level_act31side_st01

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

Autumn gifts the crops their gold, but they can’t stand winter’s cold.

Hey—

Heyyy—

Wakey wakey.

Laojie?

Mphh. I'm awake.

How's it going? From the outside looking in, I get the impression the big guy isn't the obedient type.

Yeah.

I believe it's a bit more mischievous than some younger sisters of mine.

Well, might be best to take a break for a bit. This isn't one of Dusk's daily doodles. Wait too long and your head'll end up spinning.

You just need to take it slow. Haste makes waste, you know.

You're right. I do feel a bit tired.

Nian, could you help pull me out?

If you two didn't show, I would have gone back home by myself.

Oh really? Let's see, which one of us got so scared just now that her face went as white as her canvas?

Shut up.

We're trying to keep the heart of a 'Feranmut' beating, okay? It's not exactly instant noodles.

...*sigh*

When you told me this plan of yours, I thought you'd lost it for sure. I should've expected this sort of crazy scheme from you.

It's just using a whole nomadic city to imitate a Feranmut. I shape its body, and you give it soul. What could go wrong?

You grow more capable and quick-witted by the day, little Nian.

Don't spoil her. What could she have done without the old woman from the Tianshi Bureau and you, Shu?

I've been helping out the Sui Regulator here and there, building up some favors. They should come in useful.

So, what's the situation like now?

Couldn't ask for better.

But if we're going to be using this thing in place of a real-deal vessel, and if us poor little illusions want something to rely on after we get rid of the old timer... I'm afraid it still calls for some elbow grease.

It's quite the troublesome little child, after all.

Wait, so what's the good part? Aren't we still at square one?

Now, I know what you're thinking, you put some effort into making this thing too. You just want some recognition from your older sister, right?

How juvenile of you.

You've developed as an artist, Dusk. It's been years since we saw each other, but I can tell you're still diligent as ever, and never one to waste time.

...*cough*

I still can't imagine it. Passing off a fake body with sleight of hand isn't so hard, but it's going to make an even bigger mess in the end.

It'll just be a small portion of us that we carved off of ourselves. The product of three sisters pooling their power, and yet still incomplete.

How will the Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities become a place where we belong...?

You may be right.

But while I was within the scroll, I really did sense...

Life.

The beast walks with the generous earth, and in the beginning we too grew upon this land.

Perhaps this flower may actually bloom.

Ah, c'mon! Let's talk about something else.

You don't know just how much a pain in my ass those court mandarins have been! They said they'd let us have the Twelve Pagodas and Five Cities for a while so we could make a 'home' for ourselves, but what they really wanted was for us to give back the old Tianshi, and also help them with some other trouble.

Man, these Yanese know how to do business. They went and turned our home into a bridgehead! You ask them for one thing and they want two in return.

I never did expect Yanese technology could have leapt ahead like that. I mean, at this point, do they even need to fear the Sui anymore?

If we do manage to finish this home, knowing that it'll be right under their watchful eyes makes me really uneasy.

Also, how big a risk are we taking by doing this? I've got no idea myself.

When you two were in the scroll before, I thought back to that time with Sanjie...

You worry about your older sisters, little inkblot?

'Little inkblot'?!

Well, there was that one time that you managed to knock your inkstone on your head. Ling said you were—

I don't remember that at all. You must be mistaken.

If you insist.

Ah. Now that I think about it, I remember you crouching by the pond washing your face...

I already told you, I don't remember this.

You used that nice, clear pond water to clean your face, but that just made the water all inky, so you couldn't keep washing, right?

That was Jie's idea. On the outside, our third sister was gentle and kind, but she was actually the wiliest of us all.

*sigh*

If little Nian's plan succeeds, it would be for the best.

Well yeah, is there anyone who doesn't want it to succeed?

A certain foul-smelling weiqi head, the basket of blunders.

Who knows what he's up to? Ever since the dust-up with Ling, I'll look at an ink cake and wonder if it's one of his little 'fragments' or not.

We've put so much effort into making this vessel, he can just go and cut himself up however he likes...

Why bother like this...

He may hate all of this world, but he hates himself most of all. He is clever though, oh so very clever. Will he believe that a life-or-death struggle with Yan is what Jie would have liked to see?

Who knows. You're the only one who's still willing to talk to him, after all this time.

Oh, right. Speaking of clever...

How about that other brother? You know, it's been a while since we've heard from him, but wasn't he pretty close to you, Shu? Did you get into a fight or something?

Besides the stinky basket of blunders, he's probably the one that the Sui Regulators are most worried about.

(Whisper) I'm even less willing to talk to that needle prick than the weiqi failure...

It has been a very long time since he last returned.

Really? Never mind then.

Doesn't matter if he's here or not, we three sisters being allowed together is all for the sake of whatever plan those old coots gathered in town are cooking up.

As they say, 'affairs come in no more than threes'. Getting together for a family dinner every day is already making some Lung upset.

Well, it's getting late. I have some things to do.

The both of you have been working pretty hard lately. When you're free, do come by and eat. I'll cook you up some dishes.

Ooh! Although we can't taste the dishes from our young brother, Shu can still cook up a mean—

Why're you looking at me like that? What, did I say something wrong just now?

You knew that the two of them were close.

I thought that stuff happened a long time ago.

It's still a sore spot.

Are family relationships all that serious?

When you only meet your sisters every few centuries, it's normal to be a bit serious.

Y'know, I'm even more afraid of her looking at me like that than I am of being on Dage and Ling's tongues...

For once, I find myself agreeing with you.

A face like she was wronged, then refusing to say a word about it, all the while looking like it's something she can't bear to discuss.

That's not like a sister at all. It's more like...

Perhaps she's simply been alone here for far too long.

These here are the two biggest, roundest peaches from the tree I planted.

Shennong, I beseech you. Bless this paddy, for the sake of my timely graduation.

I'm in my third year already, and every time, at the most critical moment, something or other goes horribly wrong.

Two years ago, my task was to protect my crops from pests, but right as I was about to harvest them, a great drought struck, and my entire experimental field withered.

Last year, my task was to protect my crops from drought, but right as I was about to harvest them, a deluge of rain struck...

Shennong, please, watch over us.

The W-25 Wu-Zi plate is set to connect to the main district today, and I pray that absolutely nothing goes wrong.

I know that I have been lacking in my studies, so the moment I return to the Tianshi Bureaus I will rededicate myself.

Right now all I ask is that this project goes smooth enough that I can go home early.

Hey, you sure you've got the right place? This shrine's dedicated to Shennong. You construction folk don't belong here.

We do our best for a good harvest, but it's ultimately up to Heaven. Since when do you engineers need to pray for success?

What do you know? Every complex field of study becomes metaphysics when you dive deep enough. It's beyond the reach of man.

No matter your work, it's <i>all</i> ultimately up to Heaven—Shennong was the first master of this land, so the best we can hope for is for her to make herself manifest and protect her humble disciples.

I guess you're right. Either way, we're both at the point where there's nothing more we can do.

Maybe if we're sincere enough, she would actually show herself...

Will you two shut up already?!

Ouch!

Gah!

Peach pits...? Where'd these come from?

Up in the rafters! Who's there?!

Can't you see that there's someone trying to get an afternoon nap here?! The nerve of some people, interrupting my sleep! Don't you have anywhere better to whine whine whine?!

Disturbing a dreamer's a mortal sin, y'know! Where do you think you are? Are you <i>seriously</i> kowtowing to your ancestors about your petty requests in Shennong Shrine?

Out! Out! OUT!

Alright, I'm going! Whoever raised this kid didn't teach her any manners—

Ah!

Hey! Stop throwing those! That hurts!

Gah! Let's get out of here! Look, I'll be the bigger man and let this slide, but you'd better hope I don't—

Ow! Bump into you on a dark night!

*sigh*...

The girl grabs the two peaches from atop the altar, carefully inspecting them for a moment, then decides to instead pick up an even larger one, wiping it with her sleeve and taking a bite.

As long as they keep offering up their harvests at your table every time there's a problem in this city, big or small, I'm never going to go hungry.

Hey, Shennong, you don't mind if I eat these two fruits, do you?

Maybe I should go back to sleep in the rafters where it's nice and cool...

Where's my fan? Did that kid take it again?

That annoying little brat, calling me 'megaphone'... Next time we meet I'll figure out a way to steal her flute.

Go to school, they say, school schmool. The only students to come out of the Tianshi Bureaus are these lazy louts. What was even the point of all that schooling?

Who knew that skiving off would be this hard!

Xiangzhang, do you know what's gone wrong with this drone?

Did you forget some steps while changing out its power source? It looks like there's some unconnected wires here.

I don't know. Maybe it was some kid swiping it to play ' Fowlbeast Wrestling'... I'll get them next time and make sure to give them a right trashing.

Did it hit you when it fell out of the sky?

Nicked my horn. Just a little bit to the right and it would have whacked me right in the head.

Most days I see you talking farming with the others. I never expected you to have a knack for Originium circuits.

Didn't the Tianshis teach you all how to operate it? This is a precision instrument. Please pay more attention when using it.

And we don't call it a drone, either. The Tianshis call it a 'Sky Pole'.

The first time I saw these flying around a field, covering the whole thing, I thought it was a swarm of locusts. Scared me half to death!

So when these gadgets jam themselves into the ground, they can tell the soil's condition and how the crops are doing?

While we ponder how best to plant our crops, the Tianshis ponder how best to help us. Farming's a lot easier than it once was, thanks to these inventions.

This season's harvest...

The weather's been a bust this year, and every field's gone bust with it. These experimental paddies in front of us, the ones the Tianshis call <i>Qianzhong,</i> I reckon they could yield two thousand catties a field.

It's enough to fill our bellies, but it's far from what the Tianshis expected from their research.

Give it time. We harvest twice a year now. There was a time we wouldn't have dreamed of that.

In the distance, huge machines slowly lift entire chunks of farmland, their rumbles startling a flock of fowlbeasts.

The farmers in the fields seem already used to this sight, momentarily lifting their heads before going back to their tasks at hand.

Since Dahuang's remodeling project began, there's been lots of mandarins coming in from elsewhere, and you've gotten pretty busy yourself.

It's been days since I last saw you. How did you manage to get time off to visit today?

The summer harvest is about to begin. Only once you've inspected every piece of land yourself can you begin to plan.

And there's also the matter of the upcoming ceremony of sacrifice. We have to take those preparations seriously. No sloppiness.

You're in charge of Dahuang. You've faced worry after worry for however many years now. Seems real tiring.

What's your official title again? Dahuang City... Tongzhi? What a mouthful. I think I'll stick to calling you the Xiangzhang.

No matter the name of my office, I still work the same land as everyone else.

I'm a Dahuang man, born and bred, never left. I heard that in some other nomadic cities out there, they do their farming in high-rises?

You're from the outside. Can you tell me what the other cities are like?

It's been years. I don't quite remember myself.

The only thing that comes to mind is how the people of certain villages would get Dahuang seeds and laugh, saying the harvest may get any bigger this year.

They could only pray that they wouldn't hit a Catastrophe.

I can understand how you study seeds planted in the ground, but I don't get how you're supposed to study the sky over our heads.

Even if a Catastrophe doesn't hit the fields directly, the water supply would still get contaminated with Originium, and the soil would be filled with lots of tiny crystals...

*sigh* It's not like equipment to grow crops in high-Originium zones is cheap either.

That is why we're here.

Look. All fixed.

An embankment circles this land where ravines alternate between dry and flooded.

Between waterways coursing a hundred meters above the surface, agricultural plates hold tight to one another.

This is a nomadic city still <i>growing—</i>

As far as the new generation of Dahuang farmers is concerned, this is a new paradigm, established by their own hands.

This engineering project is enough to make your blood run cold.

Give it another six months, at least until the soil has been moved atop the plate.

The people are fine. It's the stockbeasts who are really freaked out. They touched little fodder in months. Slimmed down a lot, by the looks of it.

I still feel a little uneasy every time I see a field lifted up into the sky.

There will be lots of benefits once the fields are on the mobile plates.

Not only will it be much easier to access electricity and water, if a major Catastrophe comes about, the Tianshis do not need to risk their lives to handle it. The fields can simply move aside.

These are just plain old ordinary fields that we've been planting for generations. Why'd the government suddenly decide to renovate all our cropland anyway?

A large harvest ensures more full bellies, meaning more strength to establish new settlements.

It's a transformation. People who come back from a long trip, wouldn't even recognize the place.

What would Shennong think, if she knew we were moving these fields?

The land is merely taking a new form. Home itself is not leaving.

I suspect Shennong would be grinning from ear to ear.

From the moment she arrived on this plot of land, she was concerned only with how to scrape together a few measly fields from the bitter cold wastes.

Later, when the fields multiplied, so too did her ideas. She decided to plant crops in soil contaminated by Originium, even planting in Originium itself.

That's insane... Are you saying Shennong was a genius, or a fool?

Neither. She was just a dreamer.

Big—Buff—A—Lo—

Dumb—Buff—A—Lo—

Are you going to help me find Mianmian or not?

No.

You're so mean! Mianmian really likes you! He won't take treats from anyone else!

Are you talking about the time it nearly picked all the Banfenghe saplings in my garden clean?

Well, you should've put up a fence.

I wanted to make sure people could get it as needed, I didn't think I'd be feeding your stockbeasts.

Lucky it was just a few flowers. Did you already forget the time your stockbeasts ate up all the plants in Laoshi's experimental field? What did she say again?

(Grimaces)

Besides, don't your stockbeasts have positioning devices? The display says it's over in this area, can't you go looking yourself?

Hmm... You're right.

Then how about you help me pick some fruit from the orchard? I need the ones that aren't quite ripe yet, the ones that are still sour and bitter. Go quick, I've got something really important to do with them!

No.

I still need to gather some samples from the fields. The last reports before the summer harvest are absolutely crucial. I can't delay.

Bo-ring...

But you're right. Everyone's been in a bad mood lately, like they're not eating or sleeping enough.

Didn't you say you're able to talk with them? Why not give them a good lecture on healthy eating?

I did go for a talk. They told me some really nasty things have made their way into Dahuang!

Are you talking about the new nomadic plates?

Don't be stupid. The stockbeasts talk to me, but they're not as smart as people. How should they know what the things are?

I'm not that smart either. I just know the work being done in the fields right now is really important.

Why not take a break, give the new guy some of your work? Does it matter who gets the numbers out of the Sky Poles?

He doesn't know anything. When he first showed up, he couldn't tell the difference between wheat and sorghum. Everything he does, I end up having to do all over again to fix his mistakes. I have no idea why Laoshi asked me to teach him.

But he's a real fast runner, so maybe he can help me find Mianmian—

Right! I'll go ask him!

You wha-? He—Laoshi invited him here specifically to help with the farming, he can't—

*cough* Fine, I'll go with you, wait a sec—

Weiii! New guy! Drop your busywork, come help me find my stockbeast!

The summer sun shines brightly while cicadas chirp away happily. In the paddies, a youth clumsily harvests rice, drops of sweat big as beans streaking down his face.

The muscles in his arm are well-built, but without proper knowledge of how to use them, they are useless for reaping the slender stalks with his sickle. After slaving away for most of the day, he has only managed to harvest a single bundle of rice.

His mandarin coat hangs off a pillar, a few fowlbeasts who were hunting for stray grains instead decide to show great interest in this unfamiliar garment, pecking at the hanging belts with their beaks.

Phew—

It's midday already...

And there's still so much left to do...