The Demon Peach and Ghost Apricot

Liu Zhen's gaze fell on Xu Yao's blade—and saw that the kid had not only stayed perfectly in step with him, but after cutting through the tree root had left the blade in, driving it slantwise down into the soil beneath the root, in flawless sync with him yet again. He smiled in gratified approval. "Not bad!" This little fellow was careful and attentive. Xu Yao's stroke landed on the tree root. The green vapor was severed in an instant; that eerie face went rigid in the same beat, then let out an ear-piercing shriek of agony. A ferocious face twisted and convulsed within the green vapor and came lunging at him—but the moment it burst out, the edge of the Demon Suppression blade locked it down and cut it apart, and it dissolved into black smoke. And the hard tree root, of all things, had split like tofu, cleaved clean through! When that hollow sensation of a cut going all the way through came, Xu Yao felt a rush of exhilaration in his heart. This was the first stroke he had ever delivered in his life, the first time a blade of his had been of any use! His first stroke ever fought with his life on the line! As it cut through, Xu Yao felt that along with slaying the mountain demon and severing the tree root, he seemed to have severed something inside his own heart as well. It would be a long time before he understood just what that stroke had severed. It had severed... mediocrity. Liu Zhen's bellowed order to grab the peach reached his ears, and without thinking, Xu Yao's other hand snapped out and closed around the demon peach. In the same beat, the hand on the blade drove its tip into the tree root to anchor his footing. He turned his head, eyes sweeping quickly over. From each of the three mountain demon trees' roots, an invisible stream of cool vapor surged into his eyes. In an instant, both eyes felt a comfort like being fed and watered to the full; his whole body snapped wide awake, every thread of flesh and blood rallying at once—spirits brimming, reactions sharpened, strength increased. "As expected." "Cool vapor gathered first-hand, at this range, is worth more than ten times what taking a mountain demon's remains back would give." "If I had waited up on the clifftop and only taken one look after the captain and the others finished slaying the wood demon and came back up, I would have gotten thirty percent of this at most—and it wouldn't have been half so fresh and pleasant." "Looks like I'll have to keep going out on missions from now on—and slay the demons and monsters with my own hands." "But this demon peach—what is it? Can it be eaten?" All the tree roots were finally severed. Liu Zhen at last breathed easy, his whole body slackening. He leaned against the cliff wall, panting hard, drenched by the rain, and laughed into the lightning, the weight finally off his shoulders: "Hahaha... another hurdle cleared!" On the other side, Buck Teeth had gone full miser, hunching his body over the demon peach he had just gotten and carefully sheltering it beneath himself, grinning: "My Erni's been sick these past few days—this thing couldn't have come at a better time. Can't have the rain knocking it about." His mouthful of buck teeth flashed white under the lightning; he laughed with utter delight. Curious, Xu Yao asked, "This demon peach..." "That's the legendary demon peach and ghost apricot." Liu Zhen chuckled. "Keep it safe, and give it to no one. It's the only perk for the likes of us poor devils—and you have to risk your life to win it yourself. Eat it and it builds the body, adds years to your life, sharpens the ears and clears the eyes. A genuine treasure." That good!? Xu Yao hastily wrapped the demon peach up with care and tucked it inside his shirt. "Not eating it?" Liu Zhen asked with a smile: "This is the first one of your life. Eaten now, the effect is greatest." Xu Yao grinned sheepishly. "Mom and Dad have probably never had one either. I'll take it home and cut it up so we can all eat it together." Liu Zhen smiled. He had seen the kid's intention long ago; that earlier question had been asked on purpose. Buck Teeth, for his part, raised his head and looked at Xu Yao with envy and a trace of yearning. "If my eldest boy could have that kind of heart someday... heh heh..." Liu Zhen said, "Enough chatter. We've caught our breath, and the roots are full now. Back to work." He spat into his palm, took up the pickaxe, and began digging out the tree root. Digging, he explained to Xu Yao: "Big Fatty, remember this. After you kill a mountain demon, wait a little—about three breaths, generally—until the demon's leftover essence has merged into the tree root; then dig. Too soon, and the essence is thin. Too late, and it's scattered." "Yes." "Fruit like this rarely appears. Kill a dozen-odd mountain demons and you may not get a single one. Only a mountain demon or wood demon with exceptionally rich essence can, at the moment it comes into the world, be brimming enough to bear a fruit first; it eats that fruit the instant it takes form, and so passes its period of weakness straight away." "For us humans, eating this fruit lets us absorb only a tiny trace of the essence of grass and tree. But that tiny trace, to people as low down as us, is already a priceless treasure." "The great men of the martial world turn their noses up at such fruit, yet ordinary rich folk can't buy it either—because most of it gets digested by the likes of us." "If you can eat ten or so over a lifetime, barring some sudden calamity, living safe and healthy to a natural old age is hardly a problem." As he spoke, Liu Zhen asked Buck Teeth, "How many have you eaten?" Buck Teeth thought it over. "Three eaten whole—a plum, an apricot, and a jujube. The ones split with the family, there's no counting those." Liu Zhen beamed. "I've eaten eleven! Bachelor through and through—more wouldn't do me much good." As he said it, he flicked a sideways glance at Xu Yao. Xu Yao had clearly heard, but gave no reaction. In the pouring rain beside them, Buck Teeth looked at Xu Yao with envy—and puzzlement. Liu Zhen kept talking as he dug. When Xu Yao moved to help, he was waved off: "You just rest over there. This work—watch me do it once first, and memorize every step. Then when you go out on a mission yourself someday, you'll know how." Off to one side, Buck Teeth laughed. "Sister Liu, there you go again. Every time you work, you rattle on like a man dictating his last words. Bad habit, that—needs breaking. It's unlucky." That was simply Liu Zhen's nature: he loved to lecture anywhere, any time, and earnest, painstaking advice was his permanent state. So the brothers had privately hung the nickname "Sister Liu" on him, and the meaner ones called him "Mama Liu." Liu Zhen cursed: "Bullshit! If I don't teach them, who will? Teaching a newcomer the work counts as last words now? Utter nonsense!" Then, to Xu Yao: "Don't listen to Buck Teeth spouting nonsense. If you ever bring a newcomer along, you teach him this same way." "Yes." Xu Yao committed every word to memory, laughing secretly inside: that nickname truly was well earned. When Liu Zhen had dug one tree root free, leaving only a little soil at the very bottom, he said, "Watch close." He swung the pickaxe hard, driving it deep into the soil, then levered up with all his strength, prying the root out together with a little of the clay at its base—whole and complete. Pointing at the soil clinging to the root, he said: "This last bit of birth soil wraps up the hair-fine rootlets. It is the dividing line between Grade-A merit and Grade-C merit. It keeps the essence from scattering far longer. Without it, the essence disperses, and your merit takes a cut." He smiled, eyeing Xu Yao sideways. "Between Grade-A merit and Grade-C merit lies a full half tael of silver—that's forty jin of rice, you understand? Two months' food for a whole family." "Understood." Liu Zhen set the root aside and kept digging into the pit, driving down a good long stretch farther, stopping only when the pickaxe struck rock again. "Nothing," he said, disappointed. "Nothing on my end either." "Dig at Big Fatty's tree root next." Liu Zhen came over to Xu Yao's side, digging as he told him: "When the mission's done, don't just take the root and go. Dig around some more. First, to clear out the leftover small roots, so nothing grows out of them years from now. Second, any ground that can breed this kind of thing may well hide something good. As long as you dig something up from below and bring it back, the reward rises by at least one tael of silver. As for how high... there's no ceiling at all." Buck Teeth said: "They say the Fifth Brigade over there dug up a skeleton and a sword the year before last. They turned them in, and the whole brigade drew five hundred taels of reward silver, with a merit citation besides—and the fellow who did the digging got a hundred taels all to himself on top. Is it true?" "Of course it's true. The old mountain patroller who dug up that skeleton is surnamed Song, past fifty. Old Song used the money to get his son a wife and put up a house. The brigade captain and I even went over for the drinks." Liu Zhen sighed: "A pity luck like that never finds the likes of us. That day's wine left my whole heart sour, like drinking vinegar—damn it, I was jealous half to death... Huh? Huh?! Oh, shit—! ...What is this?"