Chapter 57 - 557: Raising 1 Crow

Chapter 57: Chapter 557: Raising 1 Crow

The Water Ghost was, of course, Zhang Yun.

When they went to check the wooden cabin, Zhang Yun had already stripped and gotten ready. The second time he kicked them into the water, he had followed them in.

While the two men were flailing in a panic, he had taken a deep breath, dived underwater, and grabbed their ankles. He quickly realized that his swimming and breath-holding abilities were far superior to before.

After dunking them a few times, Zhang Yun let them swallow enough water to pass out before dragging them to the shore.

Zhang Yun’s first instinct was to break their legs, but it was the middle of the night. He couldn’t have them wailing here until dawn. Thinking of the subsequent hassle, he couldn’t be bothered. But he couldn’t let the two thieves off easy either, which was why he had thoroughly tormented them in the water.

As for pretending to be a Water Ghost, he wanted to traumatize them and have them spread the word. Once the rumor got out, it would be as if a Water Ghost were guarding the fish pond, making it much safer in the future.

However, now that he had hauled them up, Zhang Yun was in a bit of a dilemma. Leave them by the water? They would definitely flee in terror as soon as they woke up. That would achieve the desired scare tactic, but the punishment somehow felt insufficient. Besides, who knew when they would wake up? If they remained unconscious until dawn, they might end up scaring Xiuxun.

Since he couldn’t sleep anyway, should he just haul them back, strip them naked, and hang them from a utility pole?

This idea excited him quite a bit and would certainly result in the two thieves’ social death. The punishment would be severe enough, but it wouldn’t spread the rumor of the "Water Ghost" guarding the pond, nor would it deter other would-be thieves.

After pondering for a while, Zhang Yun decided it was too much effort, but he wasn’t going to let them off the hook either. He grabbed a handful of their own fish bait and stuffed it into their mouths! It wouldn’t kill them, but gastrointestinal issues and a severe bout of diarrhea were inevitable.

With that done, Zhang Yun returned to the cabin to sleep. He didn’t know how much time had passed when he was awakened by their screams. Soon after, he heard the sound of a motorcycle speeding away in the distance, exceptionally jarring in the dead of night.

Early the next morning, Zhang Yun woke up to the chirping of birds. While relieving himself behind a large tree, he pondered another question: what would happen if he caught a bird and raised it in the Peach Blossom Spring Space? It was a sudden whim, but considering there were still rice seedlings going to waste inside, he could actually give raising a bird a try!

After finishing his business, Zhang Yun immediately returned to the cabin, grabbed a fishing net, and followed the sound of the birds. He originally intended to catch a sparrow or something similar, but unexpectedly heard a cawing sound—he had stumbled upon a Crow!

While magpies were auspicious symbols that heralded good news, Crows were considered unlucky and ominous.

"Since you’re out and about so early, you’re the one!"

Perhaps because there were few people in the mountains, the Crow wasn’t afraid of Zhang Yun. It only nimbly took flight when he got close.

Catching a bird wasn’t like catching a butterfly; using a fishing net made it incredibly difficult. However, Zhang Yun was now physically superior to ordinary people in every aspect. The moment the Crow took off, he swiftly slammed the net down, trapping it on the ground!

As the Crow cawed in panic, Zhang Yun grabbed it and entered the Peach Blossom Spring Space directly.

"CAW! CAW!"

Once released, the Crow fluttered around frantically within the Peach Blossom Spring Space in terror.

Zhang Yun pointed to the plump ears of rice, not caring whether it could understand him. "You’ll be living here from now on. Find your own food and water!"

Since he was already inside, he dug up all the newly transplanted ginseng from the previous evening and brought them out.

Last time he had been soaking in the water, he ran into Xiuxun and Auntie Pang heading into the mountains the moment he came out. Today, waiting for them intentionally made time seem to drag on. It felt like an eternity before he finally saw them passing by on the adjacent path.

"Auntie Pang, Sister-in-law Xiuqin..." Zhang Yun greeted them, pretending it was a chance encounter.

"Oh! Not swimming this time? We were hoping to see that again!" Auntie Pang teased with a hearty laugh.

"Haha..." Zhang Yun laughed awkwardly.

"Zhang Yun, you were bitten by a snake yesterday. Are you alright now?" Xiuxun asked deliberately, feigning ignorance.

Zhang Yun quickly replied, "I’m fine... hey, wait a moment."

Last time they saw him streaking away in a panic, Auntie Pang had immediately dragged Xiuxun over to watch the spectacle. This time, they were just passing by, so he had to call out to stop them.

"What for? Do you want to eat Xiuxun’s steamed buns again?" Auntie Pang said on purpose. "Xiuxun, Zhang Yun has gotten addicted after tasting your steamed buns. Do you want to give him two more?"

Xiuxun softly murmured in agreement and was actually about to take out the steamed buns. Anticipating that she might run into Zhang Yun, she had prepared extra.

"You two... just wait here for a second!"

Zhang Yun quickly returned to the cabin and brought out the freshly dug ginseng.

Xiuxun had already taken out two steamed buns, and Auntie Pang was just about to tease him when they saw the ginseng in his hands and immediately froze.

"I’ve mastered the technique of digging up ginseng, and I even managed to dig up an old mountain ginseng and sold it to Six Records." Zhang Yun presented the ginseng directly to the two women. "It wasn’t light out earlier, so I didn’t see clearly and ended up digging these few up. They don’t look very valuable to me, so I’m giving them to you. You can dry them in the sun and eat them."

Although he spoke very casually, neither Xiuxun nor Auntie Pang reached out to take them. They weren’t stupid; he was clearly gifting these to them!

"Give them to Xiuxun. She’s too thin and needs the nourishment. I’m already so fat, I can’t take any more supplements..." Sensing that Zhang Yun’s main intention was to give them to Xiuxun and that she was just being included out of politeness, Auntie Pang immediately smiled and found an excuse.

Xiuxun hurriedly shook her head. "No, no, I can’t accept this..."

"Just take it since he’s offering. It looks like Zhang Yun really is an expert at digging ginseng. You don’t just randomly dig up several good roots like this." Auntie Pang tugged at her.

Zhang Yun smiled and said, "I knew you two would be modest about it. It’s not like there’s only one root!"

He divided them into two portions and placed them directly into their bamboo baskets.

"A share for everyone who sees it. It’s decided. However, you have to promise me one thing!"

"What is it?" The two women, who were just about to decline, had their attention diverted by his words.

Zhang Yun said earnestly, "I gave them to you because we happened to run into each other, but I can’t possibly give them to everyone. So, just tell people that you dug them up yourselves. That way, it’ll save me from having everyone come asking me for some, which I wouldn’t be able to handle."

Auntie Pang and Xiuxun exchanged a glance. He had even thought of a perfect excuse for them to accept the gift! Their reluctance to accept wasn’t just because they felt they hadn’t earned such a reward; it was also because it would be hard to explain. Let alone the villagers, they wouldn’t even be able to explain it to their own families: Why would Zhang Yun give you several ginseng roots for no reason? Claiming they dug it up themselves made sense, given that they frequently went into the mountains and might get lucky once.

"Zhang Yun, you really don’t have to..." Auntie Pang guessed Zhang Yun’s true intentions.

Zhang Yun smiled and shook his head. "I really don’t need these. I can still dig up more Advanced ones."

"But..."

Xiuxun still wanted to decline, but Zhang Yun had already taken the steamed buns from her hands, casually giving her small hand a gentle squeeze in the process.

"That’s settled."

Watching him walk toward the cabin, Auntie Pang tugged at Xiuxun’s hand and whispered, "Let’s go." They could more or less guess what Zhang Yun was thinking.

Zhang Yun waited in the cabin until they had walked far into the mountains before taking out a melon, chopping it up, and feeding it to the fish.

At that moment, Zhang Lifeng called him via video chat.

"Calling this early in the morning, is something up?"

"Official business! Is the ginseng ready?"

Old Zhang’s abrupt question left Zhang Yun baffled. "You still want to buy ginseng? It seems you’re quite wealthy, Old Zhang!"