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There's too many... we can't handle them all...

We might not even manage to save the nearby fields.

The situation is dire, we should prioritize saving the people...

Am I imagining things...? They don't seem as fearsome as before...

What's that sound?

This plate is separating from the core city...

As I thought... the vitality of these monsters is bound to Dahuang's energy core. So once we break that connection, they'll grow weaker.

Hold on! Has everyone managed to evacuate here?

We notified the entire city, but is everyone here?

Everyone from Residential Sections 1 to 4 is here.

Sections 9 through 12, all present!

Everyone from 6 to 8 is here, but we haven't heard back from the group dispatched to Section 5.

What?!

They were on their way from the city center when they encountered a patch of farmland under attack. Things were going badly, and that's when we lost contact.

The energy core has broken down, and our communications systems went with it...

I'll go look for them!

Wait!

You're always chide me for acting tough, but now you're dashing ahead of us? We don't even know how many monsters are swarming the place, and you plan on charging forward alone?

That's my experimental plot, I know it better than anyone else!

The residents there usually help me with the farmwork. I even lied to them, saying my research was going well lately...

It's fine if you want to go, just take me along. I run fast too. I can help.

You're not from here. You've got nothing to do with the people here, and you're even a year younger than I am—

'...He Sheng was promoted to an Intermediate Nongye Tianshi in the year 1101 at the age of seventeen.'

You—

When I was looking through the intel on Dahuang, I checked the Tianshi Bureaus' roster, and found <i>you're</i> a year younger than <i>me.</i>

So no need to act tough at such a critical juncture, boy.

Shao lai zhe tao, do you normally speak like this back home?!

I NEVER speak like this, xin qiu!

Enough talk, let's go already!

Was the legend a lie?

The blurry rice paddies stretch to the horizon. This is a patch of living, fertile land.

The wind plays ever so, the wave of rice as song.

A nascent consciousness is born here, and a voice speaks to her.

You're back.

You seem exhausted. Are you alright?

So... you're already awake.

Where am I? Have I always been here?

Why do I... have memories from long ago?

I saw so much...

War, death, plague, famine...

The disaster from above the roof washes over the land, leaving only devastation behind, followed by endless war and upheaval.

Civilizations perish, life fills with dread.

Why am I trapped in here?

Just who am I?

I feel so... frightened.

The outside... is frightening.

Pain.

I can hear the cries of many.

How can I put a stop to all this suffering?

I remember now, someone gave me a name...

<i>Sui.</i>

I <i>am</i> you.

The weeds overgrow, drowning the entire land.

The longest dark of night condenses into this single moment.

No, you're just a shadow... my shadow.

But it isn't your suffering, it belongs to the people living on this land.

No—

You fear because you haven't really lived yet, you don't know how this great land truly is.

This world isn't frightening at all.

But you've never seen crops being harvested, or people cheerfully laughing.

You've never seen countless creatures vying to survive, enduring hardship, and continuing to thrive.

You should take a closer look, if you get the chance.

I am no longer an arrogant and lonesome Feranmut, nor am I a soul adrift all on my own.

I have lived a real life here, together with the infinite variety life on this continent.

A drop of dew drips down, injecting life that spans across time into the land.

Sleep.

Twilight red sets on the stalks,

these earthly strivings kissed by dew,

millennia reap me now a single tender shoot.

Over here! Help!

AHHHH! Stay away!

...Wha!

(Hiss)

Are... Are we saved?

Uncle Wang! Why are you still here? Are you alright?

Xiaohe! I knew you'd come back!

Jian gui le, these beasts just appeared out of nowhere and started chewing up all the crops here. .

But don't worry! We protected the plot well, and didn't let a single beast pass us—

Uncle Wang!

It's alright... he's only fainted from shock.

The whole field is sinking inch by inch, and huge fissures can be seen across the fields in the distance.

The communication equipment's not working at all. The Tumu Tianshis don't know there's still people here, and they've already begun disconnecting the plate.

Let's hurry and move before it's too late!

What a deep ravine...

Have we been... left behind?

...Pardon me!

The young Candleholder carries the farmer on his own, and leaps into the air, crossing the gap in just a few steps.

You... you're amazing!

Zuo Le goes back and forth between the two separated plates, transporting one-by-one those left behind to safety on the other side.

But the space between the plates continues to expand at a speed visible to the naked eye, and his steps gradually grow heavier.

Until the last trip, when a gust of wind blows him back up as he almost loses his footing.

Careful now...

Many thanks...

Everyone's safe now, so hold onto me and I'll bring you over too!

(Hiss)

There's more of them?!

Don't get distracted...

You're using your Arts too much.

No need to worry about me... the students of the Tianshi Bureaus aren't as weak as you think.

The duo work together to repel a few monsters, but as they dispatch the beasts the vertical disparity of both plates escalates before their eyes.

The distance of about fifteen meters seems a unsurmountable chasm to the two.

Damn it!

Are we... stuck here...?

This plate is about to fall, so we'd best prepare for impact... Find somewhere with soft soil to hide it, and we might...

I never noticed till now that Dahuang's plates were built so high...

Zuo Le... How many people did we save?

Don't worry, I did a headcount earlier and everyone who was here has already made it over.

Cheer up, we just have to find a way to make it back alive, and this rescue mission will be a complete success.

The legends always say as long as everyone stands together, we'll make it through any crisis, no matter how dire it gets...

Everyone's been taking care of me all these years... I've never managed to pay them back, but today...

He Sheng struggles to finish his words, and Zuo Le realizes a bright red stain is seeping through from the other's white shirt.

You're hurt?! When did you—I'll stop the bleeding!

Zuo Le, let me give you something.

Right now?!

This is my Tianshi apparatus with important data inside. You have to keep it safe, no matter what happens.

Alright... I'll take it.

He Sheng ties an Originium device tightly onto Zuo Le's hand. He hits the switch, and the little thing rapidly unfolds into a kite.

What are you doing?!

I was hard on you before, but I've realized... you have a good heart.

So I can't, leave you here...

The youth exerts the last vestiges of his strength, and a gust of wind rises. Zuo Le flies into the air carried by the kite before he can even react.

The plate below shrinks bit by bit, along with He Sheng's silhouette. But Zuo Le can make out the shapes of a few remaining monsters on the field rushing towards the shrinking figure.

(Menacing howl)

I don't know where you came from...

But I'm not scared...

Huh...?

Oink—?

You awake? Hey, wake up!

Wei, you hear that?

Seems like he's still breathing. Make way.

I...

Mianmian?

(Concerned nudging)

Stop... licking me... I don't have any treats on me...

He Sheng opens his eyes to find himself lying in a field, surrounded by a plethora of worried faces.

He seems to have returned to a day he does not remember, the first day he came to this land.

Is... everyone alright?

I...

Everyone was about to look for you when Mianmian suddenly showed up with you in tow.

But, why did you—

...Thank you for saving me.

The monsters... did we beat them?

Yes...

The dark clouds scatter, the bloody afterglow fades. Another sunset sprinkles a golden twilight all over the fields.

Is... is it over?

It's over...

We won, right?

What Shennong did then, we've managed it too...

Indeed...

Someone's managed to get the energy core under control, we did it...

Looking back at it all, isn't this the birth of a new legend?

Now that things have died down, we should head back...

Wait! If my eyes don't deceive me...

That's... Plate A-5... the <i>Wanqing</i> experimental plot!

In an overgrown field nearby stands a single rice stalk.

Zuo Le! Help me out!

Why do you want to go back? It's still dangerous!

What is it?

It worked! We did it!

Wanqing, the Ten Thousand Qing of Fertile Fields... all's not lost! There's still hope for us!

The youth happily carries the rice plant, with a slight lunacy to his laughter.

What exactly...?

You'll probably just say 'You wouldn't understand, even if I told you.', right...?

I'll just take you at your word...

For these creatures to grow, they must endure a calamity. Those that survive will break out of their cocoons; those that do not will have their lives quietly snuffed out in the darkness.

No living being can escape the cycle of destruction and rebirth.

What exactly is he planning...?

The <i>Feranmut's Heart...?</i>

We meet again.

Your presence here must mean you've figured out my plans, Lord Zuo?

What are you doing?

Weaving, as you can see.

Weaving what?

Something for sale once it's completed, of course.

For sale to whom?

It's standard practice to keep customer information confidential.

What's that... on the cloth?

Scenes from across the country... or perhaps to phrase it in your words, the 'splendor' of Yan?

I spent many years traveling across Yan, visiting every city, and Dahuang is my final stop. Only today do I consider this bolt of cloth complete.

One should use dyes of an appropriate quality for a design this beautiful. Is there any material better than Yan's splendor to dye this weave? My <i>Hundred Scenic Portraits of Great Yan?</i>

Countless bolts of silk and satin seem to descend from the heavens, every bolt a city, a piece of history, a facet of worldly plight.

The nation's splendor? No... It should be the hearts of the people.

Just look at how brilliant the brocade is. All the colors of their souls I've seen.

How could I dislike this mortal realm?