37 Murder Most Fowl

In a courtyard within Green Leaf Academy, the constant sound of metal on wood echoed throughout the entire residential district. Birds avoided this courtyard like the plague. There were two reasons for this, the first one being the constant hammering noises that started at dawn and ended at sunset. At least the person who caused the disturbance had a minimum level of decency, the nearby residents said. This was reassuring small talk, of course. These were trying times, and they wanted nothing more than to rip the perpetrator apart limb by limb.

The second reason caused the birds to shiver in fear. Noise they could deal with; death they could not. A vicious predator had appeared near the student courtyards. A strange demonic fox now lurked between the stone houses. It took great pleasure in capturing the birds that wandered around the premises.

In a courtyard ten rows away from Cha Ming's, a cultivator was indulging in his favorite hobby: feeding his chickens and collecting their eggs. The cultivator had previously been a commoner, one who had expected to spend the rest of his life raising farm animals. Little did he know that he would have talent in cultivation. As a fourth-grade talent, his rate of growth was very rapid. After a mere three years, he was now an eighth-level student.

Despite being a cultivator, he was still very fond of his farming lifestyle. In his courtyard, he had several plots of land, which he used to grow various medicinal herbs. In addition, he also had a chicken coop and a few milk cows. This young man was very particular about the quality of his milk and eggs. As such, he always fed the chickens and cows special spirit grain, which he also cultivated within his courtyard.

While he might have been indulging in his favorite hobby, his demeanor was not in the least bit relaxed. He had a dreadful problem he needed to resolve—the looming threat of the chicken thief. At present, he only had fifteen chickens, two less than the original number. Another kindred spirit within Green Leaf Academy had reported a similar matter. In this case, the poor student had lost one of his geese, two of his ducks, and three of his carrier pigeons!

In addition, they had both noticed a peculiar lack of wild birds in the surrounding area. The only logical conclusion was that a voracious predator had started living in the area. Despite their suspicions, they had no hard evidence or eye-witness testimony on the matter. Even if they wanted to find the thief, they didn't know what it looked like.

Sighing heavily, the cultivator continued feeding his chickens spirit grain and collected their eggs. He then started installing various upgrades to fortify the chicken coop. The first thing he did was replace the wire around the chicken coop; the old wire did not provide adequate protection against predators and had only been useful in preventing the chickens themselves from escaping. The predator had changed everything. In addition to replacing the wire, he also ensured that it completely enclosed the pen. This rendered it impossible for a predator to approach from above.

Protecting the coop from an underground assault was also a tricky task. What if the thief was a ferret or a fox? He dug up all the soil inside the chicken coop to install a deep brick foundation, which connected to the fence wire. He covered up the foundation with soil, something the chickens enjoyed while they walked outdoors.

Following this major renovation, he then focused on the building itself. The windows were potential points of entry, so he installed iron bars on each one. He also installed locks on all the doors for good measure. Perhaps this chicken thief was a student?

This massive project took three days. Fortunately, he finished the project before any of his chickens were stolen. Despite the greatly strengthened chicken coop, he was still a little nervous. During the entire construction, he experienced a tingling in the back of his neck, the kind that only happened when one was being watched. As a martial cultivator, he had developed a sixth sense for things like these. It was hardly ever wrong. Or perhaps the hammering noises from the nearby courtyard had unnerved him, causing him to imagine enemies that didn't exist.

***

It was now late at night. The consistent pounding of metal on metal had stopped, as it always did at sunset. This granted the occupants of nearby courtyards a temporary reprieve and ideally a good night's sleep. Despite the absence of the rhythmic clanking, some of the residents were still profoundly affected. They now heard these sounds in their dreams. Hammering aside, the night was very quiet, almost too quiet. If one observed carefully, they might have noticed a large absence of birds or other small animals near a specific courtyard.

The owner of the courtyard was fast asleep, and so were his chickens. Huxian had been observing them for the past few days. Despite his ability to steal the chickens over the past three days, the actions of the cultivator in this courtyard had intrigued him. It was as though the cultivator thought he could prevent Huxian from taking the chickens that rightfully belonged to him!

His curiosity piqued, Huxian's observations had continued for three days. When the cultivator finally finished, the renovated chicken coop emanated a special aura, an aura of challenge toward the chicken thief.

Challenge accepted, Huxian decided.

His small and agile figure vanished as he jumped over the courtyard wall, careful not to make any noises that might alert the cultivator or the chickens. Once inside the courtyard, Huxian merged with the shadows near the edge of the wall. While the entire courtyard was well lit, it was impossible for there to be a complete absence of shadows. The shadows were his home.

After observing the front of the chicken coop for a short while, Huxian decided to give up on sneaking through the metal wires or digging through the brick. While this was a simple task for the baby fox demon, it didn't suit his style; he wanted the cultivator to be completely baffled by the theft!

Since accessing through the front of the coop was physically impossible, he opted for the next option—the back. The back of the coop was now only twelve inches away from the courtyard wall, enough to allow air circulation through the tightly barred window. Huxian ignored the small gap and also ignored the bars for good measure. He blended into the shadows and immediately found himself inside the chicken coop.

The chickens were sleeping soundly and hadn't noticed his approach. The juvenile fox sneakily approached a chicken's bed, but just before approaching, his instincts told him something was off. After observing carefully, he noticed that there were several snares set up. He quickly bypassed these snares and approached the sleeping chicken from the side. He made short work of it.

After dispatching his unfortunate victim, he decided to make his exit and call it quits. Stealing a single chicken without leaving a trace or clue was much more fun than outright plundering. After licking his lips, he vaulted himself outside the coop through the shadows. He didn't notice the fluorescent trail he left behind, his little pawprints lighting up his journey from the chicken coop to the top of the wall and finally to Cha Ming's courtyard.

***

The next morning, Cha Ming was forced to host a guest in his courtyard. The guest was an angry-looking cultivator, evidently the man who took great care in raising his chickens. Cha Ming massaged his brow as he listened intently and wracked his brain for a solution.

"What were you thinking, keeping a fox as a pet?" the man said, livid. "Don't you know that they're vile creatures that eat every bird in sight?" Like all angry people, it was best to first let them vent while showing sympathy.

"I understand sir," Cha Ming replied.

"No, you don't understand. These are my prize chickens, and I've spent many months raising them and feeding them expensive spirit grain. Heck, I wouldn't even eat any of them myself! I keep them around, I care for them, and in return they lay the most delicious eggs available in the country. These chickens are the culmination of my life's work," the man explained. His anger had lessened somewhat, and he now looked distraught and sad.

"So you're saying that these chickens are very expensive to raise, almost priceless?" Cha Ming inquired.

"Yes, exactly. In fact, I often deprive myself of cultivation resources to nourish them adequately. I grow the spirit grain myself, at the expense of raising less medicinal herbs. Raising medicinal herbs is my main source of income!"

"So if I reimbursed you a sufficient amount, you would forgive me? Huxian's behavior is, of course, unacceptable. However, he is a little difficult to control sometimes. I humbly apologize on his behalf. What sort of compensation would make up for your loss?" Cha Ming started to relax, as they were finally getting somewhere. It was impossible to reason with an angry man.

The chicken farmer was at a loss. He had mostly come to yell at the new, irresponsible owner. Unfortunately, there was really nothing he could do. It was difficult to prove the value of his chickens, and making a formal complaint would have been very difficult. Therefore, the best he was able to do was attempt to intimidate the fox's owner.

"This… well, it's really difficult to estimate the total cost. To make a rough estimate, it could be anywhere between three hundred and five hundred spirit stones to raise a single chicken. However, this doesn't factor in the amount of labor required, the three months where I don't have a chicken…" The farmer really didn't have a good case to make, and so he left the specifics ambiguous. In fact, he didn't expect to get anything at all in compensation.

"Unfortunately, I'm really short on cash right now," Cha Ming said apologetically.

The chicken farmer was livid again. Just as the chicken farmer was about to speak up, Cha Ming withdrew a silver talisman from his bag of holding.

"I have this Iron Skin talisman that I crafted not too long ago. The retail value for one of these talismans is 1,280 spirit stones. Is this sufficient to cover your losses?"

Cha Ming's question fell onto deaf ears, as the man was now observing the exquisite penmanship used to craft the talisman.

"My apologies," the man asked nervously. "What did you say? Are you offering this to me as compensation?"

"Of course. Even if I don't have spirit stones on me, this talisman should have a certain amount of resale value if you don't want it. If it's useful to you, however, you've even made yourself a hefty profit! What do you say?"

Cha Ming was hoping the man would accept; he really didn't have anything else on his person right now. Perhaps it was time to craft a few more to fill his pockets, especially with the gluttonous Huxian around.

"Of course it's sufficient! More than sufficient! You said you made this?" The man's expression subtly changed. The man now seemed grateful that Huxian had eaten his chickens.

"Might I ask, what kind of talismans are you able to craft? I have a need for them, from time to time. There are also many residents in the courtyard who would be very interested in purchasing them." The man was no longer livid. In fact, he was now quite polite.

"There is demand within the residences? Well, I can craft most readily available fifth- and sixth-grade talismans, in each of the five elements. I'm not better in any one of the elements, so I can accommodate a large variety of requests. If anyone has any specific requests that I am not familiar with, and the talisman is within my artistic capabilities, I can also give it a try. Since we are all fellow students here, I can also craft them at ninety-five percent of the list price," Cha Ming explained while musing to himself, How did getting scolded suddenly turn into a business relationship?

"Sixth-grade talismans! You can craft sixth-grade talismans? At ninety-five percent of list price? Whatever element we want?" The chicken farmer was now very excited. There were very few people in the city who were willing to craft sixth-grade talismans. Most of the people that were able to do so economically were at the ninth level of qi condensation, or even foundation-establishment elders!

"Yes, I do have a knack for crafting them. I can at least break even at ninety-five percent of the list price, and it will be good to practice my crafting skills."

Technically, none of what Cha Ming said was a lie, but he didn't want to reveal the secret of the Clear Sky Brush. Crafting talismans for practice to break even, however, was something a student would consider doing.

"It's been a pleasure meeting with you, sir! If you don't mind, I would like to place an order. It's fine if you finish them whenever is convenient. Do you have a pen?"

Somehow, Cha Ming had now become a "sir." He had also secured some orders at profits higher than he could normally accomplish. Little did he know that many orders would soon come his way from the surrounding courtyards, and the goodwill he earned would far outstrip the amount of annoyance caused by Huxian or Cha Ming's incessant beating of his mannequin.

The chicken farmer was in a very pleasant mood on his way out of the courtyard. Just as he was about to leave, he remembered that he had forgotten to do something important.

"Sir, what's your name?"

"It's Cha Ming. You're welcome anytime!"

***

Cha Ming retreated into his courtyard after the surprisingly profitable scolding he'd received. He took a seat cross-legged in front of Huxian. Huxian's eyes were downcast. He knew he had messed up.

How can I stay mad at you? Cha Ming thought while massaging his brow.

"Can you not eat other cultivators' pets? It's very troublesome to deal with them. I know you eat meat, but you need to show some restraint," Cha Ming scolded.

But, big brother, they are so tasty! I didn't eat a lot of them… Huxian had ditched the dejected look and opted for showing puppy dog eyes.

"Come on, there's no way they can be tastier than the roast spirit beast meat you get from the restaurant every few days. Also, you wouldn't be having this problem if you hadn't hunted down a hundred wild birds as soon as we arrived in this courtyard. You need to show moderation." Cha Ming didn't give in to Huxian's cute act. If he wasn't firm with him as a baby, who knew what kind of trouble he would cause once he got older.

"Fine, fine. I will be good," Huxian said. He slowly walked over to Cha Ming and rubbed his head against Cha Ming's thigh. "Can I have pets?"

Cha Ming shook his head and scolded Huxian once more. "Only good foxes get pets. Maybe tomorrow if you behave."

Soon after Huxian left the room to go outside, Cha Ming got up and grabbed his heavy staff to continue his practice. Before he could go out to practice, however, he heard a familiar voice calling out to him.

"Kid, that's as far as you're going to get by whacking that mannequin. Come inside the brush and I'll teach you how to fight!"

It was the bearded man, of course. Cha Ming hadn't heard from him for a while. The last time they had spoken, he had been instructed to practice his footwork and staff techniques against the mannequin. The constant beating had destroyed the mannequin countless times, and Cha Ming had been forced to supplement its energy with spirit stones.

Cha Ming's excitement at the prospect of practicing in a way that didn't involve beating a piece of living metal was evident. He even used his newly learned movement techniques as he retreated to his bedroom and sat down cross-legged. His body stood still, but his soul did not.

His soul had now entered the space inside the Clear Sky Brush.