A red glow on the horizon.

With the dreamlike and breath-taking scenery before him, Tolly felt it had brought a healthy glow to his cheeks.

He was completely baffled by the fact that such a nice place, with a splendid view in front and a magnificent sight of the steep cliff behind, was considered to be the worst location on Fanta Mountain only because it was just a little further away from the very heart of the village.

Perhaps the people here in Wesilver Village, though not having any experience of an advanced industrial society, would instinctively see whether or not there was more economic potential in their houses.

However, Sally did not think as much as others, for she had already been accustomed to everything here. Despite the particular humble nature of the hovel, she liked it very much.

At the little door stood a huge, glazed brown porcelain pot. When Tolly touched it, he felt an amazing chill in his hand. No doubt it served as an icebox to store extra food.

Tolly also noticed that some mysterious yellow glow would appear around it now and then. Could it be the purported runic formation?

The word ‘runic formation’ was something he had come to know when reading web novels in his previous life. He had never expected that he would see it for real here on Goldearth. If he was not wrong, the runic formation on the pot had a cooling effect.

That explained why it could be served as an ice box. Needless to say, the wisdom of the ancients could never be underestimated, for they could figure out runic formations to achieve the effects that could only be made with the high-techs back on the earth.

While Tolly was lost at what he had seen, Sally came over and bent down a little bit at the pot, taking some red meat out of it.

Then she went to roll up a bucket of spring water from the well in the yard. Seemingly very thirsty herself, without any hesitation, she ladled some sparkling spring water out of the bucket and quaffed it. After doing that, she seemed quite content, letting out a cute burp, as the clear, tasty spring water quenched her thirst very well.

“Nice! The effervescent water is so fresh. Now, I’m going to cook for you and show you how to make Red Energy Pills.” she said delightfully.

“Okay, what is it? Beef, lamb, or pork?” Tolly asked, looking at the meat in her hand.  

“No, it’s dog meat.”

“W-w-what?!” Tolly gaped in disbelief.

“Just kidding!” Sally chuckled, “Do you know it? If you can reverse ‘dog’, then you can see ‘god’. Dogs are always good companions for human beings. They are friendly and faithful, just like a part of our family. Dog meat might be delicious, but we wouldn’t go for it even if we are going to starve to death!”

Tolly nodded with a smile, but Sally’s words jogged the memory of his previous life. He vividly remembered one of his grueling digs as a gold miner.

A colleague of his, or to put it precisely, a jowly bald security guard with a bristling beard, had killed a small yellow dog with his high-voltage electric stick just in front of Tolly. When the terrifying blue lightning hit the dog, the puppy fell to the ground and died in just a few seconds.

At that time, Tolly had never thought of it as cruel and happily enjoyed the dog meal made by his colleague. Admittedly, the dog meat had been truly delicious. Now with Sally’s words, he felt ashamed of himself, flushing with embarrassment.

However, Sally did not notice this. Pointing to the meat with her right forefinger, she continued, ‘To tell you the truth, it’s wild goose meat. You’ve been so funny today! How can you not know wild goose meat? We eat it almost every day. I guess you are just too hungry to think clearly, so when the meal is ready, go for it first.”

Tolly stayed quiet and did not say anything. Sally was right. He was famished indeed.

Wild goose meat was the staple food for the residents of Fanta Mountain. Normally, a wild goose was as big as a turkey, with a bulky body usually ranging from 5 to 50 pounds. Its meat did not taste particularly good, but it was good enough to fight hunger.

Time on Goldearth was almost the same as that on Earth, with three hundred and five days in a year and twenty-four hours a day.

About an hour later, as the wild goose broth was ready, Sally took a large bowl out of the white wooden box under her bed. She decided to get some in the bowl and served it to Tolly.

“Hey, Tolly, come inside! Our dinner’s ready!” Sally called out.

“Coming right up!” replied Tolly.

When Sally lifted up the lid on the wok, a strong aroma wafted in the air and gave his nose a warm greeting. Tolly closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.

“It smells so good!” he exclaimed, salivating.

Sally quickly got a bowl of the broth ready, saying happily,

“Here you go! Help yourself to it!”

“Thank you! You’re always kind to me, Sally!”

“You’re welcome!”

Tolly was famished so he quickly finished his bowl of wild goose broth. He said with an embarrassed smile,

“Can I have another bowl of the broth, Sally?”

“Sure, no problem!”

Sally seemed very glad to see that Tolly liked the broth she cooked. The more he had, the happier she would be.

A few minutes later, Tolly downed another bowl of broth. He let out a beautiful burp contentedly and smiled.

“Do you want any more?” asked Sally.

“No, thank you. Perhaps you can have some yourself!” Tolly said with great concern, as he didn’t see Sally have any of her broth.

“No, I won’t have any of it, because I ‘m on a diet.” Sally said with a mysterious smile.

“On a diet? But you’re not fat. You’ve never been fat. And you’re not going to be fat. Why don’t you go on a diet?” Tolly asked with great curiosity.

“I’m just kidding, Tolly. I’ll take some Red Energy Pills later.” Sally explained, “You know what, Tolly. For a human being, I mean, a mortal, hunger is an incurable disease. It can only be alleviated by absorbing energy. Solid food is usually a source of low-level energy and provides us with the least amount of energy; Liquids much better and the vital energy, known as Ki the best.

“Really? It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of the idea.” Tolly said, showing great interest in what she had just said.

“Impossible! There are rudimentary concepts and ideas of cultivation. It seems you don’t work hard at school, Tolly!” Sally looked at Tolly with a serious look, seemingly warning him that she would cane him if he didn’t make his efforts at school.

“Anyway, now I’ll show you how to make Red Energy Pills.”

Sally put some Gancao, the liquorice root into the wild goose broth. After that, she continued to cook the wild goose broth on the stove for fifteen minutes.

When sally removed the lid from the wok, Tolly found that all the wild goose broth was gone and transformed into some yellow herbs.

“How is it possible? What’s that?” Tolly asked in amazement.

“Do you know that a wild goose is a guardian for Huangqi, Tolly?” asked Sally.

“Huangqi?”

“Yeah, Wild geese have long had Huangqi as their food since ancient times. They became the guardian of Huangqi twenty-two million years ago. Huangqi, also known as ‘Yellow-old”, as the leader of the tonics, is the root of membranous milkvetch. When wild goose broth is cooked until it is evaporated, it’ll turn itself into Huangqi, so the yellow herbs you’ve just seen are actually Huangqi, the Yellow-old.”

Having said that, Sally made the fire bigger by adding more wood to the stove. And then she put the lid back on the pot. At the same time, Sally sat cross-legged, quietly leading her vital energy inside her body to her fingertips.

Suddenly, she pointed at the pot with her fingers. Some invisible vital energy came into the pot.

Bang…a loud explosion happened inside the pot.

“Okay, Red Energy Pills are ready!” Sally said excitedly.

When the lid was removed away from the pot, Tolly saw nothing but a few red round pellets spinning inside the pot.