Chapter 4: When Roots Fight Back
Midnight, Plot 3B — Green Mist Valley
The wind had stopped.
Not slowed. Stopped.
Not a single leaf rustled. Not a single bird stirred. The moon hung unnaturally still in the sky, casting silver light on the darkened rice terraces. The very air felt held in suspense — like the world itself was holding its breath.
Li Yuan stood barefoot in the middle of Plot 3B, hoe in hand, muscles tense.
The soil in front of him was no longer just soil. It bulged upward, breathing — alive, but not in the way crops are. Thick black veins pulsed just beneath the surface, and with each pulse, the ground cracked slightly.
[System Warning: Cursed Root Beast Forming – Hostile Entity Approaching Phase 1 Maturity]
[Auto-Quest Initiated: Defend the Land]
[Objective: Prevent full emergence of the Cursed Root Beast. Estimated time: 7 minutes.]
[Failure Consequence: Green Mist Village Annihilation Chance: 89.4%]
Li Yuan exhaled slowly.
"I don't want to kill anything. I just want to farm…"
But his knuckles were white around the handle of his hoe.
"If this thing touches my land, or my people—"
The ground split open violently.
A thick, twisted mass of bloodroot and corrupted qi erupted from the soil. It screeched with no mouth, a howl that tore at the soul rather than the ears. Its central stalk rose like a serpent, draped in withered leaves that dripped black ooze, while thorned vines lashed outward, seeking anything to feed on.
The cursed spirit had awakened.
System Assist: Weapon Integration
[Tool Sync Engaged: Rootsplit Hoe + System Qi Conduit]
[Form: Crescent Fang Mode – Tier: Mortal Ascension Grade]
[Passive Bonus: +70% damage to spiritual plant-type entities]
Li Yuan felt a snap in his muscles, like something ancient cracking open in his limbs. His hoe—still wooden, still humble—gleamed faintly gold. Etched runes along its shaft burned softly like fireflies under moonlight.
Then he moved.
The First Battle: Farmer vs Beast
The beast's vine lashed toward him like a whip. Li Yuan sidestepped, digging his heel into the mud and pivoting. With a sharp grunt, he swung the hoe upward in a clean arc.
The vine hissed. The edge of the hoe sliced through it cleanly—no resistance.
Another vine came from the side. This time, he ducked and drove the hoe straight into the soil beside the root.
[System Skill Unlocked: Precision Plow]
[Effect: Cleaves underground spiritual connections; disrupts regeneration abilities.]
A faint pulse rippled from the point of impact. The beast convulsed violently, its body shriveling momentarily.
"You're feeding off my land?" Li Yuan muttered, stepping forward.
"I tilled this soil with my hands. You don't belong here."
The beast shrieked again and reared its central stalk high.
Dark mist swirled, forming a jagged spiritual face within the canopy of twisted leaves.
"Tianmie…" it croaked.
"I... remember... you."
Li Yuan froze. The wind returned. The world trembled ever so slightly.
"I didn't say my name," he whispered.
"How do you know it?"
The beast laughed. It was not a sound meant for this world.
"You... planted me, long ago… in a war you forgot. You were a god then. And I was your weapon."
"Now… I will be your curse."
The Finishing Move
[System Alert: Final Blow Ready – 'Heaven's Furrow']
[Description: Infuses divine qi into a precision hoe-strike capable of severing spiritual roots tied to multiversal anomalies.]
[Warning: Will trigger Memory Fragment release.]
"Do it."
Li Yuan drew a long breath and planted his stance.
As the Root Beast lunged again, he stepped into it—not away.
His hands moved like a farmer harvesting a full field. Smooth. Controlled. Intimate.
"You forgot something, old curse," he said calmly.
"I'm not just a god… I'm a farmer first."
He slammed the hoe into the beast's core.
The sound that followed was not a crack, nor a scream, but something more final — like a seal closing.
The creature disintegrated into ash-like roots and dissolved into the soil.
The rice field went quiet.
The moon resumed its slow orbit.
The world exhaled.
Aftermath: System Report
[Quest Complete: Defend the Land]
[Entity Eliminated: Cursed Root Beast – Class C]
[XP Gained: 4,200]
[Spiritual Root Rank Up: Tier – Silver Grade]
[New Trait: Earth Pulse Awareness – You can now sense disturbances in a 50-meter radius of cultivated land.]
[Memory Fragment Recovered – Processing...]
[Do you wish to view Fragment? Y/N]
Li Yuan stared at the panel. His fingers hovered near the glowing [Y] for a long while.
He closed it.
"Not yet."
Back in the Village
From the window of her herbal hut, Granny Xue watched the hilltop field fade back into silence. She held a half-burnt talisman in one hand, tears wetting her wrinkled cheeks.
"So it begins," she whispered.
She turned toward a chest she hadn't opened in decades.
Inside were old scrolls, a broken sword, a rusted black crown, and a sealed letter addressed to:
"To the One Who Forgets and Must Remember Again."