amaotonovel Chapter 40 An Encounter with a Lotus Spirit
Chapter 40 An Encounter with a Lotus Spirit
The following morning, deep in the mountains, the winds and clouds surged, and wisps of white mist blanketed the entire forest. People say that the Gathering Place is something special. This morning, Gong Yong and Lin Yue truly witnessed what the Gathering Place was like. To broaden the children's horizons, Lin Yue let them out to see the outside world and witness what a Gathering Place truly was. There, the winds and clouds churned, shrouded in white mist.
Gong Yong and Lin Yue looked at the place; it didn't seem far from where they estimated it, but in reality, it was quite a distance. Xiao Bao hadn't seen his mother for a while and missed her terribly. Because the ratio of time outside to time inside the space was 1:4, one hour Lin Yue spent outside with Gong Yong meant four hours had passed inside. Xiao Bao was getting restless; he missed his mother so much. So, they didn't put the three children into the space today, and instead continued searching for wildflowers and wild fruits in the mountains with them. Lin Yue carried Xiao Bao, Gong Yong led the way, and the little mouse was at the very front.
Because it had already scouted the way yesterday, the little mouse spirit and its friends had found the location. There were many thorns along the way, and deep inside, some honeysuckle was even blooming—it was hard to imagine that so many plants, blooming, existed in such a remote place. There were also some wild prickly berries, which the locals call "prickly berries," and some wild strawberries. The children ate with great relish as they walked. The little mouse gave all the edible things it picked to the three children, who hadn't eaten any rice; they were full from the fruit.
In late autumn, this part of Shennong Valley remained untouched by outsiders. Deep within the forest, many fruit trees still bore scattered fruit. Ahead, they saw a persimmon tree, with some dried persimmons hanging from it. Many had been pecked by birds, while others hung limply, perfectly red. Lin Yue and Gong Yu called the little mouse to climb up, pick a persimmon, and throw it down. They caught them in a bag, filling a large basket. Lin Yue took out a basket from her spatial storage, filled it to the brim, and continued walking. They saw a walnut tree—yes, walnuts. The crisp outer shell of the walnuts was gone, leaving a crumbly mess on the ground. Lin Yue suspected wild boars had been there, and the little mouse eagerly agreed, saying it had been rooted up by wild boars.
Lin Yue and three children were picking fruit below, specifically walnuts. The three children wore gloves and picked carefully. Before they knew it, they had filled two baskets with walnuts under this large walnut tree. The walnuts were quite large; you rarely see such large walnuts for sale in the market. These walnuts were really good. Xiao Bao cracked one open with a stone, peeled it, and ate it, saying it was delicious and fragrant. Lin Yue thought for a moment, perhaps planting a couple in her space and harvesting the fruit would be nice. Then, she casually picked up two large walnuts, gently cracked one open, and tossed them into a corner of her black soil.
They walked around a few more places and saw some wild grapevines. The vines were almost bare of grapes, with only one or two occasionally hanging on them. They also saw a green bamboo viper. Lin Yue showed the three children a small green snake. Lin Yue told them it was poisonous. The children observed it briefly and then left without showing any aggression. Perhaps because Lin Yue, Gong Yong, and the three children had drunk too much of the spring water in the space, they carried a refreshing aura of the forest. Neither large nor small animals were particularly agitated or angry, and even some venomous creatures showed no aggression towards them, instead displaying friendliness.
A family of six was walking halfway up the mountain when they came to a valley shaped like a basin. Yes, a valley. A stream meandered down the mountain, flowing through the basin below. On the other side of the river, reeds obscured the view, revealing a lotus pond with wild lotus leaves, some already withered. But on the other side, it seemed as if steam was rising. Lin Yue glanced over and guessed there was a hot spring there. Nearby, many lotus flowers were growing well, their leaves lush and green. About a kilometer away from the hot spring, all the lotus leaves had withered. Lin Yue and Gong Yong exchanged a glance, concluding that the location of the hot spring must be a good place.
Gong Yong and Lin Yue first put the child into their spatial storage, telling the child they would be released when they reached their destination. The river valley, carved out by the river, was a bit difficult to traverse, and there was a considerable drop, about two meters. Gong Yong then took out a retractable ladder from his safety buckle spatial storage, secured it to a tree stump on the edge of a cliff, and then attached a safety rope before slowly descending into the valley.
The little mouse had already seen the telescopic ladder set up and hopped and skipped down it in a flash. The little mouse was already jumping and hopping around in the river valley. Gong Yong slowly descended, then braced the ladder after reaching the bottom. Lin Yue also put on her safety rope and slowly climbed down. They removed the ladder, leaving the safety rope behind, worried they might have to go back later. The two of them walked along the pebbly riverbed and found many crabs, small fish, and shrimp.
Lin Yue released the three children from the space, dressed them in tall boots, and took out three small buckets and nets. They began collecting crabs from the ditch. These were land crabs, with black shells, small in size, and there were many of them. They could easily move a rock and find three or even four living inside. Lin Yue told the children, "When I lived in the countryside, I was always surprised to find one crab under a rock. There were three or four living under just one rock! The ecosystem here is so good; it must have been uninhabited for a long time. The food chain here must be very complete and healthy."
The three children were very happy and started moving stones. In some places at the bottom of the valley, there were actually many small crabs under what looked like dry stones. The three of them quickly filled three buckets with small crabs. Lin Yue thought for a moment and then took out a rectangular white plastic bucket with a lid from her space. She told the children to pour the small crabs into the dry plastic bucket so that the crabs wouldn't crawl out and would all stay at the bottom.
On a spacious grassy platform in the upper part of the valley, Lin Yue began to set up the tent. Gong Yong took out a tarp and erected it. To prevent the sudden appearance of wild animals, Gong Yong also took out a retractable enclosure, similar to those used for sheep and cattle enclosures, somewhat like a retractable door or window. It surrounded their campsite in the middle, about two meters high, made of iron; it was unclear how Gong Yong had managed to do it. Then they started setting up stakes. Gong Yong said, "It's getting late; let's camp here tonight."
The little mouse said, "This place is really nice, but I'm worried that if it rains heavily in the middle of the night, the riverbed might rise and the water might overflow." Gong Yong looked around and said, "This place we found is five or six meters higher than the riverbed, so there shouldn't be any problem with the river rising and flooding us in the middle of the night, since it's still so far away from the riverbed."
Gong Yong busied himself marking out a space and setting up the solar panels. The strong sunlight of the setting sun was perfect for charging the batteries for a while, and the camping lights would also come in at night. He took out the power storage box and connected the power grid. Later, when his wife and children came in, he would plug them in, and they would spend the night there. The children were also very happy, and then he took out the barbecue grill.
After setting up the basics, Gong Yong gathered a lot of dead branches and trees near the valley, sawed them into sections with a chainsaw, and piled them high next to the tent. Lin Yue planned to stay there for a night or two. The scenery was beautiful, the temperature was pleasant, not too cold, and it felt very comfortable. It was just a bit damp. After setting up the campsite, he quickly got the air mattress ready, arranged the folding table and chairs, and prepared to start cooking.
He had just rinsed the rice into a pot and placed it in a small outdoor stove, letting it simmer slowly over the lowest flame. He then left his campsite to see if he could find any wild game, like pheasants or rabbits. Gong Yong, who loved playing with a slingshot as a child, took it out to see if there was any fresh food in the valley. He also grabbed a small hoe and dug up half a basket of houttuynia cordata (a common vegetable). There was also some lamb's quarters, other wild vegetables, mint, and purslane—all wild greens. Gong Yong filled his basket with them and brought them back.
After setting the pot on the stove, seeing that the rice was almost cooked, Gong Yong turned the heat down to the lowest setting, letting the rice slowly simmer in the residual heat. He then took out the lamb chops he had previously stored in his spatial storage. After thawing the lamb chops, he took a fishing net and some bait to the nearby hot spring lake. Using a small hoe, he dug up some lotus roots, about twenty or thirty sections, from the withered lotus leaves around the lake. Then, seeing fish near the hot spring, he baited the area and caught more than ten fish, each weighing about three pounds. He carried them back to the campsite in a bucket. He had been busy preparing a lot of fresh ingredients for tonight's meal.
What was Lin Yue doing? Lin Yue was with her children, and the three children were playing wildly inside. The little mouse spirit remained vigilant, worried that other animals might rush out and harm the children. The three children had been cultivating, but they still lacked the ability to protect themselves. In this wild environment, it was also concerned about being bitten by snakes, insects, and rodents. But as it turned out, a very positive outcome was that the natural aura emanating from the three children since they began cultivating made the animals here feel that they lived with them. Therefore, many small animals, including poisonous insects and snakes, did not harm them.
Lin Yue and the little ones were tired from playing. The older two carried a large white plastic box and a net bag, while Lin Yue carried the youngest and three small buckets. They slowly made their way to Gong Yong's campsite. They were also tired and wanted to rest and have some hot water. When they arrived at the campsite, Gong Yong's lamb chops were already being grilled. Gong Yong quickly came over and took the white plastic buckets. He noticed that the cuffs of the older two's jackets were a little wet, and the youngest's rain boots had a hole in them. He quickly told Lin Yue to go inside the large tent to change the children's clothes. Lin Yue placed her own boots at the entrance of the campsite, and the three children followed suit, taking off all their rain boots and placing them at the campsite entrance before walking inside in their socks.
Inside, they saw a large camping tent with two rooms and a large living room in the middle. A set of folding tables and chairs was placed inside, and another set was set up on the lawn outside. A soft carpet was laid out under the tent, which was very comfortable for the three children, but Xiao Bao's socks were a little wet. Lin Yue quickly took out the children's clothes and pants for them to change. Da Bao said, "Mom, can I take a shower? You haven't showered once in the past two days while playing in the space, and you're a little uncomfortable." Lin Yue took the three children back into the space. After giving the children a proper bath and changing their clothes in the inner room, they returned to the tent, dressed cleanly. Lin Yue also took out three pairs of outdoor sports shoes and tied up the cuffs of their pants to prevent small insects from crawling in.
After getting dressed, we arrived at the campsite under the canopy. There, Gong Yong was pan-frying lamb chops, one for each of the family of five. He also stir-fried some amaranth, made a cold salad of houttuynia cordata, grilled three fish, and prepared cold lotus root and purslane salads. The air was a little chilly, but Gong Yong had built a large campfire nearby, its glow illuminating the camping lights inside, making it very comfortable.
Seeing that his wife had finished packing and the little mouse had already come in, Gong Yong quickly went to the outside of the campsite and closed the fence. At the same time, he installed a button inside the folding fence, from which a wire-like device extended, completely covering the canopy above, including the canopies of the camping huts. He then laid another layer of netting on top, preventing large and small animals from attacking from the side or from the sky, and also blocking some light. A chimney also extended from the top of his campfire barrel—yes, a chimney, a chimney. This made the family feel like they were living in a fortress, like a yurt. It wasn't as completely sealed off, because it was netting, not cloth. However, from the inside, their sleeping area was completely enclosed, with only a section of the canopy exposed to the open air, making them feel very safe.