Interstellar to 80s: A Scientist's Farming Mission

An Ning’s simple reassurance allowed Anna’s anxious heart to finally settle, just a little.

An Ning bent down, extended her hand, and took the boy’s small hand in hers.

The instant their hands touched, the boy’s eyes moved. It was only a slight flicker, but Anna saw a glimmer of hope.

”Hmm?” Anna covered her mouth, not daring to make a sound for fear of disturbing what An Ning was doing.

”Don’t worry. You got here in time.”

An Ning held the boy’s hand, her voice taking on a uniquely rhythmic cadence.

”Come with me, come with me, come with me.”

The boy moved.

An Ning gently turned her wheelchair, and, holding the boy’s hand, slowly entered the courtyard.

Lin Cuihua, An Sancheng, and Master Tang, who had come out after hearing the knock, froze in place when they saw An Ning make a hushing gesture, not daring to interfere.

Lin Cuihua, in particular, recognized Anna and her son—the same mother and son from the train who had given her a crash course in the existence of ghosts.

’That child... he’s completely different from how he was on the train.’

As a mother herself, she was always extra attentive when it came to children.

An Ning led the boy and Anna into her room. The next second, all the curtains in the room were drawn shut.

The room, which should have been bright, was now pitch-black.

STRIKE— With the sound of a match being lit, a solitary light appeared in the room.

But the flame was green.

Following An Ning’s instructions, Anna stood silently by the door, her eyes wide as she watched the scene unfold.

The green flame floated away from the match.

The match, which had been burning for several seconds, didn’t go out. In fact, not only did it not go out, but its flame grew even larger.

”Go on, follow it and leave. Do not come back again.”

An Ning’s voice was ethereal and disembodied, seeming to come from all directions at once, making it impossible to pinpoint its source.

Anna watched as An Ning’s hands constantly shifted through different gestures. With each change, the temperature in the room dropped by several degrees, forcing Anna to hug her arms for warmth.

”If you don’t leave on your own, things won’t be this pleasant when I’m forced to act.”

WHOOSH—

An invisible gust of wind pushed forward from An Ning’s advancing palm, causing the green flame floating in the middle of the room to flicker erratically, as if it could be extinguished at any moment.

SWISH SWISH SWISH! Several streaks of silver light, accompanied by a whistling sound, appeared and floated around the boy, seeming to trap something.

”AHHH— AHHH—”

Surrounded by the five Copper Coins, the boy’s eyes snapped open, flashing with a malevolent light. He spread his hands like powerful claws and slammed them to the ground with a THUD.

At that moment, the boy resembled a four-legged animal, poised on the ground and ready to attack An Ning at any moment.

Anna clenched her fists tightly, her jaw set as she watched it all unfold.

”Stubbornly unrepentant! I gave you a chance. Since you won’t take it, then be gone.”

An Ning’s left wrist traced a circle in the air, while her right hand formed a sword seal and thrust forward as if to pierce the sun and clouds.

At the same time, the boy, still in his attack stance on the floor, sprang up and launched himself toward An Ning.

In that instant, the green flame in the center of the room erupted, engulfing the leaping boy. The sight made Anna’s heart stop for a moment.

”Out!”

With An Ning’s sharp cry, the green flame transformed into the tangible shape of a four-legged creature. A mournful howl seemed to echo through the air.

An Ning shot forward in her wheelchair, catching the boy as he fell from the air.

The boy looked as if he had just been pulled from water. His hair and clothes were dripping wet, and his eyes were shut tight. If not for the rise and fall of his chest, Anna might have collapsed on the spot.

Anna bit her hand, slumping against the doorframe, her body limp and devoid of strength.

An Ning placed the boy on her lap. Her hands resumed their incomprehensible gestures as her spiritual power formed a net, ensnaring the green flame in mid-air.

The invisible net tightened, shrinking continuously. The tangible flame gradually dwindled, finally compressing into a green orb the size of a fingernail.

An Ning beckoned with her right hand, and the green orb flew into her palm. With a flick of her wrist, she put it away.

After finishing all this, An Ning turned the boy over and placed a hand on his back, dispelling the residual yin energy.

Her spiritual power seemed to be the natural enemy of these entities. The methods her master had taught her made her invincible against them.

An hour later, the curtains were pulled open. An Ning emerged from the room carrying the boy, followed by Anna, whose arms and legs were still weak, but who pushed on nonetheless.

”Anna, you did very well.”

”The boy needs to be in the sun, the midday sun. You should also sit down and rest.”

”Don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”

Anna nodded again and again, too tongue-tied to form a complete sentence.

In the courtyard, An Ning called over An Sancheng to set out a wicker lounge chair for the boy.

After choosing a spot, An Ning placed the boy on it, his upper body bare to the sun.

The midday sun was still quite intense, and most people would have sought shade to cool off.

But the boy, despite baking under the blazing sun, wasn’t sweating at all. Instead, like a block of ice, he was emitting wisps of white vapor.

”An Ning, this—”

”Mom, don’t worry. You have a Feng Shui master in the family, nothing will go wrong.”

An Ning’s boast earned her an eye-roll from Lin Cuihua, but it had to be said that her confident words did reassure her mother a great deal.

”Mom, nobody should go into my room for the next three days. It’ll be fine after that.”

”Alright. What about you?”

Lin Cuihua looked at An Ning with concern, but An Ning just offered a reassuring smile. ”It’s fine for me to go in. I need to take care of a few things anyway.”

Lin Cuihua’s heart, which had just settled, started to feel heavy again. But besides worrying, there was nothing she could do.

”Mom, could you make us something to eat? Something nourishing would be good.”

An Ning gave Lin Cuihua a task, and Lin Cuihua instantly found her sense of purpose. She called Master Tang into the kitchen, and they got busy.

Everyone else in the courtyard, except for Uncle Jiang, knew An Ning had these abilities; they just didn’t know how powerful she was.

Uncle Jiang looked at the boy in the courtyard, then at the relaxed expression on An Ning’s face. He couldn’t help but ask, ”An Ning, are you a member of the Mystic Sect?”

”Half of one, I suppose. I was fortunate enough to meet a master and learn a thing or two.”

’A thing or two?’

Uncle Jiang felt An Ning was being far too modest. After all, Hong Kong, where he lived, was a place where people deeply believed in these things.

Many powerful members of the Mystic Sect were gathered in Hong Kong, and anyone with real skill held a very high status.

The way Uncle Jiang looked at An Ning changed again, and a new worry grew in his heart.

’The Mystic Sect... the Five Harms and Three Deficiencies?’

He just hoped that if An Ning had to have a deficiency, it was wealth. He had some of that, and he could help make up for it.

”Mama...”

With a soft murmur, the boy awoke.