Mountain God’s Forest Farm – CH58

Chapter 58: Saving the Ural Owl

After thinking it over seriously, Ying Kongtu solemnly accepted Wen Zhongshan’s invitation to stay over.

After dinner, the two of them settled the whole family of furry ones, big and small, then stepped through the moonlight and followed the road down the mountain to Wen Zhongshan’s house.

He wanted to spend time alone with Wen Zhongshan and clarify his feelings without any interference.

“Is it okay if you stay in the guest room? I’ve cleaned the bathroom,” Wen Zhongshan said, leading Ying Kongtu to the guest room.

Wen Zhongshan’s house was bigger than Ying Kongtu’s. It had three bedrooms and one living room. Besides the master bedroom, there was also a guest suite with its own bathroom, and a proper study.

Ying Kongtu often came and went from his study, but this was his first time seeing the guest room.

Wen Zhongshan had clearly prepared in advance. There was a full new set of toiletries in the guest room, all in the plant-and-wood fragrance type Ying Kongtu liked.

“Of course.” Ying Kongtu turned back and smiled at Wen Zhongshan, his eyes curving. “Thank you.”

“Do you want to shower first, or sit outside for a while? We can rest and chat for a bit.”

“Let’s talk after I shower. It’s still early anyway. I won’t be able to sleep yet.”

People in small counties generally rested relatively early. There were already no human voices to be heard nearby.

The sound of insects, however, continued all along. Ying Kongtu was used to it and treated it as background noise, so he did not find it annoying.

Ying Kongtu finished his shower quickly and came out wearing long-sleeved pajamas.

Wen Zhongshan had already turned on the air conditioner. The living room was warm, and the air blowing out was relatively dry, just right for when someone had just taken a shower and was still damp all over.

Seeing Ying Kongtu come out, Wen Zhongshan looked up and smiled, then beckoned him over.

Ying Kongtu sat down beside him. He could smell the same dry fragrance on Wen Zhongshan, as well as the pleasant scent of his skin.

Wen Zhongshan raised his hand and lightly touched Ying Kongtu’s head.

Ying Kongtu had just washed his hair, and it was not completely dry yet.

Wen Zhongshan said, “I’ll get the hair dryer.”

Ying Kongtu nodded.

Ying Kongtu could actually use divine power to dry his hair, but that would be too wasteful. He could not bear to.

Human electricity was still more convenient.

Wen Zhongshan soon came out with the hair dryer and naturally stood behind Ying Kongtu to help him dry his hair.

His hair was soft and glossy, but not fine and limp. When it flew between Wen Zhongshan’s fingers, it was like willow strands in spring.

It was rare for Ying Kongtu not to have to dry his own hair. Wen Zhongshan’s hands were gentle and strong, and the feeling brought by his fingers combing through his hair was extremely comfortable.

At first, he was still playing on his phone.

Gradually, the phone screen went dark, and he narrowed his eyes, feeling Wen Zhongshan’s movements.

“All done,” Wen Zhongshan said gently.

Ying Kongtu tilted his head back, pulled down Wen Zhongshan, who was putting away the hair dryer, and kissed him. “Thank you.”

When the two were alone together, the atmosphere between them became even warmer and more comfortable.

It was as if boundaries were being broken again and again. You were in me, and I was in you. Their relationship was also becoming tighter little by little.

They were moving toward greater intimacy.

Both of them enjoyed this process and were in no hurry.

That night, they still slept in their separate rooms.

Yet being in a different place created a different atmosphere.

Ying Kongtu lay on the warm bed. When he closed his eyes, he could faintly hear Wen Zhongshan’s breathing from the bedroom next door.

It made him feel both curious and reassured.

At night, the two stayed at Wen Zhongshan’s house, and during the day, they still returned to Ying Kongtu’s house. When they were busy, they even napped at Ying Kongtu’s house.

Now, the two of them had to pick daqingye and plant pondweed. Their days were busy and fulfilling.

Fortunately, Wen Zhongshan had hired the delivery courier as a part-time helper to manage the backend information, package the daqingye, and send them out. Otherwise, they would have been even busier.

Pondweed was relatively easy to plant. It took them nearly a week to finish planting all of it.

Except for the particularly deep parts of the water and the center of the lake, most of the lake area now had pondweed growing in it.

“They’re still so small. How long will it take for them to grow up to the water surface?”

“One or two years?” Ying Kongtu said. “But this is enough.”

Overall, Ai fish were carnivorous fish. They would eat aquatic plants, but not too much.

Even when they were still young, they would do their best to catch all kinds of aquatic insects and mollusks.

The aquatic plants were mainly there to feed their food sources: aquatic insects, mollusks, juvenile snails, and the like.

Over the past two days, Ai fish had been hatching one after another.

They were only tiny specks, still living off their yolk sacs, swimming around in the lake. They looked no different from a swarm of tiny insects, lively beyond belief.

Tiaozhu and the others were very concerned about the little fish. Every day, they would come up and stand by the lake to watch.

Ying Kongtu suspected they were watching it like a TV drama.

Ying Kongtu did not really bother with them.

Now, the harvesting of daqingye was nearing its end. After picking the last few days’ worth, they would have to leave nutrients for the woad plants and wait for their roots to grow.

When they planted the woad, they had mixed in plenty of fertilizer, so they did not need to topdress it now.

However, now that grasses and trees were growing, the woad grew well, but weeds had also come up. Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan had to weed them a little.

In places where the grass grew particularly thick and was about to drown out the woad, they had to pull up some of it and leave the woad enough room to grow.

Spring weather was unstable. After the New Year, it had been warm for more than half a month, but then a late-spring cold snap suddenly came, bringing hail.

The weather turned cold all at once, dropping directly to four or five degrees Celsius.

At the foot of the mountain, where the terrain was a little flatter, families who had already begun planting crops had no choice but to urgently lay down plastic film to keep the plants warm.

Up on the mountain, Ying Kongtu was also patrolling, watching over the birds, beasts, grasses, and trees.

That afternoon, Ying Kongtu came down from Wuchuan Mountain and ran into two wolves head-on.

These two wolves were the ones that had previously bitten the old lady’s chickens, so they could be considered familiar wolves to their family.

The two wolves had grown familiar with their family’s furry ones, and because of that, they were also quite close to Ying Kongtu.

When they saw Ying Kongtu, the two wolves spread their paws and ran toward him, seeming to be carrying something in their mouths.

Ying Kongtu stopped where he was and waited for them. Soon, he saw the thing in one wolf’s mouth twitch its claws.

Looking at those furry legs, it was clearly a bird of prey.

“What are you carrying?” Ying Kongtu crouched and asked, “Let me see?”

The wolf carrying the bird of prey generously spat the bird out at Ying Kongtu’s feet. “Awooo.”

The other wolf also stuck out its tongue and circled Ying Kongtu, somewhat as if presenting a treasure.

“Heavens above!” Ying Kongtu saw the raptor and was startled. “Where did you carry this from?”

The bird of prey that had been carried over by the two wolves had especially obvious vertical stripes, brown eyes, a yellow beak, and a very round facial disk.

It was clearly an owl.

And a Ural owl at that.

Ying Kongtu was now very familiar with the raptors in the mountain. There were indeed all kinds of owls and falcons on his mountain, but this was his first time seeing a Ural owl.

More importantly, this Ural owl was extremely thin. Its body was patchy and mottled, and it had lost quite a lot of feathers, making it look like a balding chicken.

Ying Kongtu picked up the Ural owl and examined it carefully. He could clearly feel its protruding breastbone and see the ringworm on its body.

This was a sick owl.

“Confiscated.” Ying Kongtu held the Ural owl and said, “It’s sick. I’ll take it down the mountain for treatment.”

The two wolves had no intention of eating it.

As wild wolves, they instinctively sensed the danger of the sick owl. They had brought it down only to present it to Ying Kongtu.

Hearing Ying Kongtu say this, they burrowed around Ying Kongtu’s hands. “Awooo—”

Ying Kongtu did not have dried meat on him, nor did he have anything else he could feed the two wolves. He could only nudge their bodies with his elbow. “Go back. I’ll bring you something tasty next time.”

The two wolves followed Ying Kongtu for a few steps before finally turning and running back up the mountain.

Ying Kongtu took the Ural owl down the mountain and contacted the forestry bureau on the way.

When the other party heard that there was a seriously ill Ural owl, they also took it very seriously and said they would come over to pick it up and take it to a professional vet.

Ying Kongtu arranged to meet them by the mountain god temple at the foot of the mountain.

There was only one mountain god temple in the county, and the location was easy to find.

Ying Kongtu arrived first. Holding the Ural owl, he pressed its claw print in front of the mountain god temple.

This Ural owl was too weak. Ying Kongtu doubted whether it could survive.

“I’ll register you first. Hopefully, this will bless you and let you live safely,” Ying Kongtu muttered.

Ying Kongtu no longer needed to bring creatures to the mountain god temple to register them.

However, the mountain god temple had the longest history and the deepest divine power. Coming here to register it could protect this Ural owl to the greatest extent.

The forestry bureau staff arrived quickly.

The Ural owl was already so weak that it could not resist. It obediently curled up its claws and let the humans inspect its condition.

The forestry bureau staff gently picked it up with gloved hands and said in surprise, “Why is it so thin?”

It looked like a large Ural owl, but in the hand, it probably weighed less than two hundred grams.

Ying Kongtu said, “It’s very sick. Sorry to trouble you.”

“No trouble. This is our job.” The two staff members hurriedly said goodbye to Ying Kongtu. “Then we’ll take this little one to the vet first.”

After saying goodbye to the forestry bureau staff, Ying Kongtu did not go home. Instead, he went to Wen Zhongshan’s place first.

He had caught a sick bird. In theory, Xian Niao and the others mixed with wild animals every day, so there should not be any problem.

Still, to be safe, he showered and disinfected himself at Wen Zhongshan’s place before going home.

Wen Zhongshan had gone to the upper-level city for an exchange today.

Their daqingye were selling extremely well, and he had been invited by the higher-ups to promote and share their experience.

Ying Kongtu had never been interested in such matters, so Wen Zhongshan went in his stead.

In any case, the two of them were now partners, so Wen Zhongshan appearing on his behalf was perfectly justified.

When Ying Kongtu returned home, the furry ones were already back.

They were chasing and playing in the courtyard. Aside from Dart, who panted like a puppy after playing for a while, the other three little ones all had abundant stamina.

Ying Kongtu watched for a while with a smile, then went to cook cat food, wolf food, and human food.

Nowadays, when their family cooked, cat food and wolf food were made in one pot. As long as enough meat was added, it was fine. Later, they would add vegetables and grains according to each of their situations.

Wen Zhongshan came back a little late. During dinner, he noticed that Ying Kongtu’s mood was not quite right and asked, “What happened?”

“I rescued a Ural owl today. I don’t know whether it can survive.” Ying Kongtu briefly explained what had happened.

Wen Zhongshan gently wrapped an arm around the back of his neck and touched foreheads with him. “It has already been blessed. It’ll definitely be fine.”

Ying Kongtu was not very optimistic. “I can feel that its condition isn’t good.”

Wen Zhongshan looked at him and comforted him. “We’ve already done our best.”

Life would always replace itself, generation after generation. Even gods could do nothing about that.

They could only do their utmost and seek a clear conscience.

When Ying Kongtu woke up the next day, he was still thinking about that Ural owl.

The Ural owl’s condition seemed to have worsened. He could feel it even from home.

In the morning, before Ying Kongtu went up the mountain, he specially called to ask about the Ural owl’s condition.

After being transferred around and finally contacting the vet, the vet said regretfully, “This Ural owl was rescued too late. We injected it with antifungal medication and applied ointment, but it hasn’t helped much.”

Ying Kongtu asked, “Is there no sign of improvement?”

“Not at the moment. We fed it some nutritional paste, but it couldn’t eat.” The vet said, “It does seem very strong. It has been holding on all this time.”

Human vets had richer experience and more targeted medicines.

After hanging up the phone, Ying Kongtu did not disturb the vet further.

In the afternoon, Ying Kongtu could sense that the small life registered under him was hanging by a thread, yet still struggling bitterly.

It truly was a very tenacious little owl.

Wen Zhongshan sensed that Ying Kongtu was especially quiet today.

As he sat with him under the sunlight, Wen Zhongshan suddenly said, “Why don’t we bring that little Ural owl back and care for it ourselves?”

“I don’t know how to treat Ural owls,” Ying Kongtu said.

Wen Zhongshan gently patted his back. “We can bring some medicine back and care for it at home. Even if we can’t cure it, divine power will at least make it more comfortable.”

Ying Kongtu agreed.

Ying Kongtu specially called the forestry bureau staff and asked them.

The forestry bureau staff soon replied that he was an expert, so it would be fine for him to bring it back and care for it.

Wen Zhongshan drove and accompanied Ying Kongtu to pick up the little Ural owl.

The little Ural owl was indeed at death’s door. It could not even stand steadily.

Ying Kongtu used a little spiritual power on it, and it continued to cling to life with difficulty.

“I want to go up the mountain and dig some medicinal herbs,” Ying Kongtu said.

Wen Zhongshan said, “I’ll go with you.”

Wen Zhongshan changed direction and drove to the foot of Wuchuan Mountain.

The two temporarily left the Ural owl in the car and went up the mountain to gather herbs.

Ying Kongtu was familiar with every part of the mountain forest. He directly brought Wen Zhongshan up the mountain and gathered sophora root and peach leaves.

The two returned to Wen Zhongshan’s house with the Ural owl again. The furry ones were not there, so they did not have to worry about the skin disease spreading. Ying Kongtu, on the contrary, did not have to be so constrained.

Ying Kongtu crushed the sophora root and peach leaves, made them into a paste, and applied the mixed sophora root and peach leaf paste to the Ural owl.

The Ural owl did not know whether it had no strength, or whether it knew he was saving it, but it was especially obedient.

Ying Kongtu applied a thick layer to it, then wrapped it slightly with gauze.

Wen Zhongshan assisted him from the side.

The Ural owl was covered in green paste, its two large, round eyes looking at the two of them. It was extremely docile.

When Ying Kongtu treated the Ural owl, his brows and eyes were especially gentle. Wen Zhongshan could not look away at all.

Looking at Ying Kongtu like this, he always thought of the doctor who had picked him up when he had first been born, and the way that doctor had held free clinics for people.

Ying Kongtu looked up and met his eyes. Thinking he was curious about the prescription, he said, “This is a formula an old doctor I knew told me about. I often used it to treat skin diseases in all kinds of wild animals. It works pretty well. But later, when I looked it up in medical books, I didn’t see any similar use. It might be a local folk remedy.”

Wen Zhongshan said in a low voice, “You must have treated a great many wild animals before.”

“I’m a mountain god. It’s part of my duty.” Ying Kongtu carefully wrapped up the Ural owl and placed it aside to rest. “Done.”

Wen Zhongshan looked at the Ural owl. “It will definitely get better.”

Ying Kongtu said, “Do what we can, and leave the rest to fate. Let’s see what heaven intends.”

Today, Wen Zhongshan had seen another side of Ying Kongtu, and his heart felt soft. He answered quietly, “Mm.”

Author’s Note:

When Jingwei was wandering around the county with its good dog friends, it ran into Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan buying ice cream at a newly opened milk tea shop.

They all rushed over at once, tails wagging furiously, crowding around the two men’s feet.

Ying Kongtu pulled Wen Zhongshan into the shop and bought pet cream, one portion each for Jingwei and its good dog friends.

“Awoof!”

Jingwei stood straight, held its head high, and barked.

Ying Kongtu could only pull Wen Zhongshan into the shop again and buy doggy milk tea and kitty milk tea. He brought them out for Jingwei to carry.

Jingwei took them in its mouth, bounced its paws happily, said goodbye to its good dog friends, and ran back to find Tiaozhu and the others.

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