Chapter 10 Chapter 10 Hunting in the Mountains
Since you are going to bring chickens and ducks home, you have to plan the chicken coops and duck houses carefully. Moreover, building these two things requires a lot of materials.
Gong Zhili got up early in the morning and woke up the sleepy children because they had to dry the quilts today.
On sunny days, she couldn't help but want to take out everything that could be dried in the house, even clothes that had never been worn were hung out by her.
After a simple breakfast, she ordered her two children to take out a small bag of soybeans, reed stalks, mushrooms and chrysanthemums that was currently placed in the reception room and dry them in the sun.
"From now on, it will be your job to dry and collect these things. You should pay attention to the weather and occasionally check if there are any birds stealing them. It's okay if you don't have time to collect them. Just don't get hurt, okay?" Gong Zhili squatted down and asked them.
Nanako nodded, and Mimiko said, "We can."
Gong Zhili: "I have stewed soup on the stove. It will start heating and cooking when the time comes. You don't have to worry about it."
The twins had already fully understood the fact that there was an "elf" living in the stove at home in the past two days, so they just nodded when she said that.
Gong Zhili put the new thermos cup filled with warm water into her backpack. She had a lot of things to do today.
Before leaving, she picked a basket of apples from the orchard and brought them home. She put two apples in a plastic bag and put them in her backpack. She said, "If you're hungry, wash the apples and eat them yourself. I'll try to get home on time."
Because she had to go to the village to order a rocking chair from Master Kato, and also go to the store to order some additional items, she had to go out soon after picking apples.
Nanako stood by the door, watching her back as she walked up the wooden plank road. She turned to Mimiko and said, "We have to go to the village."
This way, Lord Gong won’t be so tired.
Mimiko scratched the door frame with her hands, bit her lip and didn't say anything.
Miya Zhili walked briskly as she went to the Suzuki family and placed an order for some sealed bottles and jars of various sizes. She also ordered an electric fan and food desiccant. The Suzuki family was now slowly renovating their house, and it seemed that they were really going to open a convenience store.
Suzuki was very happy to receive his second order: "If you need anything else, please let me know!"
Looking at him, he looks like a player playing a business simulator.
That's good. If you are in a good mood, you won't be so likely to be cursed.
Perhaps he thought that she was a very reliable witch. Apart from the power she absorbed at the village chief's house, she had never felt similar fluctuations since then.
The villagers entered a stage of abundant supplies, devout worship of "gods", and relying on labor to "atone" and achieve "purification".
Gong Zhili sensed the emotional fluctuations of the villagers in the village from the air, and recalled the various messages he had checked on his mobile phone at night.
This island nation is plagued by frequent natural disasters, various unknown religious sects are prevalent, and people are accumulating wealth to the point of being "rich enough to rival a country"...
No wonder they kneel down and beg for protection so smoothly. They have formed the habit of relying on others and cannot stand up on their own.
I placed an additional order for rocking chairs from Sato—three at once.
Next comes today's hard work.
Her backpack was filled with a large amount of hemp rope and freshly sharpened sickles and axes, all of which were prepared as materials for chicken coops and duck houses.
As Gong Zhili stepped onto the soft, humus-filled soil and into the forest, she felt a trembling warmth from the dense roots beneath her feet. She placed her palm against the rough bark of the nearest red pine tree, and amidst the falling gold from the treetops, the entire forest's breathing slowly unfolded in her mind.
She first came to the bamboo forest. The green bamboos, as thick as her wrists, echoed when tapped with the back of a knife. She selected a dozen bamboos of just the right thickness and made oblique cuts to avoid the growth points of the bamboo nodes. The sound of the axe chopping was heard, and the bamboos in the bamboo forest fell down. Gong Zhili took out a hemp rope and tied the bamboo poles into bundles. The green surface was still condensed with moisture from the fog. She entrusted the bamboo poles to the earth and let them slide down the hillside.
As she turned toward the shady rock face, Gong Zhili noticed the carpet of moss covering the stone. She gently scraped away the dark green and silver-gray patches with the back of her sickle, and the patches, alternating between dark green and silver-gray, fell cleanly into a basket lined with pine needles, carrying a damp, earthy aroma. A fallen oak tree nearby served as a natural workbench. Gong Zhili simply split the oak tree with an axe and peeled off the bark. Amber-colored gum oozed from the bark's interior. Gong Zhili regretted not having a container, so she wrapped the gum in the bark, tied it with hemp rope, and let it slide down the mountain, dragged by the grass.
As she stepped into the streamside bushes, thorny brambles suddenly snaked around her ankles. Gong Zhili chuckled softly, and the thorns, like sharp spikes, immediately sagged docilely. Gong Zhili cut the brambles with a sickle, removed the gardening gloves hanging from the side of the backpack, and decisively tied them into a ball.
As the sun moved overhead, the birdsong in the forest grew more vibrant. Her backpack was already overflowing. Between the top layer of thatch and the bottom layer of sawdust, pine needles filled every gap, and freshly cut birch branches stretched across it like a skeleton. The power of the earth flowed through her body. With a final strand of hemp rope, she tied the backpack into a perfect cocoon shape. She carried a large bundle of dry branches and firewood, and headed back down the mountain to make lunch.
The materials cut in one morning are definitely not enough, and don’t even think about transporting the wood and bark from the foot of the mountain in the afternoon. You still have to continue climbing the mountain.
She sat on the bench outside the north gate, took off the backpack, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh. Although she didn't feel tired with the power of the earth circulating through her body, the weight of the backpack was real, and her shoulders must have been deeply marked by it.
Nanako brought some cooled water. Gong Zhili drank it, stretched his body, and said, "Go wash the greens. I'll go take care of the fish from yesterday."
The weather was hot, and the fish hanging by the water yesterday was not in good spirits, but fortunately it was still alive. She cut some ginger slices today and prepared to fry the fish.
The rice on the stone stove was steaming. Gong Zhili decided to develop more uses for the stone stove in the future - she would not exchange this stone stove for money!
Gong Zhili fished the grass carp out of the water tank and slammed it onto the chopping board. The scale-scraping knife scraped along the barbs, swishing the gills, blood-soaked, into the ash pile. She then cleaned the guts clean with a few quick strokes.
Pinewood crackled in the stone stove, and the old iron wok smoked from being rubbed with ginger. Gong Zhili shook the grass carp dry, splattering the fish as she slid it from the edge of the wok into the hot oil. She held the fish by the tail, frying it from head to toe until the skin was seared with browned patterns, then she let go.
As Gong Zhili flipped the fish, she used the tip of her spatula to poke the gills for leverage, and the cracked flesh exuded the unique aroma of lake fish. She shook a handful of coarse salt into the hot pot, then added broad bean paste and cooking wine. A powerful aroma instantly filled the kitchen, wafting out through the chimney and windows.
Next is stir-fried vegetables. Children must eat vegetables to stay healthy.
She fried some more taro cakes. Speaking of which, the taro she had dug was almost gone. She had to go dig some more in the next two days. She had already accumulated a lot of wood ash. If she dug up all the taro, she could store it. But she couldn't always use the reception room as a storage room...
Thinking about it this way, there seemed to be no end to the things to do. Gong Zhili stopped thinking and served the taro cakes that were just the right amount of brown. Nanako and Mimiko opened the lid of the rice pot and started to serve the rice. Their movements were already quite skilled.
After lunch, she sat in the courtyard to enjoy the breeze. After all, it was no longer midsummer, and the breeze was cool enough as long as she stayed in the shade of the trees.
Mimiko came over with a straw hat that had already dried and formed. "Master Gong, is this okay to wear?"
Gong Zhili took it, pinched it, and smiled: "It's OK, it's really well made."
Nanako couldn't wait to put the new straw hat on her head and turned around. Miyajiri also put on the straw hat, put her hands behind her back on the tatami, and commented: "It looks good, they all look good."
The two children were running and playing happily in the courtyard. Gong Zhili took out his mobile phone and clicked on the dark web where the curse master often went.
In fact, she has been browsing the dark web every night these days, but a lot of the information seems to be deliberately encrypted, and even people who are not in that line of work would be confused after reading it.
As soon as I entered the forum today, I saw the news about "Six Eyes".
Ever since she entered the dark web, "Six Eyes" has been a hot topic.
Very strong - because the reward amount is very high, even just buying information related to him is more expensive than others.
The character may be very bad - because the client's description will contain a lot of personal attacks on him, which is completely different from other commission orders where money and life are at stake.
Young boys - also received insults from various clients, such as "brat", "stinky brat", "damn brat", etc.
Today's list is very strange.
[Can anyone figure out what's been going on with Liuyan these past few days? Is our website going to change its address?] The client has a considerable sum of money, and it seems this worry is truly threatening his life.
However, Gong Zhili only took a quick look at it. She could not infer any more information from it. After all, it would be most sensible not to use the identity of the former curse master now.
Gong Zhili closed his phone, feeling rested enough, and said to the twins, "After your nap, you can clean up the house or play around. Don't go to dangerous places. If you have any problems, go to the foot of the mountain and shout my name. Understand?"
The two children stopped playing, and Mimiko took off her straw hat and asked, "Can't we go to the mountains together?"
Gong Zhili laughed out loud: "What are you thinking of going to the mountains, little kids? It's very dangerous for you. If you want to do something, you can collect more reeds. When the reeds are dried, I will teach you how to make reed flutes and kites."
The two children's faces lit up and they were willing to go to bed.
Gong Zhili put on a new straw hat, emptied the materials in his backpack in the corner of the north gate, and continued to work hard up the mountain.
Her luck was better in the afternoon. She encountered many tree trunks that had broken and fallen for various reasons, and she unceremoniously sent them all to the foot of the mountain.
She had tied countless bundles of bark. She also surveyed the northern peaks and, as she'd hoped, harvested a few hawthorns, chestnuts, and wild pears. She also dug up some autumn vegetables, like the dandelions that had already been delicious served cold. She also found shepherd's purse! She also pulled some wild carrots. At the top of her backpack were the most important pine mushrooms and ground spinach. Before crossing the lake by boat, she finally grabbed a few wild duck eggs. She had to make dumplings with just shepherd's purse, but it wasn't tasty enough! Scrambled eggs with ground spinach were a real treat.
The author has something to say:
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My neck hurts so much... Then I opened the shopping app while muttering this, and found that it immediately pushed me some "good things" like external pillows... Anyway, I placed the order first.
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