Chapter 611: Walking the Tortoise

Back at the hotel, he had dinner sent up to the room. Everyone enjoyed a wonderful meal, after which he found a bag and carefully wrapped up the Junshan Silver Needle Tea tree seeds Maphario had secretly collected. “Alright, this mission is finally complete. We’ll head back to Yunzhong City tomorrow! Everyone get some rest!”

He had another two days of driving ahead of him, so he needed to be well-rested. However, the effects of that wild vegetable soup didn’t seem to have worn off yet. Shen Yibin felt full of energy, and he was sure the return trip would be faster than the journey here.

The next morning, after breakfast at the hotel, Shen Yibin checked out and herded the whole gang into the car. To make the Turtle Immortal and the Bald Qiang couple more comfortable on the road, Shen Yibin even bought a plastic tub. He filled it halfway with water so they could take turns lying in it during the drive. They would be on the highway for most of the trip, so he wasn’t too worried about much of it spilling.

At noon, they bought something to eat at a rest area and took a nap in the car before continuing on in the afternoon. He drove without stopping until he reached the province neighboring Yunzhong City. As evening approached, Shen Yibin exited the highway. He found a valley with a small creek along the national road, parked the car, and began setting up his tent, planning to spend the night there. The Turtle Immortal would probably be more comfortable lying in the creek water overnight.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you guys dinner as soon as I finish setting up the tent!” While Shen Yibin set up the tent, the Bald Qiang couple ran off to play in the creek. Hah’Er lay on the ground, watching eagerly. The Turtle Immortal, however, slowly made its way into the bushes. Feeling a little worried, Shen Yibin gave a hand signal. Maphario popped out of Hah’Er’s pocket, landed on the Turtle Immortal’s shell in a few hops, and went along with it.

After bustling about for a while, the tent and sleeping bags were all set up. Shen Yibin set up his portable cookware, poured bottled water into the pot, and got ready to cook some soup. There was creek water nearby, but who knew if it was clean? For his stomach’s sake, it was better to use the bottled water. Once the water boiled, he added noodles and salted meat. A moment later, a fragrant aroma wafted from the pot. At the smell, the Bald Qiang couple stopped playing around. They immediately scrambled out of the creek and squatted next to Shen Yibin, staring eagerly at the food in the pot. The two of them hadn’t eaten much of the dry rations at lunch today.

“Hah’Er, go see where your godson and the Turtle Immortal went, and bring them back for dinner!” Shen Yibin called out, figuring the food was almost ready. ‘I wonder if those two have gone far. Uh, at the Turtle Immortal’s speed, they could’ve only gone a hundred meters or so in this amount of time, right?’

Hah’Er grunted in acknowledgment and headed in the direction they had disappeared. Before he had taken more than a few steps, he saw the Turtle Immortal returning with Maphario on its back. The turtle was also carrying a pile of greenish leaves and tender shoots, which Maphario held down with its paws, afraid they would slide off the shell. It seemed to be something they had just found in the bushes.

“Whoa, you found some here too! Quick, bring them over. I’ll put them right in the pot.” This was a huge surprise for Shen Yibin. He had been thinking he’d have to find time to go to Dongting Lake again in the future, but he never expected to find some here. ‘Does this mean there must be these highly nutritious wild vegetables and herbs in Yunzhong City too?’

“Mmph!” Hah’Er had also tasted the wild vegetable soup before, and the memory was still fresh. He quickly scampered over, took the wild vegetables from the Turtle Immortal’s back, and handed them to Shen Yibin. If they had waited for the Turtle Immortal to slowly lumber over, the pot of noodles would have turned to mush long ago.

“I’m going to wash these. Just hang on a little longer!” Shen Yibin turned down the heat, took the wild vegetables to the creekside to give them a rinse, and planned to toss them straight into the pot to make wild vegetable noodles. But when he got to the creek, he took a look and something felt off. “Huh, these look a little different from the ones the other day. Are these effective too?”

This time, Shen Yibin didn’t doubt whether the plants were edible. ‘If the Turtle Immortal ate poisonous things, how could it have lived for several hundred years?’ After a moment’s thought, he understood. Dongting Lake and this place had completely different natural environments—they were in different biomes—so of course the plants that grew there would be different.

‘But how do you know these plants are so nutritious?’ Shen Yibin mulled this over for a long time but couldn’t figure it out. He guessed it was one of two things: either the Turtle Immortal had seen these plants during its travels in its youth, or it had a special gift for finding these useful things regardless of the environment. He really hoped it was the latter. Only then could he continue to enjoy these highly nutritious foods after returning to Yunzhong City. ‘And hopefully extend my own life, too.’

He washed the wild vegetables and put them in the pot; they were cooked after a quick boil. Shen Yibin served the food into their bowls—oh, except for the Turtle Immortal, which got a plate. A food bowl was a bit difficult for it to manage.

After another wonderful meal, Shen Yibin felt warm all over, even out in the winter wilderness. Lying in the tent, he didn’t feel the cold at all and quickly fell asleep.

When he woke up, he felt incredibly refreshed and clear-headed, even more so than after resting in the five-star hotel the previous day. He ate a quick bite to tide himself over and set off again, full of vigor.

After eating those highly nutritious wild vegetables, Shen Yibin felt even more energetic. He pushed the car right to the maximum speed limit on the highway. By lunchtime, Shen Yibin was already back in Yunzhong City. This trip was much faster than his previous one to Dongting Lake.

“Boss, you’re back?” As soon as he walked in the door, he saw Li Shiqing come up to greet him with a sweet smile.

“Oh, I just got back. Could you help me order some takeout? I’m really too tired to cook right now.” After such a long drive, Shen Yibin was still a little tired, even with the help of the wild vegetable soup.

“In that case, I’ll just go out and buy something for you!” Li Shiqing hurried out and returned a short while later carrying a stack of takeout containers. Shen Yibin and Hah’Er quickly ate their lunch and got ready to leave. “Come on, everyone, come get your presents. I’m going to head home and get some rest. I’ll be back tomorrow at noon. Xiaoliu, let’s go home!”

Once home, Shen Yibin carefully took out the tea tree seeds. With Maphario’s help, he began to soak them. The seeds had a hard outer shell and needed to be soaked for a few days before planting.

“Hah’Er, go get some rest. Bald Qiang, go say hi to your master, then come on over for dinner tonight.” After giving out instructions, Shen Yibin got ready to head out with the Turtle Immortal.

He hadn’t gone far from his door when he saw Wen Yuan returning with the Bald Qiang couple. “I just saw your car. Why are you heading out again right after getting back? What are you up to, Bin?”

“Oh, just taking it out for a stroll!” Shen Yibin said, pointing at the Turtle Immortal.

“Walking a turtle?” Wen Yuan felt like his brain couldn’t process it.