CHAPTER 224: CHAPTER 216: COLLECTING MUSHROOMS

As soon as Han Qiwu stepped into the courtyard, he heard the mournful cries coming from Jilei Mountain.

"Moo~~~~"

"Moo~~~~"

What the heck is going on?

Han Qiwu didn’t dare to waste time and quickly ran into Jilei Mountain to check out the situation.

Upon entering Jilei Mountain, he was dumbfounded.

He saw the Angus lying sideways by the mountain’s ventilation opening, half of its horn scorched black, its body twitching uncontrollably. Occasionally, faint sparks of electricity would emerge from its body.

"What is this? An electrical cooking experiment? Medium-rare steak?" Han Qiwu was puzzled. By logic, once struck by lightning, the electricity should dissipate. So why was it still flickering?

Besides.

How did it manage to break free from its tether?

And why on earth would it stick its horn out to get struck by lightning?

Could it be influenced by the name of this cowshed, Jilei Mountain?

Did a rolling ground thunder come in through the ventilation opening?

Ground thunder, also known as ball lightning, is rare but highly dangerous.

Looking at Angus, which was teetering between life and death, Han Qiwu debated whether he should even attempt a rescue.

There wasn’t a veterinarian nearby either—how should he save it?

Maybe... try tasting it?

Electrified beef might have a unique texture.

Probably won’t get stuck between the teeth.

The meat chicken two walls away was observing its owner through the ventilation opening. Upon seeing the contemplative look in Han Qiwu’s eyes, it instantly understood.

That expression was far too familiar.

The owner was hungry for meat again.

No way!

Angus is one of the main forces of our Mutant Alliance!

The meat chicken quickly jumped down from the ventilation opening, grabbed its nest, and smashed it against the door a couple of times, creating loud banging sounds.

This was a signal it had prearranged with Angus.

Upon hearing the signal, you must show signs of life and display your survival instincts.

Hearing the noise, Angus immediately moved its legs and struggled to get up.

"Survival instincts aren’t bad—I guess I’ll try saving it," Han Qiwu sighed, contemplating how to rescue Angus.

He didn’t dare touch the cow directly—the electricity on Angus was just too strange.

"Chirp chirp, chirp chirp."

Hearing Little An’s chirping noise, an idea popped into his mind.

Why not let Little An give it a try?

If you can release electricity, then you can absorb it, right?

Action-time! Han Qiwu walked back into the house to grab Little An, pointing at Angus on the ground. "Little An, this is your cow brother. It got struck by lightning just now. See if you can save it."

Little An took a quick glance at Angus and immediately shook its head.

"Zap zap."

Han Qiwu: "....."

Zap my ass!

Would electrified beef even taste good?

At least make it into meatballs before frying it.

Wait, frying what beef+meat?

"Little An, are you thinking about sleeping on leather shoes again?" Han Qiwu directly hurled Little An onto Angus’s body.

Upon hearing the words "leather shoes," Little An immediately dry-heaved, then obediently jumped onto Angus’s horn and began bouncing in rhythm with the rain outside.

Han Qiwu: "....."

Is this thing partying right now?

A few seconds later, visible electrical currents started flowing out of Angus, being drawn into Little An.

Each of Little An’s jumps pulled an eye-catching streak of electricity off of Angus and into itself.

"Is this the legendary electrically charged disco?" Han Qiwu thought in amazement.

After bouncing for a good ten minutes, Angus finally settled down and managed to wobble to its feet, letting out a series of grateful "moo moo moo" sounds toward Little An, seemingly thanking the bird.

Little An didn’t hold back and continued hopping around on Angus’s horn with glee.

Han Qiwu reached out and patted Angus’s head, noticing that its body seemed to have grown larger than before, with its muscular contours starting to take shape.

Though half of its horn was scorched, the damage made it look even more imposing.

[Angus has reached its growth phase and is undergoing mutation. Please provide sufficient electrical energy.]

Han Qiwu: "?????"

Looks like last time’s stimulation worked wonders—this cow definitely snuck in extra training.

Besides, Jilei Mountain inherited pest-repellent special effects from the submerged wood beneath the sea, boosting the growth speed of livestock.

And combined with this electric shock stimulation.

This is definitely a blessing in disguise!

Wait.

Something’s off.

Even the beef cattle mutated?

First the meat chicken mutates, now the beef cattle mutates?

Can’t I just eat some plain, unmutated meat anymore??

Sighing, Han Qiwu looked helplessly at Angus.

Provide sufficient electrical energy?

Should I just run a cable with 220 volts from the house?

Not gonna work.

That electric bill would be astronomical.

Besides, isn’t there already a living, breathing spark generator right here?

"Little An, I’m giving you a new mission: whenever you want to zap something, aim for its horn and let loose," Han Qiwu said, patting Little An on the head.

"Chirp chirp!"

Little An’s eyes lit up, and it immediately unleashed a stream of electricity from its feathers, targeting Angus dead-on.

"Zzzzzap!"

Angus jolted upright in a flash.

And then—it was fine.

It actually absorbed the current.

Han Qiwu found this hilarious—it really worked.

"Alright, Little An, take a break for now." Han Qiwu dragged the bird outside, taking care to teach it how to come back later. From now on, providing electricity for Angus would be Little An’s full-time job.

Outside in the courtyard, Han Qiwu spotted the cultivation cave and decided to go harvest the oyster and drumstick mushrooms.

Before heading inside, he tossed Little An back into the house.

That rascal couldn’t be brought in. If it zapped the precious mushroom strains he had painstakingly acquired, it would spell disaster.

Entering the cultivation cave, Han Qiwu’s eyes immediately spotted the glow of a dozen mushrooms.

Counting carefully, there were seven oyster mushrooms and thirteen drumstick mushrooms, each type exceeding the expected number by one.

Probably due to the addition of the giant mushroom spores.

Moving to the cultivation rock outcrop, Han Qiwu examined the oyster mushrooms closely.

The appearance of the wild oyster mushroom strains hadn’t deteriorated—in fact, they seemed bigger than before.

The newly grown oyster mushrooms were also quite large; their caps had an even gray coloration, and they had exceptionally good form.

[Cultivated Oyster Mushroom]

[Use: Food/Material]

[Stamina +20]

[Health +0]

[Special Effect - Paralysis: Can be used as an ingredient to produce or enhance paralysis effects in potions.]

[Notes: Eating it raw induces a mild paralysis effect.]

Han Qiwu: "...."

This thing should be fed to babies who haven’t learned to speak yet.

After eating, they’d sure learn fast.

"Ma, ma, mama."

Better pack them up—for now, he’d figure out how to turn them into potions later.

If potion-making fails, they’d still work for secret recipe mushroom dishes.

Gathering all the oyster mushrooms, Han Qiwu moved to inspect the drumstick mushrooms nearby.

Like the oyster mushrooms, the wild drumstick mushroom strains were also bigger and taller than before, resembling drumsticks even more.

Clearly, the cultivation cave’s environment was excellent for their growth. The only question was how many times the strains could be reused.

The cultivated drumstick mushrooms were white and tender in appearance, evenly thick from top to bottom, with excellent form overall.

[Cultivated Drumstick Mushroom]

[Use: Food/Material]

[Stamina +20]

[Health +0]

[Special Effect - Hallucination: Can be used as an ingredient in potions to produce or enhance hallucinogenic effects.]

[Special Effect - Pain Relief: Eases pain when consumed, but only when roasted.]

[Notes: Mushroom sauces made from this species can fetch very high prices]

Both types of cultivated mushrooms had some notable features: their stamina value increase was minimal—less than sardines—their toxicity was eliminated, meaning they wouldn’t deduct health when consumed, and both served as useful potion-making materials, with promising efficacy.

"Looks like I need to find a way to learn potion-making, and maybe track down some recipes for mushroom sauces," Han Qiwu calculated. The financial deficit was still looming—he’d need to figure out ways to generate revenue.

Without spending real money, gaining access to secret realms was a pipe dream.