Chen Hao leaned against the water tank, his hand still gripping the wrench. The rain had stopped, the dripping sound intermittent. He stared at the patch of land in the field that had just been patched, when suddenly his ear twitched.
Something is moving.
It wasn't the sound of wind whistling through metal frames, nor the dripping of leaking water pipes. It was the sound of footsteps on the muddy ground, muffled, like someone slowly walking in thick boots.
He didn't say a word, nor did he look away. After a few seconds, he raised his other hand and waved it lightly twice in the air.
Nana's camera turned to him, and the light swept across his fingers.
"Don't make a sound," he said in a low voice. "Over there, by the cucumber section."
Nana brought up a thermal image. A dark silhouette was moving along the edge of the field, larger than a person, stopping and starting, as if it were sniffing something.
"Turn on the exterior lights," Chen Hao said.
The light came on, but stopped halfway through. The sodium lamp on the left, which had been repaired three times last year, flickered twice and went out. The one on the right barely managed to stay lit, but the light was skewed, casting a long and narrow shadow.
"This damn lamp." He muttered as he stood up, his legs a little numb, his clothes still half-wet, sticking to his back and feeling chilly.
He turned and walked towards the house, casually picking up a wooden stick from the wall. It was a leftover piece of wood from making plows last time; one end was sharpened, and he had originally intended to use it as a marker post, but later found it too troublesome and didn't bother to stick it in.
He sneezed as he put on the half-dry jacket.
"Are you really going out?" Nana's voice came from behind.
"What else can we do? Wait for it to move in on its own?"
“I can trigger the alarm remotely.”
"That thing ran out of power a long time ago. I tried it once last week, and it only made a sound for three seconds before shutting down."
He walked to the door, glanced back at Nana, and said, "You keep watch from behind. I'll go check if any stray dogs have climbed over the wall."
"Judging from its size, it's not a dog."
"Oh, that might be a bear. That's good, bear paws can be stewed into a pot."
He opened the door, and a gust of cold wind rushed in, making him shrink his neck.
The shadows in the field were still moving. He walked along the cement path, his steps light. Halfway there, his foot slipped, and he stepped into a puddle, his shoe sinking halfway in.
"Damn." He pulled his foot out, kicking up a clump of mud with the sole of his shoe. "Today is a truly cursed day."
Up close, it was clearer. The creature had four legs, a tall back, and its head was lowered as it rubbed its nose back and forth along the edge of the freshly sown field. Several furrows had been dug into the soil, exposing the seeds.
"Hey!" he shouted, raising his stick. "Get out!"
The thing suddenly raised its head.
Chen Hao froze.
This thing does resemble a deer, but it's enormous. Its shoulders almost reach its chest, its head is thicker than a washing tub, and its antlers haven't fully grown in yet; two protruding vertebrae on top look like newly sprouted tree branches.
It stared at him, exhaling white breath, pawing the ground with its front hooves, and letting out a low growl.
"Why...why are you looking at me like that?" Chen Hao took half a step back. "This land doesn't belong to you."
Nana's voice came from behind: "Detection complete. Target is mutated Eastern red deer, herbivorous, no attack record, current behavior mode is foraging."
"You said it's vegetarian?"
"yes."
"Then why is it lying on my bed?"
It's not in your bed.
"Does that mean my house is a public canteen?"
He took two steps forward and raised the wooden stick: "Did you hear that? Even vegetarians have to follow the rules! If you don't leave, I'll get physical!"
The deer didn't move. Instead, it lowered its head and sniffed the ground again, then opened its mouth, picked up a small piece of tender shoot, and slowly chewed it.
"Holy crap!" Chen Hao rushed forward. "Those were planted by me!"
He swung his stick and smashed it into the open space beside him with a loud crack. The deer's ears twitched, and it finally looked up.
"What are you looking at!" he panted. "Never seen someone with a stick before?"
The deer took a step back and turned to leave. But it pushed off with its hind legs, collapsing a small section of the embankment and crushing three rows of newly planted beans.
"You've ruined the scene!" Chen Hao exclaimed, chasing after him for a few steps. "Stop! Give me back my seeds!"
He was running too fast, and suddenly his legs gave way. The irrigation ditch he had dug yesterday hadn't been filled in yet, and the edges were all muddy from being soaked by rainwater. His left foot slipped, and he lost his balance. He desperately tried to steady himself with his right foot, but the more he struggled, the more erratic he became, and finally he fell backward into the ditch.
With a splash, mud and water splattered all over my face.
He lay motionless at the bottom of the ditch.
The light shone down on Nana.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
“I’m fine.” He said with his eyes closed. “I’m part of the field now.”
"The creature has retreated and is now 1.2 kilometers away from our current location. It is accelerating."
"Oh." He rolled over, trying to prop himself up with his hands, but his palms sank into the soft mud, sinking halfway in. "Help me."
Nana walked over, her mechanical arm extended, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him up. He used the leverage to stand up, one leg still in the ditch, his pants completely covered in black mud, like he was wearing two pairs of tight pants made of mud.
"Where are your glasses?" He touched the bridge of his nose.
Nana bent down and picked up the round-framed glasses from the mud, lenses facing up, covered with grass clippings and a sticky, unidentified object.
"Here you go." She handed it over.
He took it, wiped it with his sleeve, and put it on. The world became blurry and distorted again.
"Why did it come here?" he asked, panting.
"Preliminary analysis suggests that the newly sown seeds release volatile organic compounds in a humid environment, similar to the odor signals of certain wild plants during their ripening period, which may have attracted its olfactory system."
"So it came by smell?"
"yes."
"So you have to come again tomorrow?"
"The probability is relatively high."
"Okay." He wiped his face, but ended up wiping the mud everywhere. "Then we'll have to figure something out."
He limped back, stopped halfway, and looked back at the trampled ground.
"Nana".
"Um?"
"Do we have anything that makes a sound? Like a horn or a gong?"
"The warehouse has a noise generator, industrial grade, originally used to scare away birds."
"Then why not use it?"
"The fuse blew during the last test."
"..." He looked down at his muddy shoes. "The first thing to do tomorrow is to fix that loudspeaker."
"A stand and power cord are also needed."
"Take them all apart. The other things aren't working very well anyway."
They returned to the base entrance. Chen Hao stood on the steps, took off one shoe, and poured out half a cup of muddy water.
"If it comes again, can I hit it with a pot?"
"The sound frequency is insufficient, the duration is short, and the effect is limited."
"What about singing? Singing off-key."
"It may arouse even greater curiosity."
"..." He sighed, "I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight."
He pushed open the door, and the room became a little warmer. He leaned the wooden stick against the wall and began to take off his clothes. As soon as his outer garment was pulled off, dampness mixed with the smell of mud spread out.
"I'm going to change my clothes," he said. "This outfit is unusable."
He went into the cubicle and pulled an old sweatshirt from the closet. After putting it on, he sat in front of the heater, put his feet up on the shelf, and stared blankly at the floor.
Nana stood at the doorway, and the camera slowly panned back.
"The peripheral sensors have returned to normal and no secondary approach was detected."
"Okay." He nodded. "You should rest for a while too."
She didn't move.
"Aren't you going to turn it off?"
"Maintain low power monitoring mode."
"Oh." He yawned. "Then you keep an eye on things, I'm going to take a nap."
He leaned back in his chair and slowly closed his eyes.
A few minutes later, he suddenly opened his eyes.
"Nana".
"I am here."
How many seeds do we have left in our warehouse?
"Sixty percent of the green beans remain, seventy percent of the cucumbers remain, and there are also reserve tubers."
"Is there enough for another planting?"
"If the losses are kept within the existing limits, then yes."
He breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes again.
The wind picked up again outside, making the tin shed rattle and clang.
He rolled over and muttered, "I need to install that broken speaker tomorrow."
Nana's camera pans out the window; the farmland is quiet, with only the occasional sound of dripping water.
Her voice softened slightly: "Recorded: The noise removal plan has been prioritized. We also recommend adding physical isolation measures."
Chen Hao did not respond.
He was asleep, his lips slightly drooping, one hand hanging by the side of the chair, his fingertips rubbing against a small patch of mud on the ground.
Nana looked away, the casing vibrated slightly, and it entered standby mode.
At 3:17 a.m., the sensor flashed again.
A new heat source appeared outside the southeast fence, moving slowly and in a clear direction.
Nana's camera instantly lit up, locking onto the target.
Chen Hao was still asleep, his breathing steady.
Her robotic arm slowly rose and aimed at the toolbox by the door.
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