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 gathered together, and somehow a competitive spirit took hold of them.

The little girl planted her hands on her slender waist.

She was arguing heatedly with a chubby boy who looked as lively and fierce as a tiger cub.

"My big brother is amazing! He can go into the water to catch fish, and yesterday he netted such a huge bighead carp from Cloudwater Lake!"

The chubby boy spread his arms as wide as he could to demonstrate, his face full of pride.

"My big brother can catch fish too! His was even bigger than the one your big brother caught!"

Shen Momo refused to be outdone.

"My big brother is strong enough to row a big boat! He even promised to take me into the inner city to ride a pleasure boat when spring comes!"

"I... I can row a boat too!"

"Hmph! My big brother knows martial arts too! When he went into the city to sell fish, he learned a fist technique from the master of the inner city's Tiger-Subduing Fist Hall that could beat a ferocious tiger to death. It's incredibly fierce!"

"My big brother can not only practice boxing, he can beat up bad people too!"

Seeing that this little brat had to one-up him at every turn,

the chubby boy panicked, his little face flushing bright red.

"Don't copy what I say!"

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

"Once, he got lost in Great Mount Li. He was starving, and only survived by eating wild bull dung. Does your big brother dare?!"

"My big brother dares too..."

"Cough, cough!"

Shen Xiuhan pushed open the courtyard gate with a dark expression, a fish basket strapped to his back.

"Big brother!"

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, and her gaze involuntarily drifted toward the fish basket.

A faint wisp of meaty fragrance floated from within, making her big eyes roll around.

She froze for a moment.

Shen Momo suddenly turned her head without saying a word, straightened her little face, and said crisply:

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

The children looked at one another.

Then they saw Shen Xiuhan's "dark face," and instantly scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing the courtyard in a flash.

Once the courtyard gate closed, the little girl, who had still been wearing a stern expression moments ago, instantly became a different person.

Her lotus-root-like arms wrapped around Shen Xiuhan's neck. She raised her little face and spoke in a soft, sugary voice:

"Big brother... what's in your basket? It smells so good... Did you bring yummy food for Momo?"

Looking at the little girl's appearance, how could Shen Xiuhan remain angry?

He burst out laughing and carried her into the kitchen with one arm.

At the stove, Madam Zheng was preparing breakfast.

Three bowls of porridge had already been set out.

Two bowls were thinner.

The other contained thicker millet porridge, with two steaming meat cakes placed beside it.

"Dalang, you came back at just the right time."

Madam Zheng looked up with a smile. "Breakfast just came off the stove. Hurry and eat it while it's hot."

"Mother, I already ate outside."

Shen Xiuhan set the fish basket down by the wall and said:

"The Martial Arts School provided lunch for me. From now on, I'll only need to bring one cake. Here, these are for you."

As he spoke, he pulled two chicken legs skewered on wooden spikes from the fish basket.

A rich meat fragrance instantly filled the entire kitchen.

The enormous drumsticks were roasted golden and crisp, sizzling with fat. They made Shen Momo's big eyes fly wide, and she sprang up at once.

"Wow! Such huge chicken legs!"

"Go ahead and eat."

Shen Xiuhan tore one off and stuffed it into the little girl's hand, then handed the other to Madam Zheng, whose face was filled with astonishment.

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

"This... Dalang, practicing martial arts is hard work for you. You should eat it..."

"Don't worry. I truly have eaten already."

Shen Xiuhan waved his hand, then glanced at the sky.

"It's getting late. Mother, I have to go to the Martial Arts School. There's another one in this basket, and I need to take it for Master to see."

"Oh, right. There are also these three chicken eggs. Have that old hen incubate them and see whether they hatch into chicks."

Not long after Shen Xiuhan left,

the old hen nestled in the straw of the side room lowered her head and stared at the three extra blue eggs beneath her, sinking into deep thought...

Mei Martial Hall.

The rising sun had just appeared. In the spacious outer courtyard training ground, dozens of disciples tempered their vital energy, their shouts rising and falling one after another.

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

“Junior Brother Shen, why are you so late today?” When his gaze fell on the basket behind Shen Xiuhan, Xu Chuan teased, “Did you go catch fish?”

Shen Xiuhan did not take the bait. He merely beckoned to him discreetly, then continued forward without slowing and went straight into the inner courtyard.

Xu Chuan raised his brows slightly, puzzled. He turned back and let out a booming shout:

"Get your stances steady, damn it! No slacking off or relaxing your strength!"

Then he strode in after him.

As soon as he entered the inner courtyard, Xu Chuan saw Shen Xiuhan standing beside the wall of the dormitory building. He lifted the bamboo basket's lid and pulled out a plump bird.

The creature was covered in azure feathers, its beak sharp as an awl. Even after it had lost its life, it still radiated a ferocious air.

"Huh?"

Xu Chuan's expression changed slightly. He stepped forward to examine it carefully, then said in astonishment:

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

"What?"

Shen Xiuhan's wrist paused, and his expression was even more astonished than Xu Chuan's.

"The Ji Family?"

"Junior Brother, you didn't know?"

Xu Chuan squatted down and patiently explained:

"Years ago, the Ji Family purchased a batch of Azure Awl Chicken eggs in Cangzhou. After exhausting every possible means, they finally managed to hatch them successfully. They've multiplied to the present day, and I hear there are already thirty or forty treasure birds in their beast farm..."

"Including the other great families in the inner city, they all possess treasure beasts and Treasure Fish that can be raised in captivity. Their disciples have a steady supply of treasure pills and medicinal cuisine to nourish them, so naturally, experts emerge from every generation."

Xu Chuan reached out and toyed with the Azure Awl Chicken's feathers, curious.

"Junior Brother, judging from its appearance... this should be a wild one you caught outside, right?"

"Senior Brother has a discerning eye."

Shen Xiuhan had prepared his explanation long ago.

"I went to catch fish by the lakeshore this morning and happened to see this creature flying unsteadily before plunging headfirst into Mount Li. I boldly crept over and finished it off while I had the chance..."

"I knew it."

Xu Chuan smacked his lips with an expression that said it was just as he had expected.

"The great families of the inner city guard their treasure beasts and Treasure Fish closely. At most, they release some refined pills for sale through the family pill workshops each month. There's no way they would sell an entire beast."

"As for yours, it probably ran out from the depths of Mount Li."

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

"The flesh around the wound is turned outward, as if it was bitten by another vicious creature. Still, the meat is mostly intact, its vital energy hasn't dispersed, and it's not a serious injury."

Xu Chuan raised his head and looked at Shen Xiuhan.

“Junior Brother, did you bring this treasure to the Martial Arts School because you want to ask Master to refine it into pills that replenish vital energy and blood?”

Shen Xiuhan's expression turned solemn.

"What could I hide from Senior Brother? That is precisely my intention."

"That's a small matter."

Xu Chuan clapped his hands and smiled.

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

"Other than deducting the auxiliary herbs and treasure herbs needed to harmonize the vital energy and blood, she usually takes only one or two tenths, just as a bit of compensation for her effort."

"The exact amount depends on how many pills the batch produces. If it yields a lot, she'll take two tenths. If it yields little, she'll only take one tenth as a token."

At this point, he looked toward Shen Xiuhan.

"There aren't any harsh rules. If you find that acceptable, I'll take you to the rear hall to report it."

"Sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother."

Shen Xiuhan agreed immediately without a second thought.

He had no doubt that if he carried this Azure Awl Chicken to an alchemist in one of the inner-city pill workshops, the other party would be kindhearted indeed if they openly kept half.

But Mei Shuangfeng would take only one or two tenths...

In Shen Xiuhan's eyes, that was practically the heart of a bodhisattva.

Presumably, she simply disdained scraping together such meager profit from her disciples.