Fang Chen was instantly amazed by the taste of the rice. After swallowing his mouthful, he asked Li Yanshan, "Uncle Li, how did you make this rice so delicious? Your cooking is incredible!"
Li Yanshan picked up a piece of Chinese sausage and took a bite. "What cooking? The rice tastes good because it's Spirit Rice. We don't eat this at every meal, either. Since you've only just arrived, consider it a celebration! You've seen what conditions are like here. I hope you don't mind."
"Spirit Rice?"
Fang Chen's eyes widened. He knew Spirit Rice was milled from Spirit Grain, which contained spiritual energy. Spirit Grain had to be grown in a Spirit Field rich with spiritual energy and carefully tended before it could be harvested. Yields were low, but the price was high: one Spirit Stone bought only ten jin of Spirit Rice, the equivalent of ten taels of silver per jin. Spirit Rice was heavy, too—at least ten times as heavy as ordinary rice of the same volume.
Ten taels of silver could buy at least a hundred jin of premium rice.
Although Fang Chen had been at the Glazed Sword Sect for more than three years, he had never tasted Spirit Rice.
Now, at last, he had.
Since arriving at the Glazed Sword Sect, he had worked as a servant on Dragon Tiger Mountain. Forget Spirit Rice—he could not even get his fill of ordinary rice and often went hungry.
Yet here on Dog Head Ridge, his very first meal included Spirit Rice and a big Chinese sausage.
Back in Fang Family Village, his mother had been frail and frequently ill. She often lay in bed taking medicine, leaving their family so poor that they never knew where the next meal would come from.
His mother died when he was nine. The following year, his father went fishing, encountered a storm, and drowned.
Before the first seven days of mourning for his father were even over, his uncle sold him to a landlord in town as a cowherd. He changed hands several times before he was finally sold to the Glazed Sword Sect.
When he arrived, he had thought he would finally have enough to eat. This was a sect of immortal cultivators, after all.
But after becoming a servant there, that dream shattered. He had more work to do, the other servants beat him harder, and he had even less to eat.
Now he had finally made it through. He had obtained the Floating Immortal Sword, broken through to the Qi Refining Realm, become an Outer Sect Disciple, and eaten Spirit Rice.
Fang Chen's eyes grew slightly damp. He felt a happiness he had not known in a long time.
"What's wrong?"
Seeing the red in Fang Chen's eyes, Li Yanshan could not help asking.
"It's nothing, really. I just remembered some sad things!"
Fang Chen wiped his eyes, then lowered his head and kept eating.
When he had eaten his fill, Fang Chen let out a burp. He felt utterly satisfied.
Li Yanshan smiled at him. "Just leave your bowl there. Go get some rest. Come find me in an hour, and I'll show you around!"
"All right!"
Fang Chen nodded, set his bowl on the Stone Table, and followed the dirt-and-stone path up the mountain.
Back at his home halfway up the mountainside, Fang Chen stood at the edge of the clearing outside the courtyard gate and looked down over the valley. Plots of farmland had been carved out below, with a clear stream running through the center. Rice grew across the fields. The sun shone bright, and the sky was a freshly washed blue. Fang Chen tilted his head back, letting the Scorching Sunlight fall on him. He took a deep breath, his heart brimming with joy.
He had finally climbed out of the mire he had been trapped in. He would no longer have to endure hunger or the bullying of those people.
After basking in the sun for a while, he went back inside and continued tidying up.
Earlier, he and Li Yanshan had only tidied the living room and bedroom.
The courtyard was small, but it had all the essentials: a living room, a bedroom, a kitchen, a bathing room, and a latrine.
Now that the courtyard was his, he had to put it in good order.
Half an hour later, while tidying the kitchen, Fang Chen found something pitch-black inside a black earthenware jar. When he cut the black lump open, he discovered more than a dozen glittering stones inside, each about the size of a thumbnail.
"Are these Spirit Stones?"
Fang Chen's eyes widened. He could hardly believe what he was seeing.
In his more than three years at the Glazed Sword Sect, he had seen Spirit Stones before.
He had never imagined he would find so many in this jar.
Excitement surged through him.
There were eighteen Spirit Stones in all. Converted to silver, they were worth eighteen hundred taels.
If he earned that money by cutting Exquisite Bamboo, he would have to cut eighteen hundred stalks.
Yet here he was, finding so many Spirit Stones inside an earthenware jar.
To Fang Chen, this was an enormous fortune. He felt as though he were dreaming.
He pinched his thigh hard, and the sharp pain made him shudder.
"That hurts. I guess I'm not dreaming!"
Fang Chen looked down at the Spirit Stones and murmured, "The previous owner probably hid these here!"
He hesitated. Should he keep all the Spirit Stones for himself, or tell Li Yanshan and Elder Yun?
Li Yanshan and Elder Yun had treated him well. One had given him Cow Dung Incense, and the other had invited him to eat Spirit Rice.
Back on Dragon Tiger Mountain, he had often heard the servants say that immortal cultivators liked to test people. Perhaps Li Yanshan and Elder Yun had deliberately left these Spirit Stones here to test him.
After weighing it over, Fang Chen carried the jar out of the courtyard. At the foot of the mountain, he found Li Yanshan and Elder Yun playing chess beside the Stone Table.
Little Donkey grazed quietly beneath a tree, while Little Six Dog lay on the ground looking thoroughly content.
Fang Chen approached the Stone Table and respectfully greeted them. "Uncle Li, Elder Yun!"
Li Yanshan looked up at Fang Chen and frowned slightly. "It hasn't been an hour yet. What brought you down so soon?"
Elder Yun looked up as well. His gaze fell on the black jar in Fang Chen's arms, and he frowned slightly. "Why are you carrying that black jar? It stinks!"
Li Yanshan asked, "Yes, why are you carrying it?"
Judging by their reactions, Fang Chen felt they truly did not know what was inside. He drew a deep breath. "Uncle Li, Elder Yun, I found this jar in the kitchen while I was tidying up. There are lots of Spirit Stones inside!"
"What?"
Li Yanshan and Elder Yun's eyes widened at once.
Fang Chen stepped up to the table and tipped the earthenware jar over it.
Clatter!
He poured out every Spirit Stone. There were eighteen in all.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves of the Great Elm Tree and fell in dappled patches across the Spirit Stones. The refracted light made them gleam even more brilliantly.
"They really are Spirit Stones!"
Li Yanshan and Elder Yun's eyes lit up.
Looking at the Spirit Stones, Fang Chen asked, "Uncle Li, Elder Yun, this money might belong to your old friend. I don't know if he has any family left, but if he does, could you please give it to them?"
Li Yanshan and Elder Yun looked at Fang Chen, then at each other. Faint smiles appeared on their faces.
Elder Yun said, "Fang Chen, our old friend had no family left. Besides, this money might not even have been his. You found it, which means fate brought it to you. Keep it!"
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