A Mortal’s Immortal Gourd
Chapter 44: Goose Egg

“Scholar Zhang, you’re welcome to visit Ding Family Village anytime.”

“Thank you for your hospitality! I’ll take my leave now.”

Two days later, the Ding siblings, Ding Xiu and Ding Xiulang, personally escorted Ergouzi back to the main road, where they cupped hands and parted ways.

In the end, he still didn’t join the Ding Family Village.

He had a good first impression of the village and of the Patriarch of the Ding Family.

Mentally, he wasn’t opposed to the idea of becoming a retainer.

Looking back on all these years, he had started off under someone else’s roof, just hoping to make it on his own. Even being a tenant farmer would’ve satisfied him.

Later, not only did he achieve that, but he also got Shekou Mountain and became a small landowner.

He planted crops on the mountain, had food to eat and clothes to wear, and occasionally even had a meal with pork. That already felt like happiness—he didn’t ask for anything more.

But to protect his territory from being bullied by his cousin and government runners, he was forced to practice martial arts and take the scholar’s exam, only to accidentally step onto the path of cultivation.

Now, if he were to join the Ding Family just for a cultivation method, he’d be going against his original intention of independence.

Even if he wanted to take the martial juren exam, it was only to better protect his tiny patch of land.

As for cultivation, with the method left behind by his master, he’d still managed—albeit clumsily—to reach the third layer of Qi Refining.

That said, the Ding Family Patriarch was truly generous and righteous, with the air of a wise elder.

He had turned down the Ding Family’s invitation and even asked them for Iron Bramble seeds. He himself felt like he was asking too much.

Yet the Patriarch agreed in one go and even gave him a bag of seeds for free.

Actually, he also wanted to bring back some Moon Fang Spirit Rice to plant, but he was too embarrassed to ask—still didn’t have a thick enough skin. He figured he’d ask Sima Yi next time instead.

Ergouzi moved fast now. Just as the sun tilted west, he had already returned to Shexi Village.

As he passed the village entrance, he noticed the place was bustling—lanterns and decorations everywhere, with white flowers and white lanterns hanging all around.

Normally, only when a rich landowner died would the funeral be this extravagant. Ordinary folks would just get wrapped in straw mats and buried in a simple hole—none of these fancy rites.

Ergouzi instinctively thought that it must be Huang Laocai who had died. After all, he used to be the richest man in the village.

Given their past ties, it was only right to offer some incense money and maybe grab a bite.

Just as he prepared a solemn expression and arrived at Huang Laocai’s home, he saw the man sitting perfectly fine on a big rock by the door, basking in the sun.

“So you’re not dead!”

Ergouzi blurted out.

“I owe my life to you, Master Zhang!”

Huang Laocai didn’t dare show a shred of attitude toward Ergouzi now. He quickly got up and cupped his hands. His life had been saved by Ergouzi.

What’s more, Ergouzi was now a scholar and could even speak with influential people at the county office.

“So who actually died in the village to cause such a grand affair?”

“You mean you didn’t know? Your uncle passed away.”

“Him? How did he suddenly die?”

Although Ergouzi didn’t have any contact with his uncle, he had seen his cousin a few times.

His uncle wasn’t even fifty, ate and lived well, and was in pretty good health.

He never expected him to just die like that.

During the days he was at Zhengwu Hall, he hadn’t seen his cousin Zhang Youliang—probably because he was home caring for their father.

“I heard it was a sudden illness.”

“Just the day before, he was walking around the village looking full of life. Then he was dead the next morning.”

“Ah, life is unpredictable.”

Even Huang Laocai wasn’t gloating this time. He sighed deeply.

“These are troubled times. Especially you, living alone on Shekou Mountain—you need to be extra cautious at night.”

“Thanks for the reminder.”

Ergouzi cupped his hands toward Huang Laocai and headed for his uncle’s house.

Since the man had died, and for Xiao’e’s sake, he figured he should at least pay his respects and offer a few coins for incense.

Might as well go see what was going on.

His uncle’s household was now the largest landowner in Shexi Village and wielded considerable influence. The place was packed with people.

Everyone in the village had come to lend a hand, do some odd jobs, and score a free meal while they were at it.

This year happened to have drought and little rain, and crops had failed. Zhang Youliang was still demanding sixty percent in rent, not a grain less.

Many families were struggling to put food on the table, so with the excuse of offering condolences, villagers from all around came to grab a free meal.

Trying to get a few extra bowls of rice to make up for the loss.

Since it was a funeral, people couldn’t act cheerful. No matter how they really felt, they had to put on a sorrowful face.

When Ergouzi arrived, he saw several unfamiliar tenant farmers crying their eyes out like they had lost their own fathers.

The main hall that had been used to slaughter pigs last time was now converted into a mourning hall. In the center stood a black lacquered coffin.

Zhang Youxin and Xiao’e were both dressed in mourning attire, standing in front of the coffin greeting mourners.

Auntie was wailing in the next room—it was as loud as a pig being slaughtered.

Zhang Youxin glared at Ergouzi with gritted teeth, his eyes practically spitting fire.

“What are you doing here? You’ve got some nerve showing up!”

“Why are you so angry at me? I didn’t kill your dad. What right do you have to glare at me like that?”

Ergouzi stared coldly at Zhang Youxin and glanced around, but didn’t see Zhang Youliang.

Back when he was living under their roof, he’d been bullied by these two brothers constantly. They even made him crawl on the floor pretending to be a horse—it happened all the time.

But now he no longer had to look up to their family. He wasn’t going to take their crap anymore.

“You! You! You!”

Zhang Youxin stammered in rage, repeating “you” several times, but in the end said nothing.

Xiao’e stood by the coffin and looked at Ergouzi with a complicated expression. Then she bit her lower lip and lowered her head.

Ergouzi lit an incense stick, didn’t even bother eating, and left his uncle’s home, returning to Shekou Mountain.

When he reached the foot of the mountain, he immediately noticed something was off.

For starters, there were a bunch of discarded items below the cliff. The path up the mountain, which he had originally blocked with large stones, had been partially cleared.

A pile of soil and rocks lay at the base, and there were faint traces of blood on the cleared path.

It wasn’t hard to imagine what had gone down while he was away.

Thinking of this, he channeled power from his Lower Dantian and cast Wind Treading. His body lightened, and he soared toward the mountaintop.

When he returned to the summit, thirteen large white geese flapped their wings and craned their necks as they waddled over. Only then did he feel relieved.

He inspected the area and found that most of the ginseng on the mountain was still intact.

But some of the ginseng near the goose shed had been thoroughly wrecked by the geese—eaten right down to the roots.

Clearly, more discipline was needed in the future.

To raise these geese, aside from feeding them unwanted ginseng leaves, he always infused the feed with spiritual energy using his gourd.

He had even set aside a large plot of land, sowed it with grass seed, and watered it daily so the geese would have fresh greens to eat.

Apparently, they’d become addicted. These thirteen geese often sneaked off and stole ginseng when he wasn’t around.

As he was checking the damaged ginseng, before he could even feel heartache, he noticed a goose egg in the shed.

Ever since the geese began mutating, they hadn’t laid a single egg.

This egg was more than twice the size of a normal one, and the shell had faint red patterns on it. It didn’t look like a normal egg at all.

He couldn’t help but feel curious—what kind of gosling would hatch from this thing?

In the days that followed, the first thing he did was reblock the mountain path.

Now that he was stronger, he used massive stones weighing several hundred jin to block the way. No ordinary person would be able to move them.

Then he planted the Iron Bramble seeds he had just received.

The Patriarch of the Ding Family had only given him ten seeds—still far from his goal of surrounding the entire mountain.

But that didn’t bother him. He’d plant these ten first, harvest more seeds, and expand from there.

After planting and watering them, sprouts appeared by the third day. With the gourd’s help, they grew quickly, changing day by day.

Also, while he was in Ding Family Village, he’d casually plucked a stalk of Cat’s Fang Rice.

He cleared a small patch of land on the mountain and sowed the grains. After watering, they sprouted by the next day.