Chapter 119 - 107: Taking Taichiro Up the Mountain

Chapter 119: Chapter 107: Taking Taichiro Up the Mountain

Huai Yu was amused by her own thoughts!

"Alright, let’s head up the mountain first! But we won’t go too far this time. We’ll try to be back before noon."

She strapped on her woven basket, placed Ke Taichiro inside, and then packed her fish trap and tools. Pushing her heavy-duty bicycle, she set off toward Sanqing Mountain once again.

The bicycle rolled swiftly across the grassy terrain. With Ke Taichiro accompanying her today, Huai Yu pedaled with extra vigor.

When she reached their usual spot in Zone 8 near the Rose Corridor, she got off the bike. She leaned over while holding the handlebars to reveal Ke Taichiro in the basket on her back.

"Rose, Rose! Look! Our family has a new member! This is Ke Taichiro! He’s really good at rolling grass into balls!"

She took the basket off and held it out toward the edge of the Rose Corridor with Ke Taichiro still inside. He cowered carefully in the basket, not daring to move a muscle at the overwhelming expanse of Rose’s vines towering in front of him. After a long while, he tremblingly extended his antennae and bent them, as if waving hello. ℯ

The floral branches of the Rose Corridor swayed gently but didn’t speak. Huai Yu happily parked her bike to the side and smiled again. "Please open the door. I’m going to take Ke Taichiro to see the mountain."

In late April, the wild resources on Sanqing Mountain were visibly much more abundant than during the freezing days of early March.

Not long after entering the mountain, Huai Yu spotted a large patch of white mugwort near her feet. However, it was a bit too mature, making her hesitate. Before she could make up her mind, Ke Taichiro was already drumming all six of his legs against the basket, going TAP TAP TAP.

Huai Yu quickly snapped out of her thoughts, set the basket on the ground, and lifted Ke Taichiro out. "Do you want to walk by yourself? It’ll be a bit tiring..."

Just as she finished speaking, she saw Ke Taichiro drop down into his crawling posture and immediately bite into the nearby white mugwort.

Huai Yu was rendered speechless. "You’re quite good at foraging. This isn’t bad as a wild vegetable, though it does have some medicinal properties..."

There were victory onions and wild pea shoots nearby, yet Ke Taichiro’s first choice had been the white mugwort. Did he prefer plants with medicinal properties? Huai Yu smiled and stroked his antennae. "Taichiro, let’s eat this later. There should be better things up on the mountain."

Ke Taichiro paused his chewing. Obediently, he handed over the grain-sized ball in his hands, then crawled behind her on all six legs.

Huai Yu’s mood immediately brightened. How should she put it? Even though Ke Taichiro couldn’t speak, the sense of companionship was even stronger than when she had dragged Kuang Biao down the mountain! It felt just like taking a little kid on a nature excursion.

This made her feel wonderful. She carried the basket all the way up, stopping a few times to pick wild shiitake and regular Yellow Yugi Mushrooms, before finally arriving at the pool where she had previously set her fish trap.

Since it hadn’t rained for a while, the water level in the pool was slightly lower than before—but only slightly. The surroundings remained serene and refreshingly cool. Because of the water source, the vegetation here was even more lush than what she had seen along the way.

Ke Taichiro’s wings went FLAP FLAP. Seeing Huai Yu stop, he dove straight into the nearby bushes. Meanwhile, Huai Yu took her multi-purpose shovel, dug up a few small earthworms, and, after purifying them slightly, threw them directly into the fish trap. With practiced ease, she lowered the trap into the pool.

Then, looking at the dense woods on both sides, she happily picked up her basket.

Snow-white locust flowers! She had just spotted several locust trees through the gaps between the leaves. With so few people visiting the mountain, they had grown into gnarled old giants. Their branches stretched far out, adorned with vibrant green leaves and dense clusters of white flowers. The faint, fresh fragrance they emitted filled Huai Yu with the joy of a bountiful harvest just by looking at them.

But there were so many that she actually had to be picky, specifically searching for the unopened flower buds to pluck. She set the basket down and pulled out the bag Ke Taichiro had stayed in earlier. Standing on her tiptoes, she pulled down a locust branch and carefully stripped the flower buds off, cluster by cluster.

As she picked them, she tried to strike up a conversation. Unfortunately, while most of the plants on Sanqing Mountain were gentle, the vast majority were entirely incapable of communication, acting exactly like ordinary plants.

But that didn’t matter. She had Taichiro to chat with now!

"Taichiro, did you find something good again?"

Taichiro poked his head out from the bushes. Wobbling on his two hind legs, he stood upright and tried to scurry over to her side, his wings going FLAP FLAP in obvious eagerness.