Appetite Like a Whale, Martial Path Increases Qi and Blood

The patrol duty for today falls to Peach Leaf Street.

Unlike the chilling, aloof aura of White Stone Alley, Peach Leaf Street is much livelier. The street isn't wide, but it's lined with all sorts of shops on both sides: fabric stores, grain merchants, general stores, and food stalls, packed one after another. The calls of the shopkeepers, the bargaining of the women, the shouts of children chasing each other—all mixed with the aroma of food and the smell of sweat—wove together into a vibrant tapestry of urban life.

Wei Datong, however, had no interest in appreciating the scenery. He idly swung the tassel on his waist token, grumbling incessantly.

"Peach Leaf Street, Peach Leaf Street, this rotten place again. Not a drop of oil to be skimmed, but a whole basketful of trivial matters. The landlord's chicken ran off, the neighbor's wife is fighting, and we have to settle it all."

He spat in the direction of the yamen. "Unlike Young Master Zhang, who is probably sitting in Chief Constable Yan's office right now, enjoying a cool breeze, sipping freshly brewed Pre-Qingming Longjing, and listening to the Chief Constable explain case-solving techniques. How comfortable is that!"

Xiong Tiezhu, carrying his heavy-backed saber, walked on the other side. Hearing Wei Datong's words, he rumbled in response, "That's different, he's the Chief Constable's nephew."

"Exactly!" Wei Datong slapped his thigh. "So, having a good birth is a profound art. People like us work ourselves to death for five hundred wen a month. He opens his mouth, and from this dirt-poor job of ours, he gets transferred to the Chief Constable's side as a clerk. Down the road, when we meet, we'll still have to respectfully call him 'Captain Zhang'!"

He grew more indignant, lowering his voice and leaning closer to Ye Qingxuan. "You don't know, the food in the yamen's backyard is divided into several grades. We eat from the communal pot, with plenty of coarse rice, and the dish is just a stew. But the meals for the Chief Constables are ordered separately from the best restaurant in the city, Drunken Immortal Tower—four dishes and one soup, never the same twice. Zhang Lingxiao is currently by Chief Constable Yan's side, so he naturally eats that too."

Ye Qingxuan's steps didn't falter. His gaze swept over the roadside stalls. A vendor selling candied hawthorns was skillfully drizzling the cooked syrup over the fruit skewers. Beside him, a child about three or four years old, with his head tilted up, was gazing longingly, almost drooling.

Wei Datong's complaints were merely the wind in his ears.

Some people rely on their fathers, some on their uncles; that's how the world is. Complaining a few words might make oneself feel better, but it changes nothing.

His path wasn't in others' words, but beneath his own feet. The scroll in his mind, the inscription [Merit: 2/15], was the foundation of his existence.

The afternoon patrol was uneventful. Other than helping an old woman who had lost her money pouch and apprehending a petty thief at the street corner, there was nothing else. The thief, hoisted up by Xiong Tiezhu's palm-like hand, was so terrified that he peed himself and returned the money pouch without a single coin missing.

At noon, the three returned to the yamen's backyard to rest and eat.

In a large wooden tub was coarse rice. Beside it, a large pot contained braised cabbage with tofu, with a few pathetic oil slicks floating on top.

The constables each scooped their rice, squatting or standing, slurping it down noisily.

Ye Qingxuan filled a large bowl with rice and then scooped half a bowl of the dish. He was hungry; his stomach was empty, as if a fire was burning within. He ate quickly. After finishing the large bowl of rice and dish, the hunger only subsided slightly, leaving his stomach still feeling hollow.

He went to get a second bowl.

Wei Datong brought his bowl over and smacked his lips as he saw Ye Qingxuan's bowl. "Qingxuan, you've got quite an appetite today. What, figured it out and want to eat Zhang Lingxiao's share too?"

Ye Qingxuan ignored his jest and focused on eating. After the second bowl of rice, the emptiness in his stomach finally felt about seventy to eighty percent full.

After their shift ended, Ye Qingxuan bid farewell to the other two and hurried back to Southern District.

As soon as he turned into the alley, he smelled the fragrance of baked wheat. He pushed open the courtyard gate. Ye Caiwei was squatting by a small clay stove, poking the fire with a pair of tongs. A wire rack was placed over the stove, and on it, two golden-brown wheat cakes sizzled, emitting heat.

"Brother, you're back." Ye Caiwei looked up, her small face flushed red by the firelight. "I figured you'd be off duty soon, so I baked two cakes to tide you over."

Ye Qingxuan walked over and picked up a wheat cake. The cake was hot, so he passed it between his hands, blew on it, and took a big bite.

The crust was fragrant and crispy, while the inside was soft and chewy, filling his mouth with the pure aroma of wheat.

"Delicious." He swallowed one wheat cake in just a few bites.

Ye Caiwei, as if presenting a treasure, handed him the other one. "Brother, eat slowly, it's still hot."

Ye Qingxuan took the second cake and finished it in a few more bites. However, that familiar feeling of emptiness surged from his stomach again. The two fist-sized wheat cakes for adults seemed like just two small pebbles dropped into a deep pool, eliciting no echo.

He froze.

Something was wrong.

In the past, after a day of running around, his appetite, though larger than average, was still limited. He definitely wouldn't be like today, as if he hadn't eaten for three days.

That's right, it's the Indestructible Vajra Body.

Martial Path cultivation, tempering the physique, circulating qi and blood, is inherently a huge drain on the body's energy. For the flesh, tendons, and bones to become tough, they require a continuous supply of qi and blood nourishment. Where does qi and blood come from? It comes from grains, fish, and meat.

His strenuous practice in the mornings and evenings these past two days, treating his body like a piece of stubborn iron to be forged, consumed far more vital energy and spirit than imagined. The body's deficit naturally needed to be replenished with food.

This Heavenly Machine Codex, while it could lead him to complete Merit and ascend in one step, couldn't conjure qi and blood out of thin air. The foundation, after all, was still this mortal body of flesh and blood.

"Brother, what's wrong?" Ye Caiwei, seeing him staring blankly at his empty hands, couldn't help but ask.

"It's nothing," Ye Qingxuan came back to his senses, rubbing his sister's head. "Just really hungry. Come on, let's go eat."

For dinner, Ye Caiwei had really splurged.

On the small square table was a plate of stir-fried beef with green peppers. The beef was thinly sliced and quickly stir-fried over high heat, still retaining some tenderness, complementing the spiciness of the green peppers. Beside it was a large bowl of thick soup made from ox bones, milky white in color, sprinkled with a few chopped scallions.

"Nannan, why is it so lavish today?"

"Brother, you've been working hard practicing your skills these past few days, and you've lost weight. Of course, you need to nourish yourself properly." Ye Caiwei served him a large bowl of rice and then put a heaping spoonful of beef into his bowl. "Wang the butcher said this ox bone soup is the best for replenishing strength. I asked him to break all the bones and simmer it for an hour."

Ye Qingxuan didn't say anything more. He picked up his rice bowl and began to eat heartily.

The beef was tender and fresh, the rice sweet, and the bone soup rich. He ate very quickly, like a whirlwind.

After finishing the first bowl of rice, Ye Caiwei immediately refilled it for him.

After finishing the second bowl, she refilled it again.

Only after he had eaten a total of five bowls of rice and completely cleared the plate of beef and the large bowl of ox bone soup did the seemingly bottomless hunger finally feel completely satisfied.

He put down his chopsticks, let out a satisfied burp, and felt a warm current rise from his stomach, spreading to his limbs, making him feel indescribably comfortable all over.

Ye Caiwei sat beside him, resting her chin on her hand, watching him eat, her eyes curving into crescents. She herself had only eaten a small bowl of rice, mixing it with the soup juices, and hadn't touched a single piece of beef.

"Brother, are you full?"

"Full." Ye Qingxuan looked at the empty plates and soup bowls on the table, feeling both warmth and a sense of heaviness in his heart.

A meal like this would probably cost dozens of coins again. His current appetite meant that just eating every day was a considerable expense. If it were just plain rice, vegetables, and tofu, it would be difficult to make up for the energy consumed during training. To truly allow his body to absorb sufficient nutrients and vital energy, he probably needed some meat!

Money.

In the end, it all came down to money.

"Brother, you rest, I'll go clean up the dishes," Ye Caiwei said briskly, standing up.

"I'll do it," Ye Qingxuan said, reaching out to stop her.

He stood up, cleared the dishes from the table, and took them into the kitchen. Ye Caiwei followed, wanting to help, but he pushed her outside the door.

"Go read a book, or go to bed early. All this manual labor will be mine from now on."

He washed the dishes clean and then glanced at the water tank in the corner.

"There's not enough water in the jar, I'll go fetch some."

There were no wells in the Southern District; they had to fetch water from the public well at the entrance of the alley. That well was deep, and two large buckets full of water weighed over a hundred catties. Even an ordinary strong man would have to rest a few times carrying it back. In the past, the brother and sister would carry a small bucket back and forth several times to fill it.

Hearing this, Ye Caiwei quickly said, "Brother, it's already dark. Let's go together tomorrow morning."

"No need."

Ye Qingxuan walked to the corner of the wall and, with one in each hand, lifted the two half-human-height wooden buckets.

As the buckets came into his hands, they felt heavy. But in his hands, they seemed to weigh very little. The muscles in his arms bulged slightly as he lifted the two empty buckets steadily.

He didn't say anything more, carrying the two large buckets, slinging them over a shoulder pole, and striding out of the courtyard gate.

The night was deep, and the alley was quiet. His footsteps were light, the shoulder pole swaying rhythmically on his shoulders with his steps, showing no sign of strain.

The surging power within his body was eager to find an outlet.