Chapter 18. Ji earnestly advised Cang Li again: ...

Ji earnestly advised Cang Li, "Sister, don't go looking for it. Even wild animals won't come here. Don't worry."

Cang Li was still worried. The existence of the so-called Mother Goddess did not conflict with the potential danger, so Cang Li still wanted to go and see.

"Listen to me, I'll be right back, nothing will happen."

Ji scratched his head, seeing that he couldn't stop Cang Li, and said, "Then, sister, come back quickly." Anyway, as long as you don't go out, there will be no danger. If sister wants to go and see, then go. It's not good to worry like this all the time.

Cang Li picked up his axe and left. Ji and the others watched him go. They were very obedient and didn't run around.

After reaching the riverbank, Cang Li stood in their usual spot and sensed the air. The smell of blood was gone; the last time, the smell had come from upstream. Cang Li walked upstream, observing his surroundings as he went, glancing at the opposite mountain every now and then, trying to find any signs of human activity on the other side.

However, there was also a patch of tall weeds on the opposite side, limiting the field of vision and making it impossible to see if anyone was there.

Cang Li withdrew her gaze and continued upstream. As the sun was about to set, Cang Li was still some distance from the gap between the two mountains upstream. Looking over, she saw nothing and knew she had to go back. It would be dangerous to stay outside in the dark, and if she went back now, she probably wouldn't be able to get back to the cave until 11 or 12 at night. Cang Li hesitated for a moment, then turned around and walked back along the way she had come.

Ji and Jie fed the others, and as the sun gradually set until it was completely out of sight, Cang Li still hadn't returned. Jie was a little worried and tugged at Ji's clothes, asking:

"Hey, why hasn't my sister come back yet?"

A hint of fear appeared on his face, then he shook his head: "It's alright, my sister is probably on her way back."

Jie gripped the bamboo spear Cang Li had made tightly in his hand, staring at the outside of the bamboo fence. But as darkness fell and he still couldn't see the familiar figure, Jie grew anxious and wanted to go out and look for Cang Li.

The man pulled at the door, saying, "No, my sister won't let us run around."

Remembering how Cang Li got angry last time, she paused in her walk, then sat down and said, "I'll wait here for you, sister. If you haven't come back by the time the sun rises again, I'll go find you."

He pursed his lips and said, "Okay, I'll take you and the others to bed."

After saying that, he picked up Yu and took Zhong and Er back to the cave to sleep. After the three little ones fell asleep, Ren came out to keep Jie company.

The moon was bright in the sky. The two sat on the steps, looking at the path leading to the river. After some time, Jie heard a noise and quickly opened his eyes to look in that direction. The next moment, he saw Cang Li emerge from the grass. Jie happily rushed over to greet Cang Li.

"Sister!"

Cang Li wiped the sweat from his forehead and pushed Jie away, saying, "Don't come any closer. I'm covered in sweat. Why aren't you all asleep yet?"

Jie obediently followed Cang Li back, whispering, "I can't sleep because my sister hasn't come back."

Cang Li laughed, put the axe aside, patted Jihe Jie's head and said, "Alright, don't worry, go to sleep. I'll take a shower and then go to sleep."

Ji Hejie nodded and went back to bed to sleep.

Cang Li quickly took a shower, changed her clothes, closed the fence gate, and went back to bed.

She walked for a long time today and was really tired. She fell asleep as soon as she lay down on the bed.

Perhaps because no danger was found after the inspection, Cang Li slept much more soundly than in the previous days, and didn't wake up until almost noon.

When I woke up, I found the kids playing in the mud at the door. Ji and Jie had already watered the vegetable garden and washed the clothes. Cang Li put the things that had been put out earlier back into his backpack. It was too hot, and they would probably spoil if left outside for too long.

Now that the danger alert has been temporarily lifted, Cang Li still wants to go up the mountain to continue collecting mountain produce to stock up for winter, and also to cut down a few more bamboo trees to make a bamboo raft. She is determined to go to the other side to see what the Mother Goddess looks like.

Cang Li was a very proactive person. After getting some food, he led his children up the mountain and headed straight for the bamboo forest. He told the children to go play on their own, and then picked up an axe and started chopping bamboo. After chopping eight bamboo stalks, Cang Li stopped, took a breather, collected the bamboo, and then began to collect nearby plants and throw them to the collector.

She wanted to unlock the fifth page of the shop as soon as possible and made a wish, hoping that the refreshed items would include a suitable weapon. She didn't believe what the man said about there being no danger here. How could there be no danger on a mountain? Even if there were no wild beasts, there would be insects and snakes.

Cang Li exhaled and continued searching through the bushes. This time, she specifically looked for some medicinal herbs she recognized and dug up quite a few Gastrodia elata, Polygonum multiflorum, and even a clump of honeysuckle. The medicinal herbs yielded more gathering points than ordinary plants, and Cang Li collected the missing 21 gathering points before descending the mountain.

After gathering enough resources, Cang Li didn't immediately open the shop. Instead, he called his children back, as they were going down the mountain.

Ji Hejie ran back happily, carrying a pheasant and a rabbit in his hands, while Erhezhong led Yu behind him.

Cang Li: "Huh? Where did these pheasants and rabbits come from?"

Ji said happily, "Jie and I were picking mushrooms and wild vegetables. This rabbit ran into a tree and got dizzy. The pheasant got caught on a vine. Sister, can we have stewed chicken for dinner?"

Cang Li picked up Lin's defiant pheasant, which was quite heavy. Cang Li nodded, tossed the item into his backpack, and said, "Okay, let's go to the river and process the game now."

The family went to the river to process their game. Ji Hejie brought clean clothes. His older sister said that it was hot and they had to take a bath every day. Children who don't like to be clean are prone to getting sick. When they get sick, they feel terrible, can't eat, and will die if they can't be cured. So Ji Hejie was very obedient and took a bath every day.

When they reached the riverbank, Cang Li had Ji Hejie take the little chicken to the shallows. She walked downstream for a while, took out a kitchen knife to kill the chicken, and then took out boiling water from her backpack to scald its feathers, as they would be difficult to pluck without scalding.

The rabbit was processed, and Cang Li threw the rabbit head, chicken head, chicken feet, and rabbit feet to the collector to exchange for collection points. She had figured it out before, and although it wasn't a whole prey, these scraps could indeed be exchanged for some collection points. Even a mosquito is meat, no matter how small, and Cang Li didn't mind.

Cang Li chopped the cleaned pheasant meat into small pieces, wrapped them in leaves, and put them into her backpack. She also processed the rabbit meat in the same way. Originally, Cang Li planned to cook by the river, but the accident a few days ago made her more cautious. Cooking rice would produce a strong smell, and she wouldn't be able to handle wild animals if she stayed here, so it was better to go back.

She blocked the large cave entrance with stones, bamboo, and weeds, leaving only a two-meter-wide opening. Once she finished making and installing the door, she would cover the outside with mud for camouflage. In case of emergency, she might be able to hide inside from wild animals.

Cang Li also added a lot of bamboo fences with pointed ends outside the cave. Cang Li knew that these might not be effective if they encountered wild animals, but at least they were psychologically comforted.

Cang Li shaded her eyes with her hand and glanced across the street. She would go back and check what was available on the fifth page of the shop, then make a bamboo raft and go find the adults who had abandoned their children!

"Ji, Jie, we should be heading back soon," Cang Li called out to Ji.

After shouting, Cang Li ignored it and just scraped off as much fat as possible from the rabbit skin. Then, he found a relatively secluded corner, tied the rabbit skin with vines, and threw it into the river to wash it. After treating the rabbit skin this way last time, he went back and rubbed it with wood ash. The rabbit skin was very soft and had no odor after being washed and dried.

The only downside is that the rabbit fur is a bit small; even with this piece, it's only enough to make one pair of boots. If winter really comes, this amount of warm clothing won't be enough.

Cang Li thought she needed to hunt more furry animals like rabbits, preferably larger ones. If only she could get a complete bear pelt, but unfortunately, she couldn't beat a bear. Cang Li sighed and decided she should just honestly accumulate small amounts and become a rabbit killer.

Ji Hejie led the cleaned-up Erzhongyu to Cangli. Cangli led the children back, as she was also a little hungry and wanted to go back to cook.

After dinner, Cang Li lay in bed, opened the collector shop, and clicked on the fifth page to see what was inside.

The products on the fifth page were a bit confusing to Cang Li. There were still two rows of product slots, with three items in each row.

The first item was cotton seeds, which was great. Cotton is a good source of warmth. It could only be exchanged once and required 6 gathering points. After opening it, I found that there were a total of 1500 grams of seeds. Cang Li exchanged for them without hesitation. The cotton needed to be planted as soon as possible. With cotton and rabbit skin, it should be enough to get through the winter.

The second item is soybeans, which are also limited to 1500 grams per purchase and require 6 collection points. Soybeans are also good; they can be ground into soy milk and made into tofu.

The third item is ten sugarcane seedlings per package, collected at four locations, with a limit of one purchase per customer.

Cang Li didn't change her mind, but continued looking at the next three. She didn't quite understand them, and they were even quite expensive.

The fourth name, Mist Mother, actually requires forty gathering points and is limited to one purchase. Clicking on the small icon reveals no explanation whatsoever. In other words, Cang Li has no idea what this Mist Mother is for.

Cang Li frowned and continued reading. The fifth one was called "Heart Technique," which required 50 gathering points and could only be purchased once.

Cang Li: ...Are you crazy?

The last one is slightly more normal, but still not quite normal. It's called Xuanyuan Sword, and it requires 100 gathering points.

Cang Li turned the collector off and on again without expression, repeating the action several times before finally realizing that she wasn't seeing things; the collector had refreshed her with useless and expensive stuff.

She wished for a weapon for self-defense, but this cultivation method, the Mist Mother, and the Xuanyuan Sword—aside from the Xuanyuan Sword, the other two had nothing to do with self-defense, right? Even the Xuanyuan Sword—she didn't know how to wield it, not to mention that it was so expensive, she couldn't afford it.

Cang Li announced that this was the worst time the collector had ever performed.

Cang Li tossed the collector aside in frustration, swapping it for soybeans and sugarcane before doing so. She wanted to plant them. As for the expensive and troublesome stuff that she couldn't understand, Cang Li didn't want to see it for the time being.