After paying my respects to Senior Nameless, I walked around the tomb and found the passage of the astral energy tunnel.
It was a narrow forest made of fragrant maple trees, which were common in Hong Kong. It extended from the tomb to a far distance.
Although he had seen the location of the broken part of the Stellar Energy channel from the photos, he still needed to investigate it on the spot to know its exact location.
Mi Ding Cheng and I walked in the front. Mi Ding Cheng's butler and his helpers followed behind us.
This was originally a wasteland with long grass and deep forests. Naturally, there was no road here. Fortunately, because this place was previously developed, the ground was paved with a stone road that could barely be driven by a car. It was also considered flat, so walking on it was not too strenuous.
After walking for around two or three kilometers, I saw a ten-meter-wide trench in the forest ahead of me. Not only had it cut off the entire forest, but it had also dug a fifty-meter-wide pit on both sides of the trench. All kinds of building materials were piled up in the pit, and there were more than ten simple sheds in the corner.
It was obvious that this place was the construction site that the government had mentioned.
Before I could say anything, Mi Ding Cheng asked his butler to take a few helpers to check the construction site.
Not long after, the butler returned and asked about the situation here.
This place was supposed to be used for the government's housing project. Although the surrounding area hadn't been cleared yet, it would take a long time to build the building. That was why they had started the construction work first. However, as soon as they finished digging the foundation, they received the order to stop work and evacuate. Since the order came in a hurry, the workers didn't have time to evacuate.
The situation was not unexpected. Mi Ding City had communicated with the Hong Kong government last night, and the order might have been passed down this morning. The workers had no time to react at all.
After explaining the situation, the old butler turned to Mi Ding City and asked, "Mr. Mi, should I go and urge them to pack up and leave as soon as possible?"
Mi DingCheng waved his hand and said, "There's no rush." Then, he turned to me and asked politely, "Grandmaster Zhou, the Fragrant Maple Forest was cut off here. After we replant it, we can restore the astral energy passage, right?"
I nodded.
Mi Dingcheng pointed at the big pit and asked, "Such a big pit has been dug out here. If we want to replant, do we have to fill up the deep pit?"
I lifted my eyes and looked around. This pit wasn't small. It was more than ten meters wide and more than a hundred meters long. I didn't know how long the construction workers had been digging here. If we were talking about backfilling, it would take at least a month.
Mi Ding Cheng was asking for a backfill. But from his anxious look, he must be thinking about the time. If it was delayed for a month, no one knew what would happen to the Mi family.
I was also a little hesitant.
I accepted the Mi family's Seven Star Mugwort Grass, and I was still thinking about how to get information about the Seven Star Mugwort Grass from Mi Ding City. It would be inexcusable if I didn't take care of it.
If the Mi Clan were to wait for a month or two, Mi Ding City would definitely be dissatisfied, not to mention that something might happen during this period of time.
After thinking for a while, I said to Mi Ding Cheng, "We definitely have to fill it up. This trench isn't good for the circulation of astral energy. But Mister Mi, you don't have to rush. While we're backfilling, we can temporarily restore the passage."
"Temporarily restore?" Mi Ding Cheng didn't understand.
I nodded and pointed at the big pit in front of us. "The astral energy follows the tree. Mister Mi only needs to nail some steel bars on both sides of the trench. Then, we can lay the wooden planks and move the soil over. Then, we can plant the tree. Or, we can find some large pots and plant the tree in them."
After hearing what I said, Mi Ding Cheng clapped his hands. His face was full of realization. "Master Zhou is really thoughtful!
Let's do it this way. "
Then, he called the housekeeper and asked him to contact the person in charge of the construction workers. He said that he wasn't in a hurry to urge them to leave. He could talk to them and hire them to backfill the trench. At the same time, according to what I said, we should first use steel bars in the middle of the trench to temporarily make a place to plant trees.
The old housekeeper was a regular worker. After hearing what I said, he went back to the construction site. Before he left, he asked his subordinate to drive the car that was parked at the old beggar's grave over. He asked Mi Ding Cheng and I to wait in the car.
This time, he didn't go to inquire about the situation. He was in charge of communicating with the workers and finalizing the employment contract. It took him almost an hour.
When he came back, he told us that everything was done. The Mi Group would send someone to come and finalize the employment contract with the person in charge here. Moreover, they didn't need to wait for the contract. The workers here would immediately start building the iron chain passage.
Following him back was a dark-skinned fat man wearing a construction hat. He was obviously the person in charge of the construction site. After the old housekeeper explained the situation, the dark-skinned fat man smiled and asked about how to build the iron chain passage, how much weight it needed, and what to build on top of it.
This dark-skinned fatty was a shrewd person. At a glance, he could tell that Mi Ding Cheng was the big boss here. His words were directed at Mi Ding Cheng. However, after he finished asking, Mi Ding Cheng turned his head and smiled at me. "Master Zhou, you have to answer these questions."
I nodded and thought for a moment. Then, I answered the dark-skinned fat man. "This iron chain passage needs to be built according to the position of the forest. The width should be the same as the forest, and the depth should be one to two meters from the ground.
As for the weight, the iron chain needs to be filled with soil until it's level with the ground. Then, we'll plant the saplings. You can calculate the weight yourself. "
The dark-skinned fat man looked confused. He clearly didn't understand why we needed to build an iron chain passage in the air and then plant the saplings. However, he didn't ask much. After thinking for a moment, he nodded and said, "It's just filling the soil and planting the saplings. The weight won't be too big. It's not hard. The workers will start working now. It should be done around sunset."
Hearing his estimate of the working hours, Mi Ding Cheng was naturally happy. He specially asked the housekeeper to give the dark-skinned fat man a bonus. He also promised that the time limit would be six in the afternoon. For every hour earlier, he would receive an extra two hundred thousand HKD.
The dark-skinned fat man couldn't hide his smile. After receiving the reward, he ran back.
Not long after, a large number of workers came out of the simple sheds. They carried a large number of construction tools and walked to the position of the forest in the trench. They measured the position and built the scaffolding at the same time. Then, they started working.
Mi Ding Cheng managed the entire Mi Group, so he must be a very busy person. However, the entire Mi Group's business couldn't compare to his luck. That's why he didn't go anywhere that day. He just sat here with me and watched the progress of the project.
The old saying was right. When there's a big reward, there will be brave men.
Just as expected, with the incentive of Mi Ding Cheng's bonus, the group of workers' enthusiasm was maximized. Although it was said to be six in the afternoon, in reality, the iron chain passage had already been built at three thirty in the afternoon. Then, the workers struck while the iron was hot. They laid the wooden planks and filled them with soil. In total, it didn't take more than four o 'clock.
Mi Ding Cheng was very happy. Besides the promised four hundred thousand HKD, he also added another one hundred thousand HKD, making it five hundred thousand HKD.
After this project was done, the next step was to plant the trees.
Today, Mi Ding Cheng had sent people to buy a large amount of Maple Fragrant Wood seedlings. The planting process was simple, but after planting a few seedlings, Mi Ding Cheng frowned and asked me hesitantly, "Master Zhou, the other trees in this Maple Fragrant Wood are around ten or twenty meters tall, but the newly planted trees are saplings that are around one meter tall... Can these saplings support this path of astral energy?"
His question was right on point. When I told him to fix the passage, I didn't think too much about it. However, Mi Ding Cheng was very meticulous and kept me here to guide him.
Now, it seemed that his action wasn't superfluous. It was impossible to support the passage with just these saplings.
Even if he moved some mature trees here, they wouldn't be able to merge with the forest since they didn't grow here. It was impossible to connect the passage in one go.
Of course, this wasn't a problem for me. However, if I wanted to repair the passage, I would have to spend a lot of effort.
After thinking for a while, I didn't say much. I just asked them to plant the trees first.
Mi Ding Cheng didn't ask much and asked them to continue planting the trees.
He wanted to stay and watch, but I told him, "We just need to plant the trees today. There are some things we need to do later, but we don't need to hurry. We can come back tomorrow morning to finish them."
Of course, Mi Ding Cheng would listen to my arrangements. He asked the old housekeeper to keep an eye on the place while we returned to the Mi family's manor.
After returning to the Mi family's manor, Mi Ding Cheng and I sat in the living room.
Mi Ding Cheng was anxious and wanted to ask about the saplings. However, I didn't hurry to explain to him. "I have my own plans." Then, I changed the topic and asked him about the seven-star mugwort.
"Mister Mi, where did you get the two seven-star mugwort leaves?"
Mi Ding Cheng was surprised and hesitated. "They … were given to me by an old friend of mine. Why do you ask?"
I didn't beat around the bush. "To be honest, I'm looking for the whole seven-star mugwort. It's very useful.
If Mister Mi can provide me with this information, I'll be very grateful. "
"This …" Mi Ding Cheng's face became more hesitant. "These two mugwort leaves were given to me by an old friend of mine who runs a pawnshop. He accidentally pawned them. Since no one came to redeem them after a long time, they became his personal belongings. He knew that I was interested in them, so he gave them to me … If Mister Zhou wants to find more information, I'm afraid you won't be able to find any clues since it's been a long time."
After listening to him, I frowned and felt a little unhappy.