Chapter 593 - Devilish? (1/2)
Chunhua, the only one who wasn’t called on, looked at them with a helpless gaze. Then she hurriedly followed her master and protected her closely.
In the following days, both Yu Xiaocao and Zhu Junyang were very satisfied with their harvest. Yu Xiaocao’s medicine box was almost stuffed full. In addition to the old ginsengs and reis.h.i.+ mushrooms, there were also quite a lot of valuable medicinal herbs such as Gastrodia elata, acanthopanax root, Chinese gentian root, five-flavor berry, pine leaf, and so on. She collected everything that she wanted in her medicine box.
Now, the full medicine box was being carried by Chunhua. The box was quite heavy, and thus no longer something that her thin, weak shoulders could bear!
As for Zhu Junyang, he was hung up on getting furs. Speaking of furs, she had to mention the mink fur. The three treasures of the Northeast were ginseng, mink fur, and Carex meyeriana sedge. As one of the three treasures of the Northeast, mink fur was known as ‘the king of furs’. Mink fur belonged in the category of fine furs. It had excellent quality pelts and was soft and st.u.r.dy. The dense fur also had a l.u.s.trous color. Fur garments made of it were graceful and luxurious, and thus it was loved by the n.o.blewomen in the capital.
However, no matter if it was the sable, ferret, or marten, the colors of their furs were too decorous. It was only suitable for the older n.o.blewomen. If a young girl like Xiaocao wore it, she would appear old-fas.h.i.+oned. But that was okay! Zhu Junyang had found a kind of ferret in the forest with pure, snow-white fur. If his la.s.s wore it, she would definitely look very cute!
As a result, the nightmare of the ferrets in the forest had begun. In particular, the larger male ferrets with fuller furs were almost completely wiped out. Had Xiaocao not stopped him, the ferrets in the forest would have been hunted to extinction by Zhu Junyang! Looking at the pile of snow-white fur, Yu Xiaocao felt an apologetic sense of guilt.
Zhu Junyang couldn’t understand her feelings. In his opinion, the value of game was either to be used as food or their fur. There was no need for compa.s.sion. In addition to minks, he also hunted a lot of silver foxes, black foxes, and red foxes.
Zhu Junyang still wasn’t satisfied because the purpose of this trip was to hunt tigers and black bears. But, after wandering in the mountain for several days, they didn’t even encounter a single beast. This was a very lucky thing for other hunters, but in Zhu Junyang’s eyes, it had become bad luck!
He swept his slightly resentful eyes towards the black and white figures, who were guarding Xiaocao step by step. Perhaps it was to prevent unnecessary trouble and affect her mood of collecting medicinal herbs, but after they entered the mountains, Xiaocao had the two display their imposing force, which scared away many beasts.
Sometimes, they had clearly entered the territory of some fierce beast, but the two giant wolves, Little Black and Little White, had been raised with mystic-stone water and emitted a powerful force. Even a fierce tiger wasn’t a match for them and would avoid confronting them. Who would dare come out to touch their ‘tiger whiskers’?
When they decided to leave the mountains, Zhu Junyang suggested to the la.s.s to have the two wolves restrain themselves a bit. In this way, he might be able to get a tiger pelt mattress or bear fur blanket for her. Xiaocao patted the heads of the two little fellows and let them go hunting freely in the mountains. She also reminded them to be careful. If they encountered a beast that they couldn’t beat, they should run away and avoid getting hurt.
Zhu Junyang rolled his eyes in his heart. When the two wolves were together, he reckoned that it was impossible to find anyone who could harm them in the human realm. They would have to search for one among the demonic beasts in the celestial realm.
The two black and white figures charged into the mountains like dragons entering the sea. Little Black was focused on medicinal herbs. During the past few days, its master had collected a lot of good herbs and it could also recognize the smell of several herbs. Every time it saw one, it would dig it out with its paws and bring it back to its master to get credit for its accomplishment.
Little White, on the other hand, was inspired by Zhu Junyang and ran deeper into the mountains to find animals with l.u.s.trous, dense fur. After a few trials, it had developed a skill——to bite the prey’s neck without damaging its fur. At this time, the furs it hunted back were mostly intact.
Under this out of control situation, Xiaocao’s luggage had seriously exceeded the standard weight on the way back. In addition to the few boxes of medicinal herbs she collected herself, there were piles of precious tanned furs. They really couldn’t carry them all back, so with no other choice, they bought two carriages from the nearby town to transport the furs back. Xiaocao jokingly thought, ‘I can open a fur shop when I get back to the capital!’
When they came out of the mountains, they didn’t return on the same route. Instead, they opened up a new path. They had taken a longer detour, so they returned a few days later than expected.
As dusk approached on this day, one could look through the dense branches and leaves and vaguely catch a glimpse of the red clouds in the sky. The forest, which wasn’t very bright originally, had gradually dimmed. Zhu Junyang found a dry cave in the mountains not too far away. They worked together to clean the rocks and dead branches inside, and then smoked the cave with herbs to prevent the appearance of poisonous snakes and insects.
With Chunhua, Yu Xiaocao picked up some dead branches nearby to be used as firewood and made a fire in the cave. After getting a jug of water from the nearby mountain stream, they boiled it on the fire and made a cup of herbal tea for everyone. With a light fragrance of medicinal herbs, one would have a warm feeling when drinking the tea. It helped drive all the fatigue on one’s body.