Several people went down the mountain, quietly following a prickly ash tree.

The prickly ash tree touched the ground with its roots, jumping back and forth, jumping very hard, looking clumsy and serious.

When they arrived at the place where the truck was, Yan Xinian first went around the truck to check if there was anything unusual, and then waved to let them pass.

Everyone was exhausted after a day's work.

Yan Xinian checked their supplies and said, "Don't bother tonight, I'll just cook something?"

"Well, you do it?" Xia Huoqu gathered the collected firewood into a pile and started a fire with matches.

"It's all right, as long as you don't think it's unpalatable." Yan Xinian instructed Kong Zhi, "Kong Zhi, wash the mushrooms first, Xiao Nong, you... forget it, you're too tired today, just sit aside and rest."

Xia Lunong nodded gloomily.

Xia Huoqu returned to the truck, took out a large kettle, filled it with clear stream water, put it on the fire, and started to boil water directly.

The flames licked the bottom of the kettle, and soon hot steam came out of the mouth of the kettle.

Yan Xinian washed the rice, put an appropriate amount of water in the pot, and also put the pot on the firewood.

The firewood surrounded the rice pot, and the rice gradually gave off a fresh fragrance.

Xia Lunong yawned, rested her head on her knees, and fluttered her long eyelashes to feel sleepy.

The drinking water was boiled.

Xia Huoqu filled everyone's cups with boiling water and left them on the ground with the mouths open to dry.

The evening breeze was strong, and ripples appeared in the hot water. As the wind blew, the water cooled down.

Xia Huoqu put two fingers on the wall of the kettle and felt that it was not too hot, so he went back to the cab and took out a small plastic jar.

The plastic jar was filled with dark brown honey. Xia Huoqu opened the jar and a strong honey aroma floated out and reached everyone's nose.

Xia Lunong turned his head and stared at the honey in his brother's hand. Xia

Huoqu met his eyes, scooped two tablespoons of honey from the honey jar with a clean dry spoon, poured it into his water cup, and put a spoonful in each of the other three water cups.

Xia Lunong's eyes lit up.

After putting the honey in, Xia Huoqu stirred it and handed the honey water to him, "Drink it."

Xia Lunong had used his supernatural power many times today and was already exhausted. Hearing this, he was not polite. He held the cup with both hands and gulped down more than 500 milliliters of sweet honey water in the cup in one breath.

After drinking it, his mouth and nose were full of the sweet smell of honey. The whole person was like a plant that was full of water, exuding a sense of laziness.

Xia Huoqu handed his cup of honey water to him, "Do you want more?"

Xia Lunong wiped his mouth and shook his head quickly.

Xia Huoqu took back his cup, "Turn back into beast form and slow down for a while, I'll call you after dinner."

Xia Lunong yawned again, burped a little, and showed some satisfaction on his face, "Then brother, help me watch that little prickly ash tree."

Xia Huoqu tilted his head and looked at the mixed forest at the foot of the mountain.

The prickly ash tree blended into the trees and stayed there honestly. There was no sign of leaving at all, and it was not conspicuous at all.

"You take a rest first, I'll call you if something happens."

Xia Lunong got the promise and turned into a cat directly, lying on his clothes, closing his eyes and sleeping.

The sound of wind, firewood, collision, low voices and other sounds rang in his ears, which was extremely hypnotic.

The cat's ears trembled, and soon they were still.

Kong Zhi washed the mushrooms, and the rice in the pot was almost done.

Kong Zhi took a look, poured the mushrooms into a large basin, added a handful of pickled intestines, and then put in dried tomatoes and dried winter melon, sprinkled with chili powder, salt, soy sauce, and oil, stirred it, and spread it directly into the rice pot, covered the pot, and continued to steam the rice.

The hot steam from the rice steamed the ingredients, and soon it exuded a unique aroma of clay pot rice.

Xia Lunong dreamed of all kinds of flying delicacies in her sleep. The more she slept, the hungrier she felt. Her soft stomach was rumbling, and her belly seemed to be sticking to her abdominal cavity. Half

asleep and half awake, Xia Maomao turned over and turned into a long cat blanket on her clothes.

His soft long hair was blown up by the wind.

Kong Zhi walked by him, paused for a moment, walked away, then came back to him and covered him with a piece of clothing.

Xia Maomao half-opened his green eyes, lowered his eyes to look at the clothes on his body, then looked at Kong Zhi, and called out in confusion, "Meow?" "

Go to sleep." Kong Zhi stroked the cat's head with his big hand, picked him up and rolled him up into a cat worm with clothes, and said in a light tone, "Cover your belly so you won't catch a cold so easily."

Xia Maomao felt comfortable being stroked by Kong Zhi's big hand, as if a layer of tingling static electricity was flowing across his skin. He couldn't help but squint his eyes and raised his head to let Kong Zhi stroke his chin.

Kong Zhi stroked it gently.

Summer Cat fell asleep again in his gentle movements.

When Summer Cat woke up again, it was already dark. The mountain wind blew over with a not-so-gentle shriek. The sound was a bit scary, and the crackling bonfire not far away seemed even gentler.

"Wake up and eat first."

Summer Cat turned around and found his brother sitting next to him.

Xia Maomao ran to the back of the truck and changed back to human form. After putting on his clothes, he also put on Kong Zhi's coat which still carried his body temperature. He ran down and asked, "Brother, where are Kong Zhi and the others?" "They

went out with flashlights to look for eels and fish." Xia Huoqu served the food specially reserved for him, "I wonder if they have any harvest tonight. If they have, we can make eel rice tomorrow."

"I think so." Xia Lunong took the food and stuffed a big mouthful into her mouth, making her cheeks bulge.

The rice was fragrant, the bacon was fragrant, the mushrooms were fresh, and the spicy and salty tastes were just right.

Kong Zhi's cooking skills have improved again.

After dinner, Xia Lunong scooped out some water to wash the dishes. Suddenly, he remembered the little prickly ash tree. He straightened up and looked left and right, trying to find the tree in the dark.

Xia Huoqu knew what he was thinking and pointed, "The prickly ash tree is over there."

Xia Lunong looked in the direction of his finger and found that it was diagonally opposite.

The little prickly ash tree was not there before he went to sleep. Xia Lunong was puzzled, "How did it move to that place?"

Xia Huoqu smiled, "Maybe it was scared by the fire and noise here, so it moved several places overnight, farther and farther away."

Xia Lunong felt sorry for the little guy.

He stood up, "Then I'll go check it out."

"Let's go." Xia Huoqu stood up and scooped a spoonful of clean water from the bucket and handed it to his brother, "See if it needs watering."

Xia Lunong took it quickly, "I forgot I had to water it."

The two brothers walked towards the prickly ash tree with flashlights.

From a distance of several meters, Xia Lunong found that the leaves of the prickly ash tree were wilting. Maybe the prickly ash tree was very tired after running around with them all day.

The prickly ash tree soon noticed that there was a living thing approaching, and its leaves lifted up with a "rubbing" sound. Its crown turned slightly, and it looked unusually alert.

Xia Lunong said, "It's me."

The prickly ash tree also noticed him, and its crown drooped again, looking listless.

Xia Lunong walked to the side of the prickly ash tree and saw that the thorns on its trunk only protruded a little, so he gently extended his left hand fingers to the part of the tree without thorns, and shook the spoon in his right hand, "Do you want me to pour some water on you?"

The crown of the prickly ash tree lifted up, and its leaves trembled with a "bang".

Xia Lunong felt its desire, which should mean it wanted something.

Xia Lunong raised her hand and poured the spoonful of clean water onto the roots of the tree.

The prickly ash tree trembled again, and this time the emotion conveyed was gratitude.

Xia Lunong stuck to it, closed his eyes, and used the last bit of his superpowers on it.

A female spirit came out of his body and floated to the prickly ash tree. Xia Lunong opened his eyes and retracted his fingers.

The prickly ash tree reacted much more to superpowers than to water.

After receiving Xia Lunong's superpowers, the crown of the prickly ash tree swayed happily from side to side, retracting all the spikes.

When Xia Lunong retracted his fingers, the prickly ash tree reluctantly hooked his fingers lightly with its branches.

Xia Lunong retracted his fingers and smiled at it, "I'll give you some more superpowers tomorrow."

Xia Lunong turned around and walked back to the temporary camp with his brother.

The prickly ash tree behind him pulled himself up by the roots, fell to the ground and bounced, as if he wanted to follow Xia Lunong to the camp.

After following for a few meters, the prickly ash tree still didn't dare to walk out of the forest. It stopped at the edge of the forest, paused for a while, and then jumped back to the place where Xia Lunong was watering.

Xia Lunong gave the little power she had saved during her rest to the prickly ash tree. Now she was exhausted, yawned, sat by the fire and nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice, no longer caring about the reaction of the prickly ash tree.

Xia Huoqu saw it clearly, poured a cup of honey water for his brother, and sat by the fire, "Hua Jiao Shu should go with us tomorrow."

"Let's talk about tomorrow's things tomorrow." Xia Lunong drank the honey water and rubbed his head against his knees listlessly, "Brother, I'm so sleepy."

"Go to sleep first." Xia Huoqu said, "Kong Zhi and the others don't know yet, so you don't have to wait."

Xia Lunong was curious about the results of their eel catching, but he was really sleepy.

Hearing this, he didn't insist, and changed back to beast form, crawling onto his brother's knees, "Meow."

Xia Huoqu touched his back and took Kong Zhi's clothes to wrap him up, "Go to sleep quickly."

Xia Lunong fell into a sweet dream after hearing this, and didn't wake up all night.

When he opened his eyes again, it was the next morning. The sky was turning pale, and mist was floating in the forest and on the mountain.

Only his old brother was adding firewood to the fire, and the little prickly ash tree, which had been two meters away from the fire, was now planted upright, like an ordinary plant.

Xia Maomao looked at the prickly ash tree with a bewildered look on his face. How could the little prickly ash tree be here after what happened last night? The prickly

ash tree seemed to feel his gaze, and its branches trembled.

Xia Maomao said "hmm" in his heart. It seemed that this little prickly ash tree was the one he was familiar with, and it had not been replaced.

Yan Xinian found that he was awake, and said, "Little Pepper Tree came over last night. I was afraid that it would be upset, so I didn't carry you to sleep in the car."

Xia Maomao nodded, but there was still confusion in his eyes.

Yan Xinian suppressed the smile in his eyes, "Last night, a sheep came over to eat the leaves of the Pepper Tree. We chased the sheep away and brought the Pepper Tree here."

Xia Maomao subconsciously turned his head to look at the Pepper Tree.

The Pepper Tree turned its branches and turned the small branch that was gnawed by the sheep in front of Xia Maomao. The crown of the tree was drooping and sad, with a sense of grievance.

Xia Maomao: "Meow?"

Why don't you hit the sheep?

The doubt in this cat's cry was too obvious. Yan Xinian understood it, and the Pepper Tree also understood it.

Yan Xinian suppressed his smile, "The sheep ran too fast, rolled up some prickly ash leaves and ran away, just like mosquitoes, they have been harassing this guy."

Xia Maomao realized that prickly ash trees are not having a good time in the wild, and looked at the prickly ash trees with a little sympathy.