Chapter 33 (continued)

The two dogs were even more agile than Zhao Hexi, running around them without needing to be led.

Only after they broke through the bushes and entered the real forest did the surroundings gradually open up.

The forest floor, virtually untouched by humans, was covered with a thick layer of fallen leaves, and moss grew everywhere on the tree trunks and fallen logs. When they breathed, they could smell the unique scent of the forest.

The light in the forest was much dimmer than outside. Zhao Hexi, holding onto a tree trunk, looked around and asked, "Mengzhu, have you been here before?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I came here last month. Walk this way. There was a cluster of truffles here when I was here last time."

Zhao Hexi's eyes lit up immediately. "The really expensive kind of truffle?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I don't know if it's particularly expensive, but it tastes good. The locals call it 'truffle,' which might not be the same as the truffles sold in the market."

As she spoke, Qing Mengzhu led Zhao Hexi through a maze of twists and turns, marking a fallen, withered tree as their marker, until they finally arrived at the base of a large tree.

He brushed aside the thick layer of fallen leaves with his hands, gesturing for Zhao Hexi to come and see. "Thankfully, new truffles have sprouted; this is it."

Zhao Hexi looked down at the truffle. It was grayish, small, and smaller than a regular chestnut. If you weren't careful, you might mistake it for animal droppings or a rock. She was immediately disappointed. "Is this what it looks like?"

Qing Mengzhu picked out a relatively large truffle for him to smell. "You'll know once you smell it."

Although Zhao Hexi suspected that he was playing a prank and was actually letting her smell animal feces, she still took it, carefully put it under her nose and sniffed it, and then smelled a peculiar odor.

Qing Mengzhu: "I wasn't lying to you, was I?"

Zhao Hexi: "That's really true."

As they were talking, the two dogs nudged over, and the Dharma Protector even stood on its hind legs, placing its front paws on Qing Mengzhu's legs, whimpering softly, indicating that it wanted to smell them too.

Qing Mengzhu then let it and the Guard smell it as well.

The two dogs were finally satisfied.

After collecting the truffles, Qing Mengzhu covered the fallen leaves back up. "Let's go, let's find other mushrooms."

Zhao Hexi asked enthusiastically, "How do we find it? Should we go to the places you've already visited?"

Qing Mengzhu: "I haven't collected that many mushrooms in the places I've been before. Just use a twig to brush away the fallen leaves, and if you see any mushrooms, call me and I'll tell you if they're edible."

Qing Mengzhu found a relatively smooth branch among the surrounding withered branches and fallen leaves, trimmed it with a knife, and handed it to Zhao Hexi: "Use this branch to search."

The two people and two dogs began searching in the woods.

The Dharma Protector and Guard were extremely excited, running around them as if walking on flat ground.

Zhao Hexi, leaning on a tree branch, remarked, "I never expected that half-grown puppies would have so much energy. They're both well-behaved and mischievous, completely different from when I last saw them."

Qing Mengzhu thought to herself, "Of course it's different. They now chase ducks and chickens, and sometimes they even hang out with otters and red foxes. They've long been playing wildly."

Qing Mengzhu: "They're looking for mushrooms too. Let's go, let's see if we find them first or they do."

Two puppies wagged their tails and ran all over the mountain. Qing Mengzhu quickly found some mushrooms under a tree and Zhao Hexi over to look. "These are matsutake mushrooms, they're edible."

Zhao Hexi leaned closer. "It looks pretty standard. Are mushrooms like this generally non-poisonous—like this kind that looks unassuming and has a very fleshy texture?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Whether a mushroom is poisonous or not cannot be determined based on this alone. There are too many types of mushrooms, and they are too deceptive. We have to judge them one by one."

Zhao Hexi: "You can recognize them all?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Why don't you just pick the ones I recognize?"

Zhao Hexi stroked his chin. "That makes sense."

Finding mushrooms together was too inefficient, so the two separated and searched slowly, keeping a distance of about ten meters between them.

Before they could find the next type of mushroom, the Guard barked ahead, calling them to come over.

Qing Mengzhu and Zhao Hexi rushed over and saw the Guard calling out to a bunch of cute, coral-shaped mushrooms.

Qing Mengzhu patted the Guard's head with a smile, "Good dog."

The Guard's tail wagged even more enthusiastically, causing its rear to sway as well; the Dharma Protector was equally excited.

Zhao Hexi: "What kind of mushroom is this? Is it edible?"

Qing Mengzhu: "Coral fungus, also called broom fungus, tastes good. Wait a moment, I'll mark it."

Zhao Hexi watched as he took out his phone, marked a point on the map, and then picked up the coral fungus and put it in his basket. She couldn't help but exclaim, "Wow, you're cheating with technology!"

Qing Mengzhu said matter-of-factly, "Otherwise, how could I possibly remember so many mushroom nests of all sizes in the mountains?"

Zhao Hexi: "Won't these markers drift? Is the map really that accurate?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It will float, but based on the markings and my memory, it'll be easier to find. Come on, I'll take you to pick some termite mushrooms; there's a particularly good nest of them nearby."

Qing Mengzhu went into the mountains to pick mushrooms just like she would pick vegetables, and soon led Zhao Hexi to the nest of termite mushrooms.

No one has been here recently. Dozens of termite mushrooms of various sizes have sprouted from the soil. Some haven't opened their caps yet, while others have already split open, looking overripe.

Qing Mengzhu gestured for Zhao Hexi to dig together. "You can dig up any size. There are long stems underneath, so be careful when you dig."

Zhao Hexi: "Okay. These termite mushrooms are really plump."

Qing Mengzhu: "Yes, this clump of termite mushrooms is growing exceptionally well. We can come back to check on them again next time."

They quickly finished digging up the termite mushrooms and continued their journey through the mountains and forests.

Before long, Qing Mengzhu and the two dogs led Zhao Hexi to find purple leather mushrooms, uniquely shaped morel mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms on dead trees, and milk-cap mushrooms on the outside of tree roots, among other things.

Zhao Hexi couldn't run as fast as the dogs, and her eyesight wasn't as sharp as Qing Mengzhu's, so she got the least.

However, finding mushrooms is really fun; every time you find one, you feel the excitement of a successful treasure hunt.

"Wait!" Zhao Hexi suddenly called out to Qing Mengzhu, "Isn't there another nest of termite mushrooms up ahead? I saw the umbrella-shaped canopy."

Qing Mengzhu followed his gaze and immediately saw the nest of termite mushrooms he mentioned. "No, that's Amanita mushroom."

Zhao Hexi: "Ah! They look so alike!"

Qing Mengzhu: "From a certain angle, they do look very similar, but if you look at the ring on the stem, you'll know it's not."

Zhao Hexi looked down and indeed saw a ring of something on the stem. "Alright, I've given it a mark so people won't mistake it for something else."

Qing Mengzhu: "Some are hard to identify. Just don't pick any mushrooms you're unsure about. That one isn't a termite mushroom. Look further ahead, you'll see a few false matsutake mushrooms."

Zhao Hexi: "Fake matsutake mushrooms?"

The fake matsutake mushrooms under the tree looked exactly like the matsutake mushrooms sold in supermarkets, and Zhao Hexi couldn't tell the difference, "Why are they called fake matsutake mushrooms?"

Qing Mengzhu: "It looks a lot like a matsutake mushroom, but it's not. That's why someone gave it that name. It's edible, and it tastes good."

They picked the false matsutake mushrooms and put them into their baskets. Zhao Hexi saw that Qing Mengzhu's basket was almost full, and it was mostly filled with porcini mushrooms.

Boletus is a broad category, and many people, even those Qing Mengzhu, cannot identify which type of Boletus it is, only knowing that it is Boletus.

The mushrooms in the mountains are too deceptive. Zhao Hexi also saw many mushrooms that didn't look like shiitake mushrooms at all, some strangely colored shiitake mushrooms, and some schizophyllum mushrooms that grew on dead wood and looked like flowers.

There are also all sorts of poisonous mushrooms, many of which don't look colorful at all and have a very honest appearance.

If Zhao Hexi hadn't come with Qing Mengzhu, he probably wouldn't have been able to tell whether these mushrooms were poisonous or not, even if he had eight pairs of glasses.

It seems best not to pick mushrooms unnecessarily.

They walked for half the morning, and by the time they found an open space to rest and have some snacks around 11 a. m., Zhao Hexi had lost all her excitement and her knees were trembling.