Chapter 92: Going Out to Search
Salvia is generally sown in spring and autumn.
It was not yet August, and the weather was still hot. Ying Kongtu had originally planned to wait until autumn before sowing the salvia. Later, after he poured out the salvia seeds and examined them one by one, he discovered that eighty percent of the seeds had already lost viability, and the remaining seeds also had very low activity.
The longer these seeds were stored, the lower their activity would become. So he thought it might be better to plant them earlier. At least then, he could know the result sooner.
Ying Kongtu screened the seeds once and, in the end, obtained twenty-six seeds that still had activity.
These seeds had already been selected, and he was ready to raise seedlings. Yet, looking at them, he grew troubled and ultimately still did not take them out of the freezer.
“Their activity is too low.” Ying Kongtu hugged Wen Zhongshan and pressed his forehead against his shoulder. “With such low activity, they’ll be very hard to grow. I estimate that even if we nourish them with divine power, out of twenty-six seeds, only a tiny handful will sprout.”
Wen Zhongshan stroked his head with his other hand. “You already promised Old Doctor Zhai.”
“I did promise.” Ying Kongtu pressed his forehead against Wen Zhongshan’s shoulder and was unwilling to raise his head. “But I feel like the success rate is too low. Why don’t we think of another way?”
“What way?”
“For example, we could go look for seeds in the wild?”
“Go to the Qinling Mountains?”
“Yes.” Ying Kongtu tilted his head slightly and looked at Wen Zhongshan with one eye exposed. “Doctor Zhai and the others couldn’t find them, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.”
Ying Kongtu reached out and tapped Wen Zhongshan. “With you, me, and Tiaozhu and the others, finding some salvia should definitely be much easier than it is for ordinary humans.”
“Then shall we ask Doctor Zhai where this batch of salvia used to grow?”
“Okay. I’ll call him now and ask.” Ying Kongtu took out his phone and muttered, “Anyway, salvia isn’t a protected plant. We’ll go take a look first. If we really can find seeds or plants in the wild, then we won’t need to think of ways to increase the seeds’ activity.”
Old Doctor Zhai had always kept the salvia in his heart. Even after more than thirty years, he still clearly remembered the names of several mountains where the salvia had grown.
“These mountains were originally called by these place names. I haven’t paid attention these past few years, so I don’t know if the names have changed. You two can check?”
After explaining, the old doctor added, “I still have a few disciples and grand-disciples nearby. I’ll send you their numbers later. When you arrive, contact them and have them drive you into the mountains?”
Ying Kongtu smiled. “No need for now. There are quite a lot of us, so we’ll treat it as a self-driving trip along the way. If we need help, I’ll call them.”
The old doctor said, “That works too. I’ll let them know first.”
When Ying Kongtu said they were going out to look for salvia, the little fellows at home were the most excited.
Especially Shuangzhong. It had never left Changchuan County before. Hearing that they were going out to play, its eyes lit up.
Heaven knew how its pair of mung bean eyes could shine so obviously.
Ying Kongtu stroked Shuangzhong’s back. “We’re not going out to play. We’re going to look for seeds.”
Shuangzhong did not care. It opened its mouth and cried “kiki” twice, still raising its bright eyes to look at Ying Kongtu.
As long as they went out, it counted as playing.
Ying Kongtu said, “All right. We’ll talk after we arrive.”
Since Ying Kongtu was going out, he specifically reported it to Xing Chang and the people at the Forestry Bureau.
Xian Niao and the others were not ordinary animals. Jingwei counted as an ordinary animal, but it was a wild wolf. Although it spent every day with them and was more or less the same as a domesticated one, in essence, it was still a wild wolf. If they were bringing it out, they had to report it.
Xing Chang recorded it readily. “I’ll report it to the higher-ups. There shouldn’t be any problem. Is there anything I need to do these few days?”
“Not for now.” Ying Kongtu said, “The pigs and Ba-snake pigs on the mountain can forage on their own. As for the chickens, we’ve already poured several bags of cracked corn onto the ground. It’ll be enough for them to eat for two or three days.”
“What about the plants on the mountain?”
“The plants don’t need care for now either. They’re all planted in the ground. If we leave them alone for a short time, it won’t be a major problem.”
Ying Kongtu lightly patted Xing Chang’s arm. “Thanks. Every time we go out, knowing you’re here makes me feel quite at ease.”
Xing Chang’s eyes brightened, but the roots of his ears turned a little red. “It’s only right. This is my job, after all.”
“That’s different. Aside from work, it’s definitely because we’re friends that you take such good care of us.”
Xing Chang smiled shyly.
With Xing Chang staying behind in Changchuan County, they went out without worry.
This time, Wen Zhongshan still drove.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Ying Kongtu said, “When we get back, I’ll go take the driver’s license test too. I’m already used to simplified characters, and I can type with pinyin now.”
Wen Zhongshan nodded. “After you pass, we’ll switch to another car.”
Wen Zhongshan was tall. When he came to Changchuan County, he had directly driven an off-road vehicle over. The interior space was relatively large, and it was fine for ordinary use, not too cramped.
But now Shuangzhong had also awakened, and in the future, there might be more furry ones waking up. The space inside the car was a little insufficient.
They needed to change to a larger car.
Tiaozhu and the others did not particularly care about crowding. At this time, they were all squeezed beside the car windows, eyes shining as they looked at the scenery on both sides of the road.
They rarely went out, and everything along the roadside felt novel to them.
Ying Kongtu glanced at them through the rearview mirror, a smile appearing on his face.
After they changed the car windows to one-way glass, it became very convenient for the little fellows to look at the scenery outside. They could look as long as they wanted.
Their car went directly onto the highway and drove northwest. By the afternoon of the second day, they arrived within the range of the Qinling Mountains.
Once they reached this area, not only were the scenery and buildings different, even the temperature and humidity of the air were different.
The little fellows’ senses were all very sharp, and they were also very curious.
Seeing them like this, Ying Kongtu waved his hand grandly and led the way. “Come on. Let’s go to our lodging.”
The furry ones immediately followed on all fours.
“Meow-ao!”
“Awoo!”
“Kiki!”
Ying Kongtu had booked a detached homestay that allowed pets. The landlord had given them the passcode for the smart lock, so they could go straight in.
This season was one of the times when the most people traveled within the country.
Fortunately, their location was remote, and there were no other people around the detached homestay.
As soon as the furry ones got out of the car, they began chasing one another and running around joyfully. Especially Shuangzhong. Its two long legs ran extremely fast, and when it could not outrun the others, it flapped its wings and, borrowing the rising airflow, flew straight up.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan stood beside the car watching them, both with smiles on their faces.
Ying Kongtu sighed. “Sometimes we’re too cautious, always thinking about avoiding this and avoiding that. Tiaozhu and the others’ range of activity is too small.”
Tiaozhu and Jingwei were a little better. Sometimes they would stroll around the county town.
But Xian Niao and Shuangzhong, in order not to cause trouble, basically stayed within Ying Kongtu’s house and the mountain forest behind it.
Although the mountain forest was also quite large, deliberately avoiding cities and crowds still created a certain sense of restriction.
Ying Kongtu felt a little guilty.
Ying Kongtu said, “Once we work a little harder, make greater contributions, and gain greater influence, I’ll talk to Xing Chang and see whether there’s a way to let Xian Niao and the others be a little freer.”
Wen Zhongshan patted Ying Kongtu’s shoulder. “Are you sure you don’t want my help with this?”
“Not for now.” Ying Kongtu said, “Let’s wait another couple of years. When the incense offerings at the mountain god temple are more prosperous, the mountain forest has developed better, and humans are more used to sharing a city with animals, we’ll think of a way then.”
Ying Kongtu paused. “That day will come.”
Now, in certain cities, residents were already very used to seeing all kinds of wild animals on the streets without harming them. Their county would have such a day too.
After riding in the car for so long, the furry ones were all tired.
The two prepared food for them early, let them finish eating, and urged them to sleep.
This was one good thing about furry ones who had become mountain gods: they could already communicate. It was much easier to make them do what they needed to do.
Early the next morning, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan prepared to take the furry ones up the mountain.
The nearby mountains were all salvia-producing areas mentioned by Old Doctor Zhai.
In order to let the little fellows identify salvia, Ying Kongtu specially brought out a small handful of inactive salvia seeds.
“Come smell this. What we’re looking for today is this kind of salvia.”
Ying Kongtu held a handful of salvia seeds and let the little fellows sniff them.
To help them distinguish the smell of this salvia more accurately, Ying Kongtu specially crushed a few seeds, making their scent stronger.
The furry ones lined up and sniffed them one by one, sniffing very seriously.
Shuangzhong stood beside Ying Kongtu’s palm, tilted its head to look, then opened its beak and pecked at his palm, directly swallowing a broken salvia seed.
This could help it better distinguish the smell of this seed.
Dart saw this and immediately squeezed over, placing its two front paws on Ying Kongtu’s palm. It also wanted to lick the salvia seeds.
Ying Kongtu was quick-eyed and quick-handed. He withdrew the seeds at once and backhandedly patted Dart’s head. “You’re not allowed to eat them!”
“Meow.” Dart squatted back on the ground and licked its paw, looking very busy.
Seeing that they were all ready, Ying Kongtu waved his hand. “You’ll still split into two teams according to the old rules and search in different directions. Let’s see which team finds this salvia first. Begin—”
Tiaozhu and Jingwei immediately ran off. Shuangzhong flapped its wings and, borrowing the rising airflow, flew above their heads.
Xian Niao led Dart and ran in another direction.
In the blink of an eye, their figures disappeared into the mountain forest.
Ying Kongtu looked at their backs and said, “Coming out to search for seeds seems to have made them especially excited.”
“Living beings always get excited in unfamiliar places.” Wen Zhongshan held Ying Kongtu’s hand. “Shall we start looking too?”
“Searching on the ground is too slow. We need to fly into the sky.” Ying Kongtu handed the back basket to Wen Zhongshan. “You hold this. I’ll carry you.”
When searching for a certain plant in an unfamiliar place, using the eagle mountain god’s ability was the most convenient.
Now Ying Kongtu had relatively abundant divine power, and for the moment, there were not many places where he needed to use divine power. Using it to search for something was quite good.
Ying Kongtu quickly grew eagle wings, and the color of his eyes deepened, turning into an eagle’s eyes. When he turned to look at Wen Zhongshan, they always seemed especially profound.
Wen Zhongshan loved every side of him, yet he still felt his heart stir because of his transformation.
Looking at Wen Zhongshan’s expression, Ying Kongtu’s eyes filled with laughter. He leaned over and kissed him. “Stop looking. Let’s go.”
Wen Zhongshan wrapped his arms around Ying Kongtu, deepened the kiss, kissed him for quite a while, then said, “Let’s go.”
Ying Kongtu carried Wen Zhongshan on his back and flew up.
There were also households deep in the Qinling Mountains, so they had to avoid people a little.
After using the eagle mountain god’s ability, Ying Kongtu’s eyesight was extremely strong, more than three times stronger than when he was merely a mountain god.
He carried Wen Zhongshan on his back and flew through the sky. Everything on the ground entered his field of vision. He could even see ants on the ground.
But after flying for quite a while, he still did not see salvia.
Ying Kongtu estimated that there was simply not much wild salvia in this area, and the special salvia from the old doctor’s hands was even rarer. Otherwise, everyone would not have believed it had gone extinct.
After flying for the whole morning, Ying Kongtu did find salvia, but it was not the kind they wanted.
At this time, they had already entered deep into the mountain forest.
Ying Kongtu blew a long whistle, calling Tiaozhu and the others to come gather.
The whistle echoed through the mountain forest. Soon, Xian Niao and Jingwei’s “awoo” cries came from deep within the woods.
They responded to Ying Kongtu’s whistle, indicating that they would come over soon.
Ying Kongtu found a tree, sat beneath it, and looked at the distant mountains while enjoying the shade. He said, “So tiring. It looks like these mountains really don’t have the salvia Old Doctor Zhai wants.”
They had not found any. Tiaozhu and the others probably had not found any either.
Otherwise, they would have made sounds to signal.
Wen Zhongshan said, “Given how much Old Doctor Zhai values this salvia, over all these years, he must have mobilized his disciples, grand-disciples, and villagers to enter the mountains repeatedly to search.”
“I think so too.” Ying Kongtu murmured, “Searching blindly like this is too difficult. We need to think of a way.”
“Are there any other little mountain gods with sharper senses of smell?”
Ying Kongtu waved his hand. “They’re basically about the same as Xian Niao. Even if there were one, from this far away, we couldn’t summon it over.”
After thinking for a moment, Ying Kongtu said, “When in doubt, turn to metaphysics. Let’s find someone to do a divination.”
A question mark practically appeared above Wen Zhongshan’s head.
Ying Kongtu nodded with certainty. “There are many powerful people around the Qinling Mountains. If we ask the people from the Special Management Bureau, we should be able to find one.”
Author’s Note:
Tiaozhu suspected that the silly puppy behind it had mistaken it for its mother. The puppy had already followed it for three whole streets and was still following.
Tiaozhu usually did not pick up puppies, but when it met this fellow’s gaze full of trust, it still picked it up.
The puppy was covered in baby fat and was extremely heavy.
Tiaozhu carried it in its mouth from the east side of the county town to the west side, nearly dying of exhaustion.
In the end, that very night—
A man came to Ying Kongtu’s door and accused his family’s cat of stealing a dog.
Tiaozhu: ???!
