Chapter 97 Planting Mulberry Trees
Plant trees? Plant fruit trees?
The spirits looked completely bewildered.
Li Chang'an took out the food he had brought from his storage bag and placed it on the ground.
He didn't say anything more, but just smiled and said, "Come and have something to eat."
The stewed chicken was placed in two earthenware pots. When the lids were lifted, white steam rose from the golden, oily chicken broth, carrying the aroma of the broth and enveloping the spirits.
Golden Beard and the White Fox Spirit stared wide-eyed at the two pots of stewed chicken.
The black bear spirit stared intently at the two steamed fish, its front paws folded across its chest. The snake spirit, being bolder, swam over to the casserole and plate, sniffing them curiously.
The owl spirit quietly "watched" in Li Chang'an's direction. It could smell the delicious food, but it couldn't see it, and the spirit remained calm.
Li Chang'an then laid out a bowl of spirit rice and a plate of fresh spirit cabbage hearts.
The squirrel spirit in the tree couldn't help but look over here.
However, they still didn't come over to eat on their own.
Li Chang'an looked up at the spirits in front of him, smiled and said, "Eat up, I brought this especially for you."
"Since you are willing to stay and help me plant trees and fruit trees, you will be my employees from now on. In addition to your salary, I will provide you with meals every day."
After he said that, the snake spirit raised her head and said, "Then I won't be polite."
Li Chang'an nodded and tore off a chicken leg for it.
The snake spirit immediately swallowed the whole chicken leg.
Seeing how much it was enjoying its meal, the white fox spirit couldn't resist pulling the golden whiskers forward and starting to eat the stewed chicken herself.
As soon as they started to act, the black bear spirit, the owl spirit, and the squirrel spirit also came over to start eating.
The stewed chicken uses a hen that weighs over six pounds. It is delicious, and the meat can be easily torn apart after stewing.
As the white fox spirit ate, she couldn't help but wag her short, round tail, occasionally tearing off pieces of meat and placing them in front of the blind owl spirit.
The squirrel spirit ate its spirit rice and the heart of its spirit cabbage without even raising its head.
A group of spirits devoured the food that Li Chang'an had brought in no time.
Their appetites are about the same as those of animals. The snake spirit was full after eating half a chicken, and then coiled up under the tree to digest its food, too lazy to move.
The owl spirit didn't eat much either, and it was resting on a tree nearby, while the white fox spirit was comfortably grooming its fur under the tree.
The weasel has a high cultivation level and a slightly larger appetite; it ate half of the large bowl of spirit rice, and the rice soaked in chicken soup was even more delicious.
The squirrel spirit ate a little bit of spirit rice and a few vegetable leaves and was full.
Only the Black Bear Spirit ate two steamed fish and the remaining spiritual cabbage, which seemed to have just filled his stomach and not made him full.
Looks like I'll have to bring more for the Black Bear Spirit next time.
Li Chang'an cleaned up the dishes on the ground, stood up and said, "I will be building a house next to my home in the next few days, and I will also build a bridge. After it is completed, you can move in and live with us."
He looked at the somewhat puzzled spirits and smiled, saying, "My friends and other employees also live there. It's more convenient for everyone to live closer together."
After the spirits ate a meal with him, they were no longer as timid and wary as before, and they all nodded in agreement.
Li Chang'an then left with Hei Jian. After returning home and washing up, he lay in bed and bought one hundred high-quality mulberry seedlings online.
The seller said that once these mulberry seedlings grow up, their leaves can be used to feed silkworms, and they will also produce sweet mulberries.
The next day, Li Chang'an went to a farm tool shop in Ling'an City and bought some farm tools and shovels. After receiving Tianxuan's message, he also went to a nearby quarry to order a large quantity of stones, as well as building materials such as cement.
Back at Xuanling Immortal Mountain, Tianxuan had already completed the design of the houses and bridges, which she displayed to Li Chang'an above the magical artifact.
The second house is designed to be located to the left and rear of the original house. A fence surrounds the two houses, and behind it is a corner of bamboo forest. A road can be built to connect the bamboo forest and the house directly to the side of the Wolushan Terraces.
The bridge is a combination of a covered bridge and a pavilion bridge, with an ancient shape and a style consistent with the existing architectural style of Xuanling Immortal Mountain.
Li Chang'an had no objections to the design of the two buildings, and once it was finalized, construction would begin.
The construction of ancient buildings requires a lot of timber, and fortunately there is plenty on the back of Wolu Mountain and also on Jiarong Mountain.
They used ordinary cedar and ginkgo wood. After cutting down a tree, they used their spiritual power to leave some seeds to plant again. Before long, another forest would grow.
Since Li Chang'an couldn't use his spiritual power, the task of cutting down trees and building structures was left to the sword spirit, Tianxuan, and the tea spirit.
The mulberry saplings arrived in a couple of days, so he simply led the spirits of Jiarong Mountain and Jingjing to start turning over the soil, digging holes, and planting the mulberry trees.
The mulberry trees were planted on a sunny side of Jiarong Mountain, right at the foot of the mountain.
Under Li Chang'an's command, the spirits worked very quickly to turn the soil.
Li Chang'an collected two days' worth of pig and chicken manure and mixed it with the vegetable leaves from the terraced fields to use as fertilizer.
With Jingjing's help, transporting these fertilizers was effortless.
He first demonstrated for Jingjing.
Dig a hole, pour in some fertilizer, plant the mulberry sapling, straighten it, backfill, water it thoroughly, and then cover the trunk with a layer of bark.
We need to build houses with timber during this period, so there's plenty of tree bark.
The spirits took one look and immediately began to learn.
However, their cultivation level was not high, they had old injuries, and after sleeping for thousands of years, their control over spiritual power was somewhat affected.
The Golden One, being the most skilled, learns faster.
At first, it couldn't control the force when operating the farm tools, digging holes that were either too deep or too shallow, but it soon became able to use them freely.
Once it learned it, it went and taught other spirits and monsters.
The owl spirit is blind and can only do small tasks with the squirrel spirit, who has no spiritual power, such as fetching odds and ends, fertilizing and watering, and supporting mulberry seedlings.
Once all one hundred mulberry saplings were planted neatly, the house next to our home, which was meant for the spirits of Jiarong Mountain, was also completed.
The bridge over the Ningjing River is a large-scale project and is not yet completed.
Li Chang'an then used a bamboo raft to carry a group of spirits across the river. The spirits transformed into their original forms and slowly swam across with the bamboo raft.
The spirits were unusually quiet, sitting one after another on the bamboo raft. The black bear spirit, being the largest, sat in the middle, with the other spirits clinging tightly to it. The snake spirit even coiled itself around it.
Li Chang'an glanced back occasionally and noticed that they were actually a little nervous.
He chuckled, maintained his rowing speed, and soon reached the shore.
Li Chang'an walked to the shore first, looked back at the spirits who dared not move, and comforted them, "Don't be afraid, the friends here are all very kind spirits, they welcome your arrival."
In the past few days, the spirits have been planting trees with Li Chang'an, and they are no longer afraid of him. They have also become much more friendly towards him.
The celestial mountain master, whom they initially perceived as fierce, was actually a very gentle and easy-going deity.
Upon hearing this, the white fox spirit peeked out from behind the black bear spirit and asked blankly, "Really?"
"Really, come on, they've been waiting for you for a long time."
The white fox spirit looked at her companions around her, and then at Li Chang'an.
After a moment, it took two more steps forward.
Li Chang'an carried it off the bamboo raft, and then carried the Golden Beard, the Squirrel Spirit, and the Owl Spirit off as well.
The black bear spirit came ashore on its own, along with the snake spirit coiled around it.
"Let's go." Li Chang'an smiled and led the way.
The spirits hesitated for a moment, then followed closely behind him.
Jingjing also transformed into human form and walked at the very back of the group.
Before long, the spirits arrived at the edge of the bamboo forest and saw two houses.
The building in front is larger, and the one to the left rear is smaller.
The gate of the bamboo fence was open, and two people were standing in the yard. The one in white was wearing an eye mask, and the one in green was leaning against the fence.
In the courtyard, colorful little mushrooms and a black and white kitten gathered around, looking curiously at the entrance.
A blue-faced, black-furred monkey squatted under the eaves outside the gate, flicked its tail, and said, "You're back. Dinner's ready."
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