8mi Chapter 6, 9 Ox God Potatoes
Chapter 6, 9 Ox God Potatoes
But just as he turned the page, a dazzling light suddenly burst forth from the book.
The light came without warning, and was extremely intense, instantly illuminating the entire dark wooden house as bright as day.
Cai Xuan froze, his eyes wide, completely unaware of what had happened.
The light was dazzling and blinding. He instinctively closed his eyes, feeling a blinding white light before his eyes, as if the sun were burning in his hands. A warm current flowed from the spine of the book through his palms, arms, and even his entire body, like a pair of invisible hands brushing away the dust deep within his bones. He tried to let go, but his fingers seemed glued to the book, unable to leave it no matter what.
I don't know how much time passed.
Perhaps it's just a moment, perhaps it's ten thousand years, the light gradually fades away.
Cai Xuan opened his eyes, lowered his head, and was stunned. The original "Illustrated Complete Book of Chinese Herbal Medicines" had disappeared, replaced by a brand new book on silk.
On the book, the five ancient and simple characters "Dahuang Yaowu Zhi" (Records of Medicinal Herbs of the Great Wilderness) are written in a bold and elegant style.
These five characters look as if they were embroidered with gold thread, or as if they were written directly on the silk with some unknown pigment. There is a faint radiance flowing between the strokes, making them look extremely noble, as if they were written by an immortal.
The book became incredibly thick and heavy. Touching it, the silk surface felt slightly cool, yet warm to the touch, carrying a faint, fresh scent of herbs and trees.
The four corners of the cover also faintly reveal dark patterns, which seem to be some kind of ancient flower and bird totem, simple and mysterious.
What... what exactly is going on? Cai Xuan was completely baffled.
He clearly held a copy of "The Complete Illustrated Book of Chinese Herbal Medicines," an ordinary printed book. How did it become like this? He rubbed his eyes hard and touched the silk cover—yes, it was silk, not paper. He flipped it over to look at the back cover; the same silk material, the same antique pattern. The change was so drastic, it was almost like a magic trick.
After waiting for a while, they found nothing unusual and no danger was imminent.
Cai Xuan boldly turned the pages. After the title page was the table of contents, densely filled with the names of various unheard-of medicines: Earth Medicine, Wood Soul, Crimson Dragon Foot, Taiyin Water Essence, White Emperor Jade Frost... He didn't recognize a single one. There was no explanation of the book's origin, as if it was meant to be this way from the start.
Cai Xuan didn't linger on the table of contents; he flipped through it to see if he could find any information about the plant resembling the ox-strength plant that he had dug up during the day.
Every page of "The Records of Herbs in the Great Wilderness" is breathtakingly beautiful, containing not only text but also vibrant color illustrations. The plants, flowers, fruits, minerals, and other creatures depicted seem almost real, their colors vivid and lifelike, leaving one in awe.
Cai Xuan quickly flipped through the pages, searching for a plant that resembled Niu Dali.
The next second, my hand paused, pressing down on the open page. On the upper left page, the words "Nine Oxen Divine Power Vine" were written in vigorous strokes.
Below the character, it records its alternative names, shape, habits, collection methods, as well as its properties, functions and indications, and a series of small prescriptions for treating diseases.
The top right page features a full-color illustration of the "Nine Oxen Divine Vine," depicting an incredibly robust plant with flowing vines, distinct branches and leaves, and large tubers.
The large tuber was exactly the same as the one he had dug up during the day, snow-white as jade, layer upon layer, without the slightest difference. The book records that the Nine Oxen Divine Power Vine is sweet in taste and neutral in nature, nourishing the lungs and kidneys, strengthening muscles and bones, replenishing essence and marrow, and that long-term consumption can give one the strength of nine oxen.
Kidney tonification?
Cai Xuan's eyes lit up when he saw those two words.
No man could resist such temptation. Looks like he'll have to try it tomorrow, to see what it's like. Really, he just wanted to try it; he definitely wasn't thinking about getting some kind of kidney tonic. He was in his prime; he really didn't need to supplement that kind of thing.
Suddenly, I became interested and couldn't help but continue scrolling down.
Soon, a record of the mango-like tree was found, but the book did not call it "mango" but "mango" (檨), pronounced "suan yi qie" in phonetic notation.
The leaves and fruits depicted in the book do indeed resemble mangoes in shape, but according to the book, the fruit of the mango tree is extremely large and is also used as medicine.
Unfortunately, it's not fruit season yet, so he can't see any fruit and doesn't know if it's the same as a mango. He also saw some things in the book that resembled the plants at home, but they were only similar; many were different.
After flipping through it for a while, I gradually lost interest.
Just as I was about to put the book down, I suddenly remembered something.
The "Illustrated Complete Book of Chinese Herbal Medicines" had become the "Records of Herbal Drugs of the Great Wilderness." Would the other two books also change? He hurriedly pulled out the "Complete Book of Martial Arts" and the "Compendium of Qigong" from under his pillow and carefully flipped through them. In the end, nothing had changed; the paper was still ordinary paper, and the cover was still ordinary cover. He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.
But then I thought, obtaining a copy of "The Great Wilderness Materia Medica" is already an incredible stroke of luck, so I shouldn't ask for too much.
I still have a lot of energy and can't sleep.
Cai Xuan stopped thinking about it, rolled over onto his stomach, and began doing push-ups, releasing his pent-up energy with each up-and-down motion. Only when his whole body ached did he lie back down to sleep. Strangely, when he woke up the next day, he felt not only no discomfort from the previous night's exercise, but also refreshed and invigorated.
He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt like he had become stronger.
After finishing his training, Cai Xuan's first task was to check on the three-colored crabs and loaches he had used to test for poison the day before.
Ha, not a single one died, and those soaked in the Nine Oxen Divine Power Vine root water were also fine. It seems that the suddenly appearing Great Wilderness Herbal Records did have some credibility after all.
However, he was still worried.
It wasn't that he was inherently suspicious, but some poisonous substances wouldn't show any changes on the first day; the effects wouldn't appear until several days later. To be on the safe side, he decided to feed it to the poison for a few more days to observe.
One day, two days, three days.
Three days passed, and the three-colored crabs and loaches were not only lively and jumping around, but also seemed to have grown larger than when they were first caught. In particular, the shells of the three-colored crabs were even brighter in color than before; and the loaches were all plump and glistening with oil, swimming happily in the water.
Cai Xuan squatted down and watched for a long time before he finally felt at ease.
It seems that the Nine-Ox Divine Vine is indeed edible.
So he began to process the tubers of the Nine Oxen Divine Vine that were stored in the house. He washed the inedible, woody old tubers clean, cut them into thin slices, spread them on stones to dry in the sun and store them for later use in soups.
Pick out some of the tender ones first, boil them in water, and taste them.
Boiled Nine Oxen Divine Vine tastes like sweet potato, with a natural sweetness and a similar starch content, making it very filling. He tried some, then took a few more pieces to stew with canned beef. Perhaps the beef in the can wasn't good, because the stewed version wasn't as good as the boiled one.
Suddenly, he remembered the record in the Great Wilderness Materia Medica: the Nine Ox Divine Vine can be made into powder, which is nourishing to eat.
Starch making, which is the process of washing out the starch from the tubers.
If the starch could be washed out, it would be easier to preserve and there would be more ways to eat it. Unfortunately, Cai Xuan didn't have the right tools to wash out the starch, so he could only slice the tuberous roots of the Nine Ox Divine Vine, cook them, dry them in the sun, and store them to eat slowly.
Of course, he also kept some to see how long it could be preserved when fresh.
Cai Xuan had already used up most of his food, but with the addition of the Nine Oxen Divine Power Vine tuber, his supply was plentiful again. With food on his hands and no worries about what to do, he could continue working with peace of mind.
He felt that the tuberous roots of the Nine Ox Divine Vine tasted like cassava or sweet potato roots, so calling it "tuberous root" or "Nine Ox Divine Vine" was not quite appropriate. Therefore, he gave it a special name - "Nine Ox Divine Potato".
Over the next few days, Cai Xuan used his brute strength to turn over all the wasteland in the grove.
Where there were old tree stumps, he dug holes nearby and planted sweet potatoes, yams, and yams, then inserted long branches next to them for the vines to climb. Where there were no tree stumps, he leveled the ground into beds and planted purple peanuts, purple sweet potatoes, potatoes, and five onions. He also leveled another plot of land specifically for breeding.
The fruit and pumpkins we brought earlier have all been eaten, and the seeds have been dried and stored away.
After leveling the ground, he sowed the seeds of pumpkins, tomatoes, tangerines, mangoes, and pears one by one.
The pumpkins and tomatoes are growing rapidly and should be ready to eat soon, but the tangerines, mangoes, and pears will probably be several years away. Grafting will be necessary to enjoy the sweet fruit sooner.
Of course, he didn't plant all the seeds.
He's not that foolish. Besides, there are so many seeds. If he plants them all, too many seedlings will sprout, and he won't be able to manage it all by himself. It's safer to do it little by little.
Having planted the seeds, Cai Xuan was finally relieved of a worry and could free up some time to do other things.