Spirits of the Mountains

In the blink of an eye, early spring had come again, and Li Boyang was already three or four months old.

Although the child could not speak yet.

Chen Yun still carried him in her back basket, letting everyone in the village meet the legendary "Non-Crying Child."

Of course, to keep anyone from discovering the strange phenomenon involving Li Boyang's hair, Chen Yun had specially bought him a red baby cap.

Not only that, but Li Boyang also had a whole string of peace pendants and protective talismans from different temples hanging from him, making for a bizarre, rather helpless sight.

As for the fangs that had already begun to take shape?

Aside from having to be a little careful when nursing him herself, Chen Yun was not worried about anyone discovering them.

Once spring properly arrived, the adults, Chen Yun included, gradually grew busy, and the task of looking after the child naturally fell entirely to Big Girl.

And so, out in the fields of Li Household Village, a half-grown figure carrying a back basket could occasionally be seen running wildly about.

The other children in the village could not keep up with her at all. They could only watch her darting away.

Because the children all knew that Non-Crying Child must have discovered some medicinal herb again and was directing Big Girl to go scoop up the overlooked treasure.

As he was a child favored by the mountain god.

Everyone had long since grown accustomed to the things that happened around Non-Crying Child.

An older child who often played with Big Girl had even personally witnessed Non-Crying Child facing off against a wildcat.

That older child swore solemnly that Non-Crying Child must have been talking to the wildcat-it was just that ordinary people could not hear him.

Amid these rumors, half true and half false, Non-Crying Child became a legend in Li Household Village.

Whether children or adults, whenever they saw the infant sitting in the back basket without crying or fussing, a trace of awe would involuntarily show on their faces.

"Little brother! Is this the spot?"

Under Li Boyang's guidance, Big Girl soon dug a large hole in the ground, then unearthed an unidentified medicinal herb.

Big Girl did not recognize medicinal herbs, and neither did Li Boyang.

But ever since Sha Qi had entered his body, Li Boyang had been able to vaguely sense anomalies deep within the earth.

Most of those anomalies that seemed out of place in the earth were aged medicinal herbs, though a few were skeletal remains buried deep underground.

Pat!

He lightly patted the back basket.

This was the unspoken understanding Li Boyang and Big Girl had developed over the past few months.

Although this way of communicating was not as convenient as language.

For Li Boyang, who could not speak yet, it was already the best option.

"Little brother, how many days of full bellies do you think this herb will get us?"

After receiving Li Boyang's signal, Big Girl immediately stuffed the herb into the pocket she carried with her.

To the simple-hearted Big Girl, every such herb she found meant she would be able to eat her fill for the next few days.

Thanks to this, Big Girl's complexion was now much rosier than when he had first met her.

If the village had had a physician who could prepare medicines, Li Boyang would even have wanted to keep these herbs and turn them into nourishing medicinal meals, soups, and the like.

Li Boyang was not asking for any grand, fancy, high-class medicinal cuisine.

Ordinary preparations like eight-treasure congee, ginger water, and nourishing soup would have been more than enough.

Unfortunately, for Li Boyang as he was now, even those requirements were still a little too demanding.

Pat! Pat!

As he thought this over, Li Boyang lightly patted the back basket twice more.

Feeling the light pats coming from behind her.

Big Girl immediately nodded in understanding, her smile growing even brighter.

Because she knew Li Boyang was answering her question.

Her little brother's two light pats on the basket meant that this herb would let her eat her fill for two days.

"You two little fellows are rather interesting..."

Just then, a slightly shrill voice suddenly came from behind a nearby tree.

"One born divine, the other bold enough to challenge the heavens..."

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I really would have found it hard to imagine that you were merely human cubs."

Protectively shielding the basket on her back, Big Girl watched the figure that emerged from behind the tree.

It was a rabbit, snow-white all over except for a patch of red on its head.

Compared with an ordinary rabbit, this one was as large as a hyena, and its ears were much longer than those of a normal rabbit.

"Don't be afraid. I don't eat meat."

The rabbit hopped forward once more, and its body actually transformed into Big Girl's likeness.

"Mm, you humans really are troublesome. Every time I turn into one of you, I have to walk on two legs."

Slowly rising from the ground, the rabbit that had transformed into Big Girl complained.

"My name is Deception Beast. You can also call me Deception Rabbit. I'm a spirit from these mountain forests."

"I've been watching you for several days. You always seem to find some particularly rare medicinal herbs..."

"You like eating meat, and I like eating plants. How about we make a deal?"

Coming within about ten paces of Big Girl, Deception Rabbit stopped and spoke with a face full of smiles.

"From now on, how about you give me the medicinal herbs you find, and I give you some flesh to eat?"

"Don't worry. I won't let you lose out!"

"At the very least, the flesh I give you will definitely be worth far more than the rice and grain those backwoods physicians offer."

"Of course, if you prefer the Guifang Kingdom's large coins, I can trade those for your herbs too."

At this point, Deception Rabbit paused briefly.

"But I don't have any cash on me. After all, spirits like me aren't in the habit of saving money."

"If we trade in large coins, I reckon I'll only be able to make an exchange with you once a month."

"I, Deception Rabbit, have quite a reputation among you humans. Many mountain folk and shamans are willing to entrust their money to me for safekeeping."

"But until then, could you keep all the medicinal herbs you find?"

Watching Deception Rabbit carry on talking to itself, Big Girl could not help casting a pleading look toward Li Boyang in the basket.

This was her first time seeing a spirit that could transform into a human. It would have been impossible to say she was not afraid.

But the instant she saw Li Boyang, Big Girl immediately cast that fear to the back of her mind.

-Wasn't it just a big rabbit that could talk?

-Little brother's hair could even burn!

-And he had a little sword that could fly around too!

"Little brother, is it telling the truth?"

Hearing Big Girl's quiet question, Li Boyang blinked.

Only now did he finally understand where that feeling of being watched over the past few days had come from.

"Ah!"

Taking the initiative to nod at Big Girl, Li Boyang decided to trust this Deception Rabbit's words for the time being.

Because if it truly harbored any hostility, it should have attacked the two of them several days ago.

Besides, judging by its behavior, although this rabbit calling itself "Deception Beast" was highly wary, it clearly was not particularly strong.

Even when facing two human cubs, it had never come within ten paces, always maintaining a safe distance from which it could turn and flee.