Under the Buttocks, Jade Lies Hidden

Chapter 30: Jade Hidden Beneath a Haunch

"Big Brother, let's go! Let's head up the mountain to hunt for jade together!" Seeing Zi Jian, Zhuzi grabbed him and, without waiting for a reply, turned and started walking.

"Hey, hey, wait, what is this all about..." Zi Jian struggled twice, but he couldn't break free from Zhuzi's brute strength and was dragged along.

"I'm taking them to the place where we found jade yesterday," Zhuzi said. "Everyone, spread out and search. Who knows, we might find a few more pieces."

Lowering his voice, Zhuzi added, "Big Brother, you must search hard. Finding just one piece of jade is worth half a year of hard labor." Zhuzi knew well enough who was close to him and who had been kind to him.

Although Zi Jian had the silver rewarded by the Prefect, he always felt it wasn't enough. Hearing this, he grew excited and shouted a few times toward the house. By the time Zi Bofeng draped his coat over his shoulders and stepped outside, the group had already headed up the mountain.

Looking from afar, Xitui was charging at the very front, running back and forth as if frolicking. Thanks to the nourishment of the Monster Raising Art, its energy and spirit were clearly much better than other dogs.

Before long, the group rounded the Big Blue Rock and disappeared from sight.

Zi Bofeng saw Yan Lao Wu standing opposite, arms crossed, watching the crowd head up the mountain. "Old Man, why didn't you go?" he asked curiously.

Yan Lao Wu looked at the group with a hint of envy, but shook his head. "I washed my hands of this long ago. The business of hunting for jade to support a family should be left to the young ones now!"

If you want to go, just go, you stubborn old man. Zi Bofeng scoffed inwardly. Too lazy to keep him company in his sentimental musings, he turned and walked back toward the house.

It wasn't just Zi Bofeng who heard Zi Jian's shouting; Yan Wu Shi and Little Stone had heard it too. Just as Zi Bofeng reached the door, the opposite door creaked open. Little Stone walked out, rubbing his eyes with both hands, followed by Yan Wu Shi, who had her head wrapped in a floral cloth—Zi Bofeng remembered his father had secretly hidden that cloth in his chest when he returned from Meng City last time. Zi Bofeng's eyes were sharp; he had seen it long ago, but he had to pretend he didn't know. It was exhausting work.

Yan Wu Shi hadn't dared to wear it at first, and this was the first time she had worn it out.

Seeing Yan Lao Wu standing not far away, she lowered her head, blushing, and whispered, "Fifth Uncle..." before ducking into Zi Bofeng's house, where she began tidying the courtyard and preparing breakfast for Zi Bofeng and Little Stone as if she were the lady of the house.

Little Stone also called out, "Fifth..." then lowered his head to doze off. After a long while, he lifted his head again to finish: "...Old Man."

Yan Lao Wu waited for a long time, finally hearing the end of Little Stone's greeting. He sighed, reached out a rough palm to stroke Little Stone's head, and seeing the boy lower his head to doze off again, he sighed once more and left.

Zi Bofeng couldn't help but chuckle at the sight. There was no need to ask; Little Stone must have been secretly reading picture books again last night. Zi Bofeng never expected that the few picture books he had compiled would have such magic. Whether it was Little Stone or the little fox, they were all captivated by them. He had forgotten that this world lacked entertainment, and the villagers had heard their ancient, worn-out stories hundreds of times. To Little Stone and the others, the appeal of these picture books was comparable to the computer games Zi Bofeng used to be obsessed with.

Most of the adult men in the village had gone up the mountain, so Zi Bofeng gave the private school a holiday, letting the children help with farm work at home while he went up to the Big Blue Rock.

"Uncle Blue Rock, now that jade can be found again, does that mean the earth's veins are starting to fill up again?" Zi Bofeng asked while practicing his calligraphy on the rock's surface.

"Look below. Smile." Uncle Blue Rock's reply remained concise, accompanied by an emoticon.

Zi Bofeng lowered his head and pressed his body down, only to discover that a crack had appeared beneath the rock at some point. When he peered inside, he was startled.

Beneath the Big Blue Rock, dense clusters of jade were paved across the mountain body like scales. Anyone with trypophobia would have been scared senseless at a single glance.

After letting Zi Bofeng take a look, the rock shifted its weight, covering the jade once more.

Zi Bofeng suddenly understood. This place was the gathering point for the spiritual energy of the entire Lower Yan Village. In other words, eighty percent of the spiritual energy in Lower Yan Village was currently being exhaled by the Big Blue Rock.

If jade could be found elsewhere, how could there be none in this place where the spiritual energy was most abundant? It wasn't that there was none; Uncle Blue Rock was simply hiding it.

"Proceed step by step, keep a low profile and hide your talents," the rock's spiritual energy manifested these eight characters to admonish Zi Bofeng.

Zi Bofeng nodded repeatedly. It seemed Uncle Blue Rock knew about the jade appearing on the mountain. Perhaps it was Uncle Blue Rock who intentionally allowed the spiritual energy to condense, creating the jade so the villagers could reap some benefits. Otherwise, Zi Bofeng wouldn't have known how to develop the currently lifeless Lower Yan Village.

If I weren't afraid of scaring my old man, Zi Bofeng thought, I'd definitely show him my little treasury and see if he still treats those few coins like gold. Then he thought, It's truly not easy. This destitute Lower Yan Village finally has a little capital to use. Can I start implementing many of my previous ideas now?

But upon closer reflection, Zi Bofeng suddenly felt something was wrong.

"Uncle Blue Rock, I remember that one must reach the fifth realm, 'Body Moistening,' to merge with the earth's veins and control the condensation of jade." Zi Bofeng carefully pondered his Monster Raising Art. He had asked the rock before, and it had claimed it didn't truly possess its own innate spells, so the fourth level, "Opening Wisdom," wasn't yet complete. How could it skip the completion of the fourth level and directly attain the fifth?

"Talent is such," the rock replied.

In truth, the rock itself didn't quite understand why this was the case. Theoretically, since it hadn't reached the completion of "Opening Wisdom," it shouldn't be able to cast any spells, yet it could echo Zi Bofeng's voice and emit that earth-shaking roar.

When Zi Bofeng asked, the rock simply said it was talent.

Zi Bofeng could only fill in the blanks himself. He felt that perhaps this rock was inherently a part of this mountain and this land, a node guarding the entire earth's vein, which was why it was naturally able to influence this world.

Zi Bofeng didn't know if this guess was true or false, but he had no choice but to think so.

However, with such an advantage, Zi Bofeng naturally couldn't fail to make good use of it. With a thousand ideas spinning in his head, eager to launch his grand plans, he finished his morning lessons and sprinted down the mountain to start his planning.

By the time the sun set, those who had set out early to hunt for jade had all returned. A group of dozens had gone out, and they had brought back three more pieces of fine jade. One was found by Xitui, which Zhuzi kept. The other two were found by others in the village.

Besides that, they had other gains: a few pheasants hung from their waists, and two muntjacs were carried on the shoulders of the sturdy young men.

Although there were many monks and little gruel, everyone was laughing and chatting, filled with hope and longing.

In the past, after years of searching for jade, a family would average only five or six pieces. Now, finding three in a single day was a sign of incredible luck.

To the people of Lower Yan Village, everything else was secondary; this jade was the foundation. Lower Yan Village was born for jade and existed for jade.

Yan Lao Wu had been waiting at the foot of the mountain. Hearing the good news, he laughed heartily and began organizing a celebratory drink. But everyone declined, saying they had to go up the mountain to continue searching for jade tomorrow, so they didn't want to delay.

A few skilled hunters went to the stream to quickly skin the muntjacs, while the dozens of others stood in front of Zi Bofeng's house, discussing where to search tomorrow. Once the meat was divided, they each took their share and dispersed.

Zi Jian walked into the house with a pheasant at his waist and a piece of muntjac meat in his hand, looking delighted. Zhuzi followed behind; he had found another piece of fine jade today, and the momentum was excellent. Zhuzi comforted Xitui, the hero of the jade hunt who had already darted into the house to nurse its pups, and talked excitedly with Zi Jian for a while. Every word was about finding two more pieces so he could go to the city and find a doctor to treat his mother.

Zi Bofeng served them water and prepared rice porridge for Xitui. He gently stroked its head and used the Monster Raising Art on it a few times before heading out.

Seeing Zi Bofeng come out, Zhuzi said his goodbyes. Only then did Yan Wu Shi emerge from Zi Jian's room; she had been hiding inside, terrified of being seen, the whole time she was at Zi Bofeng's house.

Like a wife welcoming her husband home, she handed Zi Jian a towel, brought over a stool, offered a fan, and took the pheasant and muntjac meat to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Watching this scene from the doorway of the side room, Zi Bofeng felt a multitude of emotions. The matter of his father and the aunt had to be put on the agenda; living in such constant fear every day—if they weren't tired, Zi Bofeng was.

Watching his father sitting in the courtyard with a towel draped over his neck, fanning himself and drinking water, while in the kitchen opposite, the aunt was busy at the stove, occasionally wiping away sweat, Zi Bofeng felt that perhaps being able to go on like this forever was a kind of happiness, too.

I truly hope this happiness can last forever!

Little Stone seemed infected by the scene as well, walking over to lean against Zi Bofeng's waist. Zi Bofeng reached out to wrap an arm around his shoulder, but felt something furry instead. Lowering his head, he saw Little Stone grinning mischievously while clutching two fluffy puppies. His anger flared instantly: "Little Stone, didn't I tell you? You can't touch the puppies right now. Xitui, bite him! Bite him!" This Little Stone—give him an inch, and he'd take a mile.

"Brother, look, they've opened their eyes." Little Stone wasn't afraid at all, holding the puppies up for Zi Bofeng to see.

"Huh?" Zi Bofeng was taken aback. These two puppies had indeed opened their eyes; their pitch-black, glistening orbs were looking around timidly yet curiously.

Could the Monster Raising Art have taken effect?

Looking down again, compared to the other puppies, these two were clearly a size larger. It was evident that the Monster Raising Art hadn't worked on all of them; in other words, not all of these puppies were destined to survive, as their constitutions varied. The few words of the art had triggered a quantitative change leading to a qualitative leap for these two puppies specifically.

"These two puppies grew the fastest. One for Brother, one for me," Little Stone said, fishing for praise.

"What about Qiu'er?" Zi Bofeng teased him.

"That... that... Qiu'er..." Little Stone was instantly conflicted.

Seeing the struggle in Little Stone's eyes, even Xitui couldn't stand it. He stretched his head over to lick the two puppies that had just opened their eyes, incidentally giving Little Stone's face a wash—making his dirty, soot-streaked face even dirtier.

"Then the third one to open its eyes will be for Qiu'er," Little Stone finally made up his mind.

At least he hadn't forgotten his brother for a wife. Zi Bofeng felt quite relieved.

Record of Raising Monsters