Another One Acquired

But the truly valuable, top-grade find was like the root he had sold not long ago for 4.5 million. Yes, this was another ginseng root.

And judging by his eye, this one was much, much older than the one he had sold. It might even be older than the one Grandpa had, though that remained to be seen. As for exactly how old it was, his eye and experience were not up to the task yet. He would have to ask Grandpa when he got back.

How could Ye Huan not be happy? Haha, one bluff had gotten that huge wild boar to lead him to something this good. Not bad, not bad.

He carefully dug up the ginseng. Fortunately, it had just rained, and the soil was soft. Seeing him busy, Disco the wild wolf went off hunting alone. He still remembered Ye Huan saying they had come into the mountains to find food to take home.

Saihu stayed beside his young master, standing guard. Since Ye Huan had returned, this had become a frequent duty. The last time Ye Huan dug up ginseng, Saihu had stood guard too.

After more than half an hour, he extracted a complete wild ginseng plant, every root and rootlet intact. Just to be safe, he entered the space himself, put the ginseng away properly, and only then came back out. Saihu knew where his master had gone when he vanished and continued standing guard.

Once outside, Ye Huan ignored the dirt on his body and burst out laughing. This trip into the mountains had been more than worth it. Although he had not achieved financial freedom yet, he was already no longer short of money to spend.

But who would complain about having too much money? Besides, he probably would not sell this one. He was not short of money anymore, so of course he should keep the good stuff for himself. In that respect, he was rather like Grandpa.

He looked around for a while. The wild wolf had not returned yet, so he started digging up seedlings of various plants he did not recognize, then discovered several wild tea plants.

They formed a large clump. Both Ye Huan and Grandpa liked drinking wild tea, and Grandpa was an expert at roasting tea leaves. So he took a hoe out of the space and, stroke by stroke, dug up the entire clump of wild tea plants and transplanted them into the space. Then he watered them with spirit spring water. He was looking forward to seeing what quality of wild tea they would produce this way.

Spirit tea? He figured that was a long shot, but it would definitely be possible in the future. He was confident of that.

This was already fairly deep in the forest. Seeing the sky begin to darken, Ye Huan gave a piercing whistle. Then, hearing Disco the wild wolf's call, he ran over with Saihu.

They met up a few minutes later. Looking at the two wild gazelles, one wild deer, one roe deer, and four pheasants lying on the ground, Ye Huan was speechless. "Did you come here to stock up?"

"Awoo~" Disco said. "Didn't you say we were coming to get ingredients? Aren't these all ingredients?"

"All right. Ah, good thing I have the space, or I really couldn't get them home." Ye Huan first put all these creatures into the space, then said, "Let's go home. It's almost dark."

And so, once again, a man, a wolf, and a dog raced toward home. When they reached the orchard, they slowed down. Ye Huan took out the prey, tied it up with vines, and placed it on a stretcher made of branches, intending to drag it home.

"Let's go~" With everything ready, Ye Huan looped the vines over his shoulders and headed home.

"Awoo~" Disco called, not following him.

"Hm? You're not coming home with me? Going back to the mountains? That's fine too. Come get me if anything happens." Ye Huan patted his big head. He had almost forgotten that this fellow was no Xiaobai. He was Disco, a true wild wolf who roamed the mountain forests with proud abandon.

"Have some more spirit spring water. You won't be able to get any once you go back." Ye Huan took out a basin of spirit spring water and offered it to Disco. Knowing it was good stuff, he lapped up the whole basin in no time.

"Awoo~" He gave Ye Huan a reluctant look, then turned and raced back into the mountains.

"Slow down. Come out if anything happens." Ye Huan was quite fond of this big fellow.

"Let's go~" Ye Huan patted Saihu's head, and the man and dog headed home.

"Dad, come help!" Although dragging this pile of prey took little effort, Ye Huan had to put on an act, so he called for his dad from far away.

Seeing another large haul, especially that big wild deer, Ye Dafa happily rode over on the electric three-wheeler. Then father and son hauled everything home.

They had to process it quickly, or it would spoil easily in the hot weather.

"Where's that wolf?" Mom asked when she saw them.

"There was nothing else going on in the mountains, so he went back. He caught all of this. There's so much," Ye Huan said.

"Ah, who would've thought our family would end up with more meat than we can eat because of a wild wolf?" Ye Huan's mom said with a laugh.

"I'll take some over to Fifth Aunt, Sixth Aunt, and Little Tangyuan's family. We can't finish it all anyway."

"Sure, Mom. You decide. I'll go shower first. Grandpa, I'll show you something good in a bit," Ye Huan said to Grandpa with a smile.

Grandpa's eyes lit up. If his eldest grandson called it something good, it could not be too bad. He trusted the eye of the grandson he had taught himself.

Ye Huan went upstairs, took a quick shower, and changed into dry, fresh clothes. Then he took the ginseng root out of the space, laid a cloth on a wooden tray to support it, and went downstairs.

"Grandpa, look..." Like someone presenting a treasure, Ye Huan placed the tray on the table.

"Wild ginseng? You found another one? You've got good luck." Grandpa smiled. "Wait, this wild ginseng..."

Ye Huan was startled. Was it not ginseng? That couldn't be. How could he mistake wild ginseng for something else?

"Haha, this is good stuff! Xiao Huan, where did you get it?" Grandpa asked with a hearty laugh.

"Past Wild Boar Ridge. An enormous wild boar took me there, too." Smiling, Ye Huan told Grandpa what had happened, while Jingjing sat quietly as though listening to a story, looking at her uncle with admiration.

Grandpa nodded. Wild Boar Ridge was the limit that ordinary mountain foragers dared not cross. No wonder. "This wild ginseng is over seven hundred years old. More precisely, it could be around seven hundred and eighty years old. Truly good stuff. What do you plan to do with it?"

"Of course I'll keep something this good. I'm not stupid. If it were ordinary, I'd just sell it," Ye Huan said with a smile.

Grandpa nodded happily too, then cautioned him, "From now on, try not to go past Wild Boar Ridge too often. Who knows what big creatures are over there? Less than twenty li farther on is that pool I told you about. You mustn't go there."

"Oh? It's that close? I understand, Grandpa. I wouldn't normally go that deep anyway. That big wild boar led me there today." Ye Huan nodded. Although he was a little stronger now, he did not dare believe he could currently beat a dragon, a giant python, or some huge creature like a flood dragon.

Perhaps it would only be possible after level ten or higher. Ye Huan would not be blindly confident. His life mattered, and there was no need, was there? He had no shortage of food or drink, so why risk his life?

"Bring down that bundle of mine from before," Grandpa said.

Ye Huan nodded and went upstairs, pretending to fetch the bundle. In fact, he took it out of the thatched hut in the space, then carried it downstairs.