The little infant girl opened her eyes, her dark and lively pupils darting around as she glanced toward the curtain. With a slight stir of her thoughts, ripples of spiritual power gradually spread, transforming into a stream of light that flew out from her dantian and entered her mother’s body.
Yan Yiqing’s wounds from childbirth tore with excruciating pain, blood flowing ceaselessly as she groaned in agony.
The spiritual power entered her body, repairing the damaged meridians.
Before long, she felt warmth spreading through her body. The cave no longer felt as bitterly cold, and the pain from her wounds no longer felt like tearing.
She breathed a sigh of relief, her brows and eyes relaxing as she slowly opened her eyes.
“The bleeding has stopped.”
Madam Liu, noticing the change in her sister-in-law’s condition, was astonished to find that as the foul blood drained away, the postpartum hemorrhage had actually ceased.
“Thank heavens, Buddha be praised.”
Madam Qin was overjoyed. After cleaning her daughter-in-law and changing the bedding, she clasped her hands together and bowed three times toward the empty air.
“Mother.”
Yan Yiqing smiled weakly, her eyes filled with anticipation. “I want to see my daughter.”
“Of course.”
Madam Qin readily agreed, lifting the curtain and beckoning to Mu Yufu. “Yufu, quickly bring the baby over.”
“Coming.”
Mu Yufu hurried over with small, quick steps and placed the swaddled infant beside her sister-in-law.
“My daughter, my daughter.”
Mother and child connected heart to heart. As Yan Yiqing looked at her daughter, a single glance brought a thought to her mind: the miraculous change in her body and the stroke of luck that saved her from death were brought to her by her daughter.
“Wah, wah.”
The little infant girl let out a soft, delicate cry, her small cheek nuzzling affectionately against her mother’s face, as if responding to her.
“My precious, my sweet baby.”
Yan Yiqing held her daughter close, her heart melting into a puddle of tenderness.
~
“Yufu.”
Watching the heartwarming interaction between mother and daughter, Madam Qin was filled with joy and smiled as she instructed her daughter, “Prepare some rice porridge for your sister-in-law to help her regain strength.”
“Just porridge won’t do—she needs chicken soup.”
Madam Liu spoke impulsively but immediately regretted it.
On this journey of exile, having rice porridge to drink was already a luxury.
This was only possible because Old Madam had pried the gem from her dragon-head cane to trade for food—the last of their remaining provisions.
“I’ll go hunt a wild chicken for sister-in-law.”
As the daughter of a military family, Mu Yufu had some martial skills. She picked up her bow and arrows from beside the fire and was about to head out.
Old Madam extended her cane to stop her. “It’s the middle of the night, in the wilderness, snowing outside. It’s not safe for a young girl like you to go out alone.”
“I’m not afraid.”
Mu Yufu insisted on going. With a deft movement, she pushed aside the cane, slung her quiver over her back, and ran toward the cave entrance.
“You can’t go out!”
Li Ao, the official escorting the prisoners, blocked her way with great impatience.
Among the team of six officials, the others had gone to a nearby village to seek lodging, leaving him alone to guard the cave.
Freezing cold and suffering in these conditions had filled him with resentment.
If someone was dying, calling for a doctor was one thing.
But hunting wild chickens? Not a chance!
“My sister-in-law just gave birth and is weak. She needs nourishment!”
“I’m only hunting wild chickens. I won’t try to escape. Why won’t you let me go?”
Mu Yufu’s eyes reddened with anger as she argued her case.
“You can’t go out, and that’s final.”
Li Ao was unreasonable. “No matter what you say, it’s not allowed.”
“Ee-ya-ya.”
The commotion at the cave entrance reached the little infant girl. Remembering that Mu Yufu was hunting wild chickens for her mother, a flicker of gratitude shone in her eyes.
Her lively, jet-black eyes darted around as she used her Divine Sense to summon her spatial treasure.
Her spatial treasure was a Heaven-Mending Divine Stone that had weathered the Nine Heavens’ Lightning Tribulation, awakened its intelligence, and nurtured a Stone Spirit.
The interior space of the Divine Stone was vast, complete with mountains, rivers, a spirit spring, and medicinal fields. It brimmed with spiritual energy, forming its own small world.
In the Bamboo Forest Cottage by the spirit spring, many Spirit Birds were kept.
Some flew in the sky, while others swam in the water.
Yan Yiqing had just given birth and was weak in qi and blood, needing nourishment. The Spirit Birds and medicinal herbs would come in handy.
The Stone Spirit, connected to its master’s mind, understood her intention.
A faintly glowing, pea-sized emerald gem flew out from her Dantian, transforming into an invisible streak of light. It circled the cave once before darting out of the entrance and vanishing into the vast darkness of the night.
~
At the cave entrance.
“My sister-in-law is having a difficult birth. I must go out.”
Mu Yufu clenched her bow and arrows in frustration, gritting her teeth as she prepared to force her way out regardless.
“You dare?”
Li Ao revealed his vicious side, drawing his sword and pointing it at her chest.
“Cluck, cluck, cluck.”
“Cluck, cluck, cluck.”
Just as the two were at a standoff, on the verge of a fierce fight, the eerie cries of pheasants suddenly echoed through the dark night.
Four pheasants, as if someone had stepped on their necks, shrieked in terror as they burst out from the forest outside the cave, flapping their wings and flying inside.
One of them, as luck would have it, crashed headfirst into a protruding rock at the cave entrance, breaking its neck and dying on the spot.
“Pheasants?”
Both individuals in the standoff were stunned.
Li Ao reacted first, grabbing the dead pheasant.
Mu Yufu nocked her bow and fired three arrows in quick succession, hitting all three targets.
The three pheasants fell one after another, lifeless.
“Impressive archery!”
The baby girl, observing this scene with her Divine Sense, saw her lively, jet-black eyes flash with admiration, silently giving her a thumbs-up in her heart.
~
“Where did these pheasants come from?”
“Are these really pheasants?”
“I’ve never seen this kind of chicken before—its comb and claws are both black.”
“Could they be poisonous?”
Hearing the commotion, Madam Liu and Madam Qin lifted the curtain and stepped out of the birthing room. Picking up the injured pheasants, they marveled at the sight.
“These are black-boned chickens.”
Old Madam, with her extensive experience, recognized the pheasants’ unusual nature at a glance: “They are Spirit Birds, rarely seen in mortal lands.”
“Spirit Birds?”
Madam Qin had heard of Spirit Birds and felt a surge of joy. She hurriedly instructed Madam Liu, “Don’t just stand there. Quickly slaughter them and make soup for your sister-in-law.”
“Right away.”
Madam Liu, feeling delighted, worked with renewed vigor. She slit the chicken’s throat with a dagger, drained the blood, and tossed it into a pot of boiling water.
Boiling the feathers in hot water made plucking easier.
She skillfully plucked the feathers, cleaned the innards, and soon had everything prepared.
~
“Ouch.”
Four-year-old Mu Yunhu circled around his mother, watching her slaughter the chicken with glee, when suddenly he tripped and fell flat on his face.
Looking up, he noticed a cluster of fresh green leaves sprouting from beneath a nearby stone wall.
“Why are there green leaves in such cold weather?”
Driven by curiosity, he scrambled to his feet, ran over, and with a bit of brute force, pulled the leaves out by the roots, along with the soil.
“Old Madam, look what I dug up!”
Seeing the root of the green leaves, he chuckled gleefully and eagerly ran back to Old Madam to show off his find.
“Is this… blood ginseng?”
Old Madam saw the color of the root and her pupils abruptly contracted.
Blood Ginseng is a spiritual herb, its color like blood, its shape resembling ginseng.
It has the effect of replenishing qi and nourishing blood, most suitable for postpartum women to restore their health.