Chapter 3: Echoes in the Soil
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Morning, Green Mist Valley
The morning came, but the mist felt heavier than usual.
It clung to the trees like silk and swirled along the narrow dirt paths between homes. Birds didn't sing. Livestock refused to graze. Even the old rooster, known for his stubborn dawn cry, stayed silent beneath the coop.
Li Yuan stood in the middle of his rice field, staring at his hands.
His fingers trembled—not from fear, but from a strange, buzzing energy that had never been there before. His breath steamed in the warm air. His vision flickered at the edges. The soil beneath his bare feet pulsed gently, almost like a heartbeat.
And above it all…
> [System Alert: New Quest Unlocked]
[Mainline Quest: Protect the Soil]
Objective: Investigate the foreign energy signature detected beneath Plot 3B.
Reward: Soil Purification Technique (Tier 1), Seed Memory Fragment
Warning: Unknown lifeform attempting to awaken in the spiritual field. Threat Level: RED]
Li Yuan narrowed his eyes.
> "Plot 3B…?"
He turned. That was the far corner of his field—shaded by three crooked trees and near the half-dried riverbank. A place the children always said "smelled funny."
He hadn't planted there since the last flood.
> Why would something be stirring there… now?
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Plot 3B
As he approached, the wind changed.
The air grew sharp. The mist curled away from the ground. The soil looked darker—damp in a way that didn't match the rain from yesterday. A faint scent of iron lingered in the air.
Li Yuan gripped the hoe tightly.
> "I shouldn't need this," he muttered.
"But I feel like I do…"
The hoe pulsed faintly—runes he hadn't noticed before shimmered beneath the mud.
> [Tool Awakening Triggered – 'Rootsplit Hoe']
Effect: Can strike through spiritual barriers. Inflicts damage to spirit-class entities. Tier: Earth-Origin+]
> "Spiritual barriers…?"
He raised the hoe and dug once.
The earth screamed.
A sudden wave of dark qi burst upward, knocking him back several feet. The clouds above spun unnaturally. Birds scattered from the forest in a panic.
Something moved beneath the dirt.
Something old.
> [WARNING: Corrupted Spirit Root Detected. Category: Cursed Entity. Awakening Halted.]
Li Yuan coughed, his chest tight, his ears ringing. And then… from the shadows of the trees nearby… a voice.
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The Stranger Appears
> "You shouldn't have done that."
The voice was soft—but it carried like thunder through the mist.
Li Yuan looked up.
A man stepped from the forest edge.
He wore a silver mask shaped like a bird's skull, with intricate patterns glowing faintly in sky-blue. His robes were white but dusted with travel stains. At his side hung a sword that didn't hum or shine—but rather whispered.
He looked at Li Yuan for a long moment, head tilted.
> "Haven't changed much, have you?"
Li Yuan stood. "Do I… know you?"
The masked man chuckled. "Not anymore. Not yet."
The hoe in Li Yuan's hand vibrated again—danger.
> "Who are you?"
The man slowly raised a hand. Not in attack. In reverence.
> "Forgive me," he said softly.
"In our time, we called you by a name I won't speak… because I don't want this valley to tear open."
Li Yuan's heart skipped.
His grip tightened.
> "What do you want?"
> "To help. And to warn you."
"You didn't just plant rice here, Xiao Tianmie. You buried something."
"Now… it wants out."
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Echoes of the Past
Suddenly, Li Yuan felt dizzy. His knees buckled slightly as a pulse echoed through his chest. Images flickered behind his eyes again—
A field of golden wheat turned black as night.
A massive tree screaming as it was uprooted from a cracked realm.
A dying woman whispering, "Don't let it take root…"
Then—silence.
The masked man stepped forward, slowly.
> "That spirit beneath the field? It's not natural. It's a remnant from the Final War. The soil remembers everything you've done… and everything you've tried to forget."
Li Yuan's voice was a whisper:
> "What am I supposed to do…?"
> "Wake up. Cultivate. Remember."
The masked man turned to leave, vanishing back into the mist.
But before he vanished entirely, he said one more thing:
> "Green Mist was never just a village. It was your sanctuary… and your prison."
Then he was gone.
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Later That Night
Li Yuan returned home.
His hands were stained with dirt and energy. His thoughts, heavier than ever.
He sat before a small bowl of steamed rice and stared at it for a long time. He didn't eat.
Instead, he asked softly:
> "System… why me?"
The interface flickered slowly.
> [Because you chose peace.]
[But peace must be defended, Farmer God.]