Floor 103 opened under a sky that looked too beautiful.

That was Qin Yuheng’s first warning.

The air was warm, the fields were green, flowers bloomed beside stone roads, and clear water flowed through narrow canals. Children laughed near wooden bridges. Farmers sang while cutting golden wheat that should not have grown so early in the season.

Everything looked abundant.

Everything looked alive.

But Qin Yuheng felt no ease.

After Winter Seed Village, he understood that life appearing at the wrong time could be more dangerous than death.

Qin Mo stood beside him, holding the floor file in one hand and shading his eyes with the other.

"This place looks pleasant," he said.

"That is why I dislike it."

The mission panel appeared.

[Floor 103: The Village That Sold Its Spring]

[Duration:

6 Tower days]

[Main Mission]

Resolve the seasonal debt of Greenwake Village before the harvest moon rises.

[Sub-Missions]

1. Identify the source of borrowed spring.

2. Prevent harvest loss above 30%.

3. Rescue villagers marked by spring debt.

4. Break or repay the false seasonal contract.

5. Defeat the Spring Debt Collector.

[Warning]

A borrowed spring may demand the harvest.]

Qin Yuchen’s expression became serious.

"Borrowed spring."

Qin Lian looked toward the fields.

"The harvest is too full."

Qin Mo crouched and touched the soil.

His fingers came away warm.

Not sun-warm.

Formation-warm.

"There is debt law in the roots."

Qin Yuheng nodded.

They walked toward the village.

Unlike Winter Seed Village, Greenwake Village welcomed them eagerly. Villagers brought fruit, warm bread, and sweet tea. Their faces were healthy. Their clothes were clean. Their barns were full. At first glance, no one seemed desperate.

The village chief, a round-faced man named Chief Luo Shen, greeted them with too much enthusiasm.

"Tower climbers! Excellent, excellent! You came at the right time. Our village has had the best spring in a hundred years."

Qin Mo whispered, "Never trust someone who says ’excellent’ twice."

Qin Yuheng remained polite.

"Your spring began early?"

"Early?" The chief laughed. "Blessed, young master. Blessed. Three years ago, our fields were frozen and our children hungry. Then the Spring Envoy came. He gave us warmth, water, and seed vitality. Since then, every year blooms beautifully."

Qin Yuheng heard the word clearly.

"Gave?"

The chief’s smile twitched.

"Well... lent. But only until harvest."

Qin Mo’s eyes sharpened.

"What was the price?"

The villagers nearby became quiet.

Chief Luo Shen waved his hand.

"Nothing unreasonable. A share of harvest. A few ceremonial offerings. Some names recorded for gratitude."

Names.

Qin Yuheng’s gaze cooled.

"Show us the contract."

The chief hesitated.

That hesitation confirmed almost everything.

The village contract hall stood beside the grain storehouse. Inside, a green-gold scroll floated above a wooden altar covered with flowers. It looked gentle. It smelled like spring rain.

Qin Mo inspected it from a distance and immediately stepped back.

"Seasonal debt. Name hooks. Harvest claim. Future vitality clause."

Chief Luo Shen’s face paled.

"You can read it?"

Lin Xian’er was not here, but Qin Mo had learned enough from the Seventh Gate.

He pointed at the scroll.

"This contract did not ask only for grain. It took the village’s future spring vitality as collateral. If the harvest cannot repay the debt, it collects people marked as ’spring guarantors.’"

Qin Yuchen looked at the villagers.

"Who signed?"

The chief lowered his head.

"I did. The elders did. Some families volunteered."

Qin Lian’s voice was quiet.

"Volunteered with full understanding?"

No answer.

Outside, a bell rang.

The villagers flinched.

From the fields came a line of green light. It moved through the wheat like a snake, marking certain houses with glowing vines.

A child screamed.

The first marked villager had been chosen.

The harvest moon was still six days away, but the debt had begun collecting early.

The Spring Envoy was impatient.

Qin Yuheng stepped outside.

A young girl, no more than ten, stood in front of her house while green vines wrapped around her wrists. Her mother tried to pull them away, but the vines tightened.

A panel appeared.

[Spring Debt Mark]

[Status:

Guarantor collection beginning.]

[Cause:

Village seasonal contract imbalance.]

Qin Yuheng raised his hand.

"Mo."

Qin Mo was already moving.

He placed three formation needles around the girl and used the Road Debt Nullification Ledger in a limited way. The ledger trembled, but the mark did not vanish.

"This is not road debt," Qin Mo said. "It is seasonal debt mixed with name guarantee."

Qin Yuheng took out the Clean Exchange Road Seal and Future Obligation Severing Blade.

The mark reacted.

A voice drifted over the fields.

"You enjoy spring. You repay spring."

The villagers fell to their knees.

Chief Luo Shen whispered, "Spring Envoy..."

A figure appeared at the edge of the wheat field.

It wore robes made of flowers and green leaves. Its face was hidden behind a mask shaped like a smiling blossom. In one hand, it held a ledger. In the other, a sickle.

[Spring Debt Collector]

[Level Equivalent: 62]

[Status:

Contract authority projection]

[Warning:

Main body not fully manifested.]

The Collector looked at Qin Yuheng.

"Climbers. Do not interfere with fair exchange."

Qin Yuheng’s voice was calm.

"Fair exchange requires informed consent."

The Collector tilted its head.

"They wanted spring."

Qin Yuheng looked at the overflowing fields.

"And you priced it with their future."

The Collector laughed softly.

"Future is the only thing desperate people still own."

Qin Mo’s face darkened.

The Collector raised the ledger.

"Harvest moon approaches. Debt matures. Guarantors belong to spring."

Qin Yuheng planted the Chosen Road Banner Field.

Not wide enough to cover the whole village yet.

Only enough to shield the marked girl.

"No collection until judgment."

The green vines struck like snakes.

Qin Yuchen cut them with controlled force, avoiding the girl. Qin Lian vanished toward the fields, searching for root channels. Qin Mo stabilized the debt mark.

The Spring Debt Collector did not fight fully.

It smiled.

"Six days," it said. "At harvest moon, all accounts close."

Then it dissolved into petals.

The girl collapsed into her mother’s arms, alive but still faintly marked.

The village’s joy had cracked.

Behind the beautiful spring, fear finally showed.

Qin Yuheng turned to Chief Luo Shen.

"Now you will tell us everything."