"Twinkle, twinkle, little star, how I wonder what you are..."
The instant the BGM began playing in his mind, Shi Hou's hands, which had been trembling from depleted blood qi, steadied.
Unlike the wild, rapid tempo of "Two Tigers" last time, this melody was soothing and lilting, as though lulling a baby to sleep.
But to the villagers, the scene was terrifying in an entirely different way.
Shi Hou stood with his eyes closed, his body swaying gently to some invisible rhythm. The enormous stone knife, half as tall as a man, was as light as a feather in his hand.
With a flick of his wrist, the blade traced an elegant arc.
Shhh-!
The Black-Scaled Goat on the chopping board did not so much as twitch, skin or flesh, before its iron-hard black scales peeled away like falling leaves, stacking themselves neatly to one side.
"Up above the world so high..."
As the beat arrived, Shi Hou tapped his toes and spun gracefully in place, guiding the stone knife into the grain of the goat meat.
There was no thunderous chopping of bones, only the silky sound of a sharp blade slicing through tofu.
Debone, dice, into the pot.
The entire sequence flowed like drifting clouds and running water. Rather than slaughtering a goat, he seemed to be performing some sacred farewell rite for this savage beast.
Rune Flame rose beneath the pot, bringing the clear mountain spring water to an instant boil.
Shi Hou's hands moved as though playing a guqin, tossing the slices of goat meat into the water one by one, each precisely on the beat.
No complicated seasonings were needed: a few freshly picked sprigs of perilla, a handful of wild mountain scallion, and finally a sprinkling of coarse salt.
As the final line, "Like so many little eyes," faded, Shi Hou put away his knife and slowly exhaled a stale breath.
[Ding! Cooking complete.] [Track: "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." Difficulty: extremely low.] [Dish rating: first-grade spirit food (beginner).] [Completion: perfect.] [Blood qi deducted: 50 points. Remaining blood qi: 16 points.]
Shi Hou swayed, both hands clamping tightly onto the scalding rim of the pot.
I can't collapse.
At least not before everyone starts eating.
A milky fragrance so rich it was almost tangible, mingled with the crisp freshness of green plants, forced its way into everyone's nostrils.
Inside the pot, the soup was jade-colored, thick beyond belief.
The once-dark beast meat was now translucent, tinged with a faint cherry-blossom pink, every strand of its grain radiating rosy light.
Grrrumble.
Someone's stomach growled first, and then the sound of swallowing saliva rolled together into a peal of thunder.
"Skinny Monkey..."
Shi Hao clung to the rim of the pot, his entire face flushed pink by the steam. A long, glistening strand hung from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were as hazy as a drunkard's.
Kang, who had been on his shoulder, had abandoned all dignity as an auspicious beast and lay sprawled beside the pot, grunting blissfully.
"Eat..."
Shi Hou forced the word through clenched teeth.
Boom!
Before his voice had faded, a blue oak spoon plunged into the pot like a streaking afterimage.
Shi Hao did not care about the heat at all. He scooped up a huge chunk, skin and all, and stuffed it straight into his mouth without even blowing on it.
"Mmph!"
Little One's eyes went perfectly round.
He did not chew.
The meat melted the instant it entered his mouth, becoming a scorching current that shot down his throat into his stomach. Then it exploded, transforming into countless warm streams that washed through every limb and bone.
"Sho good! It's sho good!"
Shi Hao shouted indistinctly, the spoon in his hand flying.
That shout was like a bugle calling the charge.
"Charge!"
Ermeng, Dazhuang, and the other children rushed forward howling. They paid no attention to burning their mouths, fighting for food as though their lives depended on it.
Clinging to his last ounce of strength, Shi Hou shakily served himself a bowl.
He tipped back his head and gulped it down.
Hot.
It was like a mass of lava had dropped into his belly.
His dried, cracked meridians were instantly nourished, and that deathly chill receded like an ebbing tide.
[Ding! Sole diner 'Shi Hao' has finished eating.] [Assessment: first-grade spirit food (Black-Scaled Goat) | Benefit: blood qi +80] [Talent activated: Hundredfold Return!] [Host gains blood qi value: +8000!]
BOOM-!!!
Shi Hou heard an enormous crash inside his head, as though something had exploded.
It was not lava. It was a tsunami.
Eight thousand points of blood qi surged madly into his shriveled body like a flood bursting through a dam.
Crack! Crack!
A string of sharp pops, like roasting beans, rang out inside him.
They were the jubilant cries of bones rebuilding themselves, of muscles being torn apart and reborn.
Shi Hou abruptly straightened. His deathly pale face flushed red in an instant, and brilliant light shot from his eyes, even tracing two distinct streaks through the night.
Strength.
Endless strength.
He clenched his fists, instantly crushing the air in his palms with a muffled bang.
"Hah..."
The stale breath he exhaled actually formed a straight arrow of air, shooting three feet before slowly dissipating.
That feels amazing!
I'm alive again!
While Shi Hou was still savoring the joy of rebirth, chaos had already broken out beside him.
"I can't take it! It's so hot!"
Snot Boy dropped his bowl, his face as red as a monkey's backside. More white smoke poured from his head than from a chimney.
"Me too! It feels like my belly's on fire!" Ermeng tore at his hide clothing. His exposed skin was purplish red, and veins bulged across it like earthworms.
The children were bursting with excess energy, their eyes bloodshot, looking as though they wanted to pick a fight.
"Stop, all of you! Don't eat any more!"
At the sight, Shi Yunfeng even threw aside his walking stick and hurriedly snatched the children's bowls away. "Your bodies are too weak to handle this nourishment! Eat any more and you'll burst!"
Even after their bowls were taken away, the children remained so excited that they howled. Led by Dazhuang, they began sprinting around the village to burn it off.
"Since the children can't eat it, let's not waste it..."
Shi Linhu rubbed his hands together, eyed the rich soup left at the bottom of the pot, and gave the burly men around him a meaningful look.
The grown men had long been tormented by cravings. Now they swarmed forward, and though each received only half a bowl of soup, they happily drained it in one gulp.
Three breaths later.
The scene took a strange turn.
The once-noisy clearing suddenly fell into an odd, deathly silence.
Over a hundred grown men stood holding their bowls, faces flushed and breathing as heavily as oxen. Their eyes began to wander, then grew hazy, before finally giving way to a primal... restlessness.
Shi Linhu took a deep breath, suddenly slammed down his bowl, and turned to leave, taking enormous strides.
"Well, uh, Fei Jiao, cover my patrol tonight. I... I think my wife is calling me."
"Piss off! I heard my wife calling me too!" Shi Feijiao cursed and ran faster than a rabbit.
In the blink of an eye, the burly men had scattered without a trace, leaving only empty bowls littering the ground.
Night deepened.
But Stone Village was anything but peaceful.
Shi Hou sat cross-legged on his roof. With his hearing now several times sharper, he covered his ears in agony.
"Husband... be gentler... this stone bed is going to collapse!"
"Quit talking! I feel like I've got endless strength tonight! Again!"
The embarrassed, indignant cries of the woman next door and heavy panting drifted clearly into his ears on the night breeze.
And it was not coming from just one household.
The entire village was destined to go sleepless tonight.
"What a sin..."
Shi Hou gazed at the bright moon above, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.
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