Chapter 26 Mushrooms
As the crowing sound echoed through the forest, the centipedes that had extended most of their bodies froze instantly.
Chu Jiu was delighted, and his hands moved faster as he plucked the bowstring.
“Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The sound grew louder, two centipedes remained frozen, while the other two began to tremble. ?
More centipedes crawled out from under the semi-rotten fallen leaves, their antennae waving in panic, as if confirming, “Was that a crowing sound?”
“Is there a dangerous predator nearby?”
Finally, amidst the continuous crowing, the centipedes crawled onto the ground one by one, scrambling to escape the area.
About fifteen minutes later, all the centipedes that had been hiding in the shadows had fled, leaving the ground churned up, with a few [Centipede Hard Shells] remaining.
Chu Jiu let out a breath, put away his bamboo bow, and tossed the hard shells into his backpack, explaining everything to Little Can: After making this bow and arrow set, he had secretly practiced for several days. However, whether it was due to incorrect posture or insufficient arm strength, he had never hit the bullseye even once.
Despite missing every shot, during those days of frequent archery practice, he accidentally heard a brief crowing sound from the bowstring.
A perfectly normal bow suddenly crowed like a rooster, startling Chu Jiu, but he soon realized that a certain movement had triggered the bowstring’s inherent property, causing it to crow.
The crowing was so loud; wouldn’t that be like revealing his position to the monsters? It wouldn’t achieve the effect of a long-range sneak attack.
Chu Jiu had even considered switching to a different long-range weapon.
But then he remembered the Wind Breath Fruit and the centipedes hiding around the Wind Breath Fruit tree.
Chu Jiu recalled that the illustration had a description of those centipedes whose direct attacks would cause venom to splatter:
[This bug is probably just a magnified version of a centipede. It retains all the habits of a centipede and also inherits the centipede’s natural fear of roosters.]
Chu Jiu heard that in some places, just the sound of a rooster crowing can drive away centipedes and other poisonous insects?
Using a rooster’s crow… to drive away venomous bugs?
With that thought, Chu Jiu decided to use the bow in a different way.
He made a plectrum out of bamboo and practiced alone for quite some time. Eventually, he figured out how to use the bow to produce a series of sharp, explosive screeches.
After hearing Chu Jiu’s explanation, Little Can sat with its head tilted, looking at him, its fluffy little head full of unknown thoughts.
Chu Jiu looked ahead at the muddy terrain and smiled. “Not bad—the effect is promising!”
Once they arrived under the Tree of Wind Fruit, Chu Jiu pointed up at the seemingly endless canopy and said:
“Little Can, now it’s your turn to shoot an arrow.”
“Up there—see the fork in the branches? Just above that, there’s a little patch of gray. That gray thing is the Wind Breath Fruit we’re looking for. But this time, you can’t use a regular bamboo arrow—you’ll need this one.”
As he spoke, Chu Jiu handed Little Can an arrow.
There wasn’t anything special about the tip of the arrow, but the end was tied with a long, thin string—its purpose unclear.
Little Can didn’t ask any questions. Silently, it drew the bow.
“Whoosh!”
Naturally, with its flawless accuracy, it hit the target.
However, no fruit dropped down.
Instead, the thin string swayed in the wind, drifting upward like a kite string.
Chu Jiu grabbed the string and began to slowly pull it in.
A few minutes later, the string brought back the bamboo arrow along with the Wind Fruit, its stem pierced by the arrow.
The Wind Breath Fruit slowly floated down into Chu Jiu’s hands.
The Wind Breath Fruit was about the size of a watermelon, but incredibly light—as if it weighed nothing at all.
If Chu Jiu hadn’t held tightly onto the string the whole time, it probably would’ve floated off into the sky.
Little Can stared at the strange fruit, tilting its head to look at Chu Jiu—“Can we eat this? How do we eat it?”
Chu Jiu stowed the Wind Fruit in his backpack and used [Camper’s Instinct]:
“This fruit isn’t edible.”
“The sky’s getting darker. Let’s make camp for the night.”
As soon as he finished speaking, a flash of light revealed the golden, winged little hamster appearing up ahead.
It clearly hadn’t expected rain—the raindrops made its round little body shudder, and its tiny wings flapped even faster.
Chu Jiu was just thinking of making a little rain hat for the hamster when Little Can suddenly leapt into the air, swiftly bounding along branches to reach the hamster.
It gently placed the small conical hat Chu Jiu had made for it onto the hamster’s head.
The whole motion was fluid and graceful—the little hamster didn’t even realize what had happened before it suddenly had a rain hat on its head.
Chu Jiu let out a surprised “Eh?” and said to Little Can,
“Not bad, that was quite the gentlemanly move.”
Little Can sat primly on Chu Jiu’s shoulder, eyes looking straight ahead, as if it hadn’t just been complimented—pretending it wasn’t secretly pleased.
Chu Jiu smiled, pursed his lips, and made another tiny rain hat in half a minute, placing it back onto Little Can’s head.
As usual, the golden hamster flew ahead, guiding the way for the human and cat duo.
Previously, to avoid being grabbed and played with by Little Can, the hamster always flew high and stayed far away from it.
But this time, maybe it was the rain hat that made it feel safer, or maybe the rain made it too hard to fly fast—either way, the hamster didn’t keep its distance.
And surprisingly, Little Can didn’t try to paw at the hamster this time either. It simply sat upright and composed, its beautiful ice-blue eyes locked onto the hamster.
The rain was light but steady.
Though the moss had been cleared from the ground, it was still slippery and muddy, so Chu Jiu couldn’t walk too fast.
As he moved forward, he occasionally bent down to pick things up along the way.
After walking for about an hour, the person and the cat were led by the little golden hamster to a hidden cave entrance.
Chu Jiu pushed aside the vines covering the cave mouth and crawled inside.
The cave turned out to be quite spacious, with a dry enough floor and various stones scattered around in different sizes.
As he praised the little hamster for being so reliable—finding such a perfect place to spend the night—Chu Jiu quickly stacked some stones into a makeshift stove and began preparing a fire for cooking.
He placed an iron pot on the stove, brushed some sauce onto fish chunks, skewered them with bamboo sticks, and propped them over the flames. A bamboo tube filled with rice, diced cured meat, and water was tossed directly into the fire.
Before long, the once chilly cave was filled with a warm, comforting steam, carrying the faint fragrance of bamboo.
Chu Jiu took out a mushroom he’d picked up earlier on the road, the [Qianba Mushroom], washed it clean, and sliced it into thin strips.
This mushroom looked like a dusty-gray piece of coral—though it also resembled a fallen pinecone. If he hadn’t had an identification card on hand, Chu Jiu wouldn’t have dared to bring it back.
Besides the Qianba mushroom, he had also gathered Termite Mushrooms, Beef Liver Mushrooms, and White Ginseng Mushrooms.
No wonder—this plateau was rich in rainfall, and mushrooms covered the mountainsides. Both edible and highly poisonous varieties were everywhere.
Strangely enough, while the other plants and animals in this area were several times larger than their counterparts on Earth, the mushrooms were about the same size as back home.
Maybe… it’s because mushrooms are neither plants nor animals? Chu Jiu mused.
With the mushrooms prepared, Chu Jiu sliced open the [Giant Zephyranthes’ Stigma], poured out the pale yellow “egg liquid” from inside, beat it with chopsticks, and added it to the mushroom and meat mixture in a pan of hot oil.
“Sizzle—” A rich aroma burst from the oil instantly.
He added a bit of spicy sauce made from Chinese pepper and gave it a quick stir-fry. The scent became even more intense, making Chu Jiu’s mouth water uncontrollably.
Five minutes later, the “Stir-Fried Button Mushroom and Meat with Egg” was ready.
Black mushroom shreds tangled with golden scrambled eggs and savory meat, all glistening in a small pool of oil at the bottom of the wooden plate.
Chu Jiu took a bite, and his entire mouth was filled with tender, savory richness. He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, completely immersed in the flavor for a solid thirty seconds.
No wonder so many people risk getting shrunk just to eat wild mushrooms! They’re just too delicious!
That night, Chu Jiu polished off a full bamboo tube of rice along with the mushroom dish.
Even Little Can, who usually refused to eat anything but specific meats, took two bites of the mushroom stir-fry, its eyes narrowing into happy slits—it nearly let out a soft “meow” in satisfaction.
Completely absorbed in the delicious meal, neither the human nor the cat noticed the small, fuzzy “little chestnut” clinging to the vines at the cave entrance.
It wasn’t until the plate had been cleaned of even the last mushroom shred that the tiny figure silently rolled away.
*
The next day.
Chu Jiu first used vines and rope to make a “safety harness,” then crafted a simple “air pump” out of bamboo tubes, wood, cloth strips, and snakeskin.
With the day’s gear ready, he braved the rain and continued walking deep into the first terrace plateau until he stood before the base cliff of the second terrace—so close it seemed he could reach out and touch it.
From this angle, the cliff ahead looked like a massive wall—a thick, moss-covered wall.
Chu Jiu reached out and touched the “wall.” As expected, it was wet and slippery—impossible to climb with just human strength.
Good thing Chu Jiu hadn’t planned on climbing in the first place.
He tucked Little Can safely away, strapped on the harness, used rope to secure the Wind Fruit to it, chopped off half of the fruit stem, and attached the pump nozzle to the remaining stem using [Slime Adhesive Gel]. Then he slowly began pumping air into the fruit.
The watermelon-sized Wind Breath Fruit floated into the air, expanding rapidly—going from a small watermelon to the size of a large winter melon in no time.
Chu Jiu sped up his pumping.
Soon, the winter melon became a giant pumpkin.
Chu Jiu wobbled slightly—his feet had already left the ground.
As the Wind Fruit grew, it floated higher and higher, carrying Chu Jiu farther and farther from the ground.
Little Can peeked out, its eyes wide and round, as if asking: What’s going on?
Chu Jiu slowed his hands, and the Wind Breath Fruit’s ascent also eased.
He explained, “The ‘pulp’ inside this Wind Fruit is a special powder. It can turn the air into… into a lighter gas.”
Whether that gas was hydrogen, ammonia, nitrogen, or some unknown element not found on Earth, the field guide didn’t say—and Chu Jiu wasn’t about to find out by testing if it could be lit on fire.
Whatever the gas was, as long as it could carry someone into the sky, it was a good gas.
“If we keep pumping air into it, this thing basically becomes a hot air balloon.”
Chu Jiu paused. “Little Can, do you know what a hot air balloon is?”
By now, Little Can had regained its composure and let out a single soft “meow,” as if to say: “Yes, I know.”
Chu Jiu thought to himself—Just as I suspected. This Little Can summoned by the system isn’t a native of this world. Otherwise, how could it know what a hot air balloon is?
After all, this otherworld had no rubber products, no manufactured ammonia—how could they possibly have “things that fly when heated”?
The Wind Fruit eventually inflated to the size of one of those giant pumpkins you’d see on a fairytale carriage. From afar, it looked like an enormous pufferfish on the verge of popping.
After floating upward for nearly half an hour, they finally saw the grasslands and trees of the second terrace plateau.
Chu Jiu scanned the area and spotted a tall enough tree. From his backpack, he pulled out a “Flying Tiger Claw”—a grapple made from the mandibles of a centipede and some rope—planning to toss it onto the tree’s branches and pull himself over.
Just then, Little Can jumped onto the back of his hand. “You’re going to throw this?”
Chu Jiu quickly said, “Hold on tight! Don’t fall!—Yes, I’m going to throw it.”
Little Can said nothing. It calmly drew its bamboo bow and mounted the Flying Tiger Claw like it was an arrow.
Compared to its bow, the grappling claw was ridiculously oversized—Chu Jiu even doubted the bow could launch it at all.
But Little Can, as if seeing through his concerns, narrowed its eyes and said, “Don’t worry. It’ll work.”
Then, released.
The claw flew through the air, trailing the rope behind it, and hooked perfectly onto the tree branch.
Chu Jiu let out an admiring “Whoa!” and immediately stuck three hollow wheat straws into the Wind Fruit’s air valve to slowly let the gas out. At the same time, he used the rope to pull himself over, bit by bit, toward the tree.
Once he landed safely, he shrank the Wind Breath Fruit back down to watermelon size and continued toward the boundary between the second and third terraces.
Upon reaching the edge, Chu Jiu once again strapped on the harness, inflated the Wind Fruit, and floated his way up to the third level.
Repeating this process, by dusk, he had reached the fifth terrace.
According to the icon on the “Treasure Hunter’s Compass,” the cotton they were looking for was on the tenth terrace—the very top.
If everything went smoothly, they’d find the cotton in two more days.
After spending most of the day flying through the rain, Chu Jiu was starting to feel tired.
He didn’t plan to travel through the night, so he used a skill to summon the little golden hamster once again—to lead them to tonight’s campsite.
Just like yesterday, Chu Jiu occasionally bent down to pick up mushrooms along the way.
As he walked, he spotted a cluster of mushrooms pushing up from a pile of fallen leaves ahead—a type famously known in Southwest China as Jian Shou Qing (literally: “Turns Blue Upon Touch”).
Jian Shou Qing is actually a kind of bolete mushroom. If it’s bruised or touched, it turns a deep indigo blue—hence the name.
But what made it truly famous wasn’t the color change. It was its toxicity. If not cooked properly, eating it could lead to hallucinations—some people even claimed to see dancing little people.
Even so, every year there were still people willing to take the risk for its indescribably rich flavor.
Chu Jiu murmured, “Perfect chance to finally see how good it tastes,” and crouched down, reaching out to pick the cluster.
Suddenly, a hard chestnut rolled over, and its sharp spines pricked the back of his hand.
Chu Jiu let out a startled “Eh?” and quickly withdrew his hand, shaking off the rainwater and sting.
Little Can, perched on his shoulder, widened its eyes in a flash and leapt to the ground, baring its claws at the “chestnut.”
Chu Jiu held the cat back. “It’s just a chestnut with some spikes on it. No need to fuss over it.”
Little Can let out an indignant “Meow!”:
“That’s not an ordinary chestnut! Don’t you remember the story you read to me? That’s clearly one of those spiky ‘Chestnut Sprites’!”
How dare a Chestnut Sprite try to hurt its human?!
Chu Jiu gently pressed down on Little Can back, speaking softly, “I’m fine. No blood, no injury. Just a little scratchy.”
He cupped Little Can in his hands and lowered his voice:“I know what it is. According to the books, that Jian Shou Qing is probably its treasure.”
In Bestiary of Spirits and Sprites, it was written: If a human dared to covet a Chestnut Sprite’s treasure, they’d get stabbed all over in retaliation.
“So we just don’t pick that mushroom. No need to fight it.”
Hearing this, Little Can grumpily retracted her claws and said nothing.
Chu Jiu smiled and softly praised it: “Good cat.”
Soon, they reached another hidden cave.
Chu Jiu set up a fire and began prepping dinner.
Though he hadn’t picked that Jian Shou Qing mushroom in the afternoon, he had gathered plenty of other mushrooms—boletes and liver mushrooms among them.
After washing them clean, he butchered a bamboo blossom chicken, and the main course for the night was wild mushroom chicken soup.
The bamboo blossom chicken was small but tender. Before long, it was stewed to near-perfect softness.
Chu Jiu picked up a drumstick with his chopsticks.
The meat was neither dry nor greasy—tender and juicy, full of wild mushroom flavor, and just a little too hot to bite into.
But Chu Jiu was already starving. He didn’t bother blowing on it—he just shoved the steaming, broth-soaked drumstick into his mouth and chewed with delight, feeling more satisfied by the second.
After eating a drumstick and a wing and downing more than half a bowl of soup, Chu Jiu had a light sheen of sweat on his forehead, and his cheeks were flushed.
The cold dampness brought on by days of rain had been completely driven out by that single bowl of hot soup.
Little Can, who had been quietly gnawing on a dried grilled fish skewer nearby, twitched its little nose as it watched Chu Jiu eating with such enthusiasm—clearly intrigued by the soup.
Chu Jiu caught sight of her round eyes, smiled, and held out another drumstick near her mouth:
“Wanna try? It’s got all kinds of mushrooms in it—super fragrant.”
Little Can hesitated, sniffed again, then looked up into Chu Jiu’s bright, shining eyes for a few seconds. Finally, it dipped its head and took a bite of the drumstick with a soft “Awoo.”
Chew chew chew…
Hmm. Not quite as delicate as fish, but still pretty tasty—with a special kind of aroma too.
“Hey, not bad! You’re eating chicken now!” Chu Jiu praised Little Can with a wide grin.
Little Can hadn’t expected a bite of chicken to earn it a compliment. It froze for a second, and just as it was processing the praise, Chu Jiu passed it a wing: “Want more?”
So Little Can opened its mouth again and took it with a soft chirp.
Just like that, the human and the cat finished off a whole chicken, a big pot of soup, and a bunch of mushrooms together.
Full and warm, Chu Jiu picked up Little Can, leaned back against a dry rock, and half-lay there digesting while listening to the soft rain outside.
It wasn’t just Chu Jiu who didn’t want to move—Little Can, usually so alert, was now sprawled belly-up on his chest, eyes half-closed in contentment.
But just a few minutes later, Little Can suddenly flipped over and let out a loud, fierce “Meooww!” toward the front of the cave.
Startled mid-cat-petting, Chu Jiu quickly sat up and looked ahead—
If he hadn’t been sure all the mushrooms had been thoroughly cooked, he might’ve thought he was hallucinating.
There, standing neatly on the ground, were dozens of fuzzy “chestnuts,” each with tiny limbs like matchsticks and little round cartoon faces.
Chu Jiu couldn’t help rubbing his eyes.
The leading “chestnut,” about the size of a sparrow, hopped forward a few steps, looked up at Chu Jiu, and began crying loudly: “Help! My mom got all weird after eating the mushrooms!”
