Chapter 18: The Little Honey Thief

Because Ye Fengwan had mentioned giving her soil conditioner after the soil test was done, Ruan Ming wasn’t in a hurry to sow the grass seeds right away.

She focused more of her attention on caring for the cacti in the fields.

Catching bugs, pulling weeds, applying fertilizer.

The fertilizer was leftover from what her father had bought before; after applying this round, she’d need to buy new supplies.

Little Calico, ever since those first two days when it had eaten rabbit meat, hadn’t gotten a taste of meat since. It meowed at her constantly, as if urging its human to hurry up and get it something good to eat.

Ruan Ming then decided to head up the mountain.

The bamboo forest on the Back Mountain not only sprouted edible bamboo shoots but also hid a warren of rabbits. Ruan Ming always felt there was something magical about this place.

Now that the little calico was familiar with her, it hopped into her back basket when she went out.

Delighted to have a companion on the mountain, Ruan Ming didn’t chase it out.

Arriving at the edge of the bamboo forest, she wandered around, pointing her detector here and there, listening to its beeps. Unfortunately, there were no edible plants in the vicinity—just a string of red lights.

Occasionally, she encountered some yellow-light findings, but they were only shrubs or the like, inedible.

Just as Ruan Ming was disappointed and about to turn back, she realized the little calico was nowhere to be seen. A cold sweat of panic instantly broke out.

This was a mutant cat sent by Ye Fengwan, a kitten most families could only dream of owning. If she lost it here, how would she ever explain it to the other woman?

She called for a long while but saw no sign of it. She hurriedly composed herself, pricking up her ears and carefully listening to the sounds around her.

The sounds of the forest flooded in—the tinkling of a spring, wind rustling through the treetops, branches clicking against each other, unknown birds chirping wildly, even the sound of small animals burrowing underground all poured into her ears.

She closed her eyes, her long lashes fluttering slightly, meticulously filtering the noises.

Finally, amidst hundreds of sounds, she picked up a faint meow, accompanied by a sticky lick-lick-lick sound and the buzzing of a swarm of bees.

Her eyes snapped open. She straightened and headed in the direction of the sound.

After walking for about ten minutes, she was stopped by a deep, narrow rift valley.

Her territory had two mountains, one tall, one short.

But the tall mountain, the one backing onto Lethe Marsh, was enormous—six or seven times the size of the shorter one in front of her. Dense with mutant plants, its peak shrouded in swirling mist, it made people hesitant to venture in.

The bamboo forest was on the shorter mountain. This deep, narrow fissure separated the two mountains.

The area was thick with trees; from the outside, you’d never notice this crack splitting the two mountains.

The rift was about ten meters wide. Unless someone had a Leaping Ability, it would be impossible for an ordinary person to jump across.

Ruan Ming looked up. Trees grew densely on either side of the chasm. Vines stretched like bridges between the branches, forming a massive natural net.

Clearly, Little Calico had crossed to the other side using the vines above.

Looking down into the giant chasm below, and hearing Little Calico’s mewling from the other side, sounds that seemed to carry a hint of pained yowling.

She couldn’t jump across, so she would have to go down the mountain and cross at the saddle connecting the two peaks halfway up.

But going around would take over half an hour.

She gritted her teeth, grabbed a thick vine hanging down beside her, and kicked off with both feet. Her body swung across, propelled by the great inertia.

The vine was long enough; one swing carried her all the way to the other side.

Landing firmly, she rubbed her palms, slightly sore from gripping the vine, and continued towards the source of Little Calico’s cries.

Rustle, rustle.

The leaves swayed in the wind, shaking all around.

Meow, meow—

Getting closer. The direction was right.

Ruan Ming quickened her pace.

After walking for another twenty minutes or so, the sounds grew much clearer.

Finally, on a cliff face on the other side of the tall mountain, she spotted the greedy little calico.

But then her eyes inadvertently drifted downwards, and her legs nearly gave way in fear.

Below the cliff was the Lethe Marsh that Zhang Ci had mentioned before.

Down in the swamp below the cliff, crocodiles writhed in dense, black masses, a churning carpet of bodies. A careless fall from here would mean certain, gruesome death.

Midway down the cliff face, there seemed to be a reflection of water, with unfamiliar wildflowers growing near the edge.

Listening closely, she could hear the trickle of flowing water.

Where the water cascaded vertically down, the crocodiles gathered even more densely than elsewhere. A sea of black scales floating on the surface was utterly horrifying.

And there was Little Calico, clinging to a crevice in the cliff, licking frantically at a beehive wedged into a gap in the stone wall below it.

What else could it be but honey?

Its poor little head was already swollen with several stings, huge bumps forming. It was meowing in pain, yet still refused to come down.

Ruan Ming looked at the kitten, its eyes nearly swollen shut, and didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The terror she’d felt upon seeing the group of crocodiles faded considerably.

At the same time, wild joy surged through her heart.

This kitten Ye Fengwan had sent was incredibly picky. It wouldn’t touch low-quality food, only eating the cat food that had come with it.

Yet now, it was licking wildly at the honeycomb in front of it. There was no doubt, this had to be something truly good.

At the very least, it was of edible grade.

Watching the huge bees buzzing around it, she feared the kitten would be stung to death and quickly called out, “Little Calico, come back!”

The little calico seemed to have had its fill of stings as well. Seeing its owner appear, it meowed and scrambled towards her.

Ruan Ming scooped it into her arms. Looking at the honey still smeared around its greedy little mouth, she gently wiped a bit off with her finger. She took out her portable detector and smeared the honey onto the sensor.

As the device beeped, her eyes widened.

On the detector’s display, a green light was flashing.

A green light!!

This was the first time in her entire life that Ruan Ming had encountered organic food. How could she not be shocked?

Joy and excitement crashed over her mind. She hugged the little calico tightly, wanting to give it a big, hearty kiss. Unfortunately, her rigid face shield blocked any close contact.

Bzzzzzz—

The bees were chasing after them.

Ruan Ming turned, yanked open her protective suit, stuffed the little calico inside, and zipped it up tightly just before the swarm of thumb-sized mutant bees caught up.

Seeing the two-legged creature shielding the honey thief, the bees seemed enraged and charged at her.

But Ruan Ming was wearing a protective suit! Where could they find a place to sting? The bees buzzed frantically around her in frustration.

Protected by her suit, Ruan Ming felt relatively safe for the moment.

She looked up at the large cluster of honeycombs not far away. Golden liquid seemed to be flowing from the cracks in the stone, reflecting glints of light under the weak sunlight.

Without a doubt, that was all honey.

Her tongue started salivating instinctively.

She desperately wanted to start harvesting the honey right then, but she didn’t have the proper tools.

Furthermore, those honeycombs were on the edge of the cliff; climbing up without a ladder would be extremely dangerous.

One slip, and the consequences were unthinkable.

Ruan Ming didn’t dare risk a rash move. She could only hug the little calico and head home.

Although the little calico was a mutant cat and ordinary small animals couldn’t hurt it, the bees had mutated too. No one was at a major advantage here.

Once home, she first found a fine needle and carefully picked the remaining stingers out of the calico. Then, she cleaned its wounds with diluted soapy water.

After dealing with that, she set about preparing for a new harvesting mission.

She found a plastic bucket with a lid, brought some rope, and changed into an even thicker protective suit.

Placing the bucket into her back basket, she also took a sharp sickle and put on thick gloves before heading back up the mountain.

The little calico, now suffering from the spreading bee venom, was howling in pain. It had no desire whatsoever to follow her up the mountain again.

It was a little past four in the afternoon, with daylight still left.

First, Ruan Ming swung across the chasm. Then, she cut down two small trees nearby, each about as thick as her arm. She notched them, tied a few crosspieces on with rope, and fashioned a simple ladder.

She carried it over to a flatter patch of stone near the cliff where she’d found the bees earlier and set the ladder up against the rock face.

Then, carrying her bucket and small sickle, she climbed the ladder and began cutting the honeycomb.

Seeing this two-legged creature return so soon, the bees reacted as if facing a mortal enemy. The entire swarm converged on her, preparing to teach her a lesson with their tail stingers.

Although Ruan Ming wore a protective suit, she was dealing with a swarm of mutant bees. These bees were much larger than ordinary ones, their stingers sharper and venom stronger. Her suit was only Level 1; it probably wouldn’t hold up for long.

She had to speed up the honey cutting.

As she worked, she muttered aloud, “Big Sister and Big Brother Bees, I’m just taking a little. Look, all this honey is dripping into the stone cracks and going to waste. I’m just cutting a bit to make room for you. I’ll leave right away. Sting gently, please.”

She babbled continuously, but her hands were far from clumsy. In no time, she had cut enough honeycomb to fill over half the large bucket.

Seeing the bees growing so thick they nearly blocked her vision, Ruan Ming dared not be greedy. She could feel several spots on her protective suit about to give way.

She hurried down the ladder, placed the bucket in her back basket, and hoisted both basket and ladder to head back.

She found a small cave and hid the ladder inside.

Once sure no bees were following her, she set down her basket to reorganize things.

She covered the plastic bucket with a layer of film, then sealed the lid tightly. Using the rope she’d brought, she bound the lid and bucket together securely to prevent the honey from spilling when she swung back across the rift.

Everything ready, she descended the mountain.

The joy of harvesting food filled her heart, and even her steps felt lighter.

When she got home and opened the bucket, the honey hadn’t spilled, though a little had seeped from under the lid. No big deal.

She first took out a small bowl, scooped out a thumb-sized piece of honeycomb, dissolved it in water, and brought it to comfort the day’s hero.

The little calico’s eyes were still swollen down to slits, the wounds still aching, and its temper was finally gone. Smelling the sweet aroma from the bowl, it tottered over, lay down on the ground, and started lapping up the sugar water, smacking its tongue.

Ruan Ming also cut a small piece of the honeycomb for herself and put it into her mouth.

The moment her tongue touched that honey, she felt as if the past twenty-something years of her life had been meaningless.

The first sensation was sweetness, a sweetness that could bring tears to one’s eyes. Compared to the candies on the market, adulterated with all sorts of saccharine and impurities, this honey was purely sweet, refreshingly pure, utterly addictive.

As the honey slid down her throat, a warmth spread through her stomach. Warm, comfortable.

Could this be the effect of organic food? No wonder so many fought over it.

Remembering Ye Fengwan’s words from the day before about Ye Jianggui’s illness, she looked at the honey in the bowl and got up to find a container.

At last, she had a way to do something for her idol.