Carrying a Hoe to Cultivate

Whoa…what? For all this time that we couldn’t contact the technical system, he had been deceived to work in the mine? No wonder there was no signal in the system world despite how hard they had been searching. The coal mine was some hundred meters underground, with no electricity. People needed to use oil lamps to light their way. It would be odd to have found him.

“Your colleague has been rescued. Congratulations.” Although the technical system was not very reliable, he had been treated poorly. Seeing 179 this happy, Xia Yi felt happy for him too.

“Thank you.”

“Speaking of which, can systems turn into human form?” Xia Yi asked out of curiosity.

“Of course. We can transform into human form, have the same physiological characteristics and formation as humans have.”

“Then why don’t you show me yourself as a human?” Xia Yi asked, curiously. “Do you need some authorization? Or are you not able to do it yet?”

“No.” 179 answered with a stern voice, “I just don’t want to.”

“Why?”

“Because I only want to stay where I am.”

After saying so, 179 said, “Host. I would like to apply for an hour leave to escort the technical system back home.”

“Go ahead.” Xia Yi could understand 179’s pressing feelings.

No reply from 179. He must have left. This speed.

Xia Yi and Gu Wen Zhu went back hand in hand. But that weird sound behind them, not too far and not too close, vanished whenever they stopped. They could not see a thing whenever they turned around. So when that sound happened again, Gu Wen Zhu and Xia Yi exchanged a look.

The two walked as if nothing had happened, then they turned quickly without any signs.

“In the field on the side.” Xia Yi shouted, pointing at the medicine garden on the right. He saw a wooden rod the moment he turned, and that swiftly ducked. “Someone was lying in the field with weapons. Catch him.”

Gu Wen Zhu had already dashed out with lightning speed. He grabbed that small portion of wooden rod that was peeking out, and he shouted at the same time, “Get out now.”

He pulled with both hands. The wooden rod had been pulled out with his shouts. But then it was empty around him. They did not see the ambush they were expecting.

“Where is the guy?” Xia Yi ran up as well, searching with Gu Wen Zhu in the field.

Nothing. How strange? Is that person invisible?

Both of them look at the wooden rod in Gu Wen Zhu’s hands. By then they realized that there was the knife section of the hoe beneath it. It was a hoe.

Who had been following them discreetly with this hoe? Does someone want to harm them?

Gu Wen Zhu pulled Xia Yi to make him stand behind him. He, alerted, looked around, and shouted loudly, “Who is following us. Please show yourself and explain.”

No one came out. There was only one rabbit jumping around, playing.

“Let’s go.” Xia Yi pulled Gu Wen Zhu’s sleeve, “Let’s get back quickly. It’s strange around here.”

Looking around him, Gu Wen Zhu nodded, and he threw the hoe away casually. However, that hoe did not fall onto the ground when he released it, it still stuck to his palm. Gu Wen Zhu hurriedly swung his arm, but that hoe was consistently swinging with his movements wildly and did not fall.

Xia Yi quickly held onto the hoe and pulled, but that hoe was as if a part of Gu Wen Zhu’s palm. It would not bulge however hard he pulled.

“Zhu. What do we do?” Xia Yi panicked, he pulled that hoe with more strength, with all his strength. It would not depart from him even with Xia Yi’s veins popping on his forehead. Xia Yi moved away his hands and began to shout around him towards the air. “Who are you? What do you want? Come out. What good is to stick a hoe in someone’s hand? Come out if you have the guts.”

Silence.

Xia Yi, panting, hands removed, said angrily and anxiously, “I will go back and find the elders. They know magic. They will find a way to take the hoe away.”

All of a sudden, Gu Wen Zhu had something come to his mind, he felt as if he could know what that hoe was thinking. It was as if it knew that it would be thrown away so it felt scared and nervous. This feeling was extraordinary, he could not put it in words. But he just knew the feeling of the hoe, as if they were one.

“Zhu, what’s wrong?” Xia Yi, seeing Gu Wen Zhu frozen on the spot with a weird expression, asked worriedly.

Gu Wen Zhu frowned and thought for a while, he told Xia Yi unsurely, “Yi. I think there is no one.”

“What do you mean by no one?”

“It’s like the hoe wanted to follow me. It was delighted to see me.”

It wanted to follow you by itself? Xia Yi was stunned, he could not comprehend.

“I feel like I could understand its feelings. This is what it was thinking. There is no one.” Gu Wen Zhu explained with hardship.

“You are saying that this is one hoe fairy?”

“Maybe.” Gu Wen Zhu was lost, “I had used it to turn up the soil at first and I didn’t feel anything wrong with it.”

In shock, Xia Yi looked  closely at that hoe. It looked normal. A normal wooden rod with a black iron knife. There was still some soil on it due to it having been used to turn up the soil.

“Hi. Are you a hoe fairy?” Xia Yi asked, “If you are, please move to let me know.”

That hoe was not moving. It just stuck in Gu Wen Zhu’s hand.

“Hoe fairy… hoe fairy…” This did not seem like it. It was more like a magical item. Xia Yi murmured. An idea came to his mind, Xia Yi looked at Gu Wen Zhu, “Zhu. Please tell me how you discovered this hoe.”

“When I was sent here to that piece of land, there was this hoe on the side. I thought that maybe someone left this here, so I borrowed it and used it.”

“Did anything happen in between? Think harder.”

Gu Wen Zhu thought, frowning, and asked with hesitation, “My hand had been cut. Some of my blood stuck to the handle of the hoe. Is that strange to you?”

Yes. That is. Don’t we need the blood of the owner to make a magical item? In order to make us understand the item.

Gu Wen Zhu thought a little more, “Then your fellow apprentice arrived. He danced in front of me. He was about to touch me but I used the hoe to block him. Right. And there is another strange thing. Whenever I use my strength, I feel warm with my body, as if there was a warm current flowing in my body to the hoe.”

Xia Yi’s half-finished winter gourd magical item had been produced with the use of medicine, so he was not familiar with the way to make one. He could still check it out though he did not know how to make it. Xia Yi began to teach Gu Wen Zhu the method system had taught him.

After listening to Xia Yi’s talk, Gu Wen Zhu concentrated instantly and saw that hoe shrinking, turning into the size of a brooch in Gu Wen Zhu’s palm.

It really was a magical item. Xia Yi was astonished. He almost jumped.

The next second, Gu Wen Zhu grabbed the air, and that hoe returned to its original size and appeared in his palm. However, there was silver light glittering on its wooden rod, sparkling with cold light. That hoe had turned into a sharper shape. The light flew with it, as if there was electricity on it or there was some magic hidden in it.

This hoe had already transformed from its old and blunt shape. It was sharp and shiny. It looked like a spear that had been put away for long but finally had the chance to be used again.

Gu Wen Zhu was connected with the magical item. He felt a warmth flowing in his body instantly. Without anyone teaching him, he swung that magical item around and pointed it upward in a tilted angle. That silver light shot up like an arrow. In that instant, strong wind swirled around him like a storm in the sea, making leaves go flying in the wind. There was a red light lingering in the sky with colors surrounding it.

Xia Yi opened his mouth, standing there, stunned. He looked at Gu Wen Zhu’s hoe, no, spear, and felt like he was looking at the god of war. He was standing tall like a pine tree. His imposing manner was as strong as the sun. His eyes were sharp, making people have a pressing feeling. He pulled his lips inwards and formed a cool silhouette.

Xia Yi felt that Gu Wen Zhu, standing in front of him, was both familiar and unfamiliar to him. He felt like he was someone that he knew, but he could not think of anything about that person even if he thought about it. In that split second, some scenes appeared in his mind.

There was the back of a man wearing a black robe, holding in his hand a spear dripping in blood and standing in a hall. A lot of bodies were lying around. The sleeves of that man danced in the wind. It was like the god of death had descended.

The scene changed. He was in a pool of water. The water level was deep and light was glittering with the waves. He was floating along the wave and someone was mumbling beside his ears, Nan, Nan…

That voice was soft and gentle.

Stop thinking immediately! Stop thinking! Xia Yi came back to his senses, alerted. How do you have the time to think about another man right f**king now? What kind of soap opera is this?

Continuing looking at Gu Wen Zhu with the spear in his hand, Xia Yi felt a scared emotion. He could not figure out what he was afraid of, still, he could not help but call out softly, “Zhu.”

His voice echoed beside Gu Wen Zhu’s ears, he glanced at Xia Yi and put away his spear quickly. The wind halted and the trees fell silent. After that spear had been put away, the sharp blinding light vanished, the hoe turned back into a black hoe. Gu Wen Zhu’s strong and sharp manner had disappeared as well, he had returned to his gentle self just like before.

“What’s wrong? Yi.” He asked softly.

“Zhu. I almost did not recognise you just now.” Xia Yi was still dazed, he felt complicated in his heart.

“Listen to yourself.” Gu Wen Zhu smiled with all the love in his eyes.

Xia Yi recalled the scene just now and began to feel excited again, “Zhu. You were so cool just now. Try and ride it to fly in the sky. Quick.”

His half-finished winter gourd magical item was not good enough and could not be used. Maybe he will need to sit in the passenger seat from now on. “Alright. Let’s have a try.” Gu Wen Zhu answered.

The hoe in his hand shined with strong light and it turned back into a silvery white spear again with a subtle elegance. It floated low in the air. Some complicated patterns were shown on the handle of the spear. The patterns were almost floating and circling.

Gu Wen Zhu jumped lightly and stepped on the spear handle steadily. Under the light, he bent to extend his hand towards Xia Yi.

Xia Yi grabbed onto that big and thick hand without hesitation. With Gu Wen Zhu’s pull, he fell into his arms. The spear flew steadily, with the sounds of breaking through the air, it flew towards the sunsetting sky. When they flew past the ground, the sunsetting light fell on that calm water and spreaded out as red light.

Floating vaguely, the clouds merged with the evening mist around the green mountains. They seemed to have been covered with a layer of powder.  Within a while, the spear flew higher and higher and entered the clouds. After a few seconds, it exited the clouds carrying Gu Wen Zhu and Xia Yi.

Xia Yi laid his head on Gu Wen Zhu’s chest. Surrounded by his arms securely, although he was only stepping on the rod of a spear, he still felt safe.

Kirin was flying around them in circles. It would dash forward from time to time and dive into the thick layers of clouds. Then it would peek merrily to see both of them with its opened mouth and tongue sticking out.

The sun was going down. The sun slowly approached above the clouds. Layers of light and colors were touching each other.

The two held each other in silence, appreciating the beautiful view in front of them.