Chapter 44

Chapter 44

The construction team, chosen by System Cat after a nationwide price comparison, worked with remarkable speed. In just one afternoon, they had smoothed and leveled several walls for Chen Ji. The plaster was applied perfectly, and the foreman even incorporated some unique techniques, resulting in a soft, fine-textured creamy white finish. The foreman chuckled, "Once the plaster dries the day after tomorrow, we can start painting with vermillion lacquer."

"We can't just sit idle these two days, boss. The plaster on the east and west side halls has peeled off, so we'll fix that for you. It's a quick job," the foreman gestured. Even Chen Ji, who knew nothing about renovation, could tell it was far from a simple task.

Chen Ji offered to pay extra, but the foreman waved him off, saying money wasn't necessary. Chen Ji decided he'd treat them to a couple of good meals instead—though most of his food was pre-packaged, there was a world of difference between a five-yuan pack and a fifty-yuan one.

System Cat also bought a Jinhua ham, which cost a fortune but was undeniably fragrant. Later, he planned to slice a piece to steam and make a ham and winter melon soup—so delicious it would make your eyebrows fall off.

He wondered if White Tiger Grandpa would like it... Chen Ji decided to go ask.

White Tiger Grandpa was sleeping in the side room. It was extremely alert, and every time Chen Ji quietly entered, it would wake up. This time was no exception. As Chen Ji pushed the door open, he saw White Tiger Grandpa already lifting its head to look toward the door. Chen Ji asked, "White Tiger Grandpa, I've come to tidy up for you. How about steamed cured ham tomorrow?"

After saying this, Chen Ji couldn’t help but laugh. White Tiger Grandpa probably had no idea what "cured ham" was. He added softly, "It’s cured pork hindquarter..."

He paused, considering White Tiger Grandpa’s appetite. A palm-sized piece of ham would only give it a taste; to actually fill it up, he’d probably need to offer the whole ham... but that would make it die from saltiness, right?

White Tiger Grandpa stared intently at Chen Ji, as if waiting for him to continue. Chen Ji had no choice but to say, "Scratch that."

A few large question marks appeared above the big tiger’s head—Chen Ji imagined.

"Just eat whatever I make," Chen Ji said as he walked to the bedside. "White Tiger Grandpa, lift your leg."

White Tiger Grandpa silently lifted its leg. Chen Ji took the opportunity to pull out the blanket trapped underneath and replaced it with a fresh, sun-dried, fluffy one. He folded the other half over White Tiger Grandpa’s body. The pillow was also swapped out for a body pillow suitable for animals, perfect for hugging or resting on.

The bedsheet could wait; it had been changed just yesterday and could last a couple more days... Although White Tiger Grandpa was an animal, it was remarkably clean, with no unpleasant odor—even carrying a faint scent of pinewood. Perhaps it used to enjoy eating pine nuts?

There was a type of ham that sold for an exorbitant price because the pigs had roamed freely in oak forests, feasting on acorns, allowing the fat to permeate the meat, making it rich and evenly marbled with a hint of oak fragrance... If White Tiger Grandpa’s hind legs were made into ham, would they carry a pinewood scent too?

...Ahem, what a sinful thought.

Chen Ji instinctively patted White Tiger Grandpa’s hind leg. "White Tiger Grandpa, don’t sleep anymore. Dinner’s in half an hour."

The construction crew wouldn’t be staying for dinner—that had been agreed upon beforehand. They’d eat lunch at the temple and head back down the mountain in the evening. Usually, for mountain jobs like this, workers would stay up there, but since this was the Mountain Lord's temple, there were probably some taboos. The foreman didn’t bring it up.

Chen Ji stewed a free-range chicken with the Polygonatum given by Second Master Huang. Because of White Tiger Grandpa, he made a full pot. As usual, he set aside a portion as an offering to Grandfather Mountain first, then divided the rest among everyone.

Chen Ji had no problem with it, but White Tiger Grandpa didn’t seem to like the Polygonatum. It was fine with the soup but refused to touch the fragrant, soft and mushy Polygonatum. Chen Ji had no choice but to secretly blend the Polygonatum into a paste, stuff it into chicken breast, coat the breast with plenty of seaweed pork floss, wrap it in a large piece of bread, and coax White Tiger Grandpa into finishing it.

Chen Ji, on the other hand, downed three large bowls of soup in one go. When he stood up, he could almost hear the water sloshing in his stomach. Perhaps the Polygonatum was taking effect—soon after, Chen Ji felt his whole body heating up, breaking into a sweat. He did feel more energetic.

"Buddy, let’s go do a task tomorrow!" System Cat drawled. "Ten jin of herbs, five types of minerals..."

"Can't be bothered," Chen Ji refused outright. He was feeling weak and had no desire to climb mountains.

"So?" System Cat was self-righteous, sharp-tongued, and sarcastic. "Then you’ll handle the post-renovation deep clean yourself? Chen Ji, you’re so diligent~!"

System Cat could order some things online—after all, Chen Ji could do that himself with a tap of his finger, and the main system wouldn’t notice. But for tasks like conjuring fire out of thin air or one-click cleaning in the real world, that was outright system assistance, and even the smallest tasks cost one point.

Chen Ji hesitated between cleaning up himself or doing a task to earn points for cheating: "As long as I dig it myself, it’s fine, right?"

System Cat gave Chen Ji a disdainful look. Did Chen Ji really think it didn’t know what he was planning? "Yeah, yeah, sure!"

Hearing that, Chen Ji felt relieved.

The next day, Chen Ji set off with Second Master Huang (weasel) on his left shoulder and a Cangtian model drone in his right hand! Second Master Huang perched on his left shoulder, looking disdainfully at Chen Ji. "Is this thing really useful?"

"Let’s give it a try. It cost me a pretty penny," Chen Ji said, having already set up the software and preparing to remote-control the drone. Suddenly, he thought of something and turned to ask Second Master Huang, "Second Master Huang, do you think my drone might get shot down?"

If the mountain were an ordinary one, Chen Ji wouldn’t worry—the chance of hitting a bird wasn’t that high. But this mountain was full of spirits and monsters. What if his drone flew out, and everyone thought, "Hey, what’s this new magical tool?" and shot it down to take a look...

Second Master Huang scratched its head. "Probably not? Who’d be that bored?"

This thing was clearly man-made. If it got shot down, humans would come to retrieve it. If it were just one or two, they might just eat it and be done with it. But last time, someone shot one down, and a bunch of soldiers showed up, their aura of killing intent. No one dared approach.

Chen Ji looked at his expensive drone and took out his newly learned Evil-Warding Talisman, pasting it all around the drone, ensuring it was snug and wouldn’t fall off—life was funny that way. He’d been trying to learn the Five Thunder Talisman, with the Evil-Warding Talisman right beside it. Before he even mastered the Five Thunder Talisman, he’d somehow inexplicably learned the Evil-Warding Talisman.

Second Master Huang looked at the circle of yellow talismans and said dryly, "...Probably no one will touch it now."

Chen Ji prioritized having the drone search for water sources. There was no need to go to the carp pond in the back mountain—it was too far. Instead, he headed to the flat platform at the mountain peak. Chen Ji rode on Second Master Huang, following behind. Before long, Second Master Huang grumbled, "...It’s flying slower than I can run."

Chen Ji: "..." Oh, right. He hadn’t considered that he’d one day be riding on a weasel immortal, roaming all over the mountain.

Chen Ji laughed and patted Second Master Huang’s neck, pointing to the trees at the edge of the forest. "Don’t say that... Hey, Second Master Huang, there are wild fruits over there!"

Second Master Huang looked in the direction he pointed and indeed saw trees laden with finger-length wild fruits. Locally, they were called "cat poop melons" or "ghost fingers." Their bluish-purple skin looked a bit intimidating, but each was plump, some already split open, revealing white and black flesh inside. It said, "Hold on tight!"

Chen Ji instinctively gripped Second Master Huang. With a leap, Second Master Huang grabbed onto the tree trunk and in a few moves settled on a sturdy branch. Chen Ji couldn’t help but give Second Master Huang a thumbs-up, carefully climbing down. Second Master Huang’s Dharma Form dissipated, and its small body nimbly darted across the branches. In the blink of an eye, it returned with a branch in its mouth.

The branch wasn’t broken—Second Master Huang had merely dragged it back by the tip. Chen Ji quickly took out a small knife and harvested a large bunch of cat poop melons from it. As soon as Second Master Huang let go, the branch snapped back with a whoosh, nearly hitting Chen Ji.

"I thought cat poop melons weren’t in season this month?" Chen Ji peeled one and handed it to Second Master Huang, then peeled another for himself and took a bite. The flesh was sandy and soft, with a light sweetness and a rich fruity aroma. Chen Ji squinted his eyes, then spat out seeds with a series of "pfft" sounds.

The seeds were edible, but Chen Ji found them too hard and avoided them—dental work was expensive, and living in the mountains made it especially troublesome.

"Wasn’t it around this time last year? Maybe a month earlier?" Second Master Huang muttered, also spitting out seeds like a machine gun.

System Cat rolled around in his mind: "I want some too, I want some too, I want some too!"

Chen Ji tossed a few into the basket, signaling System Cat to help itself. Chen Ji figured that since they were wild and the grove was in the mountain valley where temperatures were higher, the fruits had ripened earlier. After eating several, he was about to climb down when he spotted something in the fallen leaves nearby and froze.

Second Master Huang noticed his reaction and turned to look, casually remarking, "Oh, it’s you!"

Chen Ji burst out laughing. Second Master Huang immediately turned to glare at him. Chen Ji quickly waved his hands. "Sorry, Second Master Huang, I couldn’t help it!"

Second Master Huang leaped past Chen Ji, positioning itself between him and the viper. It flicked its long tail. "Get lost! What do you think you’re doing?"

The viper said slowly, "Food..."

Second Master Huang exclaimed in surprise, "You, a snake, turning vegetarian?! What, trying to become immortal?!"

"I..." The viper had only managed one word before Second Master Huang cut it off. "So what if we ate a couple of your melons? Why are you so stingy? Let me tell you, this human is under my protection. If you lay a finger on him, don’t blame me for making things difficult for you..."

Its body rapidly expanded, revealing a nearly three-meter-tall Dharma Form. The viper, seemingly provoked, also revealed a massive Dharma Form.

The next moment, Chen Ji heard a creak, and the weasel and snake before him vanished—replaced by an empty space.

Chen Ji silently looked down. Below, Second Master Huang and the viper lay sprawled on the ground.

Chen Ji: "..."

Many thoughts raced through Chen Ji’s mind: "So Dharma Forms have weight too?" "Who’s stronger, it or Second Master Huang?" "If they start fighting, should I go down or not?"..."If I laugh now, will they both come after me?"

...He couldn’t help it.

"Pfft—"