib porridge on the table.
"You eat first, Sister is going to set up the fence. If it's not enough, we can add more later."
"Sister, I'll eat one meat pie and help you work. We'll eat together afterward." Xiweilan grabbed a meat pie and was about to follow her out.
Xiqingyue waved her hand to stop her. "No need. You eat first. Sister will be done soon."
She walked outside, picked up two wooden poles in each hand, and found the best spots. With a gentle push powered by her earth-based abilities, she drove the poles deep into the ground, firm and unshakable.
Just as she was about to grab another piece of wood, Xi Weilan ran over and handed her a log. “Big Sister, I can help with the work too.”
Xi Qingyue smiled and patted her head. “Mm, Lan’er is really great. Then you can help me carry the wooden sticks.”
There didn’t seem to be many logs on the ground, but Xi Weilan kept running back and forth, handing them over one after another, as if there were an endless supply.
Xi Qingyue took the two-meter-long logs and drove them into the ground one by one, each so deeply rooted that it felt like they had taken hold underground. Soon, a sturdy fence of wooden stakes, as solid as a wall, encircled the thatched cottage.
Then, using her wood-based special ability, she wove dense, thorny vines around the fence. The vines and logs twisted together, forming a sturdy wooden barrier.
The roots of the vines sank deep into the earth, while sharp thorns covered every part of the fence. Anyone trying to climb over would suffer severe injury at best, if not death.
She built the gate simply, securing it with some logs and planks. By pressing the longest pole into the ground, she created an easy-to-open makeshift door.
During the day, it didn’t matter much, but at night, she would reinforce it with her ability to ensure no one could break in.
She also considered the possibility of intruders leaping into the yard from the branches of the large willow tree. At night, she planned to bury sharp spikes where they might land. If any weight suddenly fell onto them, the intruder would instantly drop and be impaled.
“Wow, Big Sister is amazing! Now we have our own yard wall, and it’s even better and prettier than anyone else’s in the village,” Xi Weilan said, her little face bursting with excitement as she looked at their new wall.
Xi Qingyue was also satisfied with her work. Having special abilities really came in handy. She smiled, walked out of the yard, led the mule cart inside, and closed the gate.
With this wall, she now had much more freedom to take things from her space within the yard without worrying about passersby seeing her.
After dinner, Xi Qingyue bathed Xi Weilan and put her to bed. She herself went into the space to wash up.
Wearing short-sleeved pajamas, Xi Weilan lay on the bamboo bed, rolling around happily. She was already used to her big sister’s occasional disappearances. Before long, she had fallen asleep.
Xi Qingyue didn’t go to sleep right away. After washing, she sat on the bed to cultivate her special ability.
In the dead of night, another scream startled the villagers of Liushu Village.
When the villagers rushed over to investigate, they found Xi Erniu outside Xi Qingyue’s yard wall, clutching his leg and writhing in agony as he wailed.
“Xi Erniu, what are you doing here? What exactly are you trying to do?” the village head demanded angrily.
The other villagers, however, were staring at Xi Qingyue’s yard wall in amazement.
“When did Daya put up this wall? It wasn’t here during the day.”
“It must have been this afternoon. I saw her going up the mountain to cut wood; she brought down a whole load of logs.”
“This looks like a wooden fence, but it’s sturdier than my own earth wall.”
“Good thing she built this tonight, or Xi Erniu would have stolen her mule cart. What a despicable person.”
The villagers chattered and gossiped among themselves, circling the wooden wall to examine it, their eyes filled with admiration and envy.
Carrying torches, they had all gathered to see the wall, even thinking about whether they could imitate it back home and weave thorny vines around their own fences. Amid the chatter, they had completely forgotten about the injured Xi Erniu.
Xi Erniu howled in agony. In the pitch-black darkness, he had assumed it was just an ordinary fence, so he leaped up and lunged, planning to hoist himself over—only to be pierced all over by sharp spikes, nearly costing him his life.
He shouted loudly, "Daya, you vicious bitch! Did you have to turn your own yard wall into this? Are you trying to kill someone?"
With a creak, the door opened from the inside, and Xi Qingyue walked out, rubbing her sleepy eyes.
"What's all this racket? What's going on? What do you mean, killing someone?" she asked, looking utterly confused at the crowd of villagers gathered outside.
Seeing her like this, the villagers only felt even more contempt for Xi Erniu.
Auntie Wu pointed at Xi Erniu and scolded him angrily, "What a shameless bastard! Daya built that wall to protect herself and her sister. You try to sneak in in the middle of the night to steal something, and when you hurt yourself, you blame her for being vicious? How thick can your face be?"
"That's right," another villager chimed in. "Were you here to steal stuff, or to kidnap someone and sell them off? If we reported you to the authorities, you'd be in deep trouble."
Listening to the crowd's accusations, Xi Erniu wanted to curse back, but the pain made it almost impossible to speak.
The village head frowned. If the man died on Xi Qingyue's doorstep, it would be bad luck. He immediately stepped in to stop the quarreling. "Enough. Let's get a doctor for him first. Everyone else, disperse and let Miss Yue get some rest."
After that, he had someone carry Xi Erniu away and told everyone to go back to bed.
Even as they left, the villagers, disturbed from their sleep by Xi Erniu's antics, were still grumbling curses about him.
Watching Xi Erniu being carried off in his pathetic state, Xi Qingyue's previously dazed eyes suddenly sharpened into cold clarity. A frosty smile curled at the corners of her lips. "This wall works pretty well. Guess my afternoon of hard work wasn't wasted."
