Chapter 1

The sun set in the west, and the sky was filled with a fiery red glow of clouds.

A gentle breeze blew, carrying the faint fragrance of rice flowers through the mountains. At the foot of the mountain, beside the rice fields, a small stream meandered.

“Woof woof woof!”

A small, pure black dog barked joyfully on the bank, occasionally spinning around in a 360-degree circle.

Jiang Xiaoye, with his trouser legs rolled up, stood in the stream and suddenly smiled smugly. In his mud-covered hands, he held a muddy crab.

The crab waved its claws fiercely, trying to make a last stand, but Jiang Xiaoye skillfully threw it in a curve, landing it in a basket on the shore.

The dog immediately ran over, wagging its tail and tilting its head to look at the catch in the basket. It barked a few times, as if threatening the crabs and lobsters inside to behave.

However, when it saw its young master walking away barefoot in the stream, the dog quickly grabbed the basket and followed, wagging its tail rapidly.

“Someday, I’ll start a live stream. With my skills, I’ll definitely have a million followers. Why bother with a lousy job, right, Xiaohei?”

Jiang Xiaoye dug out a large, black clam with a spade, envying those outdoor live streamers who could get countless people shouting '666' just for catching a fish.

“Woof?” Xiaohei clearly didn’t understand what his young master was saying, but as a good farm dog, it still wagged its tail in agreement.

As long as there was an extra meal tonight, whatever the young master said was right!

Xiaohei knew very well that the large, black clam, once shelled and cleaned, could be stir-fried with cured meat, winter bamboo shoots, and scallions and garlic, then simmered in a porcelain pot for an hour. The taste would be so delicious that even the neighbor’s dog, Ahuang, would drool!

The stream was clear, and the water flowed gently. Some small fish swam upstream but were startled by Jiang Xiaoye’s appearance and scattered in all directions.

Jiang Xiaoye watched the scattered fish and knew that these small fry would need at least two years to grow.

As a small fish tried to escape, a dark object suddenly shot out from the bottom of the stream, swallowing it whole before retreating into the mud.

Jiang Xiaoye’s eyes caught the movement, and he was both surprised and delighted.

Although the glimpse was brief, Jiang Xiaoye was sure it was the head of an old turtle!

Some old turtles like to hide in shallow streams, burying their bodies in the mud, leaving only their mouths and eyes exposed. Once small fish or shrimp come close, they will snap them up.

Jiang Xiaoye walked over and found that his guess was correct.

The mud in the stream was clean, and the outline of the old turtle’s body was clearly visible.

“Wow, this turtle shell is almost as big as a small millstone. How big must this turtle be?”

Sensing the danger, the old turtle’s head continued to retreat into the mud.

“Ha ha!”

Jiang Xiaoye was experienced in catching turtles. When a turtle hides in the mud, you just need to find its leg pit and pinch it. As long as it’s not out of the water, the turtle won’t bite. Once its leg pit is pinched, its head will retract into its shell.

Most people in the village knew this technique.

Jiang Xiaoye looked at the mud imprint, then glanced at Xiaohei, who had also noticed the prey. The dog remained silent, squatting and waiting for its young master to catch the delicious meal.

It was time to show his true skills!

Too bad he didn’t know how to live stream; otherwise, earning ten thousand a month would be a dream come true.

He reached into the mud and pinched the old turtle’s leg pit. Before he could even gloat, a chill ran down his back. The old turtle’s head, hidden in the mud, not only didn’t retract but opened its mouth and bit fiercely.

Sharp teeth glinted in the light. How could a turtle have teeth?

The old turtle’s head moved quickly. Before Jiang Xiaoye could react, he was bitten.

His arm throbbed with pain, and he let out a cry, grabbing the old turtle’s head.

Turtle mouths are usually made of hard, beak-like structures with strong biting power. Once they bite, they will grind and crush. This toothed turtle...

Jiang Xiaoye felt like he was pinching a piece of hard wood, but the intense pain in his arm made him grip even harder. After three seconds, the old turtle’s mouth opened, and it struggled wildly.

“Damn!” Jiang Xiaoye cursed. His left arm was bleeding profusely, almost torn. If he hadn’t reacted quickly, it would have been worse.

“Bite me, will you?”

Jiang Xiaoye swung his arm, dragging the old turtle out of the mud and slamming it onto the shore.

The old turtle, thrown onto the shore, flipped over and crawled away quickly.

Jiang Xiaoye stared in disbelief, but Xiaohei reacted faster. Seeing the situation, it pounced and bit the old turtle’s head.

A faint cracking sound could be heard.

The old turtle was dead, its neck almost broken by Jiang Xiaoye’s grip, and its head crushed by Xiaohei’s bite.

“What the hell is this? Has it become a spirit?”

Jiang Xiaoye had never seen a turtle with fangs before.

Xiaohei seemed to be sucking on something, making threatening sounds. At first, Jiang Xiaoye thought Xiaohei was afraid the turtle wasn’t dead, but soon realized something was off.

Xiaohei seemed to be drinking something.

“Xiaohei, what are you doing?” Is this dog drinking blood now?

Xiaohei soon let go, and the old turtle’s head was bitten to pieces.

“Woof woof woof!”

Xiaohei barked at the dead turtle, wagged its tail, and came to play with Jiang Xiaoye.

“Stupid dog, get lost. Can’t you see I’m hurt? What’s this?”

Jiang Xiaoye kicked the old turtle, and its body flipped over. To his surprise, he found a strangely shaped jade pendant on its belly.

Jadeite? Hetian jade? An antique?

Despite the pain, he squatted down to examine it.

The jade pendant was greenish, intricately carved with a mountain and water pattern, and it was unclear how it was attached to the turtle’s belly.

Jiang Xiaoye carefully peeled it off, and it came away.

The jade pendant was small and oval, with several ancient-looking runes on the back, similar to oracle bone script.

“Damn, I’ve hit the jackpot. Could this really be an antique?”

Although Jiang Xiaoye didn’t know much about antiques, he had seen news online about Hetian jade pendants selling for tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands.

“Hey, the blood on my hand is disappearing?” The wound on his palm, which had been bleeding profusely, was visibly healing.

His hair stood on end. Was the jade absorbing blood? Before he could react, a flash of light, and the jade pendant disappeared as if it had never been there.

Jiang Xiaoye’s hand trembled, and he fell on his butt.

A gentle breeze blew, and he broke out in a cold sweat.

“Let’s go home!”

After a while, he put on his slippers, picked up the basket, and glanced at the strange dead turtle before throwing it into the basket.

“Woof woof woof!” In the fading sunset, the man and his dog ran quickly toward home.

In the evening, at a simple farmhouse at the foot of the mountain.

Under a tall osmanthus tree, Jiang Xiaoye’s family gathered around a stone table for dinner.

Jiang Xiaoye savored the old turtle soup, drinking several bowls and still finding it delicious and refreshing.

“Eat more meat. This turtle is huge. It’s a shame it’s dead; otherwise, we could have sold it for a few hundred yuan.” Father Jiang Yunshan drank a little wine and ate the turtle meat.

“A few hundred yuan? We should have sold it and bought a few pounds of meat.” Mother Li Lan looked at the turtle in the pot with a hint of regret.

“What do you know? It’s very nutritious. Eat it all and don’t waste it. Xiaoye, drink less soup and eat more meat.”

This turtle was at least a few decades old and wild. If sold, it would probably fetch a thousand yuan. Jiang Xiaoye didn’t say this, or his mother would have been too upset to sleep.

Xiaohei squatted under the table, eagerly waiting for its young master to throw bones into its bowl. The turtle had plenty of bones, making its tail wag.

The family ate all the meat from the turtle, drank the soup, and left nothing but the complete turtle shell.

“Let’s go for a walk and check the orchard.” Jiang Yunshan felt a warm sensation all over and praised, “This old turtle is very nourishing.”

Jiang Xiaoye, on the other hand, felt sleepy after dinner. After washing up, he was so tired that he fell asleep as soon as he lay down.

“Get out, or I’ll kill you if you run onto the bed.”

Jiang Xiaoye glared at Xiaohei hiding under the bed, threatened it, and then fell into a deep sleep.

...

Surrounded by green mountains and vines, a dilapidated mountain shrine stood, with incense smoke wafting around the small mountain god statue.

Clouds enveloped the mountains, like a celestial mist. An old man with a sword in hand, white hair, and a youthful face, dressed in peculiar ancient clothing, walked slowly to the cliff’s edge. His skin was as smooth as a baby’s, and he used the peachwood sword as a cane.

A string of gourds hung from his head, and he wore a silver ancient robe with a jade pendant at his waist. He looked up at the sky.

“Heaven, earth, and water spirits, hear my command. Bring clouds and rain to bless this land!”

Instantly, the sky changed color, thunder rolled, and dark clouds gathered. In the surrounding villages, countless villagers cheered.

“Mountain god! Mountain god! Mountain god!”

Excited shouts echoed in every village as the dry earth welcomed the rain, and withered trees sprang to life.

The world changed, and the mountain god grew old, staring at the sky with a broken heart.

“Gone... can never return...”

The mountain shrine was in ruins, and the mountain god was old and frail. He stared at the sky, muttering to himself.

Years passed.

The mountain god died, and the shrine collapsed. There was no mountain god left.

“With my mountain god’s order, you will inherit my legacy and bless this land, benefiting all living things.”

A faint voice echoed, as if traveling through time, layer upon layer, softly in his ear. A white light suddenly burst from the sleeping Jiang Xiaoye.

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The new book will be updated alongside the old one. I won’t leave it unfinished; I’ll strive for quality. Thank you for your support!

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