Patron of the Spring II

Come on! Nobody's getting any peace knowing that Ruan Yi's deader than a nail! And you're asking me to pray to a spring for ancestral protection? Sheesh. Do that yourself. I gotta find a new job.

And you've been talking nonsense all this time. "Ahhh! The Stockade's finished!" "Ahhh! Something bad will happen to the spring!" Don't you see the fam is feeling bad enough already?

I was just —

Hold it right there, boys! Did you ask the Supreme Chief for permission to scrap?

Supreme Chief ... we're ... uh ... we...

Supreme Chief! He started it!

Zip your blight traps already! Shoo! Away with you!

Urgh. These two are making a joke of the Stockade. The entire place is a mess ever since what happened to Big Bro... So, what brings you here? Lookin' for me?

That's right, Chief! There's a Stockade resident named Du Ming who needs help!

Brother Du?! You actually found him? Where is he? He had a really bad fight with Big Bro and disappeared right afterwards...

Du Ming keeps calling Big Bro a hard-headed fool, but I don't think he's any different! I can't figure them out... Alright, enough talk! I'll get the Fam together.

Supreme Chief! We got a sitch! A major sitch!

Get your act together! Tell me about this sitch!

The spring! Our Ancestral Spring has performed a miracle!

Our Fam patrolling the hilltops saw Du Ming at the breaker lair!

Brother Du... He's earned some protective powers from the Ancestral Spring! Knocked several rakerbeasts with his bare hands, he really did!

The fight was epic and sent the shitless breakers packing! It's just that Brother Du ... kinda looks a little weird and all...

What are you still standing here for?! Get Brother Du back home already!

So that "breaker lair" you've just mentioned... Where is it?

It's uhm ... close to the Ancestral Spring, and not too far from the Stockade.

Ancestral spring? Maybe Du Ming did venture further into the place... We should help the residents find him.

I'm going too!

Maybe you should stay behind and gather your Fam, Tangtang! If anything happens, we can count on you for backup!

Oh... Yeah, makes total sense! I'll go looking for you once I get our Fam together!

*Khooo* ... *wheeze*... Me thinks we're far enough. *Mumble* Far enough from that blasted freak!

He's blight-crazy, man... *Mumble* Even the rakers can't kill 'im!

Trying to escape? Not on my watch!

WHA? You on the same side as that blight-crazy dude?

Y-You're also them blight-crazy people?!

Hold on. Where are the "blight-crazy" people you mentioned?

Just go down this road! *Mumble* Have fun looking for him yourself!

I'm out of here! And don't lead that blight-crazy dude to us!

HEY! YOU —

Leave them. We should look around the place they mentioned.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! A hundred rakerbeasts are no match for me! I'm Du Ming, Patron of the Spring! And my ancestors watch over me!

Man! The blight ate his brains! He's crazy!

Can someone understand his gibberish? *Mumble* This guy ain't normal no more...

The fount runs deep! The fearless may seek! Darkness it skims! When does it cease?

Our ancestors never abandoned the Stockade! To hell with the Splatterlings and breaker scum! Once I'm done tearing these rakers apart, I'll start with you!

HAHAHAHAHA! Keep fighting! I'm blessed by the spring! These foul beasts are no match for me!

The blight-crazy nut-job is attacking again...

Run! Run for your lives! *Mumble* Don't let the maniac catch you!

It's you... HAHAHAHA! Did you see this?! The spring even blessed me with reinforcements!

Du Ming! Are you alright? Where did you run off to? We spent ages trying to find you!

Darkmask! How goes your search? We sent the breakers fleeing for their sorry hides!

Brother Du?! Are you alright?

I, uh... Patron of the Spring was I, now the very truth is mine! THE VERY TRUTH! HAHAHAHAHA!

Hey! Why are you running?! Brother Du! DU MING!

That place is quite treacherous. It might be dangerous if you just blunder into it.

But ... I...

Alright then... But when you see him, lay this fact straight to him: The Supreme Chief and the entire Stockade Fam want him back!

I ... apologies. I was preparing the ritual offerings when I suddenly noticed a Landbreaker sneaking around. So, I decided to follow him...

That raider already blasted a hole for some nonexistent treasure. And I saw him trying to blast another! I got furious, so I...

I was worried that something bad had happened to the source of the spring, so I leaped into the cave and...

You didn't run into any Landbreakers or get yourself captured. Instead, you went straight to the source of the Ancestral Spring. Correct me if I'm wrong.

You're right. But ... I never thought that...

Why is he running towards that cave again? Didn't he —

That cave? Again? Did Brother Du visit the source of the spring? No... I gotta get a proper answer from him!

Yeah, Chief. And those LBs injured some of your people. You'd agree that it's unsafe to leave them out here.

Supreme Chief, I'm totally fine! It's just a lil' — SSSSSS!

Ah, thank goodness it's you! Chief Tangtang stayed up there, right?

That's good... That's very good...

First, I must say I'm extremely grateful for your timely intervention back then. Those rakerbeasts would have torn me to pieces...

You led us to this place but don't want Tangtang to be involved. Is there a reason for this?

You're right... Follow me if you wish to learn of the truth behind all this.

Isn't this the same wall? I've checked it already. Pure, solid rock.

What?! Did he just disappear into solid rock? I'm not seeing things, right...? Is this HAS tech?

A very clever trick. The inner workings are probably on the other side... Endmin, Chen, we should all give this a try.

What is the big thingy right underneath the Ancestral Spring? Is that a ... machine? How?

It appears that this machine ... has kept running for well over a century.

I figured it out. "Darkness it skims" refers to the irrigation machine. It separates the Blight from the clean water, and that's why the Ancestral Spring is Blight-free.

It kept running without maintenance for far too long. Though the chassis is undamaged, the machine itself is ... almost at the verge of malfunctioning.

Yes. Although this machine is wholly different from the modern Xiranite facilities ... I am quite certain this is the work of the Yanese Tianshi.

Is this ... the "truth" you wanted to show us?

What are you doing!?

When I stumbled into this place by accident back then, I didn't expect ... to confront the "true form" of the Ancestral Spring.

I wasn't prepared for it... My family has guarded the spring for so many generations, but it turned out to be something else!

I don't know if my ancestors left writings about the truth ... or even the means of repairing this machine...

I grew up in Qingbo Stockade and all I got are ambiguous stories and legends ... those that make people believe in the miraculous powers of the Ancestral Spring...

No... You flatter me. I still can't bring myself to accept this...

When I returned to the surface and saw the banner of Qingbo Stockade from afar ... the only thing on my mind was —

Even if the legends were false, I must protect the Fam's faith in the Ancestral Spring...

That's why you pretended to be mad in front of the Landbreakers!

Yeah. I ... I'm not a great fighter like Ruan Yi, and I couldn't unite the Fam like our Supreme Chief...

The only tactic I knew ... is to feign madness and possession like the folk tales...

Though the Landbreakers are gone, the Ancestral Spring is in pretty bad shape. The Blight containment tank will eventually overflow and affect the Stockade.

I guessed that too. That's why I ... came up with an idea of guiding you down to this place.

I hope you can help me shut down this machine and seal it away.

But if the machine stops working, it would no longer filter out the Blight and...

And the Ancestral Spring will eventually be affected...

Let me, Du Ming ... perform the transgression and destroy the Ancestral Spring!

...What do you think, Endmin?

Thank you, everyone. I've already made a few attempts but none of them worked. There's probably a special mechanism involved...

Excellent work, Endmin. This machine is finally getting its well-deserved retirement...

Now ... I can finally face my ancestors with peace of mind.

I ... I probably need to allude to the legend of the Ancestral Spring one more time...

I hope you will aid me once more.

But it must be done, or all that built up Blight will overflow and surge to the surface! I have to protect the livelihood of everyone in Qingbo Stockade!

I'll guard this place and protect the Fam...

Spring guardians...? You're asking about ... the profession of Brother Du and his family, right?

I don't really know the details. I just know his family has been doing this for ages.

Every spring guardian gotta watch over the Ancestral Spring their whole life. They gotta memorize all sorts of stories too... He actually told me plenty of them when I was a little girl.

Hmm... People in Qingbo Stockade sometimes pray to the Ancestral Spring. Everyone kinda respects it. I love exploring this place as well. Seeing the pretty spring waters flowing down the stream always made me feel better.

I don't really care if the Ancestral Spring could or could not protect us. It's our spring, and that's all that matters.