Chapter 43: Resort Valley

With the rainy season fast approaching, Qiyue wanted Fengyu to dig a drainage ditch at the cave entrance and move a large boulder to block half of the opening. The next task was to gather dry firewood. Since Fengyu was a fire phoenix, the rainy season would have little impact on him, meaning hunting was not something they needed to worry about. Qiyue wanted to transplant familiar seasonings and commonly used plants from the valley—such as flavor leaves, soft leaves, and insect-repellent grass—near the cave. If sturdy grass grew here, Qiyue intended to weave it into a mat and use bamboo to make a partition, creating a separate bathing area inside the cave. She also wanted to use thin bamboo poles to build two net frames and block off a section of the stream to raise fish, so that whenever she wanted to eat fish, she could simply scoop one up with a net.

When Qiyue shared these ideas with Fengyu, he raised both hands in agreement. (Of course he agreed; some of these ideas were things he had never even heard of before, yet they immediately sounded like brilliant solutions. How could he not agree?)

Therefore, early the next morning, Fengyu first dug the drainage ditch according to Qiyue's instructions and moved the giant boulder into place. After that, the two of them embarked on their valley-exploration dating journey—though Qiyue's purpose was exploration, while Fengyu's was dating.

This valley was close to a volcano, making the soil even more fertile due to the nourishment of volcanic ash. The vegetation in the valley was very dense. Fengyu held Qiyue's hand as they walked forward, and his aura as a fire phoenix radiated involuntarily, startling many insects and small animals into scurrying away. Animals possessed a very keen instinct for danger, and some creatures simply chose to ignore you as long as you did not provoke them.

This valley had a richer variety of species than the jungle near Lu Yu's place. Qiyue consciously taught Fengyu to identify the various vegetables and seasoning plants they encountered. She had him transplant the commonly used ones back to the cave and harvest any mature ones on the spot.

Watching her little companion talk eloquently and passionately about these things, Fengyu was utterly captivated. This creature knew even more about plants than the medicine man of their tribe.

Seeing that he was listening so intently and would occasionally ask detailed questions, Qiyue was also very pleased. As they spent these days together in the valley, they gradually grew familiar with one another and developed an increasingly tacit understanding in their daily rhythm. For the first month, Fengyu took Qiyue exploring in the jungle every morning, and in the afternoon he went hunting while Qiyue organized the things brought back from the morning and cared for their transplanted plants.

Using the snake skin from earlier, Qiyue made herself a cloak to serve as a raincoat. Because Fengyu was a fire phoenix, raindrops could not even come near him, so she did not bother making one for him. As for Chi'er, she would wait until he transformed before making him one; otherwise, if she made it too small, the materials would be wasted.

Ever since she woke up again, Qiyue had an involuntary urge to collect seeds of all sorts of useful plants; she always had a lingering sense of insecurity. Now that she had nothing holding her back, Qiyue began her journey of seed collection. Although Fengyu did not understand what use she had for these seeds, he did not stop her.

Qiyue also discovered some herbs with medicinal value and transplanted them back as well. Soapberry was not found here, but she discovered a kind of plant with small, round leaves about the size of a ping-pong ball. When rubbed, they produced foam and had a cleaning effect, so Qiyue named them clean leaves and transplanted a few of them back.

In the jungle, Qiyue also found traces of colorful spiders. Colorful spiders produced silk from April to June, but once the rainy season arrived, those threads would deteriorate upon being beaten by the rain. Therefore, Qiyue asked Fengyu to gather as much spider silk as possible before the rainy season began.

Here, she saw golden and silver colorful spider silk, which was exceptionally dazzling. It reminded her of the princess dresses—one golden like the sun and the other silver like the moon—from the Grimm's fairy tale *Allerleirauh*. Although she herself did not like wearing such flashy clothing, making one for someone else to wear while she admired it was also a form of enjoyment. Of course, it wouldn't be one of those cumbersome princess dresses that wasted fabric; woven into a simple slip dress, it would definitely be eye-catching.

For now, though, this was just wishful thinking; she had only managed to harvest three bundles of golden spider silk and two bundles of silver spider silk. Should she ask Fengyu to go through the trouble of transplanting some mulberry trees together to recreate a mulberry grove in this valley? Uh, that seemed a bit excessive; this place was only a temporary dwelling, so she decided to let it go.

Days of waiting were leisurely. Qiyue now spent her days caring for the transplanted plants near the cave, cooking, and occasionally going into the jungle with the Fengyu. She even jokingly called this place the "vacation valley."

Using her spare time, Qiyue had Fengyu make two stone mills for her—one large and one small. The large stone mill was naturally prepared for Fengyu, used for husking grass seeds and grinding them into powder, while the small stone mill was for herself, used for grinding seasonings like peppers, cumin, salt crystals, and sesame seeds.

She also had Fengyu make her an ox-horn comb. In the beast world, both beastmen and females kept long hair. Their hair quality was exceptionally fine and smooth, and people usually just ran their fingers through it to tidy it up, but Qiyue still preferred using a comb. Once the comb was finished, Fengyu also fell in love with the feeling of such grooming. Without realizing it, he turned all the saved ox and sheep horns into combs, leaving the horns of other prey untouched because Qiyue said they had other uses.

Thinking of the purple bamboo they had brought along, Qiyue had Fengyu use thin bamboo to make steamer baskets, bamboo mats, bamboo sieves, bamboo stools, and shrimp traps. After that, every evening Qiyue placed the shrimp trap near the spring, hauled it up early the next morning, and put the caught shrimp into a large bamboo vat, waiting for Chi'er to return so she could fry them for him or make them into shrimp balls.

She also asked Fengyu to keep an eye out while hunting for any special stones or crystals near the volcano.

There were quite a few ripe fruits this season, so taking advantage of their free time, she and Fengyu brewed several jars of fruit wine and buried them near the spring. Vegetables were also abundant at this time of year, so she wanted to pickle some. In addition to salted vegetables and kimchi, she also pickled a jar of bird eggs.

The purple bamboo shoots dug up previously had all been kept fresh in Fengci's spatial storage, but now that she had time, Qiyue pickled a portion of sour bamboo shoots, sun-dried a large portion into dried bamboo shoots, and left only a small portion to be added to meat dishes from time to time.

Qiyue kept her schedule packed every day to keep herself from worrying about Chi'er. Seeing her busy day in and day out, Fengyu felt a pang of heartache, though he didn't quite know how to persuade her otherwise, so he simply accompanied her in her chores. This way, he could make things a little easier for her while also deepening their contact—a win-win.

During this period, taking advantage of his hunting trips, Fengyu brought back many things for Qiyue. What made her happiest was a kind of red stone that possessed a very high temperature. Fengyu had encountered it deep within the fire veins when he went to check on Chi'er. Finding that the temperature was within a tolerable range for him, he brought it back.

Qiyue said that since this stone absorbed fire energy year-round deep within the fire veins, it might as well be called volcanic stone. If placed in the bedroom during winter, it would surely be more comfortable than heating. Although he had no idea what heating was, seeing his companion like it so much, Fengyu collected some whenever he had free time. She had Fengyu make a stone basin, placed the volcanic stone inside, and set a pottery pot on top of it to cook meat. She also made a stone lid for the basin, leaving holes and stone flaps on top to control the area where the volcanic stone came into contact with the outside air.

A Qiyue this clever often left Fengyu feeling at a loss, stirring up a new worry: What if someone else snatched away such an outstanding companion?

(Aren't you worrying a bit too early? She hasn't even accepted you yet!)

(Fengyu: Accepting me is only a matter of time?!)