Chapter 256 | Chapter 257 | Chapter 258
Chapter 256: Sliced Black Fish
Zhou Qian paused, momentarily at a loss for words.
He wanted to say that sometimes, if you don’t know what to say, you can just not say anything at all. But in the end, he only sighed helplessly. “Alright, we’ve seen the giant pine tree. If there’s nothing else, we should go.”
If they didn’t leave soon, he genuinely couldn’t guarantee the giant pine tree would maintain its good temper toward him—there was a limit to one’s patience, after all!
Checking the time, their detour to the pine forest meant they had clearly completely missed their originally planned route.
Huai Yu nodded. But then she hugged the giant pine tree again, tilting her head up obediently and adorably. “I heard there’s another really fierce pine tree on the mountain. Is it deep in the mountains? Do you know which direction it’s in? We need to avoid it.”
Zhou Qian: “…”
He couldn’t help but laugh out of sheer exasperation. After all his warnings earlier, Huai Yu hadn’t believed a single word!
And the pine needles overhead were quite adept at putting on a disguise, acting exactly like a young girl desperate to leave a good impression on her boyfriend! The canopy of pine needles shook back and forth, and all the smaller pine trees in every direction shook their heads in unison.
Huai Yu sighed in response. “So you don’t know either! But that’s okay, we’ll find out once we go deeper into the mountains—giant pine tree, I’ll come see you again in a while!”
She breezily bid farewell to the giant pine tree and led Zhou Qian out from the other side. Suddenly, the dense view opened up, and a winding, easily walkable mountain path appeared before their eyes.
Huai Yu carefully examined the lush shrubs on both sides, then beamed with joy. “I’m familiar with this place. If we follow this stream all the way up, there’s a pool!”
Seeing Zhou Qian’s brows furrow again, she quickly added, “I know, I know! We need to stay away from the water’s edge, right? But we can take this mountain path upward. There are a lot of wild vegetables along the way!”
Zhou Qian nodded.
In truth, he had already witnessed Huai Yu’s affinity firsthand.
Even though it had been just two brief clashes, based on his experience, the giant pine tree’s strength was clearly equal to or even greater than what Kuang Biao had described.
The fact that Huai Yu could remain completely oblivious while standing beside such a mutated plant was an exceptionally outstanding ability in itself.
No wonder she was so obsessed with going to the wilderness. To her, this mountain full of plants probably posed no danger whatsoever.
The only variable, ironically enough, was probably Kuang Biao.
Based on Huai Yu’s accounts, in all the times she had been up the mountain, she had never encountered a single unfriendly plant. Only Kuang Biao, because he could talk, had actually verbally threatened her.
As for the plants in the wilderness, he didn’t know if there would be unique, intelligent species like him.
But Zhou Qian had no intention of saying this to Huai Yu. She was clearly relaxed enough as it was; if he told her this, the little girl would probably get completely carried away.
For now, he merely nodded. He looked at the winding jungle path stretching upward ahead of them, then checked the time. “Once we reach the top, we’ll rest for a while.”
Huai Yu, whose legs had long felt like they were filled with lead, let out a cheer, instantly finding a fresh burst of energy.
Having not been here for a while, the shrubs by the water were much more lush than anywhere else. The only pity was that many of the wild vegetables had already grown old and tough. Huai Yu peered into the clear stream—
In this weather, if she took off her shoes and stepped into the water, it would definitely feel cool and comfortable, wouldn’t it?
But Zhou Qian was still walking ahead. Remembering his strict warnings, Huai Yu had no choice but to obediently follow him.
When they reached the large pool halfway up the mountain, it seemed that because Huai Yu had previously scooped away their natural predators, massive schools of small fish and shrimp were darting back and forth in the clear water. There were countless times more than when she had come to set her fish traps before; the dense swarms practically spelled out “bountiful harvest.”
Her heart truly ached at the sight. “If we had brought a fishing net, a single cast could probably scoop up a whole basin full of little fish and shrimp!”
In this weather, with just a little processing and sun-drying, they could be preserved all the way until winter. What a perfect opportunity!
Zhou Qian, however, checked his communicator. They had lost signal upon entering the mountain forest, but the time display was still accurate. He couldn’t help but ask suspiciously:
“It’s been two hours since we set off. Whether it was for the pinecones or the fish, did you really walk this far every time before?”
Huai Yu was dumbfounded. “Two hours? How is that possible! Normally, this route takes me less than an hour to walk… Brother Zhou Qian, I told you there was a problem with the mountain map you drew!”
He had taken them on such a massive detour!
Zhou Qian’s expression shifted, suddenly realizing that the one dragging them down was probably himself.
Because if Huai Yu were alone, she naturally knew exactly what the shortcut was!
He couldn’t help but ask curiously, “When you come into the mountains alone, how do you find places like this so quickly?”
It was a somewhat strange question.
Huai Yu gave him a puzzled look. “Well, this path is just the easiest to walk! There are no obstacles, nothing to trip over, so I just smoothly walked right here.”
Zhou Qian: “…” Confirmed. He was indeed the one dragging them down.
He hesitated for a second before making a decision. “Then, since I’m not familiar with Sanqing Mountain, I’ll let you lead the way for the rest of the journey.”
“Go wherever you want to go. I’ll just follow behind.”
“That way, once we reach the mountain peak, we can arrange our subsequent plans.”
“Really? You’ll follow my lead?” Huai Yu confirmed.
“Mm.” Zhou Qian nodded. He wanted to see if Huai Yu truly was this casual and relaxed as long as she was in the mountain forest.
Without another word, Huai Yu immediately scurried ahead of him. She had long felt that Zhou Qian didn’t know the way at all. The tourist map he had found was full of twists and turns, making the hike exhausting and overly long. She had thought he was just trying to test her abilities!
Looking at it now, it turned out she was the efficient one after all!
And the very first thing she did upon securing leadership—
She quietly stepped two paces closer to the water’s edge, craning her neck to look carefully for a long while before probing, “Brother Zhou Qian, there’s absolutely no sign of that monster fish Kuang Biao mentioned, so the large pool he talked about shouldn’t be this one. Did you mark down the location? Can we come back and catch fish in a couple of days?”
“Have you caught fish here before?” Zhou Qian asked impassively.
“Of course I have! Back then, I caught two big black fish in total. I sold one for a high price, and the other looked so vigorous that I decided to use it for sliced fish.”
As she spoke, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva. “Brother Zhou Qian, you don’t cook much, so you wouldn’t know. If a strong, vigorous black fish like that is sliced up, whether you use it for congee, hotpot, or simply blanch it and add some dipping sauce, it will be incredibly fresh and tender!”
“Plus, the fish head and skeleton won’t go to waste either. The head can be used to simmer soup, and the bones can be grilled. It’s super delicious!”
Speaking of this, Huai Yu felt regretful again. “But back then, because I was trying to save you, the big black fish vanished… What a pity!”
Playing this soft, sympathy card, she looked at him with expectant eyes once again. “So, can we come up and catch fish in a couple of days?”
Zhou Qian glanced at the pool. “Who knows, maybe there’s another monster fish blending into the water, quietly waiting for you right now.”
Chapter 257: Daylilies and the Snake
Zhou Qian’s description was admittedly a little frightening. Huai Yu thought about it for a moment before saying solemnly:
“That’s why we should bring a small fishing net! Once we cast it, it won’t matter whether it can be scooped up after blending into the water. We can just catch some small ones and leave immediately—there shouldn’t be any problem with that.”
“If we catch a lot of small shrimp, we can separate the heads to simmer into a paste or make shrimp oil. It’s seriously so, so fragrant.”
Even though her head was entirely filled with thoughts of food, it was precisely because of this optimistic spirit that Zhou Qian felt his life after retirement was so colorful.
He nodded. “Alright, we’ll do whatever you say.”
Huai Yu was instantly delighted. Then, putting on a show of checking the time, she tried to look serious and composed. “For now, let’s strive to reach the mountain peak as early as possible!”
Sanqing Mountain was a rolling mountain range with countless small branches and peaks. What they were exploring right now was merely the peak closest to the main ridge.
……
Around noon, they finally reached the end of this stream. It was a tiny spring hidden within a crevice in the rocks, with water gurgling out from the crack. The surrounding air seemed to instantly grow much cooler and more refreshing.
Huai Yu couldn’t resist leaning over to wash her hands, then soaked a towel for a while to wipe the sweat all over her face and neck.
During this time, Zhou Qian didn’t stop her, but he stood a short distance away holding his long staff, carefully observing their surroundings. The patches of grass, the vines, the haphazardly extending tree branches, and the high cliff wall… were all prime spots for mutated creatures to hide.
For example…
He extended his long staff, nudging a clump of orchid grass growing within a crevice.
The slender, glossy leaves rustled loudly as the staff brushed against them. In their swaying, they inadvertently straightened, acting exactly like a razor-sharp blade that sliced a clean notch straight out of the front end of the wooden staff!
For some reason, Zhou Qian actually breathed a sigh of relief at this.
Looking at it this way, things were much more normal!
Truth be told, in this vast mountain forest, the number of mutated plants they had encountered was far too low compared to the intelligence report gathered during their previous clearing operations.
Now it seemed that mutated plants were still everywhere; the only difference was that they were striving to act like perfectly ordinary plants in front of Huai Yu.
To the point where, if he hadn’t made a move himself, the plant would probably have swayed gently and offered its only seed pods to Huai Yu.
Huai Yu, however, turned her head when she heard the movement. “What was that sound?”
“Nothing.”
Zhou Qian looked up at her, only to see an emerald-green snake slithering along the cliff wall. The creature was hissing and flickering its tongue, its eyes locked onto Huai Yu, tensing to strike!
His heart tightened. The front end of the staff in his hand had already been sliced exceptionally sharp by the orchid grass. Presently, he raised his arm, preparing to hurl the staff out, when a reddish-orange lily suddenly plummeted from the upper section of the cliff wall.
The lily dropped completely silently, landing like a fluttering butterfly right onto the head of the emerald-green snake. In the next instant, the trumpet-shaped flower tightly enveloped the snake’s head. With a slight squeeze of force, the emerald-green snake’s body coiled instantly and plunged from the cliff wall, crashing onto the ground—likewise, completely silently.
The commotion this time was quite significant.
The rustling of the green snake thrashing against the fallen leaves on the ground was loud and clear. Huai Yu turned her head in curiosity. First, she looked in surprise at the motionless snake on the ground, then she looked at the reddish-orange flower.
Finally, as if realizing something, she abruptly snapped her head up to look at the cliff face above. A large, brilliant cluster of lilies was swaying gently in the wind…
“It’s daylilies!”
Huai Yu exclaimed in delight.
Zhou Qian paused for a fraction of a second before asking, “Isn’t it a lily?”
“No, it’s not!” Huai Yu stared at the massive patch of orange flowers with eager eyes, letting out a regretful sigh. “It’s so high up! With so many daylilies, if we pickled them, they would definitely taste amazing, wouldn’t they? Or stewed with meat would be excellent too.”
“Do you want to eat them?” Zhou Qian asked her, keeping his gaze fixed on the patch of daylilies—if Huai Yu said she wanted to eat them, would the plant rustle and drop a whole ground full of daylilies for her?
Huai Yu hesitated for a second, then shook her head. “No, we already have food. This patch of flowers blooms so beautifully and brilliantly; it must have been very hard for them to get to this point… Let’s just let it bloom quietly like this.”
For a moment, Zhou Qian almost thought he had misheard. Words like these really didn’t sound like something Huai Yu would say.
The massive cluster of flowers overhead swayed even more vigorously. Even without speaking or utilizing his senses, Zhou Qian could perceive that joy.
He retracted the long staff in his hand, offering a final piece of advice: “The moisture here is too heavy, which will definitely attract a lot of animals. We should leave first.”
…
The towering cliff wall was impossible to scale. The two of them followed the perimeter for a long time before the view ahead finally opened up into a wide space.
Just as they were about to step out of the woods, Zhou Qian asked curiously, “Did you really not want to eat the daylilies?”
Huai Yu shook her head. “I do want to eat them, I really do. Those daylilies look so beautiful, and they’ll definitely be very chewy once dried.”
“But didn’t you see? They even eat snakes!”
Although her reaction had been a bit slow, the moment she turned around, she had actually seen with her own eyes a very fine thread still attached to the tail end of the daylily.
It was as if the flower hadn’t dropped because it was about to wither, but had been launched outward by the massive patch of flowers. Rather than a fallen blossom, it was more like a retrievable lasso.
Huai Yu guessed that after they left, that daylily would likely reeled back up holding the snake’s body.
Huai Yu hesitated for a moment, then muttered again, “See, they even eat snakes. Could the other blooming flowers also eat flies and mosquitoes? If that’s the case, I won’t really be able to stomach eating them.”
Her face was entirely matter-of-fact:
“But they’ve worked so hard to bloom so brilliantly. What if they get sad if I say I don’t want to eat them because of that?”
So she had no choice but to say she simply didn’t want to eat them.
Zhou Qian had initially held some expectations for her, such as her sensing the other party’s immense combat capability or the like, but at this moment, he couldn’t help but fall silent.
It took him quite a long while before he finally pulled a phrase from his knowledge base: “How considerate.”
“Of course!” Huai Yu grew proud instantly.
Zhou Qian looked at her innocent, carefree smile, paused, and smiled along with her. Then he let out a sigh: “No wonder the plants in the mountain all favor you… Xiao Yu, you did the right thing.”
Presumably, as long as she maintained this considerate mindset and didn’t actively cause trouble, she would easily be able to keep her life whether she entered the mountains or went into the wilderness.
After all, when that daylily killed the snake just now, it hadn’t hesitated in the slightest—even though it had been quite a distance away.
He had also clearly seen that on the cliff face, even closer to the daylilies themselves, two geckos were crawling.
Forsaking the near to target the far—it was glaringly obvious who the plant was doing it for.
The problem now lay with him—
Since Huai Yu possessed such a treasure-like ability, the plan they had formulated earlier to follow far behind the Garrison Army would have to be entirely scrapped. In fact, they didn’t even need to follow a caravan at all.
Because her most urgent priority was not to guarantee safety on the periphery of the wilderness, but to keep her secret from being noticed by anyone.
As Zhou Qian thought about it, he couldn’t help but feel troubled—
Xiao Yu, oh Xiao Yu, from now on, you might as well change your name to Little Secret.
Chapter 258: Taro Stalks
The Little Secret led the way, bringing a signature unreliability to the task.
Although no branches or twigs blocked her path, clearing them with a long staff wouldn’t have been much trouble to begin with. But Huai Yu had taken control of the route, and in the half-hour since they rounded the cliff face, she had stopped them several times.
The first time, Huai Yu made him cut down two giant elephant ear stalks.
Even now, those long, thick stalks with their massive leaves were swaying at the back of the basket, tilting forward from time to time, effectively blocking a good deal of the sun.
Zhou Qian just didn’t know if the toxicity of these elephant ears had mutated, so he had to stay on guard against water dripping from the leaves above. When he wanted to chop off the leaves and throw them away, Huai Yu refused to let him.
The second time was right now, because he had been ordered to pull up a handful of wild garlic.
Well, at this point, who could tell if this was a picnic or an exploration mission?
Wild garlic was different from the green garlic grown in their own vegetable patch; its leaves and roots were tiny and thin. He clumsily cleaned them for a while, and when he looked up, he saw Huai Yu squatting there, attempting to build a small stove out of stones. He quickly tossed the garlic heads aside.
“Let me do it, let me do it. Go prep the vegetables.”
She had brought her multi-functional outdoor pot in the basket. He should have known it would definitely come in handy, but he hadn’t expected to use it right at noon.
Similarly, when it came to prepping the vegetables, that small handful of wild garlic was quickly peeled of its tough outer skin in Huai Yu’s hands, then rinsed briefly in the pot.
There was no helping it; Zhou Qian wouldn’t let her touch the water in the wild, and they had only brought three canteens themselves, so they had to save it.
On this end, Zhou Qian had quickly found suitable stones to set up a small stove, just right for propping up the multi-functional pot, and a warm fire was already rising underneath.
He hesitated for a moment. “Is it really necessary to light a fire and boil water just for this wild garlic?”
The water they brought was already boiled.
To his surprise, Huai Yu fished out those two thick elephant ear stalks from the basket. “We’re adding a side of taro stalks for lunch! It’s this, taro stalks.”
Zhou Qian: “…”
“That’s taro?!” He said sheepishly. “I thought it was elephant ear; they look so similar.”
Huai Yu glanced at him, involuntarily recalling his rugged manner of stacking everything into a single pot when washing dishes, and she shook her head, letting out another sigh.
“Forget it! Just wait to eat.”
With that, she checked her palms. “Great, no allergy.”
“Do they cause allergies?” Zhou Qian furrowed his brows. “We don’t have to eat it. Didn’t we bring flatbread and water? And the raspberries left over from this morning.”
The flatbread had a touch of salt and minced scallions added. Considering they would be eating it cold, no meat had been included, but paired with nutritional fluid, it would be enough to fill their stomachs.
“No way,” Huai Yu said matter-of-factly. “You lived on nutritional fluid for too long. Last time at the hospital, the doctor said your gastrointestinal atrophy was more severe than others, and told you to eat more real food!”
According to the doctor’s exact words, eating more real food wouldn’t necessarily allow Zhou Qian to absorb enough nutrients for his body, but it would ensure his gastrointestinal tract kept functioning normally, preventing it from dragging other organs down with it.
After all, the human body’s organs were all interconnected; consuming too much nutritional fluid could cause very serious problems.
Zhou Qian was torn between laughing and crying. “Even so, there’s no need to cook a dish while climbing a mountain. If you just said the word, wouldn’t I just eat an extra portion?”
“That won’t do!” Huai Yu was very solemn about it. “If eating isn’t joyful, it’s hard to be joyful about anything else! Brother Zhou Qian, you like strong flavors but don’t like many spices, so I didn’t dare add anything when I griddled the flatbread. But I brought chili, ginger, garlic, oil, and salt—I’ll make you a spicy stir-fried taro stalk dish for lunch!”
“This should taste pretty good with the flatbread.”
Zhou Qian couldn’t quite describe his feelings at that moment, but watching Huai Yu swiftly use a small knife to peel away the tough skin on the sides of the stalks, he reached his hand out. “Let me peel them.”
“No need.” Huai Yu dodged him. “I must have been used to doing this before, so I’m not very sensitive to these stalks. If you haven’t touched them before, your palms might itch.”
“Besides, this is really fast. Brother Zhou Qian, don’t throw away the water used to wash the scallions just yet. Add a bit more and boil it; these stalks need to be blanched in a bit. Let’s save some water.”
Zhou Qian’s feelings grew even more complex. Watching Huai Yu begin snapping off the tough outer skin of the taro stalks with a series of crisp cracks, he sighed again. “Don’t make it so troublesome next time. Just dig up the taro roots directly; those can be roasted right in the embers and eaten.”
That way, she wouldn’t get a contact allergy, and it would save all this trouble.
Huai Yu looked up at him, suddenly curious. “Brother Zhou Qian, I always thought you guys would forage on the spot when you went on missions in the wilderness. Do you actually not do that?”
She gestured with the taro stalk in her hand. “Only taro stalks of this variety taste good. The taro roots underneath are small and stringy; nobody eats them.”
Zhou Qian lost his smile. “It seems I’m still no match for you in the wild. We used to have wilderness survival training, but after the cataclysm, all that learned knowledge was completely overturned.”
“An absolute ironclad rule for going out on missions now is—under no circumstances are you allowed to casually forage on the spot.”
Just like how he would not only use a long staff to prod before cutting taro leaves, but would also carefully probe beneath the ground. If he hadn’t already witnessed Huai Yu’s wonders, he would never have easily tested such a large patch of “elephant ears.”
Huai Yu’s eyes were instantly filled with deep sympathy. No wonder they could only drink nutritional fluid or eat compressed rations every time they went on a mission if they couldn’t forage on the spot.
But even if they could, whatever they managed to forage would probably taste terrible, and getting the delicious things would require a fierce fight.
She couldn’t help but grow proud again. “Look at this taro plant. The two stalks I pointed out to you—the plants thought those two side stalks didn’t look nice, so they didn’t plan on keeping them. Brother Zhou Qian, did you mark down the location?”
“When they want to trim their shapes again in a while, we can come back and cut them.”
Understood.
This was actually a journey to pre-order goods!
Zhou Qian nodded numbly. “Alright.”
Before he finished speaking, the water in the pot had already come to a rolling boil, and Huai Yu chopped the peeled taro stalks into small cubes—using that taro leaf as a simple cutting board.
Then she put them into the pot to blanch. When the water boiled again, she lifted the pot, rolled the taro leaf into a funnel shape, and placed a plastic bag underneath it.
Following her instructions, Zhou Qian poured all the warm water and taro stalks from the pot into it. The upper taro leaf perfectly served as a funnel, and the water collected in the plastic bag could be used to rinse the pot later.
Even though Zhou Qian had a presentiment about her methods, he was still struck with admiration by this sequence of water-saving and resource-saving moves.
Next came heating the pot, adding cold oil, and frying the dry chilies and wild garlic heads until their fragrance was released. Finally, she tossed in the drained taro shoots and gave them a simple toss with salt…
Although it still couldn’t be considered an absolute delicacy, the hot, spicy, and savory aroma had already begun to drift through the air.
