Journey to Dahuang

But...

Are you giving me a suspension?

It's not my place to interfere with the Sui Regulator's appointments, but as the warden of Yumen, I have authority over military personnel assignments.

There's an important mission for you to undertake, away from Yumen.

It's planting season in Dahuang, in the north, and they're short-handed. Go and help them.

Planting season? You mean, agriculture?

That's the 'important mission'?

Is that not important?

I understand that agriculture is the lifeblood of the nation, and I've heard about Dahuang, but...

I don't understand. Why me?

So you might see.

And after I see...?

You think.

...

Be ready to depart, once you've completed the mission handover.

One last thing, Father.

I discovered some suspicious activity when investigating the Shanhaizhong's movements.

They appeared to be very familiar with Yumen patrol schedules and routes.

If they really managed to obtain intelligence on Yumen's defenses—

I have spoken.

...

This is not your concern anymore.

Never forget what all you do is for.

A man like you can't be trusted!

*pant*... *pant*...

Working in the fields by day and practicing kung fu by night for a whole month. You must be exhausted.

*pant* Yun... it's you.

You were focused.

But I didn't achieve anything...

...I don't even know what I'm doing here.

Perhaps, by focusing on improving myself here, I'll be able to do what I couldn't before.

Well... perhaps.

You know, there's this old Lungmen kung fu movie...

The hero was an arrogant and haughty swordsman who spent all his life pursuing martial perfection, which always seemed just out of reach.

His fortunes took an ill turn and he lost everything: fame, fortune, reputation, even one of his arms. Now a broken man, he found himself in a tiny, remote village.

There, he lived amongst the peasants, eating with the lowly folk who used to lie beneath his notice. For three years, he chopped his own firewood and boiled his own water, not touching his sword even once.

He finally drew his blade when his enemies came for him. To his surprise, his sword struck with a fury he had never known before.

Are... are you saying that I'm arrogant and haughty?

I'm just telling you what happened in the movie.

Do things like that happen in reality?

To my knowledge? Of course not. The audiences love it, though. Back to basics, the proud humbled, that sort of thing.

However, it is true that one's temperament has an effect on many things.

...

Have you felt your perspective change since you left Yumen?

I don't feel like it has at all...

How about a break? Water?

Thanks. I have a question myself...

Why did you come with me? Why not stay in Yumen?

You're traveling across Yan as Candleholder. I felt like I could learn a lot by accompanying you on your journeys.

I was demot—sent here by father. You could have learned just as much by going back to the capital with Yumen.

I went with Laoshi to Baizao. It was prosperous, but little else.

Dahuang seemed more interesting.

You're talking like you're on holiday.

Hah.

I don't understand what Father wants me to see...

What have you seen, then, during your time in Dahuang?

What have I seen...?

Dahuang used to be one of the rare places without much Originium pollution, due to its unique geography, making it an important Yanese breadbasket since antiquity.

But thanks to the hard work of the Agricultural Tianshis, arable land area is growing year after year.

Construction has begun on defenses against potential Catastrophes.

Currently, the city has sixteen large plates, some sixty or so small plates, seven hundred and thirty Tianshis, and a population exceeding fifty thousand.

Despite its remote location, the people are content and hardworking...

Is that all?

Just some insignificant details.

Insignificant, eh?

What about you? Did you find any sights that you couldn't have seen with the Grandmaster?

Well... for example...

The couple next door had a big fight after dinner last night.

The husband had gone on a journey last month and found the other cities to be much more interesting. He wanted to move away.

I saw the pair of fowlbeasts that make their nest in that tree outside taking turns to hunt and sit on their eggs. The eggs should hatch any day now.

I also saw the strange sight that was Tianshis of all vocations coming together to fret, even cry their hearts out before Shennong's statue...

The strangest scene I saw, however, was that of a few animals making a fool of a young kung fu master.

Er...

Did you find the stockbeast?

When did you...?

Many years ago, the Grandmaster instructed me in the moves of all the various schools of kung fu and had me record the clashes with experts from those myriad schools. But my innate condition prevents me from studying the martial arts.

I said you must be exhausted, working in the fields by day and practicing kung fu by night. I envy you, as a matter of fact.

...I'm sorry.

Even so, the Grandmaster allowed me to follow him, allowed someone who could not study kung fu to watch you do so.

He didn't tell me what I was supposed to learn, only that I should pay attention to detail and accuracy. I recorded and studied according to his instructions.

Then I began to realize that kung fu isn't just about moves. The Grandmaster's philosophies on the fist are also philosophies on life, and every action or lack thereof corresponds to the natural laws of wax and wane.

This wisdom amazed me even further, focusing on the infinite mysteries of kung fu. Where do you even start?

The Sui Regulator's kung fu is not just for self-defense, but also to suppress the enemy and protect the innocent.

I don't think one should draw too many conclusions about it. It's just a skill.

Right. I later realized that it wasn't so complicated. Kung fu is just kung fu, no more, no less.

I didn't learn this through study of the martial arts. I learned this wisdom from everyday life as I grew older and wiser, correlating it with kung fu.

Wisdom isn't about one thing. It's about everything.

Everything.

The Grandmaster wrote in the Book of Arms, 'See the other through the self; remain upright and wait for the proper time.'

What he means is that one must ensure that one's posture is upright and firm, then seek the opportunity for victory.

No matter the situation, one must remain composed, unaffected by outside matters...

Eek!

What's that? You look like you saw a ghost.

There you are, Candlestick! So you were with Inkbrush. I was looking for you all day!

Rice Experiment Area A: Soil Originium activity was twenty percent during the growing period. Total production was approximately three hundred and twenty catties.

Experiment Area B: Twenty-three percent Originium activity, one hundred and fifty catties' production; Experiment Area C: Twenty-five percent Originium activity, almost zero crop survival...

Negligible change from last season's data, or the season before. The same goes for the other crop experiment areas.

I see.

You don't look disappointed at all.

No point trying to rush things. We take them one step at a time.

Twenty-five percent remains the critical line. Plant survivability drops off precipitously once soil Originium activity exceeds that level. This applies to both cash crops and cover crops.

Yet the figure remains much lower than the level of natural soil Originium activity in the vast majority of regions...

Thinking about giving up?

No...

I'm just not sure... if this is the only result, then there is no way to expand the application of the Wanqing 'the Ten Thousand Qing of Fertile Fields' project.

All these years, and nothing to show for it... not even a bud of hope.

...

Fifteen percent.

Twenty-five years ago, that was the critical line that had us stumped.

It took nine generations of crops before we found an Originium-resistant variant in the corner of one of the plates.

You and the Tianshis kept going for this long?

Did you know that people used to fertilize the fields with fluids from the Dahuang Fibrous Slug in order to protect crops from the impact of Originium?

Yes, but it's just folklore. There's no scientific basis to it. Originium doesn't infect plants like it does animals, it only changes the...

Yes, but that's what people in the past came up with when technology wasn't so advanced, the result of coincidence and misunderstanding.

We tried so many different things, just to carve out a little piece of farmland for ourselves. It took generations after generations of trial and error to get agriculture to where it is today.

As you said, the Wanqing project is one where hope is hard to come by.

Perhaps, many years later, people will look back at us the same way as we look back at the ancients who fertilized their fields with Fibrous Slug fluids.

Only one thing is clear, though. Plates on their own can't produce enough food for everyone. People will always go hungry in the remote villages, places where the nomadic city can't reach.

And I'm willing to believe that, one day, we'll break the shackles of Originium, and then we'll truly have The Ten Thousand Qing of Fertile Fields... a certain someone said that to me, once upon a time.

Do you mean...?

Still working in the lab at this hour? The power bills keep piling up.

I-I'm just here to submit some data. I'll be going now!

Oh, Xiaohe. Haven't seen you for a while. Look how tall you've grown! Why don't you stay for dinner?

Er, sorry, I, er, have things to do in the fields. Excuse me.

Why does he always look like he's terrified of me?

You're the big boss of Dahuang. People should be scared of you.

Doesn't mean everyone will listen to me. Isn't the hour a little late to still be working?

Alright, alright, I'll be going.

Cooking soup so late is rather tiring.

Everyone's working hard in preparation for the summer harvest. This soup is for the hardest worker.

Did you have to poke fun at me before dinner? A little mean, don't you think?

Then bring the bowl over.

Alright.

All my life I've been dealing with things that grow from the soil. Now I have to learn everything about engineering from scratch.

And it's not easy, dealing with the Ministry of Works, arguing all day about the assignment of a few Tianshis. It's even more tiring than farmwork.

Eat up, then. You've definitely lost a few catties.

Sure. Except...

Three huge pieces of rib in one bowl? You're trying to burst my stomach.

Three's plenty. One more and it's going to spill over.

...

Spilled soup would make a mess, and it's even worse when someone gets burned.

You can put it down if you don't want it.

That won't do. So much effort went into this soup, we can't let it go to waste.

Do you have to talk like that today?

I'm just talking about this bowl of ribs and lian'ou soup.

The ribs come from lovingly raised meatbeasts, while the lian'ou comes from ponds that we dug with our own hands.

This soup represents the efforts of generations of people, and of your efforts all these years. We must not allow what should not be here to ruin this hard-won soil.

After all these years, you...

So many years. I've almost forgotten how I came to know you.

Sometimes I wish I really did. If only you were just a diligent Nongye Tianshi, and me a humble farmer.

But I could never forget. Even if I forgot, someone would help me remember. The scrolls of the Sui Regulator remember. The list of fallen Candleholders remembers.

Say no more.

You know what I mean. What I'm concerned about. Your... 'brother'.

...

One person can fool another, but no one can fool time. It took me the better part of my lifetime to come to trust you. I don't have the time left to trust another.

He shouldn't have come back at a time like this, Shu.

Don't make things difficult for me.

Good evening, Grain Buds.

...

Inkbrush... why are you standing so far away?

Alright, I promise, I know your book isn't a sketchbook and I won't add faces to the people in it.

(Sketchbook? Does she mean your Record of Martial Combat?)

(My fault.)

(Don't ever let the Grandmaster or Qiubai see it.)

(I know...)

(Although, come to think of it, they might like the cartoonish style...)

Here, this is for you.

A bracelet?

Weaved from Mianmian's wool. Thank-you gift for bringing him home today.

I didn't do anything... except cause problems.

Well, don't think too much about what Xiaohe said. He's alright most of the time, but he gets all angry and stubborn when it comes to farming. All the young Tianshis he tutors are scared of him.

He's already a Shouye Tianshi?

I think? He takes over Shu's lessons when she's busy. There are so many kinds of Tianshi, I just can't keep track of them.

Say, why are you called Candlestick, anyway?

Candleholder?

Yeah! It's so weird. Nobody uses candles anymore.

Well, mind that you don't accidentally set the letters on fire.

Pfft.

What are you snickering at, sketchbook Inkbrush?

Nothing, Candlestick messenger.

Xiaohe! When are you gonna come over?

Are you still angry that I asked you to help get the Tianshis to register the foals?

I'm not angry.

I'm just exhausted after dealing with the foals he brought back.

Oh... do you need to go to bed?

And we need to name the pair. They were found together... I've got an idea! Let's name them Xiaoman like 'Grain Buds' and Xiaohe like 'Grain Stalk'!

No way.

Sorry. If you're still angry at me.

...

I'm not really angry at you...

Candlestick! What is a Messenger like you doing in Dahuang? You're not delivering letters, just playing with us all day.

I made a mistake. Father sent me here to learn.

But I'm still not sure what I'm supposed to learn, or how I'm supposed to learn it.

In my old job, there were a lot of things that hadn't been cleared up, but Father wouldn't let me investigate. I'm not even sure what I'm doing here...

...

Wow, your dad's scary.

When the teachers at the Tianshi Bureau scold the kids even younger than me, they say that if you don't behave, your baba and mama will come and punish you.

Well, Candlestick got punished by his baba. But I've made so many mistakes, so why don't my baba and mama come and punish me?

Your parents...?

Shu says my parents are Tianshis in a place far away. But she never told me what they do, or why I don't hear from them.

The Xiangzhang says my parents named me Xiaoman, or Grain Buds, because they think we should be content with the little things, like grains in the field.

General Zuo must be hoping that you'll live a happy and carefree life, Zuo Le.

The Grandmaster must hope that you will be content and comfortable in whatever situation then, Yun.

Come to think of it, I never got the chance to ask you your name.

Yun Qingping. People sometimes say it sounds like a girl's name.

Not at all. It's nice.

Reminds me of lotus ponds in summer.

Xiaohe's name has a story behind it too! The farmers found him in the rice fields. The old folks thought he was born from the rice crops, which is how he got a name that means rice stalk.

Shu still has a picture from back then! I'll bring it tomorrow.

Grain Buds!

Everyone loves that photo. Candlestick and Inkbrush should see it too!

(Why doesn't He Sheng get a nickname beyond Xiaohe?)

(Why not contribute one? Grain Buds here seems quite amendable to suggestions.)

Look! Shooting stars!

According to Shu, the old Shennong stories say that crops grow well where the shooting star falls.

Should we go and see where they fell?

She said that to get you to come down from your tree and go to bed. You seriously think it's true?

Of course I do!

But it's very far away, way beyond Dahuang.

Then we'll leave Dahuang.

What if they fell at the edge of Heaven?

Then we'll go to the edge of Heaven! I'll go. You'll come too, Xiaohe, and the rest of you, too.

There's a lot of time to look for them before the sun rises.

Maybe we'll never find them, and keep walking until we're all grandpas and grandmas.

Searching for stars?

Hah, yes, searching for stars.

Has it occurred to you that this may be what you're supposed to be looking for?

Stars?

Yeah!

Come, let's cross this stream!

Hey, Zuo Le.

How old are you?

Nineteen.

Hm...

What's the matter?

Nothing... I'm older than you.

Wei, what are you talking about over there?

Tomorrow is the Xiazhi. Dahuang will be holding the Shennong Festival, welcoming Shennong with songs and costumes. Let's go have some fun!

Didn't you say you wanted to look for the stars?

I said, until the sun rises.

The Shennong Festival? That's not for fun, is it?

Of course it is! They put on plays and fairs, and there's lots to eat! The Xiangzhang says everybody has been working so hard, we should relax a little.

Xiaohe's going. I'm gonna play the flute... there are other shows too!

Alright, I'll go and see.

I'll see... and think.