Mountain God’s Forest Farm – CH74

Chapter 74: Mountain Crabs

When Shuangzhong transformed into a little mountain god, it was only a little over three years old, still a juvenile golden eagle that had not fully matured.

At that time, its hunting skills were already formidable. Catching small prey was almost effortless for it.

Ying Kongtu often saw it flying back and forth above the mountain peak, sunlight shining on its wings. It looked so spirited. Whenever he looked at such a little creature, Ying Kongtu felt that the world was beautiful.

Later, some humans saw the golden eagle circling above the mountain peak, and wicked thoughts arose in their hearts.

After it flew out of Ying Kongtu’s territory, that group of people brought hunters with them, carrying bows, arrows, and lassos, wanting to capture it and present it to the powerful.

It resisted to the death and was shot through the chest by a hunter.

Even so, it still did not remain where it was. Instead, it struggled and found Ying Kongtu.

Ying Kongtu could not bear it and transformed it into a little mountain god. Occasionally, he would borrow its eyes to patrol the mountain forest from the sky, which was much more convenient than directly entering the mountains himself.

Ying Kongtu watched Shuangzhong playing with Dart and Jingwei, his gaze softening.

Times had changed. Now, no human dared to openly harm a young eagle for the sake of selfish desire.

Shuangzhong noticed Ying Kongtu’s gaze and turned its head to look at him in confusion. It flapped its wings, wanting to come over to find him.

He made a gesture, indicating for Shuangzhong to go play on its own.

Shuangzhong happily went back to playing with the cat and wolf.

Ying Kongtu lay on the recliner and lifted his head to look toward the mountain forest.

It had rained for half the night last night. At this moment, the forest mist had not yet dispersed, making the mountain forest appear especially lush, elegant, and handsome.

Looking from where he sat in the courtyard, the appearance of his mountain forest was already no worse than certain famous mountains.

A mountain need not be high; if a god dwells there, it becomes numinous.

He stretched out his hand and looked at his palm. After his divine power had intertwined with Wen Zhongshan’s, his divine power had increased quite a bit. The mountain forest had also begun to faintly carry a celestial aura, making it look particularly handsome and pleasing.

“What are you looking at?” Wen Zhongshan walked out of the house and asked.

“The mountain.” Ying Kongtu turned his head and said, “I kind of want to go up the mountain. Shall we patrol the mountain this afternoon? Just the two of us.”

Wen Zhongshan nodded, his gaze gentle as he agreed. “All right.”

Shuangzhong had only just come out of the shrine and was not yet very used to this world.

Ying Kongtu left it at home and also left all the fluffy ones to keep it company.

He and Wen Zhongshan went up the mountain to check on the situation there.

After resting for the morning, Ying Kongtu no longer felt uncomfortable anywhere.

Wen Zhongshan still insisted on carrying the back basket, letting him go up the mountain lightly.

Wuchuan Mountain belonged to Ying Kongtu’s private mountain forest. There were no other people on the mountain, so they did not need to worry about being seen.

As soon as they went up the mountain, the two of them naturally held hands.

After having done something even more intimate, their physical gestures were noticeably closer.

“There are more flowers on the mountain.” Ying Kongtu sniffed the air and said.

The locust blossoms were already nearing the end of their bloom, and the mountain’s scent was no longer as sweet and clear as before.

But wildflowers such as raspberries and wild roses were blooming even more luxuriantly. The mountains were still filled with a faint floral fragrance.

“Not just the flowers. The plants and trees also seem to have changed.” Wen Zhongshan looked ahead. “They look greener and more upright, as if they have drunk their fill of water.”

Every living creature in the mountain forest had changed. Even the seven pigs Ying Kongtu raised on the mountain were more energetic now and were currently rooting around in the forest for tree roots and earthworms to eat.

Ying Kongtu stood halfway up the mountain and looked around. “Once divine power begins to nourish the mountain forest, even the slightest change becomes very obvious.”

“Indeed. The forest has begun moving from quantitative change to qualitative change.”

Ying Kongtu placed a hand on his shoulder, leaned closer to him, and smiled. “As expected of someone who served in the army for many years. Your summary is so precise.”

Wen Zhongshan turned his head and kissed Ying Kongtu.

They continued walking forward.

After the rain, the road was slippery, and there were no proper mountain paths on the mountain.

In the past, when they walked through the forest, from top to bottom, the branches of arbor trees, thick vines, shrub crowns, weeds, and so on would cause them no small amount of trouble.

Even if these plants did not trip them, the water droplets on the branches would soak them all over.

Today, however, they had no such trouble at all.

Whichever direction Ying Kongtu wanted to walk, before he set foot there, the plants had already quietly moved aside, making a small forest path for him. Wen Zhongshan also benefited along with him.

“They can make way again.” Ying Kongtu only then noticed the little movements of the plants and could not help squatting down happily to touch the shrub by the road. “I didn’t even notice just now.”

“The plants and trees below are relatively sparse. When we were walking, there wasn’t much blocking us.”

“That seems true. If they can make way, patrolling the mountain will be much easier from now on.”

From now on, mountain paths would all become neat little trails. Even if going up and down the mountain still took some physical strength, it would be much easier than now.

Ying Kongtu touched another weed. “The mountain forest is becoming more and more like the mountain forest I’m familiar with. Familiar, yet changed. It feels wonderful.”

Wen Zhongshan could sense a faint trace of his own aura within the mountain forest. It should be because his divine power had intertwined with Ying Kongtu’s.

“Let’s go farther ahead and take a look,” Wen Zhongshan said.

Ying Kongtu stood up, took Wen Zhongshan’s hand, and continued walking deeper into the mountain forest.

There really had been no small change in the mountain forest. Aside from the vegetable garden, terraced fields, and the bees, the various plants on the mountain had also changed rather noticeably.

Ying Kongtu pointed from a distance at the seed stand forest he had deliberately tended last year. “Before, I was still thinking that I would use five or ten years to create an excellent seed stand forest. Now it seems that in two or three years, they will gradually be able to produce excellent seeds.”

Wen Zhongshan looked in the direction he was pointing. “The mountain forest will get better and better.”

“I think so too. I’m full of confidence in it now,” Ying Kongtu said.

When the two of them returned from patrolling the mountain, Shuangzhong, Dart, and Jingwei were still playing in the courtyard.

They had already more or less shaken off the awkwardness of unfamiliarity and were having a great time.

Tiaozhu and Xian Niao did not participate in such childish games. One lay on top of the wall, while the wolf lay in the corridor, watching the other three run back and forth in the courtyard, biting and tussling, only occasionally lifting their eyes.

After patrolling the mountain, once his excitement faded, Ying Kongtu felt a little tired.

Wen Zhongshan told him to lie down on the recliner.

Ying Kongtu did not refuse and went to lie on the recliner.

As he lay there, he grew a little drowsy.

When Jingwei ran past him, it noticed that he seemed a little unwell. It had already run over, then ran back again and rested its muzzle on him.

“Awoo.” Jingwei let out a low cry, its brownish-yellow wolf eyes looking at Ying Kongtu, filled only with trust and gentleness.

Ying Kongtu rubbed the wolf’s head. “I’m fine.”

Dart and Shuangzhong stopped and turned back to look at Ying Kongtu.

Dart gave a light leap and jumped straight onto the recliner. It used its round head to push aside Ying Kongtu’s arm and forcibly burrowed into the crook of his arm.

Shuangzhong copied it, somewhat clumsily pawing with its eagle talons, and also burrowed into Ying Kongtu’s other arm.

With one fluffy creature on each side, Ying Kongtu gently held them, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth.

Tiaozhu sat crouched on the wall. Watching them shamelessly act spoiled, it disdainfully flicked its ears.

It lightly jumped down, walked a few steps, and leaped onto the recliner. It did not push aside any of the fluffy ones. Instead, it walked straight onto Ying Kongtu’s chest and lay down. “Meow-ow.”

As soon as Ying Kongtu lowered his head, he could eat a mouthful of Tiaozhu’s fur. Its body, weighing over twenty jin, pressed down on his chest, making it hard for him to breathe.

“Hey, Tiaozhu, lie somewhere else. I can’t breathe.” Ying Kongtu called out.

Tiaozhu thumped him with its tail and reluctantly changed position, but it was still pressing on him.

Ying Kongtu called, “Wen Zhongshan.”

Wen Zhongshan came out, picked up Tiaozhu, and moved it beside Ying Kongtu’s head, letting its head rest on Ying Kongtu’s shoulder.

He looked at the sight of Ying Kongtu covered in fluffy creatures.

Wen Zhongshan went inside and brought out a soft blanket, shaking it open and covering Ying Kongtu with it.

He was just about to adjust the blanket’s position.

Dart and Shuangzhong, who had been lying in the crooks of Ying Kongtu’s arms, poked their heads out from both sides and stared at Wen Zhongshan together.

Seeing the two little ones staring so intently, Wen Zhongshan could not help reaching out to touch each of their heads, making both of them keep dodging backward.

Ying Kongtu stayed with the four fluffy creatures until dinnertime.

After dinner, Ying Kongtu switched to hugging Xian Niao and said, “It’s been a long time since it was this lively. Tomorrow, let’s go up the mountain to catch crabs. The water’s warm now anyway.”

Tiaozhu and the other three had spent a long time together and were already very familiar and coordinated. Shuangzhong, having only just arrived, was still somewhat unpracticed.

Taking Shuangzhong, a golden eagle, to the vegetable market to set up a stall and sell vegetables would be a little too exaggerated. It would be better for the whole family to go up the mountain and play together, so they could become more familiar with each other and deepen their bonds.

Wen Zhongshan understood Ying Kongtu’s intention and immediately agreed.

Dart and Jingwei also became very excited when they heard they could go up the mountain to play.

And so, the next day’s schedule was decided.

The next day, Ying Kongtu gave each little one a small basket to carry, including Dart.

“Today, we’re catching crabs. Let’s see who catches the most.”

“Meow-ow!”

“Awoo!”

“Kiki!”

Before Ying Kongtu had even finished speaking, aside from Xian Niao, Tiaozhu and the others all rushed out.

Shuangzhong was still carrying the basket in its beak and flew up crookedly—the basket was blocking its vision too much.

Ying Kongtu had to remind it, “Shuangzhong, just grab it with your talons!”

Only then did Shuangzhong react and directly toss the basket away.

The basket fell from midair. Just as it was about to hit the ground, Shuangzhong dove down, grabbed the handle with both talons, and lifted it high into the sky.

Ying Kongtu watched it show off its skill, both amused and fond, then held hands with Wen Zhongshan and went up the mountain.

They now belonged to each other officially as partners. Even their divine powers were entangled with each other, so there was no need to fear that the fluffy ones at home would notice.

They definitely could sense it.

The two men walked in front.

Xian Niao held the basket in its mouth and calmly brought up the rear.

Very soon, they arrived beside the mountain stream on Wuchuan Mountain.

Ying Kongtu said, “Today, we’ll catch mountain crabs in this stream. You can start.”

Tiaozhu and Shuangzhong once again fought to charge to the front, wanting to strike first.

Tiaozhu reacted extremely quickly, and it was also very nimble at flipping stones.

Shuangzhong, on the other hand, had exceptionally sharp eyes. Flying above the mountain stream, it could see the mountain crabs in the stream from far away.

The two of them scrambled to catch crabs and quickly moved upstream.

Dart and Jingwei ran back and forth. They did not manage to flip up many crabs, but all sorts of “meow-ow” and “awoo” sounds echoed endlessly. Someone who did not know better might think the crabs had pinched their paws.

Ying Kongtu could not bear it anymore and said to Xian Niao, “Xian Niao, go up and flip stones with Dart and the others?”

Xian Niao did not mind moving with the two little ones. It lightly picked up the basket in its mouth and went ahead.

Ying Kongtu rubbed his ears. “It’s finally a little quieter.”

“Can we still catch mountain crabs here?”

“Yes. Once they go a little farther and this side quiets down again, we can.” Ying Kongtu patted a sun-warmed stone beside him. “Sit for a while and wait.”

They chatted downstream for a bit. After waiting for quite a while, the water gradually became clear again, so they began flipping for mountain crabs.

Ying Kongtu lifted a stone and caught a small crab underneath to show Wen Zhongshan. “This kind of little crab, not much larger than a one-yuan coin, tastes the best.”

Wen Zhongshan examined it carefully. The mountain crab in Ying Kongtu’s hand had a slightly purplish shell and a round, plump body. It looked somewhat fat and tasty.

“I don’t think I’ve seen this kind of crab elsewhere?”

“There are some elsewhere too. Maybe you just didn’t pay attention.”

Wen Zhongshan really was not the kind of person who would pay attention to little crabs. Even if food was scarce in the wild and he needed to hunt, he would not choose little crabs. They had too little meat and were too troublesome.

Ying Kongtu tossed the little crab into the basket. Watching the little crab crawl around, he said, “I miscalculated. We should have brought a bucket.”

“We don’t have that many buckets at home. No choice.”

With so many fluffy ones, they had to keep everything even.

Even when coming out to catch crabs for fun, they had to prepare the same tools for the fluffy ones. Otherwise, they would howl and protest.

Ying Kongtu broke off a few twigs and placed them in the basket, blocking the mountain crabs’ escape route somewhat. He smiled and said, “Then there’s nothing to be done. Let’s go.”

This was the first time Ying Kongtu had come out to catch mountain crabs since waking. The mountain crabs here had almost no natural enemies, and they were both plentiful and plump.

They only caught the large ones and not the small ones. Catching a little more would also help maintain ecological balance.

The two walked upstream all the way. The fluffy ones had all disappeared without a trace. They could not even hear their sounds, and had no idea where they had run off to.

Only when the time was almost right did Ying Kongtu blow a long whistle, calling them over to gather.

Only then did the fluffy ones each appear in front of them with baskets in their mouths.

As Ying Kongtu had expected, Dart and Jingwei had caught the fewest mountain crabs, only a scattered few. The crabs were also so frightened by them that they kept trying to crawl out.

Xian Niao’s harvest was decent.

Tiaozhu and Shuangzhong’s harvest, however, could be called delightful.

“Impressive.” Ying Kongtu praised them, then said, “Enough for one meal. Let’s go down the mountain.”

Tiaozhu and Shuangzhong, one running and one flying, went ahead again. Neither gave way to the other, chasing each other all the way. It could truly be called “eagle flying, cat jumping.”

Ying Kongtu looked at the scene and could only comfort himself. “Shuangzhong only just came out, so it’s a little excited. It’ll be fine after some time.”

Mountain crabs were very easy to process. They only needed to be scrubbed clean, have their belly flaps removed, and then be put into the oil to fry.

That evening, Ying Kongtu’s home was filled with the fresh fragrance of fried crabs.

To make them even crispier and easier for the fluffy ones to eat, Ying Kongtu even fried them twice.

After they were fried, the fluffy ones could crunch them up together with the shells, with no need to worry about cutting their lips or esophagus.

Generally speaking, after the crabs were fried and drained of oil, they could be given to the fluffy ones.

Shuangzhong was more special. It loved spicy food very much.

Perhaps because when it was a bird, it could not taste spiciness, and it was also curious about the scent of various chili peppers and Sichuan peppercorns. After becoming a little mountain god, it fell madly in love with spicy food and often secretly stole Ying Kongtu’s dishes.

Tiaozhu, on the other hand, could not really eat spicy food. After so many years, it still preferred non-spicy dishes.

Their tastes were completely opposite, which was also one of the reasons they did not get along very well.

Now, when Ying Kongtu cooked, aside from making relatively bland dishes for the fluffy ones as usual, he also had to make one spicy dish for Shuangzhong.

Fortunately, it was already a little mountain god and could eat human food.

When Ying Kongtu cooked, he usually scooped some out before adding most of the seasonings, setting aside a portion for it.

“All right, time to eat.”

After dividing everyone’s food, Ying Kongtu, the head of the household, announced.

The fluffy ones made all sorts of sounds in response.

After Ying Kongtu’s hand gesture fell, they began eating.

The mountain crabs really suited the fluffy ones’ tastes. They picked them up and crunched them, each eating with great satisfaction.

Shuangzhong especially picked them up one at a time, swallowing with a stretch of its neck, like cracking melon seeds. It looked extremely satisfied with this dish.

Ying Kongtu lifted his cup of fruit tea and gestured for Wen Zhongshan to clink cups. “Come on, let’s celebrate. Another wonderful day has passed.”

Wen Zhongshan smiled. “To celebrating the life we have now. Cheers.”

The teacups clinked with a bright sound, like a wind chime.

Ying Kongtu smiled at Wen Zhongshan, picked up a mountain crab, and gently bit into it. The taste was fragrant, crisp, crunchy, and fresh.

Delicious!

Author’s Note:

Dart learned the golden cat’s cry and now goes up the mountain to scare mountain mice and wild rabbits when it has nothing to do.

Until one day, it scared a group of little wild boars.

The little wild boars froze in place for a moment, then lowered their heads and charged straight into the shrubbery.

Behind the shrubs, Dart let out a miserable scream and fled downhill on all four paws, chased so badly that it ran to find Tiaozhu to save its cat life.

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