Chapter 176 Tremella
Because the trip was arranged at the last minute and she had just had breakfast, she estimated that she would be back around feeding time. So Sang Luo simply did not bring any dry food with her and only filled two bamboo tubes with cold boiled water.
She and Shen Lie were just getting ready when Shen Ning came running down from above, eyes sparkling, and whispered in Sang Luo's ear: "Sister-in-law, do you have the one for making the fairy tofu?"
Sang Luo laughed: "It should have been there last month, but I didn't have the chance to go out. I'll look back and if I see it I'll bring some back for you to satisfy your craving."
As if Shen Ning was overjoyed, he remembered something and said, "Which families are going out? If there are too many people, we'd better not do it. I'm not that greedy."
If they leak the recipe, life will be peaceful in the future and they will have nothing to sell.
Seeing her alert, Sang Luo smiled and said, "You have Aunt Tian and Brother Dashan. I know what to do. If I have a chance, I'll take them with me. If not, forget it."
The two sisters-in-law gathered together and whispered, which attracted Chen Lie, who was changing the handle of his hatchet outside, to look at them several times.
While he was getting ready, the Chen family also came over, and Chen Dashan had an axe in his hand that Chen Youtian had replaced with a long-handled hatchet.
Their previous hunting targets were wild boars and pheasants, so they mostly went to relatively open forest edges, grasslands, and mountain streams. However, when Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang went out, hunting was obviously not their primary goal.
Gathering is a must, so climbing mountains and exploring forests is inevitable. A long-handled hatchet is very important for clearing the way. It can both clear the way and scare away snakes. As long as you leave the valley a certain distance away, it doesn't matter whether you will be noticed or not. So the two families coincidentally made the same preparation.
Qin Fangniang went with the Chen family. Mrs. Chen reminded her daughter-in-law and grandson: "That thing grows a lot at the edge of the forest at the bottom of the mountain, and there are also many in the broad-leaved forest. Look carefully and collect more."
Qin Fangniang nodded.
If we were to say who is under the most pressure in this valley, it would undoubtedly be Chen Lie and her family's Dashan. They are the ones who take everyone with them when they go out, so Qin Fangniang is really concerned about this matter. She will feel more at ease only if she has more self-defense items.
Sang Luo is now quite skilled in climbing up the cave, but it is the first time for Qin Fangniang. She relies on Chen Dashan's guidance and Chen Lie's strength to pull her up. Qin Fangniang's legs are weak, but she finally made it up.
The entrance to the valley is usually locked from the inside. If someone goes out of the valley, it can also be locked from the inside, but there must be someone guarding it. When Chen Lie and Chen Dashan went out, Shi Erlang came up to guard the cave without saying a word. After they went out, he locked the entrance from the inside and sat under the entrance.
The road outside the valley was not difficult to walk on at first, because we walked along the edge of the forest at the bottom of the mountain. After walking for about half an hour, we were quite a distance away from the Cloud Valley before we really went into the peak forest. Looking at the heights of the peaks surrounding the Cloud Valley, we could tell that such a peak forest was extremely high. If we really wanted to explore the forest, the road would be difficult to walk on. Chen Lie and Chen Dashan took turns to clear the way.
Entering the peak forest, there were constant chirping of insects and birds, and unknown small animals jumped past from time to time. Sang Luo even saw something jump from under a tree to a tree. She pulled Chen Lie beside her and asked, "Was that a little monkey just now?"
Shen Lie nodded and smiled, “Yes, there should be no large carnivores on this mountain.”
If there are large carnivores around, the small animals won't be so relaxed and active.
Although the road after entering the peak forest is difficult to walk on, the harvest is obviously more than in the open places like the edge of the forest at the bottom of the mountain. The medicine has not been found yet. Due to the continuous rain, the mushrooms are in clumps, especially in places with a lot of fallen leaves.
However, they have walked in the mountains many times, so they will not rush in to take action. They will first use the sharp hoe in their hands to push away the thick fallen leaves to scare away the insects hiding under the leaves, and then they will move forward.
In fact, it is not only to prevent poisonous insects hiding in the fallen leaves, but also to avoid snakes of the same color as the fallen leaves. Animals are best at using the same color as their own protective color.
When the two families had each picked up most of the mushrooms in their baskets, Sang Luo finally saw the herb that the old lady had mentioned. She called Chen Lie and the others to take a look together. They all nodded and said yes. After digging it out and looking at the root, Qin Fangniang smiled and said, "This should be it. Dig it up when you see it and take it back to have a look."
This medicine is poisonous, so Qin Fangniang brought a small basket to put it in.
They picked mushrooms, dug wild vegetables, and looked for herbs along the way. When they reached a place, Qin Fangniang looked up and saw a bunch of wild grapes. They were still green, but they were quite big. She was stunned and asked Sang Luo, "Is autumn coming soon?"
Qin Fangniang knew that Sang Luo had the habit of remembering dates. She had seen Sang Luo remembering dates when she visited the Shen family before.
Sang Luo nodded: "In another eight or nine days it will be July."
The calendar of Da Gan is similar to the lunar calendar of later generations. If calculated according to the Gregorian calendar of later generations, the end of June in the lunar calendar is actually August.
Qin Fangniang sighed: "Time flies so fast."
It was only the beginning of February when they fled to the mountains from Shili Village, and now it has been almost half a year.
In other words, the wild grapes in front of her attracted her more. She pulled down the bunch of grapes, picked a big one and handed it to Sang Luo: "Try it."
She picked one for herself, peeled it and put it in her mouth. It was so sour that her brows furrowed and she shuddered.
Sang Luo saw her like that and tried it with a smile, and then that expression, Chen Lie on the side laughed. Before Sang Luo recovered, he retracted his gaze, raised his head and looked around, walked forward a few steps, and hooked down a few branches and vines with a hatchet.
Sang Luo took a long time to calm down before she said in a hoarse voice, "I'm afraid it will take another twenty days to ripen. Can we come back next time?"
Qin Fangniang was about to nod when Chen Lie and Chen Dashan had already walked a few steps forward and used a hatchet to hook down a few vines, bringing down a bunch of slightly purple ones. They picked them up and handed them to Sang Luo: "Try this bunch and see if it's good enough."
Sang Luo no longer had the courage to taste it: "Take it back and let the children taste it. Remember this place. Come back again in twenty days or so?"
How could Shen Lie refuse? He agreed with a smile.
Walking forward, there are several clusters of such wild grapes, and we can pick at least dozens of kilograms.
Sang Luo looked at it very preciously, because it was a good thing for making wine. To be honest, Sang Luo was reluctant to make wine with grains. She brewed some sweet rice wine in June, and she treasured it very much. She only used a little bit to make pasta, and occasionally made wine-fermented eggs when she was craving for it.
Going further, a long way away from the road opened by Chen Dashan, Sang Luo saw a white thing on a tree trunk from afar. Her eyes lit up and she stopped.
Shen Lie followed her gaze and asked, "What's going on?"
Sang Luo pointed to the tree high up and said, "The white flower on the tree looks like silver ear to me."
This was something that Chen Lie, Chen Dashan, and Qin Fangniang had never heard of.
Chen Dashan and Qin Fangniang, who were walking in front, turned around and looked in the direction Sang Luo pointed. Qin Fangniang had seen this before and asked curiously, "Can this be eaten?"
She had seen him once, but rarely, in the mountains near Shili Village.
People who live in the mountains know that they shouldn’t try unfamiliar mushrooms and wild fruits. This thing grows very rarely, and Qin Fangniang really didn’t know it was edible.
Sang Luo did not hide it from her and nodded, "It can be eaten, and it tastes very good. It is also a holy tonic. However, it needs to be dried and then soaked and stewed before it can be eaten. It may be poisonous if eaten fresh."
Common people's bird's nest, of course, this refers to the modern artificial cultivation of white fungus. In ancient times, it was not easy to find white fungus, and it was considered a rare mountain delicacy. In her own time and space, this thing was regarded as a tribute to the royal family, and common people really couldn't afford it.
Sang Luo said it was edible, and everyone present believed it.
"Let's go up and take a look." Chen Lie cleared a path. It was not easy to walk on as it was too steep. After he climbed up, he turned around and pulled Sang Luo, then brought her up.
As they got closer, Sang Luo confirmed it with joy in her eyes: "It's Tremella fuciformis."
He turned around and said to Shen Lie and Chen Dashan and Qin Fangniang who came up from behind: "The environment here should be suitable for the growth of Tremella fuciformis. Look for it on the trees again, there should be some more."
Chen Dashan and Qin Fangniang both came over to recognize it, then made their way to the side to look for Tremella fuciformis.
Chen Lie didn't walk far, he just looked around a few steps away from Sang Luo, and he saw several places.
Just like Sang Luo said, there is heavy fog in this mountain all year round, and the temperature and other conditions should be very suitable for the growth of Tremella fuciformis.
After wandering around in the mountains for more than an hour, the two families each got more than twenty white fungus. Sang Luo was extremely happy. In her opinion, even if she didn't find anything else today, just finding medicinal herbs and these white fungus was already a great harvest.
After climbing over two more mountains, they did see Guanyin Chai, but there were so many things in the mountain today that the backpack might not be able to hold them all, so Sang Luo chose to ignore it for the time being.
During the trip, they discovered several caves. Because of this, Sang Luo thought of another thing and asked Chen Lie and Chen Dashan: "Have you seen any caves near our valley that can hide people?"
Chen Lie shook his head: "There are one or two, quite shallow, I didn't notice any deep ones, I didn't look carefully."
Sang Luo said, "I think we can look for it, especially in the peaks around the entrance of our valley. It would be best to occupy them. There is no one inside now, but it doesn't mean there won't be any in the future. If the time comes, we can have a temporary place to rest when it is inconvenient to enter and exit the valley."
Shen Lie and Chen Dashan looked at each other, this is true.
Chen Lie said, "Da Shan and I will keep an eye on it later."
By the end of the afternoon, the four people's backpacks were full, even the small basket for digging herbs was full. Seeing that it was getting late, they were all ready to return. However, not long after they got down the mountain, they ran into two panicked lambs.
It's really small.
The horns on his head haven't even sprouted yet.
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan hugged them tightly. The two lambs bleated in panic.
The two had encountered flocks of sheep in the mountains before. When they heard something was wrong, they became serious, gave the two sheep to Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang, put down their backpacks, told the two to be careful, picked up their weapons, and walked to the corner of the mountain.
Before I turned my view away from the trees, I smelled blood. I pushed aside the branches and saw a wolf tearing apart a struggling ewe. There was also a lamb that had been bitten to death next to it.
There was no need for communication. The two of them drew their bows and aimed together. As soon as the arrows fell, the wolf was hit by an arrow on the head and body and suddenly turned over.
After confirming that there was indeed only this one sheep, Chen Lie and Chen Dashan dared to call Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang over.
The ewe was still alive, but had been badly bitten, with a large piece of flesh torn off one of her front legs. She was now limping around the dead lamb, and from time to time she looked at the other two lambs held in the arms of Qin Fangniang and Sang Luo.
Chen Lie shot another arrow at the wolf and made sure it was dead. Then he said, "This ewe must be bringing her lamb out to look for food for the first time."
Sang Luo looked at the ewe and became interested. She asked Chen Lie, "Do you have the golden wound medicine with you?"
Chen Lie and Chen Dashan have the habit of carrying this with them whenever they leave the valley.
When Sang Luo asked this, she raised her eyebrows and asked, "Do you want to raise one?"
Sang Luo nodded: "Isn't the big cave still empty? The entrance is blocked with so many layers, the sheep's cry can't be heard, right?"
Qin Fangniang's eyes lit up: "This is good. Anyway, our firewood is piled up in the cave up high. It's good to raise some animals. We can cut more grass and dry some for storage. Sheep hay can also be eaten."
For farmers, raising livestock is an instinct in their bones.
"OK."
Chen Lie didn't say anything else and took out the medicine for the ewe.
The ewe wanted to hide, but the lamb was in someone's hands. No one knew what Chen Lie did, but in the end she obediently let him apply the medicine.
The wolf and the lamb that was bitten to death had their feet tied and were carried away with wooden sticks. The other two lambs were held by Sang Luo and Qin Fangniang. The ewe, because of her lambs, let Shen Lie put a rope around her and lead her away.
Shen Zheng returned to the valley, and Chen Lie pulled the secret door at the entrance. Shi Er, who was guarding inside, asked who was Chen Lie and unlocked the door. As soon as the door opened, they heard a burst of bleating sounds and were stunned.
"Live sheep?"
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