Tai Zhu Xuan Xiang: Me and My Eight Golden Gourd Sisters

"call"

Cai Xuan stopped, exhaled a breath of hot air, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.

This awful weather is getting hotter and hotter. He's still wearing a fleece-lined undershirt; he'll have to take the fleece off when he gets back, or he'll die of heatstroke.

When he transmigrated here, he only had one set of winter clothes. Even after removing the fleece, it would only make him a little warmer; he still only had one garment to wear. There was no one to see here, and nowhere to buy clothes. It seemed his only option was to get some animal hide or weave some cloth. He couldn't very well live like a savage, could he?

Besides, being naked is dangerous, as snakes and insects love to crawl into holes.

And with you dangling there with your balls on, some wild animal might get hungry. If it gets bitten, well—that's a whole different story!

The further down the mountain stream you go, the deeper the water becomes, and the more fish and shrimp there are. Especially on the muddy banks on both sides of the stream, countless three-colored crabs crawl around, far more than on the spring-fed ditch.

Cai Xuan gazed at the stream, thinking: Once the road is repaired, I can go fishing in the tributaries below. Then there will be plenty of fish, shrimp, turtles, crabs, and all sorts of aquatic products; I won't have to worry about going hungry anymore. As for the Longjiang River, he dared not go there.

I don't know why, but looking at that wide river always gives me a strange feeling of unease.

He wasn't sure if he was afraid of falling in or being dragged down by something in the water. Although he didn't know why, he followed his instincts and didn't go over there to join the fun.

After taking a break, drinking some water, and eating something, Cai Xuan continued to work hard to clear the road.

Recently, his strength has increased, so he works like he's risking his life, never stopping. He cuts down trees and clears weeds, quickly creating a two-meter-wide dirt road. Following the mountain stream, the path gradually leads to a place where the stream and many springs converge and flow into a tributary of the Longjiang River.

Cai Xuan stood on the shore and looked into the distance. He saw the water surface shimmering, like countless pieces of silver sparkling and shining.

Hmm, what is that?

Suddenly, he noticed something moving beneath the shimmering water. Looking closer, he saw two large eyes floating on the surface, coldly staring in his direction. Upon closer inspection, he realized those eyes were actually crocodiles, silently swimming towards him!

Mamma Mia!

Terrified, Cai Xuan grabbed his tool for clearing the way and ran for his life. He moved with incredible speed, like a shooting star chasing the moon, swift and unstoppable. In no time, he reached the foot of the rocky mountain. Turning around, he saw that the crocodile had stopped chasing him and stopped, panting heavily.

I wiped the sweat from my forehead, unsure whether it was from the heat or from being scared.

Damn it!

This rocky mountain, with red-maned jackals on the left and crocodiles on the right, what kind of place is this?! Anyone who didn't know better would think it was a green dragon on the left and a white tiger on the right. Cai Xuan was cursing wildly in his mind. Thinking of "green dragon on the left and white tiger on the right," he suddenly shuddered and turned to look at the rocky mountain.

This mountain, facing south, is embraced on both sides, with the spirit of the Dog Crocodile Mountain, and a jade belt winding around its waist in front. It is a typical feng shui treasure land!

Building a house here, are you trying to bury yourself here?

After a moment of random thoughts, Cai Xuan decided he didn't want to clear the way anymore and turned back. He remembered that there seemed to be a record of crocodiles in the Great Wilderness Materia Medica, so he went back inside and started flipping through the book.

After searching for a while, I finally found it.

On one of the pages, a large, imposing character for "crocodile" was written, followed by densely packed text: "The Great Wilderness is teeming with crocodiles, of many kinds, including the Emperor Crocodile, the King Crocodile, the Fire-Headed Crocodile, the Sword-Spine Crocodile, the Sharp-Mouthed Crocodile, and the Green-Faced Crocodile, among many others. They are ferocious and dull-witted, carnivorous, and live in lakes, rivers, swamps, shallows, lagoons, and vast seas."

"The Emperor Crocodile is the king of crocodiles. It is more than ten zhang long, with a back armor like iron and a mouth like a giant gate that can swallow cattle and horses. It is extremely violent and is the overlord of the water."

The king crocodile is next, measuring five to seven zhang in length. It prefers to live in large rivers and often clashes with the emperor crocodile.

The fire-headed crocodile is entirely red, with a head like burning charcoal. It likes to lie near volcanic hot springs, and its skin can protect it from fire, making it a rare treasure. The sword-backed crocodile has serrated scales on its back, like rows of sharp swords. Adults are about one to three zhang (approximately 33 meters) long. It likes to live in groups and often lies in shallow water basking in the sun. When it hunts, it is as swift as lightning…

"The skin of the sword-backed crocodile is extremely tough and can be used to make armor and scabbards that will last a long time."

Its meat is delicious, invigorating the body, strengthening muscles and bones, and dispelling wind and dampness. Its bones, when boiled into a broth, can be used to heal broken bones. Its teeth can be used to make exceptionally sharp knives and arrows. Its oil can be used in medicine to treat burns and frostbite. Its eggs, when cooked and eaten, nourish the kidneys and strengthen yang; long-term consumption can promote longevity and lightness of body…”

After carefully reading the introduction about crocodiles, Cai Xuan recalled what the crocodile looked like earlier and realized that he had run too fast and hadn't seen it clearly, so he didn't know what kind of crocodile it was, which was a bit embarrassing.

He had eaten crocodile meat before, whether it was grilled, stewed, or boiled, and it tasted good.

Actually, the baby crocodiles are easy to deal with. As long as you tie their mouths, there's nothing to be afraid of.

Large crocodiles are much more ferocious and difficult to deal with; even larger ones are the overlords of the water, extremely ferocious, and no one can handle them at all. If you see one, you can only run away.

To get a clearer look at the crocodile, Cai Xuan went down the mountain again the next day. But this time, he didn't go to the stream; instead, he stood on a boulder at the foot of the rocky mountain and looked into the water from a distance. After watching for a while, he finally realized it was a sword-backed crocodile.

These guys, when it's hot, hide in the water, only showing their two eyes and a row of saber-toothed spines.

Once it cools down a bit, we come out of the water and climb to the right side of the rocky mountain, where we lazily sunbathe on a sandy beach formed by the flow of many springs.

The sword-toothed crocodiles don't stay here all day. Sometimes the entire group will leave to forage elsewhere, leaving only some baby sword-toothed crocodiles and their eggs on the beach. Some of the baby sword-toothed crocodiles are bold enough to swim towards the mountain stream, but they won't stray too far from the tributary; they'll circle around and then turn back.

Some of the smaller sword-backed crocodiles would even crawl along the path Cai Xuan had cleared...

Cai Xuan's eyes lit up; it seemed there was an opportunity.

However, catching a sword-spined crocodile isn't that simple; he needed to prepare the right tools first. Suddenly, he remembered that there seemed to be some rolls of duct tape in the toolbox of his tricycle, so he quickly ran to the cave to rummage through it and found them.

With duct tape in hand, catching a sword-spined crocodile becomes much easier.

But we can't just rush in and grab it; we need to prepare something else.

Cai Xuan used to clear land at home to plant fruit trees, and when he needed to lay stones, he bought hammers, chisels, and other tools. He usually kept them in the toolbox of his tricycle, and brought them all with him when he traveled through time. Now that he needed tools, they came in handy.

He took a flat-headed steel chisel, heated it over the charcoal fire until it was red-hot, and began to hammer it away.

It took three whole days to finally make a knife. It wasn't a high-quality piece, but it was sharp enough, the blade gleamed coldly, and it felt heavy in my hand, giving me a sense of security.

With the knife and tape ready, he also made a fishing rod and a long cage specially made of rattan.

With everything ready, he took these things and headed down the mountain.

Instead of rushing to catch the sword-backed crocodile, he first cut some grass and tied it to his body as a simple camouflage before quietly sneaking to the lower reaches of the mountain stream, near a tributary, and finding a secluded spot to ambush it.

He's a smart man; he certainly wouldn't be foolish enough to wait here.

Not long after I lay there, I saw a small sword-backed crocodile leave the group and crawl along the mountain stream toward the road.

This creature was about an arm's length long, its gray-black scales gleaming coldly in the sunlight, a row of serrated scales on its back slightly raised, and its four short claws slowly crawling on the ground, looking incredibly stupid.

Cai Xuan held his breath and waited for it to get closer before gently throwing the fishing line with the piece of red-maned jackal meat tied to it. The line landed on the ground not far in front of the small swordback crocodile.

The little sword-backed crocodile was startled by the sudden commotion and shrank back sharply, but its two cold, vertical pupils remained fixed on the piece of meat in front of it.

It hesitated for a moment, seemingly engaged in a fierce internal struggle. But the aroma of meat in the air was simply too tempting, and it finally couldn't resist, quickly crawling over. The faster it crawled, the faster Cai Xuan pulled the fishing rod. Only when it was close enough did he put the rod down.

The baby sword-backed crocodile bit into a piece of meat and tore it apart to eat.

In that instant, Cai Xuan moved!

Like a cheetah, it leaped out of the grass and pounced on the baby saber-toothed crocodile in the blink of an eye. The baby saber-toothed crocodile then reacted, abruptly releasing the chunk of flesh and opening its mouth to let out a warning hiss.

But Cai Xuan was faster!

He used both hands simultaneously, pressing down with one hand to firmly hold the head of the small sword-backed crocodile; his other hand flashed out and precisely pinched the upper and lower jaws of its long snout, then slammed them shut with a loud "snap!" The large mouth full of sharp teeth was instantly and tightly closed!

The baby saber-toothed crocodile panicked and began to twist its body violently.

Its thick tail lashed wildly at the ground, and its four claws frantically dug at the dirt, trying to break free.

Its strength was unexpectedly great; Cai Xuan almost couldn't hold it down. His tiger's mouth was scratched painfully by the scales, but he still gritted his teeth and held on tightly.

With his left hand holding it down, he quickly took out some tape with his right hand, bit it open, and wrapped it around the little sword-backed crocodile's mouth. In just a few seconds, he had wrapped it around its mouth seven or eight times, tightly, leaving not a single gap. The little guy's mouth was completely sealed shut, and it could no longer open it, only able to let out muffled "woof woof" sounds, its vertical pupils filled with terror.

Cai Xuan finally breathed a sigh of relief, but his hands did not stop moving at all.

Quickly push the baby alligator into the prepared vine cage, close the lid tightly, and tie it shut with vines. Then grab the fishing rod and tape from the ground, hoist the vine cage onto your shoulder, and run away.

In no time, they vanished without a trace.