Chapter 96: Withered Red Toon
In the morning, after Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan finished feeding the chickens, they went to check on the Ba-snake pigs. Only then did they go to Wuchuan Mountain to receive the mushrooms gathered by the monkeys.
Today, they had prepared pears and eggs to exchange for mushrooms with the monkeys.
The pears of this season were large, sweet, and juicy. They tasted very good. The eggs, meanwhile, could supplement the monkeys’ protein.
For the monkeys, this was an excellent meal.
The monkey king reached out its paw and pawed at the basket in Ying Kongtu’s hand. When it saw the food, it excitedly cried twice, “Ji ji.”
After calling, it turned back and cried “ji ji” several more times toward the monkey group, its voice sharp and high.
It was calling the monkey group to bring out the mushrooms for exchange.
Soon, the monkey group carried baskets over one by one and placed them in front of Ying Kongtu.
Ying Kongtu gave them a simple look, then exchanged pears and eggs for them according to the mushrooms the monkeys had gathered.
The monkeys came over joyfully to collect the food.
After Ying Kongtu poured the mushrooms they had gathered into the large back basket, he returned the baskets to them. Looking at the mushrooms, he reminded them again, “Don’t pick mushrooms that are too small.”
The monkeys did not know whether they understood or not. Holding food in one hand and baskets in the other, they soon followed the monkey king and quickly ran off. In the blink of an eye, they disappeared into the mountain forest.
“Forget it. Let’s go back too.” Ying Kongtu carried the large back basket and called to Wen Zhongshan.
Not all furry ones were Tiaozhu and the others. There really was no way to communicate with wild monkeys.
Wen Zhongshan said, “There are quite a lot of mushrooms today.”
“Probably sixty or seventy jin.” Ying Kongtu slowly descended the mountain with Wen Zhongshan and said, “After rain, once the sky clears, the mountains will produce a lot of mushrooms. Especially when they’re picked in time, they’re more tender and watery, and their weight is more than a third heavier than ordinary mushrooms.”
When they returned home, Tiaozhu, Xian Niao, and Shuangzhong had not yet returned from patrolling the mountain.
Jingwei and its good wolf friends had gone up the mountain to hunt and had not returned either.
Only Dart was home, sleeping soundly in the cat nest under the eaves.
Seeing them return, Dart slowly crawled out of the nest. After leaving the nest, it first stretched a great big stretch, then yawned widely, revealing its sharp little teeth. Only then did it lick its mouth and slowly stroll over to Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan.
“Mi.” Dart arched its body and rubbed against Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan’s legs.
“Why are you so well behaved today?” Ying Kongtu smiled and stroked Dart’s head. Holding it under the armpits, he carried it aside, then spread out waterproof cloth and poured out all the mushrooms gathered today.
The mushrooms gathered by the monkeys were big and small, and there were all kinds.
Ying Kongtu needed to carefully inspect them once before selling them.
Wild mushrooms were rather mysterious, and their toxicity was puzzling.
Some mushrooms were non-poisonous when growing on one mountain, but poisonous when growing on another mountain.
There were also some mushrooms that might be non-poisonous in this season but poisonous in another.
Even as a mountain god, Ying Kongtu could not understand the secrets of wild mushroom toxicity.
Especially since the wild mushrooms picked by the monkeys were mixed together in a terrible mess. He had to screen them a second time, or problems could easily occur.
Ying Kongtu moved over two small stools and screened them together with Wen Zhongshan.
Wen Zhongshan mainly screened for size and completeness.
Ying Kongtu screened for toxicity.
The two divided the work and cooperated, moving extremely quickly. They could finish screening in a short while.
They each placed a bucket beside them. Edible mushrooms were tossed into the basket, while inedible mushrooms were tossed into the bucket.
Generally speaking, there were more mushrooms in the bucket beside Ying Kongtu. After all, there were many poisonous mushrooms on the mountain.
Today, Wen Zhongshan kept tossing mushrooms into the bucket, and in a short while, he had already tossed in half a bucket.
Ying Kongtu reached out and dragged his bucket over to look. “Huh? Why are there so many rotten mushrooms?”
There were many mushrooms after the rain, and there were also many rotten ones. Sometimes, with one touch, one could touch a mushroom that felt like rotten mud.
They absolutely would not pick such mushrooms.
The monkeys had actually put them into the baskets too.
Ying Kongtu rummaged through them and discovered that aside from rotten mushrooms, there were also many kinds of mushrooms that were obviously inedible.
In addition, there were many finger-sized mushrooms mixed among all kinds of mushrooms, making everything look messy.
For mushrooms like this, they would usually wait for them to grow a little more, but the monkeys did not care at all and picked every single one, tossing them into the baskets.
Ying Kongtu sighed and muttered, “I knew this group of monkeys was unreliable, but I didn’t expect them to be this unreliable.”
Wen Zhongshan said, “That’s normal. They’re untamed wild monkeys, after all.”
Ying Kongtu said, “Later, I’ll talk to them. If they don’t change, I’ll make them pick on the wild mountains. They can stop ruining our mushrooms.”
Right now, the monkeys mainly picked mushrooms on the few mountains under Ying Kongtu’s name.
They loved these mountains very much.
Ying Kongtu had nurtured the mountain forests well. These few mountains had good environments, many mushrooms, and good-tasting mushrooms too.
While picking mushrooms, the monkeys ate the tastiest edible raw mushrooms, living a truly beautiful life.
Perhaps it was also because of this that the monkeys became more and more perfunctory in picking mushrooms to exchange for food with Ying Kongtu.
Ying Kongtu told the monkeys several times.
It was not necessarily that the wild monkeys did not understand; they simply were not willing to do as told.
Ying Kongtu was so angry that he even wanted to have Tiaozhu and the others beat up this group of wild monkeys.
After several times, Ying Kongtu could no longer stand this group of monkeys.
He directly expelled the monkey group from the mountain forests under his name.
The monkeys had grown used to the mountains he managed. After being driven to the wild mountains, they felt as though the sky had collapsed.
Several times, they wanted to enter the mountains under Ying Kongtu’s name to forage. However, because they had been rejected by Ying Kongtu’s divine power, once they went in, it was like running into a ghost wall. They were trapped in a small area and could not go deeper into the mountain forest no matter what.
After repeating this several times, they could only dejectedly give up on the mountains under Ying Kongtu’s name and go to the surrounding wild mountains.
After the monkeys went to wild mountains where food was not as abundant, they became much more obedient. The mushrooms they gathered were also mainly non-poisonous, and most were mushrooms of suitable size and good quality.
Ying Kongtu was so angry he wanted to laugh. “Too unruly.”
“They’re only a group of wild monkeys, after all,” Wen Zhongshan said. “They’re still willing to gather mushrooms honestly, so that seems pretty good.”
“That’s the only way to think about it.” Ying Kongtu looked at the mushrooms in the back basket, which had decreased by quite a bit. “If they just pick casually and exchange for some food, that’s fine too. It won’t damage the ecological environment.”
The quality of the mushrooms on the wild mountains was clearly inferior to those on their mountains.
After screening them, Ying Kongtu set a relatively lower price and brought them outside the vegetable market to sell.
Unexpectedly, this batch of mushrooms was extremely popular.
They were all wild mushrooms. Even if the quality was not that high, the taste was still quite good, at least enough to satisfy a craving.
Selling this batch of mushrooms, Ying Kongtu also felt pretty good.
Their family’s fried mushroom oil was all made with mushrooms from their own mountains. The flavor was very good, and the price was also expensive.
Having a batch of mushrooms from the wild mountains to supplement the supply and enrich the product range seemed quite nice.
In a year, the period when mushrooms could be gathered on a large scale was only about half a year.
Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan were both busy gathering mushrooms during this period. Aside from gathering mushrooms, they also patrolled the mountains and observed the surrounding forests, though comparatively less often.
Now that Xian Niao and the others were helping, Ying Kongtu felt it was still all right and that they would not be unable to manage.
That morning, after Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan finished gathering mushrooms and returned, they went inside to make breakfast.
Recently, there were many wild mushrooms, and Ying Kongtu especially liked making mushroom soup rice noodles in the morning.
First, he used mushrooms suitable for soup to stew chicken broth, then used the mushroom broth to cook rice noodles.
The rice noodles made from local rice carried a rich rice fragrance. Soaked in mushroom chicken soup, they were savory, fragrant, smooth, and slippery.
Ying Kongtu still felt this was not enough.
He would select mushrooms suitable for stir-frying, place them into a large wok, and use lard, garlic cloves, and green peppers to fry them until fragrant, with a rich sauce.
After the rice noodles were cooked, he would add a large handful of tender green chives, then cover them with a thick layer of stir-fried mushrooms.
A breakfast made this way was rich, fragrant, and substantial. After eating it, one could practically be left speechless.
Especially the instant after putting the bowl down, the ultimate enjoyment of food would make one feel an overwhelming sense of happiness.
Ying Kongtu felt that all the exhaustion and tediousness of gathering mushrooms could melt away in this bowl of rice noodles.
Now, breakfast was only halfway done. The mushroom chicken soup in the clay pot was bubbling away, and the stir-fried mushrooms in the wok had already developed a faint crispy edge, releasing a dense fragrance like mist.
The furry ones at home returned. For some reason, they began calling in the courtyard.
“Awoo!” Xian Niao walked to the kitchen and poked its large wolf head inside, calling to Ying Kongtu.
Ying Kongtu was busy stir-frying mushrooms and could not free his hands. “Xian Niao, what is it?”
Xian Niao had no way to answer and paced at the doorway. “Awoo.”
Ying Kongtu looked back. “Is it urgent? If it isn’t that urgent, can we talk after breakfast?”
Before Xian Niao answered, Tiaozhu bit its wolf tail and dragged it backward. “Meow-ao.”
Xian Niao did not move, but it also stopped calling, seemingly thinking.
Shuangzhong also hurriedly bit the tip of its tail and dragged it backward. “Jiu.”
Seeing its companions’ actions, Xian Niao compromised. “Awo.”
Ying Kongtu watched their interaction and said with a smile, “Then it shouldn’t be very urgent. We’ll look after eating.”
Very soon, breakfast was ready.
Ying Kongtu and the others ate the same breakfast as the furry ones. It was just that the furry ones’ breakfast had slightly less seasoning and smaller portions.
Aside from Dart, strictly speaking, the other furry ones were not domestic furry ones, and they did not eat much of the food at home.
For example, Jingwei, as a male wolf still in its growth period, had to eat seven or eight jin of meat every day in order to develop and grow properly. But Ying Kongtu and the others gave Jingwei no more than two jin of food a day across two to three meals.
It usually hunted on its own, ate more or less enough outside, and only came back to enjoy delicious food.
The other furry ones were the same.
Therefore, it was not a big problem for them to eat the food at home.
After Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan finished breakfast, they satisfiedly placed the bowls and chopsticks into the dishwasher. After resting for a while, they finally followed the furry ones up the mountain.
Xian Niao and the others led the way in front, looking back frequently as they ran, signaling for the two to follow.
They went up Wuchuan Mountain, then followed along Wuchuan Mountain and went up Ai Mountain.
Only after crossing several mountains did they slightly slow down.
Looking around, Ying Kongtu asked in amazement, “Has your patrol range expanded again?”
They had already reached Lengqingsong Mountain. They were almost out of Changchuan County’s range.
Lengqingsong Mountain had once also been Ying Kongtu’s territory.
However, now it had become a barren mountain.
Ying Kongtu had no way to place it under his name for the time being, and he rarely came here either. He might only patrol it three or four times a year.
Unexpectedly, the furry ones had already included this mountain in their regular patrol range.
No, it did not quite count as regular.
Ying Kongtu looked at the surrounding environment and, based on the footprints, traces on the trees, and so on, judged that the furry ones probably came here to patrol once every half month to one month.
It was too far.
It was not realistic for them to come patrol here every day.
Ying Kongtu carefully sensed the area and, for the time being, did not feel any injured people or animals nearby.
The furry ones probably had not called him over to rescue a person or animal.
Then it should be a plant.
Ying Kongtu’s judgment of his own furry ones’ behavior was quite accurate.
After they ran for a while, they indeed brought Ying Kongtu and Wen Zhongshan to a large tree.
“A withered red toon tree?” Ying Kongtu recognized it at a glance.
Wen Zhongshan also came over. “Is it the same kind of red toon whose seeds we gathered before?”
“Yes. It’s the national second-class protected plant, red toon.”
Ying Kongtu glanced at the furry ones and understood in his heart. “You saw that we gathered red toon seeds before, and now there’s a red toon here that’s about to die, so you called us over, right?”
Xian Niao said, “Awoo.”
Ying Kongtu reached out to stroke Xian Niao, then stroked the other furry ones one by one. “You worked hard.”
Tiaozhu said, “Meow-ao.”
Ying Kongtu examined it carefully. “The roots seem to have rotted.”
Wen Zhongshan asked, “Is it sick?”
“Probably not. There’s no sick aura on it, and the surrounding trees also look healthy.” Ying Kongtu dug with a small knife, opening up a larger area of soil to expose the roots underneath. “It may be a water imbalance issue.”
“Because of rain? Was there too much rain a few days ago?”
“There was a heavy rainstorm a few days ago. The position where it grows is relatively low, and its roots were soaked in water. They may have lacked oxygen and rotted.”
Ying Kongtu touched the severely withered red toon tree. “The roots rotted, so they couldn’t absorb water. Once the sky cleared, its evaporation was also high, and all the water evaporated out, so it withered.”
Ying Kongtu judged that it was not a very serious disease, so he sent it a little divine power, then called the Forestry Bureau to report the matter.
The red toon was a national second-class protected plant, so the people from the Forestry Bureau attached great importance to it and soon sent people over.
After their people examined it, they reached the same conclusion as Ying Kongtu. They all felt that root rot caused by water imbalance was likely the cause.
Now, they had to remove the rotten roots, apply medication, supplement nutrients and water, then see whether it could be saved.
The people from the Forestry Bureau said, “It’s a bit late to handle it now. We don’t know if it will still be useful. We’ll have to see its vitality.”
Ying Kongtu touched the trunk. “I hope it will be all right.”
Since there was a sick red toon tree here, Ying Kongtu allocated a little more attention to this side when patrolling.
The Forestry Bureau people kept trying to help this red toon tree, but the roots they removed grew more and more numerous. The red toon tree was almost unable to stand.
Everyone had no choice but to tie a bamboo frame around it to support it.
Every time Ying Kongtu came over, he could see all kinds of nutrient solutions and medicines hanging on the frame.
The Forestry Bureau people treated it like giving an IV drip to a person, also dripping all kinds of medicine into it.
But the effect was not very obvious.
It was still half-dead, with no improvement at all.
When Ying Kongtu came over, he would secretly send it a little divine power.
Perhaps it was precisely this bit of divine power that barely kept it hanging on by one breath.
It could not live, yet it was unwilling to die.
That day, when Ying Kongtu came to look at the red toon tree, he saw that the Forestry Bureau people were there too.
Ying Kongtu reached out and touched the red toon tree’s trunk. “It still hasn’t improved?”
“No. Its condition has actually gotten worse.” Looking at Ying Kongtu’s reluctant expression, the Forestry Bureau person also touched the trunk. “It’s very strong. What a pity.”
Ying Kongtu realized what he meant. “You’re not treating it anymore?”
The Forestry Bureau person’s face turned bitter. “We’ve already tried every method we could think of. Now we can’t think of any more. We came today to clean up the waste, confirm the situation, and record the file.”
This meant they were no longer planning to continue treatment.
Ying Kongtu said, “There’s still a little vitality left. It hasn’t completely died.”
“It’s basically beyond saving. The rest is probably just a matter of time.” The Forestry Bureau person sighed. “What a pity. Such a large tree.”
Ying Kongtu was also melancholy. “What a pity.”
The Forestry Bureau person knew Ying Kongtu often rescued wild plants and animals. At this moment, he looked at him with some anticipation. “Do you have a way?”
Ying Kongtu frowned slightly. “The method I thought of has already been used. For now, I don’t have any especially good ideas.”
“That’s true. When saving a tree like this, sometimes timing, location, and people all have to align. Not one can be missing.” The Forestry Bureau person sighed. “We’ve all done our best, but there’s still a little lack of fate.”
Ying Kongtu understood too.
In the forest, life and death were very ordinary things. No one could do anything about it.
The Forestry Bureau people packed up all kinds of plastic bags used for giving the tree IV drips, then said, “Such a good red toon tree grew this large. If it hadn’t died, it probably could have become a pretty good mother tree.”
Ying Kongtu turned back to look at the red toon tree and agreed in his heart.
It really was a good tree. What a pity.
Wait.
Ying Kongtu looked at the tree, and something suddenly stirred in his heart.
It seemed he still had a way.
Author’s Note:
During the change of seasons,
Ying Kongtu groomed Dart and Jingwei.
Then he arranged the brushed-out fur into their shapes.
The fur brushed from Dart could be arranged into eleven orange tabbies.
The fur brushed from Jingwei could only be arranged into four little wolves.
Ying Kongtu looked at the long-haired big orange tabby walking over to rub against his knee and act spoiled, and fell into deep thought.
