The River Monster

Dawan Village was nestled within a valley plain surrounded by mountains.

A massive river cut through the vast plain between the mountains in a crescent shape, dividing the entire valley basin into two irregular halves.

Dawan Village was established in the upper reaches of the river, relying on the elevated terrain at the foot of the mountain behind it.

As for the location of the twelve mu of spirit fields, They were situated on the mountainside behind the village, right beside the courtyard, appearing like a staircase of terraced fields.

The spirit spring that contained spiritual energy flowed out from the mountains, and as the spring water soaked into the earth day after day, it bestowed the surrounding area along its path with the spiritual essence necessary to cultivate spirit grain.

However, at this moment, Shen Changchuan was in the main hall at the center of the village at the foot of the mountain.

Thus, when the commotion from outside drifted in, he naturally heard it.

After putting away the Spirit Ginseng, Shen Changchuan arrived outside the village, Only to see a group of people gathered on high ground, pointing toward the direction of the river.

"What is going on?"

As soon as Shen Changchuan arrived, the crowd around him parted to make way.

At this time, Shen Changchuan followed the gaze of the others, And saw a small, black-canopied boat overturned on the churning, murky river not far away. Most of it had already sunk, with only a portion of the top exposed.

Amidst the surging and bobbing currents, a deep crimson could be vaguely seen rising from beneath the river.

The lush grass along the riverbank, Had been flattened in large patches, leaving a scene of chaos.

It was evident that many people had been active on the once-thriving grass, and not far away, piles of black silt several feet high, dredged up from the river bottom, were stacked up.

Several dozen yards away, his grandfather Han Qinhu and the rest of the Han Clan were maintaining order, instructing the gathered crowd to step back.

"Grandfather, what is the situation?"

Shen Changchuan walked over to Han Qinhu's side and asked aloud.

"Something happened; there is a demonic beast in this river!"

"Those reckless fools wanted to dredge the river for silt, but they didn't expect there to be a monster in these waters. Two people were dragged straight down by that beast inside!"

Seeing that it was Shen Changchuan, Han Qinhu did not hide anything and recounted the sequence of events.

After listening to Han Qinhu's account, Shen Changchuan frowned slightly.

Truth be told, this sudden turn of events, Was not unrelated to his reform experiment.

Originally, when he had set up the reform plan, it was to stimulate the enthusiasm of the members of the eleventh and twelfth teams as much as possible, giving them the motivation to care for the spirit grain more meticulously and maximize the yield of the two mu of experimental fields.

Shen Changchuan had made a promise: when the spirit grain was harvested, they would receive thirty percent of any yield exceeding one hundred catties.

The subsequent development, Was exactly as Shen Changchuan had envisioned; this incentive-sharing plan had greatly mobilized the enthusiasm of both teams.

Consequently, during the process of cultivating the spirit grain, Almost everyone in the eleventh and twelfth teams had pored over the two planting guides Shen Changchuan had left behind.

They analyzed every word and sentence, carefully applying the various methods described, Each of them exhausted their best efforts, hoping to achieve an excellent harvest for this season's spirit grain.

Deep plowing, turning the soil, selecting seeds, nursing seedlings, and so on—everything was done as perfectly as possible according to the guides.

However, among these experiences, there was one rather troublesome task.

That was composting.

The "fertilizer" here was not the human waste of the five grains.

Spirit grain was, after all, a spiritual object infused with spiritual energy. Even without much thought, Shen Changchuan knew that human waste would not only fail to increase the yield but might even cause the spirit grain to become "polluted," leading to the withering of the rice seedlings.

Spiritual objects were inherently delicate, And the methods used to tend to ordinary crops could not be entirely replicated for them.

But since Shen Changchuan had written down the steps for composting, He was certainly not indulging in delusions.

Because at that time, He had recalled a matter recorded in a travelogue he had seen during his two and a half years at the Shen Family Estate, written by a Shen ancestor who had traveled the world.

He had once witnessed low-level cultivators in a place rich with the power of water veins dredging up large quantities of silt containing "deposits" from the water, then forcibly carving out fields capable of growing Spirit Grain in an area previously devoid of spiritual energy.

Although the Spirit Grain yield from such man-made "spirit fields" was far inferior to that of true spirit fields.

The sight had nonetheless astonished the ancestor of the Shen Clan at the time.

Later, out of curiosity, he had conducted some investigations.

He discovered that when the energy of river water veins merged with the energy of earth veins, a certain fertile "deposit" was produced.

It was precisely this "deposit," formed by the combination of Water Vein Essence and earth vein energy contained within the silt, that provided the environment for Spirit Grain to grow.

It allowed even ordinary fields to support the growth of Spirit Grain.

At the time, Shen Changchuan had only felt a flicker of curiosity upon reading this record, paying it little mind.

Yet, not long ago, While organizing a summary of improvements for Spirit Grain cultivation, he recalled this matter.

Simultaneously, a thought occurred to him:

If he were to use that silt containing "deposits" as fertilizer and pile it into the spirit fields, would it not cause the Spirit Grain within to thrive even better?

With this idea in mind, Shen Changchuan wrote the matter of composting into his report.

As for the source of the silt, It was naturally this river that traversed the entire valley plain before them.

Greatly encouraged by the share-based rewards, the members of the Eleventh and Twelfth Teams

naturally did not skip the step of improving the compost as outlined in the summary.

But not long after they began the work, an accident occurred.

An unknown river beast launched a sudden attack, overturning the small boat used for dredging the silt and dragging two people on board down with it.

"How could there be a beast in this river? Has it always been there?"

After learning the full details of the incident, Shen Changchuan's expression was grim.

He had never imagined that his experimental reforms would lead to an accident before they even bore fruit, let alone result in loss of life.

"That is unclear."

"I have asked the villagers, and they do not know whether there are beasts in this river either."

"This river is wide, and the current in the middle section is particularly swift. Even at Half Moon Bay, where the water slows and appears calm on the surface, there are surging undercurrents and hidden dangers within."

"Furthermore, since the village uses stream water diverted from the mountains as its primary water source, very few people have ever ventured into this river; they truly know nothing of any beasts lurking within it."

As the person Shen Changchuan trusted most, his grandfather Han Qinhu held a position similar to village chief in Dawan Village, managing all affairs of the settlement.

Long before Shen Changchuan arrived, Han Qinhu had already familiarized himself with every aspect of the situation.

He answered Shen Changchuan's questions fluently, providing the information without a moment's hesitation.