Heavenly Scent Rice

Shi Yu glanced over and watched Xie Zhixun press the soil at the base of the Three-Leaf Orchid with his fingertips, then part the surrounding leaves to examine it closely. After fussing over it for a while, he picked up his brush and recorded details such as soil moisture, the amount of decayed leaf litter, and its preference for shade over sunlight.

Then, he pulled out a small trowel and prepared to dig it up.

Shi Yu frowned slightly. The Hidden Hatred Flute slid out from her sleeve into her palm, and she extended it to block his hand.

Interrupted, Xie Zhixun took a moment to register what was happening. He froze for a long while before turning to look at her with a blank, dazed expression.

Shi Yu offered a word of warning: “There is a venomous scorpion at the root.”

With that, she cast a quick glance toward Xie Cheng.

With her sharp senses, Shi Yu naturally had not missed the subconscious surge of spiritual power Xie Cheng had gathered in his palm the moment she extended her Hidden Hatred Flute to block Xie Zhixun.

Evidently, had she made any untoward move, Xie Cheng would have attacked her without hesitation.

So cautious...

Every single action of Xie Cheng's made it clear that he cared about Xie Zhixun's safety to an extreme degree.

However, while Xie Zhixun was naive and ignorant, Xie Cheng knew absolutely nothing about spiritual plants. Venomous scorpions occasionally nested beneath the roots of a Three-Leaf Orchid, and the way to tell was by checking if the veins on its third leaf showed an unusual color.

This scorpion possessed a nimble tail hook and moved extremely fast. If she had not stepped in, Xie Zhixun would have suffered a painful sting.

Had it been an ordinary cultivator, Shi Yu would not have bothered warning them. The venom of scorpions companion to Three-Leaf Orchids was quite mild, and cultivators had spiritual energy protecting their bodies, so a sting would cause nothing more than slight numbness and itching.

However, Xie Zhixun possessed no cultivation at all. Being stung would not be a pleasant experience for him.

Xie Zhixun blinked. He watched as Shi Yu extended a finger and gently shook the bottommost leaf of the Three-Leaf Orchid. A moment later, the soil around its root loosened, and a scorpion the size of a pinky finger—waving a brightly colored tail hook—scuttled away through the dirt.

Instantly, a child-like expression of awe appeared on Xie Zhixun's face, and his bright eyes locked onto her.

Uncomfortable under his gaze, Shi Yu shifted her eyes away, growing more certain of her suspicion: Xie Zhixun was mentally underdeveloped, likely suffering from some condition.

Beside them, Xie Cheng let out an embarrassed chuckle. “Thank you, little fellow Daoist. Just now, I thought...”

“No harm done,” Shi Yu nodded slightly, understanding that he was simply being loyal to his master.

Pausing briefly, she explained to Xie Zhixun, “Three-Leaf Orchids occasionally host companion scorpions. When harvesting them, look at the third leaf. If the leaf's vein structure shows a faint purple tint, there is almost certainly a venomous scorpion underneath. These scorpions are timid; simply shaking the leaf closest to the roots will scare them away.”

Xie Zhixun nodded like a woodpecker. He pulled out his paper and brush to write down her words, his gaze toward her growing significantly warmer and friendlier.

From then on, whenever he spotted a new spiritual plant, Xie Zhixun would look at Shi Yu with expectant eyes, waiting for her explanation.

Shi Yu had always disliked trouble and liked coaxing children even less.

Yet the sheer admiration in his gaze was hard to withstand, forcing her to offer a few brief words of explanation each time.

The things she shared were no secret; identifying spiritual plants and understanding their medicinal properties were fundamental lessons for any alchemist.

However, alchemists were inherently rare, and people who knew as much as she did were rarer still. After a few explanations, Xie Zhixun listened, completely enthralled.

Even Xie Cheng, listening off to the side, could not help but reveal a look of surprise.

Whenever they encountered poisonous spiritual plants, Shi Yu explained them in extra detail for fear that Xie Zhixun might mismanage them and lose his life. Having listened all this way, Xie Cheng finally could not help but probe, “Little fellow Daoist, are you adept in poison lore?”

Shi Yu replied casually, “I merely know a bit.”

Xie Cheng nodded. He seemed to want to say something, but he opened his mouth, sighed, and held back.

...

As dusk approached, Xie Zhixun gesticulated to Xie Cheng, who immediately understood his meaning and addressed the crowd: “Most of the spiritual plants around here have been picked clean. If we want to find anything worthwhile, we must venture deeper.”

Upon hearing this, no one expressed any dissatisfaction.

They had spent the entire day wandering around the outermost perimeter and had barely encountered any spirit beast attacks. On the rare occasion an unwary beast showed up, Xie Cheng eliminated it before anyone else could even draw their weapon.

The money was so easy to earn that accepting it felt almost undeserved and nerve-wracking.

Since traveling at night carried too many variables, the group found an open patch of flat land, built campfires, and sat around them to rest.

Those in the Qi Refining Realm could not yet fast entirely, so everyone used the campfires to heat up the food they had brought along.

Rogue cultivators were accustomed to pinching every single spirit stone, so most brought easily portable, non-perishable foods like steamed buns, flatbreads, or jerked meat.

Shi Yu did not wish to draw attention to herself, so she also pulled out ordinary jerked meat, silently chewing on it after heating it over the fire.

Turning to look at the master-servant pair from the Xie Clan, Xie Cheng pulled high-grade, long-burning, smokeless charcoal from his mustard-seed bag, set up a delicate little pot, and began simmering spiritual grain.

Shi Yu glanced over and noticed that the spiritual grain Xie Cheng pulled out was neither Tier-1 Pearl Rice nor Tier-2 White Jade Rice.

A subtle, refreshing fragrance wafted into the air, deeply invigorating and uniquely aromatic. Shi Yu lowered her eyelids, recognizing it as Tier-3 Heavenly Scent Rice.

The Tier-2 spiritual grain she usually ate, White Jade Rice, cost a hundred taels of silver for three jin. This Tier-3 Heavenly Scent Rice was far pricier, costing two Low-grade spirit stones for a single jin.

Furthermore, Shi Yu had never seen Heavenly Scent Rice sold in the market. It was a rarity in these parts—likely something only a privileged few in the prefectural capital could afford to eat.

Smelling the fragrance of the Heavenly Scent Rice, the surrounding cultivators suddenly found the food in their mouths utterly bland, their eyes constantly drifting toward the pot in front of Xie Cheng.

One should never flaunt wealth. Xie Cheng had respectable cultivation, but he was far too careless when dealing with people and the world.

He flaunted his wealth far too openly, virtually painting his vast fortunes across his face. It was likely because he had grown up in a sheltered environment where he never needed to mind such matters.

However... if he continued like this, it would invite disaster sooner or later.

Had he been alone, it might have been manageable, but he was traveling with Xie Zhixun—someone completely ignorant of worldly ways, no different from a child.

Shi Yu shook her head. Ultimately, her interaction with the pair would last only a few short days. Accompanying Xie Zhixun to gather herbs for these couple of days, with Xie Cheng around, should not give rise to any major trouble.

Once the Heavenly Scent Rice was fully cooked, Xie Cheng retrieved a handful of spiritual vegetables, washed and tore them into pieces, added them to the porridge, and ladled a bowl for Xie Zhixun. “Young Master, conditions are sparse while traveling outside. Please make do with this for now.”

The surrounding rogue cultivators listening to this: “...”

Tier-3 Heavenly Scent Rice was considered "making do"? The three Wu brothers exchanged glances, their expressions turning even more displeased and sullen. They felt that these two wealthy men, clearly from prominent families, truly did not know how good they had it.

Xie Zhixun took the bowl and trotted eagerly over to Shi Yu's side, holding it out to her.

Shi Yu disliked using others' eating utensils and politely declined: “I am already full.”

Even after being rejected, Xie Zhixun did not look discouraged. He sat down side by side with Xie Cheng and drank every last drop of the vegetable porridge.

After finishing their meal, everyone agreed upon a night watch rotation, sat around the various campfires, and went to rest one by one.