“Bro, I’m back,” Liu Datie called out. Chen Ji immediately stood and walked toward him. Liu Datie instinctively reached out to help, but then he remembered Fifth Grandpa was in the basket on Chen Ji’s back. His raised hand froze in midair. He hissed in pain and couldn’t help but thump his shoulder.
“What’s wrong?” Chen Ji asked.
Liu Datie rubbed his shoulder. “Maybe I strained it? It suddenly feels so sore.”
Chen Ji peered intently at the space behind him. If it were nighttime and he led Liu Datie charging wildly through the mountains, that would be one thing. But it was broad daylight—did Chen Ji really have to pull this now?
{No way, is there something behind Da Tie? Why do I feel like bro’s looking back there?}
{It’s not an illusion. From this angle, he’s definitely peering past Da Tie at something else.}
{Guys, don’t make it sound so spooky! Bro’s probably just getting his bearings.}
Liu Datie also sensed that Chen Ji seemed to be staring at someone behind him. He twisted his head to look. There was nothing but verdant hills and clear streams—no anything unusual. Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he asked cautiously, “Are there wild animals on the mountain? Have we… been targeted?”
“Nah.” Chen Ji chuckled. “Nothing that dramatic.”
“There are wild beasts on the mountain, sure,” Chen Ji explained, “but they generally don’t go after people. They’re sneaky as foxes—one whiff of humans and their first instinct is to bolt. Patrol rangers and the Forest Police carry… weapons, after all. They’d have to be suicidal to try it.”
Chen Ji’s words carried a deeper meaning. Everyone knew exactly what kind of “weapon” he meant—it just wasn’t a word you could drop in the livestream without getting flagged as banned content.
“You probably just tweaked a muscle,” Chen Ji said. “Let me give it a try.” He reached out and patted Liu Datie’s shoulder. Strangely enough, the moment Chen Ji’s hand made contact, Liu Datie felt a warmth spread through the spot. The heavy, pressed feeling vanished instantly.
Liu Datie fell into thought. Something about this didn’t feel quite right!
Still, he could tell Chen Ji had real skills. Living alone in these deep woods without some tricks up your sleeve? You’d be done for. Maybe he was a family-trained old-school TCM doctor! That pat must’ve cleared a blocked meridian in his shoulder. No wonder it felt better right away!
It all made perfect sense.
{Was that something in bro’s hand?}
{I saw it too—gray ash falling off. Don’t think the wind fools me.}
{Damn, you’re freaking me out more!}
Oblivious, Liu Datie asked eagerly, “Bro, what’s the principle behind that trick? Care to explain?”
Chen Ji replied offhandedly, “No real principle. Probably just the meridian getting stuck. A pat gets it flowing again.”
“Ohhh!!” Liu Datie didn’t pry further. Family secret techniques weren’t for sharing—he got it!
Chen Ji glanced sideways at White Shadow, who had slumped nearby. “Stop causing trouble,” he murmured.
White Shadow huddled in the tree’s shade, as if lifting its face toward Chen Ji, eyes brimming with resentment. Unfortunately, Chen Ji’s half-blind vision couldn’t catch such subtle expressions.
About twenty minutes later, they reached the Sweet Dragon Bamboo Forest. Chen Ji hadn’t been back in just a few days, yet the grove felt noticeably larger. Thanks to the recent rain, tender bamboo shoots were poking up through the leaf-strewn soil cracks. Liu Datie’s eyes lit up. “Can we dig all these?”
Chen Ji chose his words carefully. “In theory, anything you can carry out is fair game.”
Liu Datie was about to whoop and charge in when he glanced back at Chen Ji. “No snakes in this grove, right?”
Chen Ji casually hung Fifth Grandpa on a bamboo branch and gave it a pat. “Fifth Grandpa’s watching. Should be fine.”
Liu Datie: “…”
He knew Fifth Grandpa was tame and wouldn’t bite randomly, but his rational mind screamed: This is a five-step snake! A five-step snake! Bro, can you be more careful? Better safe than sorry—what if it did bite?
Fifth Grandpa lazily flicked a glance at Liu Datie, then flopped back down, like a ragged cloth strip draped over the branch.
Chen Ji smiled and led Liu Datie around Fifth Grandpa. They stopped by a shoot three meters away. Chen Ji pointed. “See, pick ones like this. No need to dig deep—just about twenty centimeters, snap and pry it out. Older roots aren’t as tasty.”
“Got it!” Liu Datie grabbed the hoe and got to work with practiced ease. Chen Ji usually relied on Catcat’s mini excavator for shoots. Seeing Liu Datie so enthusiastic, he didn’t bother joining in—two people’s haul would be more than they could eat anyway.
With Chen Ji’s appetite and the size of Sweet Dragon bamboo shoots, two roots would last him a week. Perfect busywork to let Liu Datie have his fun.
Liu Datie had already unearthed his first Sweet Dragon bamboo shoot. He stared at the impossibly tender thing, which looked like it might drip water if squeezed. He swallowed hard. Before he could ask, Chen Ji spoke up. “You can eat it raw. Want to try?”
“Bamboo shoots raw?!” Liu Datie exclaimed in surprise.
He’d tried raw shoots as a kid, running wild through the countryside. Curiosity had gotten the better of him once, but the local ones were bitter, astringent, even mouth-prickling. One bite led to puking at home; a playmate who’d eaten more got food poisoning and needed an IV at the hospital.
“Ours are fine raw.” Chen Ji pulled out his sickle, picked up a shoot, and without hesitation sliced it in half lengthwise. “You left too much.”
Chen Ji had said twenty centimeters to preserve that length, but Liu Datie had dug deeper and pried the whole thing free.
{Bro’s moves are so slick… hard not to suspect he’s offed a couple folks…}
{+1, straight-up hacking it in hand. Badass.}
Chen Ji quickly peeled off the outer sheaths. The dry layers rasped with a faintly grating sound that made one’s skin crawl. Once the tough outer layers were gone, he sliced a slit down the middle with the sickle and stripped the thick sides in one go, leaving only the tender core. He sliced off a piece and offered it to Liu Datie.
The freshly peeled core gleamed pure white, spotless. Liu Datie took it without hesitation and popped it in his mouth. After a couple chews, he gave a thumbs-up to the phone camera. “Family, this core is delicious! Like fruit—no grit, super juicy, a bit sweet. Tastes kinda like ginseng fruit? Anyway, it’s great!”
He heartlessly shoved the shoot in for a close-up, sparking wails in the livestream.
Seeing how much he liked it, Chen Ji handed over the whole root. Liu Datie chomped down like an apple, crisp and clear. After half the shoot, he let out a burp. “Bro, this stuff fills you right up!”
Chen Ji laughed. “Stash it for now, dig a couple more. Time’s about up—we’ll head to eat soon!”
Liu Datie: “OKOK, watch me!”
Liu Datie took the phone and wandered off to dig elsewhere. Chen Ji sat by Fifth Grandpa and turned to the “good bro” that had tagged along. That one glared viciously at him: 【I’m following him, not you. Mind your own business?!】
Chen Ji kept his mild smile. “You got a grudge against him?”
【Him being alive is my grudge!】 The good bro raved madly: 【Why me dead? Why me! You’re alive too! Why are you alive? Why me dead?!】
Chen Ji sighed. “But he’s my friend. Even Grandpa Mountain Lord promised me no harm would come to him on the mountain.”
The good bro didn’t reply—either unaware of the deal or dismissing the order.
Chen Ji was filled with question marks for the Mountain Lord enshrined in the temple. If He couldn’t handle even this, He was utterly useless. What good was He? Easier to deal with the King of Hell than these little imps? Big demons obeyed, but pesky minor spirits were unreachable and uncontrollable?
Chen Ji stood, sickle in hand. The handle was wrapped in cloth inscribed with Profound Penetration Talismans. He approached slowly. The good bro watched warily: 【What’re you doing? Stay back!】
Chen Ji drawled, “Weren’t you asking why I’m alive?”
Chen Ji clapped a hand on his shoulder. “The body’s in the woods?”
“Yeah… guh!” Before the good bro could finish, Chen Ji’s sickle plunged into his gut. Its eyes bulged in disbelief, unable to fathom why Chen Ji could kill so decisively.
White Shadow dissipated in an instant. Chen Ji sat back down, pulling out an alcohol wipe to clean the sickle blade. His face was expressionless, lost in thought.
Fifth Grandpa, playing ragged cloth on the branch, opened its eyes. It slid gently down onto Chen Ji’s shoulder. Chen Ji glanced over. “Fifth Grandpa.”
“Grandpa Mountain Lord promised to protect my friends. I don’t understand,” he murmured.
The youth’s eyes gleamed black and pure in the dappled sunlight through the bamboo, like flawless glass, tinged with faint grievance and confusion as he gazed at the patterned five-step snake.
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around Chen Ji’s shoulder. A man in a deep purple robe leaned against him, his painted brows and golden vertical pupils lending his refined features an indescribable wicked allure. He drawled lazily: 【Mountain Lord… they… don’t know…】
Startled by Fifth Grandpa, Chen Ji blinked and gave a helpless laugh. “So you can turn human?”
His expression was light, but from Fifth Grandpa’s words, he’d gleaned what he needed.
—Looks like Mountain Lord still had some pull.
Fifth Grandpa yawned and simply curled up on Chen Ji’s lap: 【Mm… that strange?】
Chen Ji laughed wryly. “Does that mean Second Grandpa can too? I’ve ridden Second Grandpa all over the mountains plenty…”
The thought of Second Grandpa turning human… an adult man was fine, but what if an elder or child? How could he live with himself? Had he been galloping over the hills on some frail old woman or kid this whole time?!
Too sinful!
He lowered his gaze to look at Fifth Grandpa. Fifth Grandpa’s true form was already dangerous enough, but after transforming into human form, that sense of danger only increased rather than diminished. Being told to lie on his lap, Chen Ji truly felt like this leg might not be safe today.
At this moment, Fifth Grandpa suddenly opened his eyes, his golden vertical pupils staring unblinkingly at Chen Ji. Chen Ji instinctively felt a chill run through him, breaking out in cold sweat all over. Then he heard Fifth Grandpa say lazily and indifferently: 【…When do we eat?】
Chen Ji: “……In another half hour.”
Pretend he didn’t say that. His leg can definitely be saved.
