Mountain God’s Forest Farm – CH93

Chapter 93: Activator

Ying Kongtu was not familiar with the people around the Qinling Mountains.

He told Xing Chang about it and asked Xing Chang to help ask around. Xing Chang agreed and very quickly helped him find someone.

Xing Chang said, “The people from the Special Management Bureau have already spoken to that side. The other party agreed. I’ll send you the address. You can go visit directly tomorrow.”

Ying Kongtu agreed. “No need to contact them again?”

“Apparently not.” Xing Chang answered over the phone. “It seems the other party calculated that you wanted help and took the initiative to invite you through the Special Management Bureau.”

Then there really was no need.

Ying Kongtu said, “Thank you for the trouble. We’ll go over tomorrow.”

After setting this matter aside, Ying Kongtu and the others no longer obsessed over searching for salvia and simply played in the mountains instead.

None of them had ever been to the Qinling Mountains. There were many interesting plants and animals there, including quite a few local endemic species.

Ying Kongtu took the little fellows around the mountain forest.

Tiaozhu and the others had arrived in an unfamiliar mountain forest. Everything they saw felt novel, and their eyes were wide and round.

Seeing how adorable they were, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan specially took them deeper into the mountains, showing them quite a few unique plants and animals.

They played deep in the mountains for most of the day. Only when the sky in the mountains was about to darken did they return to the homestay.

Perhaps because they had played too excitedly in the deep mountains during the day, Tiaozhu and the others were unwilling to sleep for a long time.

Even past ten at night, they still stared with big eyes like copper bells, circling around the two people’s feet.

Ying Kongtu had no solution. He touched Wen Zhongshan’s foot with his own. “Think of something?”

Wen Zhongshan said softly, “Why don’t we tell them a story and coax them?”

Ying Kongtu really had never tried this method before. “You do it? I’m not very good at it.”

Wen Zhongshan said, “I’ll try.”

Wen Zhongshan had been in the army for many years and had traveled all over the country, accumulating a bellyful of stories.

He called the furry ones over and said he would tell them a story.

The furry ones obediently sat in a circle around him, raising their heads and looking at him with bright eyes.

Wen Zhongshan thought for a moment, then began, “Several decades ago, also in this area, there was a hotel owner who called the police at night…”

He had only said the first sentence.

The furry ones felt a chill wind blow behind them and instantly squeezed into a pile, even their faces scrunching up.

“Awoo.” Jingwei swayed its wolf butt and squeezed between Tiaozhu and Shuangzhong, so frightened that it was almost hiccupping softly.

It might not necessarily understand what Wen Zhongshan was saying, but it could still be scared by Wen Zhongshan’s expression, tone, and body language.

Tiaozhu, rarely, squeezed into the middle and said softly, “Meow-ao.”

It looked like Tiaozhu was scared too.

Ying Kongtu sat to the side and looked at the furry ones that were almost trembling. He found it funny.

A homestay deep in the mountains, a tall man telling stories, and a group of little animals huddled together and almost shaking—

If a human saw this scene, they might think they were the horror story.

After listening to Wen Zhongshan’s story, the furry ones no longer made trouble. However, they also refused to sleep alone. They insisted on squeezing into Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan’s room to sleep with them.

Ying Kongtu had specifically booked an entire detached homestay so the furry ones could have their own space.

In the end, they still all slept in the same room.

The room was packed full. Wherever the two stepped, they could easily step on one of them.

If Ying Kongtu had not strongly refused to let them sleep on the bed, the bed would probably have been occupied by them too.

With a room full of furry ones keeping them company, Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan could do nothing. They could only hold hands under the blanket.

The furry ones soon fell asleep. In the room, there were only waves of breathing sounds and Dart’s tiny purrs.

In the dim room, Ying Kongtu signaled to Wen Zhongshan with his eyes: See? This is what happens when you tell horror stories.

Wen Zhongshan had not expected this either. Helplessly, he held Ying Kongtu’s hand tighter: There won’t be a next time.

The two lay side by side honestly, accompanied by a roomful of furry ones, and slept until dawn.

Ying Kongtu had not slept so stiffly and properly in a long time. When he got up, he felt his shoulders and back had gone rigid.

The furry ones quite liked this place and still wanted to play nearby.

Ying Kongtu refused no matter what. After urging the furry ones to finish breakfast, he took them to visit the strange person skilled in divination whom the Special Management Bureau had mentioned.

“This address—” Wen Zhongshan looked at the address given by the Special Management Bureau. “The navigation can only lead us to the foot of the mountain. I don’t know where exactly he lives.”

Ying Kongtu was calm. “Since he calculated that we would come, he should send someone to pick us up.”

Sure enough, things went exactly as Ying Kongtu predicted. The other party sent a “person” to pick them up.

After they drove to the foot of the mountain, a little bird waiting on a branch chirped at them, clearly signaling for them to follow.

Ying Kongtu pointed at the little bird. “The guide is here.”

Tiaozhu and Dart both raised their heads and looked at the bird, their paws itching to move.

Ying Kongtu reached out and stroked Tiaozhu’s head, then stroked Dart, saying quietly, “No beating up the host.”

Tiaozhu turned to look at Ying Kongtu. The tip of its tail lifted and curled slightly, counting as agreement.

Dart did not quite understand. Its pair of eyes still stared tightly at the little bird without letting go.

Ying Kongtu simply scooped Dart up and held it in his arms, lest it really rush out.

The little bird kept chirping ahead to lead the way, and Ying Kongtu and the others followed it effortlessly.

After walking for more than half an hour, Ying Kongtu and the others suddenly saw a small village nestled in the mountain forest.

This small village gave Ying Kongtu a feeling very similar to the feeling he had when he saw Ba Yi’s residence.

At a glance, one could tell it was the kind of place where people with special abilities lived.

They walked for a while longer, and a tall young man stood outside a house waiting for them. “Mountain God, Mr. Wen?”

Ying Kongtu held Dart and greeted him. “Hello.”

“My name is Bai Tiao, the ‘tiao’ from ‘to gaze afar.’” Bai Tiao smiled. “Please follow me.”

Only when Bai Tiao turned and walked did Ying Kongtu discover that his eyes lacked much spirit. Perhaps he could not see, or perhaps his eyesight was extremely poor. Ying Kongtu could not help feeling sorry for him.

Bai Tiao led them inside, invited them to sit, and brewed tea for them. Then he said, “I know why you have come, but we no longer have that kind of salvia here.”

Ying Kongtu said, “There’s none left?”

Bai Tiao shook his head. “Completely gone.”

A wave of regret could not help rising in Ying Kongtu’s heart. “If only we had come a little earlier.”

“Even if you had come earlier, you might not have been able to find it. It went extinct more than ten years ago,” Bai Tiao said. “If not for the leaders from the Special Management Bureau mentioning it this time, we would not have known that there used to be this kind of salvia nearby.”

Strange people like Bai Tiao, who were proficient in fate calculation, also needed to deliberately pay attention to a certain matter before they could calculate its outcome.

They had never paid attention to the salvia before, so naturally they did not know of its existence.

Ying Kongtu also felt a little regretful. “If you had planted it, we could have exchanged something with you for a little. Then we wouldn’t need to search all over the mountains.”

Bai Tiao thought for a moment. “We don’t have that fate or ability. Even if we had planted it, the salvia would have died one after another. It basically wouldn’t have been possible for it to survive until now. However, according to the result I calculated, this kind of salvia is very likely to ultimately revive in your hands.”

Ying Kongtu asked, “Is there any hint?”

Bai Tiao said, “The final hint can only go this far. More detailed hints would easily disturb cause and effect.”

Bai Tiao was very friendly, as though he had invited them over specifically just to meet them.

Ying Kongtu sensed Bai Tiao’s closeness and was also quite friendly toward this young man.

Having a friend skilled in divination was never a bad thing.

Their group ate lunch at Bai Tiao’s home, then said goodbye and left.

The people from the Special Management Bureau were relatively trustworthy. Since they thought Bai Tiao was someone worth asking for help, then the result Bai Tiao divined was most likely accurate.

Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan no longer tried to take the furry ones into the mountains to search for salvia. Instead, they drove home.

Although this trip had not achieved its goal, the furry ones had played very happily and made new friends too, so it could not be considered a wasted trip.

After Xing Chang found out, he grew anxious for them. “You didn’t find salvia seeds in the wild, so what will you do with the salvia seeds in your hands? You still need to think of a way to revive them.”

Ying Kongtu corrected him. “The salvia seeds in our hands aren’t dead. Their activity is just very low, so they may not successfully germinate.”

Xing Chang changed his wording. “So you still need to think of a way to induce germination?”

“More or less. Since we couldn’t find new seeds in the wild, we can only try doing it ourselves.” Ying Kongtu said, “This time, it really depends on Heaven’s will. Whether we can coax sprouts out of them or not, we can’t say.”

Wen Zhongshan said, “Bai Tiao said it’s possible, so there should be no problem.”

Ying Kongtu said, “Things depend on human effort. We still have to think of a way ourselves.”

Ying Kongtu did not act rashly.

The activity of the salvia seeds Old Doctor Zhai had given him was truly too low. If he acted rashly, it would be easy to kill this batch of salvia seeds.

He thought for several days.

That evening, he casually scooped up Shuangzhong, who was standing at the top of the cat tree resting, held it in his arms, and sat under the eaves to enjoy the cool air.

Shuangzhong had suddenly changed places and looked up in confusion. “Jiu?”

Ying Kongtu held Shuangzhong with both hands, lowered his head, and said to it, “I thought of a new method. I may need your help.”

Wen Zhongshan also sat down beside him and asked, “What method?”

“I’m still not sure whether to use it.” Ying Kongtu held Shuangzhong and said, “There are actually special agents for seeds, called activators.”

Wen Zhongshan nodded.

Ying Kongtu said, “Different seeds have different activators, but there are also general formulas. Among them, the formula with the best effect requires a large amount of tonic herbs and divine power.”

Wen Zhongshan said, “It needs things like ginseng?”

“Yes. Ginseng, astragalus, and the like. It would be best to catch an Ai fish too. This formula first requires filtering out the medicinal liquid from tonic herbs such as ginseng and astragalus, using it to soak the salvia seeds and awaken them. Then we need to wrap them in large quantities of substances containing divine power and slowly nourish them with divine power, gently increasing their vitality.”

Wen Zhongshan immediately said, “My condition has been good recently. I can nourish them.”

Ying Kongtu shook his head. “Our divine power is too strong, and we also have no way to nourish them day and night. They need to be nourished slowly, so we’ll need Shuangzhong’s help here.”

Shuangzhong listened for a long time without understanding. It wore a blank bird face. “Kiki.”

Ying Kongtu lowered his head and looked at it. “I need to wrap the salvia seeds in a large amount of Ai fish meat, then feed them to you. They’ll stay inside your body for several days and borrow your divine power to be nourished.”

The moment Shuangzhong heard there would be something delicious, it immediately flapped its wings, its eyes shining as it agreed. “Kiki!”

Ying Kongtu said, “During these few days, aside from the fish meat you eat on the first day, you can’t eat anything else.”

Shuangzhong hesitated, half-raising its wings.

Ying Kongtu stroked it. “But you probably won’t feel hungry. The Ai fish meat will need several days for you to digest.”

Shuangzhong agreed. “Ki.”

Ying Kongtu said, “If you agree, then we’ll use this method.”

Shuangzhong burrowed its head into Ying Kongtu’s arms. “Jiu.”

Ying Kongtu smiled and stroked its head, then raised his head and said to Wen Zhongshan, “Next is our work. After being nourished by Shuangzhong, the vitality of the salvia seeds will reach its peak. We’ll use divine power to assist the salvia seeds in breaking through their seed coats in one go and quickly germinating. During this process, their nutrients will definitely be consumed very quickly. We’ll need to use a large amount of divine power to escort their growth safely.”

“That sounds acceptable?”

“If it succeeds, then it’s acceptable. If it doesn’t, all the preparations in the early stage will be wasted, and the large amount of divine power consumed will make us weak for a while.”

“I think it’s worth trying.”

“I think so too. I estimate that aside from this method, there’s no way to grow this batch of salvia seeds.”

Wen Zhongshan said, “Let’s try. If it really doesn’t work, we’ll just consume divine power. After nourishing ourselves for a while, it’ll come back.”

Once Ying Kongtu made up his mind, he no longer hesitated.

That very day, they went up the mountain and dug up ginseng and astragalus.

Ying Kongtu looked at the freshly dug ginseng and astragalus and said, “Seventy-year-old ginseng. It’s even older than the ginseng we dug last year to brew ginseng tea. We’re really putting in serious capital.”

Wen Zhongshan said, “With so many things invested, there will definitely be gains. It won’t count as a loss.”

Ying Kongtu said, “We can only think of it that way.”

They not only dug up ginseng and astragalus, but also several other precious tonic herbs.

In addition, they went up to Ai Lake and specially caught a large Ai fish.

The furry ones were not interested in all kinds of precious medicinal herbs, but they were drooling terribly over the Ai fish.

Ying Kongtu filleted the Ai fish meat and said to the furry ones, “Tonight, I’ll simmer fish soup for you.”

The furry ones let out a chaotic round of “meow-ao” and “awoo,” extremely happy.

Ying Kongtu said, “Next, Shuangzhong will need to help. After eating tonight’s dinner, it will help nourish the salvia seeds and won’t be able to eat anything else.”

Xian Niao softly said, “Awoo.”

It meant that if Shuangzhong did not eat, it would not eat either.

Shuangzhong immediately pattered over and rubbed against Xian Niao’s fluffy chest in deep emotion. “Jiu.”

Ying Kongtu rubbed Xian Niao’s big head. “We’ll see the situation when the time comes. Shuangzhong probably won’t be hungry. If you’re hungry, you eat.”

Xian Niao said, “Awoo.”

Only after Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan finished making fish soup for the furry ones did they process the seeds.

He carefully took out the twenty-six still-active salvia seeds and slowly warmed them back to room temperature, then soaked them in the extract of the tonic herbs.

The tonic herbs were strongly nourishing, while the salvia seeds were extremely weak. They could not be soaked for too long.

Ying Kongtu only soaked them for two hours before taking the salvia seeds out.

He pinched these seeds one by one with his fingers and carefully placed them on a plate. Then he wrapped them in minced fish meat and fed them to Shuangzhong.

Ai fish tasted very good. Even made into minced meat, it was still very fresh and sweet.

Originally, after hearing Ying Kongtu speak so seriously, Shuangzhong had been a little afraid and looked wilted all over.

Now, seeing that it was eating something delicious and only needed a few days to digest after eating, it felt that this was no big deal at all. It flapped its wings and ate very happily.

As it ate, it even cried “kiki,” looking very smug.

Dart watched from the side with greedy eyes and also came closer.

Ying Kongtu used his elbow to push against its fluffy big face. “Little cats can’t eat this.”

Dart immediately wilted and softly said, “Mi.”

Ying Kongtu said, “After Shuangzhong finishes digesting and the salvia is grown, we’ll eat something delicious to celebrate.”

Dart selectively failed to understand. It still sat in place, staring pitifully at the meatballs.

Ying Kongtu took a deep breath and had just been about to call Xian Niao. Since Xian Niao was not there, he called Tiaozhu instead. “Tiaozhu, help me out.”

Tiaozhu dragged its tail and walked over. Before it even got close, Dart sensed Tiaozhu’s murderous aura and hurriedly stood up and ran.

Ying Kongtu could not help laughing.

Ying Kongtu fed Shuangzhong twenty-six meatballs, making Shuangzhong so full the food almost reached its throat.

It was estimated that even without the specially processed seeds inside, it would not be able to eat for the next few days.

Shuangzhong could not eat, so Tiaozhu and Xian Niao kept it company.

Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan also kept it company.

Everyone worried together for several days, until on this day, Shuangzhong pooped.

As a carnivorous raptor, it had never produced such smelly poop before. It was full of the peculiar smell of protein and medicinal herbs after fermentation.

The moment this poop came out, even Shuangzhong itself was startled. It flapped its wings, crying “kiki,” its two long legs alternating rapidly as it trotted over to pull on Ying Kongtu’s pant leg.

“Kiki!” Shuangzhong signaled for Ying Kongtu to go look.

Ying Kongtu was pulled by the pant leg and also dragged Wen Zhongshan along to personally look at its poop.

The moment he saw the poop, Ying Kongtu breathed a sigh of relief and said, “It’s mostly succeeded.”

Author’s Note:

After Tiaozhu was wrongly accused, it lay in its nest, getting angrier and angrier the more it thought about it, flicking its tail for ages.

That very night, it ran ten kilometers to beat up the puppy.

Then it beat up the puppy’s owner three times!

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