Chapter 23: Going Home
「In the Eastern Great Forest.」
Two Silver Wolf Pups, looking to be about five years old, were taking shelter from the rain under a large leaf.
The slightly older one, named Lang Xian, was full of spirit.
The slightly younger one, named Wolf Mu, was naturally cute and dorky.
At that moment, Wolf Mu hugged his chubby self, feeling too lazy to move. "Brother Xian, the little rainy season is here."
Lang Xian huddled his own frail body and passed the last of their food to Wolf Mu.
Wolf Mu really didn’t want to move. He nibbled on the food, tears welling in his eyes. "Brother, can’t we go home yet?"
"We haven’t found that evil female. Go back home to what? What home do we even have?"
"But..." Wolf Mu’s little nose twitched. "But I’m so hungry, and so cold."
"Little Mu." Lang Xian grabbed his chubby little brother’s shoulders. "That evil female got our fathers thrown into the Beast Prison, and they’ve been gone for five years! For five years, we’ve had only each other, living like orphans!"
"Shouldn’t we make that evil female pay?"
"We should." Wolf Mu wiped his tears.
"And shouldn’t we make her get our fathers out of the Beast Prison?!"
"We should do that too..."
"But Brother, Little Mu is still so cold. My fur is all wet, and I’m so hungry..."
"Shut up. Stop whining."
"Okay..." Little Mu hugged himself, looking utterly wronged.
...
When Nan Zishi woke up the next day, her whole body felt comfortable. Even though she had slept on the ground, she had slept quite well.
She gave a big stretch, relaxing all the bones in her body.
The rain outside had stopped, and sunlight streamed into the cave. Stretching lazily, Nan Zishi walked out and took a deep breath of the forest’s fresh air.
So refreshing!
"Pretty Sister!" Fox Qi waved at Nan Zishi. "I found a mushroom! A big mushroom, a really pretty big mushroom!"
Nan Zishi ran over, took one look, and quickly said, "This is a ’bruising bolete.’ It’s poisonous!"
Startled, Fox Qi dropped the mushroom. "Huh?"
He hurriedly wiped his hands on his clothes.
Nan Zishi smiled. "The prettier the mushroom, the more poisonous it is."
She walked forward and picked up the bruising bolete, which was two or three times larger than one from Earth. "However, if you prepare them properly, bruising boletes are edible. But if you eat them without cooking them thoroughly, it’s ’red cap, white stem, eat it and you’re dead in your bed.’"
Fox Qi was timid. He said, "Then let’s not eat it."
The witch doctors in the Beast World had limited abilities; very few of them could cure mushroom poisoning.
Nan Zishi agreed with his decision. She had no intention of encouraging Fox Qi and the others to eat poisonous mushrooms. After all, if she left one day and Fox Qi tried to copy her in preparing poisonous mushrooms, he really would end up dead in his bed.
"The weather’s nice today, so I’ll teach you how to find non-poisonous mushrooms," Nan Zishi said.
Fox Qi nodded, saying excitedly, "Okay, okay!"
Nan Zishi said, "To find non-poisonous mushrooms, we should look in clean places. Their shape will look natural, with a smooth surface, a firm texture, and a cap that’s tightly connected to the stem. Their color will be natural, not too vibrant. They’ll also smell fresh, with no peculiar odor."
"Poisonous mushrooms are different. Their caps might have strange shapes, spots, or warts. The stem might have a ring or a volva. The color might be very bright, suspiciously so. Some poisonous mushrooms might give off a pungent, foul smell."
"In short, if you think it’s suspicious, assume it’s poisonous."
"Okay!"
"HISS~!" Little Snake Yang was excited after hearing this.
Little Fox Qi also scampered off barefoot to pick mushrooms.
Before long, the two little ones had both gathered mushrooms for Nan Zishi to identify.
Little Snake Yang’er was very happy. As long as he helped Pretty Sister, she would pat his head and praise him. ’Little Yang’er is amazing.’
Little Fox Qi was also very happy. He had learned a lot of new things, and he could also help Pretty Sister.
After a little while, Nan Zishi said, "Okay, okay, that’s enough."
Holding the large pile of mushrooms the two little ones had gathered, Nan Zishi thought to herself, ’It would be great if we had fire. If we had fire, I could make mushroom soup.’
Just as she was thinking this, she saw Hu Bai appear with dry firewood he’d found somewhere, and he was also carrying a bucket of fresh water.
Seeing this, Nan Zishi’s eyes lit up.
’What a handsome man. That husbandly vibe is seriously off the charts!’
Hu Bai found a good spot to put down the firewood, then walked toward Nan Zishi with the bucket.
Nan Zishi looked up at him.
The forest after the rain cleared had a lush, damp beauty.
Gentle sunlight peeked through, and the raindrops on the treetops reflected its soft glow.
Patches of morning light in the forest enveloped the male before her. This tall, slender, and exquisitely featured fox male was approaching her, step by step.
In her eyes, this male almost perfectly overlapped with the fox Priest Apprentice who had approached her before.
Nan Zishi’s heart seemed to beat a little faster.
Hu Bai carried the bucket over to Nan Zishi and set it down.
"Drink. Wash up."
"Have I met you before?"
The two of them spoke at almost the exact same time.
Hu Bai paused.
After speaking, Nan Zishi suddenly felt she had been a bit presumptuous. She said, "Sorry. You just suddenly reminded me of someone."
Hu Bai pressed his thin lips together and turned away in silence.
Little Fox Qi felt that the atmosphere between his father and Pretty Sister had become strange again.
But then again, the atmosphere between the two of them had never been normal, so he didn’t think too much of it.
The Wolf King went out to find his own food and water, so Nan Zishi didn’t need to worry about him.
After washing up, Nan Zishi fed the Silver Wolf Cub some goat milk formula.
After that, she went ahead and mixed some goat milk formula for all the little ones to drink.
They were all growing children; they ought to drink more milk.
After doing all this, Nan Zishi went to cook the mushroom soup.
The little ones drank the mushroom soup from simple stone bowls.
Fox Qi said excitedly, "This is delicious!"
Little Snake Yang flicked his tongue, his eyes crinkling with a smile. "HISS, HISS." *Delicious, delicious!*
Hu Bai looked up at Nan Zishi. She ladled out a serving of mushroom soup for him as well, and he began to drink it slowly off to the side.
"Are you coming back with us later?" Hu Bai asked, setting down his stone bowl.
It was a strange question. After all, she was a "guest" at Hu Bai’s home, so it wasn’t really "coming back" for her.
However, Nan Zishi understood what Hu Bai meant. He was probably asking if she was going to the "wolf den" today or returning to his home.
Nan Zishi looked at the Wolf King, who had just returned from outside, and said, "Your mate’s injuries are recovering well. I won’t go over after today, but I’ll come back in three days to remove her stitches."
The Wolf King let out a couple of soft howls.
Nan Zishi patted its head and praised it as usual, "Good dog!"
Having received his praise, the Wolf King’s drooping tail wagged a little, and he bounded away.
Nan Zishi turned to Hu Bai with a smile. "I’ll go to your place first. Hu Bai, you still haven’t had your IV drip for today."
She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but Nan Zishi felt like the corners of Hu Bai’s eyes and brows lifted slightly.
...
Hu Bai transformed into a giant fox, and Fox Qi jumped onto his back and sat down.
He turned his snow-white fox head to look at Nan Zishi.
Nan Zishi understood his meaning. She gave an embarrassed little cough and finally climbed onto his fox back.
Little Snake Yang and the Silver Wolf Cub were still on Nan Zishi’s person. At the same time, she held Little Aqi, who was in front of her.
"Are you settled?" Hu Bai asked.
"Mhm," Nan Zishi responded.
The great white fox leaped forward.
—Heading home.
*
Note: The information about mushrooms is from the internet.