Chapter – 05
“L-Lady, why would you personally do such menial work…?”
“What do you mean, menial? Everything in the clan is important! They’re all equally valuable. And these chickens lay the eggs Grandfather eats. I want to take care of them too.”
When the little girl brought up the clan head, even the nanny fell silent. For some reason, Mrs. Jeon also felt slightly intimidated.
Moreover, the girl’s words—that all work was equally valuable—struck a chord in her heart.
“Ah! Th-that perilla seed cake should only be added in a small amount.”
“Less than this?”
“Yes, yes. If they eat too much of it, their egg production decreases.”
“Then about this much?”
“Yes, exactly that much…”
While Mrs. Jeon stood there awkwardly, the little girl firmly gripped a wooden spoon and diligently mixed various ingredients in a large basin.
With perilla cake smeared on her cheek.
“Do you think this is enough?”
Everyone in the clan had always pitied the eldest grandchild of the family, who had supposedly been bedridden since birth.
When the grand ritual finally succeeded and she rose from her sickbed, it had caused quite a commotion.
People said the clan had scraped together every last resource they had left and gambled it all on a final desperate measure—and that it had worked.
Until the person in question actually appeared in the kitchen, however, it had all just been gossip.
Carrying a basin full of feed she had made together with the girl, Mrs. Jeon headed toward the chicken coop, wondering how things had somehow turned out like this.
Only the girl looked back at her with an innocent smile.
“That chicken is completely black.”
“Ah! You mean that silkie chicken. It’s black from its beak all the way to its bones. Very delicious— I mean, very healthy.”
Mrs. Jeon hurriedly corrected herself.
“Really? Then I’ll call it Kkamangi.”
Kkamangi… (Blackie.)
The nanny quickly added,
“Th-then how about Heukwol (Black Moon)? Since it’s the black chicken of Wolyeong Pavilion.”
“Heukwol? Is that better?”
At the girl’s question, Mrs. Jeon nodded immediately.
For a chicken’s name, it seemed a bit grandiose, but it was probably better than Blackie.
“Y-you can just put the feed into the feeding trough.”
The long wooden trough had been carved from timber and sat completely empty. Mrs. Jeon scooped up a ladleful of feed and carefully poured it in.
“They already ate their fill this morning, so they probably won’t react much. It’s not because the feed tastes bad, so please don’t be disappoi—”
Flap!
Flutter!
Fwoosh!
Before she could finish speaking, the dozen or so chickens inside the coop launched themselves into the air simultaneously.
The sight entered Mrs. Jeon’s eyes in slow motion.
Were chickens actually predators?
For a moment, she seriously wondered.
The chickens charged the feeding trough ferociously and fought one another.
Wings beat wildly as they struggled to get even one more bite. Feathers flew everywhere and the sounds of frantic flapping echoed noisily.
“I-I guess they were hungry…”
“Th-that… seems to be the case…”
The chickens devoured the handful of feed as though they were trying to break the trough itself.
Once the trough was empty, they calmly wandered away as though nothing had happened and resumed pecking at the ground.
The little girl watched them for a moment before looking up at Mrs. Jeon.
“You said they should be fed around the Hour of the Rabbit, right? I’ll take care of it from now on!”
Mrs. Jeon barely managed to hide her expression of despair and nodded.
What is going to become of my life…?
But heaven offered her no answer.
Ryeon had become interested in the chickens after hearing them crow in the distance while leaving Danmok Cheongi’s residence.
When she learned that the sound came from the coop maintained by Wolyeong Pavilion’s kitchen, she immediately knew this was exactly what she needed.
While bedridden, she had spent every waking moment trying to figure out ways to consume as much spiritual energy as possible.
The most reliable method she had discovered was distributing it to things around her.
However, forcing spiritual energy into an ordinary person was like pouring seawater into a freshwater fish.
Wasn’t her own unstable condition proof of that?
The energy had to be purified through multiple stages before it could be safely passed on.
Recently, Ryeon had finally discovered how to do that.
It wasn’t even complicated.
You simply had to use multiple stages.
Purify water once, infuse it with spiritual energy, then boil it and turn it into something else.
She couldn’t transfer huge amounts at once, but it was safe and allowed her to expend her spiritual energy.
So how dazzling did chicken feed appear in Ryeon’s eyes?
She could use spiritual energy during the preparation process.
Danmok Cheongi would regularly eat eggs laid by chickens that had grown up on spiritually infused feed, improving his health.
And from everyone else’s perspective, she would look like an exceptionally devoted granddaughter.
It was perfect.
Except…
These chickens… are growing a little too well.
In the cool early dawn, with a light drizzle falling, Ryeon stood beneath an umbrella held by her nanny and absentmindedly scattered feed with a ladle.
The chickens that had originally charged the feed in a frenzy gradually settled down after a few days.
Then, several more days passed.
One of the black silkies seemed to be growing noticeably more intelligent with each passing day.
“Hmm, Heukwol, does it taste good?”
The silkie nodded.
Ryeon tried to convince herself it was merely a coincidence, but no matter how she looked at it, the chicken seemed to be responding to her words.
“The chickens really love the feed you give them, Miss.”
The nanny standing beside her smiled warmly.
“That’s because I’m the one who feeds them.”
“No. They react completely differently when Mrs. Jeon does it.”
Ryeon smiled softly while watching the chickens.
Now that the nanny mentioned it, that did seem true.
“After you’re done feeding them, are you heading to Wolyeong Pavilion?”
“Yep!”
Although Danmok Cheongi had reacted sharply when she first visited to express her gratitude, he never actually refused her daily morning visits.
I just want to live longer, but there are so many things to worry about…
Her own body.
The health of those around her.
The state of the clan.
Soon she’d probably have to monitor the state of the local area and even the martial world.
And then there’s Hyeolla Valley too.
Even if she solved everything else, if she couldn’t stop Hyeolla Valley, then by the time she turned twenty she’d be standing around scattering chicken feed while watching the martial world burn.
Lost in thought, Ryeon turned toward Wolyeong Pavilion.
At that moment, she sensed someone small entering through a tiny gate in the wall connected to the end of the chicken coop.
Just as she turned her head—
The rising eastern sun concealed the child’s face.
However…
Mind’s Eye – 4 Stars Achieved (+1)
You can now see weaknesses.
This ability consumes additional spiritual energy.
Mind’s Eye 4 Stars harmonizes with Harmony 4 Stars.
Light spread across her vision as glowing text appeared.
Ryeon steadied herself as she read the now-familiar messages.
This had happened before whenever Mind’s Eye advanced.
Specifically, when she looked at her grandfather.
Since Mind’s Eye was an ability related to perception, she had guessed that experience accumulated more quickly whenever she observed something powerful, immense, or extraordinary.
But now she had only looked at a boy even smaller than herself, and it had instantly advanced to 4 Stars.
What in the world…?
Yet she didn’t have time to dwell on it.
She needed to understand what it meant that Mind’s Eye could now see weaknesses, and what it meant for it to harmonize with Harmony 4 Stars.
Ryeon quickly opened the celestial scroll hidden in her sleeve and checked the description of Harmony.
1 Star: You can blend in smoothly.
2 Stars: You can maintain balance well.
3 Stars: You can internalize what you have seen.
4 Stars: You can break disharmony.
5 Stars: You can correct disharmony.
6 Stars: You can become noticeable.
7 Stars: You can become unnoticeable.
Mind’s Eye 4 Stars allowed her to see weaknesses.
Harmony 4 Stars allowed her to break disharmony.
She briefly pondered what combining those two abilities might mean.
Then she suddenly gained an entirely different realization from the final line.
Harmony 7 Stars: You can become unnoticeable.
That’s why nobody knew…!
This had always puzzled her.
A hundred-year-old wild ginseng was extraordinary enough that anyone with some cultivation could recognize its value at a glance.
So why had nobody noticed the spiritual energy she possessed?
In the past, it made some sense.
When someone was collapsing, losing consciousness, and coughing up blood, who would focus on sensing spiritual energy?
But now, even if she was still living day to day on borrowed time, she at least appeared healthier on the surface.
Yet no one in the clan seemed to notice her spiritual energy at all.
It was because of Harmony…
She had always wondered why Harmony alone had reached 7 Stars.
Perhaps it was her body’s desperate instinct to survive.
After all, what would happen if martial artists could identify her constitution with a single glance?
A new storm of bloodshed would sweep across the martial world as everyone fought to obtain this living, walking spiritual elixir.
