Chapter 35 Part 1
The first mountain, and they found it? What incredible luck!
Hua Shi’an clenched his fists and nodded repeatedly as he lay on the edge of the cliff, so excited he was incoherent. “That’s it, that’s it! Huaishan, you… quick, break it open and see if there’s any honey inside!”
“There is!” Mo Huaishan covered his mouth with one hand and spoke to Hua Shi’an across the distance. “I just took it off the rock, and something like water, no, thicker than water, flowed out. I tasted it. It’s just like you said, so sweet, so sweet!”
“Then that’s it.”
Lying on the mountaintop, he couldn’t see the entire cliff face. Hua Shi’an calmed his excited heart and quickly confirmed with him, “Where did you find it? Is there a lot, or just this one piece? Did you see any bees inside, those flying bugs?”
“No bees.” Mo Huaishan shook his head, then pointed to his side. “There’s a rock cave here. The entrance is very small, you have to crawl to get in, but the space inside is very large. The ceiling is covered with these honeycombs, large patches of them, bigger than the tribe’s winnowing baskets!”
Honeycombs larger than winnowing baskets hung from the rock wall, like several translucent crystal lamps, making the dim rock cave look magnificent. Perhaps you could smell a rich, sweet fragrance before you even got close. Perhaps the honey was full and would even drip to the ground from the honeycombs.
It was a pity he couldn’t see this scene with his own eyes. Without thinking too much, Hua Shi’an instructed Mo Huaishan again, “Where’s Yan Qiuyu? Call him to go in with you. You still have to be careful inside. If you see a lot of bees flying back, quickly change back to your beast form and run out.”
Mo Huaishan: “Yan Qiuyu has gone in. Then I’ll also—”
“Oh right, you can’t take all the honeycombs from the rock wall. You have to leave at least half.”
“Why?”
Mo Huaishan didn’t understand. A nest they had found after so much trouble, of course they had to take it all.
As if he had guessed his thoughts, Hua Shi’an smiled. “If we go out for a trip and our tribe’s tree hollows are destroyed by wild beasts, will we find a new place to settle down, or will we settle down in the original place?”
“Ch-change to a new place. The wild beasts might come back. The original place is not safe.” Mo Huaishan answered honestly, not realizing the other meaning at all.
Hua Shi’an taught him like a child, “That’s right. It’s the same with bees. They are also very smart. If their nests and honey are gone, they will definitely find a new place to build their nests. If we want to eat honey then, we’ll have to search all over the mountains again. If we leave half of the honeycombs, they might not leave. If we want to eat honey next year, we can just come here to find it.”
“Shi’an, you’re so smart!” Mo Huaishan understood. His eyes sparkled with a fine light as he looked at Hua Shi’an with admiration.
This was all experience summarized by beekeepers. It had nothing to do with him. Hua Shi’an waved his hand. “No, no, the stranger told me.”
Business was important. Mo Huaishan was about to speak, but Hua Shi’an interrupted him, said “wait a minute,” and then hurried back to the place where he had just rested, and brought over the back basket with the coir rope that he had prepared in advance.
In human form, he couldn’t climb the rocky mountain quickly. It was unrealistic to climb up and down with the honeycomb. So Hua Shi’an held the pre-tied coir rope and lowered the two machetes and an empty back basket down the cliff into Mo Huaishan’s hands.
The entrance to the rock cave was narrow, so the back basket couldn’t be carried in, but it could be placed where the beastman had just been standing. This way, they only had to go back and forth to the rock cave, put the collected honeycombs into the back basket, and then hoist it up to the mountaintop when it was full.
The coir rope was strong, and the back basket was sturdy…
He thought he had made sufficient preparations, but Hua Shi’an had overlooked an important problem.
There were an unusual number of honeycombs in the cave. The two of them went in and out, running back and forth more than ten times, and large pieces of honeycomb gradually filled the back basket.
As the logistics personnel, Hua Shi’an was ready. He decisively stood at the edge of the cliff and wrapped the coir rope around his palm, circle after circle. Then, like drawing water from a well, he bent his left leg forward, pushed off with his right foot, and began to exert force with both hands, trying to hoist the back basket filled with honeycombs up from the bottom of the cliff.
He had underestimated the weight of the back basket and overestimated his own strength. Hua Shi’an gritted his teeth and used all his strength, but the back basket on the rock did not move an inch, not even leaving the ground.
This was very frustrating. And at this moment, Mo Huaishan at the bottom of the cliff added fuel to the fire, shouting at the top of his lungs, “You can pull it up now, Shi’an! Shi’an? Are you pulling?”
Hua Shi’an: …
It was no less than a basin of cold water being poured over his head. Hua Shi’an sighed and poked his head out from the edge of the cliff. “I can’t. The back basket is too heavy. I can’t pull it.”
Mo Huaishan was slightly taken aback, then changed back to his beast form.
Like a fierce gust of wind, the black furball leaped on the rocks and in an instant, was back on the mountaintop.
He was so fast that Hua Shi’an hadn’t even reacted before the black furball had changed back to his human form, taken the coir rope from his hand, and then—easily hoisted the back basket back to the mountaintop.
He didn’t even have time to look at the long-awaited honey. Hua Shi’an couldn’t help but start to doubt himself. With a last glimmer of hope, he asked Mo Huaishan for confirmation, “Isn’t it heavy?”
“No—”
The beastman had just said one word when he turned to look at Hua Shi’an’s slightly dejected expression and immediately changed his tune, “It’s heavy, very heavy! There are rocks blocking it at the bottom, and the rope is long, so it’s hard to exert force. It’s really hard to pull. You’re very strong, Shi’an. It’s definitely not your problem.”
For once, his emotional intelligence was online, but it was like another stab to Hua Shi’an’s already cold corpse. Not comforted at all, Hua Shi’an didn’t know whether to laugh or cry and waved his hand. “Go and get busy.”
Mo Huaishan looked back every three steps and finally disappeared at the end of the cliff.
The small interlude did not affect his mood. Looking down at the heavy back basket, the corners of Hua Shi’an’s mouth uncontrollably lifted, and a brilliant smile spread from the bottom of his eyes.
The sun was at its peak. The translucent honeycomb was brownish-red in the sunlight, like a huge piece of soft candy with a filling, a thin layer of sugar coating a red and crystalline center, exuding a tempting sweet fragrance.
The honey was much more than he had imagined. The giant black bees must have collected a lot of red pollen. Hua Shi’an had never seen honey of such a beautiful color.
So fragrant! Just by sniffing it, his mouth immediately produced a large amount of saliva. Hua Shi’an no longer hesitated. He gently broke off a piece of the honeycomb along the cut and threw the whole piece into his mouth.
As expected of pure, natural cliff honey. As soon as the honeycomb entered his mouth, a rich, sweet fragrance filled his oral cavity. It was silky and delicate, sweet but not cloying. Even without savoring it, he could taste the rich floral fragrance.
So delicious! It was no exaggeration to say that Hua Shi’an had never tasted such pure, fresh, and sweet honey in his modern society. He couldn’t stop at all. He stuffed one piece after another into his mouth, his cheeks puffed out.
Eating honeycomb directly was the same as eating sugarcane. You had to spit out the residue after chewing out the honey. And this residue should not be thrown away. The honeycomb contained a large amount of beeswax. When he had time, he could extract it—to make candles.
This was also an important reason why Hua Shi’an insisted on going up the mountain to find honey.
“Oh my, I can’t. I’m so tired, so tired. I really can’t walk anymore!”
The sun had set, and the sky was gradually darkening. Hua Shi’an and the two beastmen were still shuttling through the woods. It was easy to go up the mountain, but difficult to go down. Not only was the road difficult to walk, but the heavy back baskets on their backs were also a sweet burden.
He was exhausted after a day of hard work. Yan Qiuyu, who had been so spirited on the way up, was now wilted. As he walked, he suddenly leaned against a large tree and panted heavily.
The road was getting flatter. They should be at the foot of the mountain now.
Hua Shi’an wiped his sweat haphazardly and looked back at the equally panting Mo Huaishan. He immediately found a tree to lean on and stopped. “We’re still some distance from the tribe. We probably won’t be able to make it back today. I think—huff, I think we should find a place to rest and go back tomorrow morning.”
“There are no rock caves around here. Where, where do we rest?” Yan Qiuyu was so out of breath he couldn’t even speak properly, but he didn’t agree to stop and rest. “It’s never safe to spend the night outside. If we can’t, we should just grit our teeth and persevere, and get back to the tribe as soon as possible.”
Then why don’t you get a move on!
With a sidelong glance at the motionless Yan Qiuyu, Hua Shi’an complained in his heart.
Before Hua Shi’an could speak, Mo Huaishan, who had never been one to make decisions, said, “But, but it’s not safe to travel in the dark either. We’ve just come down the mountain, and there’s still a long way to go. Everyone is tired today. Let’s listen to the Lord Priest and rest for the night first.”
“First, tell me where we’re going to sleep,” Yan Qiuyu asked concisely.
“There.”
A short syllable came from behind. Yan Qiuyu turned around to see Hua Shi’an pointing to a tree branch above his head, panting heavily. “Throw the back baskets on the ground. We’ll change back to our beast forms and climb up the tree to sleep. Not all wild beasts can climb trees. It’s relatively safer to sleep high up.”
He was exhausted. Who would want to travel in the dark when there was a place to rest?
Hearing this, the already wavering Yan Qiuyu decisively took off his back basket. “Let’s listen to the Lord Priest. Rest, we’ll rest here tonight. Oh my, my shoulders!”
The back basket was large and heavy, like a dead pig on his back. The thin back straps were cutting into his shoulders. It was a bit of an effort to take off the back basket on flat ground. The three of them helped each other, and after a while, they finally got it off.
Tired, they put the back baskets aside and sat down on the ground with their backs against a large tree.
No one spoke. Heavy breathing rose and fell. Hua Shi’an and the beastmen closed their eyes in unison, motionless, as if they planned to make do like this for the night.
In the end, it was Yan Qiuyu who was thirsty and wanted to drink water, but when he picked up his bamboo tube, there wasn’t a single drop left.
Licking his dry, chapped lips, he reluctantly stood up, took Hua Shi’an and Mo Huaishan’s empty bamboo tubes, and turned to them. “I’m very thirsty. I’m going to look for the river and get some water.”
The river should be not far ahead. Hua Shi’an opened his eyes and nodded. “Go on, be careful. Don’t miss your step and fall into the river.”
The beastman grunted in acknowledgment and hurried off with the three bamboo tubes.
There was still work to be done. As Yan Qiuyu disappeared into the jungle, Hua Shi’an also propped himself up on the large tree and stood up. He then instructed Mo Huaishan, who had stood up with him, “The smell of honey is strong and can easily attract mosquitoes, snakes, and ants. Pick some leaves and weeds nearby and cover the back baskets a little.”
“Okay,” Mo Huaishan nodded.
The two of them split up and went to the bushes on either side to pick leaves and weeds.
He was tired and sleepy, and his mind was hazy. So when he pulled up a plant with some leaves, Hua Shi’an thought it was just a common weed. He was about to pluck off the leaves and throw away the stem when his peripheral vision accidentally swept over his palm. His eyes widened, and he suddenly froze.
The emerald green leaves were small and symmetrical, like green feathers. The surface of the leaves was covered with fine hairs, each one distinct, and had a strange but pleasant fresh fragrance.
This was no weed. This was clearly the stem and leaves of a potato!
He had been looking for a staple food for so long and hadn’t even seen a shadow of one. He had gone up the mountain specifically to find honey, but had unexpectedly found potatoes. It really was as the old saying goes: a watched pot never boils.
Hua Shi’an was overjoyed, a million times more excited than when he had found the honey. He casually threw away the leaves in his hand, decisively squatted down, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Huaishan! Stop picking for a moment. Bring the machete over. We’re digging for potatoes!”
His good luck didn’t end there. Mo Huaishan hurried over with the stone knife, and Hua Shi’an led him to dig in the dark. Just as the two of them had dug up a few fist-sized potatoes from the loose soil, Yan Qiuyu, who had gone to fetch water, returned, running.
“Lord Priest, Lord Priest!”
