42: Chapter 42 In Baiyun Mountain

After resolving the grain issue, Cao Xiao was in a great mood, his steps feeling a bit lighter. He took out his keys and gave the warehouse a quick look; it was empty with nothing inside.

Parking the car at the villa's entrance, he opened the large iron gate, and a pastoral-style villa appeared before him. This villa also had three floors, but its footprint was fifty percent larger than his one in Biyuntian. This was just the building's footprint; the area enclosed by the walls was likely no less than five acres. However, the yard hadn't been finished yet, with only some simple planning and landscaping done. Various flowers and trees had been planted haphazardly, and now it was overgrown with weeds.

The villa had a usable area of five thousand square meters. Although it was said to have three floors, there was actually a five-hundred-square-meter wine cellar underground. The orchard was planted with five hundred acres of grapes, four hundred of which were Cabernet Sauvignon and one hundred were table grapes. This large wine cellar was prepared for winemaking.

Both the second and third floors had large terraces, giving the entire villa a stepped appearance. The interior decoration wasn't luxurious, just decent. There were many rooms on the first floor, which, according to the design, weren't for the owner's living quarters but were worker rooms and supporting living spaces. The second and third floors were the owner's residence, with only twelve rooms in total, though each was quite large. The furniture and appliances were all there, but they weren't high-end. It seemed the previous owner rarely lived here. Cao Xiao didn't have the habit of using things others had used. Fortunately, most of the furniture was solid wood, so he threw it all into the energy space to contribute energy. He also tossed the daily necessities and appliances into the processing space to be decomposed into raw materials. Once the grain arrived, he would start trying to manufacture things. After finishing up at Tianxing Garden, he would need to collect raw materials to be ready.

He called a housekeeping company, and after settling on a price, he had them send people to thoroughly clean and disinfect the villa, as well as clear the weeds in the yard. Since Cao Xiao required them to finish within the day, over ten people from the company arrived at the gate in less than half an hour. Cao Xiao opened the door for them. Once they started cleaning, he left the villa and contacted the two vendors he had bought furniture and appliances from last time. He asked them to send people to furnish the villa according to its layout, gave them the detailed address, paid some deposit, and let them come to inspect the place themselves. Since the cleaning was being done today, he had them finish everything by tomorrow.

Cao Xiao drove to the end of a small path in the garden. Originally, he had planned to clear the woodland to plant fruit trees. It was daytime now, and although no one was around, there were satellites in the sky. The sudden disappearance of several thousand acres of woodland would definitely be monitored. Someone would come to talk to him then, and he wouldn't even be able to explain it. If he were to do it, it would have to be after dark; as long as no satellite was specifically watching this spot, it wouldn't be discovered. With nothing else to do, he wanted to go into Baiyun Mountain to take a look. The irrigation water in the garden was groundwater, which had a high usage cost. He wanted to divert a mountain spring stream from Baiyun Mountain, which would solve both irrigation and domestic water needs.

He got out of the car, climbed over the protective net, and took out a machete to hack through the obstructions ahead. Moving through a primeval forest was extremely difficult; one had to guard against venomous insects and carve out a path, otherwise, it was easy to get in but hard to get out, and one could easily get lost without finding a way back. After walking for a while, his hands were tired from hacking and he hadn't gone far. He simply put away the machete and used the Collection Function to push out a path. Not just weeds and shrubs, but even a layer of soil was taken away and put into the energy space. The plants were directly converted into energy, and the soil was released back onto the spot. A one-meter-wide path, completely devoid of vegetation, appeared.

Each collection covered a hundred meters. By the time Cao Xiao reached the end, the plants had been converted, and the soil was laid behind him on the path. By repeating this cycle, not only was no energy consumed, but it even increased slightly. With no obstacles in his way, Cao Xiao found his direction and moved forward quickly.

Trees flourished in Baiyun Mountain, with towering trees everywhere, including many rare protected species. There were also many precious wild medicinal herbs and edible plants and fungi. Animals were also abundant; over a hundred types of endangered protected animals lived here. It was said that tigers roamed the area, but so far, no eyewitnesses had provided reliable photos to prove it. However, incidents of dangerous animals like bears, wild boars, Clouded Leopards, and wolves attacking humans occurred from time to time.

Along the way, Cao Xiao had to be cautious, constantly monitoring movements within a hundred meters. He discovered many wild animals but didn't harm them. He wasn't a foodie like Liu Chang, wanting to eat everything he saw. Earth is a vast and complex biosphere, and humans are a part of it. The extinction of certain animals would cause a chain reaction, destroying the ecological balance and affecting human survival and development. When Earth's ecological environment becomes severely imbalanced, a great disaster will follow.

Regardless of what others thought, he believed that if he had the ability, he should consciously do what was right. He wouldn't harbor a sense of entitlement for the sake of his palate or economic gain, thinking that because there were still many, his own hunting wouldn't have an impact. If everyone thought that way, even if there were millions of times more animals, it wouldn't be enough for humans to hunt.

He couldn't do things against his conscience, but he still gained quite a lot. He collected many wild vegetables, wild mushrooms, and wild fruits along the way. Even if his family couldn't finish them, giving them as gifts would be very prestigious. Especially the wild mushrooms; it had just rained two days ago, and they were everywhere in the forest. He collected all the edible ones.

A pleasant surprise was finding a patch of Purple Lingzhi on a fallen, rotting tree. It wasn't just one or a cluster, but many small clusters growing densely on the roots and trunk. Judging by the tree's state of decay, it must have been there for several years. This place was seldom visited, and no one had come to harvest them, which is why they could proliferate into a whole patch. Most medicinal reishi are annuals; perennial ones are rare and less understood by medical research, so their effects and value aren't certain. Thus, those so-called hundred-year or thousand-year reishi might not necessarily be useful if consumed.

The "Shennong Ben Cao Jing" records: "Purple Lingzhi, sweet and warm in flavor. It primarily treats deafness, benefits the joints, protects the spirit, enriches essence and qi, strengthens muscles and bones, and improves the complexion. Long-term consumption makes the body light and prevents aging, extending life." Whether for his family or as a gift, it was an excellent choice.

Purple Lingzhi can also be cultivated, and the price is quite cheap, but authentic wild Purple Lingzhi is hard to come by. The price fluctuates, and at its peak, it's sold by the gram. There were over two hundred Purple Lingzhi of various sizes in this patch, with the largest caps being about twenty centimeters in diameter; some growing on the sides could also reach this size. Cao Xiao only picked those with caps over ten centimeters, harvesting more than eighty in total. He took the rest, along with the rotting tree, into his space, intending to move it to Tianxing Garden. He also collected several other fallen, rotting trees along the way.

He also found a patch of Wild Yams on a hillside. He didn't dig them all up, only taking the best ones and leaving the rest to continue growing. The harvest along this journey made him extremely happy. After going home, he could make a delicious feast of fresh mountain delicacies.

With a good mood, his pace slowed down, and he walked as if taking a stroll, admiring the scenery. Before long, he heard the sound of gurgling water in the distance; his destination was right before his eyes.