A Beautiful Jade Like Morning Dew

Zi Bofeng and his companions spent three days in Meng City, only returning to the village on the fourth. Exhausted from the journey, Zi Bofeng told the others to head home, then quickened his own pace to get back as well.

As he reached his gate, he saw Uncle Zhuzi coming down from the mountain with a mother hound so thin she was nothing but skin and bones. Her belly hung low, clearly having just given birth to a litter.

"Uncle Zhuzi," Zi Bofeng greeted him. He hadn't expected a response, but Uncle Zhuzi seemed to be in a remarkably good mood today; he actually nodded at Zi Bofeng in return.

Zi Jian had been expecting Zi Bofeng's return and was already waiting at home, though he hadn't anticipated Uncle Zhuzi arriving with him.

The moment they stepped inside, Uncle Zhuzi called out in irrepressible joy, "Big Brother, look what I found on the mountain!"

Zi Bofeng stole a glance. In Uncle Zhuzi's broad, calloused palm lay a stone, perfectly white and crystalline, resting quietly.

"Is this... jade?" Zi Jian took one look and cried out in pleasant surprise, "Where did you find it?"

He took the stone from Uncle Zhuzi's hand and examined it closely. While he wasn't a lapidary by trade, having lived in Lower Yan Village for so many years, he had been influenced by his surroundings enough to know a thing or two. After turning it over in his hands for a moment, Zi Jian said, "This... this looks like a piece of top-quality jade!"

"Indeed. I haven't seen jade this fine since my father passed away," Uncle Zhuzi said, beaming. "I was setting traps on the mountain when Xitui found it under a large boulder."

As he spoke, he bent down and vigorously rubbed the head of the scrawny mother dog at his heels.

In truth, most dogs in the village were not hunting dogs, but Jade-Seeking Dogs. After dozens of generations of selective breeding, they were born with an acute sensitivity to jade. It was just that in recent years, with no use for such skills, they had been relegated to acting as hunting dogs.

"Let me see." Zi Bofeng took it from his father and inspected it. Uncle Zhuzi didn't mind; though he didn't particularly like Zi Bofeng, he trusted him.

The moment he held the jade, Zi Bofeng was startled.

To Zi Bofeng's eyes, this piece of jade was subtly different from the jade he knew in his past life. One side was flat, the other perfectly rounded, as if it had condensed like morning dew on a leaf, its shape remarkably regular. But most importantly, Zi Bofeng could perceive the spiritual energy contained within it.

This jade didn't feel like a mineral; it felt like... a crystallization of spiritual energy!

The Jade Sutra, passed down through generations in Lower Yan Village, once stated: "Jade is the essence of the earth's veins. When the veins are full, jade appears; when the veins are exhausted, jade vanishes." Jade was not a mineral or a gemstone, but rather like a unique living thing—much like bamboo shoots after rain or lingzhi under snow, it was something that grew.

Caressing the beautiful jade, Zi Bofeng seemed to see spiritual energy like water, seeping out from the fissures of the earth's veins, condensing in the dead of night into flawless jade.

For nearly a hundred years, the amount of jade found by the villagers of Lower Yan had dwindled year by year. In the last decade, almost no one had found any at all. The jade-seekers of the past had all turned into hunters, farmers, and craftsmen.

Yet, the obsession with jade was etched into the very bones of the people of Lower Yan. It was a devotion and a joy that Zi Bofeng could not fully comprehend.

"I'm going to take this to show Fifth Uncle." Having retrieved the jade, Uncle Zhuzi left in high spirits. Being able to find jade again was a matter of immense significance to the village. If more could be found in the future, it would mean the earth's veins were beginning to recover, signaling that the glory days of Lower Yan Village might return.

As Uncle Zhuzi turned to leave, the old mother dog didn't follow. Instead, she trotted on her thin legs straight into the side room. Zi Bofeng was still wondering about this when he heard Little Stone shouting from inside, "Brother! Brother, come look!"

Zi Bofeng, who had been wondering where the little one had gone, followed the sound into the room. He saw Little Stone crouching beside a large wooden crate, waving frantically at him. The old mother dog sniffed Little Stone, then stepped into the crate and lay down with gentle, careful movements.

Zi Bofeng looked down. Inside the crate, seven or eight pink, fleshy little balls were squirming around in the mother dog's embrace. They hadn't even opened their eyes yet, all soft and pink, their little red noses nudging against their mother's belly in search of milk.

Zi Jian walked in carrying a bowl of thin porridge and set it down beside the crate. The mother dog nudged Zi Jian's pant leg with her nose in gratitude, then lowered her head to lap it up.

"Uncle Zhuzi said he'd give me one. Brother, which one do you think I should pick?" Little Stone's eyes sparkled as he watched the puppies, then he looked up, his face full of anticipation. "Brother, can I give one to Qiu'er?"

Zi Bofeng couldn't help but laugh; Little Stone really knew how to look out for his future wife.

Zi Jian explained from the side, "The day you left, Uncle Zhuzi's Xitui gave birth to this litter. There was no one at his place to look after them, so he brought them here."

"Big Brother! Big Brother!" Uncle Zhuzi's voice rang out from outside again. Zi Jian went out and saw Uncle Zhuzi untying a pheasant from his waist. "Big Brother, stew this pheasant. Just save the bones for Xitui."

"Take it back and use it to nourish your mother," Zi Jian declined.

"I caught three. This big one is for my mother, and this one is for Fifth Uncle," Uncle Zhuzi said. His voice faded, and soon Zi Jian could be heard sharpening a knife outside. Zi Bofeng smiled; they were in for a treat today. Zi Jian wasn't skilled at hunting, and with game on the mountain scarce in recent years, Zi Bofeng had eaten pheasant only a handful of times.

"I'm sharing in your good fortune today," Zi Bofeng said, stroking Xitui's scrawny head. It felt hard, and her fur was sparse. Uncle Zhuzi's home was destitute; even he couldn't get enough to eat, let alone Xitui.

As the saying goes, a son does not mind a mother's ugliness, and a dog does not mind a poor home. Uncle Zhuzi was filial to his mother, and the dog was loyal to Uncle Zhuzi.

Watching the seven or eight little balls suckling beneath Xitui, draining her of her strength—the porridge she drank likely containing less sustenance than the milk she produced—Zi Bofeng felt a pang of sympathy. He stroked Xitui's back and channeled the Monster Raising Art, his fingers lightly tracing her bony spine: "The merchant from Xijiang carries a hundred bushels of pearls; the dog on the boat is fed on meat." Since she couldn't eat meat, he would offer a couple of lines of poetry for comfort.

As the spiritual energy and intent of the Monster Raising Art entered her body, Xitui immediately felt the difference. She arched her back, gently licked the back of Zi Bofeng's hand, and looked at him with large, watery eyes. It was said that dogs understood human nature; though they couldn't speak, their intelligence was akin to that of a child. She could feel that Zi Bofeng was doing something for her, though she didn't know what it was, and could only offer a vague expression of gratitude.

After tracing the pattern three or four times, Xitui's spirit seemed much improved. She lowered her head and licked each of the puppies in turn. Looking at the furry little creatures, Zi Bofeng grew fonder of them by the second and called out, "Father, let's keep one too."

"Mm, I was planning to pick one out as well, to help guard the house." With livestock being bitten to death in the village recently, and the Zi residence being so close to Bird-Mouse Mountain, Zi Jian was worried about beasts breaking in.

"I want this one..." Little Stone reached out to touch a puppy, but Zi Bofeng slapped his hand away. "The puppies are too small, you can't touch them yet!"

Little Stone could only watch dejectedly, drooling. After a while, he asked, "Brother, when will the puppies open their eyes?"

"In about ten days or so," Zi Bofeng replied.

"That's so long..." Little Stone couldn't wait. He reached out to touch them again, only to be nudged away by Xitui's nose.

"I'm going to take the puppy with me to the mountain to find jade..." Little Stone looked up at the sky, filled with hope.

Before long, the aroma of pheasant drifted in, and Little Stone was immediately drawn outside. Zi Bofeng extended his finger and traced the character "Grow" in the air over each of the puppies—eight times in total. He wished only for these puppies to be free of illness and disaster, and to grow quickly.

He didn't know if it would work, but at least it brought him peace of mind.

Before Zi Bofeng could even taste his own pheasant, he heard Yan Lao Wu shouting for him outside. He stepped out to see the old man standing at the gate, looking cheerful, one hand on his hip, an old leather coat draped over his shoulders, his bronze-colored chest bared. Seeing Zi Bofeng, he grabbed him and said, "Bofeng, hurry up! Everyone is waiting!"

"Waiting? Waiting for what?" Zi Bofeng blinked.

"Waiting for you, of course..." Yan Lao Wu dragged Zi Bofeng along, then went inside to grab Zi Jian as well. "Both of you, father and son, come along. Hurry, hurry, don't dawdle."

"Little Stone, go tell your mother to keep an eye on the pot..." Before Zi Jian could finish his instructions, he was hauled away by Yan Lao Wu.

At Yan Lao Wu's house, the place was bustling. Zi Bofeng looked closely and saw that everyone who had just returned from Meng City was there. Several of the village elders were present as well. Uncle Zhuzi, having no say in the matter, was relegated to a corner, busy cleaning the pheasants. Several dishes were already laid out on the table, and the wine had been warmed. Yan Lao Wu waved a large hand: "The scholar takes the seat of honor!"

"You flatter me too much!" Zi Bofeng quickly declined. If nothing else, his own father was present; how could he take the seat of honor? After some back-and-forth, Yan Lao Wu took the head seat, with Zi Bofeng and Zi Jian sitting on either side. The father and son were now the esteemed guests of Lower Yan Village, and their treatment was far better than it had ever been before.

"Zhuzi, take these dishes to your mother. Once you're back, we won't stop until we're dead drunk! Come on, bottoms up! Scholar, are you looking down on me, Yan Lao Wu? Drink up, yes, just like that, bottoms up!" Yan Lao Wu was hollering over there.

Zi Bofeng had lost count of how much he had drunk, but he was in high spirits regardless. He drained every cup that came his way, and before he knew it, he began to feel lightheaded. He had no idea what he had done or said, and by the time he regained consciousness, it was the middle of the night.

Not far from his window was the nest of puppies. Xitui was curled up in the wooden crate, keeping the puppies tucked within its body, but at that moment, it lifted its head and let out a low whimper.

Zi Bofeng's heart stirred. Could it be that some beast had come from outside?

He had just intended to scramble up from his bed when he heard a faint sound outside, and the window was actually pushed open from the outside.

Record of Raising Monsters