In the mouth of the maid, Governor Liu, to offer gifts to the high monk Arhat Kongming who had recently certified for the Arhat Fruit Position, had instigated labor requisitioning from the populace of three counties during the bitter winter months, ordering these people to complete the sitting Buddha statue of Arhat Kongming within a month.
If they missed the construction deadline and delayed Governor Liu's offering to Arhat Kongming, the people would surely have their households exterminated by Governor Liu.
Therefore, even though quite a number of people had fallen to their deaths or been killed by random falling rocks, none dared to run away.
For the sake of their elderly parents and wives at home, the people could only risk their lives to carve stones and sculpt the Buddha statue.