act31side

I wouldn't say that.

You were lying unconscious on the ground when I found you, so I went over to try to wake you up.

...Duoxie.

You're the <i>Old Xiangzhang</i> of Dahuang, but the responsibility does not fall solely on your shoulders.

It might not necessarily be a good deal to exchange your life for the safety and stability of this place.

That's my choice to make... What matters is that Dahuang is safe.

You care a lot about this place.

Of course I care. I've spent most of my life here, and my roots run deep...

Mmhmm.

Take care of yourself. I'm off.

Goodbye, Shu.

You deserve your freedom.

The incubator, the incubator...

The rice plant can still be saved... There's still hope for the experiment...

Here you are...

I've found it!

Found what?

This is the one rice plant... the one that survived the 'Wanqing' project's experimental plot.

It isn't impossible to grow crops on Originium-contaminated soil. Laoshi's experiments proved it––

Wait...

You're...

Judging from your clothes, are you a Shouye Tianshi from the Bureau? I don't think I've seen you before...

Yes... I haven't been here very long.

The young man scratches his head in confusion, as if he has forgotten something.

It is as if he has dreamed a long dream, and the emotions from it still vaguely linger in his heart. He just can't remember the people he met or the things he encountered.

After spacing out for a spell, the young man cracks a smile.

I'm an apprentice of the Tianshi Bureau, called He Sheng. I guess I ought to call you Laoshi now too.

Hello, He Sheng...

I just discovered a very important crop... one that can grow on soil contaminated by Originium...

This has been a long-term project. As long as this crop can be widely distributed, we'll be able to reclaim tons of wasteland into usable farmland, and nobody will go hungry ever again...

It might take a while to reach that goal, maybe even a really long time, but at least, there's a glimmer of hope now.

In that case, are you willing to devote the rest of your time to that goal?

Yeah!

I wish you luck.

Do your best. I won't keep you from your research any longer. Zai gin.

Huh? You're leaving already? I was hoping to tell you a bit more about the project, and maybe get a few pointers...

That's alright. I trust that you'll be able to accomplish your goals.

Zai gin.

Hmm...?

That teacher... Why does it seem like I've seen her somewhere before?

Off to deliver the goods, Laobo?

How are food prices this year?

Famine year. Each catty of grain is three wen more expensive than last year.

I suppose when everything's accounted for, your coin sack's a bit heavier than it was last year?

That's not necessarily a good thing.

Farming's all about putting food on people's tables. Never heard of farming to get rich.

Let me teach you a method to make a little extra money. Just keep it in the back of your mind when you're selling your goods.

Sell your highest-quality crops locally at a normal price to increase your reputation; for your average-quality stuff, mark up the price and hire a caravan to ship it far away as a novelty product.

What are you going on about? Never anything so silly.

The best crops are for family and friends first. You sell the average-quality stuff, and then use the rest as feed.

You youngsters have way too many sly tricks.

Where're you planning to go?

Baizao.

After making that much trouble, you just up and leave without saying anything?

It <i>is</i> time to leave. Though, I also don't have Dage's martial skill. If you won't let me go, then naturally, I won't be able to leave.

So, it depends on you. How unwilling are you to let me leave?

I just wanted to ask you a question.

You said you were gonna make a deal with Yan. Were you planning to help build Dahuang up from the very beginning?

I am a merchant, and when doing business, I value mutual profit and reciprocity. If only one side profits, how would I be any different from a robber?

If you didn't want to make an enemy out of all Yan, why did you need to do all this?

Did you two brothers really have to pick a fight with Yan?

Our sister was killed, after all.

That said, the people of Yan harbor no animus towards us. Even if Erge sees the world as nothing more than a weiqi board, a weiqi player naturally feels some sentiment towards the pieces and equipment he's used for a long time.

However, those sitting in the court, lurking in the shadows, must pay the price for what they've done.

This account... must be settled eventually.

Even if your own life is on the line?

Using a twelfth to combat the whole was already a fool's errand.

My life has already been assigned a price upon the ledger.

You really have lost it...

I still remember, a long time ago, you came to visit all of us, one by one, posing a question to each and pointing the way.

'What do you see in the lands of Great Yan?'

My answer has never changed, and I imagine the same is true for Erge.

Wo pei! Never cared for either of you bastards from the very beginning. There's no talking wisdom with you. And when the time is right, I'm still coming to beat your asses.

My brother used to have quite the temper. Whenever he'd lose a game, he'd start throwing cups and bowls around. But weak as he was, there was never any strength behind it.

This time, he went a bit overboard, so thank you for stepping in.

Gun kai! Get outta here already!

Until we meet again.

Where else could you see farmland like this?

Rice has grown like wildfire, the stalks evenly standing ramrod-straight from the soil, like the fur of a stockbeast after autumn's end. Under the blowing wind and shining sun, they ripple as waves of heat wash over them.

A woman stands in the middle of the field, stray stalks and leaves pulling at her clothes. She brushes them aside, wading deeper into the vast ocean of golden grain.

Where are you going?

To find some crops.

Aren't these all crops?

I wish to find those that can be planted in lands far, far away.

Why do you need to plant crops elsewhere? There's so much here already. Are they not enough?

These are not enough to fill the bellies of all men.

How long have you been searching here?

A clump of soil begins to move.

A talpibeast pokes its head out of its burrow. That dim tunnel leads to distant lands, its miniature resident too a drifter from afar.

Once it looks upon the boundless field, rippling and rustling in the wind, it lets out a sorrowful screech and dives back into the deep, dark underground.

How are we supposed to know if the seeds we plant will sprout? How can we tell which way the weather will change?

If you watch long enough, you will learn.

If I watch longer, then I'll learn... Does that include things to come much, much later?

As one sows, so one reaps.

Seeds become crops, so what becomes us?

Where do we come from? After we die, where do we go?

From the ground we sprout, and it is to the ground we return.

Man or crop, it matters not. This is the cycle of all things under heaven.

So it's like the song you taught me to memorize the twenty-four jieqi solar terms?

Springtime drizzles wake the seeds, grain buds dance in summer's heat