CIATB Chapter 302 – Emberstone Farm Book 4
Chapter 302 – Emberstone Farm Book 4
Prince Baiyu pointed at a certain region of the sky. I did the same and saw a small black dot moving towards us.“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s a person.” A few moments later, he said, “It’s Scholar Wu.”
She was flying very fast and landed beside us a few minutes later. “My lord, my lady, I bring news of the secret realm!”
“You’ve arrived faster than the royal guard,” said Prince Baiyu. “Which secret realm is it?”
“The Nine-Colored Deer’s Nurturing Life Sacred Realm!” said Scholar Wu, a tall and dignified-looking woman with long white hair and blue eyes, the usual coloring of the White Tiger clan members. She was wearing a plain, cerulean-colored scholar’s robe, looking very elegant and respectable.
In this world, not counting royalty and nobility, there were four social classes: merchants, artisans, farmers, and scholars, with the scholar class far above the other classes in prestige. Thus, before I was elevated to the rank of princess, my household’s social standing was considerably boosted by Scholar Wu’s decision to become my apprentices’ private tutor.
Everyone crowded around her to ask about the news, and she explained that it was a wandering pocket dimension left behind by the mythical Nine-Colored Deer, who was the Longevity God’s companion in the Age of Legends.
According to local myth, there was a time when gods descended or manifested in the mortal world, lifting ordinary humans into gods or producing half-human, half-god offspring with them. Most of the gods took the shape of animals, and the clan members were their descendants. However, all these immortals eventually ascended, leaving behind only a few extraordinary places, items, and creatures.
I had seen many of those remnants with my own eyes, such as the Great Turtle, who was also an island.
As for the Nine-Colored Deer, he was a sage who had left behind many great works of philosophy and medicine, the most famous of which was “Nourishing One’s Inner Nature,” which laid out the general principles of self-cultivation practices that enhanced the life force. It talked about mundane stuff like physical exercise, a moderate diet, meditation, deep rhythmic breathing, etc., and also more esoteric practices like qi circulation, alchemy, pill refining, acupuncture, spiritual herbs, and so forth.
“Did you say spiritual herbs?” My ears perked up at that.
Scholar Wu nodded. “Yes, but the secret realm doesn’t have rare herbs, and, besides, only the Deer clan can take items from it.”
Since it was dark, we decided to return to the house and discuss it over dinner. I invited Scholar Wu and my apprentices to my courtyard, where we dined privately, in a more intimate and cozy setting. My dining room was warmly heated by the System and had a round table that seated nine people. I put the dishes in the middle, and we served ourselves, family-style.
The dishes were simple and fresh. There was steamed red rice, clear ginger-chicken soup, stir-fried wild vegetables foraged earlier today by the kitchen staff, and red-braised chicken. The dessert was boiled pears with honey.
Just as we were about to eat and talk about the secret realm, Fengying knocked on my door to announce the arrival of a royal messenger. She gave Prince Baiyu a letter from his parents. His mother was the head of the White Tiger clan and ruler of the entire Westerlands, and he was often called on to help with clan matters.
“My dear, it’s not that urgent. I’ll leave tomorrow,” he said to me.
He wrote a quick note to his parents, and my housekeeper left with Prince Baiyu’s reply.
“I’m dying to know more,” I said to Scholar Wu. “But first, let’s eat.”
However, Scholar Wu couldn’t wait to tell us. In between bites of the Demon Chef’s excellent food, she continued her explanation.
The Nine-Colored Deer’s Nurturing Life Sacred Realm contained a library of ancient books, and it appeared roughly every nine hundred years. Its reappearance today was a surprise since it had only been two hundred eighty-six years since it last emerged. The Deer clan was now taking requests from scholars who wanted to access the books, which is why Scholar Wu was in a rush. She wanted to ask my permission to leave the farm for two weeks.
“All of the books have been catalogued and copied.” Scholar Wu smiled. “There’s not much real work to be done, but this is a rare opportunity to hold the ancient books in my hand. They say the Deer himself wrote many of the books.”
“Like, with his hooves?” I asked.
She took out a book from her interspatial storage and showed me an illustration of a deer holding a calligraphy brush with his hoof to write on a scroll. “Yes.”
We all laughed.
Eggy, who had been listening silently, frowned at the illustration. “This is a deer? I want to see a real deer.”
We chatted a little more about the secret realm, and Scholar Wu waxed lyrical about the ancient tomes in the library. At the end of the meal, she excused herself and said she needed to leave before dawn to sign up for library access.
I reminded her that the staff were waiting to consult her about the quests they got from the System, and she said she would try to be back before dinner. That was fine. In this world, life was slower paced, and my staff weren’t in a rush.
Prince Baiyu shook his head as he looked at her departing back. “Scholar Wu only cares about the books, but I’m sure most people like us would be more interested in the race.”
“A race? Is it… a deer race?” I asked.
“Yes, of course.” He smiled. “It’s a special one, though. The Deer clan participants are judged not just on speed but also on grace and form. Some even say form is everything.”
“Who judges?”
“The secret realm itself!” Seeing our surprise, he explained, “The Nine-Colored Deer left behind a special race track. At the end of the event, the participants stand on a dais, and the floor lights up under whoever is the winner.”
“The prize must be amazing.”
He shook his head. “The realm doesn’t offer a prize, but the winner is traditionally given the title King or Queen of Beauty.”
I raised an eyebrow. “What? No money, magic potions, or artifacts?”
“The Deer clan charges a fee for entering the realm, and the winner is given a portion of the earnings.”
Kharli, who for some time now had looked as though she was dying to say something, burst out with a breathless sentence. “Teacher, may we please watch the race?”
Lari and Mo nodded their agreement and looked at me for approval.
I scratched my head. “Uh, when is it? It’s planting season…”
“The message said it’s twenty days from now,” said Prince Baiyu. “That is the usual interval that we know from its previous manifestation.”
The System was strict about the calendar. Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter all had two-week planting seasons, followed by an eight-week growing season, and culminating in a two-week harvest season. Seeds couldn’t be planted on the soil of the main farm and my apprentices’ outlying farms outside of this two-week period.
“How long is the travel time from here to the Deer realm?” I asked.
The portal network was only partially completed, and certain areas were still not near one. Luckily, the Deer clan’s territory had one near it.
“Five hours at a walking pace,” said Prince Baiyu. “One hour or less if we fly.”
I embraced Eggy and said, “Do you want to go with everyone to watch real deer?”
“Yes!” Eggy kissed me.
“We can watch it,” I said to my apprentices.
Lari, Kharli, and Mo erupted in cheers, and they held hands with Eggy and danced around in a circle singing, “We’re gonna watch the deer! We’re gonna watch the deer!”
Prince Baiyu said, “Love, the realm is vast, and everyone will be there. My mother will be hosting guests from everywhere.”
I thought of the Ascot race scene from My Fair Lady. “Oh my, will it be very formal?”
He laughed. “It’s a race. It’s not that serious.”
“Normal travel clothes then?”
“More like colorful festival clothes, I would think.”
“Cool, I like that.”
“My parents will be assigned a royal enclosure, for family and guests, but my sister is too small to attend, so it will just be my father.”
“And us.”
“And us.” He looked thoughtfully at my apprentices and our child. “I’ll arrange a special, quieter booth for you and Eggy to sit in.”
“Yes, of course, how thoughtful.”
I kissed him on the cheek, and he reciprocated.
The kids returned to the table, and I attempted to make a nice warming drink for them, [Mulled Apple Cider]. It was more properly a winter drink, but I had a bit of a craving for it.
[Mulled Apple Cider:
A steaming mug of cider infused with cinnamon and cloves. Its spicy aroma provides a comforting warmth that wards off the chill of winter.]
I used the stove to heat up the [Cider] with sticks of [Cinnamon], [Orange] slices, and whole [Cloves]. At least, that was the idea, but when I added the [Cinnamon] to the [Cider], it turned into [Burnt Food], filling the pot I was using with a charcoal-like mass.
Eggy thought it was amazing. “Mom magic! Do it again, Mom.”
Lari, Kharli, and Mo laughed.
It took three more tries, but I did finally make [Mulled Apple Cider] for everyone. Alas, when I poured it into mugs, it once again turned into [Burnt Food]. I had to try once again. Thankfully, it worked.
“My dear apprentices, this just goes to show that if you fail once, you can fail twice, or even five times, but if you don’t give up, you will eventually be able to enjoy some good [Mulled Apple Cider].”
We all toasted to that.
***
The next day, Prince Baiyu and Scholar Wu left separately to make their arrangements for the secret realm. My apprentices and I also got up at dawn.
The new quest I received when I woke up seemed promising, and I decided to check it out before we planted the crops today. I wasn’t sure if I could finish it in a day, but I wanted to try.
[Quest Available: Reactivate the Slumbering Mycorrhizal Network]
[Reactivate the Slumbering Mycorrhizal Network:
The mycorrhizal network is an underground web of fungal threads called mycelium that connects crop roots. Plants share sugars with these fungi, which in return deliver hard-to-reach nutrients. The result is a living system where your plants thrive together more efficiently than they could alone.
Offer wild mushrooms to the fairies in exchange for Inoculant Pellets.
Drop the pellets in the farm’s dead zones and water them.
Dig five spirit wells.
Wait three days.
Effects:
Permanent 10% increase to yield
Permanent quality boost
Reward: Farming exp]