The Empress sat within the jade-pillared Imperial study, her hands clasped on the scroll before her. Outside, the morning light fell upon the vast capital, but within the chamber, shadows coiled around her heart.
Another report. Another rumor. Another whisper of a farmer.
She exhaled slowly, unrolling the parchment.
> "Your Majesty, villages across the Western Border have begun raising shrines. They call him the Mountain Farming God, claiming he watches their fields and slaughters the demons who prowl the night. Temples are springing up faster than we can count. Cabbages, in particular, are now sold at ten times their price. Traders claim they are blessed by the farmer."
The Empress's lips trembled, though no one in the room would notice. She had learned the art of restraint long ago, burying her emotions beneath the weight of the crown. But now—now every word about that man tugged at something she had thought dead.
The officials thought it strange, even laughable. A farmer, elevated by rumor to divinity? But she knew. She knew all too well.
For she had seen him.
She had seen Garfield, whose aura alone could rival the ancestors of her Empire. She had seen the Naga child, whose presence whispered of worlds shattered. And she had seen the farmer—calm, smiling, terrifying in his ordinariness. A man who made mockery of gods, yet plucked weeds with the same patience he wielded against sects.
---
Whispers in the Capital
Rumors flooded into the capital like a swelling tide.
"They say he turned an entire sect into farmers overnight."
"Everywhere his cabbages grow, no pests can approach. Even the heavens seem afraid."
"My cousin swore he saw him walking on clouds, holding a hoe that shone like the Dao itself!"
Merchants sold "blessed cabbage leaves," hawkers offered "farm soil from the Mountain God," and temples rang bells in his honor. Even the children in the streets now played at "Farmer Lai," chasing each other with sticks while shouting, "Paralyzed! Die!"
And through it all, the Empress listened in silence, her heart pounding.
Her advisors looked to her for guidance, but she merely waved them away.
---
Skipping Heartbeats
Every time she heard his name, her chest betrayed her. A skipped beat. A rush of warmth. A terrifying weakness she had cast aside the day she ascended the throne.
She had told herself she could not afford such things. An Empress had no luxury for tenderness.
Yet every letter exchanged with that farmer carried the weight of a secret she dared not speak aloud. His words were casual, teasing, filled with mockery of sect clichés and self-proclaimed heroes. Yet between the lines, she found herself lingering on the smallest turns of phrase. The faintest warmth in his tone.
Her quill hovered over parchment, hesitating on words she would never write: I want to see you again.
Instead, she scrawled: "The capital remains in turmoil. Cabbages have become a form of currency. Tell me, Farmer Lai, do you raise them as soldiers or children?"
And when his reply came—"Both. They are children who will one day wage wars."—her heart skipped again.
The Empress pressed a hand to her chest, startled by the rapid beat. She was no naive girl, no blushing maiden. She was the ruler of an empire. And yet… in the quiet hours, she feared the truth.
She feared she had already fallen.
---
The Heaven's Chosen in Hell
While temples rang with chants of the farmer's name, Ye Tianlong's screams echoed across the cabbage fields.
"GET UP!" Garfield roared, his massive frame casting a shadow over the dirt. "Little brother, the golems aren't finished with you yet!"
Ye Tianlong spat blood, his body crumpled in the soil. Across from him, an earth golem stomped forward, fists crackling with runes that glowed faintly with Lai's inscriptions. Its eyes glowed with merciless indifference.
"Enough… I can't… I can't move…" Ye Tianlong gasped.
Lai's calm voice drifted from the side, where he crouched gently trimming leaves from a row of cabbages.
"You were supposed to be a Heaven's Chosen, weren't you? Betrayed by a lover, climbing back from despair, swearing revenge against the heavens. How cliché." He snipped a leaf and smiled faintly. "Yet right now, even my cabbage stalks stand straighter than you."
Ye Tianlong coughed violently, glaring with bloodshot eyes. "You… mock me…"
"Yes," Lai replied, serene as the lake. "And until you're strong enough to stop me, I will continue."
The golem's fist came down again. Ye Tianlong barely rolled aside, the impact gouging a crater into the soil. Dust choked the air. His bones screamed, muscles torn, qi shattered. He wanted to curse, to cry, to beg. But something deeper burned within him: that hatred. That endless fire.
Farm the dao. Harvest your revenge.
Lai's words haunted him. And with every crushing blow, that fire flared hotter.
---
Garfield's Glee
Garfield laughed, arms folded. "Little brother, you remind me of myself before I met Master. Broken. Weak. But you'll learn. You'll learn through pain."
Beside him, Long Fei watched with grim sympathy. "Don't worry. Dying only hurts the first few dozen times. After that… you get used to it."
"Shut… shut up…" Ye Tianlong wheezed, ducking another blow.
The golem's foot caught him square in the chest, launching him into a row of pumpkins. Blood splattered across the soil.
Lai stood, plucked a single pumpkin from the vine, and cradled it in his arms as though it were a child. He glanced down at Ye Tianlong, broken and twitching.
"This pumpkin," Lai said softly, "grew stronger than you without once complaining."
Ye Tianlong wanted to scream. He wanted to weep. Instead, he staggered up again, body trembling, and faced the golem once more.
Garfield grinned wide. "Good. You're starting to understand. This is Master's way. You don't just cultivate qi here—you cultivate humiliation. Break your pride. Break your bones. Then stand again."
And so the torment continued.
---
Temples Rise, Hearts Tremble
Back in the capital, the Empress listened as a minister stammered through another report.
"Y-Your Majesty, peasants in the eastern provinces now trade cabbage leaves as talismans. Some say the leaves glow faintly under the moonlight. Merchants are selling out faster than we can regulate…"
"Enough," the Empress whispered, raising a hand.
The hall fell silent.
Inside, her thoughts roared. The man she had seen smiling like sunlight while speaking words darker than any abyss—was this the same farmer now worshipped as a god?
Was this the man she had begun to dream of, night after night, against her will?
She pressed her palm to her chest again, hating the way her heart betrayed her. Terrified of the weakness… yet desperate for more.
---
Two Worlds
While villagers burned incense to their cabbage god and the Empress wrestled with a heart she could not control, Ye Tianlong collapsed in the dirt once more. His body was broken, but his eyes no longer carried despair.
They carried madness.
He would rise. He would farm. He would harvest his revenge.
And from the lake's edge, Lai watched it all, his calm gaze stretching beyond the horizon.
One world sang his name as a god. Another boy cursed him with every breath.
Lai only smiled.
---
That night, as the Empress stood at her balcony, the wind carried distant whispers of peasants chanting prayers to their Mountain God. She closed her eyes, whispering into the night:
"Farmer Lai… who are you?"
And far away, beneath cabbage leaves soaked in moonlight, Ye Tianlong screamed as another golem's fist crushed his ribs.
The dao of farming was merciless.
---