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墨書 Inktalez
Cui Xiaoman froze, her fingertips unconsciously tracing a pattern on the bookmark—Lin Dahe recognized it as the purification method for Nitre from the encrypted records. Just then, a heart-wrenching shout echoed from the village entrance: "Bandits have raided the grain cart! They ran towards the western mountains!"
The County Magistrate's sedan chair curtain was abruptly pulled down. The Yard Officers grabbed their clubs and rushed westward, followed by a throng of villagers eager to see the commotion. In the chaos, Huo Lang Zhang quietly tugged at Lin Dahe's sleeve. "That Hu Merchant... I saw him again at Xishan Diao..."
Lin Dahe's heart raced. The "White Beard" that the Mad Old Woman had muttered about before her disappearance, the T-shirt incident stirred up by Aunt Ma, and the County Magistrate's strange severed finger—these fragments suddenly formed a vague outline in his mind. He turned to look at the experimental field; the spring breeze caressed the newly sown bean seeds, and the plant Aunt Ma referred to as "glowing green" swayed gently.
Suddenly, the system interface unfolded automatically, and beside the icon for "Drought-Resistant Wheat Seeds," a flickering chili pepper symbol slowly appeared. The corner of the County Magistrate's sedan chair curtain lifted, revealing half of a face as pale as paper. His incomplete right hand grasped the collar of a T-shirt, slowly turning the part with English printing towards the sunlight. His thin fingers rubbed over the letters of "Agricultural University," with old ink stains lodged beneath his fingernails.
"What is this?" The County Magistrate's voice was like a dull knife scraping bamboo strips.
Lin Dahe felt beads of sweat forming at the nape of his neck; he noticed that a golden incense ball hung from the jade belt at the County Magistrate's waist—exactly what had been awarded to officials who had contributed to land reclamation two years prior. Huo Lang Zhang had somehow squeezed to the front of the crowd, and water dripped from the coarse salt basket he carried on his back.
"Your Excellency, this is..." Lin Dahe's words suddenly caught in his throat as the system interface flashed wildly: [Warning! Host heart rate detected at 120+, automatically activating "In a pinch" skill.]
"Western pest-repelling talisman!" He raised his voice suddenly, startling the sedan bearers. "The Persian Merchant said that applying this can ward off locust disasters!"
The County Magistrate's eyebrows nearly shot off his forehead. A Shiye behind him leaned in to whisper something, and he suddenly jabbed at a molecular structure diagram with his severed finger. "These strange symbols..."
"Your Excellency, please see!" Huo Lang Zhang slid forward on his knees, scattering coarse salt all over the ground from his bamboo basket. "I saw this when I was running boats in Nanyang! The red-haired foreigners call it... call it..." His eyes darted around until he suddenly slapped his thigh. "Avoid Locust Curse! Stick it on granaries and even grasshoppers won't dare come near!"
Taking advantage of the moment, Lin Dahe pulled out "Qian Zi Wen" from Cui Xiaoman's arms and flipped through its pages rapidly. "Look here, it's also recorded in 'Western Region Customs Chronicle.'" He pointed at what clearly read "Heaven and Earth," but forced himself to improvise, "This talisman needs to be paired with crop rotation methods to be effective."
The County Magistrate's sedan chair finally settled completely on the ground. As he bent down to exit through the door, Lin Dahe realized that this official was much shorter than he had imagined; mud still clung to the hem of his official robe—evidently, he had already conducted an undercover visit to the fields before arriving.
"Show me your... crop rotation field." The County Magistrate stumbled over that term as if his tongue were tied.
The bean seedlings in the experimental field had already sprouted three true leaves, their tender green edges gently swaying in the spring breeze. Lin Dahe crouched down and dug into the soil around their roots, revealing pea-sized root nodules. "Your Excellency, please see; the symbiotic bacteria in this wheat stubble can enhance leguminous crops..."
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