It has been observed that when organisms are deprived of access to qi, they exhibit a marked decline in vitality. Initial symptoms include a progressive weakening of physical functions and an observable shriveling of the organism's form. As the condition advances, critical systems begin to fail, most notably the muscles of the heart. The heart, unaccustomed to operating under such deficient energetic conditions, is particularly vulnerable, often leading to complete collapse if the qi depletion is not promptly and effectively addressed."

- The Impact of Qi on Organism Health

* * *

A week had passed by since the sabotage to my creek. I remained vigilant, determined to catch the saboteur. Not a peep was heard or seen. I decided I would rather be active in my approach in catching the perpetrator than passive so I devised a plan.

“Hey Lei, you can rest staring today. Since the saboteur hasn’t revealed himself for a whole week, I think he’s gone for good. I’d rather you guys sleep to get ready for the hard morning then watch carefully for no one.”

Lei looks at me with curiosity, “Really? Don’t you think it’s… too soon?”. I shake my head.

“I think it was more to send a message than to really do any real damage. After all, if the man really wanted to, they could’ve done more damage by ripping up the ground and the plants, but instead they decided to be a pain and ‘simply’ cover our creek up”

He looked unconvinced but capitulated anyway. “If you believe it to be true, then it must be so.”

Since the sun was already setting Lei packed his tools and torch and headed home for the day. I stared at the field while breathing in the cool fresh evening air. Just around one and half more months before I can harvest and this whole farce can be put behind me. I turn around and head home as well, leaving the field truly defenseless.

Once I got back to the town hall, I made a show of entering and going to my room. Where I simply laid on my bed and kept myself entertained with my thoughts while I waited. Waited for the sun to dip. The moment it happened, I parted the furs that acted as a curtain, and as quietly as I could climbed out. I then snuck up to the houses and towards my fields.

Thankfully there weren’t any walls and guards patrolling the streets since there wasn’t much crime, so there was no point to separate the hall from the rest of the city. There was also no point in a patrol along the streets, since again, there wasn’t much of a crime scene in this city of not even a thousand. All that needed to be guarded was the main wall, which would be the biggest issue to sneak out of.

Approaching the wall I slowed down, as I tried to use my natural night vision to see if I could spot any guards at the entrance. I frowned as I didn't notice anything. Did they forget to post one? I waited a few minutes but not seeing anyone I decided that I didn’t have all night and quietly approached the gate.

As I approached the gate, I saw a young man, dressed in leathers and had a blanket wrapped around sleeping right outside the walls. I stared at the man. I can’t believe they don’t even take guarding the gate seriously. I understood that there was no conflict currently, but just how lax they were still disappointed me. I would fix this, not now, as that was to my advantage, but once the test phase of my farming was all well and done, I would bring it up to the council.

I still quietly snuck past to ensure that I wouldn’t wake the guy, and headed towards the fields. As it was currently summer, I enjoyed the nice warm nightly breeze as I trekked along the pathway. The hoots of the owls and the rustling of the trees added some life into the night. It was nice, but I still kept an eye out for any predators. There shouldn’t be any so close to the city, but I didn’t want to risk it.

Approaching my field I scouted pretty quickly to make sure nothing was done already and laid down in a dip in the ground near the creek and the field, so if anything happens to either I would see or hear it and be able to take a look. I got comfortable and waited.

An hour passed by, nothing. Another hour, and I started to get uncomfortable, twisting and turning, before giving up on lying down and just sitting. The warm chill that I was enjoying earlier started to drop before I started to get even further uncomfortable.

Should’ve taken a page from the guards book and brought a blanket. I didn’t really expect anything to happen, but I realized how boring this would become very quickly, and hoped something would happen very soon.

As I saw the night sky start to lighten, I decided to call it a night and go back. I didn’t want to catch the guard as he was waking up, as that would be an awkward conversation on why I was coming in really late at night, or really early in the morning. Thankfully the guard was still asleep and I quickly rushed back to my room, sneaking back in through the window, and going for a quick nap.

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Waking up, I head to the field, where everyone is already working hard, making sure to weed, and get rid of any nasty bugs. I approach Lei as he is carrying a pot of water.

“Still no clues from any of the villagers about what happened on the night of the sabotage?” He places the pot down as he answers me, “Unfortunately it seemed like it was a normal night. Noone saw anyone leave or enter, including the guards that were stationed at the gates.”

If any of the guards were anything like the guard I snuck past, it shouldn’t surprise me. “It’s been a week since the accident. Are you sure you want us to continue asking around? I doubt anyone even has a clear recollection of that night at this point.”

I hesitate but decide to admit defeat. “Yeah, you’re right. you and everyone else can go ahead and stop asking around about it.” As I turn around I quickly add in, “Also, since everything seems to be going smooth, I’ll be arriving at the field later and returning earlier, you’ll be in charge while I’m gone. If you need anything you can find me in the city hall.”

That’s how I spent my week. Going outside to the field, with a blanket this time, laying around till I see the night sky light up, and get back to my room before the sun even rises. Thankfully it was the same guard every single time and he was asleep everytime I snuck past him. By the fifth day, I started to take naps while laying in my ditch, as I started to run out of things to think about real quick.

On my seventh night of going to my field, I woke up to a noise. I layed there for a few minutes just taking in all the sounds in the field. Huh, must have been in my head. As soon as I was about to roll over and go back to my nap, I heard it again, the sound of rocks being poured. I ever so slowly, crawl over the lip to see if I can find the source of the sound.

Further upstream I see it. Two shadows are carrying around some kind of basket, with rocks and they pour it all into the stream. They then pile dirt on top of it and jump on it, while quietly talking and laughing to each other.

I didn’t expect this. I mean, I was hoping for something to happen, but now that I saw these two men messing with my channel I didn’t know what to do. I could run at them, but I didn’t know how they would react. Last thing I needed to happen to me was get stabbed. But I couldn’t just let them continue, as we needed that water.

I laid there, my thoughts racing. I already had a plan prepared, but now that it was happening I was questioning everything. Run at them or stay put? My initial plan came to mind and I decided I had no time to spare. I stand up and scream at the top of my lungs.

“There they are, get them!”

And a deeper tone “We’ll make sure they pay!”

And a higher one “Let’s go guys!”

I felt silly, but I’ve read stories of similar things happening before, although on a higher magnitude. Hopefully the cover of dark will ensure they don’t only see me and assume there are more people.

Hearing me, they don’t even bother looking and bolt immediately. Dropping their tools and baskets.

“I’m gonna run ahead, you guys catch up to me!” I say in a deeper voice.

The air runs through my hair and my lungs burn for more oxygen. I couldn’t fully commit to the sprint since I needed to avoid any holes in the uneven ground.

I struggle to catch up, and I eke out just a little bit, gaining ground on the slower partner. I never realized how out of shape I’ve become since I’ve arrived here. I don’t think I did a single workout. I need to fix that as soon as possible.

As I get closer to him, I shout out. “If you stop now, I’ll make sure to talk to the sage to make sure that you aren’t punished as harshly for your actions!”

Noticing that I was really close behind him, he seems to hesitate and start slowing down. Yes, once he’s stopped and I get a good look at him, I can finally get the Priest in trouble, since the Priest obviously wasn’t doing manual labor himself. I see the guy look back. Definitely familiar, I just needed to get a little closer and I’ll get a perfect mental im-.

The earth crashes into me and all the air escapes my lungs.

“Uuuugh!” I groan, as I try to figure out what just happened. I tripped, that was definitely what had happened. The moment I got distracted by looking at his face, I missed the dip in the ground. I looked up as I wheezed more air into my lungs, but seeing that I had tripped, the perpetrator took the chance and decided to run after all.

My rotten luck, of course I didn’t even get a good look at his face. Maybe if I talked to him directly I might recognize him, otherwise this whole operation became hopeless. I doubt they would take any more chances after what had happened tonight.

Once I recovered enough of the air to sit up. I decided to take a moment of rest and recover from this whole experience. I spent a week sleeping out in the middle of nowhere and all I have to show for it is some scrapes and bruises. With resignation, I go back, collect my blanket and clock out for the night in my room.

Morning came by, and I decided to sleep in. Trying to forget the embarrassment of falling face flat. Once I had enough moping, I headed out to the field to make sure nothing was burning. Getting to the field Lei immediately approaches me.

“Saint Jié Míns, Someone sabotaged us again last night, they didn’t seem to finish as they seemed to have run off in a hurry since they left their tools.”

“Thanks for telling me, Lei. What do you think? Would it be easier to make a new channel or clear up the old one?” He thinks deeply about it before replying.

“Even though they didn’t finish the sabotage, I think it would still be faster to make a new one next to the buried channel.”

I nod to him as I massage my temple, “Then let's do that. Also set up a night watch again.” I truly didn’t think they’d try to pull anything again, but I wasn’t risking my fields to just guesses. Once all of the ordeals have been taken care of in the field, I headed back to the town hall and prepared for a long day talking with Cai Lin and the Chieftain to see if they could do anything with the knowledge I now had.