Captive Breeding

Little Path Bay.

The Shen Family courtyard.

Shen Momo was chasing and playing with several neighborhood children from the bay.

A group of half-grown children had gathered together, and somehow, a competitive spirit had arisen among them.

The little girl planted her tiny hands on her waist.

She was arguing until her face was red with a chubby boy who looked stout and tiger-headed.

"My big brother is incredible! He can dive into the water and catch fish. Yesterday, he netted a bighead carp this huge from Cloudwater Lake!"

The chubby boy spread his arms as wide as he could, his face brimming with pride.

"My big bwother can catch fishies too! The ones he catches are even bigger than your big brother's!"

Shen Momo refused to be outdone.

"My big brother is strong enough to row a big boat! He even promised that once spring comes, he'll take me to the inner city to ride a painted pleasure boat!"

"M-My big bwother can row boats too!"

"Hmph! My big brother knows martial arts too! When he went to the city to sell fish, he learned a tiger-killing fist technique from the masters of the inner city's Tiger-Subduing Fist Hall. He's fierce!"

"My big bwother can not only practice fists, he can beat up bad people too!"

Seeing how this bratty girl had to one-up him at every turn.

The chubby boy became frantic, his little face flushing scarlet.

"Stop copying what I say!"

"My big brother... my big brother dares to eat shit!"

"One time, he got lost in Great Mount Li. He was starving to death and only survived by eating wild ox piss and dung! Does your big brother dare?!"

"My big bwother dares too..."

"Ahem!"

Shen Xiuhan, carrying a fish basket on his back, pushed open the courtyard gate with a dark face.

"Big bwother!"

The little girl's eyes lit up.

Without another word, she abandoned the chubby boy and dashed toward Shen Xiuhan on her short little legs.

Shen Xiuhan sighed helplessly and bent down to gather the little bundle into his arms.

Shen Momo sniffed with her little nose, her gaze involuntarily drifting toward the fish basket.

A faint waft of meat fragrance drifted from within, making her big eyes roll around.

After standing dazed for a moment.

Shen Momo suddenly turned her head without a word, put on a stern little face, and declared in a crisp voice.

"You should all go. My big bwother won't let me play with you!"

The children looked at one another.

Then, seeing Shen Xiuhan's "dark face," they scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing the courtyard in a puff of smoke.

Once the courtyard gate had closed, the little girl who had been stern-faced just moments ago instantly became a different person.

Her little arms, plump as lotus roots, wrapped around Shen Xiuhan's neck. Tilting up her little face, she sweetly affected a soft, sugary voice.

"Big bwother... What's in your basket? It smells so, so good... Did you bring Momo some yummies again?"

Seeing the little girl like this, how could Shen Xiuhan possibly stay angry?

He burst out laughing, carrying her in one arm as he stepped into the kitchen.

Before the stove, Madam Zheng was preparing breakfast.

Three bowls of porridge had already been laid out.

Two were thinner.

The remaining bowl was thicker with millet, and beside it sat two steaming meat pies.

"Eldest son, you came back at just the right time."

Madam Zheng looked up and smiled. "Breakfast has just come out of the pot. Hurry and eat while it's hot."

"Mother, I already ate outside."

Shen Xiuhan set the fish basket down in the corner by the wall and said.

"The martial hall provides my lunch. From now on, bringing just one flatbread will be enough. Here, these are for you."

As he spoke, he took two chicken legs skewered on wooden splinters from the fish basket.

A rich aroma of meat instantly filled the entire kitchen.

The enormous drumsticks, roasted golden and crisp and sizzling with oil, made Shen Momo's big eyes fly wide open. She leaped up at once.

"Wow! Such huge chicken leggies!"

"Eat up."

Shen Xiuhan tore one off and stuffed it into the little girl's hands, then held the other out to the utterly stunned Madam Zheng.

"Mother, I didn't catch any fish this morning, but I did catch two fat wild chickens."

"This... Eldest son, you work so hard at martial arts. You should eat it..."

"Don't worry. I really have eaten."

Shen Xiuhan waved his hand, then pointed at the sky and said.

"It's getting late, Mother. I need to head to the martial hall. There's another one in this basket—I'm taking it to show Master."

"Oh, right. There are also these three chicken eggs. Let that old hen incubate them and see whether she can hatch chicks."

Not long after Shen Xiuhan left.

In the side room, the old hen nestled in her straw nest lowered her head and stared thoughtfully at the three extra blue eggs beneath her backside...

Mei Martial Hall.

The morning sun had just risen. On the spacious training ground of the outer courtyard, dozens of disciples were tempering their blood and qi, their shouts rising and falling one after another.

Shen Xiuhan, with the fish basket on his back, stepped over the red-lacquered threshold and happened to be spotted by Xu Chuan, who was making rounds and correcting mistakes.

"Junior Brother Shen, why are you so late today?" When his gaze fell on Shen Xiuhan's back, Xu Chuan teased, "Did you go catch fish?"

Shen Xiuhan did not answer. He merely gave him a discreet beckon, then kept walking straight into the inner courtyard.

Xu Chuan's brows rose slightly in puzzlement. Turning back, he bellowed.

"Plant your stances firmly, all of you! No slacking off or holding back!"

Then he strode after him.

The moment he entered the inner courtyard, Xu Chuan saw Shen Xiuhan standing beneath the wall of the dormitory, lifting the lid of the bamboo basket and taking out a plump bird.

The creature was covered in azure feathers, its beak sharp as an awl. Even though it no longer breathed, it still exuded a fierce air.

"Huh?"

Xu Chuan's expression changed slightly. He stepped forward to inspect it carefully, his tone astonished.

"Junior Brother, where did you get this? This is an Azure Awl Chicken, a treasured beast raised by the Ji Family of the inner city!"

"Huh?"

Shen Xiuhan's hand paused, his expression even more surprised than Xu Chuan's.

"The Ji Family?"

"Junior Brother, you didn't know?"

Xu Chuan crouched down and patiently explained.

"Years ago, the Ji Family purchased a batch of Azure Awl Chicken eggs in Cangzhou. Only after going through untold hardships did they manage to hatch them alive. They have bred ever since, and it is said that there are now thirty or forty treasured birds in their beast garden..."

"The other great families of the inner city are the same. They each hold treasured beasts and Treasure Fish that can be raised in captivity. Their descendants are nourished by an endless supply of precious pills and medicinal meals, so naturally, masters emerge generation after generation."

Xu Chuan reached out to brush aside the Azure Awl Chicken's feathers and asked curiously.

"Judging by this one's appearance... Junior Brother, you caught it out in the wild, didn't you?"

"Senior Brother has keen eyes."

Shen Xiuhan had already prepared his explanation.

"This morning, I went to the lakeshore to catch fish. By chance, I saw this creature flying all unsteadily before plunging headfirst into Mount Li. I gathered my courage and followed it in, then conveniently finished it off..."

"That was my guess."

Xu Chuan looked as though it was exactly as he had expected. Smacking his lips, he said.

"The great inner-city clans guard their treasured beasts and Treasure Fish tightly. At most, they sell some refined pills through their family pill shops every month. They would never put an entire one up for sale."

"As for yours, it likely escaped from deep within Mount Li."

He lifted the Azure Awl Chicken's wing and examined the torn, bloody wound underneath.

"The flesh around the wound has been ripped open. It looks as though it was bitten by some other ferocious creature. But the meat is largely intact, and its blood and qi have not dispersed, so it is no great concern."

Xu Chuan lifted his head and looked at Shen Xiuhan.

"Junior Brother, you brought this treasure to the martial hall because you want Master to refine it into pills that replenish blood and qi, correct?"

Shen Xiuhan's expression turned solemn.

"Nothing can be hidden from Senior Brother. That is exactly what I intended."

"A trivial matter."

Xu Chuan clapped his hands and smiled.

"Master rarely opens the furnace for outsiders, but she has always been generous toward us inner-courtyard disciples."

"Other than deducting the cost of the supplementary herbs and precious grasses needed to balance the blood qi, she usually only takes ten or twenty percent as compensation for her trouble."

"As for exactly how much she takes, that depends on the number of pills produced. If this batch yields many, she takes twenty percent. If it yields few, she only takes ten percent as a token gesture."

At that, he looked at Shen Xiuhan.

"There are no harsh rules. If you think that is fair, I'll take you to the rear hall and report it."

"Thank you for the trouble, Senior Brother."

Without even thinking about it, Shen Xiuhan immediately agreed.

He had no doubt that if he carried this Azure Awl Chicken to an alchemist at an inner-city pill shop, it would count as kindness if they openly withheld only half.

And Mei Shuangfeng took only ten or twenty percent...

To Shen Xiuhan, that was practically the heart of a bodhisattva.

Presumably, she simply disdained to scrape away such petty scraps of profit from her disciples.