Planting Radishes and Pears

The cubs answered yes in unison.

Being away from home was never as comfortable as staying there, whether it came to eating or sleeping. Once Tao Qiu returned, all the exhaustion he had been hiding caught up with him.

He quickly ate his fill and lay down in the nest. Almost as soon as he closed his eyes, he fell asleep.

Afraid of disturbing their father's rest, the bird cubs stopped exercising their wings. Instead, they perched in a row beside Tao Qiu's head and quietly watched him sleep.

Although Tao Qiu had only been gone for two days and was back now, the cubs, who had hardly been apart from their father since hatching, still felt uneasy. They wanted to make sure it really was their father in front of them, not a dream.

Tired as he was, Tao Qiu snored in his sleep. It wasn't loud, but the cubs had never heard it before and found it fascinating.

Second Cub tried to make the same sound, but found she couldn't.

She tilted her head in puzzlement and quietly asked her brother and sister, but neither of them could do it either.

At noon, Tao Qiu was still fast asleep. The three cubs quietly ate lunch, then, as usual, sprawled on top of him for their nap.

Tao Qiu didn't wake until evening. The cubs were watching the sunset glow at the cave entrance, and when they saw him open his eyes and sit up, they hurried over to him.

"Oh, I slept that long?" Tao Qiu let the bird cubs perch on his head and shoulders, then washed his face with cold water to chase away the last of his sleepiness.

Second Cub had been holding her question in for hours. Now that her father was finally awake, she couldn't wait to ask, "Chirp, chirp chirp chirp?"

"Daddy, what was that hum-hum-hum sound you made while you were sleeping?"

"Hum-hum-hum?" Tao Qiu was puzzled for a few seconds before he understood and couldn't help laughing. Why did she make him sound like a grunting piglet? "I think that was snoring. Did it sound like this?"

Tao Qiu imitated the sound of someone snoring in their sleep.

Second Cub nodded vigorously. "Chirp, chirp."

"That's it. So it's called snoring."

Tao Qiu said, "When you're too tired, you're more likely to snore after you fall asleep."

Third Cub asked, "Chirp?"

"Will we snore too?"

Tao Qiu stroked his chin. "Daddy doesn't know either. If you ever snore in your sleep, I'll tell you right away."

"Chirp, chirp chirp!" Second Cub was delighted.

"Okay! Daddy's the best!"

The cubs didn't know whether snoring was good or bad, but if their father had done it, they wanted to do it too.

Children's thoughts were just that simple.

While it was still light out, Tao Qiu went on a patrol and brought back a few extra prey animals. He would be busy planting new crops for the next two days and probably wouldn't have time to go out.

While Tao Qiu was out, the cubs stayed home and waited obediently for him to return.

Third Cub watched the entrance, eager for her father to appear.

Suddenly, the scene of seeing him off two days ago flashed through her mind.

"Chirp!" Third Cub cried out and jumped to her feet.

Eldest Cub and Second Cub both looked at her and asked, "Chirp?"

Third Cub looked at her brother and sister. She hesitated for a while before finally saying awkwardly in a quiet voice, "Chirp chirp, chirp chirp chirp?"

"Big Brother, Big Sister, could you please not tell Daddy I cried that day?"

Third Cub had been so reluctant to part with Tao Qiu that she hadn't been able to hold back her tears after he left. Eldest Cub and Second Cub had spent a long time comforting her.

Thinking back on it now, she felt embarrassed. Her brother and sister hadn't cried, but she had, and she didn't want their father to know.

Second Cub didn't think much of it and agreed.

Eldest Cub understood how Third Cub felt. He raised a wing and gently patted his little sister, copying their father. "Chirp, chirp chirp."

"Don't worry. We won't tell Daddy."

Only then did Third Cub feel reassured. "Chirp."

"Thank you, Big Brother and Big Sister."

Tao Qiu had caught two live prey animals and brought them back. He cut off pieces of pear and radish and fed them to the animals, wanting to see what would happen.

Neither plant grew in his territory, and he had never seen other animals eat them, so it was important to test them.

He wanted to find out whether, if the pears and radishes were poisonous, his ability could remove the toxins. If it couldn't, could he make use of the toxins himself?

The three cubs stood on the stone table, watching Tao Qiu feed the pieces to the two animals.

The pear had a delicate fragrance and plump, juicy flesh. The animal it was fed to didn't struggle, but ate it willingly.

The radish, however, gave off a pungent smell when cut open, sharp and foul. It was still much weaker than the stink radish bombs, though, and within a bearable range.

Besides that, the inside of the radish was dry and tough. It surely wouldn't taste good.

Even after Tao Qiu resorted to forcing it, the other animal resisted for a long time before eating it.

Honestly, if that animal had been a little smarter, it surely would have told Tao Qiu to his face: A warrior can be killed but not humiliated. Let me die right now!

Because it tasted so, so, so awful!

A minute later, the animal that had eaten the pear reacted. Its eyes grew unfocused, and its whole body went limp. Tao Qiu propped it up, but it fell over again.

Before long, it even fell asleep!

It hadn't vomited blood or died, so it didn't seem to be poison.

The way it was acting, it looked more like it was drunk.

Could the pear's effect be to quickly intoxicate living creatures?

Tao Qiu looked at the remaining pear, the corner of his eye twitching. "The tree and fruit look terrifying, but its hunting method is that plain and simple?"

No wonder it lived in symbiosis with the vines. Its offensive power was too weak.

Their partnership probably worked like this: the pear tree bore fruit to lure living creatures into eating it, and once they fell unconscious, the vines strangled them and dragged them beneath the roots to serve as fertilizer.

Tao Qiu hadn't fed the animal much pear, and it woke up half an hour later.

The one that had eaten the radish, on the other hand, showed no other reaction apart from a slightly twisted expression at the awful taste.

Tao Qiu shut the two animals in a deep pit and checked on them again the next morning. They were unchanged, and he finally felt reassured.

After breakfast, Tao Qiu set the pear aside and buried the radish in a test plot he had specially prepared inside the cave, then began using his ability to ripen it.

The radish was already fully grown, so Tao Qiu didn't actually need to use much of his ability.

Ten minutes later, the radish was just like the old ones in the radish patch. Its flowers had withered, leaving seed pods shaped like little gourds, and its body had changed color and swollen, nearly to the point of exploding.

Tao Qiu stopped in time, pulled out the radish, and removed its seeds.

Unable to continue growing, the radish's progress toward exploding had been slowed, so it probably wouldn't be dangerous for the time being.

Tao Qiu broke open the pods, took out the seeds, and planted them again.

This time, he was growing them from seeds, and there were about ten of them. It took longer and used up much more of his ability and stamina.

Tao Qiu stopped when the radishes were plump and fresh. After eating and drinking to restore his strength, he pulled one out.

Even though it wasn't fully mature yet, its length and size were not to be underestimated. It had to be at least 1.2 meters long, about as tall as a child.

It was heavy, too. Tao Qiu could feel its weight tugging at his arm as he carried it in one hand.

The bird cubs were startled too. Eyes wide, they gathered around the radish, chirping away.

"Big radish! Big radish!"

Tao Qiu was very pleased with its size. Now he just had to see how it tasted.

He first washed the dirt off the surface. To avoid wasting any, he didn't peel it. He picked up a feather knife and cut the radish open in front of the cubs.

This time, the radish flesh was crisp and juicy. Its smell was closer to the natural plant fragrance of a radish, with a hint of sweetness.

Tao Qiu tried a piece himself first. It was crisp and full of juice. It wasn't as sweet as fruit, but it had a distinctive flavor of its own.

Only after making sure it tasted good did he cut a few pieces for the three cubs.

He had wanted to dice it to make it easier for them to eat, but they couldn't wait, so he gave up on the idea.

After all three had tasted it, Tao Qiu asked, "Well? Do you like it?"

Third Cub said, "Chirp, chirp chirp."

"It's crunchy and tasty."

Second Cub shook her head. "Chirp, chirp chirp chirp."

"It's tasty, but I like sweet wild fruit and tomatoes better."

Eldest Cub chirped several sentences, giving a more detailed answer.

"Just like wild fruit and tomatoes, the radish makes my body feel warm and comfortable after I eat it. It tastes pretty good, and I could eat it at every meal. It's also really big. I'm full after eating just this piece."

Tao Qiu smiled. "Thank you for your opinions, my darlings. We'll grow more later and store them for winter."

After resting, Tao Qiu continued ripening the radishes. He wanted to see whether the ones he ripened with his ability would still explode like the original ones.

Chapter 25: Planting Radishes and Pears

Tao Qiu used his ability to ripen all the radishes. When he saw their flowers bloom and fall, and the radishes age and grow seeds, he focused on ripening just one of them.

Gradually, familiar dark brown markings appeared on its surface. But instead of swelling like the radishes in the patch before, it gradually shriveled, finally turning into a pile of muck.

The muck gave off a foul smell that nearly overwhelmed the three bird cubs watching nearby.

"Chirp! Chirp!" Second Cub chirped excitedly.

"Daddy! Stinky!"

Eldest Cub and Third Cub covered their faces with their wings and backed away.

The smell was only a third as strong as the original radish's, but it was still potent. If smeared on an enemy's face, it would be enough to make them dizzy for a few seconds.

It seemed that the mutated plants purified by his ability still retained some of their former traits.

Tao Qiu was very pleased with the result. Although he was good at fighting, only a fool would pass up something so useful when he could use it to boost his combat power.

But first he had to move this stuff out, or the stink was bound to knock the cubs out.