Chapter 226 - 193: Moving the Vat

Chapter 226: Chapter 193: Moving the Vat

Huai Yu, who lived in this secret garden, truly had too many secrets.

Even though Zhou Qian had just sworn to diligently keep her secrets and protect her safety, he was currently left reeling from the barrage of secrets thrown at him. Hearing her words now, and looking at that colossal barnyard grass tree, he didn’t even have the energy to press for more details. It felt like every single step he took revealed another secret. How was he supposed to even begin asking?

He had no choice but to transform into a soulless, heavy-lifting machine. Gripping the rim of the large earthenware vat, he tilted and rolled it in circles, effortlessly moving it to the designated spot.

After placing the large vat under the barnyard grass tree, he watched a massive, sparkling water droplet condense in the center of a leaf right in front of him. It slowly slid down before falling into the vat with a heavy PLOP. Because the water had been continuously dripping and slowly flowing back into the pond, the ground here was currently a muddy patch. Once the heavy vat sank into the mud, it sat incredibly steady and firm.

Looking down at the pond below, the water had grown increasingly clear thanks to the barnyard grass tree’s continuous purification and the steady return flow. A few uncurled lotus leaves stood elegantly at the edges of the pond. Perhaps because they had been planted a bit late, the largest leaf was still only the size of a washbasin. Moreover, it was already May, yet there was still no sign of any flower buds.

Turning his head back, he saw that the leaf which had just dropped its water droplet swiftly sprang back into place, slowly condensing another drop in its center...

He was so engrossed in the sight that he didn’t notice a leaf directly above his head quietly lowering itself until—SPLAT!

Upon hearing the sound, Zhou Qian swiftly dodged to the side. However, his guard was much lower here than out in the Wilderness. As a result, half of his arm was still completely drenched by the water. Fortunately, the weather was hot, and since he had just been doing manual labor, having water splashed on his arm didn’t bother him at all.

He realized why Huai Yu had described it as "mischievous." It truly was mischievous.

Looking back up at the leaf above, which was now perfectly still and acting as if nothing had happened, Zhou Qian stood rooted to the spot. For some reason, the vexation that had just been haunting his mind vanished without a trace. He figured that having too many secrets was fine. When there were this many, piling more on top didn’t even seem like an issue anymore. With that thought, his mindset for working smoothed out considerably.

He turned and left the pond, dragging the two small earthenware vats with each hand to the edge of the shed. They were now ready for Huai Yu to start pickling vegetables whenever she was prepared.

Afterward, Zhou Qian carefully circled around to the back of the house. There, he saw a large field of sunflowers planted, along with a deep green bamboo forest just ahead. From far away at the front of the house, only a small corner of the bamboo forest was visible, making it seem like it didn’t cover much area. But as he stepped inside, he realized the area covered nearly an acre!

The bamboo didn’t grow too densely. Sunlight filtered sparsely through the middle. However, at the very edge near the Rose Corridor, the bamboo stalks had willingly bent over, connecting with the Rose Corridor to form a deep tunnel.

Remembering how Huai Yu had mentioned that the mutant bamboo had been taught a lesson by the Rose Corridor when it first arrived, Zhou Qian wondered, "Could this be a new way for mutant plants to show submission to one another?"

However, that spot was far too close to the Rose Corridor. He wouldn’t dare approach it under any circumstances, so he failed to notice the rose vines wrapping tightly around those bent bamboo stalks. Even if he had noticed, it wouldn’t have mattered. Given his abilities, did he really have the courage to criticize the Rose Corridor?

At this thought, Zhou Qian felt another wave of enlightenment.

He was, however, quite interested in Kuang Biao, the talking bamboo. Taking a few steps along the edge of the bamboo forest, he tentatively called out, "Kuang Biao?"

"Yeah."

Kuang Biao had just taken a beating, and the physical evidence of that beating was still bent over forming that tunnel. Seeing Zhou Qian arrive, it couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.

"If you have something to say, spit it out. If not, just leave. If you’re really that bored, you can come over and read some poetry to my girlfriend."

Zhou Qian was speechless. He wondered why plants were getting girlfriends now. And they needed poetry read to them? In a few more years, would they be getting college degrees too?

He pushed down the myriad of thoughts swirling in his mind and simply said politely, "Huai Yu told me to come get a few stalks of bamboo. She wants to build a trellis."

It was just a few stalks of bamboo, so Kuang Biao couldn’t care less. Right now, it lacked the enthusiasm to even interact with a stranger, its voice sounding weak and listless.

"Just a few stalks of bamboo. Call Big Pup and Second Pup over to pick them for you."

Zhou Qian raised an eyebrow. "Big Pup—Second Pup," he called out loudly, trying to summon the two goose pups that lived in the bamboo forest.

Before long, two familiar, identical strange birds came PITTER-PATTERING out of the bamboo forest. Although Huai Yu insisted they were geese, Zhou Qian looked them up and down and couldn’t see any resemblance to a goose. Furthermore, he finally understood why Huai Yu couldn’t tell the difference between the two. With his keen eye for detail, he had stared intensely at them for quite a while, yet even he couldn’t spot a single difference.

However, one of them seemed a bit more familiar with him and hesitantly approached. But since he hadn’t figured out which one had gone to the hospital back then, Zhou Qian could only sigh and call out again, "Big Pup, Second Pup."

The familiar pup—whether Big Pup or Second Pup—rubbed its flat beak against his pants, making Zhou Qian’s heart skip a beat in alarm. After all, whether it was the hole punched through the steel bed frame or the damage caused in the bathroom, both incidents had forced him to pay an extra compensation fee when checking out of the hospital. He was now extremely wary of this Armor Breaking mutant superpower.

But after a moment, seeing that his pants were still completely intact, Zhou Qian breathed a sigh of relief. He lowered his voice and asked, "Huai Yu said she needs a few stalks of bamboo. Can you..."

Before he could finish speaking, the two goose pups seemed to receive an invisible command and immediately charged at the nearby bamboo stalks! With just a few pecks from their beaks, three to five tall, sturdy bamboo stalks snapped and fell. They were caught by the surrounding bamboo at the edges, resting crookedly, having met a swift demise.

Having completed their mission, Big Pup and Second Pup cried out, "HONK HONK HONK!" Then, wobbling side to side, they led the four little chicks back around to the other side of the bamboo forest.

Behind them, Zhou Qian’s silence was deafening.

By the time Huai Yu came huffing and puffing back, carrying two baskets of vegetables, she saw that Zhou Qian had already dug out a machete from the house. He was currently methodically hacking away the branches and offshoots from the bamboo stalks.

"That was fast!" Huai Yu exclaimed in awe, then asked, "Did Kuang Biao say anything weird to you? If it did, don’t pay it any mind. There’s something a little wrong with its brain."

"No," Zhou Qian replied, giving her a strange look. "It’s actually quite taciturn. It just has rather high literary attainments and wanted me to read poetry to it."

Huai Yu was speechless. The word "taciturn" was completely incompatible with Kuang Biao! And the same went for "high literary attainments"! As for reading poetry—Zhou Qian had probably misunderstood. It was its girlfriend who wanted poetry read to her! Oh no! Something really was wrong with Kuang Biao’s brain!

She suddenly grew tense. "Could it be that the Rose Corridor hit it too hard this afternoon?" she wondered nervously.