Chapter 004: The Dramatic Youth of Qingzhen

As soon as their father left, the feast wasn’t even cleared from the table before Shen Qingjing couldn’t help but ask, “What’s for dinner? Are we having barbecue again? Or maybe spicy crab?”

“Let’s take a nap first, we’ll talk about it later.”

Shen Qinghu, full and content, simply went to sleep in the tent her fourth brother had just set up for her, already lined with thick bedding. But as she slept, she felt something soft crawling across her face.

She immediately caught the little creature in her hand and opened her eyes—only to see a plump, fleshy little grub.

“This is… this is the larva of a green moth, isn’t it?” Shen Qinghu quickly got up and placed the green worm in a small dish. “Little Bai, come in quickly.” A girl of about fifteen or sixteen immediately entered.

“Miss, what do you need?”

“Look at this, do you know what it is? This green worm is the larva of a ninth-tier beast, the green moth, and it’s delicious. Go call people to search the area for more, if there are plenty, gather as many as you can. Deep-fried, the taste is…” Shen Qinghu spoke with anticipation.

Little Bai couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry, Miss, I can definitely handle this.”

When dinner came, the siblings feasted again, their mouths glistening with oil from the fried grubs. “So crispy, tastes like chicken. It’s really good! Shen Qinghu, how do you always come up with new ways to eat things? Even green moth larvae—who’d have thought?”

“Didn’t Hundred Flavors Pavilion launch a new dish last time, delicious fried silkworms? If silkworms are edible, so are green moth larvae. But honestly, the larvae are tastier. The fried silkworms from Hundred Flavors Pavilion are a bit dry, not as tender as these,” Shen Qinghu explained, accustomed to sneaking off with Little Bai to improve their meals.

“They raise theirs, ours are wild. They can’t taste the same,” Shen Qingjing retorted. “If farmed ones were truly so good, why are they at least two-thirds cheaper than wild game?”

“That makes sense,” Shen Qinghu nodded.

“What are we eating tomorrow?” Having finished the green worms, Shen Qingjing couldn’t help but ask.

Shen Qinghu: “…”

“What about the leftover crab meat from this morning?” Shen Qingjing asked.

“The mortals who came with us should eat it, of course. Dead crab won’t taste good tomorrow,” Shen Qinghu declared.

“Alright, but we can’t just let them eat beast meat for nothing. I’ll teach them the Bloodkill Breathing Technique later; whoever can learn it, learns it. You can’t just have me and Qingquan as cultivators on your side.”

“Little Bai is a cultivator too.”

“She’s only at the second level.”

“I’m a cultivator as well, at the fourth level. Besides, Little Bai found all these worms with her people.”

“Then she’s actually quite useful.” Shen Qingjing immediately changed his tone; when it came to food, he was willing to adapt.

“Besides, father secretly gave us five cultivators, and there’s Uncle Zhao,” Qinghu lowered her voice deliberately.

“Still not enough. If we run into high-tier beasts or a beast tide… what then?” Qingjing replied in kind.

Qinghu looked at her brother, troubled.

Qingjing gazed back, equally helpless. Even the cleverest housewife can’t cook without rice; with so few people, managing a territory would be impossible.

“Well, then you handle it. Thanks for your hard work.” Qinghu decided to leave the troublesome matter to her brother, giving his shoulder a hearty pat for encouragement.

Qingjing: His sister tossed the burden onto him with remarkable speed!

That evening, Qingjing summoned all the mortals.

“Did you all eat the meat of the ninth-tier beast, the Crimson Armored Crab?” he asked.

“We did!” one of the boys responded happily.

“Was it tasty?”

“It was!” everyone agreed.

“Do you want more?”

“We do.”

“We want it every meal.”

The group of boys responded enthusiastically.

“What are you thinking? That’s meat from a ninth-tier beast. If mere mortals ate it every meal, their bodies would explode!” Qingjing joked.

His affable demeanor emboldened the mortals. “Sir, could you teach us to cultivate as well?”

“Do you know how to read? Do you have a talent for cultivation?” Qingjing asked, half-seriously.

“Sir, we can learn to read. As for talent, you can let us try. I’ve heard every cultivation family has their own breathing techniques. Let us practice—if we manage to cultivate something, we have talent; if not, we don’t.”

“You’re sharp and quick-witted. What’s your name? How about following me?” Qingjing asked.

“Sir, my name is Deng Xiaolai. I’d be honored to follow you.” A boy of about fourteen or fifteen jumped forward, grinning ingratiatingly.

“Alright, you’ll learn from me later,” Qingjing replied, smiling. He was quite satisfied; the boy had good physical aptitude, long limbs, a strong brow—he looked promising for cultivation.

“In the Eastern Wastes, without the protection of a city, you could encounter fierce beasts at any time, or even be caught in a beast tide. Even I cannot guarantee your safety.

But we need to build our territory, and you have to work every day—you can’t just hide indoors all the time, right?

So I’ve decided to teach you a breathing technique used by cultivators. We’ll see if any of you have the talent for it.

If you do, I’ll nurture you with all my might.

Once you become a cultivator, not only can you protect yourselves, but the Shen family will reward you handsomely. From then on, you’ll be winners in life, with boundless prospects ahead.

What do you say?”

“Agreed!” Even the elderly and women among the mortals shouted, astonished. They never imagined that the Shen family would teach them the way of cultivation.

Excited cries rang out…

The mortals who had been deceived and forcibly sent to open up the land were overjoyed; their complaints and anger vanished. They were refugees now—if taken in by a cultivation family, they’d be at the very bottom, living the hardest lives, never full, never warm, working themselves to the bone.

Better to risk everything here.

Here, there was a way to cultivate—maybe themselves, maybe their family, might have talent.

Becoming a cultivator, even at the lowest rung, would be life-changing for any mortal.

“So, are you willing to cultivate?”

“We are!” the crowd replied in unison.

“Louder! Tell me, are you willing?” Qingjing demanded with dramatic flair.

“We are! We are! We are!” Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs, like fervent followers.

With over two hundred people yelling together, the birds on the island and in the surrounding forest were startled and took flight.

“Why does my fourth brother seem so much like a cult leader?” Little Qinghu stood at her tent’s entrance, eyes wide, unable to resist the remark.