My place was a cozy one-room affair with a straw bed and a wooden cabinet that housed my beautiful collection of robes. All gray, of course, with a single patch sewn around the left side of the chest, depicting an eagle with a snake coiled around its wings.
I had to admit to being a little disappointed that the laborers didn't get spatial bags as a sign-in bonus, as I always found those things helpful. Still, I was glad that I wouldn't have to bear another man's snoring in the middle of the night.
At least I had running water and a good hole for my deed, with a bucket filled with sawdust to serve as a flush. Good thing I had ample practice with it thanks to that one nature camp I'd attended back in college. There was much booze passed around during the nights, so none of us had any trouble dealing with the natural side of things. Here, they had something better: spiritual energy!
Changing my clothes, I collapsed onto my rather comfortable bed and stared at the ceiling, my mind still shaky with thoughts. On the one hand, there was a feeling tugging at my heart, sending jolts of excitement down my legs and up my arms, telling me that this would be nothing like I had ever experienced. On the other was a mild panic trying to impress itself upon my jolly, childish side.
I didn't let it. Instead, I tried to fully embrace that boiling pot of feelings altogether, until exhaustion got the better of me. Knowing tomorrow would be the first real day of my new life, I closed my eyes and let sleep claim my mind, abuzz with nervous expectation.
The morning started with a joint chorus of bells ringing throughout the Laborers' Village. From left and right, people poured into the streets, floundering in a chaotic mess to get into strict lines around the multiple squares of our little town. Clad in a new set of robes, I let the crowd guide me to my place and found that we of the 9th Street were situated unsurprisingly in the 9th Square.
A simple glance told me we were about a hundred strong, divided into ten lines to make the distribution of labor easier. Ahead was the man called Tang Zixin, the sergeant equivalent of our workforce, regarding the lines with a certain gravity. He had wrapped his long hair into a perfect bun over his head, fixed by a single pin that gleamed like silver under the sun. It didn't slip past my notice that his robe was a darkish gray, almost bordering on the black robes of the Outer Sect disciples.
He struck me as a man who preferred to use gestures and expressions rather than words to make himself known. With a dismissive wave of his hand, he sent each line to a different place, choosing to only tell the person at the head of the group about the day's work.
Another peculiar thing was the gender disparity between the lines. I hadn't noticed at first, but as the lines started marching in a single file, it occurred to me that each line was composed of a single gender—men and women clearly separated.
It was probably because of the nature of the work we would be doing. After all, becoming a 1st Step Qi Condensation Stage cultivator didn't make a man or woman a supernatural force of nature. Not immediately, at least, and most of the labor force were mortals.
So it didn't shock me when I learned that our group had been tasked with plowing a certain spiritual plantation. Thankfully, I could barely recall from the jumbled mess of my soul-brother's memories that he was quite knowledgeable about farming. I was not.
"Brother Ying, you alright?" came a voice as we started our gradual climb toward the green fields stretching beyond the village. A look over my shoulder showed me another young man, probably around my age, staring at me, worry evident in his gaze. The side of his lips was crooked, as if a fishhook had caught him badly and towed him for some paces before breaking off.
I smiled in gratitude, the name popping into my mind. "Brother Yao, I appreciate you asking, but I'm fine. Can't give those Young Masters the satisfaction, eh?"
"Uh," he grunted, licking the crooked side of his lips. He was one of the few who cut his hair short, an act often seen as rebellious, but not overtly so that it would demand punishment. "I heard what they did to you. None of those bastards tried to help you, right? I would've stood beside you."
The intensity in his eyes nearly made me skip a step. Wobbling, I finally righted myself and gave him a firm nod, expecting to hear any moment now that he would be willing to take a bullet for me. I seemed to recall that this man was the only one who could be considered a friend to my late soul-brother.
Good. At least I would have someone to talk to during the job.
Up the slope, our line of ten men slowly marched out of the village and into the fields proper, joined by another group that looked oddly similar to us. We exchanged simple nods and hauled our tools from one of the huts placed between the fields.
When today's field of work came into view, I let out a long breath, bracing myself for the task. I couldn't see the end of it, and unlike most of the fields I'd seen along the way, this one seemed like it had been left unattended for too long.
Wild weeds covered every inch of the place, their lines broken only by the occasional plant that resembled a different kind of daisy. We first started by picking those daisies, laying them on top of each other nearby the field, then plowed and cleared the weeds together.
My group worked with muted discipline as sweat poured down my face. It was one of those things that gave you the pleasure of simple work. Simple but honest. Watching the field get rid of its occupants, satisfaction welled in the pit of my stomach, and I couldn't help but smile.
The sun had climbed high into the sky when the job was finished. We took a well-earned rest by the side of the field, my sun-kissed skin glistening with a thick layer of sweat. Then, all of a sudden, people started clapping, and I let myself fall into the rhythm, not knowing what we were cheering for, until a woman came trudging down the slope, carrying a big straw basket in her arms.
"Little Xie!" said Shen Hai, the one responsible for our group, a middle-aged man with a shock of gray hair. He rose from where he crouched and welcomed the young woman with a wide smile, the others rushing to relieve her of the straw basket in a heated competition.
"Uncle Hai," the young woman acknowledged our chief with a sheepish smile tugging at the edge of her lips. Her robe seemed to fit her better than ours, as if she somehow wore it with a certain grace. I would have taken her for an Outer Sect disciple, or even an Inner Sect disciple, any day. Her face was clear, and her long, silken hair cascaded down her back like a waterfall.
"Say, Sister Xie, is there any word from Aunt Fan? She told everyone that she'd be taking you to her side by the Sect Master, no?" said a man beside me, his hands wrapped tightly around the bun he'd taken from the basket.
The woman shook her head, worry flashing in her eyes before she shaded it with another smile. "I'm sure she was busy. Working for the Sect Master is no easy task."
"It must be better than the fieldwork at least!" said my soul-brother's only friend, Kang Yao. He then spat on the ground and raised his chin, eyes peering up the mountain. "Heard you can get good tips in there. Sometimes they even give gold, I've heard, just for a job well done."
"Gold?" came a joint yelp from around me as people inched closer to Kang Yao's face.
Kang Yao nodded, clearly pleased that he had everyone's attention. "Yes, gold! Supposedly, they treat gold like it's worthless, like mud! To them, gold is no different than mud, so they have no trouble giving it out to laborers like us."
Everyone looked greatly impressed. I could almost see the gears turning behind their eyes, imagining scenes of golden coins pouring from the sky like rain, burying them in mounds of wealth. But one man didn't look impressed.
Our chief, the mighty Shen Hai, waved Kang Yao off, pouring a bucket of cold water on the highly motivated group. "Foolish! You think gold is something you can toy with, boy? You think it's easy for those cultivators to earn their wealth? Hah! You have eyes but have failed to see the reality of their world. It's brutal out there, kids. Unlike us, who live under the great shade of the Heavenly Demon Sect, they face waves of beasts and demonic bastards each day!"
Strangely, I felt like I had heard these words before. Well, not the exact words, but the tone. It was the kind of propaganda that drills into people's minds through all sorts of media—the kind that supposes if you tell a lie enough times, even you start to believe it.
At the same time, he wasn't wrong. All the xianxia novels had one thing in common: the risk and fortune often rode the same wave. Only by treading the thin line that separated life and death could one get close to wealth beyond the reach of normal men.
This didn't mean that cultivators were patriotic, compassionate folk who vowed to protect the weak. Quite the opposite, this high-risk, high-reward life often took a toll on their minds, turning them into beasts that shed their mortal skin.
I wasn't going to tell him that, of course. It was just interesting to see a different perspective from the locals of this world.
"Thank you, Little Xie," Shen Hai said a moment later, breaking the tense silence. He patted her back. "Now go, or these fools will start drooling. You don't belong in these fields."
The woman graced the group with another smile before she trudged up the slope with her emptied basket in hand.
In the meantime, I wolfed down the bun in three big bites. The puffy bread had some sort of ham in it, along with a creamy cheese that tasted like cheddar. Looking around at the other groups, it seemed we were the only ones treated to such a tasty sandwich, and we were being targeted by envious glances. No wonder they were furious—their porridges looked like slop.
Back to work, I felt the soft soil seep into my sandals, the plow clenched tightly in my hand. Shen Hai brought the sack of seeds we were supposed to plant. From what I'd heard, it was some sort of spiritual wheat that only grew during the second part of the Tenth Season. Confused, I tapped into the memories of my soul-brother to understand what these seasons were.
Basically, there were fifteen months in a year and twelve seasons. Each month was considered a season on its own, except for the last four months, which were all part of the Twelfth Season. They called it the Season of Beasts because of the beast waves that would come crashing across the continent during these months.
On top of that, the density of spiritual energy in the air and soil, the amount of sunlight the plants received, the wind, humidity, and temperature all differed from season to season. Now, we were in the Tenth Season, and this kind of spiritual wheat was supposed to be cultivated in the last two weeks of the season.
I was surprised to learn that it only took a week and a half for these crops to grow. The spiritual energy probably had something to do with it, which was why these plants were strictly used in pill-making. The Sect's Alchemy Peak loved them.
So, we all had to plant the seeds with gentle care.
Before that, though, we first loosened the soil with hoes. Once that was done, our chief gave each of us a fistful of seeds and had us stretch out into a wide line. We were to plant the seeds with a few inches of space between them. It looked simple enough that I wasn't bothered by it. Quite the opposite—after having cleaned the field with my own hands, I couldn't wait to plant the seeds as well.
All at once, we started. I buried the seeds into the shallow rows, sweat pouring down my brow. Although I hadn't imagined my first real day in a xianxia world would be spent planting seeds, it kind of felt romantic in a different way. After all, once you took the cultivation part out of the picture, all that was left was an ancient, primitive world.
But I could tell that my 1st Step Qi Condensation Stage cultivation provided me with more energy than the others. While my fellow laborers were rasping, I still felt like I could go for a couple more hours.
Shrugging, I continued, one seed at a time, the sun at my back, clouds rolling lazily overhead. From here, I could see the promise of grand mansions and palaces hidden in the higher layers of the Central Peak. I wasn't particularly interested in the deadly game of cultivation, but I would be more than willing to dabble in the magic of this world.
I was sighing in awe when a peculiar line of energy caught my interest. Spiritual energy threads were everywhere in the air, and I had unwittingly started ignoring them. Some even bumped against my hands and arms, only to bounce off as if my skin were some kind of barrier that rejected the Qi.
But this line... it was coming from deep within the soil, swirling in dreamy circles at the far end of the field. When I stepped closer, I saw more of the same lines, clustered around the corner, dancing in the wind.
Moving there, I brushed past Kang Yao to reach the corner and kneeled to check the ground. I dug a few inches, feeling odd glances drilling into my back. I waved them off as if to say everything was fine, continuing to dig deeper.
Soon, it became clear that these lines were coming from deep within the ground, like a geyser of spiritual energy. I took some seeds and decided to plant them right there, making sure they aligned with the energy lines.
"What are you doing, boy?" came Shen Hai's voice, bringing my focus back to the present. I looked up at him, realizing I must've looked like a maniac crouching there, digging the soil with my bare hands. "Why would you plant the seeds there? Isn't the field big enough for you that you're even trying to make the corners work?"
Throat parched, I took a deep breath and smiled at the chief. "Well, you can't plant too many seeds here, Uncle Hai. I had some left, so I reckoned why not use the corners as well?"
"You..." Shen Hai's mouth opened, then closed as he shook his head. "Fine. Cover those. We're finished here. The other group will come to water the field soon."
I nodded, covering the last seed with my hands and rising to my feet. As we exited the field, I took a glance at that corner. I didn't know what to expect, but from what I could see, the spiritual energy lines were no longer coming off the ground.
They were going straight into the seeds.
.....