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When the damage that persisted to this day came to light?

Not much.

Oh, the tale was interesting, all the sound and thunder. Drama and terrible cost. It would make a good opera. Any scholar or writer from the Before would have gone full Xianxia for something like the memory crystal if it held this kind of story.

And it had been amazing to see the building of the Azure Hills.

I guess I should have felt something more than sadness and sympathy for the dead. Something stronger like Xiulan and Big D did, but I was too far removed from it. I had no real strong feelings about it, other than sorrow for Tianlan. If I was someone else, I might have tried to rush out to fulfill a dying man’s wish or tried waking up the sleeping Tianlan so I could fix everything today.

But I was a farmer and a husband and a soon to be father.

I had chores to do.

I left Big D to show people the crystal and went about my day. The animals who were still animals needed to be taken care of. They needed to be fed and watered and let out from their barns into the winter wonderland that was my home.

I smiled as I watched our three balls of fluff, Afro, Pompom, and Fuzzy the sheep, bounce around the property, looking for all the world like snowballs themselves. Two cows and their calves followed them, breaking into a run and plowing through the snow, jumping and kicking like over-excited puppies.

Modern wisdom said to keep them in the warm barn for the winter… but the animals were literally bred for the cold weather up here. The cows had grown in shaggy winter coats and the sheep were decidedly plump, adding to their round appearance. They could take a little winter weather.

Besides, being cooped up was no way to live.

The sheep in particular were in a good mood today, and they looked truly magnificent. Constant brushing and maintenance left their coats looking positively luxurious, and I knew we would be getting some high-quality fiber come spring. At least I didn’t have to find a seller for all this stuff. We’d be using it all up ourselves.Or rather, my wife would be using it all.

Seriously, if she was suddenly transported to the Before like I was taken here she could make a living as a high end tailor. She didn’t think there was anything really special about the fact that she could make clothes that wouldn\'t be out of place in a magazine. It was a minor point of pride, but, in her words:

“Every woman should be able to do this much.”

Which, to be honest, I supposed was true, from her point of view. Every lady from Hong Yaowu knew how to make and mend clothes. Most from Verdant Hill could too. It was just one of those things that people had to do. You could rarely afford to just go out and buy clothing, so you had to make it yourself.

And it wasn’t purely a “girls” thing either. Gou and Yun knew how to sew patches, even if they preferred to get Meimei to do it because her stitches were cleaner.

I turned my attention to the cows, next, as they started to root around in the snow too. I smiled at the beasts, as they played with their calves. They had grown up fast, and the ladies were going to stop giving milk soon… but our experiments in sterilization and pasteurization had borne fruit. A quick shock with Meimei’s Qi, and as long as it was kept cold… well, we hadn’t found a limit yet.

I still had a small bottle from the day we first tried it, from the beginning of spring. It was starting to taste a bit herb-y, but it was still good to drink and cook with.

Even the stuff without Meimei’s Qi pumped into it, just heated and primitively bottled, lasted for two weeks.

The materials science wasn’t quite up to par just yet, but it would help out in preserving things in Hong Yaowu.

Still, at the rate we were going through the stuff I would probably need a couple more cows. My little family kept growing, and the farm needed to grow if I wanted to keep up.

And if any of them became sentient… then, well…

Don\'t be a dick, try to help them with their problems, and treat them like oddly-shaped humans. No murderous Sprit Beasts would be raised here, no sir! I had read too many stories about AI rebellions to say no if anybody asked me if they had a soul.

I would like to think that I was rather a dab hand at this whole process of accidental sentience.

Even if it never got any less stressful.

Though... It was kind of weird. In Xiaoshi’s time, there was a distinction between “Spirit Beasts” who helped humans, and were kind of people, and Demon Beasts, who acted more like the Spirit Beasts of the Crimson Phoenix Empire.

I wonder what had changed?

Had Demons corrupted them somehow? Were the Spirit Beasts just different back then? Or had cultivators gotten a bit too greedy and now every Spirit Beast just attacked most people on sight out of some kind of self-preservation instinct?

I sighed and shook my head. I just didn’t know enough. I looked back up and snorted at the sight that greeted me. Chunky had come to watch over the cows and sheep… and he had a new item, courtesy of Gou Ren, strapped to his back.

The mobile chicken coop was modeled after a traditional inn, and the tenants could technically fit Plato’s definition of man if they were plucked. Diogenes was nuts, but he had a great sense of humor.

The chickens were clucking up a storm from their new mobile home. I had long since learned the different meanings behind their little noises. They were making the “happy/excited” clucks,as they poked their heads out from the little doors and stood upon the rooftop. Some were on Chunky’s mane, teasing out hairs to line their nests, and one brave one was perched on Chunky’s left tusk, looking like a captain on the bow of a ship as the snow broke around the boar like waves.

Chunky trundled forward, oinked at the other animals, and turned his head to the forest. It was a good idea. I had a feeling that there was going to be some nasty winds soon. Not enough to take everybody back inside… but still unpleasant.

The animals fell in behind him quickly and Chunky continued onwards. I smiled and waved to my Chunky boy and he nodded back, his eyes crinkling

He walked past the house on his way to the bridge and I started chuckling.

Ha, a wandering inn.

My mood improved, I went back into the barn, took off the nice coat Meimei had got me, and grabbed my handy shovel to muck the stalls. I have to admit, with the beautifully carved handle Tigu and Washy had given me it almost felt like a shame to actually use it instead of hanging it up like an art piece on the wall.

But they had made it for me to use, and use it I would. The shovel just felt right

in my hand. Better than any other haft I had ever held or used.

The stalls didn’t need much mucking, the feed levels were good, and there were no vermin that I could see. There was an owl in the rafters, but I left her to her sleep.

After that I set down some fresh straw, cleaned off the shovel, and wandered back out into the cold, my red hat blending in with my red barn. I hadn’t gotten dirty, so I put the jacket back on.

I then started my rounds with the rest of the farm, checking over the fence myself, looking for anything amiss. I trusted Big D and everybody else to report anything… but it was just my way. To wander, think, and look at my home for myself. Miantiao and Yin were both in the greenhouse, the rabbit helping heat the room and tending the plants, while the snake just liked the warmth.

When I got to the drop hammer, it was pounding away at something, Gou Ren working on another project with Bowu and Huo Ten.

The rest of the farm was quiet, and there was nobody else really out today. So I simply wandered and my mind wandered with me. My Qi, out of habit, started to saturate the ground.

I could feel it, the connection to Tianlan. It took a bit to distinguish between the earth spirit and myself,with the intertwined pathways.

At least I finally knew why I was so strong. It wasn’t all my own power, after all. Though… I wondered why she hadn’t really told me. Or interacted with me outside those strange, half-remembered dreams that were feeling less and less like dreams the more I thought about them.

Was it fear? Was it some sort of trauma, that she thought I would hurt her if I knew about her, like she likely thought Xiaoshi hurt her? In the memory of the end, the man had tried to contact her to no avail, even though he had felt that she was still alive in some form.

Those were all questions for later. For now... She was asleep, and hopefully having good dreams.

I sighed again and my lips quirked into a smile. Turns out farming really was some crazy cultivation method. Who knew?

I let my Qi flow into the earth until I felt like I was empty.

Not for power. Not for her strength, even though I may need it in the coming years. But because I thought it was the right thing to do.

And then I turned around and wandered back home.

What hit me every time I got back to the house after being out for a while was the smell.

I could never describe it right, it just smelled like home. The spices. The wood planks. The fire of the hearth. The people.

It never failed to put me at ease.

I checked in on Big D and Xiulan, their hands touching the crystal their eyes closed. They weren’t in any trouble so I continued into the main room.

There, Meimei and the girls were working on cloth together, all gathered around the loom and taking turns as they performed the time honoured tradition of shooting the shit, while Meimei taught everybody how to use the machine properly.

I guess the loom was kind of like the ancient version of a woman’s club. Xianghua, Peppa, Rizzo and Tigu were all talking and giggling.

Judging by her personality, a person could be forgiven for thinking that Tigu would rebel against learning to sew, or do other “womanly things” but, Tigu being Tigu, she defied expectations like a true cultivator as the tomboy loved sitting beside Meimei and helping her weave.

I left them to it and instead wandered over to the table where Gou Ren, Yun Ren, Bowu, and Huo Ten were sitting looking over a piece of paper. Bowu and Gou Ren had finished whatever they had been working on earlier when I was outside doing my rounds. They had what looked like a hand pushed machine next to them, and one of them looked very familiar.

“An inter row tiller?” I asked, staring at it. It was right from my drawings, the machine that was used to agitate and aerate the soil in between rice rows.

Gou Ren perked up at the comment. “Yeah, Bowu managed to get the axle right, and Huo Ten got us the ore. It needs a few more tests… but I think we can work with this. It doesn’t break down a quarter as much as the other one we made!”

I raised an eyebrow, impressed. They had seen a few shitty drawings, heard a few half-baked ideas… and then managed to form something coherent from it.

“This is really impressive guys.” I said as I looked things over. Bowu beamed as I ruffled his hair, and Gou Ren and Huo Ten exchanged high-fives. Yun Ren just nodded and continued to look at the paper on the table, which was an aerial recording of Hong Yaowu that had been drawn on and annotated.

“Planning the fields for next year?” I asked, taking a closer look. Gou Ren would be teaching the people of Hong Yaowu my farming methods next year…

Yun Ren chuckled, looking up from the proposed changes with a skeptical brow raised. Nezan the fox was looking on, his lips twisted with amusement.“He thinks himself an Emperor, with all these changes. Look at this, he wants to practically redesign the entire village!”

Gou Ren looked embarrassed. “Hey, it was just a couple of ideas...” he grumbled.

I looked closer. Yeah, it was drastic, but as far as I could see it was well-designed… just overly ambitious.

“I’ll grab my own notes. Yun, could you make another one of these?” I asked him, and he gave me a mock salute.

We spent a good few hours pouring over that map planning fields and irrigation ditches. I had a few more pieces of equipment, like the seed drill, that Bowu was looking at with interest.

Eventually Chunky came in, and Washy appeared from where he had been napping under the ice.

Which led to another discussion, this one about diverting a river for the improvements to irrigation, which I was a bit leery of. Too many tales of fucking up the area downstream for me, but it could have merit.

Eventually, though, things started disbanding as we all started to get ready for dinner.

I was just about to get Xiulan and Big D when they walked into the room. Xiulan was rubbing her forehead and looking vaguely troubled.

“You okay, Lanlan?” I asked her.

The woman looked up at me, her mouth drawn into a line.

“The Spirit asked me if I would become the Emperor.” she said, sounding befuddled.

“Oh? I asked.

“Naturally, I refused.” she replied. “I do not know if I trust this spirit.”

I snorted and shook my head.

That was how the day ended.

Earth shaking revelations didn’t have to change things right away… or at all really.

Besides, the New Year was nearly upon us… as was the party in Verdant Hill.