Chapter 38: Digging Yams
After so many years, the wolf king had come down from the mountain again.
Neither Ying Kongtu nor Tiaozhu could bear to part with it so soon.
So after dinner, all the animals in Ying Kongtu’s house rested together in the courtyard.
When Ying Kongtu finished tidying up the kitchen and came out, he saw every furry member of the family gathered in the yard.
Even Tiaozhu had come down from the top of the courtyard wall and was sleeping beside the wolf king.
The winter wind was a little cold, but Ying Kongtu had placed a brazier in the courtyard, and their fur was thick.
When the wind blew over, it only lifted the outer layer of fur and could not part the downy undercoat beneath.
So none of them were cold. They slept very comfortably.
Dart was even lying on its back, hind paws tucked in, belly exposed, sprawled near the brazier in all directions.
Its wolf companion, Jingwei, was pressed against its back, which at least counted as blocking the wind for it.
Ying Kongtu looked them over. Seeing that the little ones were fine, he went inside and brought out a blanket, draping it over Wen Zhongshan’s knees.
Wen Zhongshan was stirred by his movement. “It’s fine. I’m not cold.”
Ying Kongtu was also wrapped in a blanket. “It’s more comfortable with one.”
There was a moon tonight, but it was a waning moon, hanging clear and cold in the southeastern corner.
Above their heads, cold stars filled the sky.
The sky was very dark, making the stars appear even brighter, with a hard, chilly quality.
Ying Kongtu lay down wrapped in his blanket and said, “I probably won’t awaken the other little mountain gods for now.”
Wen Zhongshan turned his head to look at him.
“The power of faith you gave me is very pure, but I feel they’ll be in better condition if they rest for a while longer.”
Ying Kongtu also turned back, lying on his side face-to-face with Wen Zhongshan. “Most of my mountains haven’t been recovered yet. Even if I wake them, there won’t be enough places to settle them. If they go out, they may easily frighten people.”
Wen Zhongshan said, “It’s fine. You decide.”
“I’m telling you.” Ying Kongtu’s eyes curved. “We should discuss things, after all.”
Ying Kongtu slowly talked about matters on the mountains.
Listening to his voice, Wen Zhongshan gradually fell asleep.
The courtyard full of furry creatures also gradually fell asleep.
Ying Kongtu lay on his back, looking at the starry sky above.
Emptying his power of faith had still affected Wen Zhongshan himself. Otherwise, he would not be this tired, nor would he fall asleep so easily.
Through Ying Kongtu’s hand, Wen Zhongshan had poured a great amount of power of faith into the shrines.
The shrines had lit up briefly, then soon returned to their usual appearance.
They had shone for too short a time, so no human noticed anything unusual.
Ying Kongtu spent several days going to each mountain to check.
Even for mountains with owners, he informed the owners before going up to inspect the shrines.
Every time he went up, he took one or two stones from each shrine.
Even from the mountain god temple in the county town, he took two stones.
These stones had been weathered over the long years until they became smooth and gentle. When tapped, they gave a clear ringing sound. They looked very beautiful.
After Ying Kongtu brought these stones back, he did nothing else with them. Instead, he built a small shrine in one corner of the courtyard.
This little shrine, which gathered stones from all the mountain god shrines, could serve as a small transfer station.
Tiaozhu and the others could use this little shrine to reach other shrines.
Before, if Tiaozhu wanted to return to a shrine, it could only return to the mountain god temple or the shrine on Tiaozhu Mountain. It was far too inconvenient.
Now, through this little shrine, it could go to any shrine where no little mountain god was sleeping. It would be much more convenient when it wanted to patrol the mountains.
Ying Kongtu built this shrine for the wolf king’s convenience as well.
Tiaozhu was still manageable. It looked like an especially large tabby cat.
At first glance, humans would not be frightened by it.
The wolf king was different.
The wolf king’s body was too large.
A few days ago, Ying Kongtu had used a raincoat to cover most of it, and that was why passersby had mistaken it for an Alaskan Malamute.
In truth, it did not look like an Alaskan Malamute at all.
It had heterochromatic eyes, and its jawline was very distinct, giving it an extremely sharp appearance.
Although most of the time, its eyes were very gentle.
Its appearance was naturally oppressive, and its shoulder height was more than eighty centimeters. It also never grinned foolishly like a dog. Anyone who saw it would realize it was a fierce beast.
If it went out, it would easily frighten people. If anything happened, that would be bad. It was more convenient for it to go up the mountain through the little shrine.
The small shrine Ying Kongtu had carefully built looked like a work of art.
Wen Zhongshan swept his appreciative gaze over every inch of its lines. “If you entered the architecture industry, you would definitely become a master architect.”
“I’m just skilled through practice. I’ve built too many shrines and seen too many different kinds of shrines, so the shrine I build looks a little different.”
After Wen Zhongshan finished looking at the little shrine, Ying Kongtu said, “I’ll be free tomorrow. Do you want to go up the mountain with me to dig something?”
“What are we digging?”
“Shuyu.”
Wen Zhongshan searched the depths of his memory for this plant. He felt it sounded familiar, but for a while, he could not recall what it was.
Ying Kongtu looked at his expression and slapped his own forehead. “Wild yam.”
“Shuyu is the ancient name. Later, to avoid using an emperor’s name, it was changed to shanyao. But most ancient books call it shuyu. I’m used to saying it, so I can’t change it right away.” Ying Kongtu said with a smile.
Wen Zhongshan agreed. “I haven’t eaten shuyu in a long time either. When I marched through the mountains before, we would occasionally dig some.”
A nostalgic expression appeared on Ying Kongtu’s face. “That’s great. Now that winter has begun, the shuyu buried in the soil is plump and large. When I used to live in the mountains, I liked digging shuyu in autumn and winter. Boiled or roasted, it was delicious either way.”
Shuyu was sweet in flavor and neutral in nature. It was excellent for strengthening the spleen and nourishing the stomach, supplementing energy, and restoring vitality. It was suitable for people who had been injured.
Although Wen Zhongshan had not been injured, he had given out so much power of faith. He would probably be weak for a while. Eating more of it would be quite beneficial.
The two agreed to go up the mountain the next day to dig shuyu.
Since Ying Kongtu was going up the mountain, he naturally had to bring the little ones at home.
Especially Jingwei. Now that the wolf king had finally awakened, Ying Kongtu hoped Jingwei could follow the wolf king to become familiar with the mountain forest, preparing for its future return to the wild.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan brought Dart and Jingwei and set out directly from home.
The wolf king and Tiaozhu entered the shrine and went straight to Wuchuan Mountain through it, then waited for them there.
All thirty-nine of Ying Kongtu’s mountains had shrines.
He only had nine dependent mountain gods.
Therefore, most shrines were empty and could be used directly.
The shrine on Wuchuan Mountain was one of the empty ones.
The two men and four furry creatures met outside Ying Kongtu’s vegetable plot.
The pigpen was also there.
The seven pigs had long grown wild in the mountain forest and had encountered many wild animals.
At this moment, when they smelled the wolf king’s aura, they all shrank into the pig shed in fear.
When Ying Kongtu went to check on them, they were still huddled together, trembling.
The wolf king had done nothing, but the dense predator aura on its body was enough to scare them.
The wolf king was sniffing the isatis plants.
The isatis on the mountain had grown very sturdy. They looked a little like plantain herb, but they were more tender and much larger.
It had never seen this plant before.
There were many plants on the mountain now that it had never seen.
It stood on the hillside and looked into the distance, a thoughtful expression on its furry face.
Ying Kongtu walked over from behind and lightly patted its neck. “The mountain is different too, isn’t it?”
The wolf king said, “Awoo.”
“When I first woke up, it took me a long time to adapt too.” Ying Kongtu lowered his head to look at it. “Next, you’ll have many things to do.”
The wolf king turned its head and looked at him, lightly brushing its tail against his leg.
Ying Kongtu patted the wolf king’s neck again, went past it, and poured the swill and rice bran he had brought up into the pig trough.
The pigs in the shed were frightened by the wolf king’s aura and still did not dare to come forward.
Ying Kongtu said to the wolf king, “These are the pigs at home. When you come up here, you can help keep an eye on them.”
The wolf king said, “Awoo.”
Tiaozhu, Dart, and Jingwei sat in a row and made sounds at the same time, meowing and howling messily.
Ying Kongtu turned his head and smiled at them. “I’ll trouble you all too.”
This time, Dart and Jingwei both puffed out their chests. Jingwei even wagged its tail.
The pigs had merely been frightened.
After checking on them, Ying Kongtu took Wen Zhongshan and the furry ones to dig shuyu.
“There’s quite a lot of shuyu on Wuchuan Mountain. When I used to patrol the mountain, I liked planting a little here and there. So many years have passed. I didn’t expect there would still be so much shuyu on the mountain.”
Autumn and winter were the best seasons to dig shuyu.
At this time, shuyu had stored enough nutrients and was plump and large.
Although the vines of the shuyu had begun to wither, its clockwise-twining vines were easy to recognize. Not to mention, at the leaf axils, there were small brown bulbils that looked like tiny potatoes.
The bulbils had another name, shuyu seeds, and they were edible too.
The characteristics of shuyu were so obvious that not only Ying Kongtu, but even Wen Zhongshan found several plants after a short while.
Ying Kongtu heard Wen Zhongshan’s voice and walked over to take a look.
“This plant is indeed shuyu, but it won’t taste very good. Don’t dig it for now,” Ying Kongtu said.
Wen Zhongshan looked at the shuyu vine in his hand, uncertain. “Is this not shuyu? Or is it another variety that doesn’t taste very good?”
“Not really.” Ying Kongtu identified it and said, “It just doesn’t taste that good.”
Wen Zhongshan looked puzzled.
“Shuyu grown in different places receives different sunlight, absorbs different moisture, and has different microorganisms in the soil. All of these affect its flavor. Even within the same shuyu plant, there are tasty parts and less tasty parts. The difference can be huge. This plant just doesn’t taste good.”
Wen Zhongshan could not see the difference, but he still nodded with a head full of question marks.
Ying Kongtu looked at him like this and smiled. “Let’s dig it up together and take it back. Once we do, you’ll know.”
To dig shuyu, one had to follow the vine.
Ying Kongtu demonstrated, and Wen Zhongshan followed the spot he marked, digging into the soil hoe by hoe.
Ying Kongtu understood mountain soil especially well. Under his direction, they could dig down along the softest parts of the earth, basically without hitting stones. It was also very easy to dig.
Ying Kongtu dug up a few plants he said were not very tasty, marked them, and put them in the back basket. Then he took Wen Zhongshan to dig the shuyu he said were delicious.
Wen Zhongshan looked at the two kinds of shuyu and still could not tell what was different about them.
The wolf king and Tiaozhu were helping too.
They could not distinguish which ones tasted good and which did not. They were only responsible for finding them. Once they found one, they would call Ying Kongtu over to look.
When Ying Kongtu saw delicious shuyu, he would mark it so they could dig it later.
If it was not tasty, he would leave it in the mountains to propagate or to feed wild animals.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan were both non-humans, and they had Tiaozhu and the wolf king helping. Their efficiency in digging shuyu was very high.
Just after noon, they had already dug two large baskets, just enough for each of them to carry one down the mountain.
Besides shuyu, Ying Kongtu also picked as many shuyu seeds as he could along the way.
“These can be used as seeds. We can plant them directly in the mountains next spring, and by autumn and winter, we’ll be able to come up the mountain to dig shuyu again.”
Ying Kongtu satisfiedly tossed the handful of shuyu seeds in his hand into the bag. “Digging while planting is the only way to keep digging endlessly and still have room to choose.”
The furry creatures all opened their mouths in response, making all kinds of sounds.
Ying Kongtu noticed that after the wolf king came down, Tiaozhu was somewhat excited.
Dart and Jingwei, who had originally been a little afraid of the wolf king, were infected by Tiaozhu and also grew excited.
Jingwei trotted after the wolf king, and even its accent changed. When it called, it no longer went “owo, owo,” but became a more imposing “awoo.”
Its gait also became steadier. It no longer twisted as it walked like a cat, nor did it jump up from time to time.
Ying Kongtu looked at Jingwei like this, bent down, and rubbed its head.
Jingwei raised its head and looked at Ying Kongtu. “Awo?”
“You were very good today, so I wanted to pet you.” Ying Kongtu pushed its rump. “Go on. Keep following Xian Niao.”
The wolf king and Tiaozhu did not follow them down the mountain.
When they had nearly escorted them to the foot of the mountain, the two furry mountain gods turned back toward the shrine.
They were going back through the shrine.
Returning through the shrine was much faster than walking an ordinary path.
When Ying Kongtu and the others returned home, Tiaozhu and the wolf king were already waiting at home.
The wolf king even came out to greet them, thoughtfully carrying away the cloth bag of shuyu seeds in Ying Kongtu’s hand.
Ying Kongtu looked at the back of this large wolf, and a smile appeared on his face.
Wen Zhongshan also smiled.
The wolf king truly was a wolf whose personal charm had reached the extreme.
Ying Kongtu set the back basket under the eaves and reached out to take the basket from Wen Zhongshan’s back.
Wen Zhongshan dodged slightly. “It’s fine. It’s not heavy.”
Ying Kongtu watched him set down the basket. “I’ll steam the shuyu first.”
Ying Kongtu reached into the basket and rummaged through the shuyu, taking out the ones he had marked earlier as not very tasty, then taking out some delicious shuyu he had personally selected.
“I’ll steam them for you to taste. Then you’ll know the difference between these two kinds of shuyu.”
Wen Zhongshan still could not imagine how much difference there could be between shuyu of the same kind, grown on the same mountain and even in the same area.
He followed Ying Kongtu into the kitchen.
There was no need to peel shuyu before steaming. They only needed to be washed clean, placed in a steamer, and steamed quickly over fierce heat.
The firepower of the wood-burning stove was very strong, so the shuyu steamed quickly.
A little over half an hour later, the shuyu was ready.
Ying Kongtu carried the shuyu into the courtyard, divided them into two plates, and put on disposable gloves to peel them.
Wen Zhongshan peeled them with him.
The shuyu were divided into two plates.
The ordinary shuyu that Ying Kongtu said did not taste very good filled one plate.
The delicious shuyu he had personally and strictly selected filled another plate.
After peeling them, Ying Kongtu distributed them to everyone.
“Try them. You should be able to taste the difference between the two kinds very clearly,” Ying Kongtu said.
So Wen Zhongshan and the furry creatures all lowered their heads in doubt and began tasting the shuyu.
Wen Zhongshan first tasted the kind Ying Kongtu said was especially delicious.
With one bite, the texture of the shuyu was extremely delicate. Its flavor was lightly sweet and carried a special fragrance, somewhat like a medicinal aroma.
The more he tasted it, the more the delicate sweetness and clear fragrance spread. The scent rose to his nose.
It was indeed very delicious.
Then Wen Zhongshan tasted the ordinary shuyu.
Perhaps because the delicious shuyu came first as a comparison, the taste of the ordinary shuyu suddenly became hard to swallow.
It was not exactly bitter, but it had a very faint earthy taste, along with a certain special plant odor. It felt a little choking to eat, and also somewhat bland.
The contrast between the two kinds of shuyu was far too obvious.
Even Wen Zhongshan could not help holding the shuyu in front of his eyes to observe it carefully, let alone Dart and the others.
Dart used its paw to paw at the ordinary shuyu in its food bowl in disbelief.
This greedy orange cat could even eat watermelon rind.
Yet today, in contrast with the delicious shuyu, it simply could not bring itself to eat the ordinary shuyu.
“How is it? The contrast is very obvious, right?”
“How can the difference be this huge?”
“There are always certain especially delicious wild vegetables and wild fruits in the mountains that stand out from others of the same kind. If an ordinary person eats just one, they may not feel anything special. But when you gather a whole pile of these delicious wild vegetables and fruits together, then compare them with ordinary ones, you can see the difference.”
Ying Kongtu said somewhat mysteriously, “You can treat this kind of selection as a mountain god’s special ability. Only a mountain god can find the tastiest portion of ingredients in the mountains.”
“It really is magical.”
Ying Kongtu saw that Dart had already started playing with the ordinary shuyu and instructed them, “If you don’t want to eat them, throw them into the bucket. Tomorrow we’ll take them up the mountain to feed the pigs.”
Dart said, “Meow.”
Obviously, the orange cat only knew how to eat and not how to work.
In the end, it was the wolf king who carried those ordinary shuyu into the swill bucket.
Ying Kongtu went to the kitchen and found wild honey. He blended the delicious shuyu into a paste with the blender, then drizzled wild honey over it, giving each little one a plate.
So, on this winter afternoon, all the furry creatures in their household lay in the courtyard, slowly licking honeyed shuyu paste.
That evening, Ying Kongtu bought nearly half a rack of black pork ribs to make shuyu stewed ribs.
The stewed shuyu became especially sweet, soft, and floury. Ying Kongtu stuffed a large bowl of it into Wen Zhongshan’s hands, and Wen Zhongshan ate it all.
The remaining shuyu stewed ribs were not wasted either. The wolf king led Jingwei in cleaning up the leftovers, taking all the shuyu and even the soup into their stomachs.
After dinner, Ying Kongtu poured the shuyu seeds onto an empty space in the courtyard, brought over a small stool, and sat there selecting them.
There was no special standard for selecting shuyu seeds. They only needed to choose those with a diameter of more than three centimeters.
Such shuyu seeds, once planted, could be harvested that same year.
The weather was cold now, so they could not plant them yet.
They could select them first, bury them in sand for storage, and wait for spring.
It was rare to have round seeds, so Dart was playing beside them with the shuyu seeds that had rolled away. With a swipe of its paw, a shuyu seed could roll very far.
Once it rolled away, Dart ran after it. When it got excited from chasing, it even flopped onto the ground, hugged the shuyu seed, and kicked it with its hind legs.
Jingwei also excitedly played with Dart.
The wolf king watched the half-grown young wolf’s movements, then closed its eyes again, resting its head on its front paws to sleep. It did not interfere.
Wen Zhongshan selected one round shuyu seed after another.
Dart and Jingwei playing nearby made the courtyard feel a little crowded. Sometimes, when Dart got excited, it bumped into their stools.
Wen Zhongshan asked, “Should the small courtyard be expanded? More and more little mountain gods are coming over. I’m afraid there won’t be enough space.”
“No need. When the time comes, I’ll buy a small courtyard or rent one as a warehouse and move the extra things there.”
Wen Zhongshan said casually, “Move them to my place? I still have a few rooms empty.”
Ying Kongtu looked up at him. “Your place won’t do. It’d be a pity to use such a beautiful house as a warehouse.”
Wen Zhongshan still wanted to say something.
Ying Kongtu smiled, lowered his head, and continued selecting the seeds. “Besides, with more little animals at home, sometimes I may need to find a quiet place to stay. Your place would be very convenient.”
Wen Zhongshan froze for a moment, then agreed. “All right.”
