By the time the carriage slowly rolled into Hundred Dou Village, it was already afternoon.
The sun hung low in the west, its slanting rays spilling across the field ridges, stretching the wheat sprouts' shadows long.
Beneath the great willow at the village entrance, several old men sat enjoying the cool. When they saw the carriage approach, they all looked up, then lowered their heads again and continued fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans.
Before the grain depot courtyard stood a middle-aged man in his early thirties, lean and capable, with dark skin.
When the carriage came to a stop, he hurried forward to greet them.
He had only just received Uncle Zheng's carrier-pigeon message and had been waiting here for some time.
"Eldest Young Master."
Feng Xiu stepped down from the carriage and nodded. "Old Wu."
Old Wu's full name was Wu Tie. At the peak of Body Refining, he had worked for the Feng Clan for seven or eight years and was an honest, steady man.
Originally one of Xiang Geng's subordinates, he had been transferred here to oversee patrols of the grain depot and the Dark Canal when Hundred Dou Village ran short on manpower.
"How have things been here lately?" Feng Xiu asked.
Wu Tie clasped his fists. "Reporting to Eldest Young Master, everything is normal. The brothers keep watch over the Dark Canal every day. There's been no movement."
"You've heard that Tang Reservoir will be opening its sluice gates to release water, right?" Feng Xiu nodded and asked again.
"I have." A trace of delight appeared on Wu Tie's face.
"The brothers have all been looking forward to it. These past few days, the tenant farmers have kept coming to ask. The Golden Ear Wheat is growing well, but the weather is too hot. If