Chapter 137 - 134: My Father-Beast Is Dead

"Come with me," the little deer cub said adorably.

The Little Deer led her around the mine, bypassing the spot where they had found the spring. He continued to lead her further away, past two boulders and around several more turns.

Then, sticking his little butt in the air, he started digging at a hole.

Nan Zishi was speechless. ’For some reason, that’s just so cute.’

"Where are we?" she asked.

"A path to the valley. No one else knows about it."

"How do you know about it?" Nan Zishi asked.

The little deer cub said, "This way."

A million questions popped into her head.

After several more turns and squeezing through a few holes, the view suddenly opened up to a breathtaking scene.

Before her, on land that should have been barren, grew a dense patch of lush vegetation!

On the soft earth, waves of flowers swayed with a rustle. Vibrant blossoms vied for attention, their heads bent together as if whispering secrets, and lush green grass strained to grow ever taller.

Looking closely, she could even see a few lively Long-eared Beasts hopping about in the tall grass.

When the Long-eared Beasts noticed someone had entered the valley, they quickly hopped away.

Nan Zishi walked into the secluded valley in astonishment.

The valley wasn’t large, enclosed on all four sides by high stone walls. Even a Bird Beastman flying overhead would miss it without looking carefully.

But in a place as desolate as this desert, how could so many flowers and plants be growing?

Nan Zishi asked in amazement, "How did all these flowers and plants grow here?"

The little deer cub puffed out his chest and said, "I planted them all."

Nan Zishi was stunned. "...You planted them?"

"Mhm." The little deer cub nodded.

Nan Zishi suddenly understood what the little deer cub had meant when he said, "I’m very good at planting."

’This was definitely no ordinary planting!’

"You’re amazing."

The Little Deer’s eyes lit up.

He picked a handful of grass and offered it to Nan Zishi. "See, I really am useful. Pretty sister, please let me stay, okay?"

’He’s already being so proactive. If she still won’t let him stay...’

’...then he’ll just have to wait a little longer to like her. Hmph.’

Nan Zishi took the grass from him, her eyes crinkling into a smile as she looked at him, then at the vast patch of grass.

"How did you plant all this? Where did you get the water?"

The little cub trotted to a corner, pushed aside the weeds covering it, and shared, "Here. There’s a spring."

Nan Zishi was speechless. ’In this barren Eastern Mine, this kid actually managed to find two springs?’

’What kind of luck does he have? How is he so fortunate?’

"Pretty sister, you’re the first person I’ve ever brought here." The little deer cub’s ears twitched excitedly.

"I use the spring to grow grass. At first, the soil was too dry and had no nutrients, so even the grass didn’t grow well. I buried all the dead grass back into the ground."

"But that still wasn’t enough; the soil lacked nutrients. Later, I noticed that after the Beastmen distributed meat, they would throw away a lot of the guts and organs. I secretly collected them and buried them here in the ground with the dry grass."

"After about ten days, the grass here told me that it was very happy with its food."

Nan Zishi was at a loss for words. ’Are you sure you’re not telling a horror story?’

"The rotting meat and dry grass provided nutrients to the land. Slowly, the yellow, sandy soil turned into fluffy, black earth. Just like this."

"Then I mixed the black earth with the yellow soil and watered it with water from the spring. The grass started growing better and better."

"After that, I brought over the animal bones they didn’t want, crushed them, and buried them in the soil. I also buried the bodies of all sorts of small insects and lizards, along with various wild desert fruits and cacti that I’d crushed up. The soil here is very nutritious now. No matter what kind of grass I plant, they are all very happy to eat."

Nan Zishi was speechless. ’This kid is something else. I’m floored.’

"You don’t believe me?" the little deer cub asked with a frown.

The corner of Nan Zishi’s mouth twitched. ’Is this a matter of not believing you? Your description is scarier than a man-eating plant.’

The little deer cub sat down on a rock, his big, beautiful green eyes fixed on her.

"Do you eat grass? Do you need me to grow grass for you? I can grow lots and lots and lots of grass for you!"

Nan Zishi cleared her throat twice and asked curiously, "What’s your name?"

The little deer cub replied, "Names are given by your father and mother. I don’t have a father and mother, so I don’t have a name. The Beastmen in the mine just call me ’that little deer.’"

"You don’t have a father and mother? You don’t even have a name?" Nan Zishi asked, surprised. "You couldn’t have been without a father and mother since the day you were born, right?"

"My father is dead. He’s buried under the mine. My mother is still alive."

Nan Zishi fell silent. ’The little deer cub’s father is already dead?’

"I’m sorry."

"Oh, it’s okay." The little deer cub’s eyes shone as he looked at her. "I’m not actually sad."

Nan Zishi said, "How about I give you a name?"

His beautiful eyes stared at her. "Are you sure? In this world, when a female gives a name to a cub without a family, it means she’s accepting him as her own. Are you really going to give me a name?"

She didn’t know if it was her imagination, but when he mentioned this, Nan Zishi thought the Little Deer’s eyes grew even brighter.

"Don’t you want to join my family?" Nan Zishi sighed.

"Yes, I do. Pretty sister, look at me. Do you think you like me?"

"What, do I have to like you to adopt you?"

The little cub nodded earnestly. "You do. You have to like me, or I won’t go with you."

Nan Zishi was once again won over by his cuteness. "Fine, I like you. I like you, alright?"

The little cub smiled in satisfaction. "Then you can give me a name now."

She cleared her throat twice. "’The deer call to one another, eating the greens of the field.’ From an old poem. So, let’s call you Lu Ming."

Lu Ming’s eyes lit up. "Okay. I like this name. I’ll be Lu Ming."

Lu Ming then asked, "What about you? What’s your name?"

Nan Zishi propped up her head, smiling down at him. "Nan Zishi."

The little deer cub tilted his head. "Then what should I call you? Sui Sui?"

Nan Zishi tapped him on the head. "What are you thinking? So cheeky. Just call me ’pretty sister’."

"Alright," Lu Ming said, but decided to try his luck anyway. "Sui Sui?"

Nan Zishi tapped him on the head again.

’This little guy acts like a tiny adult. He’s about the same age as my own cubs, yet he’s calling me Sui Sui...’

’The sheer audacity!’

Lu Ming’s eyes curved into a bright smile.

Nan Zishi looked at the fertile land he had cultivated in this wasteland and asked him, "If I asked you to plant other things, could you grow them?"

"What do you want to plant?"

Nan Zishi took out several packets of vegetable seeds from her space. There was corn, tomato, chili peppers, and so on.

"Can you plant these?" Nan Zishi asked.

Lu Ming looked at the plastic packaging around the seeds, not quite understanding it, but he took them anyway and tried to sense them with his hand.

"If I can break through this seal, then yes."

’A seal?’

Nan Zishi looked at the thin plastic packet.

HAHA! ’Well, I guess it is a pretty powerful seal!’