While it pleased Yun Jieshi immensely that finally, he would be the one dealing with the food from now on, his mind lagged. A part of him wished he could know why Qui Tian had spilled tears over his song.
Sure, evoking emotion out of weary, hurting hags was a milestone for every aspiring musician, but a part of the little monkey felt that there was more to Qui Tian's tears than met the eye – literally.
He didn't dwell on it though. At least not wholeheartedly.
As a result of his singing, the hag had acceded to his demands (requests). One of them was of course, that he would be cooking from today.
Qui Tian watched as Yun Jieshi excitedly gathered the bowls and the remnants of yesterday's ingredients for supper. There was a little bit of salt, some scallions, the glorified ginseng, and an assortment of other herbs and vegetables Yun Jieshi was still unsure about; he knew their taste though, and that was enough.
The little monkey picked the frozen meat of what the old sagely voice in his head had called a Blight Wing Pheasant. It was a large bird; as big as an ostrich at least. But that was all for the better. Yun Jieshi was determined to bring out at least 40% of the creature's flavor.
After thawing it by the coals, Yun Jieshi cut generous portions of it with the hag's crude knife. He took a wing, a leg, and a portion of the breast while muttering how tedious and convenient the cooking process was going to be. He brought the 'cutlets' into the divine right corner of the cabin and broke them into smaller pieces. It wasn't too hard with his strength.
The hag frowned at him and grunted loudly enough for Yun Jieshi to hear and turn in her direction. The little monkey got the impression that she didn't like the pheasant meat since she had only cooked it once over the last few days.
"Hang on. You'll like it," Yun Jieshi reassured her. He had an idea why she didn't like it.
'You probably only know how to cook it one way, damn you!'
The little monkey then cut the ginseng-like aromatic into thick chunks, along with an absurd number of scallions, and what might have been garlic but with a very, very faint smell and taste. (Yun Jieshi did a little taste test.) He suspected that it was also one of the ingredients of the right herbal tea.
Filling the largest bowl he could find with leftover water the hag had magicked into existence, he added a portion of the meat he had cut, the other chopped ingredients, and pinches of salt. He placed the bowl over the coals and watched it like a hawk. It didn't take long before the water was boiling.
The hag craned her neck to see. Yun Jieshi laughed.
He grabbed the other pieces of the pheasant, salted them, and layered them over the free end of the grate. As they began roasting, he removed the gunk forming over the broth in the bowl, ensuring it was clear. Because the heat from the goals was a notch above anything he knew from Earth, Yun Jieshi didn't deign to boil his broth for hours. He imagined ten minutes would be enough.
Long before that time was elapsed, the hag's nose was twitching, and Yun Jieshi thought he saw her tongue whip over her lips. The sizzling of the roasting pheasant contrasted magnificently against the scent of the broth after all.
Such tantalizing aromas had not graced this cabin in a long time, if ever!
'And just like that, the grate is mine!' the discount Sage thought.
Soon, it was done.
Chicken on chicken was a bit redundant, Yun Jieshi knew, but for today, it would serve. He strained the broth (a rather tedious task without a sieve or clean cloth), and poured generous portions into two bowls; there was a lot left over after that, and Yun Jieshi had great plans for it. He covered it with another bowl and placed it close to the frozen meats to cool.
He then took the roasted pheasant and placed it in a single bowl; he would share it with Qui Tian.
His highly sensitive senses made it hard for Yun Jieshi to not scarf down all the food right then.
'You're a Sage, damn you! Keep your composure!' he told himself as he brought the food to the hag. She had already sat down properly – on her legs – waiting with her pretty eyes partly unsealed from her eyelids.
Despite the obvious hints of suspicion hiding in those eyes, Yun Jieshi beamed at the hag. He appealed to her anticipation.
"Since we don't have anything to eat with, we'll just use our fingers. I'll make us some chopsticks soon," he said and took the lead. He conveniently stole the only charred bit of the pheasant wing (one he'd failed to roast well) and took a crunchy bite. It was garbage by any decent household's standard, but here in the Lower Southern Plateau, it was magnificent.
Yun Jieshi nodded and took a sip of the broth.
'Now that's better,' he thought and faced the hag.
Qui Tian was still eyeing the food suspiciously against her desire to taste it.
"Try it," Yun Jieshi urged.
And she did.
She began with the broth, raising the bowl to her lips unhurriedly.
Her expression didn't change as a string of the broth slid down the end of her lips.
…But then she rapidly emptied the vessel.
Yun Jieshi had never seen such a satisfying and disgusting scene in his life. He was glad his host was happy with the new recipe, but he wished she could have eaten like a human being, even without utensils.
Soon, the hag had finished the broth, and she turned to the roasted pheasant. Once the crispy skin and juicy flesh deposited intense flavor in her mouth, she ate everything bone and all. Yun Jieshi had begun to fear that she'd eat the bowl too.
He laughed sheepishly.
'You didn't leave me some.'
"Cook… more," the hag said, pointing at the bowls.
The little monkey sighed.
"We don't have enough water and vegetables," he said. The hag deflated. He inflated as a result, grinning. "And that's exactly why you need to bring me out there and teach me how to collect the vegetables."
The hag considered him for a few moments.
The nod she gave soon after said it all. Well, she had already agreed to this earlier.
"Great then!" cried Yun Jieshi and he gave the remainder of his broth to the hag. She vehemently refused it at first, but he insisted with the same intensity; just for today, he would satiate his hunger with the bland pheasant remains he had used for the broth. It was easy slogging them down while knowing he would be having proper meals from now on.
After the hag was done slurping the broth, Yun Jieshi collected the bowls and used the remainder of the day's water to clean them. He checked on Qui Tian's feet when he was done. They were growing warmer again so he ate a few Shuang Fingers and started massaging them.
The old woman enjoyed it, however much she seemed to hesitate to show it. She was soon dozing off. Her head hung forward, making her look as though she had multiple chins.
Yun Jieshi couldn't help but smile. A part of him wondered what Qui Tian could dream about. Did it have anything to do with why the lyrics to his song had made her tear up earlier?
It was a bizarre thought. Yun Jieshi didn't even know why his mind kept reminding him of that fact.
'I better do something about this ego,' he thought and sighed.
He laid Qui Tian down on her side, a part of him wishing he didn't have to place her on the floor.
Afterwards, he sat down and watched her for a few minutes, making sure the condition of her legs didn't worsen.
'I still don't understand how someone can have cracks like these on their legs. And this yellowing on her skin… If this was the sole cause of her pain, she'd been writhing every time she returned home – after the numbness had left her feet. I should keep an eye on her legs from today.'
Soon, Zi Kun took the world, and Yun Jieshi retired for the night. He was excited for the next day. He hoped the hag would keep her word.
But of course, she would. Another one of Yun Jieshi's requests had been that she had to teach him how she made the water; essentially, he wanted to learn her magic.
As he had claimed before, none of his requests were wholly selfish; he also wanted to lessen the hag's workload, and he could only do that by being able to do what she could.
When Wei Fang brought about the bright dawn, Yun Jieshi woke up to the sight of Qui Tian demonstrating her usual vivacity. She was in the sacred right corner of the cabin, arranging a few things.
His loud yawn immediately prompted her to call him over.
"What's this?" Yun Jieshi asked after he sat down beside her.
Qui Tian showed him a few slips of her yellow hemp cloak that she had lined in front of several bowls. She had also prepared a few roots and stems collected from previous suppers.
She pointed at one slip of hemp and took another in her hand.
"Cloth… write," she said and grabbed the stem of a scallion, licked it, and drew a set of characters on it. Yun Jieshi watched closely. The writings weren't especially vivid on the hemp cloth. That made it all the more difficult for Yun Jieshi to decipher, but his eyes came through in the end.
The hag had written:
"Eternal frost, hailing from beyond. Thaw and abide."
The piece of hemp slowly got soaked, much slower than when she used a fresh ingredient a few days ago and even slower than when she had used the fresh blood from the boar. It took a few seconds for water to start trickling from it and onto the uneven floor.
Gesturing towards the scallion stem, Qui Tian said, "Fresh blood… stronger. Old blood… weaker."
She then dangled the leaking hemp slip in front of him.
"Cloth strong… Kuon stronger."
Yun Jieshi did not understand a word of what she said. He only had a few guesses.
'Fresh blood? But that's a scallion. It doesn't technically have blood,' he thought.
Frowning, he looked at the leaking slip of hemp and scratched his head. He asked Qui Tian to give it to him.
The instant he touched it, the old, sagely voice spoke:
"A working talisman empowered by the art of Kuon with the basic instruction to supply water."
Yun Jieshi's brows rose.
'A talisman?'