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

After stretching his muscles and bones using the true teachings of the Western Region Arhats, Cai Xuan began practicing Crane Fist.

Crane Fist has four methods: First is the Zonghe method, which trains the physical body, such as the Iron Shirt and Golden Bell Cover techniques; second is the Minghe method, which trains vocal skills, like a singer singing loudly, and can be used to disrupt the opponent's mind when facing an enemy; third is the Feihe method, which trains body techniques, and at its most advanced level, it can be used to glide through the air with the help of a wingsuit; fourth is the Shihe method, also known as the Qihe method, which is a health preservation method that combines Qi cultivation and medicinal cuisine.

Each of the four cranes has its own routine, and there are also 108 methods that bring the four together as one.

Cai Xuan practiced the One Hundred and Eight Methods.

The 108 methods combine the numbers of the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches, appearing neither hard nor soft, using the body to regulate qi and using qi to propel force, internally training the internal organs and externally training the muscles, with endless wonderful applications.

After years of practice, Cai Xuan had mastered this set of boxing techniques. Sometimes, he could even perform the movements naturally without thinking.

Jade Maiden Throwing the Shuttle, Eagle Striking the Rabbit, Celestial Master Stamping the Seal, Yellow Dragon Emerging from the Abyss, Bodhidharma Facing the Wall... each technique, each style, leaps and bounds, flowing freely from the heart. In a trance, it seems as if a white crane is flapping its wings, soaring proudly over the vast sea, battling the sky.

After finishing the Crane Fist practice, the Qi returns to the Dantian.

Cai Xuan closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, exhaling turbid air and inhaling pure air, thus stabilizing heaven and earth, containing the universe, its mysteries are boundless.

He opened his eyes again after a while, feeling full of energy. Everything in the world seemed exceptionally clear, but he was also hungry. He didn't want to cook breakfast, so he filled his stomach with the can of beef he had opened yesterday and some bread.

After eating, they got to work. Since they still had some food left, Cai Xuan decided to clear land and plant crops first, and deal with the rest later.

Having food gives us confidence.

However, before clearing the land for planting, he first cut down the trees in the grove, erecting the thick trunks around the perimeter to build a wall to keep out wild animals and snakes. Only then did he begin to clear away the vegetation, piling it up along with the dead branches and rotten leaves, and setting it on fire to fertilize the land.

He deliberately chose to burn it at dusk, when it was just before dark, so that nothing would see the thick smoke rising straight up and come looking for trouble.

After burning, they began to turn the soil over, digging out all the tree roots, grass roots, and insects underground, and turning the fertile soil underneath.

The fertile humus and rotten tree stumps that had accumulated in the forest for countless years had nurtured a lot of insects. After rummaging around for a while, Cai Xuan dug out more than a dozen fat, large, white insects of unknown species.

Some insects hid shallowly and were burned to death; others hid deeper and are still alive.

I don't know if it's safe to eat?

Cai Xuan's first thought upon seeing the insect was this. He had eaten insects before—sugar cane worms, cicadas, bamboo worms, bee pupae, cicada pupae, scorpions, grasshoppers, gnats, ants—he had eaten them all, but he didn't know if any were poisonous.

After thinking it over, he finally gave up the temptation to eat the fat white worms.

This is, after all, another world. Unlike at home, where you know what's poisonous and what's not, or even what kind of insects there are. If he accidentally ate a poisonous insect and died, wouldn't it be a waste of his time traveling to this world? So, he smashed all the insects he dug up and buried them in the soil as fertilizer.

Although the trees in the grove have been cut down, the large tree stumps are still there.

Digging out these tree stumps would have taken a lot of effort, so Cai Xuan ignored them. He simply dug a pit next to them, buried the wood ash and fertile humus in it, and placed the excavated soil on the surface before planting large sweet potatoes (foot-shaped sweet potatoes) and hairy sweet potatoes.

These two types of tubers have very strong climbing vines, which is why they are separated from other crops.

As for the rest, we need to find some land without tree stumps, level it before planting, so that it will be easier to dig them up when it's time to harvest.

Digging further, with one stroke of the hoe, it seemed to have struck something. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a tuber with an outer skin like cassava but snow-white flesh, and it even seemed to have a faint, pleasant fragrance.

Cai Xuan quickly dug to the side, and soon he dug out a large pile.

I don't know what kind of plant this is, but the mother and child plants are connected and grow into a large clump. The tubers are swollen like cassava, snow-white in color, and have a refreshing fragrance. Some tubers are old and some are young; the young ones are as crisp as lotus root, while the old ones have become woody, with a medicinal smell mixed with their fragrance.

Overall, it looks a bit like Niu Dali, also known as the beautiful cliff climbing vine or mountain lotus root.

Unfortunately, the leaves and stems on the ground had been cleared away, otherwise it would have been possible to tell what it was.

This clump must weigh at least a hundred pounds. I don't know if it's edible, but if it is, it will be another food source. Moreover, it's native to this area, so it's definitely more adapted to the local soil. If it's edible, I could definitely plant some.

What should I do?

"Huh!"

Cai Xuan suddenly thought of the spring ditch at the foot of the mountain. Usually, there would be some mountain crabs and spring shrimp in such ditches. He could catch some and try them. If they were still alive the next day, then they were edible; if they were all dead, then they were poisonous and should not be eaten.

Haha, he realized that he was really too smart.

With that in mind, he set aside the tubers that he suspected were from *Smilax glabra* and continued digging.

Perhaps this soil was particularly suitable for the growth of this plant, because soon, several more clumps were found, some large and some small, but none as numerous as the first clump. In the end, he dug up a large pile. He kept the whole small plants, and cut off the thick tubers of the large plants, separating them according to their age, keeping the root heads, and replanted them in the soil along with the small plants, watering them and keeping them healthy.

If it's edible, find another place to plant it; if it's inedible, it's not too late to throw it away.

After dealing with all that, Cai Xuan carried the tubers back to the wooden house, ate something, then picked up the small iron box he used as a pot and went down the mountain to catch mountain crabs and spring shrimp.

Soon we arrived at the place where the tricycles were parked at the foot of the mountain. It had been more than a month since I last came here, and half of the tricycle's wheels were already covered by weeds. Some vines had even climbed up the wheels and into the cargo bed. I guess if I didn't come here for a few more months, the tricycle would be completely swallowed up by weeds and vines.

There are many useful things inside the tricycle, such as the seat cushion. After removing the outer layer of imitation leather, the sponge inside can be used as a pillow.

Of course, you should wash it thoroughly before using it, otherwise it will probably smell like sweat from your bottom.

And the steel on top, if dismantled, could be used to make many tools. As for keeping it as a means of transportation, he never even considered it. First, this place is full of towering trees, how would he get around? Second, there's no fuel, and a car without fuel is just a pile of scrap metal.

After glancing at it a few times, Cai Xuan ignored it and walked towards the small ditch formed by the spring water from the rocky mountain.

The ditch is nestled between the hillsides on both sides.

The damp hillside was covered with small holes, and three-colored crabs, a mixture of red, yellow and black, crawled around at the entrances. They were not afraid of people, and some even stood up, opened their pincers, and blew bubbles, showing off their power.

The three-colored crabs are not very big; the largest is only about the size of a child's fist.

Cai Xuan had only intended to catch a few to test for poison, but seeing this scene, he raised an eyebrow—there would be a good meal that night. He immediately set to work; he was an expert at catching crabs, having caught all kinds—mud crabs, mountain crabs, hairy crabs, blue crabs, flower crabs, snow crabs, bread crabs, king crabs, hermit crabs—he'd caught them all. In just a few minutes, he had caught about twenty, crawling all over the small metal box, densely packed together. Anyone with trypophobia would probably get goosebumps just looking at them.

Cai Xuan felt he had enough, so he stopped catching spring shrimp and prepared to head home.

Suddenly, they noticed something in the mud hole below. Looking down, they saw a red eel about the thickness of a wrist.

This is great stuff!

He'd only ever seen eels this thick at the seafood market; he'd never eaten one before. But these things were slippery, and it wouldn't be easy to catch them without tools, so he planned to go back and make some before trying to catch them again. Just as he was about to take a step, he saw a group of loaches swimming in the clear spring water, looking quite carefree.

These things are hard to catch, but they taste really good. You need to make a tool to catch them, otherwise you can only block the water and scoop it up to catch fish.

Although they are not easy to catch, it is not difficult to catch a few to test for poison.

So he found some thin mountain vines nearby, caught a few loaches, strung them on a string, and took them back. He didn't follow the path he came by; that path involved climbing and jumping up and down a pile of rocks, which was okay occasionally but tiring to walk every day. So he wanted to find an easier path, preferably one that he could drive his tricycle up a bit.

Cai Xuan glanced at the location of the wooden house and then walked towards the woods on the left hillside, clearing a path with a long-handled machete as he went.

About two hundred meters up the circular path, a huge rock diagonally stuck in the soil blocks the way.

About a third of the boulder was cracked open, revealing several sturdy saplings growing there, along with some towering trees nearby. The stone's surface was rough, and Cai Xuan stepped onto it, entering a forest. A dirt path, eroded by rainwater, ran through the forest, leading uphill to a large cave. Inside the cave, near the cave wall, was a spring, gurgling water, though the flow was weak.

In front of the spring, there is a small water hole about two arm spans in size.

The spring water flows out and gathers inside, then slowly flows out of the cave along a small ditch.

The cave had exits at both the front and back. The front was spacious, letting in sunlight that illuminated the entire cave; the back was narrow, requiring one to climb up the rocks. Standing outside the cave and looking up, Cai Xuan felt that if he went to the right and went up a short distance, he would reach the wooden hut he had built.

So they cleared a path through the rocks and weeds on the right and continued uphill.

After walking about a hundred meters, they saw the wooden hut. Back in the hut, Cai Xuan stood on the second-floor platform and looked down, realizing that if they repaired the newly discovered path, they could drive the tricycle into the cave.

This will take some time, and time is the last thing he has in abundance, it's just not his current priority.

That evening, Cai Xuan placed the tubers that resembled *niu dali* (a type of medicinal herb) into empty cans containing three-colored crabs and loaches. He then thoroughly cleaned and boiled the remaining three-colored crabs, eating them with a dipping sauce made of Maggi soy sauce and sweet vinegar from Jiangsu and Zhejiang. The taste was so delicious that he almost swallowed his tongue.

A poem praises it:

At the foot of the rocky mountain, a spring flows through a ditch, where mountain crabs wriggle and crawl at the entrance of their caves.

I could eat three hundred of these crabs a day and never mind being a crab eater forever.

It was delicious, but that night, Cai Xuan tossed and turned in bed, unable to fall asleep. He desperately wanted to sleep, but his energy was unusually high. He used to experience the same thing when he ate wild prawns at night. It wasn't an allergy, but rather that prawns had a certain yang-boosting effect, and eating too many at night meant they couldn't be digested properly, leaving residue in his body and causing his blood and qi to boil.

Generally speaking, doing some push-ups to release excess energy is enough.

Just as Cai Xuan was about to do this, he suddenly remembered the tuberous roots that resembled Niu Dali that he had dug up during the day. He couldn't help but take out the "Illustrated Complete Book of Chinese Herbal Medicines" that he used as a pillow, wanting to flip through it and compare it to see if it was indeed Niu Dali.