Chapter 26: Cultivating in Secret in the Mountains

  The cave was formed by the cracking of the mountain, so it was very tortuous. He walked along the cave for more than ten feet, and after several turns, he found a platform. This platform no longer felt the cold wind outside the mountain. At the same time, the light that came in from the cracks above made this place not dark at all.

  Xiao Ziyang was very satisfied and decided to settle down here.

  He first cut down some trees and made two simple wooden walls in front of and behind the cave to prevent beasts from rushing in while he was asleep. Then, using the branches that had been cut off, adding some dry grass, a pile was formed, and several animal hides were spread on top, making a large bed.

  Xiao Ziyang lit a large bonfire in the center of the cave, and above it, a triangular wooden frame was set up to hang a pot over the fire.

  By the time it was getting dark, a cave in the mountain had been tidied up by him and was neat and tidy.

  Trudging through the mountains, the biting cold wind, coupled with the howling of various wild beasts, made him unable to sleep well for five consecutive days.

  Xiao Ziyang had almost fallen asleep as soon as he lay down.

  The next morning, Xiao Ziyang woke up from his dream, stretched and felt refreshed.

  The bonfire had gone out, leaving only a pile of ashes and a few tree roots around the edge that were still faintly smoking. The cave was somewhat chilly. But this chilliness was not a problem for him.

  Xiao Ziyang was not afraid of the cold since he was a child. In winter, he often secretly took off his thick winter clothes behind his parents' backs and ran wildly around the village. As a result, his mother, who had never been willing to hit him, would scold him with tears in her eyes.

  He took a deep breath of the cool air, making his mind clearer. Suddenly, he looked around curiously, feeling that something in the cave was different from yesterday, but couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

  After a while, he found that the cave was much brighter than yesterday.

  Xiao Ziyang hastily moved the wooden beam, opened the ugly but sturdy gate made of tree branches, and ran out of the cave.

  The sky is filled with goose feather-like snow, fluttering and falling down, the ground already has a thickness of several inches of accumulated snow, the entire landscape has been dyed white.

  Xiao Ziyang couldn't help but feel a little frightened, he was really lucky, yesterday he had already settled down, otherwise, trekking in this snowy mountain would be a life-threatening thing for him.

  He had planned it out yesterday and was going to go hunting early today, get some meat, and then make a medicinal dish to cultivate the "Purple Jade Smoke".

  Looking at the heavy snowfall, he had no choice but to give up his plan to go hunting in such weather, which would only be asking for trouble.

  When he went up the mountain, he carried a lot of dried meat on his back, which could be used for two days.

  Xiao Ziyang turned around and walked into the cave, took down the hanging pot from the extinguished bonfire, turned around and came out of the cave again. Yesterday when he was checking everywhere, he found that on one side of the mountain cave thirty zhang away, there was a mountain spring, which gathered a pool about ten feet in diameter. The water in the pool was clear to the bottom.

  Xiao Ziyang arrived at the mountain spring, where a thin layer of ice had already formed on the water. He gently cracked the ice, and instantly a faint mist rose from the surface of the pond.

  When mountain spring water gushes out from the ground, its temperature is always constant. That's why people often feel that mountain spring water is cool and refreshing in summer, but warm and soothing to the hands in winter.

  Xiao Ziyang scooped up a ladle of clear water from the pot, carried it back to the mountain cave, tied the ladle to a triangular wooden frame, and lit the fire again.

  The bonfire was burning fiercely, and the pot hanging above it had a few thin pieces of ice that melted at a visible speed. Before long, the water began to boil.

  Xiao Ziyang first poured a packet of Chinese medicine into the pot and simmered it slowly. An hour later, the fragrance of the medicine filled the cave, and the medicinal broth in the hanging pot had thickened. He then added two packets of dried meat and a small packet of dried vegetables to the pot.

  Half a time later, the peculiar flavor of meat fragrance mixed with medicine fragrance had spread throughout the cave. He took down the pot from the tripod and placed it aside, propping it up with stones.

  Xiao Ziyang used a branch to pick up a pair of chopsticks, scooped out a piece of meat from the pot, put it in his mouth, and chewed gently for two seconds. A strange taste that was both salty and bitter spread in his mouth, "Pfft, pffft..." He hastily spat out the meat. This taste was really...

  The dried meat he used to cook soup was all cured with salt by the mountain people and then smoked into bacon. The salty flavor was extremely heavy, mixed with the bitter taste of Chinese medicine and various strange flavors, it was simply inedible.

  Xiao Ziyang looked at the full pot of medicinal broth in front of him, and his dark purple face involuntarily scrunched up.

  On that day, Xiao Zi had asked the inn in Yangshuo to help him make medicinal mutton soup. The medicine flavor was not strong, although it was difficult to eat, but he could barely swallow it. Today he ate the medicinal soup he made himself and immediately knew that more than half of the Chinese medicine he handed over to the inn on that day must have been thrown away, and only a small amount of mutton was added.

  Xiao Ziyang looked at the pot of meat soup hesitantly for a while, and finally couldn't bear to pour it away. He thought, people always say that when you're extremely hungry, even the most unpalatable things can be swallowed, so he might as well try to see if this is really true...

  He let out a sigh, cleared a large area on the bed made of tree branches and dry grass, took off all his clothes, and began to cultivate according to the "Purple Jade Life Smoke".

  As he moved, his muscles all over his body felt sore, itchy, numb and painful, tormenting him again and again. With these feelings of soreness, itchiness, numbness and pain, his body was like being ignited, and the heat inside his body was rapidly released. In just a moment, he was drenched in sweat.

  Fortunately, he had experience and had taken off his clothes beforehand. Otherwise, his winter clothes would have been soaked through by the sweat that burst out of him.

  As soon as the action was completed, Xiao Ziyang had a feeling of dizziness, his stomach trembled slightly, and a strong sense of hunger surged out.

  Xiao Ziyang hastily wiped the sweat from his body, threw on a piece of animal hide, and then squatted down beside the hanging pot, scooping up large chunks of cured meat to stuff into his mouth.

  The cured meat with a strange smell that was hard to swallow earlier seemed not so difficult to eat after all. He took a bite and then wolfed it down hastily.

  The meat soup in the pot went down at a visible rate. Until nearly a quarter of the whole pot of meat soup was gone, he stopped with satisfaction.

  Outside the cave was a heavy snowfall, and although the cold wind could not blow in, it was no warmer inside this drafty place than outside.

  At this time, Xiao Ziyang was only wearing a piece of animal hide. If it were an ordinary person, they would have frozen to death in such low temperatures. However, Xiao Ziyang didn't feel the cold at all. Not only did he not feel cold, but he even felt very hot, and his forehead was covered in sweat.

  In his abdomen, a warm current was spreading throughout his body. Along with this warm current, various parts of his body were once again producing that numbness, itchiness and pain mixed feeling he had experienced during his earlier cultivation. Only this time the sensation was much lighter.