AIR Chapter 187

Chapter 187

A baby ran around the fields on the outskirts of the village, and to some people’s horror, that baby had a plow attached to it. 

Chin and I watched in strange silence as Nai ran across every bit of farmland, lugging the large piece of iron behind her. 

“I thought we already farmed enough land during chore day?”

“We did,” Chin replied. “But a lot of it got ruined by the traffic and people coming in and out the village, and its been some time since then. And some grass has grown in since then and we had to uproot it all.”

“How’d you guys uproot all that grass?” I asked 

“We had a bunch of animals graze it.”

We watched silently as child labor was being used to feed the whole of the village. 

“You didn’t tell Medin about this did you?”

“No,” Chin almost yelled. 

“Good. I don’t think she’d like this.”

Nai ran through fields and ditches and on top of hills and valleys. A herd of cows mooed with wide eyes before rushing away from the menace of a baby. 

“She’s fast,” Chin commented. 

“Yup.”

“What exactly is she?” He asked. 

“A baby.”

Chin chose to accept that answer. 

“Nai, watch out for that--”

A small boulder had suddenly met its end, and Nai, the uncaring speed demon, ran on without even blinking. 

She held her arms folded by her side, and ran like an old woman speedwalked. Her hands stayed still and folded while her feet smacked against the floor at maximum speed. 

An audience had been building up, some of them cultivators, some of them mortals. A few of them understood what was happening and cheered Nai on. Chin’s grandchildren were particularly vocal about their support. 

As if Nai needed it.

She seemed to speed up with the cheers and ran even faster.

“Do you even need all of this land tilled?”

“Yes, Mackie expects immense population growth and that means that we have to prepare ourselves for a larger population. We’re already contracting the dwarves for the sewer system and we have few clans willing to buy their way into the city by offering to build up a lot of the area surrounding cultivator town.”

“The City?” I asked. 

“The Cultivator City. That fight of yours was witnessed by a few people and it seems like the attention has focused back here again. They’re even rumors of the surrounding regions sending caravans over to trade.”

I frowned. Mo Whe was one thing. He had agreed to our little private deal, but the surrounding regions were something else. I would have to hide the tribulations from here on out. 

I still had shakey policy with hiding myself. I didn’t want to be seen but I also didn’t have any reason to hide. The Tome and Wukong were covering me from the Imperiums, and nothing here could really threaten me, but I still hated the possible politics that would come with it. The people, the envoys, the gifts and bombardments. I had barely met with the sects of this region, much less the people outside of it.

I sighed. 

“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there, I guess.” It wasn’t something I was too worried about. It could wait on the backburner, while I dealt with my soul being broken up and the possibilities of a new eternal war. 

“I liked that tree,” Chin mumbled as Nai ran through a ten foot thick piece of wood. 

I reversed the damage and the tree stood back up, looking just as healthy. 

“Thanks,” Chin mumbled. 

Thirty minutes later, we had a dirty but relaxed baby sitting next to a busted up plow. 

“Augh!”

I cleaned Nai off with qi, throwing the big clump of dirt into the air.

“Fresh and clean, feels better right?”

Nai shrugged in indifference. 

“That good enough Chin?”

“It’ll do for what we’re planting. We have crops for every season set about and ready and we need to start planting now.”

He took a swig of his juice and stared out towards the area. 

“Not to mention, we’re having construction done in the village as well. Mackie says its stupid to think that we can keep the cultivators separate for too long. And with Yai Mien, we should be able to keep the peace between the cultivators and mortals for now.”

I looked at him with a bit of surprise. 

“You’re willingly pushing for the fusion of the village and the cultivators?”

“I am a cultivator, Bill. And so are you.”

“By the dao,” I whispered. 

“I have children and a wife. I have people who call me chief and now I have people at my doorstep asking me to allow them land within the village. I’ve had to set up fifteen different villages across the Oasis Strip and send them a decree of the land’s rules, Bill. I’ll be leaving next week to go to all the new settlements and help them set up their small governments. Each settlement will need an initial support of food, crops, and animals. They’re also asking for guardsmen and Sect laws for their villages. Mei Shan is helping and so is Yai and Rin and all the other girls. The village is growing and while you’re busy with whatever you're working on out there in the cosmos, I have people to take care of. If my village has cultivators within, then they’ll follow my rules just like anybody else.”

There was a moment of silence as I processed his words.

“Wait, you’re leaving the village to go farm at other villages?” I asked. 

“Among other things.”

“Oh I get it then.”

“No,” Chin frowned. “Its not just that.”

“Uh huh.”

“I’m serious.”

“Seriously farming.”

“I’m accepting the responsibilities and choosing to use this chance to help people, like you.”

That caught me off guard. 

“Like me?”

“Well, you’ve been doing nothing as far as I’ve known you and now you're actively doing things. The stars know what you’re actually doing, but at least I see some of it, with the girls and Nai, and even that Gai Jin person. If you can do it, I certainly can.”

Well, that was a backhanded compliment. 

“I’m glad you think so highly of me, Chin.”

Chin just shook his head with a still expression.