Chapter 589 - Goose that Lays the Golden Eggs (1/2)

“Ruizhi, over there! There’s a purple reis.h.i.+ mushroom!” A clear and melodious voice sounded in the deep thickets. It startled all of the nearby birds, causing them to flee into the air.

Zhu Junyang raised his head and followed the little golden kitten as it jumped around. He was light on his feet as he leapt onto a tree that had a trunk thick enough for several people to put their arms around it. There were plenty of old and majestic trees like this one in the forest. Towards the top of the tree, he could see a giant hole in the tree at the top. He couldn’t tell if it appeared because the tree had gotten hit by lightning before or for some other reason.

The little golden kitten stopped right outside that hole and lazily looked back at him. It used its paw to point at a stalk of purple reis.h.i.+ mushroom that was growing out of the hole in the tree. They had already been in the mountains for three days now and Zhu Junyang had gotten used to this little kitten surprising him from time to time. He inspected the reis.h.i.+ mushroom. It had a dense purple color and seemed to have an inner glow. Even someone like him, who didn’t know much about medicinal materials, could tell that it wasn’t a common object.

He took out a dagger from his boot and carefully cut out the reis.h.i.+ mushroom along with a small portion of wood from the tree.

Once he came down from the tree, Xiaocao impatiently came over and carefully took the purple reis.h.i.+ mushroom from his hands. She inspected it with a face full of happy greed.

Su Ran also sidled over to take a glance as he calmly said, “This purple reis.h.i.+ mushroom must be at least a few hundred years old. Such a rare and old herb is invaluable.”

Yu Xiaocao gleefully put the reis.h.i.+ mushroom away and then spoke to him, “With this, the Grand Tutor’s diabetes, the matriarch of Count Boyang’s residence dizziness, and my tonic to resist aging will all have one of its main ingredients!! Little Glutinous Dumpling, good job ah!”

[Stop calling this divine stone by the name Little Glutinous Dumpling. This name is too lowly and not worthy of my divine status!!] The little divine stone once again protested the name given to it by Xiaocao. Despite its resistance, it was never able to break away from it and it was really annoyed that it had such an inglorious nickname.

“Little Glutinous Dumpling has a nice ring to it! Furthermore, it has a great meaning! Round and smooth, which hints at you reuniting with G.o.ddess Nuwa in a smooth and happy manner!” Yu Xiaocao placated the little divine stone, who was about to explode in a temper tantrum, with a half truth. This treasure mountain truly had quite a number of rare ingredients around, so she still needed the divine stone to keep searching them for her!

The little divine stone jumped on her shoulders and angrily scratched at her pigtails, making them messy. It only felt better after her hair had become a rat’s nest.

Su Ran stared at the little kitten who was wreaking havoc on Xiaocao’s hair. He was very puzzled by all of this. How could a seemingly ordinarily little cat, not much different than a newborn kitten, do such incredible things? Truly, it looked like what Xiaocao said was right. This cat had an uncanny ability to find precious medicinal herbs!

They had been in the mountains for three days. Other than the Asiatic gra.s.s frog on the first day, they also obtained two stalks of hundred year old ginseng on the second day. Now, today, they managed to get a few hundred year old purple reis.h.i.+ mushroom! If any one of these herbs got taken out, it would cause a ruckus, with people rus.h.i.+ng to grab them.

“La.s.s, when you leave, you need to hide your little kitten well! It’s like the goose that lays the golden eggs and is a true treasure!” Even Su Ran himself, who always thought no amount of money could move him, couldn’t help but feel tempted by this little fellow’s abilities.

[You’re the female goose; your whole family are female geese!] The little golden kitten became infuriated again and rushed towards Su Ran like a bullet. Its paws whooshed as it attempted to make the odious fellow in front of him get a new ‘beggar’s outfit’.

Fortunately, Su Ran was skilled at martial arts and was able to block the cat’s attacks with difficulty before Xiaocao hurriedly rushed over and called the cat back, hugging it close to her body. His clothes were therefore spared ravagement. This little fellow’s speed was truly too quick. It was harder to stop him than all of the concealed weapons he had encountered in this lifetime.

Su Ran felt some lingering fear as he gazed at the little kitten, who was currently brandis.h.i.+ng its claws at him from Xiaocao’s arms. He really didn’t know how he had offended the little fellow. Earlier, he was clearly complimenting it for its abilities!

“This fellow is quite smart and has an intelligence to rival a teenager. Earlier, when you said that it was like the goose that lays the golden eggs, it became angry at being compared to a goose…” Zhu Junyang grinned happily from the side, taking pleasure in the other man’s misfortune. Earlier, when Little Glutinous Dumpling was having its temper tantrum, he didn’t lift a single finger to help the other man despite being close by. It was worth having this eyesore along as he finally got to see Chief Steward Su in a less than flattering situation.

Su Ran shook his head in bemus.e.m.e.nt and said, “Just what type of breed is this cat? It not only has a very keen nose but can also understand what humans say! If it wasn't the pet of the little la.s.s, I would want to grab it for myself so I could inspect it more!”

“Sir Su, if you like it, then you can borrow it for the next few days! Little Glutinous Dumpling is very easy to take care and it can hunt for itself. You don’t need to do much. However, it loves to play and can sometimes run off for a dozen days to half a month. It’s quite wild ah!” Yu Xiaocao kept her two hands around the little kitten as she presented it towards Su Ran.

The little divine had a look of disdain on its face as it bared its fangs in protest, [Strike! This divine stone proclaims a strike!! Ahead of us, not very far, is a stalk of ginseng that is over a thousand years old. I originally wanted to find it for you. Now...hmph hmph! I can save myself the trouble now!]