For thousands of years, it had always been this way. Without exception....
Through their time together, Di Yao had more or less figured out Wei Xunzhou's personality. He was someone who only acted when he was absolutely certain.
Di Yao was the opposite. As long as there was even a glimmer of hope, she was willing to try, even if she ultimately failed and ended up with nothing.
"I don't know if anything will grow, but I do know that if you don't plant anything, nothing will grow for sure. Husband, please don't say such discouraging things. It's bad luck, and... it makes me feel awful when I hear it. What kind of husband constantly pours cold water on his wife?"
Her tone carried a hint of playful pouting and mild reproach. Coupled with their earlier minor disagreement, her attitude this time was unusually firm and clear.
Wei Xunzhou couldn't be bothered to argue further and said nothing, but Di Yao could tell he was in a bad mood.
Before he came back, Di Yao had thought about asking him to help a little during the day when he was free, but now it seemed she would have to do it herself.
Only herself... and Xibian.
Thinking about how she had schemed against Xibian these past few days, Di Yao felt both relieved and melancholy.
When she woke up the next day, her back ached, her arms were sore, and her legs cramped. It took a great effort to get up and get dressed. While washing up, she saw Wei Xunzhou admiring the view in the yard. She wanted to complain to him, but after thinking it over, she kept her mouth shut.
If she told him, he would definitely think she was asking for trouble and getting what she deserved!
Rubbing her sore muscles, she forced a polite smile. "Good morning, husband!"
Wei Xunzhou responded with a faint "Mm" and said nothing more.
Used to his cold demeanor by now, Di Yao went to the side room and let Xibian out.
These past two days, Xibian had behaved well, staying out of trouble—probably because Wei Xunzhou hadn't been home during the day, so Xibian couldn't provoke him.
Before, Di Yao wouldn't have cared how Xibian courted death, but now it was different. Xibian was her "comrade in arms" who dug pits and turned soil together—the only one in the house who understood her!
She glanced at Wei Xunzhou in the yard and whispered to Xibian, "Hey, want to come with me to Granny Meng's place? It's fun there!"
After yesterday's intense exercise, Xibian was also listless, but when it understood Di Yao's meaning, its eyes lit up.
It barked at her with its mouth open and tongue hanging out, then hopped out the gate. Seeing that Di Yao hadn't followed, it barked again to urge her.
Di Yao jogged out, and the person and dog set off together to work.
"Is your paw okay?" Di Yao chatted with Xibian as they walked. Xibian couldn't speak, so it responded with actions.
Hearing its claws click-clack as it walked, Di Yao felt reassured. "Then we'll continue this afternoon?"
Xibian barked in clear agreement.
"Good dog!"
Having worked at Meng Po's for a few days, Di Yao had gotten used to it. Mostly it wasn't tiring, and she got to chat with different people—much better than staring into space at home.
Di Yao told Xibian all about it, which made the dog so excited it wanted to sprint there.
But Di Yao suddenly ran into a hitch.
Just as she was about to leave the Wrongful Death City gate, she heard someone sighing repeatedly, occasionally mixed with sobs.
Di Yao stopped and looked in the direction of the sound. She saw a middle-aged woman crouching in her yard, and in front of her was a small vegetable patch.
"Strange? How come I didn't notice there were vegetables planted in that yard before? But... what a coincidence! I can go ask her for advice." Di Yao scratched her head and curiously went over to check.
The woman did have vegetables in her yard, but upon closer inspection, Di Yao saw that all the sprouts in the patch had died after barely sprouting.
"Excuse me... what happened?" Di Yao asked with concern.
Seeing someone approach, Xiang Yun quickly wiped her tears away, pushed herself up with her knees, opened the gate, and let Di Yao in.
"As you can see, miss, everything I planted died." Xiang Yun sighed, her voice thick with nasal congestion.
Di Yao patted Xiang Yun's shoulder to comfort her. "It's okay. If they're dead, we can plant again. To be honest, I was also thinking of planting some grain in my yard, but the ground isn't ready yet."
Hearing this, Xiang Yun grabbed Di Yao's arm tightly and shook her head.
Seeing Xiang Yun hesitate to speak, Di Yao's smile faded a little. "What do you want to say?"
After struggling for a moment, Xiang Yun finally spoke. "It's no use. I've tried seven times, and every time I failed. And I don't have any seeds left... I should have listened to them earlier. Now it's all wasted."
"Seven times!" Di Yao was shocked. "Why is that? And who are 'them'?"
"When I first planted the first batch, Sister Chen next door, Sister Liu across the street, and Granny Wang all told me that nothing could grow here no matter what. I didn't believe them—I thought they didn't want me to succeed. So I insisted on planting. Now I see they were right."
After saying this, Xiang Yun advised Di Yao, "Miss, I heard you say you want to plant too? As someone who's been through it, I suggest you give up the idea. Don't end up like me, drawing water with a bamboo basket—all in vain."
Di Yao's heart sank. "Plant... nothing will grow?"
For some reason, she recalled what Wei Xunzhou had said the night before. So that was what he meant.
Though Xiang Yun urged her to give up, Di Yao knew neither of them was willing to. She noticed a bucket beside them with murky water. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Maybe it's the planting method... or maybe the water is the problem!"
"Sister, the well water in the city isn't drinkable, so maybe that's why the vegetables died from being watered with it. Don't you think that makes sense?"
Xiang Yun's furrowed brow suddenly relaxed. She looked at the bucket and her face brightened. "I think you might be right!"
But after a brief excitement, she fell into worry again. "But there's no drinkable water here either. Even if that's the reason, it's useless."
Mentioning water gave Di Yao an idea. She took Xiang Yun's hand and asked sincerely, "Sister, would you like to try again?"
Xiang Yun nodded. "Of course! I've farmed all my life. I don't know anything else. After I got here, I was dazed every day, just sitting around. I really don't know what to do besides farming..."
Di Yao patted her chest and said, "Then it's settled! Leave the water to me."
She crouched down to examine the seedlings, picked a few that looked slightly better, transplanted them separately, then bid farewell to Xiang Yun, promising to bring her a bucket of clean drinking water in the evening.
When she and Xibian reached Naihe Bridge, Meng Po was already busy. Knowing she had arrived late today, Di Yao worked quietly without much chatter.
Xibian obediently stayed by their little stall, occasionally getting petted by passersby. Under the endless praise and affection, Xibian seemed quite content.
Meng Po complimented Xibian with a smile, but noticed Di Yao seemed distracted. She asked what was wrong, and Di Yao told her everything, also borrowing another bucket of water from her.
Meng Po wasn't familiar with farming, but after listening to Di Yao, she thought of an unwritten rule in the Underworld regarding food.
The vast Underworld was a world different from the Mortal World. After death, souls came here, then entered reincarnation to return to the living. This made the two realms inseparable.
In the Underworld, ghosts could live and play as they did in the Mortal World, even more freely without many restrictions. It could be said that almost everything was permitted.
Except for one thing—the biggest difference between the two realms: in the Underworld, one neither needed nor could casually eat. This was because all food in the Underworld was supplied by the offerings from descendants and relatives in the living world. Every year around Cold Food Festival, the Offering Pavilion distributed grain uniformly. The more offerings one's living descendants and relatives gave, the more one received.
This annual distribution was the only food ghosts would have for the entire year in the Underworld. Though ghosts wouldn't die from not eating, the habit formed over decades in the living world made most ghosts crave food and feel hungry. However, one filling meal here could last a month. For newcomers like Di Yao, they hadn't yet experienced the agony of hunger with no food.
Although there was no written rule about food, for thousands of years, it had always been this way. Without exception.
It was for this reason that, over millennia, no one who tried to practice farming in the Underworld, following the cycle of spring planting and autumn harvest, had ever succeeded.
Meng Po saw how much Di Yao cared about farming. Though worried, she could sense Di Yao's hope and couldn't bear to dampen her spirits.
"If you ask me, you can put the yard work on hold for now. First, observe how Xiang Yun's vegetables do. If they grow after being watered with my water, then you can proceed."
Di Yao nodded. "Granny, you have a point. But... will it be too late for the right season?"
Meng Po smiled. "Don't worry. Now is the right time."
Feeling much better, Di Yao got up to take a walk and rest while the bridge was quiet.
She heard arguing not far away and looked over. A Ghost Messenger was demanding something from seven or eight ghosts. Di Yao went to see.
Getting closer, she heard the Ghost Messenger use the hilt of his sword to tap each ghost's face, scolding, "Look at you stingy bastards! You've already passed Golden Rooster Mountain, and you're still hoarding the leftover grains. If you won't give them to me, are you asking for a beating? I was the one who brought you all the way here. If I'd known, I would have thrown you into Avici Hell!"
Those ghosts were all trembling with fear. They lined up and handed over their remaining grains.
Di Yao couldn't stand the Ghost Messenger's arrogant abuse of power for personal gain. She was about to intervene when Meng Po quickly called her back.
"Don't meddle. Here, it's common for Ghost Messengers to demand grain. No one cares. Besides, the Ghost Messenger isn't wrong—those about to cross the bridge don't need to save grains. Giving them up is fine."
Di Yao dropped the idea. A moment later, she suddenly remembered the mysterious bag of wheat grains she had. "Granny Meng, how do I get to Golden Rooster Mountain that the Ghost Messenger mentioned?"