47. High Quality

Hui wandered along the gardens, searching. A few Jade Garden Peak disciples tended to their gardens, hunching over plants to feed them qi or carefully watering them. None of them gave Hui a second glance.

He moved confidently, enjoying his stroll. Ahead, a stand of tall, bright green shoots caught his eye. Leeks! Can’t have duck without them.

He glanced left and right. Seeing no one around, he bent and examined the leeks closely. Most stood tall and young, a brilliant green, but back in the shadows of their fellows, a few grew smaller, a yellow tinge to their shoots. Drawing his sword, he cut a pair of the yellowed, sick-looking leek shoots, leaving the roots and bulb. Like this, it should be fine, right? They can regrow their shoots. It isn’t going to hurt them at all. I’d ask for permission, or pay, but there isn’t anyone around, and the duck’s going to go bad sooner rather than later.

Besides, I picked the worst ones. Surely no one will mind?

Still a little guilty, he left a pair of gold coins beside the leeks. They’re only leeks in the end. I’m probably overpaying, but… I’ll feel better this way.

Hurrying along, he picked his way upward, seeking out the ginger Li Xiang mentioned. A grove of trees up and to the right caught his eye. Orange glistened among the shiny leaves. His eyes widened, and he leaped up, hopping two terraces in one go. A faint citrus scent breezed through the air. He mounted the final terrace and grinned. Squat fruits hung from the trees’ branches, warty skin a brilliant orange.

Satsumas! Perfect!

He picked his way through the trees, mindful of the branches and leaves. The trees hung heavy with fruit. Toward the back of the grove, a bent old tree hung low, worn branches almost too weak to hold its paltry crop of fruit. He drew his sword again and freed a pair of satsumas from the tree. I’m doing this poor old tree a service, honestly.

Slipping the satsuma into his bag, he stepped back, a hand to his chin. It’s just a satsuma or two off the tree. It isn’t even something that needs to grow back!

No, no. Respect farmers! Respect the efforts of food-growers! He left a gold coin at the foot of the tree.

I really feel like I overpaid this time, but… well, I can’t be disrespectful! They put in effort for this. I have to leave something behind.

As he straightened, the sharp scent of ginger caught his nose. Hui turned, sniffing, then jogged up to the next garden over. Leafy green stalks stretched to knee-height. Clusters of white flowers let off a spicy scent above the rich earth, warm and welcoming.

Thousand-year ginger… mmm, I have to leave a good amount of coins for this. He reached into his bag and pulled out ten coins, then dug down under the smallest of the plants and added its small rhizome to his bag.

Hmm… That’s good enough. I better not push my luck, anyways. If I stumble into the Starbound Peak disciples, and Li Xiang isn’t there… I did look at their idol, after all! So decided, Hui nodded and leaped off the terrace. One step at a time, he hopped down the mountain, pack slung over his shoulder.

In no time, he stood in front of his familiar hut, ingredients in hand. Setting the vegetables aside, he set to gutting, cleaning, and plucking the duck. Halfway through, he scowled and shook his hand. Bloody feathers stuck to his fingers, and duck guts stuck under his nails. Dammit, making food in ancient times is so annoying! Maybe I should’ve asked Sis Mei to cook it for me anyways…

No, no. She’s busy. I can do it myself. Gritting his teeth, he applied himself to the duck once more.

At last, the duck laid naked and cleaned. He strung it up by its feet to drain the blood, then sighed. Holding his hands out in front of him, he clomped over to the well. He dragged the bucket up, touching the rope as little as he could, then spilled it over his disgusting hands. Excess blood spilled over the earth. He sloshed more water over it, washing it away, then turned to his plant ingredients.

I’m no chef, but basically, I put all this in a pot, and the duck should come out okay, right? He bit his lip and looked around. But… what should I use for a pot? I’ve only got the bucket, master’s hut, the pill furnace…

He turned. The pill furnace sat where he’d put it all those months ago, sitting quietly, lidded and sealed, in the middle of the courtyard.

It’s a pot, isn’t it?

Energized, Hui jumped up. He scurried around the forest. Kindling materialized by the furnace, then slightly larger sticks, then small logs, and finally, thick, dry logs found from a fallen tree not far in the forest. Low-slung, the pill furnace had little clearance under it, but Hui stuffed the logs in. As best he could with the space he had, he built a small square-shaped fire, then piled up more around it, surrounding the pill furnace with a larger fire. With everything ready to go, he kneeled by it and drew out his flint. Striking once, twice, he caught a spark in the kindling and carefully fed it, breathing to feed it oxygen, cupping his hand to protect it from gusts of wind. The fire grew, a tiny flame at first, but growing brighter with every moment. He carefully fed in larger and larger sticks until a merry flame flickered under his pill furnace.

Setting the duck in the pill furnace, he cut open the satsumas with his sword and added them. The leeks he knotted, then set atop the duck. Flipping the pill furnace’s lid over, he choked his grip on his sword to use the very base few inches, then diced the ginger on it. The ginger joined the rest in the pot. Looking down at his duck, he gave a satisfied nod. For a twenty-first century lad, I think I did alright!

With that, he closed the lid firmly on his duck.

--

“Thousand-year ginger? Right this way,” the Jade Garden disciple said, bowing to Li Xiang and her party. He led them into his garden, toward the back.

As he grew close, his eyes went wide. He jumped and scurried over to the ginger plants, toward a freshly-dug hole in the ground. “Who—who took—”

Ten coins glittered near the hole. In the midst of his grieving, the disciple caught sight of them. His eyes flashed, and he snatched them up. “Oh, well, that one was only ten years old, anyways, and it wasn't doing well. I can’t be too angry. I’m selling them anyways.”

From below, a female cultivator shrieked. “My Golden Pure Heavenly Leeks! Who took my leeks? Two gold? These are worth thousands of spirit stones, not measly gold! Thief, we have a thief!”

Much nearer, a shout rattled the heavens. “My hundred-thousand-year satsuma tree—who took my satsumas? One gold! One gold? These—these fruits are priceless!”

Li Xiang frowned. She walked to the edge of the terrace and stood over it, fists firmly on her hips. “This thief… I’ll find them for you! This blatant injustice will not stand before me!”

Overhead, a cloud between him and the disciples, the older man hovered on his sword. His brows furrowed. “Leeks? Satsuma? Ginger?”

A horrible realization flashed before his eyes. “It couldn’t be…”