The records of 'The Quiet Century' as it came to be known, are sparse and filled with the echoes of loss. Cities and villages that once teemed with the bustle of life were suddenly hushed, streets empty, the infrastructure of their time left to be simply shared among the few who survived.

-Articles of the Before

* * *

As the first light of dawn painted the sky in hues of orange and pink, I walked through the fields, inspecting each row of plants with meticulous care. The crops, bathed in the early morning light, looked green and healthy. My heart lifted with each step, as I whistled while doing my task. With only two months remaining before I could spread these farming practices across all the farmlands of this city, everything seemed on track.

Content with the health of the crops, I began to make my way back towards the city, plotting the tasks for the day. However, my steps slowed as I noticed a figure hurrying towards me across the fields. It was Lei, his face etched with urgency.

“Somethings wrong with the creek we’ve made,” he panted, catching his breath since he’s caught up to me. “Someone filled the channel with stones and dirt. It’s slowed down to a trickle, barely drawing any water right now.”

My heart sank at the revelation. What do you mean someone filled in our channel, why would anyone do that. I didn’t make any enemies. I’ve barely talked outside of our farmers here and Cai Lin. But neither party would do anything, they have no reason to.

Nodding grimly, I followed him to the creek. Sure enough, the water that had once flowed freely was now impeded by the rocks and dirt. Even the hole that we used to draw water was filled in.

“We need to clear this and fast,” I instructed, my voice firm despite the frustration brewing inside. “I’ll get the other guys that aren’t busy watching for bugs. I’ll also send some to start going to the river to at least water some of the land while we work on this.”

I let the farmers that were already on the field squashing bugs be. Every farmer that I caught arriving late, I sent every other one to either to the channel to be cleared, or with jars to the river so we can at least get some of the crops watered. With the scale of the farm that we have built up, it was no longer viable to walk thirty minutes for the water, and we have grown reliant on the water from the channel.

Once all the farmers were accounted for, I sent two of the bug terrorizer groups home early, as I now apparently needed a night watch. As I looked through the leaves, looking for any pesky bugs that were trying to ruin all the hard-earned progress I've made, I thought about the whole situation.

Could it be the priest? He’s the only one that I've had an altercation with. He’s also the one that would benefit from this situation. Since if he wins the bet, I’ll need to “apologize”, whatever that entails. But even then, blocking off the flow of the channel doesn’t ruin anything. All it did was make things inconvenient for a matter of time. I might lose some crops, but it won’t be enough to matter. At least it shouldn’t.

Most of the land I have already planted and have seen success. I couldn’t get it all due to the manpower requirements that this method entails, but enough that I should get a round of applause once I show them the harvest. I might even be able to squeeze in another harvest before winter if I play my cards right. Thankfully the winters here didn’t sound that terrible based on what everyone was saying. It was simply colder, with more rain, and if they got unlucky, it might sprinkle some snow.

Once I was done with my portion of the work, I went to check up on my workers who were digging up the channel. “How’s the progress?” I ask as I walk up. Lei looks at me as he sets his tools down and sits down to take a break. “It’s actually harder now, then we first started due to all these stones in the way.”

“Do you actually mean that?” I asked him, concerned. I was hoping to get it cleaned up in 2 weeks like we did when we were building it, him telling me there were complications weren’t really reassuring. He nods with a serious tone. “Unfortunately this isn’t the time for jokes. At this point it would be faster to dig up a new channel next to the old one.”

“Well why haven’t you started already? Why did you guys waste all day on this if it made no sense to.” Did they need my permission so badly that they’d rather waste a day doing brainless activity? If they needed permission why didn’t they ask for it. I don’t need this right now.

“I-I’m sorry, Great Sage.” Lei quickly apologized.

Looking at him I feel some regret at putting him on the spot. “I’m sorry Lei, I didn’t mean anything by that. Why didn’t you approach me earlier, if you knew this was a hopeless task early on?” He continued to look uncomfortable. “I was going to approach, but I saw that you sent two of the farmers home, and I didn’t want to be caught with a stray arrow. You also looked like you were really concentrating on the plants, so I figured I would wait for you to finish before approaching you. Unfortunately it took you a long time to finish up.”

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I sigh as I look at him, “The reason why I sent them back home was that I needed to set up a night watch so I let them go early so that they could sleep. In fact we are going to rotate the people that keep watch, I’ll have to get the schedules straight with everyone after this. And I apologize again, Lei, next time if it’s between wasting your day on a pointless task or distracting me for a few minutes, take the distraction path. I would appreciate that to a greater extent.”

He shakes his head quickly, “No need to apologize. I should’ve known, and I'll keep your teachings in mind for next time.” Not wanting to get into an apology battle with him, I let him have the last apology as they shifted a few feet and started digging a new one right next to the old one.

“By the way, Lei?” He snaps to attention, “Yes, Sage?” It really gritted on my nerves that he switched back to my title and not my name, but there wasn’t much I could do about that right now. “Could you and the farmers ask around the city if they noticed anything suspicious? Perhaps someone leaving the city in the middle of the night or someone arriving in the early morning?”

“Of course.” He replied before getting back to work. I sighed once again and headed back. I didn’t even consider it an outburst, but I guess I did flaunt my authority a bit with that statement. There wasn’t anything I could do about it. Only time will give me back the attitude we had, but for now I need to meet with Cai Lin about the sabotage, see if he knows anything or can dig anything up.

I made my way to the city as all sorts of thoughts went through my mind. I needed to manage my stress. The moment I experienced the setback, I instantly started spiraling. As I approached the city, the sounds and clatter eased my heart. I reach the town hall, enter and walk through the various hallways as I look to see if he is in any of the gathering rooms.

Since there wasn’t any writing, any administration had to be done in person. Any elder that had anything needed to be done between each other would usually gather in one of these rooms to discuss any plans they needed to enact. I wasn’t really invited to any of these meetings so I didn’t know much and all the information I had came second hand from Cai Lin himself.

Not finding him in any of these rooms, I resorted to going to his room directly, you would usually avoid others' rooms of rest unless it was an act of desperation or importance. And since I was afraid the sabotage would escalate, I considered it important. Reaching his room, I take a deep breath and announce my presence.

“Sage Jié Míns requests an audience with Cai Lin.” I really thought the practice would die with the introduction of doors, but I guess old habits die hard.

“Come on in!” As I open the door I see him sitting in his chair watching outside the window, probably thinking about whatever administrative tasks he’s in charge of. Looking at me he notices my expression.

“Is everything alright?” he asks.

After he waved at a chair next to him, I took a seat. My thoughts were already organized by the time I got here. “We’ve had an incident on the farm. Someone sabotaged the irrigation channel we constructed. Filled it with stones and dirt, completely disrupting the water flow. I suspect someone doesn’t wish for me to succeed.”

Cai Lin’s brows furrow as he listens, his fingers tapping lightly on the wooden surface of the desk. “That’s troubling indeed, do you have any leads?”

I shake my head, “Not really, I have asked my helping hands to ask around on their own time, but I personally have a suspicion. There is only one person who would benefit from this in any shape or form.” He looks at me curiously, “And who might that be?”

“The Priest, Xuán Shān.” At my announcement a weird look appears on his face. “Priest Xuán Shān, you say? I find that odd, as he’s generally been supportive of initiatives that help the community. And extra food on the table for everyone would definitely help.”

“But he’s the only one that would make sense, he is the only one that has stakes in me losing. Especially after I challenged him directly, he’s been giving me a cold shoulder since.” He continues to look at me in a troubled expression. “I understand that, but it would be beneath a Priest to act in such a petty manner, it would be better to wait for divine retribution.”

“But-”

“I am sorry, Sage Jié Míns, but if that is true, which I do not believe it to be, I cannot get involved between you two. If you decide to go after him, it will have to be either on your own, or with the Chieftain Ming, and even he would need proof to do anything directly.”

“Well since you can’t help, I’ll talk to the chieftain directly then.”

He looks at me with a worried look. “I wish you the best of luck.”

I get out of the chair and head to the chieftains room, where I promptly announce my presence and enter when given permission.

“Chieftain Ming, I have been sabotaged and I suspect it to be Priest Xuán Shān.”

He looked at me amused, “That is one way to start a conversation. How about you sit down and explain from the start?” As I calmed down, I sat down and retold my story. About how my water channel got buried and how the only one with stakes in me succeeding is the Priest.

“I understand your agitation, Sage Jié Míns. But the Priest has always shown initiative when it came to the benefit of the community. I cannot do anything with such flimsy reasoning. I am sorry, but there is nothing I can do.”

Frustrated, I leave. Since I couldn’t do anything about the priest without proof, all I needed was proof. I kind of hoped he’d pull something so I could catch him in the act but for now all I could do is take the wait and see approach.