Chapter 45: Simmering Tonic Soup
Neither side expected to run into the other here.
Ying Kongtu was stunned for a moment, then smiled. “Xian Niao, are you carrying that wild reishi mushroom to give to the old woman?”
Xian Niao gave a soft, “Awooo.”
“Thank you for your hard work. We’re also going to give her something.” As Ying Kongtu spoke, he turned to glance at Wen Zhongshan.
Wen Zhongshan received his look, smiled, and shifted back a little. He patted the empty space in front of him. “Xian Niao, come up.”
Xian Niao held the wild reishi mushroom in its mouth and tilted its head to look for a moment. Then its hind legs exerted a little strength, and it leaped onto the motorcycle, squeezing between the two of them.
The motorcycle immediately swayed. Ying Kongtu braced one leg against the ground and steadied it. “All right, let’s go. Wen Zhongshan, hold on tight.”
Wen Zhongshan stretched out his arms and hugged Ying Kongtu, sandwiching Xian Niao in the middle.
Xian Niao’s fluffy wolf fur was flattened between them. It tilted its wolf head sideways, shifting uneasily, yet also seemed to find it interesting and glanced at Wen Zhongshan.
Wen Zhongshan smiled at it.
Ying Kongtu was tall, and he also liked modern industrial products with a strong sense of substance.
The heavy motorcycle he had bought could just barely fit two people and one wolf.
It was simply that they were squeezed tightly together, warm and cramped, and could barely move. Especially Xian Niao, who was sandwiched in the middle. Even turning its head was difficult.
“We’ll be there soon.” Ying Kongtu sped up and smiled. “Another day, we’ll have to order you a special motorcycle helmet, Xian Niao.”
Xian Niao said, “Awooo.”
At night, the sound of a motorcycle was very obvious.
When they were still some distance away from the small village, Ying Kongtu stopped the motorcycle by the roadside.
“Come on, let’s get off and walk over,” Ying Kongtu said.
Xian Niao understood the cue and lightly jumped down to the ground.
Wen Zhongshan waited until it had steadied itself before getting off.
The two men and one wolf slowly walked toward the village.
There were families in the village that kept dogs.
However, when those small dogs smelled the scent of wolf, they did not dare bark at all. With the wolf king and the mountain god coming together, they dared even less.
Ying Kongtu swept his gaze over the village, then suddenly beckoned to Xian Niao and said, “Come here. You deliver it to that old woman yourself.”
Xian Niao raised its head to look at Ying Kongtu. “Awooo?”
Ying Kongtu lowered his voice. “The old woman is fairly vigilant. If she suddenly finds unfamiliar medicinal herbs in her house, she may not accept them.”
After all, who could know whether medicinal herbs from an unknown source would have side effects or poison someone?
Xian Niao looked at Ying Kongtu with its large eyes, meaning: So?
Ying Kongtu crouched down, met its eyes, and smiled. “You just have to deliver them. When you do, call out twice and let the old woman notice you.”
Several hundred years ago, if someone under Ying Kongtu’s jurisdiction was troubled by wild animals in the mountains, and that person was a good person, Ying Kongtu would usually compensate them with something, just like in myths and legends.
Being repaid by animals or favored by a deity was a story most people could accept.
The old woman should be able to accept it too.
Xian Niao understood. It opened its mouth and also picked up the wild ginseng, then padded toward the old woman’s house.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan did not go over. They only watched from afar.
Xian Niao walked to the old woman’s door, lifted a paw, patted the door once, and softly cried, “Awooo.”
Elderly people slept lightly. The old woman was woken at once.
She turned on the light and went to the window to look.
When Xian Niao saw her silhouette, only then did it gently place the wild ginseng and wild reishi mushroom at her door. Then, under her gaze, it stepped away.
Xian Niao soon vanished from the old woman’s sight and returned to Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan’s side, standing with them in a secluded corner as they watched the old woman’s house from a distance.
Wen Zhongshan asked softly, “Will the old woman come out?”
“She will.” Ying Kongtu was very certain. “She’ll keep watching for a while. Once she confirms that Xian Niao isn’t nearby, she’ll come out to check. Humans are very curious.”
Beside them, Xian Niao softly said, “Awooo.”
The two men and one wolf waited for a short while. In less than five minutes, the old woman indeed opened the door cautiously and brought the wild ginseng and wild reishi mushroom inside.
“It’s done.” Ying Kongtu patted Wen Zhongshan’s shoulder, then rubbed his back. “Let’s go back and sleep.”
The two men and one wolf went back to the motorcycle.
Ying Kongtu straddled the motorcycle, shifted forward a little, and called to Xian Niao, “Xian Niao, come up. We’ll take you near the shrine so you don’t have to walk.”
Xian Niao seemed to like this slightly compressed posture. With one light leap, it jumped onto the motorcycle.
Wen Zhongshan sat at the very back as usual, protecting Xian Niao.
Xian Niao got off halfway. It was going to the nearest shrine and would return from there to the shrine on Xian Niao Mountain to rest.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan rode the motorcycle home.
Without Xian Niao, the two of them remained pressed close together.
It was too late tonight, so Ying Kongtu invited Wen Zhongshan to sleep over as usual.
“It’s not like my place doesn’t have your pajamas and toothbrush. Don’t trouble yourself. Tomorrow, we’ll go to the old woman’s place together and see how things are.” Ying Kongtu yawned as he spoke.
And so, Wen Zhongshan stayed overnight at Ying Kongtu’s house again, sharing his late-night snack and also sharing his bathroom.
A dreamless night passed.
The next day, Ying Kongtu deliberately waited a little longer. It was past nine in the morning when he and Wen Zhongshan set out for the old woman’s house.
Before they even arrived, they saw the old woman chatting and basking in the sun with others at the village entrance by the little shop.
“…Such a huge wolf. Its head was as big as a washbasin.” The old woman gestured with her hands as she spoke.
Ying Kongtu understood as soon as he heard it. She was talking about the wolf she had seen last night.
“Grandma Ye,” Ying Kongtu called, not at all minding the fact that the old woman was much younger than them. “Has the compensation for your family arrived?”
“Not yet.” As the old woman spoke, there was no trace of sadness on her face.
Ying Kongtu smiled. “What are you all talking about? So lively.”
The old woman told them again about encountering the wolf last night, then enthusiastically invited them, “Why don’t you come to my house and help me take a look? I don’t know whether they’re really ginseng and reishi, or whether they can be used.”
Ying Kongtu had helped her handle the compensation application, so she already trusted him greatly. She immediately wanted to pull Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan to her house to take a look.
The people at the little shop were extremely curious and followed along too.
Soon, Ying Kongtu saw the wild ginseng they had dug up themselves and the wild reishi mushroom Xian Niao had carried over.
“They’re both good things,” Ying Kongtu said. “This ginseng should be wild ginseng around twenty years old. It looks rather small, but its medicinal effect should be pretty good.”
The old woman said happily, “Really? I was afraid I’d mistaken it.”
Ying Kongtu nodded. “The market price for this ginseng should be around two thousand yuan. If you want to sell it, you can ask around, but don’t let anyone trick you.”
The people watching the commotion had not expected it to really be wild ginseng. “A wild wolf even knows it bit your chickens and has to compensate you?”
The old woman said, “The wild wolf that gave me the ginseng definitely wasn’t the wild wolf that bit the chickens. It has spiritual intelligence.”
After saying that, the old woman turned back and looked at Ying Kongtu expectantly. “Then what about the reishi?”
Ying Kongtu said, “This reishi should be purple reishi. On the market, it can sell for fifteen or sixteen hundred yuan.”
The old woman was surprised. “It’s worth that much?”
Ying Kongtu smiled. “Yes, the prices are both all right. This ginseng and reishi are very fresh. If you want to sell them, you’ll have to do it quickly. If you don’t sell them, you’ll need to dry them or process them some other way. Don’t let them spoil.”
The old woman immediately said, “I called my daughter this morning. If they’re good things, I won’t sell them. I’ll keep them for my children.”
Hearing this, the old woman smiled broadly, not sad at all anymore.
Seeing her state, Ying Kongtu quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
As an old mountain resident, the old woman knew that some good things could not be bought anywhere, even with money.
Such good things naturally had to be kept for the family.
Ying Kongtu carefully explained everything clearly to the old woman, and she also said she understood.
Afterward, Ying Kongtu specifically asked around.
The old woman’s children had heard that a wolf had come to the house, so they came back early and took her to the city for New Year’s Day. They also took the ginseng and reishi with them.
Everyone even said the old woman was blessed and had encountered a wolf repaying kindness.
Since the old woman had not sold the ginseng and reishi, Ying Kongtu originally wanted to buy them back to nourish Wen Zhongshan. Now he could not buy them.
Ying Kongtu thought about digging up two more ginseng roots and buying some meat to stew soup.
Wen Zhongshan said, “I really don’t need nourishment. Just let them keep growing there.”
“It’s fine. There’s plenty of ginseng on the mountain. Digging up a few won’t matter.” Ying Kongtu rubbed his chin. “Next year, I’ll scatter more ginseng seeds and let them slowly grow in the mountains.”
Ying Kongtu was determined to nourish Wen Zhongshan. Two days later, he truly dug up some ginseng.
He did not dig up any hundred-year-old ginseng, only some that were sixty or seventy years old.
Old ginseng was bitter with a sweet aftertaste. Ying Kongtu specifically bought an old hen and pork bones to make soup.
Wen Zhongshan drank ginseng soup and ate ginseng, while the other little ones gnawed bones and ate meat. Ying Kongtu mainly kept him company.
For a while, the courtyard was full of the fragrance of ginseng.
They ate so much ginseng that rumors started spreading around the neighborhood.
Fortunately, Wen Zhongshan was not human. Otherwise, after drinking all these ginseng soups, he would definitely have nosebleeds every day.
The house was filled with the fragrance of ginseng. Dart and Jingwei followed along, eating meat with great enthusiasm and feeling extremely happy.
Tiaozhu had average interest in food. No matter what kinds of meat were placed in its bowl, it only gave face by eating a few bites, leaving the rest for Dart and Jingwei to clean up.
Xian Niao, however, looked at the meat in its bowl and sank into thought.
That day, Xian Niao went up the mountain and did not come back for a long time.
Ying Kongtu thought something might have happened to it on the mountain and was just about to go look for it.
Unexpectedly, after dark, it emerged from the shrine with a semicircular reishi mushroom in its mouth, reddish-brown in the center and pale yellow around the edges.
“Xian Niao?” Ying Kongtu recognized the reishi it was carrying at once. “Where did you find pine reishi?”
He patrolled the mountain every day and had never seen it!
“Awooo.” Xian Niao carried the reishi to Ying Kongtu, gently put it down, then nudged him with its furry big head.
“Is this for me?” Ying Kongtu picked up the pine reishi and smelled its rich fungal fragrance. “This pine reishi is really high quality.”
Xian Niao turned its head and glanced at Wen Zhongshan, who had just come out of the house.
Ying Kongtu understood at once and smiled. “Ah, so it’s for Wen Zhongshan’s nourishment?”
Xian Niao said, “Awooo.”
Wen Zhongshan walked over, crouched down, and gently patted Xian Niao’s neck. “You’re incredible. Thank you.”
Xian Niao looked peacefully at Wen Zhongshan and also nudged him with its head.
Ying Kongtu crouched down as well and smiled. “Did you see that Grandma Ye didn’t sell the reishi to us, so you went and carried down a new reishi specially? This pine reishi is so fragrant. Tomorrow, let’s keep stewing soup?”
Ying Kongtu looked at Wen Zhongshan as he said the latter part.
Wen Zhongshan nodded helplessly and emotionally, then patted the wolf king again.
Before, Wen Zhongshan had felt that anything Ying Kongtu made was delicious.
Now he had to add one thing: except tonic soup.
Tonic soup was truly nourishing, and it was truly bitter.
Author’s Note:
Fu Yuan:
You, a person covered in baleful energy, actually became the pampered favorite in the mountain god’s house?!
Outside, you’re a ruthless beast. In front of the mountain god, you’re a little kitty?!!
