Chickens Too Eagerly Fed
"Ah, young miss. How could you possibly do such lowly chores yourself..."
"There's no high or low in the family's business! It's all equally precious. And this chicken lays the eggs for Grandpa to eat. I want to take care of it too."
The little girl casually mentioned the family head, and even Jang ssi fell silent. For some reason, Jeon ssi felt a bit deflated too. Her words—that everything was equally precious—pierced his heart just a little.
"Ah! J-just a little of that perilla seed mash, please."
"Less than this?"
"Y-yes. Too much reduces their laying."
"Like this, then?"
"Yes, exactly that much..."
While Jeon ssi floundered, the little girl gripped a wooden ladle firmly and vigorously mixed various ingredients in a large basin. With perilla mash smudged on her cheeks...
"Will this do?"
Everyone had gossiped about the Danmok family's eldest grandchild, bedridden since birth—how tragic, they'd say in passing. Even when she finally rose after an immense ritual, the chatter had been loud. With the declining estate scraping together its last resources for that one desperate gamble, and it paying off. Until the girl herself appeared in the kitchen, it had all just been fodder for talk.
Shouldering a basin of feed they'd made together as he headed to the coop, Jeon ssi wondered how things had come to this—but he couldn't figure it out. Only the girl turned back with an innocent face.
"That chicken's pitch black."
"Ah! You mean that ogol chicken. Black from beak to bone. Very... healthy, yes."
Jeon ssi hurriedly changed tack.
"Really? Then let's call it Blackie."
Blackie...
Jang ssi quickly chimed in. "H-how about Heukwol? Black Moon, since it's the black chicken of Wolyeongjae."
"Heukwol? That's better?"
At the girl's question, Jeon ssi nodded eagerly. It felt a bit grandiose for a chicken, but better than 'Blackie.'
"P-put the feed in the trough."
The long, carved wooden trough was spotlessly empty. As Jeon ssi scooped in the feed she'd made, he said cautiously, "They ate their fill this morning, so they might not react much. It's not that the feed tastes bad..."
Not that at all, so don't be disheartened—he meant to say. But then—
Flap-flutter!Scramble-scritch!Flutter-whoosh!
No sooner had he dumped in a big scoop than a dozen chickens in the coop launched into the air simultaneously. It all unfolded in slow motion before his eyes.
Were chickens a type of fierce beast?
That was Jeon ssi's thought in that instant. The flock charged the trough ferociously, battling fiercely. Feathers flew in frantic wingbeats as they vied for every last bite, the racket echoing loudly.
"The kids must've been... hungry."
"Y-yeah... must be..."
They devoured the mere handful like they meant to shatter the trough. Once empty, they sauntered back casually, pecking at the sand as if nothing had happened.
The little girl watched briefly, then looked up at him. "You said feed them around myo hour? I'll handle it from now on!"
Jeon ssi masked his dismay and nodded. What fate awaits me...?
But not even heaven and earth answered.
* * *
Ryeon's interest in the chickens began on her way back from greeting Danmok Cheon-gi, when she heard distant clucks. Realizing it came from the coop tended by Wolyeongjae's kitchen, she thought, Perfect.
Bedridden all those years, she'd pondered endlessly how to expend her vast Yeong-gi. The surest way was sharing it with others.
But shoving it raw into ordinary people was like pouring seawater on freshwater fish. Her own vessel teetered precariously for that reason. It had to be refined through many stages for safe transfer—and recently, she'd grasped the method.
Simple: just pass it through "many stages"!
Purify water once, infuse Yeong-gi, boil into something. Couldn't feed huge amounts at once, but safe, and it spent her energy.
So how could chicken feed not sparkle in Ryeon's eyes? Expend Yeong-gi making it; Danmok Cheon-gi eats eggs from those big, healthy chickens and benefits; others praise the filial granddaughter. Win-win-win.
But...
The chickens... they're growing too well. Way too well.
In the early dawn drizzle cooling the summer heat, Ryeon scattered feed with a ladle under the umbrella Jang ssi held, lost in thought.
The first day's frenzy had calmed after a few days. A few more, and the pitch-black ogol chicken's eyes seemed sharper by the day.
"Mm, Heukwol, tasty?"
The ogol chicken nodded.
Ryeon tried dismissing it as coincidence, but it sure looked like a reply.
"The chickens really love the feed you give them, young miss."
Jang ssi, beside her, said warmly.
"'Cause I'm the one feeding them."
"No, it's totally different from when Jeon ssi does it."
Ryeon grinned at the flock. Hearing Jang ssi, it did seem so.
"Feed them all, then head to Wolyeongjae?"
"Yeah!"
Danmok Cheon-gi hadn't turned away her daily morning visits, despite his sharp reaction to her thanks visit.
Just wants to live long, but so much to manage...
Her body, loved ones' health, family state. Now neighborhood affairs, Murim world too.
And Blood Valley somehow...
Fail there, and by twenty, she'd be scattering feed amid a burning Murim.
As Ryeon pondered en route to Wolyeongjae—
A small figure slipped through the coop-end wall gate. East-rising sun hid the child's face. But...
4 Stars (1▲)
You can now see weaknesses.
This ability consumes additional Yeong-gi.
Divine Eye 4 Stars harmonizes with Harmony 4 Stars.
Light flashed across her vision, letters blooming. Ryeon steadied herself at the familiar sight.
Divine Eye had leveled like this before—seeing her grandfather. She'd guessed it gained experience faster from mighty, grand, great beings, fitting its sight-based nature.
But now, from glimpsing a boy smaller than her? Straight to 4 Stars.
What on earth...?
No time for that. Upgraded Divine Eye let her see weaknesses; harmonizing with Harmony 4 Stars—what did that mean? She had to check.
Ryeon hurriedly unfurled her ledger from her sleeve and scanned Harmony.
Divine Eye 4 Stars saw weaknesses; Harmony 4 Stars shattered misalignments.
What did their union mean? Pondering, Ryeon suddenly grasped the last line.
Harmony 7 Stars: Go unnoticed.
That's why no one knew...!
A lingering puzzle. Century-old ginseng? Any cultivator spots its aura at a glance. Why hadn't anyone properly detected her Yeong-gi?
Past coma made sense—no one senses amid collapse, coma, vomiting blood.
But now, healthy on the surface despite fragility, yet no one in the family noticed her Yeong-gi.
It was Harmony...
7 Stars already? Probably her body's desperate survival bid, Ryeon guessed.
If mere practitioners spotted her constitution at a glance? A living elixir like her would unleash new bloodshed on the rivers and lakes.