DC 68

“Brother Jiao! I know it's only been a week but it feels like it’s been so long!” as loud and boisterous as always, Xin Lee was the first one to greet Feng Jiao as he approached the area his friends were staying in. Although his father was a wealthy and famous beast tamer, Xin Lee had proven himself to be a carefree and relatable friend in their journey to the sect.

Although his short brown hair was always messy, it looked more unkempt to Feng Jiao than it usually did and, combined with his disheveled green robe and the dark lines under his eyes, Feng Jiao could tell that he hadn’t been having it easy since they arrived at the sect. 

“Brother Lee, where is everyone at? I heard about you guys’ problem and I want to see what I can do.” Practically tearing up, Xin Lee took over and led the way while Weiwu De had an indecisive look on his face. Putting aside the fact that Xin Lee had called Feng Jiao brother, he wasn’t sure that he should tag along.

Although Feng Jiao had spared him a thrashing and was an outer sect disciple worth currying favor, he worried that following them and attaching himself to Feng Lou’s raft might land him in turbulent waters. In the end, he decided to tag along anyways. It wasn’t like avoiding trouble the last couple years as a nominal disciple had made his life any easier.

As Feng Jiao had noticed the closer they got to where his cousin was staying, the vegetation had been dying down by a noticeable amount and even what was left behind was yellowed grass and weeds. This was in stark contrast with the large amount of essence, so thick in the air that Feng Jiao could practically feel it when he breathed. Before long, Xin Lee led Feng Jiao and Weiwu De to a field just outside of one of the larger mountains around. 

Because of the topography of the sect, it being mostly mountains and valleys, there were fewer areas to grow crops than one might assume. In truth, most of the farming to feed the livestock and nominal disciples was done in the valleys or fields on either side of the mountains. The mountains were mostly used for lodging and the growing of higher-grade crops, such as herbs for alchemy or essence enhanced food for the disciples. 

Getting to the field, Feng Jiao noticed that there were a few ramshackle huts set up on the perimeter of a very large, barren field. The huts circled a run down picnic table and a few stone benches and there was almost no green to be seen. 

“Guys, Feng Jiao is here. Come out and say hello,” With spirit that didn’t match his run down appearance, Xin Lee skipped forward and shouted out to the huts. Before too long, Feng Jiao saw an assembly of his closest friends come out and sit on the stone benches. Feng Lou, his cousin, sat at the head of the table on a tree stump that had been repurposed as a stool, with Xin Lee on his left and Jixiang Yun on his right.

“Where are Wang Jin and Duan Cao?” After exchanging greetings, Feng Jiao asked the first question on his mind. Although the three boys were here, his two female friends were curiously missing. 

“They were separated from us when we were checking in to the sect, and after trouble befell us, I managed to warn them to stay away. They ended up attached to an all female unit of nominal disciples.” The impromptu leader, Feng Lou replied with a weary look in his eyes. “In any case, you’ve forgotten to introduce your follower.”

“Oh, this is Weiwu De. I saw him getting bullied by a group of girls and conveniently picked him up to be my guide in the nominal sector. I don’t care to wonder how long it would have taken to find you guys without him, although if he’s to be believed, you three have already made a name for yourself. Care to explain exactly what happened?”

With a sigh, Feng Lou took an Ardor Cigarette out of his robe and lit it before beginning his story. Apparently, the other two had gotten a taste for their hometown’s product as he habitually passed it around to them as well. Although Feng Jiao passed, Weiwu De gave it a drag and seemed to enjoy it as he passed it back with a pleasant look on his face. 

“It all started when we were checking in. Although male disciples don’t receive the same treatment as females, young men who manage to climb to the peak of Awakening are still treated better than others. Since brother Lee and myself managed to get there, and even brother Yun wasn’t too far off, we managed to stir up some interest without knowing it.

“I’m sure that by now, you’ve realized that everything in the Outer sect is run by alliances. It isn’t too different within the nominal sector either. Although we can’t be recruited into alliances, the nominal disciples still end up aligned with various outer sect alliances. My guess is that someone who was spectating us when we announced our aspect and cultivation level was a scout because before we even got to the Aspect Hall, we were stopped.” Stopping to take another deep inhale of his cigarette, Feng Lou continued.

“Some arrogant red haired girl stopped us outside of the Aspect Hall and read out a list of names, she said that if those people were willing to join her alliance and work for them for four years after advancing to the outer sect, she would pull some strings and get them a higher grade cultivation technique than they’d be able to get themselves. She only read out five names, and brother Yun and I were two of them. I asked if she would be willing to accept Xin Lee as well, but apparently she was only recruiting fire and wood aspected cultivators. 

“I told her I would be unable to join her alliance as I intended to stay together with brother Lee. ‘Just a trivial man, thinking he can make demands of this missus.’ That’s what she replied. I thought it was over until she asked why brother Yun was unwilling to join. After being told that, like me, he would not separate from his brothers, something seemed to snap. Although the three girls she read out joined her, something about being rejected by the two men she’d selected seemed to stab at her pride.” With furrowed brows, Feng Lou stared down at his clenched fist. 

“It was only later that we found out that she was the younger sister of an Inner Sect disciple and the current leader of an alliance called the Radiant Gardens.” As Xin Lee picked up where Feng Lou let off, Feng Jiao’s eyebrow twitched at the familiar name. Although he’d only been in the sect for the week, the rampant arrogance of the Radiant Gardens had already made its way to his ears on several occasions. Be it bullying his new friend Tan Sai, cutting him off in line at breakfast, or bullying his cousin, Feng Jiao had already gotten tired of hearing this alliance’s name. It seemed that having connections in the Inner Sect let them act more rampant than they should, although he was sure that wasn’t the whole story.

“She asked what qualifications I had to make my two brothers reject her whole heartedly. I thought that was her giving me a chance to explain my worth, so I told her that my father was a famous beast tamer and that I was one of his few disciples. I may have inflated my capabilities, just a bit, but I thought I was supposed to be selling myself. ‘A beast tamer? Good, I’ve got a perfect pest control job for the three of you then.’ Before we knew it, we ended up here, the Rat Field.” Xin Lee seemed exasperated. Not only were they in this situation due to him, but he even opened his mouth and made it worse.

“Don’t blame yourself Lee, I’ve heard several things about this Radiant Gardens. Even within the Outer Sect, they are domineering and bullies. From the moment she opened her mouth to interrogate you, she’d already decided that you wouldn’t be let off. Still, why is this Rat Field so barren? I can’t say I’ve heard much about it.

“I can explain that,” Weiwu De finally spoke again, “The Rat Fields date back a few decades. It used to be one of the most plentiful fields in the Outer Sect, and was used to grow food with twice the result using only half the effort. One day, overnight, the crops started going missing one at a time. Although nobody could catch the culprit, one girl said that she could hear the sound of a rat scurrying around at night. That disciple later went missing, as did a few others who attempted to stay out in the field overnight to catch the culprit. Eventually, the disciples in charge of the field went to the elders for help, but were only punished for asking the elders to act as ‘common pest controllers’.”

“So there is a rodent out in the field, that nobody can find, and the elders won't help clear it out? It even eats the disciples and the elders won't help? Were they not able to hire someone to deal with it or get an Inner Sect disciple to assist?” Feng Jiao asked.

“Nobody could find the rat, and they insist a powerful beast couldn’t make it past the sect protecting formation. They said that the missing disciples just left in shame. Eventually the land was given to the nominal disciples to deal with, as if we could accomplish something that they couldn’t. Since then, the plot of land has been used to punish people. The land is periodically ‘awarded’ to outstanding disciples and they are told to cultivate it well. When they inevitably fail, they are punished heavily and, not only is the land confiscated, they even have their food and cultivation supplies levied.”

“And that is how it is, the red haired girl got someone to ‘award’ this field to us as a reward for our high cultivation at our ages, and we were given a job to farm it well. If we can accomplish the job, we will be given nearly 5 times the reward a nominal disciple would usually get for a mission. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find the pest even with brother Lee’s help and anything we plant goes missing overnight, even the seeds. We don’t even know what it looks like as we haven’t ever caught sight of the pest.” Brother Yun spoke for the first time since greetings. 

“If I could just find the thing and corner it, I’m sure that I could force it to submit to me. My father helped me forge a consumable treasure before I left, I was saving it until I found a strong beast to tame but I think that something with this much stealth is worth capturing as well.” Xin Lee said.

“If all we need to do is lure it out, I’m sure that I could help come up with a plan.” Finally, Feng Jiao accepted the almost extinguished cigarette that had been making its round before saying with a thoughtful look on his face.