A small plot of land in a mountain village

Chapter 44 Returning to the Valley

They got off to a good start right after entering the mountains. Everyone was quite excited, chatting and laughing as they continued on their way. Zhang Niu cut down a tree and whittled it into a stick, then tied the rabbit's legs to the stick using vines from the roadside and hung it on the stick.

The wild vines that were there last month have almost all been picked. Only bare vines remain. Most of the leaves have also fallen off. The few vines that are still visible are either damaged by frost or rotten.

After the vines plowed, more purple wild grapes appeared in the bushes. Clusters hung from the branches and leaves, and mountain birds often perched on them, pecking at the grapes with their sharp little beaks.

"Look, these are wild grapes. Aren't they similar to the grapes you usually see?" Zhang Niu said, waving a bunch of grapes in his hand.

"Is this a wild grape? Why does it look so much smaller than the grapes outside?" Fang MM asked a silly question.

"You're really stupid. If it's not small, how could it be a wild grape? You... I don't know what to say about you. You usually seem quite shrewd." The round girl rattled off a long string of words.

Zhang Niu found their bickering rather amusing. "Well, what you said is quite right. But eating these wild grapes like this will always be a bit sour... I'll cut some down when we come out and make wild grape wine. Drinking more of it can even be good for your complexion."

"Mountain wine. It's good for your complexion. Really?" the three of them exclaimed in unison, startling many mountain birds.

Zhang Niu had only heard this from others. Of course, he couldn't say it aloud, so he could only laugh it off, "It seems that's how it is. Just talking about it won't help, right? It'll be done in a month or two when you get back. You can take it back and try it yourselves then."

What girl doesn't love the idea of ​​maintaining a youthful appearance? And who doesn't want to use any cosmetics for a completely natural look? Everyone wants to stay young forever, forever eighteen. Zhang Niu just happened to be in their line of fire, which is why he reacted so strongly. Ignorance is bliss, I guess!

Wild grapes are a bit sour, but they're okay to eat occasionally. So the girls all had a bunch in their hands, picking a few and popping them into their mouths. Occasionally, you could see squirrels hopping around in the trees, holding pine cones and watching the creatures that had wandered into the mountains.

The "King Kong" in front, however, would sometimes roar when it got bored. This would scare the squirrels in the trees into obediently slipping into their tree holes and then peeking out their little heads to observe the situation.

After walking quite a distance in the mountains, Zhang Niu remembered the beautiful scenery of that small valley from last time and thought it might be a good place to go.

We headed towards the valley along the familiar mountain path. This time, the path was much easier to walk than last time. The roadside was lined with withered weeds and bushes. The girls following behind weren't having as much trouble. They just kept asking Zhang Niu where he was taking them.

Zhang Niu spoke mysteriously, saying it was a wonderful place, even a paradise on earth. Zhang Ting retorted that if such a place truly existed, how could he possibly have gotten his hands on it?

Having learned from my previous experience, I was much faster this time, reaching the stream in less than half an hour by taking a shortcut. I then crossed a narrow crevice in the mountain, just wide enough for one person to pass through.

After clearing away a lot of weeds, we arrived at the valley Zhang Niu had described. Blue skies and white clouds, coupled with the wisps of mist rising from the lake, truly gave it the feel of a fairyland, just as Zhang Niu had described.

Upon seeing this, Zhang Ting took out her camera. She snapped a few pictures of the lake and asked Yuan MM to take more so she could upload them to her personal social media account later.

After taking a few photos, the round and square girls also wanted to have some taken. Seeing Zhang Niu resting nearby, they readily handed him their cameras, saying, "Excuse me, could you take a few more photos of us?" After a brief explanation, Zhang Niu became the photographer, snapping pictures of the girls posing in various ways.

Lucky King Kong and the wolf cubs also had several close-up photos taken. One of them is a group photo of King Kong and the females. King Kong seemed particularly interested in anything that flashed.

After taking what looked like dozens of photos, Zhang Niu could finally stop and rest. Sitting on the sand, he recalled that the last time he brought the "thug" back to "Little One" was right here. The most recent "thug" was placed in Zhang Niu's spatial storage. It seemed to have evolved somewhat. He never expected to find himself here again.

"Yuanyuan, come here. Come and see this water!" Zhang Ting called out excitedly.

Hearing this, Zhang Niu ran over, thinking he'd been frozen by the lake again, like last time. But as he got closer, he heard Zhang Ting's voice, "You two go try it. Is it like what I said?" Zhang Niu was confused. What was going on? Was it the water? So he scooped up a handful of water. This time, there was no biting cold. It was somewhat cool. Nothing else seemed unusual.

"Wow, Tingting, it really is like that! I didn't know that until you told me!" Yuan MM exclaimed in surprise.

Zhang Niu finally managed to interject, "This water is pretty ordinary, it's just a bit cooler. Is there anything different about it?"

This elicited a hearty laugh from the round-faced girl. Zhang Ting then stepped forward and said, "I just washed my face with this water. Afterwards, my previously dry face became instantly moisturized, like I had used facial cleanser. That's why I asked them to try it too."

After hearing this, Zhang Niu scooped up another handful of water, but it didn't appear as Zhang Ting had described. It seems this water only has this effect on girls!

Zhang Ting and the others continued discussing the lake. Zhang Niu chimed in, but couldn't find a solution. He could only wander around.

Zhang Niu had only taken a few steps when he heard King Kong's roar in the distance. Not far ahead on the sand, wolf cubs and King Kong were howling fiercely around something.

When Zhang Niu got closer, he saw that it was a turtle the size of a washbasin. A large, ancient Chinese character for "king" was prominently displayed on its shell. Upon closer inspection, he realized this was the very spot where they had found turtle eggs before...

Zhang Niu couldn't believe it. He'd actually caught the mother turtle in this valley! This was quite surprising. He hadn't expected this turtle to be so ancient. It was truly a thousand-year-old tortoise, a ten-thousand-year-old turtle. Judging by the character "王" (king) on ​​its shell, it was likely several hundred years old.

Zhang Ting and the others, who were some distance away, also ran over. When they saw the turtle, they were all speechless. They wondered how many years this giant turtle had lived in this valley. Zhang Niu guessed it had crawled out of the lake because its baby turtles were about to hatch. It seemed his luck was exceptionally good.

Zhang Niu had no intention of harming the turtle. Turtles that are a hundred or even a thousand years old already show signs of becoming spirits. Instead, he planned to take it back to reunite it with its baby turtles.

However, Zhang Niu didn't let Zhang Ting and the others take pictures of the turtle. If it were uploaded online, it would be a huge problem. Who knows how much trouble would follow?

The giant turtle, pinned down by King Kong, kept its head tucked in, its beady green eyes constantly peering outside. Only after Zhang Niu arrived did the giant turtle stick its head out and crawl towards him. Zhang Niu was a little surprised, but then he realized it was probably the aura he carried from being with the little turtle every day that made the giant turtle so unafraid to crawl over.

Second update! Still shamelessly asking for recommendations and favorites. Also, the girls are all heading back home soon.