Chapter 609: What a Tonic

“You’re sunbathing?” Shen Yibin pushed the food cart into the room, closed the door, and walked onto the balcony. Hah’Er was squatting there, and Turtle Immortal was lying on its back, belly to the sky. The sunlight was shining right on the shell of its stomach. Its head lolled to the side, eyes slightly narrowed, looking like it was enjoying itself immensely.

Hearing Shen Yibin’s voice, Turtle Immortal opened its small eyes and twitched its nose, apparently smelling the aroma of food. It struggled to get up, but it’s incredibly difficult for a turtle to flip itself over once it’s on its back. Its four legs flailed in the air—not touching the sky, not touching the ground—for ages, but it was no use at all.

“Hmph!” It was Hah’Er who lent a hand. It reached out a paw and gave a gentle nudge, and the shell was right side up again. Turtle Immortal slowly crawled toward the dining table. Shen Yibin and Hah’Er stood still, both intending to see what it would do once it reached the chair. But after clawing at the chair leg a couple of times to no avail, the little guy turned its head back and stared expectantly at Shen Yibin and Hah’Er.

‘Sigh, and here I thought you were going to use some kind of magical ability. Turns out you were just relying on us for help!’ It seemed this guy didn’t know any cultivation arts after all. Shen Yibin felt a twinge of disappointment. He walked over to the dining table, lifted the little guy onto it, then brought out the dishes he had so carefully cooked from the cart. Everyone began to eat.

“This afternoon we’ll go for a stroll by the lake, check out the wetland scenery, and then tomorrow we’ll go to South Dongting Lake and see the tea trees on Jun Mountain.” He told them the plan for tomorrow as they ate. Even though it was winter, with Maphario’s abilities, it was sure to find any undiscovered tea seeds in the ground.

Shen Yibin picked up some nuts with his chopsticks for it and stroked Maphario’s fur. ‘Whether or not we can eat Junshan Silver Needle Chicken Slices after we get back to Yunzhong City is all up to you. If we can really manage to grow tea trees this time, I’ll find a chance later to visit West Lake, Wuyi Mountain, and so on. I’ll bring back seeds for West Lake Longjing Tea and Wuyi Mountain Dahongpao. Then we’ll have all the good tea we could ever want.’

After finishing their meal and resting for a short while, Shen Yibin prepared to take them out. He had originally planned to carry Turtle Immortal so they could walk faster, but the little guy didn’t appreciate the sentiment. It trotted after Shen Yibin on its short little legs, its four paws scrambling in a flurry, and somehow managed to keep up with Hah’Er’s pace. It was quite an eye-opener for Shen Yibin, who couldn’t tell if this was the turtle’s natural ability or some mutation from the medicine from the Future Pet Shop.

This time, they didn’t take yesterday’s tour boat. Instead, they switched to a small wooden boat, drifting slowly beside the lakeside wetlands. Upon seeing the familiar waters of Dongting Lake, Turtle Immortal immediately jumped in with a SPLASH. Shen Yibin was startled, thinking it was trying to escape. Thankfully, the little guy quickly resurfaced, paddling through the lake water with its four paws and keeping a relaxed pace alongside the wooden boat. It showed no signs of wanting to flee, and only then did Shen Yibin finally relax.

The wetlands were packed with a dense-looking flock of various birds. They showed no fear at the sight of people. All kinds of pleasant birdsong rose and fell, making one feel as if they had wandered into a fairyland. Shen Yibin saw a small path and quickly asked for the boat to be stopped and brought ashore. He led Hah’Er and Bald Qiang’s crew over to the birds. ‘Maybe it wouldn’t be a bad idea to raise a bird with a beautiful song in the future? Uh, as long as it’s not as chatty as Cheeky, that is!’

“Hmm?” Hah’Er was incredibly curious about the many different kinds of birds. It would glance at one, then at another, and when the urge struck, it even wanted to touch one’s feathers. But the moment it extended its paw, it was viciously pecked by a white crane. If it hadn’t trained with Shen Yibin for so long and increased its reaction speed, its paw might have been pecked clean through.

Having learned its lesson, Hah’Er was finally on its best behavior. For the rest of the walk, it only dared to look, not to touch. Still, the beautiful scenery and the lovely birds were enough to satisfy it. The Bald Qiang couple had never seen these birds in Sokovia either, and they were just as intrigued. The only one unimpressed was Turtle Immortal. Having spent so many years in Dongting Lake, it had lost all interest in these birds long ago. Its tiny, pea-like eyes darted about, and it seemed to be far more interested in the bird eggs in the grassy nests.

‘You can’t eat those. If you want to eat eggs, I’ll make you some scrambled eggs with tomato when we get back. Who knows what kind of protected species these are? We’d be in big trouble if you ate them!’ Shen Yibin quickly stuck out his foot to block Turtle Immortal’s path. ‘It was already pretty shameless of me to take you from Dongting Lake. It would be completely outrageous to cause any more destruction.’

To be honest, Shen Yibin had Captain Ma Hu to thank. When Turtle Immortal was first hauled up, its shell had been covered in moss, completely obscuring the characters carved on its back. Otherwise, if the words “the 12th year of Qianlong” had been exposed to the crowd, it would have likely caused an uproar around all of Dongting Lake. Taking the turtle away then would have been far from easy.

Seeing that Shen Yibin wouldn’t let it steal bird eggs, Turtle Immortal was quite frustrated. It slowly wandered over to the other side, stretched out its neck, and snipped off a green plant that had just put out a tender shoot. It then crawled onto Shen Yibin’s foot and held the plant up high, as if offering it to him.

“Hmm? What’s this? Can you eat it?” Shen Yibin had plenty of outdoor survival experience, but even he didn’t recognize this plant. He had no choice but to ask. Upon hearing the question, Turtle Immortal slowly nodded.

“It’s really edible? In that case, I’ll take it. Thanks so much!” ‘This single stalk probably isn’t even enough to get stuck in my teeth,’ Shen Yibin mused to himself as he carefully put the plant away.

After that, Turtle Immortal gave up on bird eggs entirely. It proceeded slowly along the path, occasionally crawling into the grass to snip off a tender shoot or a few green leaves. It even used its claws to dig up a few tubers. By the time they headed back, Shen Yibin’s pocket was half full.

‘Are we eating this tonight? But are these things really edible? They’re not poisonous, are they?’ In the end, Shen Yibin didn’t dare to eat them carelessly. He took them to the kitchen to consult a head chef who was familiar with the local flora. Only after getting an affirmative did he stew a pot of wild vegetable soup and carry it back to the suite.

As Shen Yibin drank the soup, he felt a wave of heat sink down his throat before instantly spreading to his limbs. His entire body felt warm, as if he were soaking in a hot bath. It was comfortable to the point of bliss.

After he finished eating, he opened the French doors and stepped out onto the balcony. The cool winter wind didn’t feel so cold against his skin anymore. When he got into bed, he fell asleep almost instantly, enjoying a comfortable, dreamless night.

When he woke up the next morning, Shen Yibin’s nose felt a little stuffy. He reached up and felt what seemed to be a scab of dried blood under his nostrils. ‘Is this the effect of last night’s wild vegetable soup? It’s a little too potent, isn’t it? So potent it gave me a nosebleed!’