Chapter 299: Open-mindedness

"Hello, we are reporters from 'Yujing Life', would you mind if we interviewed you?"

"Uh..."

"Have you been carrying pigs out every single day these past few days?"

"I..."

"How many pigs on average do you carry out each day?"

"More than forty."

"May I ask your surname?"

"Jiang..."

"You don't look very old."

"Mm..."

"Would you mind revealing your age?"

"Almost twenty-three..."

"Twenty-three? Are you still in school?"

"Mm..."

"Which school are you at?"

"Yujing Academy."

"A top student from Yujing Academy." The female reporter was filled with Surprise, then continued to ask, "May I ask if you have a professional team? Why is your team's efficiency in hunting Sword pigs so high? Did you use any professional hunting weapons? What is the reason for hunting them? Is it out of consideration for the damage the Sword pig infestation is causing to the ecology of Qingshan Ridge? Or is it some kind of arrangement by the school?"

"My roommates and I, to earn living expenses..."

"Roommates? To earn living expenses?"

"..."

"How many people are there in total?"

"Three."

"Three? How do you divide the work?"

"One hunts, one keeps watch, and I carry them out to sell."

"May I ask about the other two classmates..."

"I have to go..."

"Recently, the 'Pig-Carrying Youth' of Qingshan Ridge has become increasingly popular on the internet. Our station's reporters were the first to find this pig-carrying youth and conduct an interview, only to discover that the so-called professional hunting team circulating online is actually just students from Yujing Academy earning living expenses!? This might come as a big surprise to many of our viewers..."

Ning Qing sat on the sofa in the Dormitory living room, holding the remote control in one hand and her Mobile Phone in the other.

A message was flashing on the Mobile Phone.

Chen Shu: Haha, the harvest was great again today.

Ning Qing: /frowns

Chen Shu: Stop /frowning.

Chen Shu: Don't worry blindly.

Chen Shu: Trust the result of the "safety" you divined. I am very safe here, and there are no young ladies, only sows. Set your heart completely at ease.

Chen Shu: Be a little happier.

Ning Qing: You met a young lady just a few days ago.

Chen Shu: That doesn't count.

Chen Shu: Come on, give your master a smile.

Ning Qing: When are you coming back?

Chen Shu: I'll be back tomorrow.

Ning Qing: /frowns

Chen Shu: 【Image】

Chen Shu: Look, tonight's dinner.

Chen Shu: Roast suckling pig.

Ning Qing tapped on the image and brought the Mobile Phone closer.

Although there was nothing much to see, because it was sent by him, it was still worth examining in detail.

After looking at it, she thought for a moment, then she also raised her Mobile Phone and took a picture of the television.

The desire to share is the highest form of romance.

Ning Qing: 【Image】

Ning Qing looked down at her Mobile Phone, thought for a while longer, and then began to type.

Ning Qing: Yujing local news.

Ning Qing: Your roommate.

Ning Qing: Is on the news.

Ning Qing: And they even sold you out.

Chen Shu: Sold out?

Ning Qing: /I have no feelings.

Chen Shu: Haha, I'll show it to him in a bit.

On the outskirts of Qingshan Ridge, the ancient trees had grown to towering heights over who knows how many years, and the bright moon had just risen above their waists.

The moonlight outlined the silhouette of the ancient forest sea and the undulations of the hundred thousand mountain forests. In the distance, a highway cut through the mountainside, appearing and disappearing, with the headlights and taillights of vehicles flashing from time to time.

A faint light shines upon the ancient tree.

Chen Shu sits on a branch some twenty meters up; the light from his Mobile Phone screen reflects on his face, a rare point of light in this mountain forest, creating a scene with an inexplicable sense of fantasy.

Hunters pass by below, not noticing anyone in the tree.

Tomorrow is the last day of the Hunting Festival, and the number of Sword pigs in the outer perimeter has plummeted; they have either been hunted to extinction or have fled into the depths of the forest. If the hunters active in the outer perimeter still want to have a harvest, they must head deeper.

The further in one goes, the denser the jungle becomes.

Influenced by the power of the Forbidden Land, Spirit Power is often chaotic, and at the same time, some animals and plants have undergone mutations; it is very dangerous for a Low-level Practitioner to enter rashly.

Chen Shu lowers his head to glance at them, then continues typing.

Chen Shu: Give your grandpa a smile, quick.

Qingqing: Grandpa?

Chen Shu: Give your uncle a smile.

Qingqing: Uncle?

Chen Shu: Hurry up, Aunt Ning Shener.

Qingqing: /expressionless

Chen Shu: Hurry, hurry.

Qingqing: /sneer

Chen Shu: Haha, I'm heading back.

Qingqing: Good.

Qingqing:.

Chen Shu:?

Qingqing: Goodnight.

Chen Shu: Be good, goodnight.

Chen Shu puts away his Mobile Phone and stands up.

"Whoosh..."

A figure rushes out of the jungle, flying toward the Forbidden Land under the moonlight.

At this time, their campsite is already very close to the edge of the Forbidden Land; Chen Shu does not fly directly back to the camp, but lands when he is almost there—the Spirit Power at the edge of the Forbidden Land is already so chaotic that it is unsuitable for using the Spirit Repulsion Technique, so he walks the last stretch of the road, and it is No Surprise and without danger.

The time is now 10:40 PM.

Brother Meng is lighting a campfire, with an Individual Spirit Power Cannon placed beside him, staring blankly at the fire.

Poor Brother Jiang is still working overtime now.

"Brother Meng, not asleep yet?"

"No..."

"Why do you always keep your cannon by your side?"

"I heard that at the edge of the Forbidden Land, besides exotic beasts and creatures with beast bloodlines, there are also some mutated, Spiritualized wild beasts and ordinary plants; they are the hunter's greatest source of danger..." Meng Chunqiu answers mechanically, his eyes vacant, "I am waiting for them to attack me..."

"I have set up a Formation."

"I will fight them inside the Formation..."

"They aren't stupid, either."

"..."

Meng Chunqiu stares at the campfire, continuing to daze.

"Goodnight, Brother Meng."

"Night..."

Seeing this, Chen Shu shakes his head; in this Dormitory, besides himself, there is no one normal.

He walks back to the earthen house for his Daily Cultivation.

The moonlight is a bit dimmer than in previous days.

The Forbidden Land is ancient and quiet, having stood here for who knows how many years, yet at this moment, a complex and vast will is slowly awakening in its depths.

Sweet singing drifts over from afar, yet it sings of a sense of open-mindedness:

"Yesterday is like that eastward flowing water, leaving me behind and impossible to keep; today it disturbs my heart, bringing much sorrow; I draw my Sword to cut the water, but the water flows all the more; I raise my cup to drown my sorrows, but the sorrows only grow; tomorrow the clear breeze will drift away; there have always been only the new people laughing, who has ever heard the old people cry..."

The campfire crackles and pops as it burns; Meng Chunqiu's expression becomes increasingly dull, yet he lifts his head to look toward the depths of the forest.

"In this colorful world, mandarin ducks and butterflies...

"Already at the peak in the human world, why bother ascending to the blue sky..."

The singing gets closer, then further away, pauses for a moment, and then turns back.

"Eh? Ran into you all again?"

"What... what a coincidence..."

"Where is Senior Brother Chen?"

"Cultivating..."

"Where is Jiang Lai?"

"Just finished carrying the last pig out."

"Really hardworking."

"That song of yours..."

"What about it?"

"What is it called?"

"A New Dream of Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies, written by a senior named Huang An."

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"It's quite good..."

"I like it too, it has a feeling of the ancient pugilistic world."

"Yes..."

"Give them my regards for me. I'll continue wandering around to find some Spirit Plant, goodbye."

"..."

Meng Chunqiu opened his mouth, but in the end, he lowered his head and sighed.

March 19th, evening.

The village outside Qingshan Ridge.

Jiang Lai carried over the last pig, weighed it, sold it, and couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

"Whew..."

At this moment, his whole body felt weak, his waist and back ached, and he really wanted to lie down right there and sleep for a day, then return to school the next day.

But catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, he saw many internet influencers pointing their Mobile Phone and cameras at him, and some even surrounded him, so he had to bite the bullet, tell the boss to pay, muster his strength, lower his head, and run away quickly.

"Whoosh..."

"Eh?"

At first, some influencers wanted to chase after him, but they discovered that in just a few seconds, the pig-carrying youth had already run across half the village and disappeared from their sight.

One hour later, the vehicle was on the return trip.

The one driving was Meng Chunqiu.

Meng Chunqiu felt this was the only time in the past seven days that he had been of any use.

The car windows were open, and the wind poured in with a roar.

Jiang Lai had previously taken a bath in the river outside the village and had asked Brother Chen to use a Spell to blow him dry, an operation similar to a pet dryer; he was afraid of dirtying Brother Meng's off-road vehicle worth over a million. At this moment, he was lowering his head, using his Mobile Phone to do the accounts.

It was hard on him, he even knew how to use spreadsheet software.

It was just that he wasn't very good at it, very unfamiliar; he had to look for functions in menu after menu, and while looking, he even had to search online.

"Brother Chen."

Jiang Lai handed the Mobile Phone to him again: "In these seven days, we caught a total of three hundred and seventeen Sword pigs. The average weight seems to be slightly lighter than the year before last, but this year's average price is higher and more stable than the year before last, averaging about thirty thousand yuan per Sword pig. Take a look..."

Chen Shu took the Mobile Phone.

Nine million five hundred and seventy-two thousand six hundred and fifty-eight;

Jiang Lai reached over and swiped the screen, truly afraid that the cracked screen would cut his hand.

The screen switched to the income and expenditure chart for this week in the electronic bank account; there was only income and no expenditure, and the amount matched.

Chen Shu naturally trusted him, but he still pretended to look to put his mind at ease, and then said: "You should still send the chart to me, then calculate it. We will still split it fifty-fifty. As for Brother Meng, buy him a bottle of soda when we get to school to reward him, and that's it."

Jiang Lai looked at the driver's seat in embarrassment.

Meng Chunqiu was also looking at them through the rearview mirror inside the car, and only said one sentence:

"I want lemon flavor."

"Fine! I'll even get you pig-shit flavor!"

"..."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Lai couldn't help but quietly lower his head to smell the scent on his own body, then glanced at the two people in the car.

Brother Meng was holding the steering wheel with one hand, while the other hand was operating the car's console to play music. Brother Chen was holding the Mobile Phone again, a smile on his face, typing away like flying.

Jiang Lai didn't know why, but he suddenly froze for a moment.

After a long time, he gradually came to realize—

Actually, regardless of whether it was Brother Chen or Brother Meng, no matter how great the differences they showed in their daily lives were, they were actually very broad-minded people. He really didn't need to be so sensitive when getting along with them in his daily life.

"Entering the city!" Chen Shu leaned against the car window, looking at the thousands of lights, and asked the two people in the car, "Returning to the civilized world, aren't you moved?"

"It wasn't easy," Meng Chunqiu said.

"Not easy," Jiang Lai followed up.

"Hehe..."

Chen Shu grinned, stretched his hand out, and opened his palm against the wind: "Brother Meng, drive faster. After getting off the highway, take me to Ling'an Academy first."

"Are you in such a hurry? Safety first."

"It's not really being in a hurry..."

Chen Shu didn't explain, but just told them to do as he did.

Meng Chunqiu was half-doubting, but he also stretched his hand out. Jiang Lai only hesitated for a moment before following suit. The two felt it for a long time, but both were completely confused.