"Oh, Young Master. How can you do such a humble task yourself...?"
"There's no such thing as humble or noble work in the affairs of the family! Everything is equally precious. And this chicken lays the eggs that Grandfather eats. I want to take care of it too."
The wet nurse fell silent at the little girl's words about the head of the household. Even Jeon, for some reason, felt a bit deflated. The idea that all work was equally precious pierced his heart a little.
"Ah! Just a little of that perilla powder will do."
"Less than this?"
"Yes, yes. If you give too much, the egg production will decrease."
"Then this much?"
"Yes, just that much..."
While Jeon was at a loss, the little girl firmly held the wooden ladle and diligently mixed various ingredients in a large basin. Her cheeks were stained with perilla powder...
"Is this enough?"
Everyone had spoken with pity about the eldest grandson of the family, who had been bedridden since birth. When he finally got up after receiving a great spell, it was quite a commotion. They said that the last resort for the crumbling family had finally succeeded.
Until the young girl appeared in the kitchen, it was just a topic of conversation.
Carrying a basin of feed made with the girl, Jeon thought about how things had come to this, but he couldn't figure it out. The girl looked back at him with an innocent face.
"That chicken is completely black."
"Ah! You mean the black-boned chicken. It's black from beak to bone. It's very... no, it's a healthy one."
Jeon quickly changed the subject.
"Is that so? Then I'll call it 'Kkamang.'"
Kkamang...
The wet nurse quickly added.
"Then, how about 'Heukwol'? It's a black chicken from Wolyoungjae."
"Heukwol? Is that better?"
At the girl's question, Jeon quickly nodded. It seemed a bit grandiose for a chicken's name, but it was better than 'Kkamang.'
"Just put the feed in the feeder."
The wooden feeder, carved and elongated, was completely empty. Jeon carefully said as he scooped up the feed the girl had made and put it in the feeder.
"Since they were fed well in the morning, they probably won't react much. It's not because the feed is tasteless..."
He was about to say, "Don't be disheartened, it's not because of that," but...
Flap!
Flap!
Flap!
As soon as he placed a large scoop of feed in the feeder, the dozen or so chickens in the coop flew up at once, and the scene slowly came into his view.
Are chickens also predators?
At that moment, Jeon thought.
The chickens fiercely rushed to the feeder and fought intensely. Feathers fluttered and flapped as they tried to eat more feed, and the sound of flapping was loud.
"The kids must have been... hungry."
"That... is... so..."
The chickens, which had eaten the feed as if to break the feeder, returned to pecking at the sand leisurely once the bowl was empty.
The little girl looked up at him after watching this for a moment.
"They said to feed them around midnight. I'll do it well from now on!"
Jeon, trying to hide his surprise, nodded.
'What will become of my fate...'
But even the heavens and the earth did not answer him.
* * *
Ryeon started taking an interest in the chickens when she heard their cackling from a distance while leaving after greeting Danmok Cheon-gi.
She knew the cackling came from the coop managed by the kitchen of Wolyoungjae, and Ryeon thought, "This is it."
During her bedridden days, she had been trying to find a way to use a lot of spirit energy.
The most certain and helpful method was to share this spirit energy with the surroundings.
However, forcing spirit energy into ordinary people was like pouring seawater into a freshwater fish. Wasn't her own condition precarious because of that?
To safely transfer it to people, it had to be refined through several stages, and Ryeon had recently discovered the method of refinement.
It was simple; just go through 'several stages'!
Purify the water, infuse it with spirit energy, and boil it to make something. Although she couldn't feed a large amount at once, it was safe, and she could also consume her spirit energy.
So, how radiant the chicken feed must have looked to Ryeon!
She was happy because she could use spirit energy in the process of making the feed, and Danmok Cheon-gi would eat the eggs laid by the chickens that ate the spirit-infused feed, which would be good for his health. Also, others would praise her as a filial granddaughter.
However...
'The chickens... are growing too well.'
On an early morning with a drizzle cooling the heat, Ryeon, under the umbrella held by the wet nurse, thought to herself as she scooped and scattered the chicken feed with a wooden ladle.
On the first day, the chickens had rushed to the feed with a frenzy, but after a few days, they became more stable.
And a few more days later, the eyes of a black-boned chicken among the chickens seemed to become increasingly bright.
"Hmm, Heukwol, is it tasty?"
The black-boned chicken nodded. Ryeon thought it was just a coincidence that her words and the chicken's movements matched, but it seemed to be responding to her words.
"The chickens really like the feed you give."
The wet nurse standing beside Ryeon said with satisfaction.
"It's because I'm the one feeding them."
"No, the reaction is completely different when Jeon gives it."
Ryeon smiled and looked at the chickens. Listening to Wet Nurse Jang, it did seem that way.
"Are you going to Wolyoungjae after feeding the chickens?"
"Yep!"
Despite his fierce reaction when she went to thank him a few days ago, Danmok Cheon-gi didn't refuse Ryeon, who came every morning.
'I just want to live longer, but there are so many things to worry about...'
Her own health, the health of those around her, the family's situation. Now, she had to look after the neighborhood and the martial world as well.
'And I have to deal with the Blood Demon Valley.'
Even if she solved everything else, if she couldn't capture the Blood Demon Valley, she would end up feeding chickens while watching the burning martial world when she turned twenty.
Just as Ryeon was pondering and turning her steps toward Wolyoungjae, she sensed someone small entering through a small gate at the end of the coop.
The child's face was obscured by the rising morning sun, but...
* Heart Eye 4-star Achievement (1▲) *
You can now see flaws. This ability consumes additional spirit energy.
Heart Eye 4-star harmonizes with Harmony 4-star.
A flash of light spread across her vision, and a message appeared. Ryeon, now familiar with the message, regained her composure.
Heart Eye had reached 4-star before, when she saw her grandfather.
At that time, Ryeon speculated that the 'Heart Eye' ability, which was about seeing things, would gain experience faster by seeing strong, large, or great things.
But now, just by seeing a small boy, it had instantly reached 4-star.
'What is this...?'
But she didn't have time to think about it.
She needed to understand what it meant to be able to see flaws with Heart Eye 4-star and how it harmonized with Harmony 4-star.
Ryeon quickly unfolded the scroll from her sleeve and checked her 'Harmony' ability.
1-star: Can blend well without being sharp.
2-star: Can maintain balance well.
3-star: Can internalize what is seen.
4-star: Can break disharmony.
5-star: Can correct disharmony.
6-star: Can stand out.
7-star: Can remain unnoticed.
Heart Eye 4-star allowed her to see flaws, and Harmony 4-star allowed her to break disharmony.
Ryeon pondered for a moment what it meant for these two to harmonize, but then she had a sudden realization from the last line.
Harmony 7-star: Can remain unnoticed.
'So that's why no one knew...!'
She had been puzzled about this.
When someone has a hundred-year-old ginseng, those who know martial arts can tell it's extraordinary just by looking. Why hadn't anyone recognized her spirit energy?
In the past, it made sense. When someone collapses, faints, and spits blood, who would notice their spirit energy?
But now, even though she was struggling to survive day by day, she was visibly healthier, and no one in the family seemed to notice her spirit energy.
'It was because of Harmony...'
It was puzzling that Harmony had reached 7-star, but Ryeon speculated it was the body's desperate attempt to survive.
If martial artists could tell her constitution just by a glance, wouldn't a new wave of bloodshed sweep through the martial world to obtain this living spirit medicine?