Heavy Rain

Chún emerged from the rift that led from the original mountain site to Hidden Mountain into dull, overcast light and heavy rain, causing him to push the Cloak's Essence mists out protectively across the goods on the Gliding Horse. The mists of the Cloak soaked up the water, protecting the goods - although the various Essence Herbs, pots and other goods he had gathered to trade would not be affected by a little water, to come into the village with everything completely waterlogged would not be useful.

Carefully watching his step and where the wheel of the Gliding Horse was rolling along the muddy trail down the mountainside - to avoid mud holes that might cause his handcart to tip - the young True Cultivator flicked his eyes skyward at sullen rumbles of thunder from the grey clouds that pressed down from overhead.

The mists of the Cloak swallowed the rain hungrily, so he remained dry as he pushed the Gliding Horse down the trail, noting with some concern that the mists that outlined the location of the Defensive Dao Patterns began almost to swirl around the trail almost immediately after he exited the rift back to Hidden Mountain.

"You are still pushing Essence through the defensive patterns at full strength," Chún observed to his locus through the link as he looked around at the thick mists that hung over the entire area and between them and the heavy rain almost obscured the route ahead as he walked down the mountain side, pushing his loaded Gliding Horse ahead of him along the old shepherd's path that was almost more like a small stream as runoff from the rainfall followed it down the side of the mountain, "in fact, I am positive the mists were not this heavy or extended this far up the mountain last time I came down the path. The village is going to be completely isolated."

"I have more than enough excess to spare - even discounting the amount I am dumping through the rift, the original site now has levels comparable to what was present before I advanced from Treasure Land to Planet. Without the recent upheavals we would be a beacon to every Consumer on Golden Crow," his locus's reply was matter of fact, "of course, without the Dao Patterns stabilising this immediate area, the village would have been destroyed by the constantly escalating Essence Disturbances and jumps in ambient Essence levels by now."

The young True Cultivator winced at the headache that accompanied the strange words and concepts as it always did when Tai began to wax esoteric, "I somehow partially grasp your meaning, but your words are meaningless," he complained, with an air of long suffering, blinking against the momentary dizziness as he took extra care in placing his feet on the slick surface "Heavens weep, the village Elders will be complaining about the village being cut off the breath I arrive."

"Given a few hundred years, you will learn the concepts well enough," his locus reassured him and Chún shook his head resignedly, before the nuances of Tai's earlier comment caused his warning sense to prickle, "are you pushing the defensive patterns simply because of excess Essence or because things have gotten worse?"

There was a significant silence and the young teen groaned, his earlier mundane concerns with the heavy rain and the complaints he was sure to have to deal with in the near future put aside, "What is happening?"

"Yesterday's actions with the mana spring; the extravagant use of potent Essence in the battle somewhat exacerbated the already unstable Essence environment," his locus replied, "despite your efforts to redirect the excess back into the land." Chún caught fragments of swirling patterns and incomprehensible colors flowing through the link, "the particularly energetic effects of the battle - the Lady's Yin Storm and your overloaded purification strike - released a significant amount of powerful Essence into the immediate area which, added to what is already swirling around there..."

The Hidden Mountain trailed off and Chún had a sudden flash of a Bagua swirling ceaselessly over the new mountain peak that he had helped form the day before, "the combination of the two has turned into a self sustaining Essence source. I am not exactly sure why, because your strike was not pure Yang, but evidently it was enough of an equal and opposite to the Yin in the storm to start spontaneous generation of Essence."

"It makes sense that anything that could purify that nest of yin worms would have to lean heavily into yang," Chún pointed out, "I could have guessed that even as a peasant boy, let alone now after everything you have taught me," he fell silent, thinking as he continued guiding his gliding horse along the mist shrouded path.

"Tai," he asked slowly, "I am not the expert here - but, surely the amount of Essence expended in that battle would normally be considered minor on the scale of the planet - I mean it was not even close to what was released after we collapsed the Devourer's rift or when the Knife Sect lands were destroyed - I am not an expert, but it almost seems like something is tilting the odds in favour of Golden Crow developing new Essence sources, even when the chances are remote."

Chún blinked as a thought occurred to him, ironically underscored by another grumble of thunder from the greyness overhead, "is it something to do with my nature as a True Cultivator - that favourable chance effect you mentioned before?"

"Technically," his friend replied, with the absent tone that Chún had come to associate with preoccupation, "given the overall depletion of Golden Crow, it is a positive outcome for a source of additional Essence to develop - especially given the fact that that location was originally intended to have been providing Essence over the last few millennia. However..."

"Too much of a good thing is always bad," surmised Chún, his recent experiences allowing to realise the problems having a third potent Essence source in close proximity would inevitably cause, "surely though - the effects from the Sect Land's collapse are dying away. Perhaps this new source will merely allow the Essence levels in this area to stabilise at the new higher level?"

"The yin yang spiral was only able to form out of the remnants of the battle, because of the Essence levels are currently in flux," replied Tai obliquely, "you are correct in thinking that under stable conditions the residue would have normally dissipated - however, in this case it is growing exponentially…"

"So it is causing problems - more disturbances and areas of stretched time, heavy and shallow Essence," the young teen grumbled, "what has to be done to fix it?"

"I am already doing it - thus the increased strength and coverage of the Defensive patterns," his locus replied, "but outside the patterns, another wave of heavy Essence is spreading."

"The refugees are going to be struggling, if they can even make it this far," realised Chún, "can we shut it down?"

"That would not be advisable," rejected the tens of millenia old being that had somehow become his anchor, power source and sink, "if it destabilised, the damage could render a significant portion of the Fousou uninhabitable for several millennia and more or less spell the end of any hope of Golden Crow's revival."

"We would not be having this problem if it formed over an empty stretch of desert or something," grumbled Chún, "why did it have to form here, where we do not actually need it?" He absently wiped the water that had dripped into his eyes away habitually, although his Cultivation ensured vision remained unaffected.

"The conditions were what allowed it to form in the first place," his locus replied, "it is moving slowly eastward, in a fashion similar to a Typhoon as it gains strength."

He rolled his eyes, "I suppose I should be thankful that it is not accompanied by the usual destructive winds and floods that normally accompany a regular typhoon."

His locus gave an impression of clearing an non-existent throat, "we are within the defense patterns and they are operating at full strength."

"So an enormous yin-yang Typhoon is leaving the region to dump additional Essence, as well as violent and dangerous levels of wind and rain far and wide, wreaking havoc on the Fousou as it goes, probably waking up every Ancient creature everywhere and pounding my new friends into paste along the way."

Chún continued to summarise dryly, in deliberate irony against the water all around him, "but the storm is moving so slowly that between your output, the effects of the Sect gate that exploded and this new source, we will soon shall have a high enough concentration to support Essence Sprites in this area - despite the fact that it used to be one of the most barren areas on Golden Crow."

There was a sense of amusement from Tai as the young teen continued griping, "that will be enough to tempt a treasure rush of thousands of eager Consumers searching for treasures and opportunity, to march into the wilderness once that storm moves far enough away - starting fights, probably angering our new Ancient neighbours and generally sending this whole area into complete chaos - that is if some high level Consumer does not decide to investigate what caused such an unusual set of phenomena to begin with."

"And that doesn't even address the additional difficulty the whole situation poses to the people I promised protection to," Chún raised his voice in frustration, "I gave my word." He stopped and released the handles of the Gliding Horse, looking towards the southwest where he knew the refugees were travelling from.

"You must stay here," his locus responded flatly, all humor gone from tai's presence in the link between them, "the Consumer Heiress and her House must manage the trip with the assistance you have already provided - until they get here you are the area's only defense. And as you just pointed out - powerful forces are either awakening, or are being made aware of our existence. We cannot afford to have you absent from the area for any length of time now."

"The refugees were your idea," Chún reminded his locus as he picked up the Gliding Horse and resumed trudging through the mud as the village appeared dimly below him through the mists and rain, "we put them in this situation - we bear some responsibility?"

"The situation is changing more rapidly than I had anticipated," Tai admitted, "unfortunately we do not have the resources to aid them further - they must survive this test on their own."

Chún sighed, briefly pausing to assume his 'Lin' disguise - rearranging his Essence into the false diantians and meridians expected of a Consumer and make sure his pattern of un-remarkability was charged with Essence - as an image of the mysterious young beauty flashed through his mind, "Sorry, Fairy. Hope you make it."

---

Chún wandered lazily through the northern gates of the Village, pushing his Gliding Horse piled neatly with various tradable items ahead of him, his Relic Hunter 'Lin' persona, Cultivation and mannerisms firmly in place.

However, he - was - taking shameless advantage of the fact that the villagers were now 'politely ignoring' evidence that he was not your average Relic Hunter, by stowing away all the bulky and hard to balance items in the spatial depths of the Cloak, which - had - made the trip much easier.

He stifled a curse as a young villager caught sight of him as he passed the soaked gates, immediately spinning on their heel and sprinting towards the area of the village where the Headman's house was. He had briefly entertained a faint hope that by entering by the least used gate - towards the mountainside - he might not be spotted until after he had conducted his business. Clearly he had been mistaken.

"Time to deal with everyone's complaints," the young teen muttered under his breath, grimacing at the state of the muddy village streets and unpleasantly coloured streams of liquid that flowed down them. He would never have noticed the filth in the past, but now it seemed an ugly stain against the Essence rich beauty he had become accustomed to.

"They are much too frightened of you to complain," his locus pointed out with amusement.

"Politely worded - long winded, endless - explanations of how the current situation is inconvenient is hardly an improvement," Chún gritted out through a plastered on smile, acknowledging abbreviated bows in his direction made by a number of hooded and cloaked villagers doing their best to avoid getting soaked as he passed them on the otherwise empty and waterlogged main street, "what should I tell them?"

"You were the one who wanted to play as my representative," Tai pointed out without sympathy.

Chún brightened with a sudden realisation, "that is correct! So what do you need them to know?"

The sensation of astonished confusion that fluttered in the link made the young teen grin in response as he headed towards the apothecary - hopefully, one of the local villagers had taken over the shop after he had killed the Grass thug that had been running it previously.

---

Approximately a shí later, Chún left the last merchant that he had brought goods to trade with; his Essence enhanced fruits, vegetables, soybeans and the 'spirit' rice that he had harvested from the careful plantation of the small pouch that old farmer had given him had been warmly welcomed - although not with the amazement that it had garnered previously; it seemed that the increase in Essence in the area had been reflected in a general improvements in the crops the local farms had started to bring into the Market Village - almost every farmer was having rapid growth and early harvests with many beginning in low level Essence produce.

Of course, the produce that came from his small farm had been grown in a ridiculously rich Essence environment and meticulously cared for by the Essence Sprites, so it was several levels higher in Essences quality and capacity causing the merchants to still bargain eagerly for his goods - especially the rice and dòufu/soybeans, which apparently no one else had brought in yet.

The 'spirit' rice, glowing with various elements of Essence, had especially raised a few eyebrows - despite his having only a few small pouches of each type of element Essence inclined rice - he was able to sell each small pouch as if it were a twenty or thirty jin of the finest white imperial grade rice with exhortations from the merchants to be sure to bring the remainder of the harvest straight to them when it was ready.

The peasant part of the young True Cultivator suspected that the Essence Sprites had definitely done something to increase the growth rates of the dòufu/soybeans and 'spirit' rice. He was fairly sure those crops should not have had anything ready for harvest yet - even including the effects of being planted in the Essence heavy area of the Heaven and Earth Vine clearing on Hidden Mountain - it had taken less than a fifth of the time it normally would have to grow a small portion of the rice to maturity and the same for the soybean - given that he had planted that two weeks before the rice.

The apothecary had changed hands indeed - a middle age woman that Chún vaguely recalled as having run one of the apocatheries before the Grass backed thugs had shut all of the stores they did not operate down - running it now. She was most complementary of the Dao Pots he had developed to keep the Essence herbs alive, mentioning that she had - until recently - more interest in the Dao Pots than even the high level Essence herbs in them. Chún continued to allow her to assume that the pots were relics he had unearthed from some ancient ruins on the mountain - although he did wonder how long such assumptions might last if he kept selling them.

The seamstress was likewise fascinated by the Essence silk he had to sell - though she did warn him that if he provided too much he might attract unwanted attention from the Imperial Family as strictly speaking such silk was restricted to their use. She was also quite interested in his own clothing - even going so far as to ask if he would sell it or put her in touch with its maker.

Chún could not tell the lady that his clothing was made by Essence Sprites, so he made vague allusions to ancient storerooms and old masters and escaped the store as rapidly as politeness could allow him to manage.

He sold the bones and furs - not that he had many as he had vastly decreased his hunting of late - to the tanner. The Blacksmith was still shut - evidently no one who could work metal remained in the village and Chún frowned as he remembered the waste of effort he had put into getting that Grass Consumer to make him needles he never wound up using.

"Senior Lin," a respectful voice broke into his musings and past the constant drumming of falling rain, "if you are finished your business, the village elders request to speak with you."

Chún sighed and looked over at the slim villager who stood there with a wax paper parasol held over their head to ward off the worst of the rain and raised his eyebrows. He did not recognise the person - a young man or perhaps woman who clearly was not the average farmer type that was the normal look of the villagers.

"Very well," Chún agreed resignedly, making sure the oiled leather covering that she had bargained from the tanner was covering his newest purchases on the Gliding Horse securely. The more delicate or sensitive purchases were stashed in the Cloak which was currently in its unremarkable brown leather disguise. Unfortunately that did come with a reduced spatial capacity as the Cloak was less capable of holding objects in its original appearance than when it was in its natural form of Essence Mists, but he had not bought many delicate items today so that was not a problem.

He examined the person leading him towards the Headman's house and frowned, "I do not recognise you. Have you been working with the Village Elders for long?"

"Honour Senior, this humble one recently left Hujian - I was merely intending to pass through before heading towards one of the inner cities - but I found my humble talents as a low level scholar have surprisingly turned out to be much more needed here than they would have been valued elsewhere," the person made an expressive shrug, "this area seems poised for a change which interests me - much more than working for some minor magistrate."

"That would explain why you traveled to the border rather than heading immediately into deeper into the Empire," Chún remarked dryly, "I imagine Head Wang was overjoyed to discover a scholar who had passed the examinations was willing to stay here at all."

The other person made a polite cough, "there were some unusual rumours circulating the city which prompted the decision to take a risk - I was curious. Now it appears I may be more fortunate than I had hoped."

The wording of his gude's reply caught Chún's interest, "ah…Jianghu?"

"Only a very minor wandering Cultivator, Senior. I am mostly a scholar by trade and inclination. This has turned out to be an eye opening experience for a humble wandering scholar - a cultivation paradise where even the lowliest villager has at least a few Mortal levels - and the herbs!" The other person's voice rose slightly with excitement, "but all the records I could find said the Fusou was barren and dangerous in equal measure - it is truly remarkable."

"As long as you do not abuse the village's hospitality, I am sure they will welcome you to stay as a permanent resident," replied Chún after a moment, his locus reassuring him that the newcomer had done nothing that would pose a threat to the villagers - indeed Head Wang was considering someone who could manage accounts and records officially as heaven sent.

"I am certainly appreciated much more here than I ever have been in the cities," the other person replied earnestly, "personally I find everything happening around here immensely fascinating as well. Head Wang says," here the other man laughed, the slightly deeper tones giving away the gender, "I might feel differently after I experience my first Market Day."

"They - are - still planning to hold it then?" Chún enquired as they came into site of the larger house that was the Headman's residence.

The other man stepped under the clay tiled eaves avoiding the water cascading off the roof and lowered the wax parasol, shaking the excess water off under the shelter, "that is part of what the Elders wish to discuss, Senior," he answered, dropping his hood to reveal a thin, scholarly looking face with intelligent eyes, "you can leave your handcart here. I am sure it will be safe," he reassured Chún, gesturing towards the interior of the house, "Please."

Chún pushed a little extra Essence into the Dao patterns of the Gliding Horse, causing the 'carved' vine and wood patterns to glow faintly, and the scholar's eyes to widen, "if anyone touches it, they will regret it," Chún replied simply throwing his own hood back.

The scholar nodded, otherwise unperturbed, leaning the parasol at the door before guiding him within the house. Chún felt a minor flicker of Essence around his feet as he crossed the threshold and glanced down to see the mud and water dry and crumble away from his boots - evidently the work of a minor formation designed to keep people from tracking dirt into the dwelling.

The scholar led Chún swiftly into a larger room that was clearly organised as a study, where all the older members of the village were seated around a tea table sipping said beverage from a tea set that Chún recognised as being composed of some of his more artistic pottery creations that he had sold during the last market and blinked in surprise.

He would not have considered putting together the small pots he had created in that way - he wondered if he could create a proper tea set intentionally - as he took a seat around the table and inclined his head respectfully, "Elders."

The scholar quietly exited the study and closed the door behind him as Chún sat and accepted a small Fǔ pot that had be repurposed as a teacup from Head Wang, and taking a sip.

"Good Tea," Chún said politely and the village head bowed in acceptance, "I appreciate the hospitality, but I must not stay long - there are a number of things I need to deal with."

"Senior Lin," answered the Headman, "we will be as brief as possible, but there a number of issues that require your urgent input."

Chún frowned, "very well. I am not sure how much assistance I can provide the village directly?"

The village headman waved his hand, "we understand - rather we are concerned with issues related to - recent developments around the village and the outlying farms. Related to Essence…" he paused and regarded Chún over his cup, "...so you see, rather more your concern than ours."

"Indeed?" Chún's eyebrows rose, "very well - what exactly do you believe I can assist with?"