"What is it?"

This voice, instead of sounding like it was right next to the rooster. It sounded like an echo coming from the top of a mountain that drilled into his head. It was a voice that screamed, "You're just an ant to me," without saying it directly somehow.

Lo Qi, in response, said, "Oh great and humble master, your faithful servant, Lo Qi, has come back. I bear good news; I have surveyed the wreckage and brought back a survivor."

A sigh came from inside the house, lowering the surrounding temperature by a few degrees. Then, the master said, "My faithful servant... Lo Qi?" the voice paused to contemplate those words.

"Yes, indeed. I always follow my master's words exactly. It pleases me to fulfil the terms of our contract. And I'm almost ready to complete that order from before," said Lo Qi during his master's hesitation.

These words brought out a fit of laughter from the master. When he calmed down, he said, "My servant Lo Qi, you should change your name to Low Key. You're always finding ways to screw me over with sneaky loopholes in that contract. If it wasn't for your talent in pill-making and the uselessness of herbs in their raw form, I would've have killed you long ago."

"If master wishes, Lo Qi will change his name," said Lo Qi.

Meanwhile, the rooster was cowering on the piece of wood; his feet still stuck by some strange force. Left powerless and on the sidelines during a conversation between powerful men. The thought to challenge these men or do anything that could bring attention to him was not even considered. His animal instincts served him well.

With Lo Qi and master, they bantered back and forth for about an hour. One side being openly hostile; the other was extremely cooperative and submissive yet somehow managed to piss the other party off.

Finally, the conversation ended with Lo Qi bringing the conversation back to his mission. "Master, I have brought back some wreckage and a survivor. What shall I do with them?"

"If you found wreckage, then it obviously sunk. Do what you wish with the survivor; I only wanted you to find one if you couldn't find the wreckage so we could find out what happened.

But, I believe I gave you a mission last week. Complete it with haste. My new mistress is coming up from the Hidden Valley in a few days," ordered the master.

"Ah, the girl from that ranch," said Lo Qi with a wide open mouth as if he was shocked or enlightened by something.

A loud thump was heard from inside the house and gravity seemed to increase twofold in the area. "Don't make me cut your tongue out. Soon, she will be my mistress so you must show her respect. Now begone!"

"Yes sir. From now on, I shall refer to her as 'young mistress' or 'my lady,'" stated Lo Qi obediently while saluting.

The rooster was quite stressed by this entire situation. It hadn't eaten or drank water in at least a day and a half, it's body was covered in wounds, and it got caught in the crossfire between immortals.

He almost cried tears of joy when the doubled weight was relieved and Lo Qi freed his bond to the wood. The only thing stopping him was that Lo Qi immediately picked him up. Going from stuck to freedom to captured in only a second.

Lo Qi brought him over towards the fenced-in area off to the side of the house. There, he set the rooster down. The rooster found its feet stuck to the ground, once again. Then, Lo Qi began talking.

"As the master gave me discretion over you, I have decided to hire you as a servant here on this manor. This benefits the master as I'll have more time to refine the pill he wants by pushing all of my more menial work unto you. Starting with..." Lo Qi opened a gate into the fenced-in area mid-sentence, "...taking care of the garden."

With those last words, the rooster's feet were freed from the ground. As the fence reminded him of his old coop, he wandered in without hesitation. The area inside was filled with strange plants and seemed larger than it looked from outside.

Lo Qi came inside behind him and started picking some random plants. While doing so, he said, "As a servant under me, I grant you the name of Richard, as saying rooster all the time would be annoying and confusing if another rooster appears."

The rooster, now dubbed Richard, couldn't care less. He was hungry, thirsty, and was starting to get used to Lo Qi's unusual voice. And it found something familiar; at least, it looked familiar.

One of the herbs in the garden resembled cabbage or lettuce. Basically, it was a circular shaped plant made up of leaves folding around itself for several layers. Richard remembered a few times when the tavern keeper, that took care of him in the past, tossed out cabbage or lettuce that had browned slightly as feed. It was bland but edible.

One peck at the pseudo-cabbage brought a strong bitter taste that made Richard spit it out. It did not seem to be edible; or it was just too bitter for something to consume it normally. Either way, he was not eating that.

Seeing this, Lo Qi chuckled and tossed some seeds, fruits, and grains towards Richard. They were gathered by him while he was picking a few plants out. He didn't seem angry about Richard pecking at one of the plants; even though most of these plants were quite rare.

Richard was then preoccupied for a few minutes, eating the stuff Lo Qi tossed. They were quite tasty. But, each time he ate one, he felt some sort of weight inside of him. Like something was building up. Some sort of odd pressure that he had never felt before.

Not caring much about the pressure, he wandered about in the garden. Water was his biggest desire right now. Lo Qi, at this point, had gathered the plants he wanted and left. So, he could only wander about in this garden full of valuable herbs on his own.

Everywhere he went, the plants became slightly damaged. Stepping on them, pecking at them, pooping on them, and blocking them from the sun. Quite a few of them were delicate, killing them off when Richard passed by.

Richard was truly living up to the task of taking care of the garden in the worst possible way. But, he found a ditch that ran through the center of the garden that was full of freshwater. And there was a tree that he liked to perch in when night fell. Which satisfied all of his basic needs.

Around four days later, Lo Qi came back. Seeing all of the herbs destroyed by Richard, he couldn't help but frown and his eyebrow twitched. But a smile came upon his lips and his face relaxed. He had thought of something that helped alleviate the pain.

Richard was close to the entrance at this time as one of the plants he fancied eating was close by. This allowed Lo Qi to find him as soon as he entered.

Richard wasn't sure how to react to Lo Qi. Before, he was slightly fearful of Lo Qi; now he was more indifferent. The conversation between the master and Lo Qi helped him adjust and four days helped him forget.

Lo Qi walked over to Richard and pulled a pill out of his clothes. It was as small as a bean and was brown. Remembering the time Lo Qi tossed some food for him, Richard came closer and looked towards the pill excitedly.

"Richard you've done well with taking care of the garden and the master has decided to reward you with this pill. It is called the cock enhancement pill and its effects are unknown to me. Since it was the master's request, I chose the best of the best herbs randomly and combined them. The master's foresight is great; telling me to give you this pill eleven days ago when you've only been around for four days," said Lo Qi.

The words Lo Qi were strange and didn't seem to match up. And he was trying not to laugh the entire time he spoke. Alas, Richard didn't understand the human language, so these discrepancies were lost on him.

Lo Qi laid the pill in his palm and stretched out his hand towards Richard. Richard simply leaned his head forward and ate the pill whole. Then proceeded to walk away like nothing happened.

"How anticlimactic! I was expecting it to explode or something," said Lo Qi with the most truthful words he had spoken since being contracted by his master.

As soon as these words left his mouth, Richard froze up. A tightness and swelling attacked Richard's chest while pain assaulted his brain. For the third time this week, Richard fell unconscious.

Author's Note: Instead of a double chapter, here's a chapter that's longer than the other chapters. I gotta figure out a release schedule sometime.

Also, apparently hens cluck and roosters crow. So, I'm going to have to edit the wording in the previous chapters.