23: go home

In the Eastern Great Forest.

Two Silver Wolf Cubs, looking only about five years old, were taking shelter from the rain under a large leaf.

The slightly older one, named Lang Xian, was very spirited.

The slightly smaller one, named Lang Mu, was naturally cute and dazed.

At this moment, Lang Mu hugged his round self tightly, feeling too lazy to move. "Brother Xian, the Minor Rainy Season has arrived."

Lang Xian shrank his thin body and handed the last remaining food in his arms to Lang Mu.

Lang Mu really didn't want to move; he ate the food in small bites, tears welling up in his eyes. "Brother, can we still not go home?"

"If we haven't found the Bad Female, what home are we going back to? Where is there a home?"

"But..." Lang Mu's little nose twitched. "But I'm so hungry, and it's so cold."

"Xiao Mu." Lang Xian grabbed his chubby, round younger brother's shoulders. "That Bad Female threw both of our Father Beasts into the Beast Prison, and they've been gone for five years! For these five years, the two of us have relied on each other, living days without a father or mother!"

"Shouldn't we settle the score with the Bad Female?"

"We should." Lang Mu wiped away his tears.

"Shouldn't we make her rescue our Father Beasts from the Beast Prison?!"

"We should also do that..."

"But Brother, Xiao Mu is still so cold, my fur is all wet, and Xiao Mu is so hungry..."

"Shut up, stop fussing."

"Oh..." Xiao Mu hugged himself, feeling aggrieved.

...

Waking up the next day, Nan Zhisui felt very comfortable all over. She had clearly slept on the ground, but she had slept quite well.

She stretched out in a big yawn, and the bones in her whole body relaxed.

The rain outside had stopped, and sunlight shone into the Cave. Nan Zhisui walked out while stretching and took a deep breath of the fresh forest air.

So comfortable!

"Pretty Older Sister!" Hu Qi waved at Nan Zhisui. "I picked some mushrooms, big mushrooms, such beautiful big mushrooms!"

Nan Zhisui ran over to take a look and quickly said, "This is a poisonous mushroom. It's poisonous!"

Hu Qi was so scared he threw the mushrooms away. "Ah?"

He hurriedly wiped his hands on his body.

Nan Zhisui laughed and said, "The more beautiful the mushroom, the more poisonous it is."

She stepped forward and picked up the poisonous mushroom, which was two or three times larger than the poisonous mushrooms on Earth. "However, if processed properly, the poisonous mushroom can also be eaten. But if you eat it without cooking it thoroughly, then it's 'red umbrella, white stalk, eat it and we all lie in a coffin together.'"

Hu Qi was timid, so he said, "Then we'd better not eat it."

The Witch Doctor's abilities in the Beast World were limited, and not many Witch Doctors could treat mushroom poisoning.

Nan Zhisui agreed with his approach; she didn't want to encourage Hu Qi and the others to eat poisonous mushrooms. After all, when she left in the future, if Hu Qi learned to prepare poisonous mushrooms from her and ate them, he really would end up in a coffin.

"The weather is nice today, I'll teach you how to find non-poisonous mushrooms," Nan Zhisui said.

Hu Qi nodded and said excitedly, "Okay, okay."

Nan Zhisui said, "When looking for non-poisonous mushrooms, we should go to clean places. Their shapes should look natural, the surface smooth, the stalk and cap tightly connected, and the texture firm; the color should be relatively natural, not too bright. The smell should be relatively fresh, with no strange odors."

"poisonous mushrooms are different. Their caps are strangely shaped, with spots or warts; there might be a ring or volva on the stalk; the color might be very bright, suspiciously bright. Some poisonous mushrooms might emit a pungent, unpleasant odor."

"In short, if you think it looks suspicious, it's a poisonous mushroom."

"Mm!"

"Hiss hiss~!" Little Snake Yang was very excited after hearing this.

Little Hu Qi also scampered off to pick mushrooms.

Before long, the two Little fellows came back, each having collected mushrooms for Nan Zhisui to identify.

Little She Yanger was very happy; as long as he helped Pretty Older Sister with work, Pretty Older Sister would touch his head and praise him. "Little Yanger is so good."

Little Hu Qi was also very happy; he had learned a lot of new knowledge and was also able to help Pretty Older Sister.

Before long, Nan Zhisui said, "Alright, alright, that's enough."

Holding the big pile of mushrooms that the two cubs had collected, Nan Zhisui thought to herself: It would be great if there were fire; if there were fire, she would make mushroom soup.

Just as she was thinking this, she saw White Fox, who had found dry firewood from somewhere, carrying a bucket of fresh water over.

Seeing this, Nan Zhisui's eyes lit up.

What a handsome man. This husband material vibe is absolutely perfect!

White Fox found a good spot to place the firewood, then walked toward Nan Zhisui, carrying the bucket of water.

Nan Zhisui looked up at him.

The forest after the rain had cleared was still a bit green and wetly beautiful.

Gentle sunlight quietly filtered down, and the water droplets on the treetops in the forest reflected the soft light of the sun.

The light spots of the morning forest enveloped the Male in front of her. This tall, thin, and exquisitely featured Fox Male Creature was walking toward her step by step.

Before her eyes, this Male almost completely overlapped with the Fox Priest Apprentice who had walked toward her before.

Nan Zhisui's heartbeat seemed to speed up a little.

White Fox carried the bucket in front of Nan Zhisui and set it down.

"Drink water, wash up."

"Have I seen you before?"

Both of them spoke almost at the same time.

White Fox paused.

After saying this, Nan Zhisui suddenly felt a bit presumptuous. She said, "Sorry. I just suddenly thought of someone."

White Fox pressed his thin lips together and turned away silently.

Little Hu Qi felt that the atmosphere between Father Beast and Pretty Older Sister had become strange again.

However, the atmosphere between the two of them had never been normal, so he didn't suspect much.

The Wolf King had gone out by himself to find water to drink and things to eat, so he didn't need Nan Zhisui to worry about him.

After washing up, Nan Zhisui fed the Little Wolf Cub some goat milk powder.

Afterward, she simply made goat milk powder for the Cubs to drink as well.

They were all children growing up, so they should drink more milk.

After doing all this, Nan Zhisui went to cook the mushroom soup.

The few cubs drank the mushroom soup using simple stone bowls.

Hu Qi said excitedly, "This is delicious!"

Little Snake Yang flicked his tongue, his eyes narrowing with a smile. "Hiss, hiss." Delicious, delicious!

White Fox looked up at Nan Zhisui. Nan Zhisui also ladled a portion of the mushroom soup for him, and White Fox began to drink it slowly on the side.

"Are you coming back with us in a while?" White Fox asked, putting down the stone bowl.

This question was quite strange. After all, her going to White Fox's home was "being a guest," so it couldn't really be called "going back."

However, Nan Zhisui could still understand White Fox's meaning; he was probably asking her whether she was going to the "Wolf Den" today, or going back to White Fox's home.

Looking at the Wolf King who had just returned from outside, Nan Zhisui said, "Your wife's injury is recovering well. I won't go over after today; in three more days, I will go to remove your wife's stitches."

The Wolf King let out two howls.

Nan Zhisui patted its head and praised it as usual: "good dog!"

The Wolf King received the praise, its drooping tail wagged, and it leaped away.

Nan Zhisui turned around and smiled at White Fox, "I'll go to your place first, White Fox; you haven't had your IV drip today."

I don't know if it was an illusion, but Nan Zhisui felt that the corners of White Fox's eyes and brows seemed to lift slightly.

...

White Fox transformed into a huge fox, and Hu Qi jumped onto his back and sat down.

His snow-White Fox head looked over toward Nan Zhisui.

Nan Zhisui understood his meaning; she coughed awkwardly and finally climbed onto his fox back.

Little Snake Yang and the Little Wolf Cub were still on Nan Zhisui. At the same time, she hugged little Aqi in front of her.

"Are you sitting securely?" White Fox asked.

"Mm-hmm." Nan Zhisui responded.

The snow-white big fox leaped forward.

——Going home.

Note: The knowledge related to mushrooms comes from the internet.