There was no sense of years in the mountains.
Only when the first yellow leaf fell did Li Qiuchen suddenly realize that autumn had arrived.
Once qi was drawn into the body, one no longer needed to fear cold or heat.
Li Qiuchen was not particularly sensitive to changes in temperature, much like the plants and trees in these mountain forests. If they were to wither at the slightest chill, they never could have survived here in the first place.
The four seasons in the Northern Territory were distinct, but spring, summer, and autumn were all exceedingly brief.
By the time the autumn leaves began to fall, the morning dew had already turned into white frost across the ground.
The white crane limped out of the house and raised its head to look at the wild geese flying in formation across the sky.
As the weather grew colder, migratory birds headed south.
Cranes were the same.
But even after a month of recuperation, its injuries still had not fully healed.
Although it could now get up and walk, flying as it had before remained difficult. It would suffer tightness in the chest and shortness of breath.
Barring any surprises, it probably would not be leaving this year.
As usual, Li Qiuchen made a round of his medicinal garden.
Over the past month, he had searched everywhere and transplanted quite a few fruit trees back here—common things like hawthorn, persimmons, ground cherries, wild grapes… all preparations for storing food through the winter.
Now all kinds of wild fruits hung heavy from the branches, a riot of purples and reds, truly lovely to behold.
Of course, these fruits had also attracted the attention of quite a few wild boars and bears.
If this had been when he had just fled Pine Forest Village, Li Qiuchen really would not have had any way to deal with wild boars or bears. But now, if these things dared come steal food, they were simply adding a dish to his table.
Several hundred jin of wild boar cured meat had already been stored at home, along with a few wild boar hides. Li Qiuchen planned to find time to go down the mountain and exchange them in the village for some cornmeal.
Since autumn had arrived, that meant pine nuts, hazelnuts, and other nuts were all ripe. He could collect some as appropriate. With the remaining time, he planned to tidy up his little nest again as best he could, so that it could withstand the biting winds and heavy snow of winter.
After making his round and coming back, Li Qiuchen saw the white crane standing by the river, head tilted up at the sky, its face full of wistful disappointment.
Walking to the white crane’s side, Li Qiuchen asked softly, “How about I take you south?”
The white crane looked at him and tilted its head slightly.
A child, a lame bird, heading south?
If its injuries had recovered, that would be one thing.
Setting off in its current state, it would only become a burden to Li Qiuchen.
It was a bird that cared about face. It always had been.
“Then stay and prepare for winter.”
Li Qiuchen was not the sentimental sort. He immediately changed his train of thought and began studying the matter of wintering.
“Speaking of which, you really won’t freeze to death, will you?”
Li Qiuchen had grown up in these mountains since childhood, so he knew very well what winter was like.
Minus thirty or forty degrees was the norm, not the limit. Once the blizzards blew, it was truly a case of “a thousand mountains, no birds in flight; ten thousand paths, no trace of men.”
There would be no lone boat either—the river surface would freeze three chi deep.
The white crane looked somewhat guilty. It did not seem very confident about whether it could make it through this winter.
“We could consider building a heated kang.”
After thinking for a long while, Li Qiuchen put forward a suggestion.
But building a kang was skilled work, and the amount of labor was not small.
He did not dare guarantee that he could finish building the kang before the first winter snow arrived.
Or perhaps they should just make do and dig out a cave.
Li Qiuchen did not know the craft of building a kang, but his skill at digging pits had already been honed to perfection.
This was thanks to more than half a year of tirelessly gathering herbs, transplanting, and cultivating them all over the mountain.
Normal people needed a pickaxe to dig holes. He simply controlled plant roots to pierce into the earth, gave them a gentle tug, and the soil loosened.
On the basis of the current shelter, digging out two rooms and one pit… no, two rooms and one hall, should theoretically not be a big problem.
The excavated soil could just be used to build another outer wall layer to resist the severe cold.
The white crane looked at the floor plan Li Qiuchen had drawn on the ground, then used its claw to draw another pit beside it.
“What’s that for?”
The white crane turned its head and gestured toward the riverbank with its beak.
“You want to dig a pond so you can eat live fish in winter?”
“Gah!”
“I think you look like a fish!”
Li Qiuchen was so angry he almost laughed out loud.
It really dared ask for anything. It even wanted to raise live fish at home. Why didn’t it go ahead and say it wanted to be like Senior Jiang and put a hot spring in its own house?
“If you want to eat fish, we can go catch them in the lake when the time comes. We’ll break open the ice, and then we can fish.”
The white crane tilted its head and thought for a long time before reluctantly agreeing to this compromise.
After drawing up the plan, Li Qiuchen began assigning work.
For the construction, he would be responsible for loosening the soil, while the white crane would be responsible for digging the cave. Its flying sword was idle anyway, so it could just happen to be put to use.
For food collection, the white crane would be responsible for catching fish and hunting, while Li Qiuchen would go out to collect pine nuts and hazelnuts.
In addition, they also needed to gather some dry grass and make simple straw mats to provide basic cold protection for his medicinal garden.
Although the medicinal herbs in the mountains were not afraid of wind and cold, if they could have a warmer environment, who would be willing to bury themselves in the snow and drink in the northwest wind?
And so, time passed day by day.
Autumn was even shorter than expected.
Half a month later, the two-room, one-hall semi-underground shelter Li Qiuchen had expanded was finally complete. The dried fruits and cured meat that had finished airing were also all moved into the cellar. Just as he was lowering his head to mix mud and build the wall, he suddenly felt a chill above his head.
Cold autumn rain fell, mixed with scattered snowflakes.
They said one autumn rain brought one layer of cold. This autumn rain fell for a full three days. Mountain torrents erupted, the river surged, and the water level in the mountain streams rose by two chi.
The outdoor temperature abruptly dropped to nearly zero.
Li Qiuchen hid inside the shelter, roasting himself by the fire while calculating in his heart that it was time to make a trip down the mountain and trade the wild boar hides and medicinal herbs in his possession for other daily necessities.
In a daze, he saw a figure in white walk up before him, and heard a young girl whisper softly by his ear, “The Mountain God requests your presence.”
The Mountain God’s invitations always came so unexpectedly.
Could something have happened down the mountain again, requiring them to run errands?
Li Qiuchen was a hundred times willing in his heart, because the benefits Senior Jiang gave were very real.
During this past period, after making thorough preparations, he had taken the third Spirit-Gathering Pill and successfully cultivated the Dragon Court to the tenth heaven, which was the mid-stage Qi Refining realm. His physique and eye technique had both improved as well.
He could clearly sense that with each pill he took, the medicinal effect of the Spirit-Gathering Pill weakened.
From the first time, when Li Qiuchen had been completely unable to control it and had nearly suffered qi deviation, to the third time he took it, he was already able to control the speed at which he absorbed spiritual qi and actively adjust it.
This was normal.
On one hand, his cultivation had improved. On the other, as long as it was a pill, resistance would develop.
Even so, this bottle of Spirit-Gathering Pills would be enough to ensure that Li Qiuchen smoothly advanced to the great perfection of the Qi Refining realm, which was equivalent to being directly guaranteed a place in Foundation Establishment.
He truly could not ask for more.