Chapter 1: Roots Remember
It began with a dream.
Alex stood in a field of ash. Black soil stretched endless, but no crops grew. Not a leaf. Not a sprout.
Only whispers.
Not from mouths.
From roots.
Beneath his feet, they pulsed—old, tangled, full of voices. One word echoed from the ground, soft and cold.
"Return."
Then he woke up.
Covered in dirt.
In his bed.
Jun, snorin on the floor, suddenly flopped over and mumbled, "Tell the cabbage it owes me rent."
That morning, everything felt off.
The chickens clucked backwards. The scarecrow moved. Yun'er tripped over a vine that hadn't been there yesterday.
And the memory tree was hummin.
Soft. Low. Like a heartbeat in the soil.
Alex stood beneath it, arms crossed.
"System," he said, "what's goin on?"
"Subterranean essence fluctuations detected. Memory Tree is responding to ancient anchor calls."
"Anchor... calls?"
"Something beneath the farm is awakening."
Alex looked at the ground.
"…I don't like that."
They dug by hand first.
Then by tool.
Then, finally, with a little help from a borrowed Earth Ox. Yun'er named it Sir Snorts-a-Lot.
By sunset, they'd uncovered stone.
Old, rune-covered, and humming like it missed someone.
Jun ran a hand along the markings. "These… aren't Cloudfolk. These are way older."
Meilin nodded. "Maybe even pre-Cultivation Age."
Alex sighed. "Of course my peaceful farm has an ancient ruin under it."
Yun'er smirked. "You sure it's not cursed?"
"Don't joke."
She raised a brow. "I'm not."
They camped near the dig site that night.
The wind didn't blow.
The stars hid.
Even the goats were silent.
Then, near midnight, the stone shifted.
And a stairway opened.
Leading down.
Into the dark.
Alex stared at it.
"…System?"
"Warning: Subsurface structure is not in records. Estimated danger level: spicy."
"…Spicy?"
"Extremely spicy."
Alex groaned.
"Of course it is."
End of Chapter 1