Chapter 36 - Natural Gif (1/2)

t

Although the mountain creek also contained spiritual energy, using it didn’t have the added benefit of aiding its master. To put it into perspective, absorbing ten days worth of energy from the creek did not give itself as much benefit as it received from creating one pitcher of mystic-stone water for its master.

A weak, little human had actually had its fate in her hands! ‘Just you wait, once this divine stone breaks free of its restrictions, don’t even think about trying to threaten me again! That’s when you will beg me for help!’ The little divine stone’s spiritual form thrashed harder in the water out of rage.

Yu Xiaocao ignored its antics. Other than her, no one else could see the divine stone’s spiritual form, so it didn’t matter. Instead, she and her siblings fed their family’s new favorite, the little roe deer, until it was full.

“Second Sister, it’s cold at night now. Tiny is really too small, what if it froze to death?”Little Shitou squatted down with his arms around the newly named roe deer and was clearly reluctant to let go of the animal. Both of them had clear, dark eyes that looked adorably at Yu Xiaocao.

Yu Hai pinched the fattier part of his son’s face and grinned, “If it’s not sleeping outside, do you plan on giving your blanket to it?”

“I’ll hug Tiny to sleep. It’s not as if it takes up a lot of space.” Little Shitou pouted as he tried his best to think of something to convince everyone else in the room.

Although Xiaolian also really liked the cute and clever roe deer, she did not think having the animal indoors was a good idea. “I don’t want it to sleep on our kang bed. What if it pooped in the middle of the night? Then mother would have to wash the sheets tomorrow.”

Yu Xiaocao also didn’t want to raise the roe deer indoors. The animal would start leaving its distinctive odor in the room if it spent a long time inside. However, she was more concerned about leaving it in the courtyard overnight. It was possible that other members of the family might decide to kill it to make some meat stew. Even though the animal didn’t have much meat on it, the soup would still taste very good.

She went outside, gathered some soft straw, and made a small nest next to the corner near the door for the little animal. She tapped the roe deer’s wet little nose and said solemnly, “Tiny, if you need to go potty, go outside. If you make a mess in the room, I’ll roast you over a fire to eat!”

Tiny gazed trustingly at her and even licked the finger she was using to point at it. It acted as if it truly understood what she was saying.

Little Shitou was at a loss for words and let out an adult-sounding sigh, “Tiny was caught by Second Sister, so it’s closest to her.”

Yu Xiaocao pinched his nose and smiled, “The next time something good like this happens, I’ll make sure you go first.”

Hearing that, Little Shitou became happy and jumped up in glee, “Okay, okay! We should bring back another roe deer to give Tiny some company!”

Whether the creature understood Yu Xiaocao’s threats or whether it was because it gained some brains from the mystic-stone water, it was hard to say. However, the little roe deer, who wasn’t more than a month old, had never had an accident in the west room since it started living there. Even if someone accidentally shut the door, it held its waste until someone came to let it out. Only then would it scramble outside quickly to relieve itself.

In addition, the animal never acquired the wild and gamey smell of a wild roe deer. Even in the height of summer it still smelled fresh and sweet. Yu Xiaocao and her siblings all loved and cherished Tiny. Even Madam Liu said that this was a special roe deer that could understand what humans said to it.

Ever since Yu Xiaocao became interested in learning medicine from Doctor You, she relentlessly pursued that goal. In the following days, she became quite busy.

Every morning, she got up early from bed and went to join Zhao Han. The two of them would divide up the areas for trapping and then head their separate ways to set their traps. With the help of the mystic-stone water as bait, she never left the forest empty-handed after walking around the forest once.

In fact, she usually ended up with twice the haul as a regular person got from traps. Sometimes, she would take the two hour walk with Zhao Han to go into town to sell her game. Other times she would ask Uncle Zhao to help her sell her game when he went into town.

Luckily, Zhenxiu Restaurant was becoming more and more popular with every passing day. They had hired a new chef in charge of preparing wild game, and his specialty was roasting and cooking meat. Their need for fresh, wild game slowly increased, so Yu Xiaocao and Zhao Han never had to worry about where to sell their live game.

Sometimes, they would catch too much game by accident. However, even without Yu Xiaocao there herself, Zhenxiu Restaurant still preferred their game over game caught by other hunters. After all, newly slaughtered meat had a better flavor and texture compared to meat that was not freshly harvested.

In the afternoons, Yu Xiaocao often would go to Doctor You’s home to learn how to identify herbal medications. She wasn’t sure whether it was because she had the mystic-stone water helping her or whether she had a good memory, but, to her, learning these medications was as easy as pie for her. Everything she learned was retained perfectly.

Originally, Doctor You did not have any expectations for her but after seeing her talent in this area, he began to cherish her abilities. In fact, she had basically become his disciple in all but name, and he instructed her personally. Whenever he needed to go up into the mountains to gather medicinal plants, he never forgot to bring her along. From time to time, he would test her while in the forest to see her abilities in identifying plants.

Gradually, Doctor You realized that all the herbs he recognized, Yu Xiaocao had also memorized completely. He started to teach her on how to utilize these plants as medications.