Becoming a god starting from the weasel

"No need, I'll just land here." Chen Yang pointed to the clear pool.

Black Hair nodded, moved down a few feet along the tree trunk, and leaped to the ground. Chen Yang loosened his grip on Black Hair's shoulder and landed steadily.

Chen Yang dusted off his clothes and instructed, "Wait here for me, I'll go in and take a look."

Black Hair was puzzled, but dared not disobey. He scratched his head, bowed, and replied, "Your Majesty, please go ahead. I will wait here."

Chen Yang walked alone to the edge of the pool. The pool was covered with lush green grass, showing no signs of autumn desolation. Looking down into the pool, he could only see the deep blue water and not the bottom of the pool at all.

After scanning the area, Chen Yang found no fish swimming in the pond and immediately lost interest.

"Let's find that Vermilion Fruit first," Chen Yang thought. As the clear spring water cascaded down the stone wall, Chen Yang turned his head to look closely and saw a narrow crevice hidden between the stone wall and the edge of the pool.

The gap was narrow, too small for monkeys in the valley to pass through, but just big enough for him and the little red fox.

Chen Yang thought to himself that the reason the monkeys in the valley had not discovered this place was because of this narrow crevice.

Squeezing sideways into the crevice, and finally past a protruding rock face, I was astonished to find that there was indeed a hidden stone cave behind the clear spring.

The entrance to the cave is low, allowing only a small animal to squeeze through. Once past the entrance, the cave is pitch black, with water dripping from the walls.

Fortunately, Chen Yang had excellent night vision, so walking was not a problem. The passage was narrow at first, but it became wider and wider as he went deeper, and he slowly descended.

After about half an incense stick's time, a sliver of light appeared ahead, and in the light and shadow stood a blurry black figure. The further they went, the brighter the light became and the clearer the outline of the black figure became.

As Chen Yang got closer, he could see what the dark shape was: its stem was as smooth as jade, its branches and leaves were tinged with a pale red, and when illuminated by the sunlight from the cave entrance, it was even more shimmering with a layer of fine red light.

But the branches were bare; the place where fruit should have been was empty.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yang instantly recalled the Vermilion Fruit recorded in the Spirit Fruit section of the Miscellaneous Objects Catalogue.

The red fruit grows in deep cliffs and along streams, in places where the sun shines and the shade is moist.

It bears fruit when snow falls, and the flesh is white and the juice is sweet. Consuming it can draw in spiritual energy; it is a sacred fruit of the mountains.

Herbal Remedies and Spiritual Fruits

Chen Yang then came to the cave entrance and looked out. Outside the cave was a gentle slope, leading down to a dense forest. He estimated the location to be halfway up the mountain.

  

The little red fox must have eaten the vermilion fruit here and then sneaked down the mountain into the forest under the cover of night.

However, he was still young at the time and had been frightened repeatedly, so it was normal for him not to remember the route, Chen Yang thought.

Chen Yang withdrew his gaze and focused his thoughts on the vermilion fruit in front of him, pondering how he should transplant it.

Zhu Guo was rooted in the rock wall at the cave entrance, with only a thin layer of soil clinging to the stone surface. Its growth was very weak. He bent down and gently gathered the thin layer of soil around the plant's roots, carefully protecting the intertwined roots.

After working for a long time, fortunately, he hadn't forgotten what he learned in college in his previous life. He steadily lifted the entire Vermilion Fruit plant, which was less than half a foot long and had a thin layer of soil around its roots. Chen Yang held it in his hands.

Looking at the vermilion fruit plant in his hand, Chen Yang was slightly pleased. Although some of the roots were damaged, the root was not harmed.

After transplanting it back, in a few days, the Hun Tian Zhu will be able to nurture the spiritual liquid. Even if it doesn't adapt well, it can still nourish the Zhu Guo and help it regain its vitality.

Seeing that it was getting late, Chen Yang quickened his pace and walked out of the stone cave.

He squeezed through the narrow crevice and returned to the grassy area by the pool. At this moment, Black Hair was perched on a large tree branch, with dozens of macaques gathered under the tree, heads bowed, listening to his instructions.

Looking at the monkeys, Chen Yang guessed that they were all the monkeys in Monkey Valley.

"However..." Chen Yang narrowed his eyes slightly, as he noticed something. The monkeys' palms were covered in blood, but they themselves had no wounds. The blood was obviously from something else.

Just as Chen Yang was wondering, Hei Mao caught a glimpse of Chen Yang holding the Vermilion Fruit plant out of the corner of his eye, and his heart skipped a beat! He quickly slid down the tree trunk and rushed forward to explain.

"Your Majesty, they just tore your spoils to pieces, and I am reprimanding them."

As soon as he finished speaking, Black Hair trembled slightly. He was half a head taller than Chen Yang, but at this moment he shrank back like a quail.

Chen Yang was not angry. He looked at the group of bewildered macaques and said in a calm tone, "What happened? Tell me about it."

Chen Yang was in a good mood and wasn't angry. He took out his bamboo basket, parted the weeds, dug up the soil, and carefully transplanted the Zhu fruit, along with the soil, into the basket.

Black Fur stood to one side, angrily recounting the events: "Your Majesty, after that ferocious creature seized the position of Monkey King, it forcibly took the female monkeys of the tribe and often killed the baby monkeys for its amusement. Many members of the tribe have lost their lives at its hands!"

When the past tragedies were mentioned, Black Hair could not hide his anger, which was also the reason for his escape.

Upon hearing what Black Hair said, the macaques behind him all huddled together, and several young monkeys had red eyes and tears streaming down their faces. Chen Yang was slightly moved when he saw this.

Black Hair turned to look at his tribesmen, as if making a decision, and knelt down on both knees: "Your Majesty, if you are angry, then kill me!"

Although Black Hair spoke firmly, he still couldn't stop trembling when he thought of the mandrill's gruesome death.

Chen Yang had just finished transplanting when he got up and walked to Blackie's head. This time, he didn't stroke Blackie's head. He placed the bamboo basket in front of it and spoke in a calm tone.

"Didn't I just say that the spoils were yours?"

"That thing is also part of the Monkey King's throne."

"Alright, help me hold onto this bamboo basket. If it gets damaged, I won't let you off easily."

Although his tone was somewhat stern, Black Hair could sense that Chen Yang was not angry.

After a moment of confusion, he carefully picked up the bamboo basket, stood in front of Chen Yang, and felt a deep respect in his heart.

Through the contact with Tao Feng, Chen Yang was able to clearly sense Hei Mao's intentions, and with a hint of curiosity, he waited for it to speak.

Black Hair pointed to another cliff and invited, "Your Majesty, hop on my back, I'll show you something."

Chen Yang asked with suspicion, "Oh? Something?"

Black Hair placed the bamboo basket on a tree branch, whispered some instructions to the monkey troop, and then set off carrying Chen Yang.

A wolf and a monkey sped through the forest and soon arrived at the foot of a rocky cliff. Black Fur stopped and began to climb up the steep cliff face.

As the trees beneath his feet grew lower and lower, Chen Yang became increasingly curious about where they were taking him.

A moment later, the two stopped at a protruding stone platform on the cliff. A withered peach tree grew diagonally on the cliff, its branches stretching diagonally into the valley.

Chen Yang recognized the tree species at a glance; a lightning strike had split the entire tree in two.

Looking at the broken tree, Black Hair was somewhat bewildered, and quickly began to explain!

"Your Majesty, this is the sacred tree in our valley! It only produces one fruit each year."

"After that ferocious creature arrived this year, I was unable to eat it, and I intended to use it to repay the king..."

Chen Yang reached out and touched the withered tree trunk. The wood was more resilient than ordinary trees, but the spiritual energy within the tree had long since dissipated, leaving no trace of its original charm.

Presumably, lightning struck during a thunderstorm, destroying the peach tree. Chen Yang casually asked, "Does this fruit possess any special properties?"

Black Hair scratched his head and grinned sheepishly: "No, but the taste is excellent."

Seeing its appearance, Chen Yang smiled slightly, waved his hand and said, "Alright, I didn't intend to get anything anyway. Take me downstairs, it's getting late, I should go back soon."

Black Hair tried to persuade Chen Yang to stay, but Chen Yang had already developed a sense of familiarity with the Taoist temple and had no intention of lingering.

Chen Yang moved to the edge of the stone platform, wanting to overlook the entire valley floor. In a fleeting moment, he caught a glimpse of what looked like a round object reflecting the sunlight through the charred cracks in the broken tree.