Chapter 70 Dreaming Back to Danlin City

Chapter 70 Dreaming Back to Danlin City

"Haha, so the old friend Doctor Zhou mentioned is Lao Guan? This is really like ships passing in the night, family not recognizing family." Ren Yuefei patted Guan Yuanfeng's shoulder: "I forgot, your home is in Danlin City, which is indeed close to Beiming."

Guan Yuanfeng looked at Zhou Yun with excitement and joy: "Sit down, what's going on? Weren't you at home? How did you end up in the Jiuyi Mountains and meet General Ren?" No wonder I couldn't get through to you for a week, you were deep in the mountains. Isn't it risky heading into the mountains right now?

I only warned him against going to sea, but forgot to caution him about entering the mountains or forests. Eighty percent of our tasks involve clearing mutated creatures from Yanling and rescuing lost or endangered residents and soldiers. What was he thinking, being so reckless?

Guan Yuanfeng pulled Zhou Yun to sit down, Zhou Yun smiled: "Didn't we just establish a new herb nursery? I wanted to cultivate more mutated herbs. I've been to Jiuyi Mountains before, the roads are familiar, so I went to take a look."

Guan Yuanfeng frowned: "The Qin brothers are all at Central Base, you went into the mountains alone?"

Zhou Yun evaded the question: "Isn't there Comet?" He rubbed Comet's head, Comet sat proudly and barked.

Ren Yuefei laughed: "Thanks to Doctor Zhou, otherwise my daughter and I would have perished in the mountains."

Guan Yuanfeng remembered the text message about an important project and understood, but still said: "Let's go to the city first, the accommodation is arranged, I can see the child is exhausted."

Ren Yuefei picked up Duoduo: "I was really concerned about holding up Doctor Zhou, but now that the old friend Doctor Zhou is looking for is you, I feel more at ease."

Guan Yuanfeng slightly smiled: "I didn't know, if I knew I would have come earlier to wait, it would have been better to call ahead."

Ren Yuefei didn't understand that Guan Yuanfeng meant Zhou Yun didn't call, and explained: "There's absolutely no signal in the mountains, couldn't contact, I was badly injured, didn't have the strength to go out to contact, and at that time contacting might not have been good, I was worried my phone was already being monitored."

Guan Yuanfeng frowned: "I'll set up a meeting with Commander Tan later to go over your situation." He glanced at Zhou Yun, not wanting to talk too much about military matters to avoid neglecting him, and only asked: "Coming from so far, is it convenient to bring the herbs you collected?"

Zhou Yun said: "All brought, is the car big enough?"

Guan Yuanfeng couldn't help but laugh: "It's enough, what good stuff did you get in Jiuyi Mountains?"

Zhou Yun said: "Lots of good stuff, including a very large mutated Ganoderma, which can open up like an umbrella." He was stunned when he saw it, although it has been quietly integrated, but it doesn't hinder showing off to Guan Yuanfeng.

Guan Yuanfeng admired: "That must be very useful?"

Zhou Yun said: "Useful, mutated Ganoderma is effective for calming the nerves, and long-term use can improve immunity, and also inhibit the spread and metastasis of cancer cells. It can be cultivated in large quantities, and there's also mutated Hericium erinaceus, which is also very good for the stomach." He eagerly shared his joy.

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, remembering something and whispered to him: "City Lord Gong came to Central Base, and indeed went to the Psychic Research Institute first, where they prescribed many mutated prescriptions for him, all very expensive, and he has to stay in Central Base for a long time."

Zhou Yun was startled: "Stay in Central Base for a long time? Who will manage Beiming Base then?"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Hard to say."

Zhou Yun thought for a moment: "City Lord Gong probably wouldn't agree." He whispered again: "There are also Taxus in Yanling, which are specific drugs for treating cancer, haven't you found any mutated ones?" The Central Base Research Institute should have an advantage here.

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Maybe it's too cold, or the area is too large, none have been found yet. Yanling is too vast and deep, with countless mutated plants and animals, ordinary people dare not venture in."

Zhou Yun murmured: "We are lucky, we found them in the nursery, truly a rare find."

Guan Yuanfeng couldn't help but laugh: "Yes, you have the best luck."

Zhou Yun said: "They say when luck is good, do things quickly, otherwise when luck passes, it's hard to do anything and you have to just survive. This is called 'When fortune favors, the world conspires to help; when luck fades, even heroes are bound.'"

Guan Yuanfeng said: "There is such a saying, even pigs can fly in the wind."

Zhou Yun continued to explain: "So now while luck is good, we must quickly plant all the nurseries. Otherwise, when luck is bad, whatever is planted dies, drought for a month then flood for a month, can't go anywhere."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..." He realized Zhou Yun was making excuses for going into the mountains, and couldn't help but laugh: "I'm not blaming you for going into the mountains, you don't need to explain."

Zhou Yun glanced at him, Guan Yuanfeng felt a slight softness in his heart, and whispered to him: "I just regret not being in Danlin City to be with you, worried you might run into those nasty mutated beasts on your own."

Zhou Yun's ears grew warm, and Guan Yuanfeng coughed lightly, seemingly feeling a bit awkward after saying that. He changed the topic: "You wouldn't believe what I've run into—a huge swarm of venomous spiders. Half the mountain, including the caves, was covered in their webs. They were highly venomous. Fortunately, I had wood psychic ability users with me that day to detoxify, and then the fire psychic ability users burned them all down with fire."

Ren Duoduo, who was being held by Ren Yuefei, curiously asked, "What kind of crystal cores do those venomous spiders drop? Didn't you collect some spider eggs to raise, Uncle Guan?"

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

Ren Yuefei: "..."

Zhou Yun, however, turned to Guan Yuanfeng with great interest, clearly wanting to know the answer too: "Are they wood-type?"

Guan Yuanfeng replied, "Yes, they're wood-type. I did keep some spider eggs, but I handed them over to the Psychic Research Institute. There were researchers from the institute participating in the mission at the time."

Zhou Yun's interest waned: "Oh."

Seeing Zhou Yun's obvious change in expression, Guan Yuanfeng almost laughed but held it in. As they approached the parking lot, he said to Ren Yuefei, "Xiao Jiang will take you to the conference hotel for check-in. I'll take care of General Ren's daughter and Doctor Zhou. Tomorrow, after your meeting, Xiao Jiang will pick you up. Remember not to call me from the hotel or use their vehicles."

Ren Yuefei understood and nodded. Jiang Rongqian, standing by the car, saluted them from a distance. When he spotted Zhou Yun, he was overjoyed: "Doctor Zhou, what brings you here?"

Zhou Yun waved with a smile: "Captain Jiang."

Jiang Rongqian was visibly delighted: "The captain really kept it under wraps. So he came to pick you up. No wonder he had Kexin tidy up the house. I'll take you there."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..." I really didn't know.

Ren Yuefei: "..."

Guan Yuanfeng coughed and said, "Xiao Jiang, take General Ren to the hotel. I'll take care of General Ren's daughter and Doctor Zhou. There's a lot of luggage."

Jiang Rongqian was a bit confused. Earlier, wasn't it said that the captain would take General Ren to learn more about the situation, while he would take General Ren's daughter and leave Kexin to look after her? But he always followed orders, so he quickly stood at attention and replied, "Yes, sir!"

Ren Yuefei gave Guan Yuanfeng a teasing look: "Then I'll trouble you and Doctor Zhou with my Duoduo."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "Don't worry. I've arranged for a female team member to protect Duoduo around the clock during this period. Just focus on your work and stay safe. If anything happens, use the phone I gave you."

Ren Yuefei nodded and got into the car. Jiang Rongqian closed the door for him and waved to Zhou Yun: "I'll drop by after my shift, Doctor Zhou."

Zhou Yun smiled: "Alright."

Jiang Rongqian got into the driver's seat and drove off, followed closely by a security vehicle.

Then another car pulled up. Guan Yuanfeng leaned down to speak to the driver: "I'll drive myself. You go to the car behind."

The driver got out—it turned out to be a guard. He saluted and walked away. Guan Yuanfeng saw that Zhou Yun had already opened the car door and let Duoduo get in first. He said, "I've arranged for someone to handle the luggage. Don't worry about it."

Zhou Yun nodded, fastened Duoduo's seatbelt, and brought Comet up to sit with Duoduo in the back seat. After closing the door, he sat in the passenger seat and asked Guan Yuanfeng, "Where are we staying? Is it far?"

Guan Yuanfeng replied, "It's an old house I got here in Central Base by trading the crystal cores we collected. It's old, but it has a small yard, a tiny two-story building, and a rooftop where you can grow flowers. I originally prepared it for when you came. General Ren called suddenly today, and there wasn't a good place available, so I thought of having Kexin stay there with Duoduo for safety. I didn't expect you to come too, so it's perfect. I'll take you there and give you your room. I have the keys here."

Zhou Yun noticed that Guan Yuanfeng, who usually didn't talk much, was now rambling on, clearly trying to cover up the fact that he had originally arranged for Xiao Jiang to take them but ended up doing it himself. Zhou Yun couldn't help but want to laugh: "Alright. You don't have many crystal cores, do you? Why waste them on a house? Doesn't the military have dorms? Houses in Central Base must be expensive."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "It's not expensive. It's actually in the military family compound, but it's too close to the outer edge of the base, near the mountain. The mountain often has unexpected mutated creatures—birds, insects, snakes—coming onto the rooftop. During the winter zombie siege, I heard they even broke through the walls and got in. So no one wanted to buy it, and it's been vacant. I was willing to buy it, and the seller was happy."

Zhou Yun nodded: "Life in Central Base is no walk in the park." He thought he might plant some cacti in the yard when they got there, even though it was a bit cold here and not very friendly.

Guan Yuanfeng noticed him rubbing his arm: "Are you cold?"

Zhou Yun shook his head: "No. And I have a jacket in my luggage, so don't worry. I brought a jacket when I went into the mountains."

Guan Yuanfeng said, "That's good. I usually come here when I don't have missions, so I have some clothes here too. If you don't have enough, just take mine. I have duty during the conference these days, so I can't stay with you. After the conference, I'll take some time off."

Zhou Yun's eyes lit up: "A twenty-day vacation?"

Guan Yuanfeng replied, "Yes."

Zhou Yun excitedly rubbed his hands: "Then let's go to Yanling!"

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

Zhou Yun looked at him: "What, you don't want to?"

Guan Yuanfeng said, "No, it's fine, let's go. It's just that you came all this way, don't you want to visit some tourist spots?"

Zhou Yun replied, "What's so interesting about that?" He suddenly remembered and turned to look at Duoduo, who was playing with the fur on Comet's neck. Seeing him turn to look at her, she immediately said, "Doctor Zhou, I want to go too!"

Zhou Yun nodded: "Right, let's take Duoduo along, she's also a fourth-tier wood psychic abilities user now."

Guan Yuanfeng: "That impressive?"

Duoduo shook her head: "Not fourth-tier, third-tier."

Zhou Yun was surprised: "The psychic ability you displayed that day could only be achieved at the fourth tier with such a strong regenerative effect."

Duoduo showed him a string of colorful beads hanging on her chest, resembling tourmaline or amber agate gemstones: "It's because of this amber. As long as I hold it, I can perform at a level one tier higher, but I can only use it once in a long while."

Zhou Yun was startled: "Amber?"

He took the colorful necklace and looked at it, indeed seeing a crystal-clear honey-colored amber pendant at the bottom, with a flower solidified inside: "So that's how it is, this thing is very precious, don't tell others about it in the future."

He returned the amber necklace to Duoduo, who said, "My dad found it in the mountains and thought it looked nice, so he brought it back for me. I later discovered it could enhance my psychic abilities. Dad also told me not to tell outsiders, but Doctor Zhou and Uncle Guan are not outsiders, so I told you. I asked Dad to keep an eye out and look for more amber in the pine forest when he goes back, and if he finds any, he'll bring it to Doctor Zhou."

Zhou Yun was touched: "I have a water psychic one, look." He took off the pearl from his chest and showed it to Duoduo.

Ren Duoduo took it and examined it carefully: "It's beautiful, does it enhance water psychic powers?"

Zhou Yun said, "Yes." Actually, his crystal core was dual-element, so when he used it, he also applied the energy from the pearl to his crystal core, and then used his wood psychic abilities, which also improved, though not as noticeably as with his water psychic powers.

But since Ren Duoduo was clearly a single-element wood psychic, there was no need to mention that.

Ren Duoduo returned the pearl to him: "The pearl is beautiful, but the chain is too simple. I have many gemstone beads, including Hetian jade beads and high-quality sea pearls. Should I string a new one for you?"

Zhou Yun glanced at Guan Yuanfeng and smiled: "Uncle is a man; he doesn't need anything too flashy. This platinum chain is just right and very sturdy."

Ren Duoduo replied seriously: "You're right."

Zhou Yun saw that her eyes were already drooping: "Take a nap, it's nap time."

Ren Duoduo hugged Comet and lay down, quickly falling asleep.

Zhou Yun turned to Guan Yuanfeng and smiled: "Is Qin Sheng training with you?"

Guan Yuanfeng said, "Yes, Qin Mu is staying at the conference hotel, and I heard he's been busy with business negotiations these days. Qin Sheng came to visit our training base and sparred with the psychics in our team. He proposed to join the psychics' training camp himself. I saw that his practical experience was lacking, but his talent is quite good, so I let him participate in our external training."

Zhou Yun laughed: "Did he really cry during training?"

Guan Yuanfeng smiled: "Almost everyone cries, not just him. Psychics really need to push their limits to advance. Once you're settled, I'll have someone bring the two brothers over to have dinner with you."

Zhou Yun nodded, watching as the car pulled into a small courtyard and stopped. The courtyard was very peaceful, with dark red terrazzo tile fragments paving the cement path. In the front yard stood a large pomegranate tree, looking at least several decades old.

Under the pomegranate tree were placed some flower pots, which were quite messy. At a glance, there were peonies, roses, orchids, and some mutated herbs. Guan Yuanfeng said, "These were gathered from various places, and some were submitted by others after completing tasks."

Zhou Yun's eyes lit up when he saw the pomegranate tree: "This pomegranate tree is fantastic."

Guan Yuanfeng smiled: "The seller said it bears fruit every year, and it's very sweet. There's another one in the backyard."

Dong Kexin had already come out to greet them, calling, "Captain," and then was surprised to see Zhou Yun: "Doctor Zhou, what brings you here?" She then looked at Comet with a big smile: "Oh, and little Comet is here too!"

Comet barked and wagged his tail. Dong Kexin looked at Ren Duoduo beside Comet: "Such a smart and beautiful little girl must be General Ren's daughter, right?"

Zhou Yun nodded to Kexin with a smile, and Guan Yuanfeng introduced Ren Duoduo: "This is Sister Dong, you can call her Sister Kexin."

Ren Duoduo called out sweetly: "Sister Kexin."

Dong Kexin smiled: "Hello, I've already prepared a room for you. Go in and see if there's anything you're not satisfied with." After saying that, she took Ren Duoduo into the house. Ren Duoduo turned to look at Comet, and Zhou Yun patted its ear: "Go ahead and play with Duoduo."

Comet immediately wagged his tail and followed.

Guan Yuanfeng accompanied Zhou Yun, pointing out: "Walking this way to the back is the backyard, and you can also go directly to the rooftop from the backyard. It's small but has everything you need."

The two walked around the front and back yards, then went up to the rooftop to look at the distant scenery. The snow at Central Base had finally melted, and now they were busy with spring plowing. Standing on the rooftop, they could see farmers working in the fields in the distance. The rooftop only had a few simple planting racks, with seeds sown, showing some seedlings like green onions, leeks, and coriander.

Guan Yuanfeng said: "Little Tang set these up, but the weather here isn't favorable, so they don't thrive." He felt the wind on the rooftop was quite strong, and seeing Zhou Yun only wearing a shirt, he regretted rushing Zhou Yun up to see, so he said: "Let's head down and check out the rooms; it's too windy up here."

Zhou Yun followed suit, and they went downstairs to the second floor. There were two bedrooms facing each other. Guan Yuanfeng took out the key and opened the door: "Old house. They are all quite small. Usually too busy, no time to decorate, just did some simple cleaning, thinking if you came and decided to stay long term, then we would decorate."

Zhou Yun said: "You are very thoughtful."

He followed in and saw some simple furniture like beds, etc. Guan Yuanfeng opened the wardrobe: "Inside are four-piece sets."

Zhou Yun said: "You still need to go back to the venue, right? I can handle these."

Guan Yuanfeng nodded: "Opposite is my room, I'll give you the key. The room downstairs is where Kexin lives with the child, and there's a small kitchen. I'll have someone bring over dinner tonight."

Zhou Yun said: "Just bring some ingredients, I'll cook."

Guan Yuanfeng nodded, went back to his room, and brought over a windbreaker for him: "Put this on first."

Zhou Yun didn't refuse, took it and put it on: "The luggage is in the car below, right? I'll go down and bring it up. I have clothes, and Comet too." The jacket was a bit long and wide, and when the collar covered him, the student-like aura of being away from society emerged from his clear and light eyebrows.

Guan Yuanfeng's inherent desire to take care surged: "Call me if anything happens, I'll come back for dinner tonight, but you don't need to make too complicated dishes, Kexin can help too."

Dong Kexin came up and knocked on the door: "Report, Captain, the luggage has been delivered, should I have them bring it up?"

Guan Yuanfeng turned around: "Yes, have them bring it up."

Soon, several guards efficiently carried up the luggage, and Zhou Yun took out a small storage box from it and gave it to him: "Inside is a wind crystal core, very good quality."

Guan Yuanfeng took it and immediately realized: "Didn't we have Qin Sheng bring over some crystal cores before? Is this newly obtained? Did you encounter a king-level wind beast in the Jiuyi Mountains?"

Zhou Yun knew he couldn't hide it: "Yes, a wind leopard, with Comet around, it was easy."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

He put away the crystal core: "I didn't know you were coming, these past few days I've been packing things to give you, just in time to give you all the crystal cores I wanted to give you." He went in for a while and brought out a box of crystal cores, seeing Zhou Yun take out a whole large box of fresh peaches from the huge storage box, like magic.

Zhou Yun took the crystal cores and handed him a peach: "Go wash and eat it, it's a mutated peach, tastes great. I'll make some peach pudding later, the kids should like it, and we can entertain the Qin brothers when they come over tonight."

Guan Yuanfeng held the peach, somewhat reluctant, but looking at the time knew he had to go, so he could only say: "Alright, I'll go now, I'll have Little Tang come over soon, you can give him any work, Kexin will focus on accompanying Duoduo."

Zhou Yun nodded and, from some corner of the storage box, pulled out a bunch of golden plantains and handed them to him. Guan Yuanfeng, still holding the peach, said, "That's enough, leave this here, I'll eat it when I come back tonight."

Zhou Yun's eyes sparkled with a smile: "It's not for you, take it down for your team to eat. They’ve been busy with picking people up and hauling luggage—they deserve a treat."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

He hefted the massive bunch of plantains, dangling like a chandelier: "Alright."

When Guan Yuanfeng returned in the evening with the two Qin brothers and a few members of the special forces who had met Zhou Yun—Jiang Rongqian, Wu Jun, and Liao Jinsheng—they entered the yard, and Liao immediately exclaimed, "Captain Guan, since when does your yard have such gorgeous flowers? They can still bloom in such cold weather?"

Guan Yuanfeng: "..." He wanted to know too; it wasn't like this in the afternoon.

The small courtyard wall, once just bare red brick, was now covered in lush green trumpet vine, with bright orange-red flowers proudly standing in the cool breeze of Central Base, instantly lighting up the entire yard.

Even the pomegranate tree in the front yard, which had been half-frozen and lifeless, now had a lush, green canopy, its small round leaves as green as if they had just been washed, their waxy surfaces glossy and bright.

Tang Anchen was setting up a barbecue grill in the yard and smiled when he saw them enter: "I saw Doctor Zhou and Duoduo planting them. Duoduo has wood psychic abilities and cast some growth spells, and the whole yard was covered in no time. There's also a wall of cacti in the backyard, all blooming with huge, beautiful flowers. Duoduo says they’re called pitaya (dragon fruit) and will bear fruit in the summer."

Guan Yuanfeng: "...Where are they?"

Tang Anchen said, "Doctor Zhou is in the kitchen teaching Duoduo how to make jelly. There are huge peaches, really delicious. They’ve already sliced them up to make jelly for everyone. They’re grinding some seeds to make jelly powder, so it should be ready soon."

Liao Jinsheng, seeing the wire grill in Tang Anchen's hands, was already salivating: "What are we grilling?"

Tang Anchen gestured: "A massive slab of mutated leopard meat, frozen solid! It's been thawed and marinated, so we can just grill it directly."

Everyone cheered, and Qin Sheng couldn't help but ask, "When are we eating? Is there porridge?" After training, he was always starving, and the special forces canteen served mostly noodles. Just the thought of steamed buns made his stomach churn. His southern palate couldn’t handle it, and all he wanted now was a bowl of hot white porridge with salted fish.

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

He saw Dong Kexin coming from the backyard, carrying planting basins in each hand. They looked familiar, but the plants inside were lush and thriving, with a small chili pepper plant already bearing dense red peppers. Dong Kexin smiled as she put the basins down: "Captain, you're here? Dinner’s just about ready."

Guan Yuanfeng looked at the planting basins: "These are..."

Dong Kexin said, "The chives, perilla, garlic, and chili peppers you had Anchen plant on the rooftop earlier. It was cold, and they had only just sprouted. I don't know what Doctor Zhou and Duoduo did, but in no time, they grew into full basins. Doctor Zhou said they'd be perfect for the barbecue, so we brought them down."

Guan Yuanfeng: "..."

Wu Jun added from behind: "This is amazing. Having Doctor Zhou here makes it feel like we’re back in Danlin."