Chapter 211
Chapter 211
When Jiang Yunsui found Lin Shitou and the others, the children saw her huge roosters and dogs and erupted in excited cries.
“Those dogs are enormous! So impressive!”
“Jiang Yunsui, did you raise them? I’ve never seen dogs this big.”
“What breed are they? They look much bigger than wild boars.”
“If they’d been here yesterday, we wouldn’t have feared those three boars at all.”
Jiang Yunsui nodded along. Zuozuo and Youyou were very powerful. If they had been there, the boars truly would not have been frightening.
“They’re mastiffs. Don’t they look like lions?”
With their thick manes and massive bodies, they were already about the size of adolescent lions.
“What are lions?”
“I know! Those stone lions outside rich families’ gates!”
“They really do look alike.”
“Yunsui, can we pet them?”
What child could resist such enormous, majestic, fluffy animals?
The two dogs completely enchanted them.
Everyone already liked Jiang Yunsui after yesterday. Today, they admired her even more.
She had raised two dogs this enormous!
Jiang Yunsui nodded. “You can pet them, but don’t pull Zuozuo’s or Youyou’s fur.”
“Wonderful! Yunsui, you’re the nicest and most amazing!”
All that flattery delighted Little Mushroom until her imaginary tail nearly pointed at the sky.
The mastiffs sprawled lazily nearby and allowed the children to stroke their fur.
“Those roosters are huge too.”
Someone finally noticed Qianqian and Houhou standing on the wall.
Their feathers were beautiful and their bodies powerful. In the sunlight, their plumage seemed to glow.
Lin Shitou’s family kept hens. They paced beneath the wall, clucking around Qianqian and Houhou.
The family’s only rooster showed great hostility and flew up to challenge them, but Qianqian swatted it down with one wing.
The hens became even more excited.
Jiang Yunsui watched in speechless amazement.
Qianqian and Houhou were rather popular.
“Yunsui, let your roosters make eggs with our hens. The chicks will definitely grow enormous.”
“Qianqian and Houhou have to agree themselves. I don’t decide who they have babies with.”
“Look! The boar tusks are ready. Little Yunsui, this one’s yours.”
Lin Ran placed one in Jiang Yunsui’s hand.
The cleaned tusk no longer smelled fishy. Somehow, it carried the scent of herbs.
Its surface had once been yellowish, but someone had polished that layer away. It was unexpectedly attractive.
Lin Ran suggested, “You can have someone carve a pattern into it. Then it’ll be prettier.”
“Ivory is best,” Lin Lang said. “There are elephants around here. A single tusk sells for a lot of money. Rich nobles love them.”
“But elephants are dangerous. They eat an enormous amount and are incredibly strong. When they’re angry, they run fast and smash through everything. They can even knock down our houses, so hardly anyone dares hunt them.”
Jiang Yunsui nodded. She knew about elephants. They were truly, truly enormous.
Once everyone had prepared their supplies, they set out up the mountain.
“Are the roosters coming too?”
“Qianqian and Houhou are very strong. They catch venomous insects and snakes.”
“That’s perfect! There are lots of poisonous creatures in the forest. Let them lead the way.”
Qianqian and Houhou strutted ahead, heads high. The roosters were vain and loved praise.
They had posed on the wall for ages. After receiving compliments and the hens’ attention, they held their necks even higher.
Now they marched at the front with tremendous dignity and a showiness reminiscent of peacocks displaying their tails.
They truly were feathered creatures.
Among animals, male birds often possessed the most beautiful plumage, and they adored showing it off.
The children soon witnessed the roosters’ power.
They encountered a huge, venomous king cobra hidden in an inconspicuous patch of grass.
If no one noticed and they walked past, the cobra’s attack would have made for a dreadful experience.
Qianqian and Houhou spotted it and began a fierce battle.
Both Nuqing Roosters had fought the King Serpent beside Jiang Yunsui’s group. They thought nothing of this little cobra.
Before long, the snake could only flee beneath their assault.
“Qianqian and Houhou are amazing!”
“It went left! Hurry and chase it!”
“Peck it! Peck it!”
This was even more thrilling than a cockfight.
At last, the injured cobra escaped.
The children looked at the roosters as if they were great heroes.
Naturally, Jiang Yunsui, who had raised them, earned their respect as well.
Somehow, Little Mushroom gained a crowd of followers in this stockade.
With the Nuqing Roosters clearing the path, no poisonous snake or insect dared approach. To the birds, eating venomous snakes was as simple as devouring spicy snacks.
Finally, the group reached the place swarming with bees.
Buzzing filled the air. From beneath the cliff, they could see a broad, shallow recess some fifteen or twenty feet above them.
Rows of irresistibly tempting honeycomb hung over the ledge.
“There’s so much. How much honey must that be?”
“It isn’t too high. We can climb up along that path, but we’ll have to be careful.”
“Father said you can’t take every comb from wild bees on a cliff. Only harvest a small portion.”
“We know. Otherwise the bees will leave, and there won’t be any honey next time.”
“There’s so much that even a small part will be plenty.”
This time, Lin Lang produced a bundle of herbs without waiting for Jiang Yunsui.
“Father taught me this. We burn these herbs and let the smoke cover our bodies. Then the bees won’t attack, as long as we don’t take the combs recklessly.”
Everyone began working.
Lin Ran said, “Don’t all climb up. Too many people will agitate the bees.”
“Only two or three good climbers should go,” Lin Lang agreed. “The rest can help from below.”
With no self-awareness whatsoever, Jiang Yunsui raised her hand first.
“Me! Me!”
Afraid they had not seen, she jumped up and down.
The children exchanged speechless looks.
Lin Shitou spoke with brutal honesty. “Maybe not. You’re too short. Even if you get up there, you can’t reach the comb.”
Jiang Yunsui’s enthusiasm instantly deflated.