Chapter 189 182: The Official Launch of the Census

The term "Xuan Ying" first appeared in Huainanzi.In "Huainanzi: Astronomical Instructions":

"Xun in Ren is called Xuan Ying."

Therefore, Xuan Ying became another name for the Heavenly Stem Ren.

The Heavenly Stem Ren is associated with Ren Water, symbolizing the surging of large rivers, nourishing everything from below.

The core team named the research project on the mystical beast crystal as Xuan Ying.

Firstly, because the mystical beast crystal contains a large amount of solidified spiritual energy crystals, much like frozen water, and if it can be "melted," it can nurture all things.

Secondly, there is hope that the rabbits can gain other significant benefits from the mystical beast crystal, greatly accelerating development in all aspects, like the continuous flow of rivers.

Just like projects such as "Sui Huo" and "Qing Tian," all projects, including Xuan Ying, are named to reflect the rabbits' expectations and prospects for them.

However, due to its wide scope and high equipment requirements, the Xuan Ying plan requires a longer preparation phase.

Especially in terms of researchers.

Although many researchers were already working within the Fire Camp, most of these researchers were already engaged in other ongoing researches.

The handover of relevant documents is actually much more challenging than coordinating equipment.

Therefore, the core team set a timeline of five days to coordinate the personnel and start the related research tasks within a week.

Meanwhile, as the Xuan Ying project proceeds in an orderly manner, the rabbits' first population survey plan has also completed its preparatory work, officially entering the implementation phase.

Outside a refugee settlement point in the west of Chixian City.

Zheng Yuan, along with his partner Fang Yu, was guided through the temporary set up gate by the person in charge of this settlement, Director Yang Xueling.

Zheng Yuan and Fang Yu are colleagues of Cao Yi, and are among the first batch of patrol team members who discovered the light gates with Cao Yi. Before the incident, Zheng Yuan had raised a flag that 'today is a bit boring'.

This group of patrol team members was arranged to come to the Damo Realm with Wu Fan, and under the camp's arrangements, they underwent a Spiritual Root detection.

Besides Cao Yi, who detected dual Spiritual Roots, the others had either four Spiritual Roots or five Spiritual Roots.

However, the command center did not neglect them. After all, whether Zheng Yuan and others acted voluntarily or not, from an objective factual perspective, they were strong promoters of the light gate issue.

Therefore, the camp provided Zheng Yuan and others with appropriate cultivation resources according to internal standards and also gave them language training.

Don't underestimate Zheng Yuan with his relatively average four or five Spiritual Roots.

In fact, frontline grassroots personnel like Zheng Yuan, who have extensive experience, are exactly the talent that the camp currently lacks.

For the soldiers to maintain order or fight is naturally no problem, but to engage in the seemingly trivial yet important affairs of neighboring communities, some related experience is essential.

Without sufficient experience in grassroots matters, sometimes you can really be so frustrated that you want to smash your gun stock against that big forehead a few times in anger.

Additionally, this segment of grassroots workers has a special level within the system; they do not reach the confidentiality level of someone like Yang Xueling or Shi Zehong, who can come to the Damo Realm with just an order. They serve as the connection line between the system and the public.

Thus, the number of grassroots candidates meeting the conditions is indeed not many.

After nearly fifty days of learning, Zheng Yuan and the others can now barely perform basic tasks with conversational language, so the command center assigned them to this exploration and statistical task, returning to their old work.

Upon entering the settlement, Zheng Yuan rubbed his slightly dry eyes and asked Fang Yu:

"Brother Fang, how many families is this today?"

"Ten minutes ago, we counted the 243rd household, and once we finish this alley… I reckon we might reach 350 or so."

Fang Yu estimated the number of tents in this settlement and then turned to the person in charge, Yang Xueling, beside him:

"Director Yang, where do we start the count?"

Yang Xueling, who is from the same batch as Shi Zehong coming to the Damo Realm, is now responsible for the coordination work at this temporary settlement point, and serves as a "Director" here.

She had already considered the starting order of the survey before Zheng Yuan and others arrived, and upon hearing the question, she immediately pointed to the tent on the far left:

"Let's start with this family."

Moments later, the three of them arrived in front of the tent.

"Living here is Granny Lin's family, who arrived at the settlement a week ago. Her husband became paraplegic and lost mobility during their escape, but her children are all still alive, which makes her relatively fortunate among the refugees."

Yang Xueling briefly introduced the situation and then stepped forward, gently shaking the wind chime outside the tent:

"Granny Lin, are you there?"

"Who is it?"

Soon, sounds of movement came from inside the tent, similar to the sound of clattering of pots and pans. There were also a few words of dialogue.

About twenty seconds later, the tent was pulled open from the inside, revealing an elderly female face.

This woman appeared to be in her sixties, was not very tall, and had a full head of white hair, with a noticeable scabbed scar on her left cheek.

When she saw Yang Xueling, a hint of a smile immediately appeared on her face:

"Oh, it's Xiaoyang. What brings you here today?"

Yang Xueling smiled familiarly at her without directly answering the question. Instead, she started with a standard Huaxia greeting:

"Granny Lin, have you eaten?"

As soon as she heard the word "eat," Granny Lin immediately smiled. After all, for displaced persons, food is paramount. She quickly replied:

"I've eaten, I've eaten, even had some meat!"

Taking the opportunity, Yang Xueling stepped forward and took Granny Lin's hand, tidied the stray hair at her temples, and then pointed to Zheng Yuan and the other person to introduce them:

"Granny Lin, these two are my colleagues. We're here mainly to count how many people are in your family. A few days ago, this message was broadcast over the loudspeaker at our shelter. Do you remember?"

Whether it was because of the loudspeaker or the census being particularly memorable, Granny Lin quickly recalled:

"I remember, there was something like that, we even talked about it at home the other day."

With that, she seemed to remember something, hurriedly opened the entrance of the tent a bit, and invited:

"Look at me forgetting, come inside and talk."

Zheng Yuan and the two others exchanged glances and entered the tent one after another.

The tent that Granny Lin's family lived in was of a standard medium size, relatively spacious, so the three people inside didn't feel cramped.

Besides Granny Lin, there was an elderly man who appeared to be of the same age, as well as two women in their thirties and three children.

The elderly man was half-leaning on the only wooden bed in the tent, looking somewhat fatigued from a long illness, most likely Granny Lin's paralyzed husband that Yang Xueling mentioned.

After entering the tent, the two sides exchanged a few pleasantries before Zheng Yuan spoke up:

"Granny Lin, we're short on time, so let's get straight to the point."

Even though Zheng Yuan was young, he had a standard police academy background, and the innate aura of his light blue uniform made Granny Lin and the others unconsciously sit up straighter when he began to speak.

He first asked Granny Lin:

"Granny Lin, may I ask your name, which Damo Day of the year you were born, and your place of origin? Oh, the place of origin means which city you originally came from."

Upon hearing this, Granny Lin glanced at the elderly man next to her, then said:

"My name is Lin Chunju, but everyone calls me Ma Lin.


I originally came from Donggu City, born in the year 4525 of the Damo Calendar, but I've forgotten which specific Damo Day... These days, just being alive is a blessing, who cares about the exact day... I should be... forty-six years old this year."

Zheng Yuan heard this and discreetly glanced at the silver in Lin Chunju's hair and the wrinkles on her face.

Surprised at the mismatch between her age and appearance, he quickly entered this information into the device, inputting '10.1' for the month.

Then he motioned for Lin Chunju to come to the tent entrance, took out a backdrop from his tools, and snapped a not-quite-standard but clear headshot.

Seeing the "entry completed" message from the device, Zheng Yuan nodded satisfactorily:

"Granny Lin, your information has been recorded, now it's the gentleman's turn. Sir, what's your name?"

"My name is Ma Dong...."

After some busy work, the personal information of everyone in the tent, including the three children, was collected and received backend confirmation of completion.

Due to Ma Dong's paralysis, taking his headshot was a bit more troublesome, but that was all.

It was clear that the displaced persons had some trust in the officials, as they didn't show much fear and were willing to chat with Yang Xueling about everyday matters.

After entering the information, Zheng Yuan continued to ask Granny Lin:

"Granny Lin, is there anyone in your family not in the tent right now?"

Granny Lin nodded, and said with some urgency:

"Young man, I was about to ask about this.

My two kids have gone to work at a factory in the city and haven't finished yet. Will it affect them if they miss this... census? Will they be kicked out of the city?"

Zheng Yuan shook his head, signaling her to calm down:

"Granny Lin, don't worry. As long as they're employed at the factory, the factory will conduct its own census.

Just give me their names. When cross-referencing the information, we can confirm which two are your children.

If there's any error and they're missed, that's okay too. Just find Director Yang at the shelter within seven days, and it won't affect them, don't worry!"

Scenes like Granny Lin's were playing out throughout the city.

Some went smoothly, while others encountered some difficulties.

Overall, however, the grassroots officials were accurately and swiftly processing the census.

Meanwhile, simultaneously, the officials began researching the method of beast control, and something very interesting happened.....