By the time Xu Hao finished breakfast, his thoughts had returned to the spiritual rice.
Half a kilogram of rice and half a litre of spiritual spring water.
Two gold coins.
He'd spent more on those two ingredients than on anything else he'd purchased that morning, and he was determined to find out whether they were worth it.
The merchant had claimed that spiritual rice could nourish a cultivator's foundation. If that was true, it might help him advance without spending quite so many miserable hours meditating.
Of course, merchants on Earth had made equally enthusiastic claims about products that accomplished very little.
He remained sceptical, but he couldn't deny that he was excited.
He walked home with his notebook tucked securely inside his bag, already considering how he might conduct his first experiment.
The house was quiet when he arrived.
He unlocked the door, put away his purchases and checked the hearth. There was enough firewood for several meals, though he'd need to obtain more before long.
His food delivery was due that afternoon.
Until then, he had another matter to attend to.
A rooster crowed somewhere beyond the neighbouring gardens.
Xu Hao stopped.
He'd heard those birds at dawn. At the time, he'd been more concerned about getting out of bed and finding breakfast.
Now, however, a different thought occurred to him.
Eggs.
After weeks of roasted meat in the forest, he would happily eat eggs every morning for the next month.
He looked towards the small courtyard.
There was room for a chicken coop.
Some timber left over from the house's earlier repairs lay stacked beneath the eaves. With a little work, he could build a simple enclosure.
The only problem was obtaining chickens.
Xu Hao considered buying a few from the market.
Then he thought of Sia.
He smiled.
Why spend money when he had a perfectly capable hunter?
A soft white glow appeared before him.
Sia emerged from her card, stretched her great forelegs and shook herself.
Her grey-and-white coat rippled, and her mismatched eyes turned towards him.
She was enormous now, far larger than the husky who had once occupied his living-room sofa on Earth.
Yet her expression was exactly the same.
Xu Hao scratched behind her crooked ear.
"Good afternoon, girl. I've got something for you to do."
Her tail began wagging.
"There's some scrubland behind the houses. I heard chickens there this morning. I want you to look for wild ones."
Sia lifted her ears.
"Three chickens. One rooster and two hens."
He held up three fingers, although he doubted the gesture added much to his explanation.
"And listen carefully. They must be alive. No broken wings, no injured legs. I want to keep them for eggs, not eat them."
Sia tilted her head.
Xu Hao placed a hand beneath her chin.
"Also, don't take anyone's chickens from their yard. Only wild ones. I don't want to spend my first week in Hibiscus Town explaining why my dog has been stealing the neighbours' livestock."
Sia gave a short bark.
"Good girl."
He opened the rear gate and pointed towards the strip of scrubland beyond the gardens.
"Off you go."
Sia bounded away.
Xu Hao watched her disappear among the bushes, then returned to the house.
If she succeeded, he'd need a chicken coop.
But first, there was his spiritual rice.
---
The delivery arrived shortly after midday.
A porter brought the sacks of rice and water containers on a wooden handcart.
Xu Hao checked every item against the order he'd written in his notebook.
Ten kilograms of ordinary rice.
Fifty litres of drinking water.
Half a kilogram of spiritual rice.
Half a litre of spiritual spring water.
The porter watched with mild amusement as Xu Hao carefully inspected everything. Once satisfied that nothing was missing, Xu Hao thanked him and helped carry the supplies inside.
He stored the ordinary rice near the hearth and arranged the water containers against the wall.
Then he placed the spiritual ingredients on the table.
The small sack looked thoroughly unimpressive beside the ordinary supplies.
Xu Hao opened it.
The grains possessed a faint pearly sheen. When he held a few towards the window, they caught the sunlight and appeared almost translucent around the edges.
He examined them with considerable interest.
"This had better be good."
He fetched his notebook and began preparing the experiment.
First, he washed a portion of ordinary rice.
Then he added a small measure of the spiritual grains.
He wanted to observe their effects without consuming too much at once. Er Bao had repeatedly warned him that powerful cultivation substances could be dangerous when taken carelessly.
Xu Hao had no intention of forgetting that lesson simply because the substance happened to be food.
He uncorked the jar of spiritual spring water.
The liquid was pale blue, with a faint shimmer that seemed to move when he tilted the container.
He measured out a little and added it to the rice, followed by ordinary water.
Then he remembered the herbs the Wang brothers had given him.
Most were medicinal, but a few were familiar cooking herbs they'd often used to flavour roasted meat in the forest.
Xu Hao rummaged through his bag and selected a small bundle of fragrant leaves.
He recognised them immediately.
Da Bao had liked these particularly well, although he'd generally used enough to season an entire boar.
Xu Hao crushed a small pinch between his fingers.
The scent was pleasant and slightly sharp.
He added the leaves to the pot.
Spiritual rice.
Spiritual spring water.
A familiar cooking herb from the Dark Forest.
He wrote down the quantities.
Strictly speaking, it wasn't a very controlled experiment. With several ingredients involved, he wouldn't immediately know which one had produced any unusual result.
But it was a beginning.
He could investigate each ingredient separately later.
For now, he was curious about what the combination might do.
He placed the pot over the fire.
At first, the rice cooked normally.
Water bubbled beneath the lid. Steam gathered along its edges, and the familiar smell of heating grain spread through the room.
Xu Hao sat nearby, reviewing the day's expenses.
Then an unfamiliar fragrance reached him.
He lifted his head.
The smell was extraordinary.
It was unmistakably rice, but with a delicate sweetness, the freshness of rain on warm stone and a faint herbal fragrance that made his mouth water.
Xu Hao rose and lifted the lid.
Steam curled upwards.
Among the ordinary grains, the spiritual rice shimmered softly.
He leaned closer.
"Oh, that smells wonderful."
His stomach growled.
He'd eaten breakfast only a few hours earlier, but the fragrance made him hungry all over again.
He waited until the rice was properly cooked, then removed the pot from the hearth.
There was enough for a satisfying lunch.
He fetched a ceramic plate and spooned out his portion.
The grains were soft and fragrant, with a faint pearly glow.
Xu Hao admired the plate for a moment.
He'd spent two gold on the ingredients, and at least his first attempt appeared successful.
It seemed a shame to eat such wonderful food in an empty room.
He carried the plate into the courtyard.
The afternoon sun was pleasant, and the little pond reflected patches of light onto the surrounding wall.
Xu Hao placed his notebook on a wooden stool and sat beside it.
After weeks of surviving in the forest, the simple pleasure of enjoying a properly cooked meal in his own courtyard felt almost luxurious.
He lifted his spoon.
A sudden rustling came from beyond the rear gate.
Xu Hao looked up.
Two hens came scrambling into the courtyard.
One was brown, the other golden, and both appeared thoroughly unhappy about their morning.
Then Sia emerged behind them.
She was carrying a rooster gently in her mouth.
Xu Hao stared.
A delighted laugh escaped him.
"You actually found three!"
Sia approached proudly.
The rooster kicked his legs.
The hens hurried across the grass.
"Good girl! Put him down gently."
Sia lowered her head and released the bird.
The rooster staggered sideways, shook himself and gave an indignant squawk.
Xu Hao examined the chickens.
All three appeared healthy.
No obvious injuries or broken wings. Exactly what he'd asked for.
He was delighted.
"Wonderful! We'll build you a proper house, and perhaps tomorrow we can start looking forward to some eggs."
He was still smiling when Sia lifted her nose.
The husky had caught a scent.
Her gaze moved towards the plate in Xu Hao's hand.
She sniffed again.
Her tail began wagging faster.
Xu Hao followed her eyes.
"Oh, no."
Sia took a step towards him.
"Sia. Wait."
She looked at his face.
Then at the rice.
Then back at him.
Xu Hao tried to raise the plate out of reach.
"Not this time, girl. I've just cooked—"
Sia bounded forward.
She was clearly delighted to see him.
Unfortunately, she was now a very large husky, and Xu Hao was a relatively small young man holding a very full plate.
Her shoulder struck him squarely in the chest.
Xu Hao stumbled backwards.
His arms flew up.
The plate left his hands.
For one extraordinary moment, he watched his expensive lunch sail through the afternoon sunlight.
The rice separated from the plate in a beautiful white arc.
Xu Hao reached for it.
His fingers closed on empty air.
Then the plate hit the paving stones.
CRACK!
Ceramic fragments scattered across the courtyard.
Rice landed on the stones, the grass, the stool and the front of Xu Hao's shirt.
Sia landed beside him with an enthusiastic thump, her tail still wagging. Xu Hao stared at the wreckage.
Then he looked slowly towards his dog.
"Sia."
She tilted her head.
"That was my lunch."
Sia sniffed the fragrant rice.
Xu Hao felt a terrible premonition.
"Oh, don't you dare."
The rooster noticed the fallen rice first.
He hurried over and began pecking. Within seconds, both hens had joined him.
"Hey! Get away from there!"
Xu Hao waved his arms. The chickens scattered.
Satisfied, he crouched to gather the clean rice, carefully avoiding the broken pieces of plate.
Peck. Peck. Peck.
He turned.
All three were back.
"You little thieves!"
He tried chasing them away again, but the moment he turned his back, they returned.
Xu Hao stared at them.
Then at his precious rice.
Enough was enough.
He dropped to his knees and lunged for the nearest clump.
"Mine!"
The rooster got there first.
He reached for another.
"That's mine too!"
The brown hen darted beneath his arm and swallowed it.
Xu Hao scrambled after the last substantial pile, only for the golden hen to beat him there.
"Will you three stop stealing my lunch!"
That was when Sia noticed the chickens enjoying themselves.
If they were eating something so delicious, she clearly wasn't going to miss out.
She charged.
"Sia! NO!"
Too late.
Her enormous muzzle swept through the rice, scattering the chickens as she enthusiastically joined the feast.
"SIA! YOU TOO?"
Xu Hao threw himself towards the last clean handful.
"THAT'S MINE!"
A moment later, four animals and a forty-two-year-old professor trapped in a teenager's body were fighting over a few grains of rice.
Xu Hao finally managed to scoop up a small handful and retreat.
He stared at his filthy clothes, the scattered feathers and the pitiful remains of his expensive lunch.
Twenty years of academic achievement.
A respectable university career.
And now he'd been reduced to fighting chickens for food.
Worse, he'd nearly lost.
Sia approached and affectionately licked his cheek.
Xu Hao sighed.
"You started this, you know."
Her tail wagged.
---
Xu Hao put the rescued rice into a bowl and inspected it carefully.
There wasn't much.
He looked towards the three chickens.
All were still searching the grass for forgotten grains.
Sia sat beside them, watching in case they discovered something she had missed.
Xu Hao shook his head.
"You four have eaten nearly everything."
Sia's tail moved.
"Yes, I know. You're very pleased with yourselves."
He glanced at the remaining spiritual rice and water inside the house.
There was enough to cook more.
But he'd deliberately prepared a small portion because he didn't know how powerful the ingredients might be.
It would be foolish to prepare another batch merely because his first attempt had been stolen.
He sat down with the bowl.
Then he tasted the rice.
Xu Hao stopped chewing.
It was extraordinary.
The grains were soft, fragrant and delicately sweet. The herbs had blended wonderfully with the flavour, and something about the spiritual rice made even the ordinary grains taste richer.
He took another mouthful.
His expression became wistful.
He looked towards the chickens.
"You have absolutely no idea what you've just eaten."
The rooster pecked at the grass.
Xu Hao sighed.
He finished the remaining rice slowly, determined to enjoy every grain.
Then he noticed an unusual warmth spreading through his stomach.
At first, he assumed it was simply the effect of a hot meal.
But the sensation continued.
It moved through his chest, along his shoulders and gradually into his arms.
Xu Hao put down the spoon.
He'd felt strange things during cultivation before, but this was different.
The warmth seemed to be coming from the food itself.
He closed his eyes and concentrated.
Something was entering his body.
Not quite the same as gathering Spirit through meditation.
This was gentler, yet strangely persistent.
He thought of the three specks of dust in his mind palace.
Could the rice be nourishing his cultivation directly?
He wanted to investigate.
Then a soft thump came from beside the table.
Xu Hao opened his eyes.
Sia had rolled onto her side.
Her breathing was deep and even.
He smiled.
"Feeling lazy, girl?"
Her tail moved once.
Then stopped.
A moment later, the brown hen sat down on the grass.
The golden hen settled beside her.
The rooster continued walking for several steps before stopping abruptly.
He lowered himself to the ground, tucked his head beneath one wing and went still.
Xu Hao frowned.
Three chickens.
All asleep.
He looked towards Sia.
She was sleeping too.
He crouched beside the rooster and gently touched its back.
The bird opened one eye.
It looked at him with obvious irritation.
Then it closed the eye again.
"Well, you're alive."
Xu Hao checked the hens.
Both were breathing normally.
Neither appeared injured or distressed.
He turned towards Sia and placed a hand against her chest.
Her heartbeat was steady.
Her breathing was slow and peaceful.
Xu Hao relaxed slightly.
Then he remembered what all four animals had eaten.
Spiritual rice.
Spiritual spring water.
The cooking herbs from the forest.
He looked down at the empty bowl in his hand.
A troubling thought occurred to him.
All four had consumed the same mixture.
Now all four were asleep.
And he was beginning to feel rather tired himself.
"Oh."
He stood.
The courtyard seemed to shift beneath his feet.
Xu Hao caught the edge of the table.
The warmth was still spreading through his body.
His arms felt heavy.
Then his legs.
He blinked several times.
His eyelids were becoming difficult to keep open.
"That's not good."
He looked towards the sleeping chickens.
They were lying beside the damaged crate and scattered pieces of timber.
He couldn't leave them completely exposed.
If a stray animal wandered into the courtyard, the birds might not even wake in time to escape.
Xu Hao found a large slatted wooden crate near the wall and arranged it around them beneath the sheltered eaves.
He left plenty of gaps for air and used spare boards to prevent it from tipping.
It was hardly a proper chicken coop, but it would keep them reasonably safe until morning.
Assuming they woke before then.
Then he went back to Sia.
"Come on, girl. Inside."
The husky lifted her head reluctantly.
Xu Hao scratched her ear.
"Just a few steps."
She rose and followed him through the door.
For once, she didn't bound ahead or push her nose into his hand.
She simply walked beside him, climbed onto the floor near his bed and lay down.
Within moments, her eyes were closed.
Xu Hao shut the door.
He ought to examine his mind palace, record the ingredients and their effects, and find out whether the mixture had been a dreadful mistake.
Unfortunately, the notebook was on the table.
And the table seemed a very long way from the bed.
He sat on the mattress.
Perhaps he'd merely absorbed more spiritual energy than his body was accustomed to.
Perhaps the warmth would settle after a short rest.
He didn't know.
That was the part that worried him.
Xu Hao looked towards Sia.
She was already sleeping peacefully.
"You know," he murmured, "I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon."
Sia gave a faint snore.
Xu Hao lay back.
The pillow felt wonderful.
He would rest for a few minutes.
Then he'd check the chickens and examine his cultivation.
He closed his eyes.
Within moments, he was asleep.
---
A rooster woke him, much closer and louder than the birds he'd heard beyond the neighbouring gardens.
Xu Hao opened his eyes.
Sunlight streamed through the shutters.
He lay still for a moment, trying to remember why his body felt as though he'd been sleeping for an unusually long time.
Then he saw Sia curled beside the bed.
The rice.
The chickens.
His ruined lunch.
He sat up.
The room was filled with morning light.
Morning?
He'd fallen asleep yesterday afternoon.
Xu Hao stared towards the window.
Had he really slept through the entire evening and night?
Sia lifted her head.
Her mismatched eyes were bright, and when she saw him awake, her tail began thumping against the floor.
She appeared perfectly healthy.
Xu Hao felt surprisingly well himself.
The strange heaviness had vanished.
His arms and legs felt light, and the exhaustion he'd been carrying since leaving the forest seemed to have disappeared.
But his stomach was empty.
Painfully empty.
He climbed out of bed.
Then the rooster crowed again.
The sound was so loud that Sia raised her ears.
Xu Hao hurried towards the courtyard.
He opened the door and stopped.
The wooden crate had been pushed onto its side.
Beside it stood three chickens.
At least, Xu Hao thought they were chickens.
The two hens had grown enormously.
Their bodies were broader, their feathers fuller, and their legs considerably thicker than he remembered.
But the rooster was the most astonishing.
Yesterday, he'd been an ordinary wild bird.
Now he stood almost as tall as a small dog, with a powerful chest and an enormous red comb.
Xu Hao stared.
The rooster turned towards him.
Then he thrust out his chest and crowed.
"COCK-A-DOODLE-DOOO!"
The sound rang across the courtyard.
Another rooster answered from somewhere down the street.
Then another.
Xu Hao remained motionless.
He looked at the chickens.
Then at Sia, who was sitting in the doorway looking thoroughly pleased with herself.
Finally, he looked towards the kitchen.
The little sack of spiritual rice still sat on the table.
He'd expected an unusual meal, perhaps even a small improvement in cultivation. This was something else entirely.
"What on earth did I cook?"
The enormous rooster crowed again.