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Aunt Ma dragged the old priest to the front row. The contestants took turns showcasing their harvests. One burly man brought in a bundle of wheat that was indeed heavy, but unfortunately, it had rotted for the most part. When it was Lin Dahe's turn, he suddenly looked at the county magistrate and said, "The beans I planted are still in the field; may I..."
"That's just making excuses!" Aunt Ma screamed. "You clearly didn't grow anything!"
Suddenly, the sound of wooden wheels rolling over bluestone came from outside the straw shed. Cui Xiaoman pushed in a wheelbarrow, which held two baskets of vibrant green beans, with one bean pod on top measuring nearly half an arm's length. She pulled out a bamboo tube from the bottom of the basket and removed the stopper—inside was ice that Lin Dahe had made yesterday, now melted into cool well water.
"Please, sir, have a taste." She deftly snapped a bean pod in half, and as the icy water splashed out, a sweet aroma immediately filled the air.
The county magistrate hesitated before taking it. As soon as he bit into it, his eyes widened in surprise. The bean did not have the usual earthy taste; instead, it carried a faint floral fragrance. Just as he was about to grab more, Cui Xiaoman "accidentally" knocked over the water barrel, soaking the hem of the magistrate's robe.
"I’m so sorry!" she exclaimed as she rushed to wipe it up, seizing the opportunity to slip something into the magistrate's sleeve. Lin Dahe saw clearly that it was a piece of dried red vine—similar to the mycelium left by Mad Old Woman in their field.
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the air. "The selection for agricultural advisor has been decided!" The county magistrate stood up to announce. "Lin Dahe from Lin Family Village—"
Aunt Ma's scream was drowned out by the sound of Yard Officer dragging her away. Lin Dahe received the stamped document and was about to express his gratitude when he noticed that the magistrate was staring intently at Cui Xiaoman's wrist—the scar had split open while pushing the cart, with blood seeping through the cloth strip and appearing glaringly red in the sunlight.
On the way back to the village in an ox cart, Seventh Uncle unexpectedly pulled out a treasured bottle of pear blossom wine. The old man took a swig and suddenly squinted at her. "Girl, about those beans you brought..."
"They were planted in the sunny field on the west slope," Cui Xiaoman replied as she tightened the cloth around her wrist. "They matured ten days earlier than those in the main field."
Lin Dahe pretended to doze off but actually observed her injury through his eyelashes—it was not merely a scrape but two parallel gashes, as if something sharp had pinched her. The system map quietly unfolded, marking a bright red cross at the location of an abandoned charcoal pit north of the village, with small text beside it: [03:27-04:16 User Cui Xiaoman's activity trail].
"By the way," Seventh Uncle suddenly fished out a cloth bag from his pocket. "Widow Ma sent this over early this morning."
Inside the bag were seven embroidered needles, each with a fragment of a "卍" character at its tail. Lin Dahe picked one up and held it against the setting sun; he suddenly noticed that there was a dark red fiber stuck in the needle eye—not fabric but resembling some kind of mineral crystal.
Cui Xiaoman abruptly snatched all the needles away and raised her hand to throw them out of the cart.
"Don't!" Lin Dahe grabbed her wrist. "This is evidence..."
His words were cut short as he felt an old callus on her skin, shaped like something that had been gripped tightly for a long time—not by a hoe or sickle but by something more delicate, like... a carving knife?
The ox cart jolted suddenly, causing one needle tip to scratch across Cui Xiaoman's palm and draw a small trickle of blood. She winced in pain and let go; those needles instantly disappeared into the grass by the roadside. The girl abruptly turned her head, revealing an unusual mark hidden among her neck-length hair—a shape resembling half a maple leaf singed by fire.
A red alert suddenly popped up on Lin Dahe's system screen: [Encrypted identity marker detected! Comparing with database...].
As the sun sank below the mountain ridge, Lin Dahe made an excuse to check on his fields and slipped away towards the north of the village. The dark entrance of the abandoned charcoal pit loomed like an open mouth; inscriptions reading "Sealed in Year 36 of Wanli" had already faded. He had barely taken three steps inside when his boot kicked against something hard—
It was a ceramic jar half-buried in the ground, sealed with long-solidified pine resin. With what little light remained, he saw that its surface was covered with scratch marks from fingernails—as if there had still been living creatures inside when it was sealed...
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